Black Dragons, Black Panthers, and Podcasts

This one is an amalgamation of the past few days due to birthday celebrations and all-day work conferences.

COMIC COMMENTARY

Golden Age Greats 

All-Star Comics #12  The JSA, recently renamed the Justice Battalion splits up to save varying inventors and their inventors from the Black Dragon Society and are brought back together in the end to save Johnny Thunder and round up the leaders.  This is the same Black Dragon Society that was name-checked in the recent Atom strip in All-American on-sale the same month.  I noticed that the Sandman strip was not by Kirby and Simon which is unusual for the normal art team to not do their character's All-Star installment.




Silver Age Spotlight

Fantastic Four #52  Reed and team are lured to Wakanda to by King T'Challa in order to prove his readiness for something.  Lee and Kirby have been on a role since the beginning of the Frightful Four trilogy round #36.  This is the first one that wasn't bad, but hasn't lived up to its recent peers, especially the stellar #51.  I think what lets it down for me is Lee's dialogue.  The Panther is mister smug pants, "Ha, Ha I'm so smart and better because you can't defeat me because I laid traps."  Its bit like Kraven and Spider-Man.  Let me prove I am your better by ensuring a less than even playing field.  The story also ends abruptly for T'Challa to tell why he really wants them here in a forced cliff-hanger.  I really like that Black Panther has the classic full face mask here and not the Avengers half-mask.  I thought it was a more recent design aesthetic, but I should have trusted Kirby's design sense to have come up with it first.

PODCAST PROPS

Give Me Those Star Trek #1 The Cage click here to download Siskoid and Gene Hendricks examine the Star Trek Pilot, The Cage and muse what it might have been like if that was the Pilot that went to series.  A strong debut for the podcast.  My personal opinion is that it would have been a lot more serious Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea type of show and lasted 2-3 series.  I just don't think the type of cast would have allowed for the type of stories that made Star Trek a classic.

Film and Water Podcast: High Fidelity click here to download The episode makes me want to watch this movie.  I think I saw the latter half one night on cable when I woke up in the middle of the night one night.  It was also intersting to hear Rob have a guest on who had the same appreciation for the film, but who had different interpretations and take aways from different scenes

Palace of Glittering Delights: Enterprise  click here to download Andrew Leyland covers a recent watch-thru of key Enterprise episodes in honor of the 50the anniversary of Star Trek.  I've never seen Enterprise and this makes me want to check it out.  I think it would be interesting to watch it as kind of a Trek continuity order (ie watch Enterprise, then Star Trek TOS, then Star Trek Animated. etc.).  I do agree with Andy about the unsuitability for older shows to be binge watched, and I've started mixing and matching nights of TV from old series for fun and variety.

Also, I've listened to Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men episodes 103-105.  I may discuss them in more detail later, but I wanted to focus on some shows that haven't received as much coverage from me.

Weird Facts from the Golden Age (circa 1940)

- Hawkman's Nth Metal wings and belt were originally Ninth metal in Flash Comics #1
- Villain watch:  Super Villains that have popped up in reading: Dr. Death, Hugo Strange, Clayface I, Joker, Catwoman, Ultra-Humanite, Lex Luthor, Wotan (Dr. Fate villain), Nyla (Hawkman villain), Zor (Spectre villain) and Kulak (Spectre villain).  Most of these won't be seen outside of the the Golden Age until appearing in All-Star Squadron.
- All-American gave out free copies of All-Star comics #2 for feedback on All-Star #1 and repeated the give-away for All-Star #3.  Can you imagine getting for free All-Star Comics #3 ?!?!
- I've just started listening to Tales of the Justice Society podcast by Scott Gardner and Michael Bailey.  Mike has no love for Johnny Thunder.  According to the front cover of All-Star Comics #2, he was added to the title's content because of reader requests.
- Love interests don't play the part you necessarily expect them to.  Superman has Lois Lane, thought the relationship is one-sided and at the "What a man!" level of sophistication.  But while Joan Williams and Shiera Saunders have been in 4 out of the 7 issues of Flash comics, they aren't yet Girl Friday's.  Normally they meet in passing or the start of the story is the end of a date.  Only Dian Belmont actively participates in Sandman's adventures.
- And speaking of Sandman, maybe Dr. Mid-Nite isn't the only doctor in the JSA:
    From Adventure Comics #54 (reprinted in Golden Age Sandman Archives), "It's a good thing I crammed in those two years of medical school"!