The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2051: Lady Death: Mischief Night #1, November 2001

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I read a little bit of Avengelyne a while back, and noted the fact that, like Chaos!, Avatar seems to publish it's characters ongoing adventures as a series of discrete series, rather than as a single, continuing piece. I think that it must be a marketing thing, though I suppose it also gives a chance for creators to keep on schedule with breaks between each series.

Today's issue throws a bit of a wrench in the works, though. Set between the events of the Alive and Last Rites series, Lady Death has an adventure involving Sarah, the young woman she rescues in Alive, and who returns to her everyday life in the Last Rites series. According to today's issue, Sarah manifests an entity called Shriek who attempts to spread and/or quell fear - it was a bit unclear. However, in the first issue of Last Rites, there's absolutely no mention of this event, only that Sarah needs to return to her family. Both were written by John Ostrander, and both were published not too distantly from one another, so it just seems to be sloppy writing to not mention the previous/subsequent adventure (chronologically versus publication, that is.)

That said, I quite liked today's story. As Sarah is a teenager, when she turns into Shriek she is, unlike every other Chaos! lady, actually completely clad in a costume and her breasts aren't the size of her head. It was a nice change. There was some interesting philosophical stuff about death being the source of all fear that I really think could have been addressed a bit more fully, but as this was meant as a holiday-themed one-shot I can understand why it wouldn't have gone that route. I'm curious to see if the earlier Lady Death stuff deals with that fear, or if it's only after the main character becomes mortal again that we start to see some consideration of what death, and Lady Death, mean to finite creatures like ourselves.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts

I really ought to go back and tag the rest, but here's some other holiday-themed comics I've reviewed. Surely there must be more out there than just Christmas stuff, though.

And another take on Death, famously, appears in Star*Reach #1.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1332: Superman (2018) #4, December 2018

I actually don't have much to say about today's comic. There's a nice little interaction between Clark and Jax-Ur, but aside from that it's pretty much all battle and action. The solution to the Earth's presence in the Phantom Zone is very cool, and the ramifications of what it leaves behind will undoubtedly unfold next issue..

...but we won't be here to see it. Tomorrow's issue of Supergirl officially gets me up to date with the Super-titles, so I'll be moving on to something else.

I will say this of the new Superman series - I'm not a huge fan. I'm willing to see what he does with the next story arc, but Action is by far the superior of the two.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1329: Superman (2018) #3, November 2018

I like a good, extended storyline every bit as much as the next person.

But Earth has been in the Phantom Zone for 2 issues and one page, and it's starting to feel less urgent. More and more in this issue we hear about the ramifications of the Earth being in the Phantom Zone, but we're not seeing much of it. I guess that's one thing that you have to be careful with in these sorts of situations. Yes, the Earth in the Phantom Zone is a great idea, but you're not really going to do anything with any lasting ramifications for the planet because that fundamentally alters the landscape of the shared universe.

Now, it can be done. In the 80s, Marvel's New Universe needed a makeover, so the powers that be decided to destroy Pittsburgh, and have the various series react to this event. It worked rather well, though it did turn the New Universe from the world outside our doors to another superhero universe. In the end, shades of Top Ten, New York is populated almost solely by superpowered individuals.

So DC could do it, could allow some massive change to the planet. What if an entire state was lain waste - it might not change things fundamentally, but it would offer a lasting ramification of a story like this one. And that opens up all stories to be high stakes of some sort. Mr. Bendis is a smart writer, so I imagine that there will be some ramifications to this story. I hope there will be. Because if the Earth comes out unscathed, then what was the point of any of this?

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1326: Superman (2018) #2, October 2018

The Earth, it seems, is a magnet for cosmic troubles. Although Superman is aghast at the idea that the Earth is in the Phantom Zone, this is a planet that, off the top of my head I can think of at least two times (JLA: Heaven's Ladder, Superman: The Earth Stealers) it's been stolen and Superman has had to figure things out.

Of course, this is one of the first times we see the effect on the actual planet of it's having been removed from the Sun's orbit. We forget just how much of our life is dependent on the various ways we move, as a planet, through space. The humans in the Justice League start to falter, feeling the effects of a Sun-less existence.

And then, of course, Rogol Zaar comes back. Seriously, Superman cannot catch a break sometimes.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1324: Superman (2018) #1, September 2018

There's a couple of really nice moments in this issue, but it also very much reads like a Bendis story, in that it's only the first chapter and not a whole heck of a lot happens.

Those nice moments are nice, though.

The new Fortress, after Rogol Zaar's destruction of the Arctic-based one, is located in the Bermuda Triangle, a cool spot, and I'm hoping this means that Mr. Bendis will take advantage of the Triangle's strange reputation to give us a cool, weird adventure every now and again. I'm thinking of a dash of House of Leaves in Superman's house might be a very cool thing.

There's also a nice moment between Clark and J'onn, acknowledging this new information that Clark's refugee status, like J'onn's, is a product of war, rather than human error as was previously assumed. And why has no one brought up the fact that Rogol Zaar knew Jor-El? Was it just the readers who heard that? J'onn also proposes an idea to Superman: that he take a much more focussed leadership role for the planet, act as a guide and advisor as humanity makes its way out into the stars. Clark, of course, balks at the idea, but he's got to give it some weight, coming as it does from J'onn.

A nice start to the regular series. We'll pop back over to Action tomorrow and follow the Earth-bound story, leaving this Superman, who, I still think, is a bit in the future from tomorrow's, floating with the Earth in a place that neither of them want to be.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1318: Man of Steel (2018) #1, July 2018

As far as I can tell, this first issue of the new Man of Steel is asking some questions of its audience. It wants us to consider whether we are more Rogol Zaar, the Circle, or, potentially, the Kryptonians. There are two "groups" represented in the story that we are definitely not: the ordinary humans, and Superman. One is pretty much a background feature of the story, and it's really the mythic figures we're more interested in identifying ourselves with in superhero narratives. And we're definitely not Superman, because he's what we want to be, but perhaps can't.

I did get some of the expected great dialogue in today's issue. Mr. Bendis really is very good at that. And the story's nicely structured to offer just enough to intrigue, but not enough that we aren't still guessing the whole way through. Where are Jon and Lois? What did Rogol Zaar have to do with Krypton's destruction? And what does that have to do with Kal's father?

All good questions, and I will admit that it was hard to only read the one issue today, when I've got the whole series sitting up on the coffee table.

But I think, as I read through this time, I'm going to keep that first question in mind - who are we in this story? There's good rationales for all three.

More to come...