Simply Super, Superman

Up here in the North-east, I either pick up new comics on my very sporadic trips to FP in Aberdeen or Heroes For Sale in Inverness. That shop doesn't carry very much new stock since there doesn't seem to be demand for it. This time round, I'm going to talk about the purchases I made when I went through yesterday to see some Chekov at lunchtime in the Ironworks.

 In 1972, I was a nine-year-old, who had been following the King's psychedelic Fourth World tetralogy in the usual, scattershot Thorpe and Porter style in newsagents across Strathaven, Calderwood and Galston. I got my first pocket-money  issue of the creepy Demon in Baird's on Kirk Street in Strathaven. It seemed taboo and adult since I had no idea it was Kirby's take on classic Universal monster movies. I subsequently picked up any issue I could find. Then, like so many Kirby Komics, it was cancelled.
The Demon was revitalised in the mid-80s by Alan Moore in the unsettling Saga of the Swamp Thing, where Etrigan displayed a fondness for iambic pentameter, which, under the pen of other writer,. became more gratuitous than his demonic vengeance. However, I quickly gave up on the 2005-06 Blood of the Demon series because of the gross-out horror and John Byrne's penchant for sadism and torture.

Demon Knights is my first, direct exposure to the New 52 direction at DC Comics and is written by former Action , Captain Britain and Dr. Who author, Paul Cornell. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it very much: the artwork was confusing and distracting and I found the use of "adult language" tiresome. "My arse"; "bollocks"; "my cods" ;" a bit of rough" all seemed to be an ugly and faintly desperate attempt to co-opt the Deadwood approach of making history seem sexy with swearing. Cornell's misunderstanding of The Demon concept was also terribly disappointing. Etrigan is a demon possessed by a man and not the other way round. On a positive note, the "team" is interesting and drawn from the rich stable of DC's past: immortal Golden Age villain Vandal Savage, Grant Morrison's cross-dressing Shining Knight from the Seven Soldiers project and an Amazon from Paradise Island.The villain is long-time Legion and JSA antagonist Mordru the Merciless.
I was strongly reminded of Cornell's Dr Who novel The Shadows of Avalon (2000) with its Silurian reptile men and High Fantasy setting but the Magnificent Seven premise doesn't strike me as having the legs for a continuing series. I think I'll wait to read the remaining issues as a library edition when it no doubt wins awards for being "daring".

 Batman Inc. issue 8 is a contemporary homage to the 1990 graphic novel Digital Justice and also to the movie Tron. I'm not of the generation who would enjoy it best but I know it's a visually striking comic book. The image of Oracle's cycle soaring across hallucinatory information landscapes only highlights DC's retrogressive step in reviving the Silver and Bronze Age Batgirl, iconic as she was.

Moon Knight by Bendis and Maleev is a breathtakingly impressionistic comic, full of spectral shots of the eponymous schizoid Avenger.Unfortunately, this urban noir moves at a snail's pace. I would have hoped by now that the identity of LA's mystery crimelord would have been uncovered (I still hope it's Baron Brimstone).

 Under the pencil of veteran iconoclast Neal Adams, New Avengers is, visually, one of the most exciting Marvel Comics I've seen in a while. Granted, I was a little confused by some of the images and turned off by others: a brutish, apelike Wolverine; Iron Fist propelling himself through the air (can he do that now?); and the slightly queasy drawing of the female with the octopoidal head. Nonetheless, this Point One issue focusing on the prison break of messianic fruitcake Norman Osborn was a primer for modern superhero comics. Even second-stringer Ms. Marvel was dynamic here.
So, two out of four is a fairly good result.

Finally, another ebay win: JLA 155 from June of 1978. We're only a few months away from the infamous DC Implosion,  You're the One that I Want from Grease is Number One for what feels like the whole summer  The Top Thirty is an evocative mixture of Disco, New wave, Europop and Metal: AC/DC , Black Sabbath, Miss You by the Stones, Presence Dear by Blondie, Don't Fear The Reaper, Man With The Child In His Eyes, Dancing In The City by Marshall Hain and for fans of David Tennant's Doctor, Do It Do It Again by Raffaella Carra. Ian Botham is a huge sporting star and Ally's Army infamously head to the Argentine. We were a few weeks away from our first holiday in Morecambe. The Celestial Madonna Saga was moving in a modern, decompressed way through reprints in the UK Spider-Man weekly.
Here's a few images of other comics on sale that month:

 That's one of my favourite Claremont/Byrne team-ups

 These two sad Marvel knock-offs show I would buy anything in the Bronze Age

 That Legion issue holds a special place in my affections. Not only did it introduce the Jed Rikane iteration of Power Boy (still not a Legionnaire!) it also had a text feature on the other heroes of the 30th Century, most of whom I'd never seen at that point: Quantum Queen's team the Wanderers (who sounded amazing), the Heroes of Lallor and Questar. That's the kind of lore that is hardwired into the brains of LSH fans. I can still picture myself leafing through it in Baxter's Coffee House.


Superman the Movie wouldn't appear for a few months yet but he's a major star in this issue of JLA. ("You sound so..confident!" gushes the Man of Steel's insecure android team mate)  "Under The Moons of Earth" references ERB and is a fanciful disaster tale with the re-appearance of Earth's second moon tapping into the 70s fad for Velikovsky's cosmic catastrophes . There are some charmingly goofy Dick Dillin aliens and an affecting scene betwen the Darknight Detective and the android Red Tornado.

The League stands!

Next: The Boy From New York City
The Legal Bit: All images are presumed copyright of their respective owners.