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daydreamerdrew · 1 year ago

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Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

Captain America (2005) #22-25 and Captain America 65th Anniversary Special (2006) #1 and Winter Soldier: Winter Kills (2007) #1 and Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America (2007) #1

With these Captain America issues I went from September 2006 to March 2007, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Ed Brubaker. Issues #22-24 were drawn by Mike Perkins and issue #25 was drawn by Steve Epting. The 65th Anniversary Special was written by Ed Brubaker and half drawn by Javier Pulido and half drawn by Marcos Martin, with a 2-page epilogue that was drawn by Mike Perkins. The Winter Kills issue was written by Ed Brubaker, penciled by Lee Weeks and Rick Hoberg, and inked by Lee Weeks, Stefano Gaudiano, and Rick Hoberg. And the Death of Captain America was written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Leinil Francis Yu, and inked by Dave McCaig.

The 65th Anniversary Special told the story of Bucky’s brief romance with a girl during WWII, the one that was referenced in issues #16-17 of the main book. Initially I was a bit dissatisfied with the epilogue, which I thought took for granted the seriousness of that relationship and what they would have become had Bucky survived the war, which I felt the real tragedy was in that these teenagers never had the chance to really pursue a real relationship together, that they only had a day together, and that no one could really know what would have happened between them is the circumstances permitted. In the epilogue Steve says, “He never really talked about her either… But there wasn’t a doubt in my mind where he was going when the war was over.” And Sharon says, “God, that must have been hell… realizing the only you ever loved already grew old without you.” But then I remembered that there’s no mention of the girl in issue #10 of the main book, which explored an alternate universe in which, among other things, Bucky survived WWII, so I can chalk that confidence up to the characters.

In that epilogue Steve also says about Bucky that, “Everything he cared about is dead and buried…” This still reads a little strangely to me when, in contrast to the MCU version, which was my previous primary conception of Bucky, Steve is not the only person Bucky knew during WWII that’s still alive. Bucky’s able to start working for Nick Fury, doing missions that he can feel is having a positive effect, so he has a place in this new world he can slot himself into. In the Winter Kills issue Nick Fury arranges for Bucky meet up with Namor the Sub-Mariner for Christmas Eve. Also in the Winter Kills issue Bucky does a mission for Nick Fury that has him meet and then team-up with some of the Young Avengers, who Nick says might remind Bucky of himself during the war, but who Bucky suggests actually reminded him of Toro, the Human Torch’s kid partner, who was Bucky’s friend. But that doesn’t mean that the parallel between Bucky and the Young Avengers isn’t there, when they realize who he is they make a point to tell him it was an honor to work with him. Initially Bucky had been dismissive of their capabilities but during their team-up he recognizes their skill, though also that they have room to improve. There is a stark difference between them, however, in that Bucky doesn’t have qualms about killing Hydra agents and they’re adamant that they won’t.

Later, in issue #25, Bucky says of his original relationship with Steve, “It took me weeks to get used to the idea that he considered me an equal… a part of the team. But before I realized it, we were like brothers. He was like that sainted can-do-no-wrong big brother. The guy you can’t help but look up to… because you just know you can never be that good…” That Bucky had had this image of Steve as inherently superior to him prior to all for the immoral things he was made to do as the Winter Soldier was interesting to me.

Issue #22 is split between a psychological evaluation of Sharon Carter and flashbacks to the event that prompted the evaluation, that she was tasked with setting a trap for S.H.I.E.L.D. to capture Steve Rogers and that instead she met with him peacefully and gave the other agents a false address. With the way the story is structured it’s a plot twist that she didn’t trick Steve. In the evaluation Sharon openly expresses distress and confusion about her actions. Regarding her hesitance to accept the mission in the first place, the therapist suggests that she didn’t want to betray the man she loves, and Sharon says, “No, that’s… That’s not how it is… See, I live in the military. I live by orders, Doctor… And any good soldier knows that orders come before friendship…” Regarding sending the other agents to the wrong place, Sharon says, “I don’t know why I’m doing half the things I do lately, it feels like.” And that, “When the time came, I just… I couldn’t.” The therapist offers the explanation, “Because you love Steve Rogers?” And Sharon says, “Yes. And I don’t understand that, either… I’m not the kind of person to choose love over duty. I never have been.” She’s even shocked that she told Steve that she loves him. At the end of the story there’s a 2-page prologue that provides another twist, the therapist is Dr. Faustus and is working for the Red Skull and gives the Red Skull the progress report that, “She has no idea the reason she’s fallen so deeply in love with Rogers is because I wished it.”

In issue #25 Sharon reminisces on her relationship with Steve, thinking, “I fell in love almost immediately… Even though I knew our careers would eventually take us down different paths. Even though I knew there’d be pain and tears to come… It was always worth it.” Minutes later she shoots and kills him, though that that was her isn’t revealed until the end of the issue, when she’s forcibly made to remember, which she reacts to with shock, breaking down and repeatedly asking herself, “What did I do?”

I think it’s unfortunate that Steve’s been killed so soon after Bucky has become himself again, they’ve only interacted once since then, but I’m finding this conflict with Sharon really interesting.

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #267-269

Within the main The Incredible Hulk book I went from October 1981 to December 1981, according to the Marvel Wiki. These issues were all written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Sal Buscema.

In the opening scene of issue #267 Betty and Rick are coaxing the Hulk into standing in front of a gamma ray projector so that they can use it to forcibly turn him back into Bruce. The Hulk is hesitant because in his experience machines like this hurt him, but Betty promises that it won’t, which Rick knows isn’t true and assumes Betty does too. The Hulk says, “It is Hulk who wants to be free of Banner! He always haunts Hulk! Whoever Banner appears, Hulk is sent away!” And Betty tells him, “We’d like to set you both free, Hulk! You from Bruce Banner and him from you! And we can do it… with the gamma ray projector!” Meanwhile, Rick is thinking, “What kind of lie are we feeding the big stiff? This gamma framistat’ll free Bruce Banner all right- by bamfing the Hulk outta the picture! But it’s what the Doc wants.” But Betty is surprised when the machine causes the Hulk to cry out in pain, and when Bruce is back in control he explains, “Pain is a price I’m willing to pay, Rick- for a moment, an hour, a day of life without the Hulk!”

At the of the issue Rick Jones, to Betty’s dismay and to no benefit to their group, gets the Hulk amped up, saying, “Take a look at ‘em, Hulk! What are they?” To which the Hulk says, “Puny humans!” And Rick says, “Right! And what do ‘puny humans’ always do to you?” To which the Hulk says, “Hate Hulk! Hound Hulk! Hunt Hulk!” And then Rick says, “You gonna let ‘em do it anymore, Greenskin?” To which the Hulk says, “No! No more! Hulk is going to start doing to puny humans what puny humans to do him!”

In issue #268 Betty and Rick are once again blasting the Hulk with gamma rays so that Bruce can work on trying to cure himself of the Hulk, much to the Hulk’s agony. Betty says, “He wouldn’t cause himself to suffer unless there was no other way.” And Rick responds, “‘Scuse me for making this situation schizophrenic than it already is- but the Doc hates the Hulk! He’d do anything to destroy his great green alter ego- no matter what price he has to pay!” Betty tells him, “It’s Bruce’s decision to make, Rick!” Rick still maintains some private reservations, thinking, “Somehow it doesn’t seem fair to the Hulk! Like, ‘ol Greenskin didn’t ask to be born! He was a creation of Doc Banner’s gamma bomb!” And then, “I mean, I hope the Doc finds the cure he’s searchin’ for- an’ all the happiness that’ll come with it! I only with it didn’t have to mean ending the Hulk’s existence- without even giving the green galoot a chance to say what he thinks about the deal!”

However, later in this issue a villain tries to drain all of the Hulk’s power, which Bruce thinks could cure him of the Hulk, but would also make the villain unstoppable, and Rick says, “What’s the world… ever done for you… except hunt… and hound you! Take the cure, Doc! Let the world… rot!” But Bruce doesn’t want the villain to have the Hulk’s power and says, “And let Pariah destroy everything I hope to be a part of again? No!” At the end of the issue Rick tells the Hulk, “Doc Banner could’ve chucked bein’ the Hulk! He had the chance! But he saw the kind of good only you can do! Maybe now he’ll look for a cure, Hulk, that’ll let you live, too!”

In issue #269 Betty tells Bruce, “Not your rampages, Bruce! The Hulk’s! You’re not the Hulk- you never have been! It’s the Hulk who is a monster! You are the man I’ve loved for years!” And then, “You’re a brilliant scientist! If anyone can find a cure for your condition, it’s you! But you’ll never succeed if you start identifying yourself with the Hulk!” And finally, “You must destroy the Hulk if we’re ever to have a life together!” Rick overhears this conversation and thinks, “Curing Doc Banner was the reason we came out here… but I guess what everyone really meant- and what I didn’t want to understand- was that you can’t cure the one without eliminating the other!” And he concludes, “The Doc’s wrong! Sure, he’s got a right to live- but so does the Hulk! He may not need ol’ Jade Jaws, but the world does!”

The narration questions Rick’s declaration, asking, “But is it the world that needs the Hulk… or Rick Jones who, never having ‘found himself’ in any other field of endeavor, has come to define his life in terms of a sidekick to the Green Goliath?” And at the end of the issue Rick attempts to turn himself into the Hulk and while doing so makes a new declaration, saying, “Let the Doc have his cure! The world’s still gonna have a Hulk!”

The Avengers (1963) #18-20

With this batch of The Avengers issues I went from May 1965 to July 1965, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Stan Lee and penciled by Don Heck. Issues #18-19 were inked by Dick Ayers and issue #19 was inked by Wally Wood.

I read these on a whim. I was surprised by the portrayal of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, in these issues. When Janet van Dyne, the Wasp, was on the team, she was not actually considered full legitimate member in-universe. Her position was compared to that of Rick Jones, Captain America’s powerless boy sidekick, who’d only been training for a short while. For example, in issue #12 Tony as Iron Man raised the idea, regarding Rick, “Why don’t we make his membership in the Avengers official, as the Wasp’s is, by giving him some sort of uniform?” And the role that she played in battles was minimal considering the vast difference between her power level and everyone else’s except for Rick’s. Even in issue #18 Steve talks about how Iron Man, Thor, and Giant-Man left the team, not mentioning the Wasp.

In comparison, there is nothing in these issues that indicates that Wanda is any less of an Avenger than the others. The overall team dynamic is that Captain America is the team leader and both Hawkeye and Quicksilver think that they would be better at it and are competitive with him and each other, while Wanda gets along with Steve and is cooperative with him, but is also loyal to her brother and will defend him against Clint or any villains.

In issue #18 the team goes to Sin-Cong to free the people there from the tyranny of communism. The Commissar captures Wanda and challenges the rest of the team to public one-on-one fights for propaganda purposes, with Wanda’s life as his leverage. The Commissar fights and defeats the rest of the team, but by then Steve has figured out that the Commissar is actually a robot and he says, “There is still the girl! She too is an Avenger! Or do you fear her power?” Steve passes on what he knows to Wanda and during their fight she uses her powers to reveal the subterfuge, to which the people proclaim, “Behold! The communists deceived us! The tyrant was merely a robot!” And Steve explains, “By exposing their deception, we have caused them to lose face! This is the worst fate that can befall them!”

In issue #19 the Swordsman knocks Pietro unconscious and Wanda tells him, “If your cowardly blow has injured my brother you’ll pay dearly for it!” She’s able to swiftly defeat him. In issue #20 the Swordsman hesitates in his own plot against the Avengers, thinking, “I wish I could save the Scarlet Witch! She’s too beautiful to be harmed!”

Fawcett Comics:

the Captain Marvel stories in Whiz Comics (1940) #76 and Captain Marvel Adventures (1941) #63 and The Marvel Family (1945) #3

In this batch of 8 Captain Marvel stories I read the Captain Marvel appearances in July 1946, according to the issue cover dates. These stories ranged from 7 to 10 pages.

the Mary Marvel stories in Wow Comics (1941) #55 and Mary Marvel (1945) #13

In this batch of 4 Mary Marvel stories I read the Mary Marvel solo appearances in June 1947, according to the issue cover dates. These stories ranged from 5 to 8 pages.

#comics read this past week #my posts

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soulofkhal · 1 year ago

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Khal Reads: Green Arrow(1988) by Mike Grell

Discretion: This is my first Green Arrow run so I apologize if certain details already appears in the previous run and I missed it!

The blog isn't dead! The reviews are still coming in. Not sure if there's anyone that's waiting for another random comic review by me but here it goes!

This time, I'll be looking at one of the definitive runs of Green Arrow, the 1988 run written by Mike Grell. The run spans for 76 issues between 1988-1994.

Team:

Writer: Mike Grell

Penciller: Ed Hannigan (1-25), Dan Jurgens (26-33), Rick Hoberg (35-38, 44-60, 63-66, 69-72, 75-76), Denys Cowan (39), Shea Pensa (39, 73-74), Frank Springer (61-68),

Inker: Dick Giordano, Frank Mclaughlin, Bill Wray (35-38), John Nyberg (44-60, 63-66, 69-72, 75-76), Pablo Marcos (61-68)

Colorist: Julia Lacquement

Editor: Mike Gold

TL;DR on why you should or shouldn't read:

Trigger warning: Rape (some issues dealt with rapist and one of the character gets raped)

Pros:

Thrilling stories with full of action. Never a dull moment in this run.

More mystery/thriller/action based stories. We're talking government conspiracies, serial killers, yakuzas, CIA, IRA, and psychopaths (there's a story about a guy who collects tattooed skin, super fun). It's similar in tone to Dennis O' Neill's The Question but more action-y than suspense.

Tons of Dinah-Oliver moment if that's your thing (although their relationship isn't the healthiest in this run).

Stories are often interwoven with social issues such as from anti-draft , ivory trading, human trafficking, etc.

Cons (for me):

Ollie gets raped but the incident were not made to be a big deal nor do we ever get to see Ollie's feelings about the situation properly.

Social issues are often mishandled/clearly being written from a white lens. Some whitesplaining moments as well.

Female characters are mostly there just to fawn over Oliver or become his love interest.

The uncomfortable writing of Shado. There's the dragon lady stereotype sprinkled in with some fetishism while simultaneously not allowing her to be a real subject of attention or desire by the white male protagonist. There's some Grant Morrison Talia treatment in there is all I'm saying

Dinah and Oliver's relationship are relatively toxic imo. Oliver often abandoned and even cheated on Dinah throughout the run (with a girl half his age).

Dinah's role is often relegated as a fanservice for the reader

Oliver kills quite a lot in this run and I know heroes killing criminals could be controversial to people.

My thoughts and full review:

This run takes us to Seattle, where Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Dinah Lance (Black Canary) have just moved. The run chronicles the adventure of (mostly) Oliver and Dinah during their stay in Seattle and occasionally throughout the Globe. Dinah also started her side job as the owner of a flower shop. Throughout this run, we were introduced to a string of side characters such as Shado, an assassin who used to be indebted to the Yakuza that shares a complicated relationship with Oliver and Eddie Fryes, a merc who are often at odds with Oliver

I have..complicated relationship with this run. As mentioned above, there's a lot of things that I love and there's a lot that I don't and I'm going to expand on some of those points below.

(+) The plot

Boring would be the last adjective I'll use to describe this run. It's thrilling, it's melodramatic, and it's suspenseful. You got panels upon panels of our titular hero kicking butt, often with his accomplices. You got the soap opera and the drama between Oliver and the women in his life. It's really fun. As someone who loves thriller and mystery, the first issue already got me hooked. Here, we have Oliver trying to prove that a criminal that is currently under house arrest is still responsible for the kidnapping and torture of several women in the area. The issue ended with Oliver drowning the criminal in his own brewed alcohol. Also, we got cool panels like this one in the run

(+/-) The social issues

In the midst of all of this, we were also served with a plethora of social messages that were apt for the time, a common motif found in comics of this era. The run tackles issues such as race, human trafficking, illegal hunting, military drafts, corrupt government, drug trade and etc. I always love when comics can become a time capsule that reflects the era when it was written and as a medium that could talk about these important messages to its readers. A lot of it works although I do feel like Grell and Gold often hamfisted these message to the plot to the point that some of these issues just felt like an essay and not a proper plot point if that makes sense,

That being said, it's very obvious that a lot of these messages came from the perspective of a white man. One particular issue that stood out for me was in Issue #55 and #56: Justice is Mine, where a cop pins a murder on a convicted serial killer despite knowing that the murder that got this man acquitted was not done by him and the man was later sentenced to death. The catch is that the actual murder was a pimp (since most of the victims were prostitutes) but the thing is, the pimp, JoJo, is a black man, while the serial killer, Harry Gilbert, is a white man. I just think that using a white man being executed in the place of black man feels like an inappropriate symbolism to depict lazy/corrupt cops as it is often the opposite in real life. Not to mention the racial stereotype. A great fan letter sent to Sherwood Column (the fan letter column in the back of each issue) written by a black reader explains this a LOT better than I possibly could.

(-) The writing of the female characters

Dinah Lance (Black Canary)

Dinah and Oliver share a complicated relationship throughout this run. For the most part, their status are as lovers, but a string of events lead them to have an on and off relationship in some part of the run and as the run ended, so does their relationship, no thanks to Oliver's cheating ass.

Dinah mostly acts undercover in this run, running a flower shop while occasionally helping Oliver in kicking some butts. A favourite issue of mine showing them working together is in Issue #59-60 where they both work together to apprehend an assassination attempt on a serial killer (don't worry, they weren't siding with the killer). However, this issue was, unfortunately, a rarity, and we really don't get to see Dinah in action quite a lot. The editor's response to this didn't help as he often points the reader to instead anticipate her upcoming solo run...as if she's not allowed to kick ass in two runs at the same time.

It also doesn't help that most of her appearance relegated to her and Oliver having sex with Dinah often potrayed with bare minimum clothing. I know it's to be expected from an 80s comics, but I can still dislike it. The most frustrating part is though is how badly Oliver treated her. At some point, he even left her after she informed him that she's unable to have a child. And the worse part? SHE ACCEPTS HIM BACK WHEN HE WENT BACK TO SEATTLE. Thankfully, she stood up for herself once she discovers Oliver kissing Marianne, a grad student that they took in (who is also half Oliver's age by the way so yeah maybe male writers need to be stopped sometimes)

A fan letter describing my sentiment:

Shado

So let's get a little bit of a background here. Shado is a former assassin for hire by the Yakuza due to her father's former ties to their group. She and Oliver initially cross paths in the Longbow Hunters, the short prequel to this run. Shado's storyline is a huge part of Grell's run. There are 4 story arcs that puts her in the spotlight alongside with Oliver. Most of them I argue were the highlights of the run (before I knew better at least)

That doesn't mean however that this character is being properly written whatsoever. Shado starts of as an aloof, cold-blooded killer who develops close relationship with Oliver as the time goes on as the two shared common interest in the art of bows and arrows. There were certainly tension between the two which were noticeable, especially by Dinah which (justifiably) led her to be apprehensive around Shado.

Things take a turn when in the Here There Be Dragon arc, Oliver gets sick after being shot by his enemies with Shado tending to his wound. She then proceed to take advantage of him and rape him while he is delirious and also conceive his child. Yep.

We didn't really get this revelation until down the road (Issue 36 but I still wasn't sure until reading Issue 45) which makes me feel almost manipulated for enjoying the relationship between the two. To make matters worse, for a while, Oliver seems to kick himself in the curb for not..taking care of his child? when he didn't even know the existence of said child? it's just very off-putting, victim-blamey, and overall incredibly problematic on the team's part. I also feel like the whole situation just feels very unneccesary? It's like they want to drive the point forward that the only way this two could get intimate is that if she takes advantage of him. Maybe I'm reaching but it feels like they just didn't want the white male hero to even have a normal relationship with an asian woman. I heard that the writing of Jade Nguyen (Cheshire) were also problematic so maybe there's something to it.

Conclusion

So in conclusion do I enjoy the run? Yeah, to a degree. It's hard getting it above 8 with the problematic elements present throughout the run. It might sounds unfair since it's an 80s comics but since the fan letters in the sherwood column are also often critical about the way certain issues were handled, I'll say my reasoning is still fair.

Final rating: 7.5/10

Favourite issues: Here There Be Dragons arc, Predator arc, Bum Rap arc

Sorry for the long post. I'll try posting my review of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore and Aquaman (1999) by Peter David in near future. Thank you so much if you're still reading until this part!

#green arrow review #comic book review #green arrow #oliver queen #dinah lance

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kudosmyhero · 3 months ago

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Justice League of America #239: In the Shadow of the Ox

Read Date: August 23, 2023 Cover Date: June 1985 ● Writer: Gerry Conway ● Penciler: Rick Hoberg ◦ Chuck Patton ● Inker: Mike Machlan ● Colorist: Gene D'Angelo ● Letterer: John Costanza ● Editor: Alan Gold ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers (👏=didn't like it, 👏👏=it was ok, 👏👏👏=I liked it, 👏👏👏👏=I really liked it!, 👏👏👏👏👏=I loved it!)

● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: Superman, the Flash, and Wonder Woman are informed that their "short" trip to parallel worlds actually took three weeks, and that in that time the Justice League has been disbanded and reformed. After Aquaman explains his reasons for doing so, the trio accepts his judgment; they agree to leave, wishing the new team good luck. J'onn J'onzz theorizes that their time paradox is due to an ongoing space-time continuum disturbance (later revealed as the Crisis on Infinite Earths), and the Flash invites his friends to use his Cosmic Treadmill to return to the true elapsed time to avoid further time problems. In the meantime, Rosa Ramone appears to tell the League that General Maksai has kidnapped Mother Windom, threatening to kill her unless they turn over Vixen. Vixen is prevented from leaving immediately by Aquaman's telepathic powers. In the ensuing controversy, she gets away anyway. Vixen arrives at the rendezvous point, an abandoned theatre, and learns that the General has always wanted her Tantu Totem for himself, believing that he is descended from the legendary Tantu (who had received it from Anansi the Spider to protect the innocent from Man's fury with the power of beasts). To save Mother Windom, she gives it to Maksai, who immediately turns into his name-sake, the Ox, and his bloodlust makes him ravage his own men. Then he turns on the helpless Mother Windom and Vixen. At last, Vixen is able to grab the totem from him, then knock him off the theatre stage onto a pile of glass debris, upon which he is impaled.

(https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Justice_League_of_America_Vol_1_239)

Fan Art: Justice League by Mfiorito

Accompanying Podcast: ● Superman in Crisis - episode 08

#dc #dc comics #my dc read #podcast recommendation #comics #superman #comic books #fan art #fanart

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shadowwingtronix · 7 months ago

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"Yesterday's" Comic> The Strangers #6

BW's "Yesterday's" Comic> The Strangers #6

I hope this isn’t Grenade and Electrocute’s first date. The Strangers #6 Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (November, 1993) “The Tao Of Physiques” WRITER: Steve Englehart PENCILER: Rick Hoberg INKER: Dave Simons COLORIST: Robert Alvord and Prisms LETTERER: Dave Lanphear EDITOR: Chris Ulm Continue reading “Yesterday’s” Comic> The Strangers #6

#Candy (android)#Deathwish #Electrocute #Malibu Comics #Spectral #The Strangers #Ultraverse #Yral #Zip-Zap

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aboutzatanna · 2 years ago

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Still annoyed by how the latter half of JLD portrayed Zee as an incompetent leader who made some outright dumbass decisions while in charge.

As a palate cleanser, here are some tidbits from Justice League of America Vol 1 Annual #1 written by Paul Levitz and Len Wein and pencilled by Rick Hoberg and her decisions weren’t disastrous.

This was from the period where Zee was elected chairwoman of the League:

Oh hey look, it’s Commissioner Gordon on the Watchtower, you don’t see that every day. What could he be there for?

(This is from the period where Batman left the League to form the Outsiders but given that he formed the Outsiders to do *more* crime fighting, the fact that Gordon had to go to the League because he couldn’t get in touch with Batman is doubly ironic.)

Also, pretty cool how Gordon is known and respected even by the JLA.

So Zee splits the team into groups and they go investigate the missing artists. Not everyone is too keen on her calling the shots though:

Why Ollie? Why? Sadly, Ollie doesn’t do much in this annual besides whining and being a jerk.

But turns out she was right and it turns out Destiny is pulling out nightmares from artists brain and materializing them in to the real world.

Diana on the other hand, is more supportive Zee’s decisions:

Oh hey look! It’s John Stewart!

John teaming up with the League during the Satellite era was rare but always welcome. As a DCAU fan, he will always by *my* Green Lantern.

After confirming Destiny’s involvement, Zatanna, Red Tornado and Elongated Man chase him into the Dreaming (a much less exciting place before Neil Gaiman joined DC):

One of the main sub plots of the annual is Zee’s sometimes mentor/detective Ralph having a crisis of confidence:

Zatanna summons the rest of the League and they head to confront Destiny at his HQ:

Also shout out to penciller Rick Hoberg here; the League is flying or running towards their target but he gives each member a distinct pose that reflects their personality. Zatanna and the Hawks are soaring through the air while John and Red Tornado are darting through the air laser focused on their target while Firestorm’s pose falls somewhere in the middle. (Also it’s funny how the Atom is on Firestorm’s shoulder seemingly rooting for him to go faster.) Even the running poses are different from each other; Flash’s pose looks like a homage to his debut comic cover, Diana is more casual while Aquaman looks more determined whilst Ollie looks like he is oogling Dinah who seems to be doing her best to ignore him.

The League takes the fight to Dr Destiny’s HQ but it doesn’t go as planned:

He defeats the League in a way that makes me think the League all probably collectively agreed to never speak of again:

“So how did Destiny take down all of you again?”

“Yep, giant monster.”

“Giant monster.”

“He had big fangs.”

“Don’t forget the horns.”

“And the spikes.”

“Practically untouchable.”

“It was too powerful for us to even comprehend!”

(I’m also going to head canon this as Destiny having more power in the Dreaming.)

Unbeknownst to him however, Ralph has managed to free the original Jack Kirby Sandman, Garret Sanford. Side note: He is the guy who passed the mantle to Hector Hall who was the Sandman who was being manipulated by Brute and Glob before being “freed” by Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.

Destiny’s characterization here; his hatred for the League, unable to dream which in turn turned him into a withering husk because of it and usurping the power of Sandman has echoes of his story arc in Gaiman’s Sandman. The latter was more impactful but I wonder if he drew inspiration from this annual?

Sandman calls in the cavalry in the form of Superman

and takes on Dr Destiny again and in probably one of the funniest moment of this annual:

So how did they escape?

Ralph: The MVP.

Later, the League offers membership to Sandman who turns it down. Also, turns out Superman’s dreams are special:

So there you have it; Zee was a competent chairman, Ralph got his confidence back by being the MVP, John Stewart finally got some lime light and Superman dreams about ~peace~.

Honestly, wouldn’t mind a variation of this story but with the League meeting Morpheus.

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