My Favorite Gerry Conway Stories

Some comic book writers get your attention right away. Like for me John Byrne or Keith Giffen for instance. Others slide a little more under your radar. That’s how Gerry Conway way was for me. Don’t get me wrong he was one of my favorite writers but  after he passed away a few weeks ago I looked and realized he made a bigger impact on my love of comics than I realized. He created or co created characters I love and wrote some of my favorite stories ever.

So here are my favorites as a tribute to him, shame on me for not recognizing him sooner. 

He was famously more of a Marvel guy but as always this will be focused on his dc work but id be remiss if I didn’t point out his most influential work: 

Yup one of the most iconic and memorable comic book stories ever was when Gwen Stacey was killed by the Green Goblin. It’s been referenced and homaged to this day. I should also mention Conway co created The Punisher. 

Top 10 Worst Post-Crisis Retcons

Only fair to celebrate Crisis on Infinite Earths with the 40th anniversary approaching. The massive story made many changes to the DC universe. Some were subtle, for example Green Lantern books continued on with a new status quo (and a few tweaks to Hal Jordan’s origin) but basically no dramatic changes to canon. Others were convoluted, like the various attempts to reintroduce Huntress into continuity since she could no longer be the daughter of Earth 2 Batman.

These reboots caused entire swaths of history to be changed. Invalidating some really good stories. Here are ten retcons that came about after Crisis that hurt more than they helped. This list is arranged from the ones that were almost well done and seamless to the ones…that weren’t. 

My Tribute-The Works of George Perez & Neal Adams

 When it comes to comic books, some people just transcend the medium. You know there name even if you don't know what he did or why he is famous. And George Perez was like that for me. Since he passed away recently it seems only fair to run down some of my favorite works of his. 

Wonder Woman

This was the first time I really knew the name, even though he had done a crap ton of work before this but we'll get to that. A lot of people forget as amazing an artist as Perez is, he was also a good story teller. And he was tasked with taking charge of the post Crisis Wonder Woman who was totally revamped. And while I did have some issues with it, I hated the fact her entire legacy had been wiped out, these were some damn good stories and of course the artwork was superb. 

A Look at DC Comics "Millennium" Event

It really makes me feel old that this came out almost 35 ago. I thought it came out in 1987 but I guess it was technically early 1988, but whatever. I loved this event and still do---even though it's one of DC's lamest events. So you may wonder, if it's not that good why do I love it? I'm so glad you asked.

This event had a pretty big build up since the hook was that every on going comic was going to reveal that a supporting cast member was, in fact, a Manhunter in disguise. I'll come back to that, but first let me explain the story.

Manhunters preceded the Green Lantern Corps but were banished after betraying the Gaurdians of the Universe. They hid until some event which would make them act again and employed sleeper agents on Earth to watch the Heroes and learn all about them. So what was that finally caused them to act? Long story short, A guardian and a Zamoran show up on Earth announcing they are selecting ten people on Earth to advance the human race. The heroes have to protect these ten while they are prepared for this, at the same as sleeper agents attack to distract them. The sleeper agents could be anyone including those closest and most trusted by the heroes. And yeah, that's the story. As the Gaurdians train these ten people the rest of the heroes are either protecting them or fighting the Manhunter agents.

Five Silly Promotional DC Comics

 I talked about PSA comics the other day but there is another genre I should mention. When the comic is a straight up ad comic. At least PSA's have their hearts in the right place, trying to educate and inform. When the comic is using a hero or heroes for a straight up, blatant advertisement things get silly. Especially when the hero has to play the fool in order to make the product look superior. Marvel has a load of these promoting everything from the NFL to Hitachi Data Systems (I don't get that either). But DC has done its fair share of shilling to and are five examples. 

Superman Meets the Quick Bunny

You know, at least with the Kool-Aid Man Marvel was smart enough to give the character its own world to inhabit. They didn't try to force him to work with Captain America or something (nah they saved that for there orange juice psa). Here, Superman meets the Quick Bunny and the entire "Quick" Club. The story is just silly and it's funny to see Superman maintain his dignity as he is being upstaged by four kids and an anthropomorphic rabbit.

Five Misguided PSA Comic's

I talked about PSA's the other day but there are other kinds besides those aimed at children on Saturday morning. PSA's can be seen for adults also, movie theatres often run psa's before movies, and the radio can be chalk full of public service announcements. Yet another area that always interested me is comic books. This is when an entire comic is trying to raise awareness for a good cause, and advertising at the same time.

 

I guess it makes sense, kids are likely to pick up any issue that has their favorite character on it even if it is a deliberate advertisement. And yes, a PSA is still an advertisement even if the goal is more sincere. Though some PSA's are less subtle than others. It's actually quite a genre, but once in awhile the comic misses the mark. There will be a goofy element, or just a lame story, which takes the well meaning PSA and turns into a joke because of how silly it is. Here are some examples:

Heroes Against Hunger

In the 80's one of the biggest problems was the famine in Africa, and there were lots of efforts to assist with that. From "We are the World" to this PSA comic in which everyone at DC had a handle in. The problem with the issue is that they created a generic super villain to fight, called "The Master" or some nonsense, which I think was a mistake. It's fine to have a bad guy like a gangster or something realistic but when it's a sci fi based villain like here or aliens as in other PSA's you're diminishing the problem. Then Lex tries to fix the problem with science but is told the situation is to messed up for that. 

Top 10 Best Comic Teenage Sidekicks

One of the sillier concepts from the old days of comics that isn't around so much anymore is the teenage sidekick. It never made sense to me, why would kids relate more the brat kid being kidnapped every issue rather than the big strong hero saving the day?? Maybe that's why they died out. But for awhile everyone had a kid sidekick and today I want to run through what I think are the ten best.

A lot of times Sidekicks are there for comic relief. Such as Woozy Winks and the lame Uncle Marvel. Sometimes they're just..boring like Jimmy Olsen or Stripesy (Before the New 52 made him sort of badass). And sometimes they are just so lame like when Sandman had a sidekick named Sandy no one remembered (until rebooted in the 90's). When they do work they really work however. 

You may wonder why Donna Troy isn't on here, and let's just say it's a long story. This list does not take into account these characters appearances in movies or tv nor does it include future alter ego's they would aquire (good or evil). Just how they functioned as a sidekick. This list is rated by there impact and lasting appeal. And most importantly, they had to have spent time working with the hero they are emulating. These days the rule seems to be make a teenager with super powers have almost no relationship at best with the adult hero they are emulating, and that's just not a sidekick to me. 

Johnny Thunder (JSA)

Why the JSA needed a mascot, as he was called, is anyone's guess. But that's what he was an honorary member who hung around and had a friendly thunderbolt around to do his bidding (whether he knew it or not). 

Five Other Champions of Metropolis

Superman is well known for being the champion of Metropolis. It's his city and the residents love him as much as he loves them. He has fought many foes in that city and it's impossible to not connect the two.

However, Superman can't be everywhere and do everything. What about the smaller problems like street gangs? Or organized crime that are smart enough to work around Superman? This is why Metropolis has had other defenders over the years. Sometimes they work alone and other times they work with Superman, and while none are as well known or loved as The Man of Steel it's all part of the same never ending battle. Here are five:

Black Lightning

Even Metropolis has to have a slum section, and as you can expect a city as big as this one would have a large section of poverty. It's called Suicide Slum and is where Black Lightning first made his home when he first appeared. He was a teacher who donned the mask to help out his students. It makes sense, Superman can handle the big threats but who can handle the small one's that happen in parts of the city? I have no idea what his modern origin is these days. 

Ten Least Favorite Members of Justice League of America

 

So I talked about my favorite characters in the Legion and the JSA. The next logical discussion is the Justice League. I have loved the idea of the JLA for as long as I can remember. There is just one problem, the best heroes are all characters I have discussed a thousand times already. So maybe to discuss the JLA, the best thing to do is discuss the members I do not like. The heroes that either contributed nothing or were just plain uninteresting. And yes, I am covering all versions of the team through the years. Well, ok not all. Through the 90's the team was formed and disbanded a bunch of time. Since New 52 there have been a million different versions of the League. That being said, here are my ten least favorite league members. 

The JLA was created in the silver age by writer Gardner Fox. The idea was to reimagine the JSA, which we discussed before. And to be fair, they did pre date the Avengers by a few year's. 

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Snapper Carr 

I brought this guy up before but it worth going over him again. Back in the Golden Age it was of course common for every super hero to have a kid sidekick. This applied to team's as well. JSA had Johnny Thunder, and JLA had Snapper Carr. He was annoying and useless, and DC has tried to reinvent the character many times over the years.

Ten Favorite Members of Justice Society of America

 Before Batman took over I discussed my favorite members of the Legion of Superheroes. I decides that it was time to do the same with the grandaddy of all superhero teams. That's right...

It was editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox who conceived the idea all the wya back in 1940 (hey, that makes them 80 years old!) as a way to get all the golden age heroes together in one book. The team faded after World War II only be revived as existing on Earth 2, and appearing in several crossover's with the JLA. After Crisis the team was retired, then brought back, then trimmed down and finally got a great new series in the 90's. A series I never read, though I have heard great things. While I never loved the team or members, I always did have a fascination for them. In universe they were united by FDR at the height of World War II to fight Hitler! 

So let's run down my favorite members, and no we will not discuss the All Star Squadron here, just JSA. the All Stars are another story entirely! Though since this team isn't quite as huge, I will include modern day members as well as the original one's. Like the Legion article these are no particular order.

Flash

Jay Garrick is an awesome character, and even though his uniform was a little silly he was still a great hero. Jay was the first Flash and inspired all after him. True, I know mostly his more modern appearances but you can't deny what this character started. His orign was kind of silly involving hard water of all things. 

Ten Favorite Members of Legion of SuperHeroes

I’ve talked a lot about superheroes, specifically DC, but there is one team that I haven’t said very much about.

And that is basically because I was never much of a Legion fan. I read there book here and there, but most of my exposure comes from their appearances in other people’s books. I do have a trade of “The Great Darkness Saga”. Based 1000 years in the future it’s a collection of super powered young people from all over the galaxy. The team was created in a Superboy story way back when, and as I mentioned before became so popular they actually took over Superboy’s book and became the main feature. In the 90’s the team was hurt by reboots and retcon’s that took all likeability from the team. But have recovered since then.

This roster was massive, so I decided to look at my ten favorite. Leaving off members not specifcally created for Legion like Superboy, Supergirl and Jimmy Olsen. And forgive my if my info on these characters is a tad dated.

 

 

Brainiac 5

One of the more complex characters, it’s no wonder the live shows tend to bring him and keep him around. Originally he was the son of villain Brianiac, but as that character got retconned so did Brainiac 5. Being a clone version for time and more recently Brainiac’s adopted son. The character would also become more unlikable as the years went on. His powers are an amazing intellect which grants him superhuman calculation skills, amazing memory and exceptional technical knowledge.

 

Five Heroes With Triple Identities

Ok after the last couple articles I think it’s time to get back into something just for fun. We all know that superhero’s have a dual identity. Their hero monicker and of course the person they are in real life. But once in awhile a character will take on a third identity for a time. And I don’t mean because they are mind controlled or turned evil or something, circumstances simply force them to don a third identity. Like how former Batgirl Barbara Gordon became The Oracle after being shot, or Hank Pym had several identities from Ant Man including Goliath and Yellow Jacket.

 

 

Here are five examples of what I mean. And these aren’t heroes becoming villains, that’s a different list entirely.

 

Ten Good & Bad DC Comics Father’s

Father’s Day is today and I thought it would be fun to run through some father’s from comic books. Some are superheroes, and others are fathers of heroes. And others are not nice at all! Father figures are very important to our characters. Let’s focus on DC, as usual. Here are ten comic book fathers some really good and others not so much!

Jor-El

There have been a million revisions to this character, but usually in the changes involve how Krypton will explode and what they can do about it. The one constant is the fact that he loves his son so much, he puts him in a rocket and shoots him to another planet so he can survive.

Pa Kent

I said before that I prefer it when Ma and Pa were alive in the Superman books. Because Pa Kent was great for grounding Clark and reminding him who he was and what he stood for. Still, even in the era when he dies when Clark was young (silver age and the New 52 era) the fact that someone he loved died and there was NOTHING he could do would serve to be a cold reminder to Clark that there are just somethings a Superman can’t do no matter how much he wants to help. Either way, Pa Kent is very important to the Superman character.