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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Friday, June 24, 2005
Our salute to Superman continues. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Man of Steel made his first appearance in ACTION COMICS #1 [June, 1938]. We've been following his ACTION career at five-year intervals.
For Superman's 45th birthday, ACTION COMICS #544 [June, 1983] gave him the worst birthday presents ever. Superman arch-foes Lex Luthor and Brainiac were featured in the 68-page issue's two tales with each of them given makeovers which made them more powerful and dangerous than ever. What's the deal with that? Were they out of kryptonite underwear at Wal-Mart?
The cover shown above was pencilled by Gil Kane with inks by Dick Giordano. The editor was Julius Schwartz.
In the 28-page "Luthor Unleashed" by Cary Bates (script), Curt Swan (pencils), and Murphy Anderson (inks), the never-ending battle between Superman and Luthor takes them to Lexor, the planet where Lex has a wife, a son, and the adulation of the world's inhabitants for having saved them from death in the past. On Lexor, Superman was considered the villain.
My memory of the exact details are sketchy, but Luthor finds and dons an ancient alien battle suit - designed by George Perez - to duke it out with Superman. Lex accidentally triggers some sort of chain reaction which destroys Lexor in a manner similar to that which destroyed Krypton. His wife and son die along with everyone else on the planet and, naturally, he blames Superman for the awful catastrophe. Just as naturally, he swears eternal enmity towards the Man of Steel.
My reaction at the time this story appeared was: "Did Luthor really need a new reason to hate Superman?"
The angst-ridden Luthor of SMALLVILLE notwithstanding, I like the idea of a Luthor who was the big dog until Superman appeared on the scene. He can come up with dozens of explanations for why he must crush Superman, but the only true one is the one that he can't admit: he hates Supes for being the better man.
By the way, let's have a TOT shout-out here to my good friend Anthony Tollin. He colored "Luthor Unleashed!"
In between the Luthor and Brainiac tales, this issue features a Perez pin-up of "The New Luthor," a 3-page anniversary article by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and a congratulatory Superman pin-up by Shuster. Which brings us to...
"Rebirth!" by Marv Wolfman and Gil Kane. I remember next-to-nothing about this 23-page tale. Brainiac gets sucked into a black hole or some such and comes out the other end as a robotic horror designed by Ed Hannigan. The story is followed by a Hannigan pin-up of this new Brainiac.
Wolfman pitched for the new Luthor as well. His revamp made Luthor a nigh-supremely powerful businessman. When editor Schwartz went with the Bates version instead, Marv grafted his concepts onto Golden Age villain Vandal Savage for a terrific run of stories in later issues of ACTION. Eventually, as part of the post-Crisis remaking of Superman in which writer/artist John Byrne had the key role, Wolfman finally got to debut the Lex Luthor he had envisioned years earlier.
We all know my memory is hopelessly clouded, but it seems to me that, shortly after this issue, Kenner Toys came out with a line of Super Powers action figures which included the new versions of Luthor and Brainiac. Was the toy line the motivation for revamping these villains? Or was it the revamping that made the villains so attractive to Kenner? I don't know, but if someone out there does, I'd be delighted to hear and share the details.
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TONY STUFF
From the home office in Medina, Ohio, we bring you the top ten reasons why you're getting a short TOT today:
10. Construction work at Casa Isabella.
We're getting an addition we can't afford. We learned that it would be more cost-effective in the long run to couple necessary repairs with the addition. There are periods of frenzied activity and periods when nothing progresses, but each brings with it minor disruptions to what I laughingly call my work day.
9. The dog next door.
His family's on vacation. He misses them. He must protect their home from those construction workers next door. And anybody else he sees, hears, or smells. And so he barks and yips for hours on end, calming down only when neighbors come to feed him, take him for a walk, or swim in his family's pool.
8. Taxes.
As in...Tony is still working on them. We don't owe Uncle Sam any money - perhaps the sole advantage of my earning as little as I do - but we filed for an extension to give us time to get as big a refund as we can. See item #10.
7. Visits to the doctor(s).
There's no end to them. Our family optometrist is here in Medina, as will be Kelly's new orthodontist. Eddie is still going to the old orthodontist - I call him "The Pirate" and, to give you some idea why, he DOESN'T have a parrot. - in North Royalton, which is a couple of cities and towns to the north. Our dentist is one city to the west, but everything else is in Akron. The visits add up to a whole bunch of time I'm not working.
6. Trips to the grocery store.
School is out for summer. Eddie and Kelly are teenagers. Their friends are teenagers. This is akin to locust descending on one's field, assuming you're in the habit of keeping your field stocked with milk and orange juice and bread and lunch meat and pop and potato chips and hot dogs and...you get the idea. I want those STAR TREK replicators and I want them NOW!
5. School's out for summer.
Though my kids will be 17 and 14, respectively, they still enjoy their Dad-time. I plan to take advantage of that as long as I can.
4. Sports and other activities.
This week alone, Kelly will have played in two basketball games and four softball games while attending a four-day volleyball camp. Eddie, who is taking a four-hours-per-day summer gym class Monday through Friday, will have played in two baseball games and attended a league function. I'm the fourth assistant coach on his team and, much to my surprise, am also on the league's disciplinary committee. Thanks to a nightmare mother from Hell, we'll be having our first meeting this week.
3. Paying gigs.
Had I known that being "America's most beloved comic-book writer and columnist" would pay so poorly, I would have paid more attention in my classes on being a "universally reviled but wealthy comic-book writer and columnist." Since I don't expect those TIP THE TIPSTER donates are ever going to pay the bills around here, I must devote some time to gigs that actually bring in the occasional checks, no matter how small those checks might be.
2. Comics Buyer's Guide.
My relationship - professional and otherwise - with CBG is one of the best and longest of my career. While it's too early to announce anything, it does appear I'll be adding a new assignment to those I already do for the magazine.
1. The Grand Comics Database.
Our June Superman salute relies heavily on the resources of THE GRAND COMICS DATABASE [www.comics.org]. Were yours truly a far more organized individual, I'd have gathered all of the covers and credit information I needed at the start of this month-long salute. Unfortunately, I didn't and, as a result, have run smack-dab into the difficulties the GCD has been experiencing on and off over the past few days.
So...instead of going with my original plan of wrapping up the salute today, I'm going to spread it out over the rest of my June columns. This meant curtailing today's column and substituting the very first thing that leaped into my mind.
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THE BIG FINISH
I hope you enjoyed the above exercise in either online improv or, depending on how little you "belove" me, wretched excess. The next TOT will be coming your way on Monday.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tony Isabella
<< 06/23/2005 | 06/24/2005 | 06/27/2005 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
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Medina, OH 44256
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