The Spectre #39

Bought this from a back issue bin at Most Excellent Comics and Games in Enfield CT USA when I visited for Free Comic Book Day 2025.

Title: The Spectre
Issue: 39
Date: March, 1996
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: John Ostrander
Artist: Tom Mandrake
Colorist: Carla Feeny
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Dan Raspler, Peter Tomasi

Nicodemus Hazard puts on his totem armor for a big fight with Shadrach and... it doesn't help. Shadrach is a (checks notes...) legal entity, which apparently means that he no-sells lethal damage. Hazard runs away, and it's up to the Spectre to save the day, which he does with, less than minimal bystander casualties. Really, that fits with Spectre's vibe, though.

In between all of that there's an interesting conversation between Jim Corrigan and a spiritual advisor of sorts about subjective and objective reality.

We end with the cult of the National Interest bringing back Shadrach for another round, and the beginning of a quest for a series of "American Talismans", which seems to be a sort of supernatural take on the ideas behind the National Treasure films.

I wasn't really thrilled with Shadrach as a villain, although he did have a pretty cool sequence where he reassembles himself in an interesting fashion after being cut up with a sword. The dialogue was more interesting than the action in this one, but what it sets up in the end has potential.

Rating: 5.5/10

Batman: White Knight

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Place Mall, Shanghai, China in March of 2020.

Title: Batman: White Knight
Date: October, 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Sean Murphy
Artist: Sean Murphy
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Scott Nybakken, Maggie Howell
Cover: Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth

The basic idea here is that the Joker is "cured", and, as Jack Napier, embarks on a political and public opinion campaign to turn Gotham City against the Batman. Lots of complications happen, and Gotham's most deadly enemies end up having to work together to save the city.

I found the opening bit problematic to a certain extent, although some of that was the context in which I'm reading it, as opposed to when it was written. Jack Napier is portrayed as "white knighting" to exploit real problems of police brutality against minorities for his cause, but some of the dialogue, particularly Joker's use of "I can't breathe" felt uncomfortably like appropriation on the part of the story itself.

As the story moves away from those themes with the further development of the plot, it becomes a bit more of a traditional (if still alternate-universe) Batman story. The plot twists are great, involving two Harley Quinns, the disappearance of Jason Todd, the Wayne family's connections to Baron Von Fries, and just about every villain in the Batman's rogues gallery. The story also provides a lot of closure and resolution for this universe's version of Gotham City.

In some sense, the examination of the Batman's relationship with the Joker was the weakest part of this, covering little in the way of new ground, and with some of Joker's dialogue coming off as closer to the version of the Joker from The Lego Batman Movie than the author probably intended.

That being said, the handling of Harley Quinn was awesome, as was the relationship between Bruce, Barbara, Dick, and Alfred. Commissioner Gordon also had a great role, conflicted by the compromises he has made allowing the Batman to operate outside the law, but with unofficial police sanction.

The author's focus on the various Batmobiles was a nice bit of fanservice, and a light touch in a book that did a good job of being serious, but not to the point of excess.

After the shaky start, this won me over in the end with good storytelling.

Rating: 7.5/10

Sandman Special #1: Orpheus

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Sandman Special: Orpheus
Issue: 1
Date: 1991
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Penciler: Bryan Talbot
Inker: Mark Buckingham
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Alisa Kwitney, Karen Berger

Neil Gaiman adapts the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus to the comic book mythology of the Endless in this pre-Vertigo DC Comics special from 1991. Here, Orpheus is the son of Dream, and the favorite nephew of the rest of the Endless.

This is a powerful adaptation with some interesting revelations about the Endless in the earlier parts of the story, with more of a straight-up retelling of the myth for the middle parts, followed by a very intense and original ending.

I particularly liked Orpheus' interactions with Charon, Hades, and Persephone in some of the story's key scenes.

This was a really good adaptation, and a nice addition to the Sandman's backstory.

Rating: 8.5/10

Shade: The Changing Man #44

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Shade: The Changing Man
Issue: 44
Date: February, 1994
Publisher: DC Comics (Vertigo)
Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciler: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Rick Bryant
Colorist: David Hornung
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Shelly Roeberg, Karen Berger
Cover: Duncan Fegredo

Trapped in the midst of an outbreak of 17th Century witch hysteria, Lenny and Karen are about to be hanged, and Shade is not helping matters at all. In fact, he's actually transformed himself into the gallows tree as he wages an internal battle between his love and hate for Karen. Meanwhile, John Constantine tries to figure out the spell to get all of them out of this mess, only to find that the secret he needs is buried in a very dark place in his own past.

Loaded with overtones of abortion politics and religious puritanism, the story also features some heartbreaking interactions between all of the main characters. It also fills in some interesting backstory on Constantine, and serves up a side helping of time paradoxes.

I didn't read the issues leading into this one, so I probably missed some of what was going on here. There was a LOT going on. But even without all of the backstory, this was a memorable chapter in the tale of Shade and his fellow travelers.

Rating: 8.5/10

Batwoman #8

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 8
Date: June 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

This is the last of an eight-issue run of New 52 Batwoman that I bought back in 2012. My reviews for the issues leading up to this one are here: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #6, Issue #7.

Based on how #7 ended, my expectation was that this would be the finish to the arc, but instead, it ended up adding another layer of complication.

Batwoman has to fight through Falchion's minions, including a more-mutated-than-usual Killer Kroc.

And again, much of the issue jumps around in time. We get to see Batwoman dealing with Maggie Sawyer on a professional, rather than personal basis. Not surprisingly, love between a cop and a vigilante and be a bit star-crossed.

This felt like it should have ended here, but it was still all pretty good, and the gaps in the overall plot continue to get filled in bit by bit. This issue was also a bit more gory than the series has generally been.

I'm curious to see how this wraps up. I may have to go searching to find #9 at some point.

Rating: 6/10

Batwoman #6

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 6
Date: April 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter, Richard Friend
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

I'm reading the early issues of this series in pretty random order (my reviews: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #7), and the fact that the story is loaded with time-jumps is not helping matters.

This issue brings us the origin of Gotham's Weeping Woman, a few bits of interlude including a nice scene with Kate and Maggie and their relationship, and a couple of fight scenes.

The art really stands out here. This has been my favorite Batwoman issue in terms of art. The use of splash pages and the flow of the action scenes is great, and the artwork on the quieter moments is pretty effective as well.

There is some nice character development, even if the overall progress of the plot is somewhat choppy.

Rating: 8/10

Batwoman #7

A cover variant that I got in 2012 when I was reading a bunch of DC's New 52 titles. It ended up in the random stack of unread comics after I hit New-52-burnout a few months in.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 7
Date: May 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

The last issue in this run that I read was #3 (reviewed here), which had Batwoman going up against the urban legend figure known as the Weeping Woman.

Now, the Weeping Woman has been revealed to be part of something larger, a criminal gang with supernatural abilities and connections led by a man named Falchion. The opening scene sets up their confrontation, but this issue is almost entirely flashbacks. There is enough here to piece together the basic scenario but it's got probably a few more parts in motion than it really needs to have.

I did like the modern urban fantasy vibe that smoothly meshes high tech cop drama with supernatural magic, and it sets up what looks to be an epic showdown that will hopefully be worth the convoluted path getting there. I do have issue #8, so I should get to find out soon.

Rating: 6/10

Castle Waiting Volume 1

From the school library. This was a pretty awesome find, considering it's a high school library in Vietnam!

Title: Castle Waiting
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Date: 2012
Writer: Linda Medley
Artist: Linda Medley
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Gary Groth

This is an amazing example of fantasy done without the need for epic battles, and really, barely any battles at all. Beginning as a clever retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Castle Waiting continues the story long after the "happily ever after", describing the fate of the residents of the sleeping princess' castle after she has left for a new life with her handsome prince.

The castle goes one to become a refuge for those in need and for those who don't quite fit in. Two stories then take center stage: The tale of Jain, a young mother-to-be fleeing a bad marriage and making her way to the castle, serves to introduce the castle's residents and sets up a bunch of subplots as the characters all interact with the newcomer, and eventually with the new baby.

From there, the story changes focus to Sister Peace, a nun who comes from a rather unique background and who went on to join an even more unique religious order.

The artwork is lovely, but an even greater strength is the dialogue, which is endlessly intriguing, and constantly taking the reader in unexpected directions. Classical fairy tale themes are nicely interwoven with some feminist sensibilities, as well as a good sense of humor.

This book is completely charming from its lighter moments to its more serious storylines.

Rating 9.5/10

Batman #567

Skipping a few issues, and here we are in the midst of the No Man's Land mega-story.

Title: Batman
Issue: 567
Date: July, 1999
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Kelley Puckett
Penciler: Damion Scott
Inker: John Floyd
Colorist: Greg Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Joseph Illidge, Darren Vincenzo
Cover: Damion Scott, Robert Campanella, Patrick Martin

This issue focuses on Cassandra Cain, and her father David Cain. David Cain is trying to kill Commissioner Gordon, while Cassandra is determined to prevent that from happening.

Meanwhile, the Batman is trying to decide what to do with a captive Harvey Dent in a world where there is no longer any "justice" for criminals to be brought before. 

I'm not really a Cassandra Cain fan, and I found the action to be choppy and not always all that coherent. I did like that they filled in a bit of Cassandra's backstory, although more questions were raised than answered.

GCPD officers getting killed off like Star Trek redshirts is a severely overused trope, and it gets thrown into this issue entirely unnecessarily.

Rating: 4/10

Batman #560

Back to Batman, and we're on the Road to No Man's Land.

Title: Batman
Issue: 560
Date: December, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Chuck DixonArtist: Jim Aparo, David Roach
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil
Cover: Rodolfo Damaggio, Patrick Martin

With Aftershock finshed, this issue is part of the transition into the next giant crossover, No Man's Land.

Bruce Wayne heads to Washington DC amid a growing political movement aimed at cutting off relief funds for Gotham. He's up against better lobbying, a media feeding frenzy, and overwhelming poll numbers.

At the center of the movement to cut Gotham off is political shock jock and TV personality Nick Scratch. He's a fun new villain, with a private army of masked thugs, but also a raving fanbase at his disposal.

In light of current politics, Nick Scratch and the Road to No Man's Land felt less like poltical satire and more like political reality.

Bruce Wayne getting set to do battle in the political arena was a nice change of pace, and an interesting set of new challenges.

Dennis O'Neil's editorial in this issue also gives a nice behind-the-scenes look at the genesis of No Man's Land.

Rating: 7/10

Batman #559

Down to the last few of this run of Batman I brought from my unread comics box in the US.

Title: Batman
Issue: 559
Date: October, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: Bob Hall
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil
Cover: Rodolfo Damaggio, Patrick Martin

This is the last "Aftershock" issue in the Batman title, but not the conclusion of the crossover. And besides, Aftershock was really just a chapter in the bigger saga that will be No Man's Land, starting next issue.

With a mass exodus of refugees underway, the GCPD is hard pressed to maintain any kind of order. Bullock and Montoya find themselves defending Mercy Hospital from a siege by desperate gang members seeking drugs. Batman and Robin come to their aid, but the city continues to crumble.

Bullock totally steals the show here, even getting a (awesome) romantic subplot! There are some great characters introduced for this issue as well, and even the generic thug villain gets enough personality to make him, well, slightly less generic.

The writing is really tight, with good attention to detail, and an excellent shock at the end.

Rating: 7.5/10

Batman #558

Back to Batman and Aftershock!

Title: Batman
Issue: 558
Date: September, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: Jim Aparo
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil
Cover: Rodolfo Damaggio, Patrick Martin

Continuing with the Aftershock storyline, this issue serves two purposes. It functions as a big infodump on the current state of affairs of Gotham City, by way of a radio address given by DJ (and current romantic interest of Bruce Wayne) Vesper Fairchild. It also shows an emotionally fragile side of Bruce Wayne as he grapples with despair at the sight of his city seemingly dying around him, and destruction of a scale that he is ill-prepared to handle.

Given those purposes, this issue handled them remarkably well. Vesper's narration added a human side to the department-by-department recap of all of the challenges facing Gotham. Alfred, along with some flashbacks to the funeral of Bruce Wayne's parents, provide the sounding board for Bruce Wayne's current emotional crisis.

That emotional crisis did feel a bit like it came out of the blue, given last issue's fairly standard team-up story with Ballistic (reviewed here), but I must remind myself that this crossover storyline does not progress in order of individual issues of any one series, so hopefully it was set up better in some of the other Bat-titles.

There's very little in the way of action here. The Batman takes on a couple of looters in a token fight scene. But I found the discussion of the aftermath of the Gotham Earthquake, and its effects on the city, to be quite engaging.

Rating: 7/10

Batman #557

Continuing to make my way through the Batman issues of Aftershock.

Title: Batman
Issue: 557
Date: August, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug MoenchArtist: Vince Giarrano, Sal Buscema
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil

Ballistic looks like he walked straight out of the pages of one of those 1990s Image Comics superhero team books. He's even got the wardrobe made entirely out of belts and pouches. So many pouches!

He's being hired to go retrieve an evidence bag buried in the ruins of Gotham. Except the guys who hired him haven't done their homework. Ballistic is former GCPD (before somehow obtaining a fairly generic package of superpowers: enhanced strength, endurance, senses, invulnerability, what have you). He may not look it, but he's a good guy, and he's going to take the job, but he's also going to make sure justice is served.

Which does not sit well with the mysterious suits who hired him. In a sudden case of buyer's remorse, they try shooting him, which works about as well as it usually does on invulnerable-types. Plan B, then, is to arrange for a bunch of generic thugs to ambush ballistic in Gotham, begging the question of if the bad guys had this many thugs already in Gotham, why not use them to retrieve the bag?

It does get better once the inevitable encounter between Ballistic and the Batman occurs. They actually manage to break a lot of the hero-meets-hero clichés, and their interaction is made more interesting by the fact that Ballistic has encountered the Jean-Paul Valley version of Batman and is a bit thrown off by the reactions when, unknown to him, it's Bruce Wayne under the cowl.

The revelation of what was in the bag proves uninteresting, but I did find Ballistic's personality and his interaction with the Batman to be interesting.

Rating: 5.5/10

 

Batman #556

More from the 1990s Batman issues in the random unread comic pile.

Title: Batman
Issue: 556
Date: July, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: Norm Breyfogle
Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil

On the surface, this is an issue in which not much happens. The repair plans continue at Wayne Manor. The Batman makes short work of some bank robbers who tried to loot a bank in the aftermath of the Gotham earthquake. He goes on to rescue a man who refused to leave his structurally-unsound apartment building.

But this issue is a nice pause to assess the implications of the earthquake plot, and there is a lot of good dialogue throughout, all setting up future plot developments. The final scene between Bruce Wayne and current girlfriend Vesper is particularly well done.

This is the type of issue that helps make a large ongoing story better by giving the story a bit of breathing space.

Rating: 6.5/10

Batman #555

Continuing with the short run of 1990s Batman from my unread comics stack.

Title: Batman
Issue: 555
Date: June, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: John Beatty
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil
Cover: Kelly Jones, Patrick Martin

We're now into "Aftershock", which continues so directly from "Cataclysm" that one wonders why it needed its own title at all. Gotham is in ruins from the earthquake, and Batman and Robin are attempting to rescue a group of commuters trapped in a subway car in a collapsed tunnel.

Enter... The Ratcatcher. Yeah, not exactly top-tier opposition. And unfortunately, because Ratcatcher is pretty third-string in the Rogues Gallery, the writer felt it necessary to reintroduce him to the reader by means of a clunky infodump in the form of a soliloquy given to an audience of (you guessed it) rats.

In fact, Ratcatcher talks a lot in this story, and he doesn't actually say all that much when he does.

What does work well here is that the story makes very good use of the dangers of the collapsed tunnel, with a bunch of clever threats and twists to complicate the rescue.

And it's nice to see the Batman finally get Ratcatcher to shut up.

Rating: 5/10

Batman #554

Continuing with the run of Batman that I brought here as part of my random stack of comics to read.

Title: Batman
Issue: 554
Date: May, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: Klaus Janson
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil
Cover: Mark Buckingham, Kevin Nowlan, Patrick Martin

This directly follows issue #553, which I reviewed here, but it really doesn't because we are in full-on crossover mode. so this is Part 12 of Catacysm. This is inconvenient because I only have the Batman title to work with here, so I'm missing a lot of plot.

This issue introduces the Quakemaster, a mysterious villain who is claiming responsibility for the massive earthquake that hit Gotham, and threating to unleash more earthquakes if he is not paid one MILLION dollars! (Okay, actually, he asks for 100 million).

The Batman is trying to figure out if the Quakemaster's claim is for real, which seems unlikely until you remember that this IS the DC Comics Universe, and so things like people being able to cause earthquakes have a somewhat higher level of plausibility.

There is also the issue of a missing seismologist. Is she a victim of the Quakemaster or an accomplice?

This was a very detective-work oriented issue, with the action kept to a minimum. Bruce Wayne in detective mode is always fun, and there were some good contributions from Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya as well.

Not a really eventful issue, but effective at moving the story along.

Rating: 6.5/10

Batman #553

Among the stack of random comics I brought from my storage unit in the US was a small set of Batman from the Cataclysm/No Man's Land mega storyline of the 1990s. It's far from a complete set, but here is the earliest issue in storyline order that I have. It's part 3 of Cataclysm.

Title: Batman
Issue: 553
Date: April, 1998
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciller: Klaus Janson
Inker: Sal Buscema
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O'Neil
Cover: Mark Buckingham, Kevin Nowlan, Patrick Martin

Cataclysm Part 3. Gotham City is hit with a 7.6 earthquake, and this issue begins at the moment the quake strikes.

We see Lucius Fox at the Waynecorp Building (conveniently constructed to withstand an 8.5... unlike pretty much every other building in Gotham), and then a clever bit where Commissioner Gordon is nearly killed by the bat-signal falling through the roof.

The story then shifts focus to two parallel plots: Bruce Wayne and Alfred trying to escape from what's left of the Batcave and (stately) Wayne Manor, and Barbara Gordon taking charge of disaster relieve coordination from GCPD HQ.

Putting aside for a moment the question of where she gets the authority to do that, Barbara is her usual awesome self here, and Sergeant Bullock also gets in some good scenes.

This epic took place at a time when the Batman supporting cast was really top-notch and it was great seeing plots that had huge long-term implications for Gotham and the Batman characters. Too often, editorial direction is timid about such changes. They really went all-out when it came to wrecking Gotham is a plot that went on to span several years.

This was a nice change from the usual Batman plots, and it makes great use of all of the familiar disaster movie tropes.

Rating: 8/10

Shade: The Changing Man #54

Reading and reviewing comics at the airport in Mumbai, India! First of the last two in that stack I've been working my way through.

Title: Shade: The Changing Man
Issue: 54
Date: December, 1994
Publisher: DC Comics (Vertigo)
Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciler: Mark Buckingham
Inker: Rick Bryant
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Shelly Roeberg
Cover: Duncan Fegredo

Lost in grief, Shade moves to New York City and becomes a dance floor. Literally. But when the routine of peaceful days and raucous nights is broken by the arrival of a woman who wants to dance alone to any music as long as it's loud, Shade discovers the possibility of human interaction again.

There is also a man who claims to be the reincarnation of Nikola Tesla, and who may have invented a perpetual motion machine that he's just not quite ready to turn on.

There are some great lines and some cool surprises in this story, although it lost me a bit when Shade got a bit too far into creep-stalker territory with the potential new love interest that is introduced here. His actions all make reasonable sense given his mental state, but the Edward Cullen routine is still problematic.

And in spite of that, there is a lot to love in this story, including the whole concept of becoming a dance floor, which is handled beautifully. The Tesla subplot is also very clever, and provides a nice parallel to the difficulties that Shade is going through.

Rating: 5.5/10 

Shade: The Changing Man #35

Well, here we are about an hour until we head to the airport. Two more comics in the stack after this one. Looks like I will be reading (and possibly reviewing, wifi permitting) those two on planes and in airports. The itinerary is Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok to Mumbai to (lovely) Newark NJ. Long trip with long layovers. Definitely adventure material.

In the meantime, here is some more classic 90s Vertigo for you.

Title:Shade: The Changing Man
Issue: 35
Date: December, 1993
Publisher: DC Comics (Vertigo)
Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciler: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Rick Bryant
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Shelly Roeberg, Karen Berger
Cover: Chris Bachalo

Shade and Lenny are trapped in Brian Juno's Garden of Pain, where Juno intends to torture Shade as part of his plan to ascend as a god. Meanwhile, Kathy is dead, or at least having a near-death experience, sitting in a cosmic waiting room with a group of angels who have a deal to make with here.

Wordy in places, but once it gets going, this story brings the intensity. Like the other issue of Shade that I recently reviewed, this is the conclusion of a major storyline, and it hints at another new phase in the relationship between Shade, Lenny, and Kathy.

Lenny, as is often the case in this series, gets most of the best lines and moments. I always enjoy reading stories she appears in. She's one of the very few characters that exist truly outside of tropes and classification.

Aside from the general verbosity in places, and some confusing elements early on (understandable as I has not read the issues leading up to this), this is a really solid conclusion with great dialogue and a few surprises. 

Rating: 7.5/10 

Shade: The Changing Man #18

Finishing up the last of the small stack of comics that I brought with me when we moved overseas. I have a big collection of comics back home. Mostly bargain-bin fodder, but a decent sized collection. Twenty-five longboxes or thereabouts. And that's after I ditched five longboxes for pennies-on-the-dollar to clear space a year or two ago.

Of those, there are probably about three longboxes worth of unread comics, most of which I bought during buying sprees in bargain bins at stores and conventions. 

During the last days of packing for our move to the other side of the world, I figured I'd grab some unread comics, but I was pretty short on space. I had a bit of room in a carryon bag, and I knew that comics I crammed in there were in danger of getting wrecked.

So my criteria when I went into the unread comics stack was pretty simple. I grabbed books that were already bagged and boarded (most weren't) until I had all that would fit. The result was a very random mix.

I'm down to my last few. After this one, seven more to read.

Title:Shade: The Changing Man
Issue: 18
Date: December, 1991
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter Milligan
Penciler: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Mark Pennington
Colorist: Daniel Vozzo
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Alisa Kwitney, Karen Berger
Cover: Jamie Hewlett


This is the finale to the American Scream storyline that formed the main narrative in the early issues of Vertigo's Shade: The Changing Man (technically this is pre-Vertigo, but it's the series that was brought under the Vertigo umbrella). 

Shade is being backed into a corner. His only chance to save Kathy and defeat to American Scream is to return to Meta and kill Wisor. But he doesn't know how to get there, and he isn't sure he can do the deed even if he does find a way home.

There are final confrontations all round as Shade and Agent Rohug confront Wisor, and Wisor is forced to confront his own creation, the Scream.

The opening scenes are the usual frenetic insanity that is to be expected from Shade, with appearances by Christopher Columbus and an animate version of Mount Rushmore. The climactic faceoff is good, if a bit neat in its resolution, but the real gem of the issue is the epilogue sequence, which is poignant and heartfelt, and lays the groundwork for a new direction for Shade's story.

Rating: 7.5/10