Fluit Notes

Naturally Enhanced- The Best of the Hologram, Die-Cut, Glow-in-the-Dark Covers

Jim Shooter said it best in an editorial for Valiant Comics.  He bemoaned the excess of the industry in the early ‘90s when it seemed like all you needed was a cool cover to sell a crappy comic.  He promised his readers that Valiant would never do that.  Of course, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t use a special cover to draw attention to one of their comics.  It just meant they would do their best to make sure that the inside of the comic was as impressive as the outside.

 

And, honestly, some of those comic book exteriors were pretty impressive.  They were eye-catching.  They were beautiful.  They were memorable.  So, in tribute to enhanced comic book covers, here is my list of the most impressive entries from the ‘90s and beyond. 

 

Note: Picture scans may be hard to see due to the high reflective value of the cover.*

 

The Best 3-D Cover: Hero Illustrated #6 (1993)

The first winner isn’t even a comic book.  It’s a magazine about comics.  But it’s a great cover nonetheless.  Hero Illustrated commissioned Alex Ross to paint this luscious recreation of Steve Ditko’s original art for Amazing Fantasy #15.  The image jumps off the page even on the newsstand version.  The special edition 3-D version is simply spectacular. 

 

The Best Acetate Cover: Marvels #2 (1994)

This is simply a great work of art.  There’s the incredible contrast between the beautiful angel soaring into the air and the angry mob beneath him.  And then, Marvel gave the art a great cover enhancement.  The acetate cover provides protection, plus it allows the viewer to see the art unencumbered by the cover copy and the logo.  Simply beautiful.  The first issue, featuring the original Human Torch, is stunning as well and could have just as easily taken home this award.

Honorable Mention: Wizard Ace Edition #4: Madman #1 (1996)

I discounted this cover somewhat because it was commissioned for a reprint, four years after the original issue.  But there’s no denying that the cover itself is incredible.  Mike Allred has fun with an infinity cover, with Madman sitting in front of a barbershop mirror.  And the acetate overlay only adds to the effect, as the top image can be peeled away leaving only the reflections.

 

The Best Chromium Cover: Wildcats #25 (1995)

This was by far the most difficult category to determine.  There were simply too many great entries.  Mike Deodato’s cover for Avengers: The Crossing.  Chris Bachalo’s Steampunk #1.  And all of those great Valiant #0s and #1s by artists like Joe Quesada, Bart Sears and Barry Windsor-Smith.   But the best of the bunch is Travis Charest’s cover for Wildcats #25.  It’s such a great use of negative space, and the chromium makes it look even better.  Majestic, towering over the rest of the team, looks- well- majestic.  And the other ‘Cats look cool, hanging out on a classic car. 

 

The Best Die-Cut Cover: Wolverine #50 (1992)

You can’t just cut a hole out of a cover and call it good.  The thing that makes a good die-cut cover is a good cover concept.  And Wolverine #50 is a great cover concept.  The comic book is designed to look like a manila folder.  It’s marked “Top Secret” and it supposedly contains all of the secrets of the Weapon X program.  And then, it’s slashed through the middle with Wolverine claw marks, revealing pictures underneath and some of the secrets contained within.  This cover promises answered questions and mysteries revealed. 

 

Honorable Mention: The Punisher Meets Archie (1994)

Kudos to Marvel and Archie Comics for coming up with one of the oddest crossovers of all-time.  And kudos to them for giving it a very special die-cut cover.  That’s hilarious. 

 

The Best Embossed Cover: Avengers #363 (1993)

As part of their 30th anniversary, the Avengers celebrated with a series of embossed covers.  They appeared on issues 360, 363, 366 and 369.  I love them all but the best of the bunch is the cover for #363.  It’s just a very simple yet very intense clash between two heroes.  Black Knight swinging his sword down against Captain America who is holding his shield up in defense.  Steve Epting did a great job on the whole series, stripping away backgrounds and focusing on essential, iconic images.

 

The Best Foil Cover: Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species Ashcan (1993)

I had never seen this cover until I started doing research for this project.  Suffice to say, I was blown away.  I love the simplicity.  I love the contrast between beauty and menace.  And I love that Dark Horse went with a blood red color for the foil enhancement.  This is a great, striking cover.  And it helps me understand why Aliens/Predator became such a successful property. 

 

The Best Foil Cover, TPB Division: Age of Apocalypse Gold Editions (1995)

How do you make a small trade paperback into something special?  Simple.  You take the original art from the first issue of a four issue mini-series and transform it into a stunning gold foil cover.  Maybe I’m like Pinky or Stimpy (how do you like those ‘90s references?) and fascinated by shiny objects, but these covers were completely irresistible.

 

The Best Gatefold Cover: X-Men #1 (1991)

You could buy your favorite of four images, three of which featured the X-Men and a fourth which featured Magneto.  Or you could buy one comic which featured all four images in one great fold-out cover.  Yeah, I went with the latter.  The Jim Lee art is powerful.  And watching those images spread out like an accordion was something magical. 

 

The Best Glow-in-the-Dark Cover: Blair Witch Project #1 (1999)

A lot of the glow-in-the-dark covers were pretty much normal covers with extra ink.  They were shiny.  But they weren’t designed to be looked at in the dark.  You can’t make that same claim about the Blair Witch Project.  This was a comic that was meant to be read after dark, in a tent, with a flashlight.  The lights out aspect of the cover seems almost essential to the design.  And it’s a perfect feature for a horror comic based on one the most ground-breaking horror movies of all time.

 

The Best Holofoil Cover: Voltron #1 (2003)

Combining the movement of a hologram and the shininess of chromium, holofoil covers were the technological advance of the new millennium.  Image gave the holofoil treatment to several comics.  But for several of them, the foil gave the cover a weird green glow and the unenhanced cover looked better.  But the Voltron variant, part of the early decade ‘80s cartoon nostalgia boom, used the enhancement to perfection.  The robot looks extra dynamic, as if he really is rocketing through space.

 

The Best Hologram Cover: X-Factor #92 (1993)

The X-Men comics had some great cover concepts for their crossovers.  1993’s Fatal Attractions used a hologram card of a featured character and a wrap-around action cover.  The best of the bunch is Joe Quesada’s cover for X-Factor #92, narrowly beating out Andy Kubert’s cover for X-Men #25.  I just like how Quesada’s cover is stuffed full with action.  And I prefer the fact that the character in the card, Havok, is also in the action scene.  It gives the cover a unified feeling and helps make it a winner. 

 

The Best Lenticular Cover: Superman Forever (1998)

Not every great cover is a great comic.  Case in point: Superman Forever.  This issue was supposed to be the grand finale of the Superman Red/Superman Blue story that had been running through the Superman titles.  Superman was supposed to be getting his powers back.  And, well, he did.  Except we were never actually told how.  He just had them back.  And then he went around visiting people.  All in all, it was a boring non-story.  But I have no complaints about that great Alex Ross “Magic Motion” cover.  It’s the only reason why I haven’t sold my copy.

 

The Best Photo Covers: Angel: Old Friends #3-5 (2006)

Okay, maybe I’m cheating a little by giving this award to three issues rather than one.  Consider it congratulations for the entire mini-series.  Most photo covers are little more than publicity stills or excuses to show pretty women.  But this Angel mini-series broke away from the mold and the result was spectacular.  The first two covers were fairly normal pictures of Angel actor David Boreanaz.  But the third was a wry, extreme close-up.  The fourth had Angel pushed all the way to the right with a second picture inset of the rest of the cast.  And the fifth had a relaxed Andy Hallett as Lorne, looking as cool as Sammy Davis Jr. 

 

The Best Pop-Out Cover: Mighty Magnor Special (1993)

Leave it to Sergio Aragones to poke fun at the comic book industry.  His pop-out cover for Mighty Magnor is an excellent satire of a fandom and an industry that had become obsessed with pristine condition comics.  This cover was one that was designed to be bent.  And Aragones even threw in a picture of a small fan fretting about the fact that he had to buy two copies: one to mangle and one to store.  Come to think of it, in the day and age of officially graded CGC copies, it’s about time someone else came out with a cover that was designed to be defaced.

 

The Best Prism Cover: Fathom: Killian’s Tide (2001)

I’m not sure I know the difference between a prism cover and a holofoil one.  And I’m not alone.  I’ve seen this cover listed as both.  Oh well.  It’s an excuse for another category and another winner.  This cover does a great job of using the reflective surface to highlight important features.  One shiny spot casts an additional shadow on the villain’s face, emphasizing the menace within the story.  The other shiny spot draws attention to the hero’s hand of power. 

 

 Honorable Mention: X-Men #54 (1996)

I discounted this issue because it was a special edition available in limited quantities, rather than a regular cover or even a standard variant.  Yet this is still a great cover.  It takes what had been a fairly boring villain piece and builds it into something remarkable.  I love the way that Onslaught’s powers are sparkling around him.  And I especially love the holographic skull that’s floating inside his armor.  Very creepy and very cool.

 

The Best Sketch Cover: Green Lantern: Rebirth #2 2nd printing (2004)

In 2003 and 2004, DC developed a new tradition: releasing sketch cover variants for comics that went back for multiple printings.  The best of these was the second cover for Green Lantern #2.  The black and white picture contained so much texture.  And DC let just a little bit of green in to highlight the ring in the center.  It was an incredibly striking cover.  I even remember some fans bemoaning the fact that they had bought the first printing because the sketch variant looked so good (and yes, I was one of them).

 

The Best Velvet Cover: Glory #1 (2001)

Here’s an idea I would never have thought of: velvet covers for comic books.  As if velvet Elvis Presley paintings were in need of competition.  And, truthfully, most of the velvet covers are pretty hideous.  They seem like failed attempts to make bad girl characters like Lady Death and Avengelyne even sexier.  But I found one velvet cover worth complimenting.  It’s from Avatar’s release of the Glory series that Alan Moore wrote before the funding for Awesome fell through.  Hey, if anyone deserves a velvet cover, it’s Alan Moore.

 

The Best Virgin Cover: Shi Senryaku #1 Variant (1995)

It’s not that hard to make a virgin cover.  You just have to remove all of the cover copy: the title, the company logo, the bar code and so on.  But it’s significantly more difficult to make a great virgin cover.  The picture has to stand on its own.  It has to look, not like a comic book, but like art.  Of all the virgin covers I’ve seen, I think that this Billy Tucci cover for Shi Senryaku is the best.  It has that fine art sensibility, while also playfully evoking a Duran Duran cover.  It’s the perfect cover for a mini-series that is sometimes deadly serious and sometimes decidedly silly.

 

The Best Wraparound Cover: JLA/Avengers #3 (2003)

JLA/Avengers is overwhelmingly impressive.  George Perez has a habit of making great wrap-around covers.  I love his covers for Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 and Avengers Vol. 3 #1.  But this cover is simply jaw-dropping.  It features every Avenger ever and every single member of the Justice League in its history.  It’s a cover that you can pour over for hours and still be impressed.  Even though it’s grandiose, there’s such incredible attention to detail.  Body postures, character positions, even animals.  I’m almost out of superlatives.  Wow! 

 

 Special Achievement in Crossover Cover Design: The Phalanx Covenant (1994)

I know that I’ve already given a lot of awards to X-Men comics.  So it’s not like I needed to come up with yet another category.  But I really like this cover concept and I think it worked very well on multiple issues.  Each cover had a foil bar down the right side and a picture of a key character just right of center.  Then, there was a big wrap-around cover showing off some of the action from the story inside.  The contrasts are incredible, with Sabretooth seeming to menace Synch (X-Men 36), Banshee apparently screaming at Skin (Uncanny X-Men 317) and Douglock and Forge standing off against one another (X-Factor 106).

 

Honorable Mention: Deathmate Black and Red (1993)

They may have been the new companies, but Image and Valiant came up with a classic design for their intercompany crossover.  The border on the left side and the top make it look like the book had been bound and belonged on a bookshelf.  The cardstock paper only added to that feeling.  The border was usually something special as well- silver foil or a marble print.  The Valiant covers were a little over-crowded but Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld (yes, Rob Liefeld) came up with some strong images featuring the heroes in powerful poses or exciting leaps.

 

Special Achievement in Variant Covers: Gen 13 #1 (1995)

To celebrate its debut as an ongoing series, Gen 13 celebrated with not one, not two, but thirteen different covers.  But it wasn’t just an excuse for thirteen different pin-ups.  The Wildstorm crew had a great time coming up with all kinds of covers.  There were parodies of Rolling Stone, Pulp Fiction and the Brady Bunch.  There were Spider-Man, X-Men and Frank Frazetta homages.  There were even dress-up doll and draw-your-own covers.  Brilliant! 

 

*I borrowed the disclaimer from mycomicshop.com.  I thought it was appropriate and hilarious. 

 

Titans in the Spotlight

The New Teen Titans is the book that made me fall in love with superhero comics- rivaled only by the Uncanny X-Men.  I loved the art and the stories.  I loved the blend of characters.  I loved the relationships: the friendships, the romances and the subtle rivalries.  I loved the balance between the superhero action and their personal lives.  It’s one of the reasons why I’m still a fan of team books today. 

 

Yet one of the marks of Teen Titans, and some of the most memorable stories, are the issues that focused on one member of the team.  They were a true ensemble- no one member was more important than any other.  These spotlight issues illuminated and added to that texture by giving attention, back-story, personality and depth to each member of the team.  Here are some of the most important and memorable issues.

 

Kid Flash (Wally West), New Teen Titans #20 (1982): This is the story- more than any other- that defines Wally West for me.  He’s not the only Titan to appear.  But the story is told from his point-of-view as he writes a letter to his parents back home in Blue Valley.  It’s almost like a kid writing home from summer camp.  Wally, despite all of the things that he has witnessed over the years, maintains his joy and innocence.  And, in contrast to so many other heroes, he has a traditional family who loves and supports him- not just his Uncle Barry (The Flash) and Aunt Iris, but also his parents.  That’s why I reject the later Manhunter story in which Wally’s dad is turned into a villain.  It simply doesn’t fit my conception of Wally as the wholesome, Midwestern boy.  Wally’s character is expertly contrasted here with the villain of the story, the Disruptor, who is desperately trying to win his supervillain father’s approval.  And I love the twist at the end when Kid Flash decides to deliver the letter himself and visit his parents.

 

Raven, Tales of the New Teen Titans #2 (1982): In 1982, DC published a mini-series relating the origins of the newer members of the team.  It was a good set-up.  The team went on a camping trip for group bonding and they ended up telling stories of their past.  So we got to see not only their origin stories but also how those team members felt about their past and how the other Titans’ reacted.  The most impressive, by far, was the issue focused on Raven.  Though we’d had glimpses of her past, this was the first time that those glimpses were woven together into a complete narrative.  We learned of her relationship with her father, the demon Trigon, and of her refuge in Azarath. The remaining Titans were speechless when they learned of everything Raven had experienced.  And this heartbreakingly tragic tale affects me every time I read it as well.

 

Starfire (Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran), New Teen Titans Annual #1 (1982): Okay, this isn’t technically a solo story.  All of the other Titans are here and the Omega Men guest star as well.  But it’s still all about Starfire.  This is the climactic conclusion to a four-part epic against her sister Blackfire.  And Starfire clearly takes center stage, from the first page to the last, including an extended sequence in the middle in which she faces her sister alone.  This is what Kory is all about.  She’s active, in the moment, passionate, emotional, powerful and unbridled.  She is someone who loves deeply- both her family and her friends.  She is someone who feels strongly- her hatred for her sister is as fierce as her love for everyone else.  And those emotions give her strength.  They help her stand against an enemy where another might have fallen.  There are other stories in which Starfire faces Blackfire, including one in which the other Titans aren’t present (in New Teen Titans Vol. II #23) but this issue remains the benchmark that all of the others are trying to reach. 

 

Cyborg (Vic Stone), New Teen Titans #35 and Teen Titans Spotlight #13 (1983 and 1987): Neither of these stories went down in history as Teen Titans classics but, as the two solo stories that feature Cyborg, they reveal a lot about his character.  There are some other striking similarities as well.  In each story, Vic’s girlfriend is kidnapped and Cyborg has to rescue her- Sarah Simms in 1983 and Sarah Charles in 1987.  The differences, however, make it hard to decide which story is better.  The first story includes Changeling and Raven as well as Cyborg.  We get to see more of Vic Stonoe as a teammate and especially his friendship with Gar Logan- one of the great friendships in comic book history.  The later story features the better villain: Two-Face.  While Marv Wolfman tried to contrast the half-human Vic Stone with the fully human yet inhumanly crazed ex-boyfriend Mark, J. Michael Straczynski (yes, a JMS story in 1987) gives us a better contrast with the scarred villain Two-Face. 

 

Robin (Dick Grayson), New Teen Titans #38 (1984): The story may be called “Who Is Donna Troy?” but it’s as much about Dick Grayson as it is about Donna.  After all, he’s the one on the first page- in a Sam Spade silhouette.  There are other solo stories about Dick, but those tend to focus on his relationship with Batman.  This is the story that shows us Dick Grayson as a Titan.  He’s the leader, the one they turn to for answers.  He’s a detective, trained by the best.  He’s also the best friend anyone could ever have, as he shows to Donna.  There are so many great Dick Grayson moments in this story: quietly watching Donna’s reunion with her family while sipping a cup of tea, intimidating a convict into giving him necessary information, giving Donna a gift that moves her to tears.  And, oh yeah, there’s that last page in which he gives Kory a call and asks her out on a date.  He may not be wearing the Nightwing costume (yet) but this is Dick Grayson as his Titans best.

 

Changeling (Gar Logan), Tales of the Teen Titans #55 (1985): I love the wise-crackin’, practical joke playin’ former Beast Boy.  But that’s not the Gar Logan that’s in this story.  Rather, this is the Gar Logan who is still grieving for the death of Terra.  This is a Gar Logan who is hurt and betrayed.  This is a Gar Logan who unintentionally reveals that a lot of his humor is an attempt to get people to like him- not surprising for an orphan who had to struggle so hard to win the affections of his foster father.  And this is a Gar Logan who goes off on his own in an attempt to kill Deathstroke.  It’s not surprising that he doesn’t succeed.  DC isn’t about to turn Changeling into a murderer.  What is surprising is what happens next.  After Changeling fails to kill Deathstroke, Gar Logan tearfully relates his grief to Slade Wilson.  It’s a wonderful release.  Gar couldn’t have been this honest with his friends.  But he could share of himself in this unusual way with someone else who knows what it is like to experience loss.  This issue humanizes both Deathstroke and Changeling.  And while I wouldn’t want Gar to cry in every issue- I would miss the laughs- this is easily one of his most memorable stories.

 

Special Bonus Entries: Speedy and Aqualad!

 

They may not have been part of the official line-up at the time, but Speedy and Aqualad were still part of the Titans family.  Whether it was Aqualad asking the Titans to help defeat the HIVE (starting in Tales of the Teen Titans #45) or Wonder Girl asking Speedy to join her new line-up as they tried to take down Chesire (in New Teen Titans Vol. II #20-21), their guest appearances were always welcome.  After all, they were original Titans.  However, as regular guest stars, Aqualad and Speedy didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities to star in solo stories (though Aqualad was in two issues of Teen Titans Spotlight).  To find their seminal solo stories, we have to look to the Titans resurgence in the late ‘90s. 

 

Tempest (Garth, formerly Aqualad), Tempest #1-4 (beginning in November 1996): A number of Titans were given mini-series over the years- including Arsenal, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Donna Troy- but Garth’s is the best.  It’s even better than the Nightwing mini-series that preceded his ongoing.  The only caveat is that this mini-series spins out of Aquaman rather than the Titans.  But that’s no reason to neglect this great story.  It’s about lost love and new infatuations.  It’s about history and heritage.  It’s about magic and sacrifice.  And yeah, it’s about Garth growing up to become his own hero, including gaining a wide array of magical talents which make him a more formidable opponent.  This story was so good that this image of Garth as Tempest has completely supplanted the image I had of Garth when he and I were both growing up.

 

Arsenal (Roy Harper, formerly Speedy), Batman plus Arsenal #1 (1997): Roy Harper has had a few solo turns but this Devin Grayson story is my favorite.  It’s light-hearted and funny.  There’s a flashback to Roy’s younger days when he was a bit of pest.  In the present, he’s a little bit intimidated by Batman.  He still feels like the little boy who couldn’t do anything right in the eyes of the expert.  But he’s playful about it, cracking jokes with Dick before the team-up and making fun of Batman during it.  Plus, we see that both the fear and the fun belie a deeper relationship as he allows his daughter to refer to him as Uncle Batman at the end.  And, oh yeah, he’s a good enough hero despite his insecurities to hold his own in a team-up with Batman despite competition from Checkmate and a showdown with KGBeast.  

 

And finally…

 

Donna Troy (aka Wonder Girl and Troia), Wonder Woman: Donna Troy (1998): This was the hardest one to decide.  Do I pick “Who Is Wonder Girl?” even though that story was rendered moot by later ret-cons?  Do I go with any of her later origins, some of which were pretty good?  I could have picked her wedding in issue 50 but while that issue captures her loveliness, it doesn’t show her range.  In the end, I chose the best Donna Troy story, even though it wasn’t written during the team’s ‘80s heyday.  This one-shot by Phil Jimenez shows us who Donna Troy is more clearly than any of her many origin stories.  We see her in mourning over the death of her husband and her son, going to church to ask questions of God.  We see her in action, fighting side by side with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel against an old Nazi villain.  In the one story, we see her abilities.  In the other story, we see her hope.  And in both stories, we see her remarkable tenacity and perseverance.  Like many young boys, I was in love with Donna Troy.  This issue gives us a grown-up Donna Troy, who is no less lovable.

 

The End.

 

Assorted Batman Stories from the Past 28 Years

Last month, I looked at my collection of Superman comics.  I had so much fun writing about the not-quite random assortment of Superman stories and titles that I thought I’d do it again with Batman.  Once again, I’ve never been a consistent Batman collector.  I love the character (I once dressed up as Batman for Halloween as a little kid).  But by the time I started buying comics regularly, there were so many Batman titles that it was hard to know where to begin (of course, I didn’t have that problem with the X-Men- I just bought everything).  So here it is: an assortment of Batman stories that have caught my attention over the years.

Detective Comics #500 (March, 1981): I would have bought this out of a back issue box at some point.  I don’t remember exactly when, but I do remember why.  The promise of 7 “special stories.”  The list of prominent creators, including Joe Kubert and Walt Simonson.  The cover with its numerous guest-stars, including Hawkman, Hawkwoman and the Elongated Man.  Happily, the stories between the covers lived up to my expectations.  This issue falls right in the midst of the best of Batman.  Len Wein is one of my favorite writers, in general and on Batman, and this comes near the end of his tenure.  Jim Aparo is one of the artists whose style defines Batman for me.  Having those two as the creative team for the main story was exhilarating.  Everything else- Hawkman by Joe Kubert, Elongated Man by Mike Barr and J.L. Garcia-Lopez- was just icing on the cake.

Batman #436-442 (Aug.-Dec., 1989): Even though I like Batman (as I mentioned in my introductory paragraph), I’m more of a team fan, a Titans fan and a Nightwing fan.  And that pretty much explains why I bought these issues.  The first four are the “Year 3” story by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, re-telling the origin of Dick Grayson as Robin.  The final three are part of the “Lonely Place of Dying” crossover with New Titans in which Bruce and Dick mourn for Jason Todd in their own ways while Tim Drake discovers their secret identities in an attempt to convince them that the world needs a Robin.  It’s great stuff.  I’ve probably re-read this short run more than any other Batman stories. 

Batman: Prodigal (Nov. 1994-Jan. 1995): I’ll admit it: I like Knightfall.  I thought it was a great, epic story.  But I don’t actually own it, as I borrowed it from a friend.  So we skip to this epilogue of a sort.  Dick Grayson was miffed that Bruce had asked Jean-Paul Valley to fill in as Batman instead of him.  So, now, shortly after reclaiming the cowl as his own, Bruce takes an intentional leave of absence so that Dick can have a turn.  It’s not always a great story as it jumps through four titles, with a varied quality among its creative teams.  But, as a Dick Grayson/Nightwing fan, it’s a story that always brings a smile to my face.  And, with contributions by Chuck Dixon and Phil Jimenez, it’s occasionally a very well-told and well-drawn story, too.

Batman: Thrillkiller and Thrillkiller ’62 (1997-98): I love this one.  It’s an Elseworlds story by artist Dan Brereton of Nocturnals fame.  It features a sexy romance between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon as an adult Robin and Batgirl.  It’s a highly stylized noir story.  It’s just really different, and really good.  And the sequel, with Dick as Batman, Barbara as Robin and a gang of Joker ladies as the villains, is even better.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #83, Batman #563, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120, Batman: Day of Judgment (March- November 1999): At this point, you might notice that my Batman collection mirrors my Superman collection.  They both include ‘80s arcs by favorite creators like John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and George Perez.  And they both include ‘90s events, as I dropped in on the titles to see what was going on.  These four issues represent a sampling of the big Batman crossover “No Man’s Land.”   I would have picked up these issues based on their cool covers (the new Batgirl by Tony Harris, Joker by J. Scott Campbell) or because they featured supporting characters like Nightwing and Robin.  I wouldn’t have picked up more because the few issues I did buy were either disappointing or misleading.  For example, the Joker doesn’t actually appear in the issue for which he’s on the cover.  The disappointment was more of a spillover effect because I was annoyed by the way in which Nightwing’s own storylines were being interrupted by the big crossover.  Even so, I kind of like the underlying story with Batman’s supporting cast caught in a modern wasteland, fighting against chaos and anarchy.

Batman #575-581 (March-September 2000): Once again, my Batman collection mirrors my Superman comics.  Only a couple of months after giving the Superman titles their first real chance, I did the same for Batman.  I was drawn in by the creative team of Larry Hama, whose work I had loved on Wolverine, and Scott McDaniel, who had been a star on Nightwing.  They started out with a bunch of done-in-one stories focusing on street level criminals, before moving on to a trilogy against new villain Orca.  I’m not entirely sure why I dropped the series after only half a year, but it’s possible the Orca trilogy had something to do with it.

Batman #655-658 (Sept.-Dec. 2006): And the correlation continues.  As with Superman, I gave the Batman line another chance as part of One Year Later.  This time, the creative team of Grant Morrison, whose work I loved on JLA, and Andy Kubert, whose work I loved on the X-titles, were the draw.  And the opening story, “Batman and Son,” featuring Batman’s son Damian as an annoyingly precocious adolescent, is incredible.  Plus, Morrison brings in Man-Bat as a second villain.  It’s hard to beat that.  And the Kubert art is simply gorgeous. 

Batman #663 (April 2007): I skipped most of the Batman fill-ins.  That’s one difference between my Batman and Superman collections.  But I actually picked up this predominantly prose story by Grant Morrison with illustrations by John Van Fleet.  This is probably the scariest Joker story I’ve ever read, beating even Alan Moore’s “Killing Joke.”  It’s downright creepy. 

Batman #666-669 (July to Nov. 2007): This is the story that broke me from my most recent Batman habit.  I loved the idea of an international gang of Batmen.  I just like international heroes and kooky ideas like this.  But the story fell apart for me somewhere along the way.  I was pretty much confused before it was done.  Grant Morrison is like a mad genius.  Sometimes, he’s genius (see the previous two entries).  Sometimes, he’s mad, as in crazy, and I have a lower tolerance for that than a lot of other readers. 

And that’s an assortment of comics from my Batman collection.  I didn’t mention everything, but that should give you a general idea of what I like and what I’ve bought.  It’s only about half the size of my Superman collection.  For some reason, I’ll try two Superman titles at a time, but only one Batman title.  And I have yet to hit upon a long run of collecting Batman, as I have with Superman over the past couple of years.  Of course, I also have a long run of Batman and the Outsiders.  But that’s another story.

 

Whatever Happened to Rictor and Shatterstar?

In the closing scene of X-Factor #45 (and yes, that’s a spoiler warning if I’ve ever written one), Shatterstar is freed from the mental control of Cortex moments before killing Strong Guy and Rictor.  Emotionally relieved, Rictor and Shatterstar embrace and kiss.  Guido Carosella, aka Strong Guy, reacts by saying, “Uh-kay.  Didn’t see that one coming.”  

Guido may not have seen it coming but the same can’t be said about the fans.  That kiss fulfilled years of sub-text and speculation.  In a recent interview with Comic Book Resources, X-Factor scribe Peter David mentioned that most fans seemed to share the reaction “Finally.”  You can count me in that number, though my reaction was more of a “Yes, finally.”  In honor of that kiss, I’d now like to share my list of the best gay couples and characters in comic books, in no particular order.

 Rictor and Shatterstar (X-Force/X-Factor): They’re finally out of the closet, though Peter David promises the relationship won’t completely define their story.  It’s certainly been a part of their story so far.  Shatterstar was never shown to be interested in women.  Even his arranged marriage was something he honored only as an obligation.  Plus, the loyalty that Ric and ‘Star showed to each other went beyond simple friendship.  There are reasons why fans have been speculating about the two of them as a couple for almost 17 years, since they first met in X-Force #14 (Sept. 1992).

Atom Smasher and Obsidian (Justice League America): The other closeted couple from the early ‘90s.  Gerard Jones toyed with gay themes during his JLA run, having Ice II openly flirt with Fire and playing coy with a potential relationship between Atom Smasher and Obsidian.  However, in the era of “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell,” the relationship was never official and now DC seems to be back-tracking from it.  Obsidian is apparently out of the closet, but Atom Smasher was recently shown to be interested in Star Girl.  That leaves the possibility that the romantic interest was, at the least, one-sided. But I prefer to think that they are both gay and were a couple at the time, whatever the current stance may be.

Mystique and Destiny (X-Men): The mother of all closeted couples.  Mystique and Destiny were shown living together in the early ‘80s.  Chris Claremont left himself plausible deniability- they could have only been roommates- but it seems pretty clear that he meant for their relationship to be more than that.  Mystique, as a shape-shifter, was a natural as a bi-sexual.  And others picked up on the vibe as well.  A later relationship between Mystique and Forge in X-Factor was written in such a way as to highlight Mystique’s former relationship with Destiny. 

Maggie Sawyer (Superman): Arguably the first supporting character to come out of the closet, though DC bent over backwards to avoid using controversial words like “gay” and “lesbian” at the time (1988).  Maggie is the no-nonsense captain of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit.  Over twenty years, she has been known more for her job than her orientation (which I’m sure she would approve of).  She also had a gay partner in the Superman animated series. 

Northstar (Alpha Flight/X-Men): It was big news at the time- “Marvel Comics character comes out of the closet!” It was also derided as a publicity stunt by a good percentage of fans.  Yet I applaud the move, both then and now.  The revelation makes Northstar a richer, deeper character.  It explains some of his bitterness.  And it works very well as a ret-con.  For example, in X-Men/Alpha Flight: The  Gift, Rogue absorbs Northstar’s powers and memories.  When Northstar gets upset with her, Rogue quickly reassures him that she will keep his secret.  The secret was never identified at the time, but it makes sense now.  That scene is more meaningful now than it was when it was first written, nine years before Northstar’s big outing.

Ken Clarkson (X-O Manowar): Ken Clarkson was a back-stabbing jerk who feigned friendship with X-O Manowar while trying to steal Manowar’s company for himself.  He also happened to be gay.  Some fans complained about this negative depiction of an openly gay character.  Jim Shooter responded to the complaints in the letters page of issue 6.  Yes, Ken was gay.  And yes, Ken was a villain.  That didn’t make all gay people villains or all villains gay.  It meant that Ken was as complex a character as any they tried to create at Valiant.  And it showed that gay people are real people, as capable of good or evil, of self-sacrifice or selfishness as anyone else.  By avoiding the clichés and the propaganda, Shooter created one of the most interesting gay characters in comics.

Rick (Static): Rick didn’t come out of the closet until issue 16, but it was part of the series plan since issue 1 (as hinted at in an editorial at the end of the first issue).  Several of Rick’s friends, including Virgil Hawkins (aka Static), had a habit of making gay jokes about Rick.  They called him “the pink prince” while role-playing, and things like that.  When Rick is attacked in issue 16, he tells Static that he was beaten up for being gay.  Static replies, “Because they thought you were gay.”  “No,” Rick replies, “because I am gay.”   Suddenly, Virgil had a choice: betray his friendship or confront his own prejudices.  “What Are Little Boys Made Of?” was a shrewd tale, willingly casting its hero in a bad light in order to shine a brighter light on a serious issue, without becoming overly dogmatic.

Rainmaker (Gen 13): I still remember the revelation.  Roxy was sitting beside the pool, complaining to Sarah that the boys were ignoring her and ogling Fairchild.  Sarah replied by commenting on Fairchild’s fine feminine form, surprising Roxy and the fans alike.  Sarah Rainmaker dismissed Roxy’s surprise with a “What, didn’t you know?”  Sarah was sure of herself and sure of her sexuality- even moreso than the heterosexual characters who were still trying to figure things out.  Unfortunately, she also presaged a trend in which lesbian characters were written more for the, um, enjoyment of young male fans.

Josiah Power (The Power Company): Independent comics had been treating homosexuality as a normal part of life for nearly a decade.  Josiah Power was at the vanguard of a similar, though later, movement at the major publishers.  Josiah Power was a lawyer.  He was a superhuman.  And he had the grand idea of a superhero team modeled along the lines of a law firm- with paying clients and pro bono cases.  And, oh yeah, he also happened to be gay, with a male partner of many years.  It wasn’t treated as a big deal.  There was no shocking revelation scene.  It was simply part of his back-story. 

Anole (New X-Men: Academy X): Anole started out as a background character, literally.  He was a visually interesting character who filled out the student body at Xavier’s School in hallways and group shots.  At first, he didn’t even have a name.  But he was too visually interesting.  He eventually got a name, then a few lines in a couple of scenes, and eventually a place on a school squad.  That squad just happened to be Alpha Squadron, led by Northstar.  When Northstar was killed (don’t worry, he got better), Anole revealed that he looked up to Northstar not just because he was a teacher and a mentor, but also because he was a role model for young gay men like himself. 

Jetman and Wulf (Top Ten): Jetman, the precinct captain, was shown to be gay near the end of the initial Top Ten series.  No big deal, and not especially noteworthy.  He wasn’t even one of the major characters in the series at the time.  At least, not until Alan Moore and Gene Ha came out with The Forty-Niners in 2005.  Though there are supervillains to be defeated and plots to destroy the world to be thwarted, the real story is the meeting and developing relationship of Jetboy and Wulf.  It was the first time I could ever remember a gay romance being the heart of a story.  And it also happened to be an incredibly well-written tale from one of the masters of the field. 

Wiccan and Hulkling (Young Avengers): Until 2005, gay characters could flirt surreptitiously or come out of the closet but they couldn’t date openly (Northstar still hasn’t had an actual boyfriend).  That changed with the introduction of Wiccan and Hulkling, who have been a couple since they were first introduced.  They haven’t broken every taboo (reportedly, they’ve never kissed on panel), but their parents love them and accept them.  Actually, their parents are more worried about the dangers of being a superhero than about their respective son’s sexual orientation.

Batwoman (52/Detective Comics): In some ways, it’s a little early to include Batwoman on this list.  As far as I’m concerned, she’s a cool costume but not yet a character.  Even so, I felt like she deserved a place.  She’s not the sole gay member of a team or part of an ensemble cast.  She’s the star of the book, a solo heroine.  That’s pretty rare.   And that means she’s breaking down barriers, even if we don’t really know what she’s like yet.

So that’s my list of some of the best gay characters and couples in comics.  There are others who didn’t make the list.  Some, I’m sure I simply forgot about it.  But a few, I intentionally left out.  Not every gay character is interesting, not every gay storyline is compelling, and not every gay revelation fits with what was previously known about the character.  So here a few others that I wouldn’t include:

Renee Montoya/The Question (52/Batman): A lot of coming outs seek to redress an imbalance.  Montoya’s coming out created one.  Suddenly, it seemed like every DC cop was gay.  That doesn’t break stereotypes.  It creates and enforces them: “all lady cops are gay.”  Furthermore, part of the idea behind the revelation was to give the new Batwoman a connection to an existing character as Montoya’s former lover.  But the relationship seemed to be shoe-horned in, instead of being the natural outgrowth of Montoya as a character.  It hasn’t added much to either of them: Batwoman could have been introduced just as easily without it and it’s over-shadowed by other, more important, relationships in Renee’s life, including those with former mentors Harvey Bullock and the first Question. 

Karolina and Xavin (Runaways): This relationship has never felt right.  I’m willing to admit that could be intentional on the part of the writers.  Xavin is a shape-shifter and could ostensibly be bisexual.  But it’s clear that he conceives of himself as male considering that’s his default body type and takes a female form mostly to placate Karolina.  As it is, you’re left with the feeling that Katrina is being strung along and lied to.  Again, that could be an intentional character point on behalf of the writers.  Not every relationship is good- straight or gay.  But whether or not it’s intentional, it’s a sufficient reason to dismiss them from any list of the best couples. 

Terry Berg (Green Lantern):  I earlier applauded Jim Shooter for introducing Ken Clarkson and reminding us that “gay people are people, too- good, bad and indifferent.”  I wish more writers would take that view when introducing minority characters- whether they’re gay, Muslim or Puerto Rican.  Instead, too many gay characters are introduced as propaganda pieces: “gay people are good people.”  Judd Winick is particularly guilty of this.  All his gay people are good people; all his heroes are tolerant and understanding; and all his stories on this subject are clearly defined in black and white.  For this reason, I’ve never found Terry Berg to be all that interesting.  He’s not a character, he’s propaganda. 

Celeste Noble and Dawn Blackthorne (Noble Causes): I’m a big Jay Faerber and Noble Causes fan, but I have to admit that I find fault with this relationship.  Celeste had a history of dating men, both before and after this relationship. This affair seemed to be more of a walk on the wild side for her than an actual bisexual relationship.  Admittedly, Jay Faerber addressed those concerns in-story by having Dawn question Celeste on that point.  But it only served to raise questions for the reader, rather than answer them.  Plus, many of the scenes between the two seemed to be more about titillation than tolerance.

And that’s my list.  Agree?  Disagree?  Remember somebody else I missed or forgot?  Feel free to add your own comments.  And, if you’re in the mood, go ahead and pick up the latest issue of X-Factor as a reward to Peter David, Rictor and Shatterstar for getting the discussion going.