Mayfairstivus: 1989 Plastic Man Mayfair Games Card

Once again a bunch of us crazy DCU bloggers are doing a crossover of sorts started by the always fantastic Frank Diablou – who runs a number of great blogs on DC heroes most notably his Martian Manhunter blog. I have always enjoyed reading his posts and he scanned the cards for the crossover. Apparently inspired by a Tom Hartley so shout out to both of them for this.

This time around the crossover is going to revolve around the 1989 Mayfair Games DC Roleplaying System. I am not going to lie, I know NOTHING about table-top roleplaying games. I have always been curious. After a night of drinking, I went home with a dude once who said he was going to be playing Dungeons and Dragons the next day (And I was in awe because he was a hot guy! Hey maybe not all RPGers are antisocial weirdos! I should have known better to prejudge – people say the same thing about us comic fans.) Anyways, that is quite enough about my personal life let’s take a look at Plas’s card from the 1989 set…

I wonder how different these stats would be if this came out today? Joe Kelly established him as one of the most powerful heroes in the League during his run on JLA and basically immortal. (I mean he spent a thousand years scattered in pieces on the ocean floor after The Obsidian Age arc). And I wonder if his real first name of Patrick had been revealed by the time this card came out?

Speaking of Plastic Man, I know he got mangled during Cry for Justice and Blackest Night and he is recovering, but I miss him! And where the hell has his son, Offspring, been?

Here are some other fantastic blogs celebrating Mayfairstivus that probably know more about RPGs then I do. Check them out!

The Anti-Didio League of America
The Aquaman Shrine
Booster Gold: BOO$TERRIFIC
Comics Make Me Happy!
The Continuity Blog
DC Bloodlines
Diana Prince as The New Wonder Woman
Doom Patrol: My Greatest Adventure #80
Firestorm Fan
Flash: Speed Force
Girls Gone Geek
Green Lantern Corps: The Indigo Tribe
Hawkman: Being Carter Hall
Justice League Detroit
Martian Manhunter vs. The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Once Upon A Geek
Power of the Atom
Subject: Suicide Squad [Task Force X]
Supergirl Comic Box Commentary

Life On The Outside: Jade

It has been a long time since I did another Outsiders Bio and I still have a lot of members to go. The current Didio run seriously blows…so I think it is time to look at the Outsiders comics of past. Today I will be talking about a character who recently returned from the dead and joined the Justice League. But prior to her death, this character was the team leader of the Outsiders. I am talking about Jennifer-Lynn Haden aka Jade

Meanwhile At My Other Blog…

a new post in my look at Cassandra Cain’s ten years as Batgirl. This time we focus on her first meeting with Catwoman!

Celebrating Ten Years of Batgirl: Azrael 61 – Batgirl’s First Christmas

Over at my new blog, I have added my look at Batgirl’s next appearance in Azrael: Agent of the Bat #61. All of the Batgirl retrospectives will be over at the new Blog to make room for the reviews here. Go check it out! It is a wonderful heart-warming issue.

Crisis On Earth-Blog: The DC Challenge – Plastic Man Trivia Challenge

Just in case you didn’t know there is a big crossover for blogs and The Continuity Blog is represented in this crossover by Plastic Man! It is great to be part of this crossover and be represented by one of my favorite characters.  The Continuity Blog’s contribution to the crossover will be some good old-fashioned Trivia:

1) Which of these characters’ children have some of Plastic Man’s DNA within them?

A) Sgt. Rock
B) Black Lightning
C) Green Arrow
D) Adam Strange

2) Plastic Man spends 3,000 years on the ocean floor in pieces after going back in time on a mission to find which character?

A) Aquaman
B) Hawkman
C) Firestorm
D) The Flash

3) Plastic Man actually made his debut in the Golden Age in real life and in current DC Continuity. Which of these other characters can say the same?

A) Supergirl
B) Elongated Man
C) The Metal Men
D) Doctor Fate

That’s it for Plas Trivia, follow Plastic Man’s adventures in the crossover here.

Celebrating Ten Years of Batgirl: Azrael 60

Batgirl next makes a one-panel appearance in Detective Comics #738. And a couple of background appearances in Robin #70 and Legends of the Dark Knight #124. Her secret origin is recapped in one page of No Man’s Land Secret Files and Origins. She has more background appearances in Shadow of the Bat #92 and Detective Comics #739.

It won’t be until Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60, that Batgirl makes another significant appearance.

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60

Once again Batgirl is written by O’Niel and drawn by Robinson. This time around she has an extremely significant first. She meets the man who put her predecessor in a wheelchair.

Azrael asks Batgirl what her plan is and she has a rather interesting response here.

  This is a girl who is ready to kick some ass!

Barbara Gordon is at first reluctant to send Batgirl out to face the Joker – but surprisingly it is Nightwing who agrees with Bruce that the new Batgirl is perfectly capable.

*I can tell you right now, Stephanie Brown, as much as I love her, she could not face down the Joker*

Azrael doesn’t seem to quite agree with Dick and Barbara.

You can tell by the look on Batgirl’s face above that she is not going to listen to Azrael, and sure enough….

Can I just say that I miss that AWESOME costume she has, look how amazing it looks drawn by Robinson.

Anyways, as it turns out this wasn’t the real Joker, but as we know Cassandra could have taken the Joker out too if it was. I love the moment above between Azrael and Batgirl.

Batgirl and Azrael finally come across the real Joker and Harley Quinn at the end of the issue, who are keeping a young girl named Cassie hostage, but Azrael mistakes the real one for being fake and this throws Joker off his game and they walk away with the hostage. I love the Kramer hair on Joker! Batgirl seems to have taken an interest in the young girl from this panel, a quiet curiosity. I imagine she hasn’t interacted much with children before.

 

Issue Firsts:

First meeting with The Joker and Harley Quinn

Sneak Attack Count:

1

Total Sneak Attack Count:

3

Significant Creator Count:

Writers:

Denny O’Neil (3)
Janet Harvey (1)

Kelley Puckett (2)

Greg Rucka (1)

Devin Grayson (1)

Artists:

Roger Robinson (3)

Sergio Cariello (1)

Deodato (1)

Damion Scott (2)

Dale Eaglesham (1)

Knock-Out Count:

1

Total Knock-Out Count:

8

Celebrating Ten Years of Batgirl: Batman Chronicles #18

And here we continue our retrospective on the ten year reign of Cassandra Cain as the Dark Knight Damsel. She began the fall appearing in a quarterly Batman comic that is no longer published by DC – this would be Batman Chronicles #18 by Devin Grayson with art by Dale Eaglesham. This issue featured the first meeting between Batgirl and The Huntress.

Celebrating Ten Years of Batgirl: July – August 1999

We continue our look at the history of the greatest of Batgirls by focusing on the rest of the summer of 1999. Last time, Cassandra (Although not known by that name yet) had been given the mantle of Batgirl by Batman and Barbara Gordon and even got to meet the rest of the bat family. This great honor has been bestowed on her, so where do things go from here? Well Batgirl teams up with a certain Agent of the Bat.

Life On The Outside: Captain Marvel Jr.

It has been a while since I have did an Outsiders Bio so here is a refresher on what this is all about

Major Spoilers is a great blog and comics news site. I especially like their rundown on oh….every single member of the Legion of Super-Heroes ever! It is a lot of fun to read. So, I decided to do the same thing on my blog (I hope they don’t get mad). Instead of the Legionnaires, I want to focus on a superhero team that is even more under appreciated then those from the 31st Century….a team in the 21st Century; a team that that exists on the fringes of the Superhero Community….and yes I am talking about THE OUTSIDERS.

The Outsiders have always been a favorite team of mine. Maybe because I like the underdogs? Maybe because of the characters? Maybe I have no reason. I just know I like them. From Barr to Winick to Dixon, they have always captured my imagination. It seemed fitting to do this now since Tomasi’s run is about to begin and we are getting another overhaul of the team. I can’t promise it will be as witty and well-written as the Hero Histories over on Major Spoilers – in fact I can guarantee that it won’t be – but I will try my best.

Today, I want to focus on another short-lived member of the Outsiders. Sometimes called CM3, Currently going by the name Shazam, but for most of his superheroic career Freddy Freeman was known as Captain Marvel Jr.

Celebrating Ten Years of Batgirl: May-June 1999

Just a reminder, here is my intro to this new feature that I just started:

Yes it has been a decade since the one true Dark Knight Damsel first made her comics debut. Barbara Gordon may have been the first to go by the name Batgirl (if you don’t count Bat-hyphen-girl Betty Kane) but it is Cassandra Cain who in the last decade has shown that she is the Dark Knight Damsel.

She is one of the most underappreciated (By creators, not fans) characters in comics today. Cassandra should be a member of the Bat Family on par with Dick, Tim, and Babs but superstar creators like Grant Morrison and Jeph Loeb have consistently neglected her.

A new Batgirl series is debuting in August and if it is not Cassandra Cain under the mask, I want to show how stupid that is on DC’s part by showcasing her to the maximum here.

Stephanie Brown has now taken up the mantle of Batgirl and while I hope Cassandra will be back under the cowl sooner rather then later, this truly is the end of an era. It was a fantastic ten years and I happy to reflect on it.

This time around we are going to finish off May 1999 and then go on to her comic appearances in June of that year. We will start with her second appearance ever in Detective Comics #734:

I have something controversial to say….

I REALLY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WEDNESDAY COMICS !!!!!!

There I said it. It doesn’t interest me at all, it is not in continuity, and is a sad desperate nostolgic weekly comic for old ass jaded comics fans who will probably jerk off to it. This is the 21st century people, the newpaper thing is dying; get over it.

Oh and comics from the silver age (which I imagine Wednesday comics is going to try to emulate) were mean’t for kids and therefore are not any good except if they are read by kids. Despite what some bloggers want you to think,  modern comics are better cause they are written for teens and adults. Sorry but it’s the truth. End of rant.

Celebrating Ten Years of Batgirl

Yes it has been a decade since the one true Dark Knight Damsel first made her comics debut. Barbara Gordon may have been the first to go by the name Batgirl (if you don’t count Bat-hyphen-girl Betty Kane) but it is Cassandra Cain who in the last decade has shown that she is the Dark Knight Damsel.

She is one of the most underappreciated (By creators, not fans) characters in comics today. Cassandra should be a member of the Bat Family on par with Dick, Tim, and Babs but superstar creators like Grant Morrison and Jeph Loeb have consistently neglected her.

A new Batgirl series is debuting in August and if it is not Cassandra Cain under the mask, I want to show how stupid that is on DC’s part by showcasing her to the maximum here.

Cassandra made her debut in May 1999 in Batman #567. So from here on out I will be doing posts spotlighting her comic appearances and her awesomeness as a hero and a character. Starting with her debut issue:

Batman #567 was published about a year before I got into comics (and subsequently got into Batgirl) so this is the first time that I have read this issue. It is written by Kelly Puckett with art by Damion Scott.

Despite the cover, Cassandra does not appear in her Batgirl costume; instead Helena Bertinelli (The Huntress) is featured at the beginning of the issue in the Batgirl costume before being stripped of the mantle by Batman. The Huntress took on the Batgirl identity briefly during the No Man’s Land Story (You know the one where Gotham is a No Man’s Land after the cataclysmic earthquake) but without permission of the Bat family. It is just a sight for sore eyes to see Batman in his nineties all black with the yellow bat logo costume. That was and always will be my favorite costume for the Caped Crusader.

Anyways, we then flash to Oracle who is worried about one of her field agents, who hasn’t returned from a mission. Apparently Babs sent this field agent into a potentially dangerous Courier situation. Can you guess who that agent is?

That’s Cassandra’s first appearance right there ladies and gentleman. I love this scene because it shows just how Batman-like Cassandra is. She has this sneaky creepy way of moving around but in the end has good intentions. (I mean come on she just wanted to give Babs an apple)

We learn Cassandra’s weakness on the next page as Barbara hold up a flash card with the word “Stop” on it and Cassandra tries to say it. She doesn’t understand language (and soon we will learn doesn’t speak any language at all).

Commissioner Gordon shows up and interrupts the lesson so Cassandra goes for a little walk outside only to see someone that she instantly recognizes – David Cain, her father.

Know he is up to no good, Cassandra keeps an eye on him. Apparently David Cain’s mission is to kill Gordon but things don’t go as planned.

Cassandra may not understand language just yet but she is still a smart cookie; she knows that David Cain would never shoot her. Or could it be that she is such an extraordinary heroine that she is willing to die to save Gordon’s life? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Scott is a good artist that I haven’t seen much of lately. Does he work for Marvel now? I don’t know.

Cut to a few pages later and Gordon is interrogating Cassandra about who tried to shoot him. Cassandra draws the Mark of Cain for him and then points to herself. It is Oracle who first figures out that David Cain is Cassandra’s father.

Gordon orders that Cassandra be locked in a room while he goes after Cain just in case she tries to become a human shield again (Ya right like you could ever lock Cassandra Cain in a room) but she escapes before they can do so and runs into her dear old daddy.

Cassandra and David fight (this is the first time we see her incredible fighting skills in action) and Cassandra flashes back to a particularly troubling moment from her childhood.

I love how Cain raised her to be the ultimate killer yet he still dressed her in a pink dress and pigtails! One can see Cassandra’s face just how disturbed the young girl is at what she has done. This is a girl who does NOT enjoy killing people (Didio would later forget this when he ordered turning her into a killer after Infinite Crisis and pissed off every single one of her fans – and yes I am sure it was his dumbass idea). All of the memories and fighting with her father leads Cassandra to scream out her very first word!

I love the throwback to beginning of the issue where Babs was trying to teach her this very word. It shows how Cassandra is overcoming her training and upbringing as a living weapon and realizing she is a human being – something that she always has been; a human being who wants to stop men like her father; a perfect future member of the Bat Family.

Cassandra jumps out the window taking her father with her; at the same time we are shown panels of her as a little girl sucker punching her father like the bad ass that she is and runs away.

The issue ends with a “to be continued” as they are both falling out the window. Wow! I have to say Puckett really blew me away with this issue. He managed to dive deep into this character in just one issue and by the end of reading this you really get a feel for her. She is a complex character; both a bad ass fighting machine and a girl with a heart of gold who just wants her father’s evil ways to STOP.

I wonder if readers knew she would be Batgirl? There was certainly internet at the time so there must have been speculation. Anybody know or remember?

Stay tuned for next time when we will cover Detective Comics #734; the second part of this story.

Walt Disney Threw Up

Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2) #34
Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Patrick Gleason

It looks like that crazy bitch Scar just opened up all of the Sciencells. Oa is in deep shit. This was another good issue, but I was slightly put off by Gleason’s art here. I didn’t really like the way he drew Kyle. Kyle and Soranik’s romance is a little forced, but I still like it. Guy’s quote upon hearing about the Blue Lanterns was fantastic “It’s Like Walt Disney Threw Up”! Haha. Sodam Yat should be pissed at his mom after what they did to his alien friend and I am glad he confronted her about it. He is a strong character. I liked how he didn’t just turn his back on Daxam because of his duty as a Green Lantern. All of this is building toward Blackest Night, so check it out people!

Secret Romance

Green Lantern Corps (Volume 2) #33
Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Patrick Gleason

I love how finally this book is getting around to truly focus on Kyle Rayner, the greatest of Green Lanterns. this was more of a character-driven issue focusing on the newfound romance between Kyle and Soranik while at the same time we check on Mongul and the Star Sapphire. I wonder how Kyle and Soranik will keep their romance secret from the guardians? The origins and omens back-up was a cute story about the Corps being led by Kyle to paint a mural of their history. We also see a flash forward where it looks like Jade might be coming back. I don’t know.

Life On The Outside: Martian Manhunter

Major Spoilers is a great blog and comics news site. I especially like their rundown on oh….every single member of the Legion of Super-Heroes ever! It is a lot of fun to read. So, I decided to do the same thing on my blog (I hope they don’t get mad). Instead of the Legionnaires, I want to focus on a superhero team that is even more under appreciated then those from the 31st Century….a team in the 21st Century; a team that that exists on the fringes of the Superhero Community….and yes I am talking about THE OUTSIDERS.

The Outsiders have always been a favorite team of mine. Maybe because I like the underdogs? Maybe because of the characters? Maybe I have no reason. I just know I like them. From Barr to Winick to Dixon, they have always captured my imagination. It seemed fitting to do this now since Tomasi’s run is about to begin and we are getting another overhaul of the team. I can’t promise it will be as witty and well-written as the Hero Histories over on Major Spoilers – in fact I can guarantee that it won’t be – but I will try my best.

In the first installment I want to focus on an easy one. He was once a mainstray of the Justice League and very much an insider but for at least a few issues he lived life on the Outside – I am talking about the recently deceased Manhunter from Mars; J’onn J’onzz, aka Martian Manhunter

BATO 8 – 11

Batman and the Outsiders (Volume 2) #8
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Julian Lopez

God I love this series….Lopez’s art is just plain gorgeous in this issue and I am actually really liking Remac….not the stupid annoying guy that controls him, but he is a cool looking hero himself.

Batman and the Outsiders (Volume 2) #9
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Julian Lopez

Julian Lopez’s work is extremely underrated. This is some great work. I especially liked the detail put into Looker’s mansion…and I am not even an art person. Anyways, it was fun to see Looker again, she is a lot less annoying then when she was with the Outsiders.

Batman and the Outsiders (Volume 2) #10
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Ryan Benjamin

Sadly this is Dixon’s last issue on this series and he doesn’t even get to finish off his whole arc with the thing on the moon. The idea of a parasite that gives metahuman powers is an interesting one. The opening page was particularly terrifying for an opening page….but I miss having Lopez on this title. I look forward to seeing how the crossover with Batman RIP goes.

Batman and the Outsiders (Volume 2) #11
Written by Frank Tieri
Art by Ryan Benjamin

Well I am happy to say that this wasn’t a bad issue. I liked how all the villains ar Arkham are singing “Ding Dong the Witch is dead” because Batman is missing haha. I also like how out of all the RIP tie-ins, this one was the most tied in…even referencing more events then just the Black Glove’s existence. I just wish the other Outsiders would stop picking on Batgirl….cause they SHOULD listen to her she is Cassandra Cain and she is kick-ass.

Some Changes

I would just like to announce that I will be discontinuing reviews of the Spirit. I have a lot of comics to catch up on, and so little time. The Spirit, unfortunately, has had little connection with the DC Universe so far. In fact, I am sure by this point it is safe to say he does not exist within the DCU. Therefore, I will be dropping the series from my reviews.

Also, I will not be reviewing Infinity Inc. I liked the series but it came and went during a very busy time in my life.