"Obscure DC Superheroes #1"---Automan

Automan (Robot #32198) made his very first appearances in "Tales of the Unexpected"#91,94 & 97 (1965-66). He was created by Lee Elias for DC Comics.

Automan was constructed in the year 2065 by Prof. Miller Sterling, out of nearly indestructible "meteorite manganese", which was bullet-proof, as well as fire-proof. His abilities included---Super-strength,speed,stamina,agility, & intelligence; Internal functions (Laser-beam eyes, film recorder, electro-magnet, and a built-in parachute)!!! After his graduation from Robot Tech, Automan became a robot-for-hire, as well as a bodyguard for a pretty actress. He was sometimes accompanied by Prof. Sterling and his lovely daughter, Stella.

Automan didn't re-surface until "DC Comics Presents"#33 (1978). In this adventure, Automan met Star Hawkins, Intergalactic Detective, and his female robot assistant, Ilda (who both originated back in "Strange Adventures"#114-Mar. 1960). Automan fell in love with Ilda, whom he married (so-to-speak), as she became his "life-partner". Hawkins also pursued Stella Sterling, during that time.

Automan made a brief cameo appearance, as part of a display, in a 30th Century museum (during the time of the Legion of Super-Heroes) in "Legionnaires"#68-Feb. 1999.

Automan will always hold a special place in my comic-collecting memories. "Tales of the Unexpected"#97 (pictured above) was my very 1st comic book, as a kid!!! NOTE:  I would love find a TPB, which contains reprints of his 3 "Tales of the Unexpected" adventures!

"The Black Widow"-From Enemy Spy to Avenger! (60's-70's)

The Black Widow (Natalia Romanova / Natasha Romanoff) started her career as a Russian spy and enemy to Iron Man, in "Tales of Suspense"#52 (Apr. 1964). She was created by Stan Lee (Editor & plotter), Don Rico (scripter) & Don Heck (artist). Her abilities included---athlete, gymnast, acrobat, multi-skilled martial artist, proficient with weaponry, trained for espionage, and also a gifted ballerina, besides!

Natasha had recruited Hawkeye / Clint Barton (who was in love with her) to be her ally against Iron Man, although both of them eventually changed sides (Hawkeye did first, and had become an Avenger). Before she switched sides, The Black Widow joined Power Man & The Swordsman against the Avengers ("The Avengers"#29-July 1966), but allied herself with them by #32 and defected to the U.S.!

The Black Widow originally had a black and gray costume (w / mask) and black hair. She changed to her current sleek black costume and red hair in "The Amazing Spider-Man"#86 (July 1970); she also gained a solo series in "Amazing Adventures"#1-8 (Aug. 1970-Sept. 1971). She then joined Daredevil in his series (#81-124), with the title changing to "Daredevil and The Black Widow". She was also allied with S.H.I.E.L.D.! The Black Widow then joined the outsider group "The Champions" (which had a 17 issue run from Oct. 1975), with the Ghost Rider,Hercules, the Angel,and the Iceman. In later years, she became a full-time member of the Avengers.


Live-Action Film Appearances---"Iron Man 2" (2010); "The Avengers" (2012); and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014); played to marvelous perfection by Scarlett Johansson! She will reprise the role in "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" in 2015!

Animated Film Appearances---"Ultimate Avengers #1&2" (voiced by Olivia d'Abo); "Iron Man; Rise of Technovore" (voiced by Clare Grant); and "Avengers Confidential: The Black Widow & The Punisher" (voiced by Jennifer Carpenter).

The Black Widow has advanced from a minor villain to one of Marvel's top super-heroines. Here's hoping that she will get a solo movie in the near future. She deserves it!!!

Emerald City Comicon 2014 (Another Enjoyable Experience)

I once again got the privilege of attending the Emerald City Comicon (2014 edition), and had a great time! One of my purposes for going is to try to find buyers for my 60's & 70's comic book collection (I'm haven't been able to book a 'sellers table' yet; I'm usually a little slow at booking one, but I bring cards and catalogs to give to prospective buyers), but I'm also there to feed my current addictions (graphic novels & TPB's, rare DVD movies) and have fun! Some of my purchases included several low-priced Marvel "Essentials" and DC "Showcase Presents---" TPB's; a couple of great graphic novels; an autographed print; an "Archie Marries---" hardback; and a rare 'anime' classic on DVD("Robot Carnival").

I also make a point of getting signatures of favorite comic book writers and artists, as well as classic TV celebrities. This year again had an excellent crop which included---

       Scott Snyder-Comic book writer extraordinaire of "Batman (The New 52)"-The Court of the Owls, City of the Owls, Death of the Family, and so much more!

      Tim Sale-Comic book artist extraordinaire of "Batman"-The Long Halloween, Dark Victory; "Spider-Man Blue", and many other greats!

      Jose Delbo-Classic comic book artist extraordinaire of Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and many other classic DC Comics characters! (Special Note: A man of warmth and sophistication, from whom I bought a print, which he graciously autographed.)

     Caleb Monroe-Rapidly rising excellent young comic book writer of "Steed and Mrs. Peel" series, and other well-known projects! (Special Note: Had an enjoyable time discussing our mutual admiration of the classic British TV spy series,"The Avengers", from which the comic book series "Steed and Mrs. Peel" is taken. Bought one of the graphic novels of that series, that he personally signed for me)!

   Dwight Schultz-Classic TV actor from one of my favorite 80's programs "The A-Team" (as "Howling Mad" Murdock), and in several of the "Star Trek" TV series', such as "Star Trek-Voyager.


I would recommend (if you are a comic book & fantasy lover) attending next year's Emerald City Comicon. Dig those crazy costumes!!! Some are quite well done.
    

"The Continuing Adventures of Canada's Greatest Superhero"-Red Panda Part 2

When I first told you about "The Red Panda Adventures" from Decoder Ring Theatre, I had only listened to the first 12 episodes (Season One). I have since listened to all of the episodes to date (currently 103!!!), and it has been a blast! Creator Gregg Taylor and his extremely talented cast are still making magic!

For those who have never heard a "Red Panda" web-cast; check it out! You're in for a treat! The series is patterned after 30's & 40's Old-Time Radio, and is loaded with all the adventure, humor, fantasy, intrigue and romantic sparks you could ask for!

The Red Panda / August Fenwick (voiced by Gregg Taylor), along with his wife and partner, The Flying Squirrel / Kit Baxter-Fenwick (voiced by Clarissa Der Nederlanden-Taylor) battle evil forces in WW II-era Toronto and overseas. They face-off with wild villains like---Prof. Zombie; The Genie; The Electric Eel; The Golden Claw; The Mad Monkey; Prof. Friedrich Von Schlitz; along with a host of others too numerous to mention.The episodes have a fabulous variety of themes, like---The Supernatural; The Undead; Time-Travel; Team-ups with a variety of other Superheroes; Robots; Amnesia; European War-Time Intrigue; and lest we forget; Love, Marriage & Childbirth!

As I had mentioned, when I wrote about Decoder Ring Theatre before; Gregg Taylor has written several Red Panda novels; 3 "Mask of The Red Panda" Digi-Comics; as well as every "Red Panda Adventures" Web-Cast episode script! That's pretty amazing!!! Now, they just released a TPB version of "Mask of The Red Panda" (which collects the material from all 3 Digi-Comics), and it is fantastic!!! The book features the excellent writing of Gregg Taylor and the stunning artwork of Dean Kotz (in a Golden-Age Comic Book Color style)! Collectors of graphic novels and TPBs; you need to buy this book!

While you are at the Decoder Ring Theatre site, be sure to try the "Black Jack Justice" series, also. It is a well-acted, tongue-in-cheek private detective series, which is also a lot of fun! The cast features---Christopher Mott as 'Black' Jack Justice; Andrea Lyons as Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective (Jack's partner); Gregg Taylor as Lt. Victor Sabien (a gruff, flustered cop,who reluctantly works with them, from time-to-time); Peter Nicol as Freddie "The Finger" Hawthorne (a hilarious small-time crook & stoolie, who also works with them, occasionally); along with a host of other great actors.

If you haven't tried Decoder Ring Theatre or "The Red Panda Adventures" yet, you're definitely missing out!

Kudos to the cast & crew of Decoder Ring Theatre! Keep 'em flying!!!

"The Spectacular Spider-Man" / The Original '68' Graphic Novels!

Journey back in time with me to the fabulous year of 1968. "The Amazing Spider-Man" was a well-established, hot-selling (as always) comic book series; and the enjoyable "Spider-Man" Saturday morning cartoon reigned on TV.Also during that excellent "Spider-Man" year, Marvel Comics took things a few steps further! For a whopping 35 cents each, you could purchase "The Spectacular Spider-Man"#1 (July) & #2 (Nov.); the first (unofficial) graphic novels, and they truly were 'spectacular'! Both were regular magazine-sized and had beautifully painted (by Harry Rosenbaum & John Romita Sr., respectively;as seen above) covers with iconic, often copied 'Spidey' images.The magazines were mostly commercial-free, with no ads to break up the stories (like modern graphic novels).

The first issue featured a story called "Lo, This Monster", which was rendered in glorious black & white, by the amazing team of Stan Lee (writer), with John Romita Sr. & Jim Mooney (artists)! The story-line featured  a gigantic, muscular, genetically-modified / Partly robotic Frankenstein-like man-monster, loaded with incredible wall-busting strength, along with a power-hungry politician (who's running for Mayor), as the villains.

The classic cast of characters is all here---Spider-Man / Peter Parker; Peter's Aunt May; Gwen & Mary Jane (the lovely rivals for Peter's affection); J. Jonah Jameson & the 'Daily Bugle' crew; along with Harry Osborn (Peter's then-best friend) & Police Captain Stacy (Gwen's father).

The story is packed with bombastic 'Marvel' action, human drama, and a little teen romance, thrown in for good measure! Also included in this fantastic issue is a vivid re-telling of Spidey's origin, which was written (of course) by Stan Lee and well-illustrated by Larry Lieber (Stan's brother).

The second issue raised the bar even further. This classic confrontation between Spider- man and his greatest enemy, The Green Goblin; in gorgeous full color. Written once again by Stan Lee and illustrated by John Romita Sr. (my favorite Spidey artist) & Jim Mooney. The story again includes all of the classic cast you could ask for (our hero; his greatest enemy; his lovely ladies; along with family & friends; but no J. Jonah Jameson, Peter's cranky boss). This narrative takes place after Spidey and the Goblin discovered each other's secret identities (which The Green Goblin / Norman Osborn had temporarily forgotten, due to amnesia). Norman's memories begin to return and things take off like a shot from there! What follows is an action-packed superhero drama; vividly told in script and amazing art-work, which is graced with dazzling imagery! In my opinion, this story was and is one of the greatest chapters in the "Green Goblin" saga (which has included many life-changing occurrences for Spider-Man, over the years,as true fans well know).

If you are lucky enough to find copies of these classic magazines, I think you will savor them. I still do! They are true comic book treasures!!!  

"Nightwing and a Nest of Robins"

Does Batman need a Robin?   The character of Robin was originally created in "Detective Comics"#38 (Apr. 1940) by Bob Kane, Bill Finger (writers) & Jerry Robinson (artist), as a youthful side-kick to Batman.

The Original Robins (Earth One-1960's to 80's & Earth Two-1940's to 50's) had exactly the same origin. Dick Grayson was part of the "Flying Graysons" family acrobat team, who saw his parents fall to their death during their trapeze act; which was caused by a gangster extortionist's (Boss Zucco) sabotage. Billionaire Bruce Wayne (Batman) took Dick in as his legal ward. After revealing his identity as Batman to Dick, Bruce decided to give Dick the chance to avenge his parents' death, and become his crime-fighting partner. With additional training (along with his previous acrobatic skills), Dick Grayson became "Robin, the Boy Wonder"; complete with a mask, red & green costume, and yellow cape. Batman and Robin brought Zucco to justice. Robin continued to fight crime with Batman thereafter.

Dick Grayson, the Earth One Version became part of a young superhero group called the "Teen Titans" (with Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Speedy)' which he helped found. By the 1980's, after he'd graduated from college, Dick took on an independent superhero identity as "Nightwing"; which he has carried on to this day (except when he temporarily became Batman, when Bruce was thought to be dead, after "Final Crisis").

Dick Grayson, the Earth Two Version joined the"Justice Society of America", when he became an adult ("Justice League of America"#55), in the 1960's.His costume at that time somewhat resembled Batman's. Dick later went into semi-retirement until the 70's, when he re-joined the Justice Society along with Power Girl and the Star-Spangled Kid. At that time, he went back to a more adult version of the red, green, and yellow costume. Even after the death of Earth Two's Batman, Dick continued as Robin.

Now, let's travel back to Earth One!!!

Jason Todd was introduced in "Batman"#357 (1983). He was originally a red-head, who had a similar origin to that of the original Robin (acrobat parents killed by Killer Croc). He was adopted by Bruce Wayne, who as Batman, trained him to be a crime-fighter. He was given a "Robin" costume of his own by Dick Grayson. Jason's origin was changed after the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" mini-series. Now Jason was a young thief, who was caught and re-habilitated by Batman. Jason proved his crime-fighting worth and became the new Robin. But, he was a lot more cocky and reckless than Dick had been. Comic book readers didn't really like Jason as Robin. In 1988, DC Comics decided to allow the readers to vote about whether he would continue or be killed off. By a narrow margin, the readers decided Jason should die!!! The verdict was in! In a 4-issue mini-series, called "A Death in the Family", Jason met his end. He was beaten to a pulp by the Joker (who else?) and left to die in an explosion! Jason was later resurrected as a hard-core vigilante, called the Red Hood (which ironically was the Joker's role before he became the Joker), by reality being altered (although his resurrection was attributed to Ra's al Ghul's "Lazarus Pit" in the 2010 animated film "Batman: Under the Red Hood"). Jason even tried at one point to become Batman, after Bruce Wayne was supposedly killed, but he wanted to exterminate the criminals. He was defeated by Nightwing, Robin (Tim Drake, who tried to take Batman's place, himself.) and another soon-to-be Robin (Damian Wayne, Bruce's son). Jason returned to his identity as the Red Hood, until he was captured and arrested.

Tim Drake was introduced in "Batman"#436 (1989), as a boy who idolized Batman and the original Robin, as he watched them in action. Tim had also witnessed the death of Dick Grayson's parents, in earlier years. With great detecting skills, Tim eventually figured Batman and Nightwing's (the original Robin) identities. Batman took him under his wing and traned him to be the next Robin. He even got his own comic book series!!! Robin (Tim) was also part of the group "Young Justice", which he co-founded. He changed his superhero identity to "Red Robin" (with a new red & black costume), after he had grown up.

Damian Wayne was the son of Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Talia (daughter of Ra's al Ghul); although Bruce didn't know for years that he had a son. Talia eventually brought him to Bruce to care for. Damian had many bad tendancies to overcome, having been trained by his grandfather Ra's al Ghul's 'League of Assassins". Damian did come to respect and love his father (Bruce). After Batman's apparent death ("Final Crisis"), Damian was raised by Dick Grayson and Alfred (the Wayne's loyal butler). In the "Battle for the Cowl" series, Damian proved his worth as a crime-fighter (after helping battle Jason Todd), and became the new Robin; after Dick Grayson temporarily took on the mantle to become the next Batman. After Bruce Wayne returned (from supposed death) and became Batman again, Damian continued working with his father. Sadly, he was eventually killed while battling an older clone of himself.

There were also 2 female versions of Robin!
Carrie Kelley (Robin of the near future) took on the role in Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" series. She became Robin by donning a Robin costume, and saving the middle-aged Batman's life, after a fierce battle with a mutant gang left him severely wounded. In gratitude, Batman made the 13 year old his new partner as Robin. In the sequel to "T.D.K.R.", "The Dark Knight Strikes Again"; Carrie was a little older and had taken on the role of "Catgirl"!

Stephanie Brown:   After Tim Drake resigned, he helped his girlfriend to temporarily become the new Robin (she had already been a costumed heroine called "The Spoiler"). She didn't follow Batman's instructions very well, and was apparently killed by the Black Mask. Her death was later shown to be false! Stephanie returned to her identity as The Spoiler and eventually became the new "Batgirl".


Robin has been in countless cartoons, TV shows & specials, serials, and movies including-----
2 1940's Batman movie serials (Douglas Croft & Johnny Duncan both played the role of Robin).
"Batman" 1960's TV show & 70's "Legends of the Superheroes" special (both with Burt Ward as Robin).
Many different 60's & 70's cartoon series', including "Scooby Doo".
"Batman: The Animated Series" (90's)- With 2 versions of Robin portrayed, along with Nightwing (in last season).
"Teen Titans" (2000's).
Many "Warner Premiere" Animated Movies-With several versions of Robin; Nightwing appears in one.
Feature Film "Robins"-----"Batman" (1966, With Burt Ward as Robin / Dick Grayson).
                                        "Batman Forever" & "Batman & Robin" (With Chris O'Donnell as Robin /
                                        Dick Grayson).

Does Batman need a Robin? Yes, I believe he does! Batman does fine on his own as a solo act (no doubt), but having Robin by his side brings stability, extra caution, and a great sense of 'fatherhood' & comradery.

"Batman Odyssey"-A Dazzling, But Under-Appreciated Graphic Novel!

Although I haven't collected comic books for several decades, I've recently discovered the enjoyment of reading "Batman" graphic novels. I've read a selection of many of the best works, including---"The Dark Knight Returns"; "Batman: Year One";"The Killing Joke"; "The Long Halloween"; "Hush"; "Mad Love"; "The City of Owls"; and several other greats!

I've found one treasure that's never included on any "Best Batman Graphic Novels" lists, which I thoroughly enjoy! The graphic novel is a compilation of the "Batman Odyssey" series (2010-11), which was written and illustrated by the fantastic Neal Adams! All of the classic elements of Neal's best work from the 70's is included, with appearances by---Ra's al Ghul & his daughter Talia; Man-Bat; The Joker; Deadman; and in a cameo appearance, Aquaman. The story-line also returns to the era when Dick Grayson was the original "Robin", and includes a 70's-style Batmobile. Part-way through the story, we are introduced to an underground world, populated by dinosaurs and giant bats, which Batman & friends discover underneath Arkham Asylum.

Some critics have called the "Batman Odyssey" story-lines everything from incoherent, insane, crazy, and outrageous (along with a host of other adjectives), but I've found the connections between each part of the story (and for me, it works). But, most of my enjoyment came from Neal Adams' ever-dazzling artwork, which pulls the reader into the heart of the narrative. I believe that this work was a triumphant return for Neal, to the hero that he helped define and rejuvenate, during the 60's, 70's & 80's: Batman!

Although my opinion regarding the "Batman Odyssey" graphic novel may not gain me any popularity, I believe it rightfully deserves a place among the 'best'.