Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 8/31

Deadpool V Gambit #4
Story: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker
Art: Danilo Beyruth & Cris Peter

There have been a lot of groups of mutant villain henchmen over the years (if you want to learn more about them, check out Dan Grote's posts here and here). And when there are that many members of a team whose main purpose is to hench for some big bad, there's a good chance that those characters are one note characters. So it's interesting when writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacker pull back from the comedic caper that has been the first three issues of Deadpool V Gambit to spend pretty much the entire fourth issue not focusing on either of their leads, but instead telling the story of Scrambler. Scrambler is a member of the Marauders, the group that works for Mr. Sinister, but that isn't even important to know for this issue. Acker & Blacker start the story off by establishing the basics, that Scramber was a bad guy who fought the X-Men and who has tried to go straight. Acker and Blacker make us care about Kim Il Sung, a villain who has had very little development before this. Not only do they logically update his power set, which is trickier than you'd think, but they also give him a love interest, a family, and a logical desire to be a better person for them. I encountered Acker & Blacker through The Thrilling Adventure Hour, which is one of the funniest things, well, ever, and the earlier issues of this series have been lighter in tone. Even their Thunderbolts work, which had something of a darker tone, had a large portion of humor to it. And while this issue isn't grim (the reason Scrambler has it in for Gambit and Deadpool spins out of a scene that is actually pretty darn funny), this issue is much more a character study. We see Scrambler at his lowest, then his best, ans then dragged down back to the lowest by situations beyond his control. It's a really solid single issue in the middle of a mini-series, and while the series' two leads are pretty much incidental, it doesn't feel like something completely outside the scope of the series. There's a big reveal at the end of the issue, actually, that casts the events of the series in a completely different light. If you've been suffering from Gambit withdrawal since he hasn't been a regular in a series in a while, you just need some more Deadpool, or you like to see the other side of villains, you should really check out Deadpool V Gambit.

Gotham Academy Annual #1
Story: Brenden Fletcher & Becky Cloonan
Art: Adam Archer, Msassyk, Michael Dialynas, Chris Wildgoose, Sandra Hope, Serge Lapointe, & Rob Haynes

We've been away from Gotham Academy for a few months now (unless you've been checking out the very fun Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy, which you all should be), so the choice to do a one off annual to refresh current readers and introduce new ones before the new Gotham Academy: Second Semester starts was a good one, and this issue is a great jumping on point for new readers. A mysterious ailment is sweeping Gotham Academy, and our leads, the members of Detective Club, are split down the middle on what they think is responsible: Pomeline, always looking for a magical explanation, thinks it's a vampire, while Colton believes visiting professor Derek Powers is behind this. So Colton takes Kyle, and Pomeline takes Tristan, and Maps is left trapped in the middle. We get to see Olive, who is usually in the center of everything, on the sidelines in this issue, which allows the other characters to really stand out. What this issue does, which is a great example of what Gotham Academy does best, is balance the character work with the mystery and the macabre, while also tying into the deep mythology of Batman as a character. Note I didn't say the history of Batman, as what this issue ties into is actually the future of Batman. If you're at all familiar with Batman Beyond, either the animated series or the comics that have been released to tie into it, you know the name Derek Powers and know that no good will come of it. Also returning this issue is Warren McGinnis, introduced back in issue four of the series, who also has ties to the Batman Beyond universe. There's ealso an appearance from a supernatural one-off Bat villain, a character I never thought would pop up again, which is something that just fills me with joy; no other series from either of the Big Two embraces the crazy history of comics like Gotham Academy does. But what's even better is that if you're unfamiliar with any and all of that, nothing of the issue is lost on you. Instead you get two interlocking mysteries featuring two sets of likable protagonists. Pomeline is at her most demanding, and Colton at his most slick, but we get hints that there's more to Colton than we've seen before; of all the regular cast, he's the one who's gotten the least development so far, more or less being the campus ne'er-do-well, so it's nice that we're beginning to see more of his personality and his backstory come out. There are multiples artists across this issue, but fortunately Rob Haynes did breakdowns across the whole issue so the art has a consistent feel, but each plotline has a distinct look. Gotham Academy Annual #1 is an exciting romp across the grounds of the titular Academy and a treat for Batman fans of all ages and knowledge.

Suicide Squad: War Crimes Special
Story John Ostrander
Art: Gus Vazquez, Carlos Rodriguez, & Gabe Eltaeb

Now THIS is the Suicide Squad. I haven't written as much about the Suicide Squad as I feel like is deserved for how much I love the concept and the characters on this blog, mostly because the series as it's been running since I started writing here has rarely been a book I really loved. But this one-shot, written by the man who redefined the Squad in the '80s and a writer I have written a lot about, John Ostrander, hits every note that makes a good Suicide Squad story. Let's count them down, shall we?

1) It has great characters and character moments: The Squad in this issue is mostly made up of staples of the Squad: Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Rick Flag from the original series; Harley Quinn and El Diable from the New 52 era; and a new member, Mad Dog, who you know is not long for the team right out front. Flag and Deadshot have a great rapport in the issue, working together, and Ostrander writes one truly funny Harley moment. But it's Boomerang who Ostrander really captures. The arrogant, smarmy, easy to anger, quick to seek revenge Boomerang of those classic books is on display here, to the point that he is responsible for Mag Dog's death just because the bounty hunter rubbed him the wrong way. Boomerang is often played as comic relief or the team punching bag, but Ostrander remembers that he is a nasty piece of work at heart.

2) Interesting foes: Ostrander gave the Suicide Squad some really interesting enemies in his original run. The international mercenaries known as the Jihad (changed to Onslaught after their first appearance) were a great collection of characters with interesting powers and looks. The Loa was another fascinating nemesis. This story introduces Strikeforce Europa, a team of European mercenaries. And while they don't exactly walk out of this unscathed, they don't feel like characters who were created simply to be disposed of; they have a backstory and work as characters who have potential.

3) Real world events effect comic book stories: There was an interview I read somewhere once that I wasn't able to find to get the exact quote where Ostrander said he stopped writing stories for Suicide Squad set in real places because it seemed like every time he did it seemed that place popped up on the news. And while recent Suicide Squad stories have taken place in real countries, they are often just using those places as a setting and not discussing the political realities. This issue takes something very real and while changing the names to protect the innocent (or to protect the publisher from libel suits), there is a reality to this story. The Secretary of Defense from the "previous administration" has been kidnapped by Strikeforce Europa to stand trial for war crimes, for starting the last "Gulf action" to benefit "Black Mountain" the private military security contractor he has worked for an with. If you have any notion of modern American politics, none of this is particularly veiled commentary on politics, and it creates an interesting mission, as the Squad must rescue him.

4) Action action and more action: Much of this issue is an elaborate heist type story, only with what the team is trying to take is a human being. We get the Squad in battle with Strikeforce Europa, with the assassin Shado, who was sent by Black Mountain to silence the Secretary of Defense before he spilled their secrets at the World Court, not to mention your standard issue security forces. You get car chases, super powered fights, and a really cool scene with Deadshot on a motorcycle. It has an excellent balance of action and character, which was the hallmark of the best Suicide Squad stories.

5) The Wall: John Ostrander created Amanda Waller, and there are very few, if any, writers who get her better than Ostrander. Whether it's giving the team a briefing with her patented hardass attitude and biting humor, or debriefing when the team gets back, and all her contact in between, this is the Waller I hear in my head when I think of best Waller moments.And I've seen people of two minds on how coldly homicidal Waller was in the recent Suicide Squad movie, but anyone with any familiarity with the character would see that her actions at the end of this issue, and the reasoning behind them, are so perfectly logical that it's one of my favorite Waller moments of all time.

Seriously folks, whether you miss the old Squad stories or are a fan of the new ones, this is a perfect gem of a Suicide Squad story that everyone should check out.

And look! Dan Grote is back, with a review featuring two of his great fan passions: the X-Men and '90s music...

X-Men ’92 #6

Story by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers

Art by Alti Firmansyah & Matt Milla

Matt often writes about how sometimes a book is so consistently good, he sometimes passes on reviewing it because there are only so many ways to say “This book is consistently good” month after month.

The same can be said for Marvel’s X-Men ’92, which is if nothing else a love letter to the 1990s animated series and the comics of the time period.

Except this issue ups the ante considerably by working in the music of the Extreme Era as well. Coming of age in the ’90s as I did, I spent my teen years a) devouring X-Men comics and b) listening to alternative radio. So to read a comic in which the X-Men work as bodyguards for Lila Cheney at a music festival that includes the Flaming Lips and the Toadies is to relive those years in their purest, most crystalized form. The only thing missing is all those Sunday afternoons I killed playing The Sims and Final Fantasy VI on the Super Nintendo.

After a prologue that brings Joss Whedon creation SWORD into the ’92-niverse, the comic opens with intergalactic rockstar Cheney joining the Lips on stage for “Race for the Prize,” complete with lettered lyrics that sent me combing through my CDs to see if I still had a copy of “The Soft Bulletin.” Even Beast is singing along, and let’s face it, he would like an up-tempo song about two scientists competing to save a dying sun.

And seriously, the Toadies? The Toadies?! Raise your hand if you’ve thought about the Toadies at any point after 1996. They’re about as ’90s as Adam X the X-Treme.

Anyway, it turns out Lila’s on Earth because there’s a bounty on her head, and she’s being hunted down by British-import robot space bounty hunter Death’s Head. Hence her asking the X-Men to act as security.

Also lurking around disguised as a be-ponytailed roadie is none other than Acolyte-slash-Upstart Fabian Cortez, whom a narration box accurately describes as having “the power to make mutants mutant harder.” Cortez amps up Cheney’s already-considerable teleportation powers amid the fight with Death’s Head, transporting herself, the X-Men, Death’s Head and SWORD’s Abigail Brand to an alienated planet populated by [spoilers].

I can’t say enough how much of this book is sold on the strength of Alti Firmansyah’s art. Chris Sims and Chad Bowers get the cheesiness of the era and what characters will make fans wistful, but Firmansyah nails the fashion, the facial expressions and the fun of what, at its worst, was a melodramatically angsty time. It doesn’t mimic the animation style of the cartoon – if anything, she seems to take her cues from “Voltron” and the Joe Madureira style of manga-light art that took hold mid-decade – but you can see that she’s having fun, and I’d love to read more of her work.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 6/15

Batman #1
Story: Tom King
Art: David Finch, Matt Banning, & Jordie Bellaire

The first issue of the new, Rebirth-era Batman begins with a literal bang and continues to show a Batman dedicated to Gotham and the safety of its people, a Batman at his most heroic. After a plane is hit by a surface-to-air missile, Batman must find a way to stop it from hitting the center of the city, even at the cost of his own life. It's an exciting start to the new run, and highlights the strengths of both of the writer and artist. Tom King has a great talent for mixing character and action, and we see Batman interact with Jim Gordon, Alfred, and Duke Thomas as he speeds across Gotham. We get a mix of Batman the superhero and Batman the scientist, as he uses his intellect to figure out the best way to maneuver a crashing plane. And we get some clues about what is coming in this first arc, with the first cameo appearances of Gotham City's newest defenders, the super powered Gotham and his sidekick, Gotham Girl, and while they seem noble enough, one has to wonder; the shadowy figure standing over the murdered body of the Kobra cultist who fired the missile at the plane does not seem to be Gotham, but we know it's not Batman or one of his allies, and how much better an entrance can a flying, super strong hero make than one where he stops a plane from crashing. We have no reason to suspect Gotham, other than he's not one of Batman's circle, but I have my eye on him. David Finch has a history with Batman, from his writer/artist stint on Batman: The Dark Knight to his work on Forever Evil. This issue is as big and bold in the art as it is in the story. He draws a string, muscular Batman who still looks like he'd be able to move with the grace needed to swing around Gotham. You can sense the motion and the straining as he uses a combination of tech and brute force to keep the plane from hitting Kane Plaza. It's simply stunning. And the new Batmobile design he uses is clearly based on the classic Batman: The Animated Series model. After four plus years of one writer on Batman, it's always going to be a transition, but this issue, maintaining much of the previous central cast while springboarding into something new, is a great choice, and it's a great start for the new volume of Batman.

Justice League #51
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Paul Pelletier, Sandra Hope, & Adriano Lucas

I think I've made this observation before, but in case I haven't, there is nothing wrong with a simple, fun superhero story; in fact, at times that's one of the best things you can read. I picked up all eight issue's of Dan Abnett's recent Titans Hunt mini-series, and also this week's Titans: Rebirth one-shot, and they're all enjoyable superhero books, but this week's Justice League, also written by Abnett and tying into those stories, is one of those perfect one off issues. Set in the past, shortly after the forming of the Justice League, the issue tells the story of Dick Grasyon, Robin's, first meeting with the League. Most of the members make snarky comments about Batman and his sidekick as they meet him, and Dick just quietly lets it all pass. As various weird objects begin appearing all over the world, cybernetic hounds attack Metropolis and the League springs into action. It's Robin who we follow for much of the issue, seeing him intimidated by the League, and then seeing him slowly win each Leaguer over with his brains and skill. Especially interesting is the interaction between Robin and Cyborg, as Cyborg is the youngest member of the League, and understands where Robin is coming from. I'm also hoping we see some more flashbacks with these two characters together; while Cyborg gained a lot in the New 52 continuity by becoming a founding member of the Justice League, I feel he lost the connections he had to his old friends, and that has weakened the character. To see him working with Dick Grayson, one of his old friends, again, it was a great scene. As the different threats come together, as the League deduces the problem, it turns into a classic battle of brains and brawn against unstoppable odds, a story right out of classic Justice League comics.There are hints that tie it into the current events in Titans, but the issue stands firmly on its own, something I always like to support. And the artist on the issue, Paul Pelletier, is one of my favorite artists; he draws strong, distinct character moments as well as exciting action scenes, and has worked for years on most of the big properties for both DC and Marvel. If you're looking for a palette cleanser from all the big events comics right now, and want something pretty self contained and fun, Justice League #51 is a great choice.

Patsy Walker A.K.A. Hellcat #7
Story: Kate Leth
Art: Brittney L. Williams & Megan Wilson

The new issue of Patsy Walker A.K.A. Hellcat feels like the calm before the storm, the issue that ties up all the treads from the beginning of the series before something momentous happens. For this of you who are more familiar with the Jessica Jones TV series than the comics that feature these characters, Jessica's BFF in the comics is not Patricia "Patsy" ("Trish") Walker, but is Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel. I have to assume because of the movie in development, Marvel didn't want to introduce Carol on the Netflix series, so Trish took her place. This issue features the first full meeting between Patsy and Jessica in comics continuity, as Jessica tries to help Patsy deal with her ex-best friend, Hedy Wolfe and the rights to the old "Patsy and Hedy" comics. We get to spend some time with the entire supporting cast Patsy has built over the series so far: her old friend Tom, her roommate Ian, and of course her lawyer and friend Jen Walters, the super heroine known as She-Hulk. We even get an appearance from Jen's paralegal, Angie Huang, and her pet monkey, Hei Hei, introduced in Charles Soule's wonderful She-Hulk series. It's a charming issue with very little action, and a ton of character, where we get to see who Patsy is and why her friends are so loyal, and why she's so loyal to them. I'm hoping that the appearance by Jessica (as well has her husband, Luke Cage, and their baby, Danielle), will become a regular thing in the series, as it's nice to see the Jones-Cages not fighting for their lives but living as a family. And in the end, things work out for Patsy, and not a single punch is thrown. It's a matter of Jen being smart and Patsy being determined. You reach the end of this issue, and you smile. And I'm glad about that, because Civil War II is not going to be a happy event for Patsy, and it's good to get in a nice win before the darkness descends.

Dan Grote reviews Mavel's political satire, as the God of Mischief decides to run for office...

Vote Loki #1

Story: Christopher Hastings

Art: Langdon Foss and Chris Chuckry

The idea of Loki running for president in the current election cycle feels like low-hanging fruit for Marvel, but in the right hands, said fruit can still be delicious.

Loki’s current iteration as a gender-fluid, morally ambiguous, oddly sexy, de-aged hipster viking (thank you thank you thank you for that turn of phrase, G. Willow Wilson!) has opened up new storytelling possibilities for the character just as much as his portrayal on-screen by Tom Hiddleston.

And writer Christopher Hastings (Gwenpool) and artist Langdon Foss play with all of that as we watch the trickster god thwart an assassination attempt by Hydra on the two leading presidential candidates, then call out said candidates for being liars while at the same time saying, “America, if I were your president, I’d have the guts to lie right to your face. And you’d love it.”

This on-air soundbite turns Loki into a media darling, complete with “Saturday Night Live” sketches, memes and interviews with J. Jonah Jameson.

Watching all this with a cocked eyebrow is Nisa Contreras, a journalist who as a child lost her home in a battle between the Avengers and Loki, then watched as New York’s then-governor funneled money donated by Tony Stark for rebuilding into his own re-election fund.

Nisa investigates Loki, who agrees to let her follow his exploratory campaign in a bid to win her over. But she can’t tell what power play Loki is making until after she files her story, which her Loki-enthralled editor rewrites into a positive piece that gives big L the juice he needs to formally announce his campaign. This brings Nisa some unwanted attention at issue’s end from a special guest star with skin in the Loki game.

There’s some great little moments in this issue that play with the Loki mythos. At one point, he takes a female form – still with horned helmet – because he thinks it might help him poll better with women. When Jameson questions Loki about his citizenship, he explains that his current incarnation – Asgardians die and are reborn in cycles – was born in the tiny town of Accident, Maryland. Oh, and his polling employees may all be doomsday cultists.

Vote Loki probably won’t make you feel any better about the actual presidential election, but it will at least scratch any itches you have for political satire this summer.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 6/1

Batman: Rebirth #1
Story: Tom King & Scott Snyder
Art: Mikel Janin & June Chung

The whole DC Universe is, well, being born again with Rebirth, and so it's time to reset that Batman status quo back to closer to, well, status quo in Batman: Rebirth. There's a passing of the creative baton, as this issue is co-written by Scott Snyder, who has been writing Batman for the past fifty-plus issues and new series writer Tom King. The issue ties up a bunch of plot threads, including fixing Bruce Wayne's issues with his fortune and exactly how Duke Thomas, late of We Are Robin and a semi-regular part of Snyder's run since the "Zero Year" storyline, will fit into the series moving forward. While there's a lot of table setting for the future, and tying up of plot threads from the previous run, we also get a solid done in one story that reintroduces a "classic" Batman foe, the Calendar Man. I use the quotes because the original version of Calendar Man has been mostly forgotten, and the version that most people know is the version from Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory. But as with many of the other villains that Snyder re-introduced in his run on Batman, he's added a little bit to the mythos, adding a supernatural or metahuman angle, where Calendar Man changes with the seasons, dying in winter and being reborn in spring, becoming a better version of himself each time. Batman is working to find a way to stop Calendar Man's new mad scheme, where a device is speeding up the seasons, allowing not just Calendar Man's cycle to speed up, but to release deadly spoors on Gotham in the "spring" which would be week's end. It's a crazy super science plot, but that makes it cool to me; it's not grounded in some grim, gritty reality, but it superhero comics at their best. It also does something that I love with Batman: he pushes the limits of what a human is supposed to be able to do. It's not ridiculous, superhuman stuff, but a man who is pushing himself beyond what any human has done because it's what he needs to do to save his city. That's what makes Batman an optimistic character in my mind: he does what he does because he needs to save his city. The art by Mikel Janin is extraordinary, gorgeous and fluid, and is a step up from his already impressive work on Grayson. Seriously, DC, you need to get this man on a Batman book again, and you need to do it soon. If the Rebirth one-shots are designed to get readers excited about the new direction for the DC titles, Batman: Rebirth does a great job.

Buffy: The High School Years- Freaks & Geeks
Story: Faith Erin Hicks
Art: Yishan Li & Rod Espinosa w/ Tony Galvan

There have been plenty of Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, from the  original series that ran concurrently with the series to the recent series that continue the TV series for three more seasons. I know many fans who are of mixed feeling about those later seasons, so this, the first in a series of original graphic novels set during seasons 1 & 2 of the TV series, is for them. This story feels right out of the first season of Buffy, as a matter of fact, since she doesn't know about Angel being a vampire yet, it's easy to squeeze it into the timeline. The story sees a Buffy, who is new to Sunnydale and her friends, is coming to terms with her status as more of an outcast and not the popular girl she was before she moved to Sunnydale. The antagonists are a group of four recently turned vampires, who were geeks before they were sired, and thought they'd be cool now that they were undead, but instead are simply geeks in the vampire set. And when they're told that the way to get in with the vamp set would be to kill the Slayer, well, they set out to do it. And since I said this takes place during season one of Buffy and the comic is now in season ten, you can guess who wins. Still, it's interesting to see the vampires call Buffy out on being a bully, as they're used to the pretty girls picking on them, and see how Buffy reacts to it. It embraces ll the angst that made those early seasons of Buffy classics. You can hear the dialogue in the voices of the actors it's so spot on. And while the story embraces the unlimited budget of comics to produce a spell and a creature that would be difficult on a TV show's budget, it doesn't let that fact drown out the character driven nature of the best Buffy stories. I've enjoyed the comic universe of recent Buffy stories, but there's something nice about returning to these early years, when the most Buffy had to worry about was failing a test and the occasional apocalypse.

The Shadow: The Death of Margo Lane #1
Story & Art: Matt Wagner
Colors: Brennan Wagner

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow clearly does. Matt Wagner has a history with the Shadow, the mystery man who is a direct spiritual ancestor to Batman; he wrote Shadow: Year One and wrote and drew the crossover between the Shadow and his own creation, the assassin/mob boss Grendel. This is the first full length story starring the Shadow written and drawn by Matt Wagner, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Wagner has a wonderful sense of the period these stories are set in, and the look of the buildings, the design work, and the costumes are all absolutely gorgeous. As with his other Shadow stories, this one is narrated by Margo Lane, the Shadow's romantic partner and one of his many agents in crime fighting, and sees the shadow in conflict with a new boss of the Tongs of Chinatown, the Red Empress. The Shadow's investigations lead him not just to the streets of New York, but to China itself, and then back, If you've never read the Shadow, or are unfamiliar with his world, this first issue does a great job of catching you up, introducing you to his powers, his allies, and his methods. It reads like a pulp, packed with narration and exotic locations, crooks and heroes, reporter and cops, everything you expect from a '30s crime story. As a story narrated in the past tense by Margo, I'm not sure exactly how the title and Margo's seeming death will play in unless she's narrating from beyond the grave, but we'll see as the series progresses. A good Shadow story is filled with crime, shocks, and a touch of the macabre, and this issue has all of that in spades.


And Dan Grote's back with a review this week, reviewing Deadpool #13, a four part crossover in one book...

Deadpool #13/Daredevil #7.1/Power Man and Iron Fist #4.1/Deadpool #13.1

Story: Gerry Duggan, Charles Soule and David Walker

Art: Jacopo Camagni, Guillermo Sanna, Elmo Bondoc, Paco Diaz

Colors: Veronica Gandini, Mat Lopes, Nolan Woodard and Israel Silva

Deadpool teaming up with a hero who can’t stand him is a time-honored tradition dating to his work with Banshee in 1994’s “Sins of the Past” miniseries. This issue, which is actually a four-part crossover in one $9.99 floppy, teams the worst Avenger with Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist – none of whom has any lost love for him – to protect a Wall Street investor wanted by multiple mobs and some of the more crooked parts of the NYPD.

So yeah, it’s kind of like “The Other Guys,” one of the better Will Ferrell/Adam McKay movies.

It’s also a spiritual sequel of sorts to the Daredevil/Deadpool ’97 annual, which saw the Man without Fear and the Merc with a Mouth team up for the first time to stop the mentally unstable assassin Typhoid Mary.

Duggan, who writes the first and fourth parts of this intrabook crossover, doesn’t often lean on the work of previous Deadpool scribes. His run has done an amazing job of building Wade Wilson’s world and rich history on its own. But in this issue, he revisits the relationship between Deadpool and Mary built early on in Joe Kelly’s run and says, flat out, what we’ve all been thinking for 20 years.

Typhoid Mary raped Deadpool.

“It was truly one of the worst experiences of my life,” Wade recounts of the time Mary used an image inducer to pose as Wade’s crush of the time, the X-Force member Siryn. “And that’s saying something, if you’ve read my Handbook entry.”

This time around, Mary is working for the Russian mob, one of the parties who wants investor Marvin Shirkley dead for losing their money. Shirkley hires Deadpool for protection, and Wade agrees to take his case, seeing it as an opportunity to work out his Mary issues. Deadpool takes Marvin to the district attorney’s office – specifically, the broken elevator-turned-office of Assistant District Attorney Matt Murdock – for protection, but that idea falls apart once Deadpool realizes the key piece of evidence they need to protect Marvin, the laptop Marvin gave him containing information on all his clients, he threw in the trash because it didn’t fit in his safe.

And so, with a host of Russian, Japanese and other mob nasties coming for them, Deadpool, Shirkley and the Heroes for Hire spend a day in a New York landfill trying to find the laptop. When the goon squad finally shows, the sanitation workers help the heroes repel them, only after which does a truck roll in with the laptop safe and sound. And after one last fight, Mary is locked away in a SHIELD facility where she can get care for her dissociative identity disorder, courtesy of an ever-softening Wade and his life-model decoy SHIELD friend, Agent Emily Preston.

Oh, and there’s a framing sequence in which Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich tries to figure out how to report all this and gives up, but it doesn’t really affect the story at all.

Had this been an actual four-part crossover, you would have paid almost $20 to collect ‘em all. So while 10 bucks for one book is certainly steep, you are getting one solid, self-contained, quadruple-sized story out of it. And a lot of jokes about being blind.

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.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 4/20

Criminal 10th Anniversary Special
Story: Ed Brubaker
Art: Sean Phillips & Elizabeth Breitweiser

The world of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's Criminal is not a world for children, either to read or to live in. It's a world where the good and the innocent alike are likely to wind up dead, and where the innocent are few and far between. For the tenth anniversary of the series debut, this double sized one shot revisits the series two most popular characters, Tracy Lawless, the soldier turned hitman, and his petty crook father, Teeg. Set in 1979, the stories from this era usually focus on Teeg, but this is a Tracy story, narrated by a young Tracy as his father takes him on a road trip. Of course, being Teeg Lawless, this road trip has to do with Teeg hunting for a criminal associate, and he's bringing Tracy along because cops will look less at a father and son together than a man travelling alone. And while there's crime in the story,it's mostly off panel. The story instead is of Tracy left alone as his father hunts his cohort, and Tracy making a friend. This sounds like a simple enough story for a twelve year old, but there's nothing simple about Tracy. His father has forbidden him to make friends, after all, because that could get them remembered. But Tracy meets a friendless girl named Gabby, probably a little too smart for her own good, and they develop a friendship. It's a coming of age story in the style of Stand By Me, as Tracy and Gabby just act like kids, which you get the immediate impression is not something Tracy gets to do much of at all (and if you've read other Criminal stories about the Lawless family, you know it for sure). But in the end Tracy learns the hard lesson that just being good isn't enough to survive in his father's world, and he makes the hard choice to protect his one friend, and any innocence he might have had left is gone. Every time I think Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser can't get any better as an art team, a new series or story comes out, and I'm blown away. The sheer pathos of Tracy as he rejects Gabby is one of the most emotional scenes I've seen in a long while, and the fact that the kids look like kids, not just small adults, a flaw in a lot of comic art, is impressive as all hell.

As with the last Criminal special, this issue has interspersed in it pages from an in-universe comic. And while the previous comic was a Savage Sword of Conan knock off, this one is a combination of horror and the 70s Kung-Fu craze, "Fang, The Kung-Fu Werewolf." Let me just go on the record as sayong that, if the Brubaker/Phillips/Breitweiser team wanted to do a full on Fang comic for an issue or two, I would be all over it. And also as with the previous Criminal special, this issue comes in both a standard comic and magazine sized format, and while either is a fine, the magazine is such a great package, I would highly recommend it for all readers to pick it up that way.

Divinity II #1
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: Trevor Hairsine, Ryan Winn, & David Baron

Valiant's first Divinity was the first series from the new Valiant to star a new character, Abram Adams, the Russian cosmonaut sent out into deep space during the height of the Cold War to return decade later with god-like powers. The sequel picks up a thread left hanging by the last series: what became of the other two cosmonauts that traveled into space with Adams? This opening issue of the new Divinity series follows Valentina Volkov, one of the remaining cosmonauts and a loyal Soviet. Volkov was a street kid who was taken off the street and raised by a doctor, a man who truly believed that the Soviet system was the best. The story moves back and forth between Valentina on Earth before leaving and her and Kazmir, the third cosmonaut, trapped on the Unknown, the strange world that transformed Adams. We see how loyal to the Soviet state Valentina was, not just in the flashbacks but on the Unknown, where Kazmir tells her he loves her and she shrugs it off, possibly the only person she will ever see again, because it is against the program they were in to develop attachments. And when she removes her helmet and is transformed as Adams was, she mercilessly kills Kazmir to power the pod that will return her to Earth because that's what she must do for the State. Valentina isn't evil; it would be easier if she was. What she is is a true believer,and in many ways that is more dangerous. As she returns to Earth and receives the radio and television signals beamed into space that tel the story of the fall of Soviet Russia, she returns home and goes immediately to Vladimir Putin, who clearly is ready to set her loose on the world. The issue is dense with history and symbolism, as "Little Myshka, " Little Mouse, the endearment that Valentina's adoptive father used and the one Putin knows, the mouse they experimented on to make the perfect Soviet, is prepared to head off and once more help the USSR to rise, or so it seems. Trevor Hairsine's art is gorgeous, both in the realistic and gritty world of the Soviet Union and the amazing foreign landscapes of the Unknown. Valiant has done a great job with their self-contained four issue mini-series, making them easily accessible; everything you need to know from the original Divinity is summed up straight away in this issue, so Divinity II would be a great place to try out Valiant if you haven't yet.

Harley's Little Black Book #3
Story: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Joseph Michael Linsnner & Hi-Fi

If the Harley Quinn monthly is a fun comic, Harley's Little Black Book, Harley's bi-monthly team-up book, takes everything that makes the monthly great and amps it up to eleven. It's a broad, kooky comic, and this issue has Harley meeting Zatanna as the magician comes to perform at the club that is in Harley's building to get away from the magical chaos of her superhero life, while Harley has guests, the London based super team she met back in issue one. But things aren't that simple, as a trio of ghosts, trapped on the Coney Island boardwalk, wind up taking up residence in Harley's building to avoid a ghost-demon that is hunting them. Zatanna agrees to help the ghosts stop their tormenter, and we learn that Harley can see ghosts for an as yet unexplained reason. The story continues with Harley and Zatanna travelling into the afterlife to find the ghost-demon who is hunting the spirits, and to find the demon who cursed him to stop the whole thing. It's a clever, fun superhero story, made all the better by Jospeh Michael Linsner's art. A famed "good girl" artoist of the '90s, Linsner is best known for having created Dawn, but his work here is lovely. Not only does he draw a stunning Zatanna and Harley, but his demons and monsters are also great, creepy and slithery or demonic. There's a funny gag with the demon behind the whole thing, a name that comes out to the fore with Ztanna's backwards speaking magic. And as a real plus, Zatanna is back in her traditional costume! A comic with magic, comedy, and bunnies hopping around. What more could you ask for?

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files: Wild Card #1
Story: Jim Butcher & Mark Powers
Art: Carlos Gomez & Mohan

As the wait for Peace Talks, the new Dresden Files novel, stretches out, it's the short stories and original comics that are keeping me sane. The new mini-series, Wild Card is set deep in the thick of the novels, at the height of wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden's powers and friendships, with most of his staunchest allies at his side: his apprentice, Molly; his brother, Thomas; his friend at the M.E.'s office, Waldo Butters; and his police contact; Sgt. Murphy. The exact timeline seems to place it after the events of the novel White Night and the last comic mini-series, Down Town, and before my favorite Dresden Novel to date, Small Favor. One thing the comics can do that the first person narrated novels can't is show things that Harry doesn't see, as this mini-series begins with two women fleeing some sort of supernatural threat that seemingly removes their souls. This seeming is made more evident when Harry, Murph, and Molly go to the morgue where Butters shows them the perfect corpses left behind with no cause of death, Harry begins his investigation with the first soul sucking monsters he can think of, the succubi and inccubi of the White Court of Vampires, of which his brother Thomas is one. The set-up allows readers not familiar with the books to get a feel for Harry and his friends and family as we see Molly's growing skills as a wizard, Harry and Thomas's brotherly affection (and through that, details of the White Court), and Harry and Murphy's sometimes strained relationship, although they are the best of friends in the end, always, which I hope we get to see as well. There's also a great scene with Harry and Molly talking about power and the right and wrong ways to use it, a central theme of the Dresden Files novels. Artist Carlos Gomez has drawn the last handful of Dresden related comics, and his feel for the characters has grown with each one, and the characters are resembling Jim Butcher's descriptions more and more. I'm also very excited for this story because I've read about the series in an interview and known the identity of the big bad, the threat who de-souled the women at the beginning of the issue and attacked a police office in the middle, and it's a character from myth and story I've been waiting to see appear in the Dresdenverse since the Faeries became a major presence back in book four, Summer Knight. I won't say the name here, but, well, lord what fools these mortals be (a little hint if you know your Shakespeare). The Dresden Files universe is rick with story, myth, and character, and these original comics do a great job of telling smaller stories of the adventures of Harry Dresden.

And Dan Grote reviews the new special about everyone's favorite Luchador rooster...

Chew: Demon Chicken Poyo

Story by John Layman

Art by Rob Guillory

First, he saved an English village from a mad scientist making it rain livestock. Then, he freed a faraway fantasy realm from the tyranny of mutant vegetables and was crowned king. He also did a bunch of awesome stuff in between.

Now, after having his neck snapped, everyone’s favorite cybernetic luchador rooster assassin (and all-around badass motherf$&#@%g bird) has taken his rightful place as a lord of hell.

As John Layman and Rob Guillory wind down their amazing, hysterical Image series, they’ve given us one last one-shot featuring Poyo, the poultry-turned-psycho government agent who steals fans’ hearts a little more with each successive two-page spread of him fighting some equally ridiculous monster animal or vegetable (Pengthulu remains my favorite, but this issue’s two-pager against Galaxseal is another feast for the eyes).

In his latest adventure, Poyo stars in his own Christmas-themed children’s tale, in which he takes down a disgruntled Santa Claus and his Seussical henchman, the Grumpass, after Santa declares war on Christmas and breaks the hearts of the children of Blun, as a narrator details Poyo’s adventures in not-necessarily-always-rhyming couplets.

But this children’s tale is a distraction from the framing sequence, in which a priest attempts to exorcise a little girl possessed by an ancient Sumerian demon and of the ability to vomit pea soup with firehose-like force. Poyo arrives in this sequence as well to mete out justice and generally be awesome.

But as always, Poyo disappears to his next adventure before he can be properly thanked for saving the day via ultraviolence.

And also as always, Rob Guillory’s art is a sick delight, brightly colored but with the gross details of John Kricfalusi animation. No one in Chew is attractive, even the people who theoretically are supposed to be. And how could they be with all the vomit and blood and missing limbs and gross food-based powers?

I’m behind on the trades – the last thing I read was Detective Colby snapping Poyo’s neck in issue #45 – so I think a key plot point from the series may have been spoiled for me, but if you just want to read a story about a robot rooster killing all manner of creature with gleeful abandon, well, really, you don’t have any other options.

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.