“Oh wait, we’re going the wrong way.” “You could have realized that an hour ago!”
Sonic the Hedgehog #202
Archie Comics (September 2009)
WRITER: Ian Flynn
INKER: Terry Austin
COLORIST: Matt Herms
LETTERER: John Workman
EDITOR: Mike Pellerito
Some swearing and I think one of the images came from a porn comic. No naughty parts in the video, though.
Catch more from Comics By Perch on YouTube
Tell others about the Spotlight:
I don’t like the modern Paranoid Batman. You know, the guy who doesn’t trust anybody despite being on at least three teams at any one time. One of them is the “Batman Family”, which keeps getting messed up because some writer comes along assuming Batman has to be a broody loner because of his trauma. Trauma has ruined the DC Universe, or rather how poorly it’s used to make formerly great characters weak or rage machines. I went over that with Billy Batson and Kara recently. One of the things that made me a DC fan over a Marvel fan was how well the heroes got along. I mean…my introduction had them calling themselves Superfriends, and then I see comics with even Batman and Superman getting along when they first met, unlike more recent versions at least as far back as The New Batman Superman Adventures if not earlier. It just frustrates me to no end as someone who is practically an isolated loner and yet I have friends.
In an attempt to “justify” his paranoia we have Batman stumbling upon certain Justice League members, catching them brainwashing a villain because he raped Elongated Man’s wife, and them wiping his mind. That’s the kind of garbage that started with you-know-who and continues now that he’s gone because many of the same writers he brought in are still there, still destroying the characters. When his memory came back in a story that had nothing to do with these events narratively and was just there to grimdark the DC Universe, he goes nuts and creates Brother Eye, formerly an example of “Big Brother” in another reality, which goes nuts and tries to destroy the world. Originally it was supposed to keep heroes in check, an extension of his growing paranoia. I hate this, too.
You know what I don’t hate? Batman having contingency plans for the heroes.
That also gets treated as part of his broody loner paranoid act, but when you think about it that’s not accurate. The “Tower Of Babel” storyline, in which Ra’s Al Ghul (Vandal Savage for some reason in the animated adaptation, not that Ra’s is known for caring about anyone in the Justice League besides Batman) learns of Batman’s plans, gives them a lethal twist, and tries to bump off the League. If that’s what you’re focused on then you really aren’t getting how important having such plans are to crimefighting, especially in a world where heroes have fallen (alternate continuities aside), villains share those powers, and mind control–and sometimes just body control are totally things that happen. It’s not that the plans exist, it’s that it’s done so poorly.
Tell others about the Spotlight:
“And I can’t wait to meet all your friends and fight evil with you.” “Um…about that…”
Action Comics #252 (Facsimile Edition)
DC Comics (May, 1959; reprint version: December, 2025)
The Silver Age doesn’t have as many stories per issue as the Golden Age, but we are still at multiple stories per issue. Superman began in the first Action Comics and slowly took the comic over, but we still have that bad comedy page I always ignore in my Golden Age reviews and three stories. It’s just two of them feature Superman. The third has Congo Bill, a character that never reached the heights of Superman but still did better than most of the characters Superman debuted with.
Of course, this comic is known best for the first appearance of Kara Zor-El. While Supergirls and Superwomen were one-shotters in previous comics, Kara would go on to become one of DC’s more well know heroines, though she hasn’t gotten as much exposure as her cousin. She didn’t even break out comics until the 1980s live-action movie as the Salkinds tried to see what else they could exploit in the Metropolis group. She wouldn’t get another post-comic appearance again until the DCAU that I’m aware of, with a few live-action cameos after that until she got her own series on CBS, later moved to the CW. Even Hawkgirl got a couple of Superfriends appearances.
However, the first story features another Superman character, one of his villains, making his debut as well, and that’s where we start.
Tell others about the Spotlight:
Catch more from Pop Culture Pedestal on YouTube
So a show I really enjoyed as a kid (well, young teenager) and wanted more of was destroyed because some program director put her tastes above the audience? I hate when that happens and I hope she got fired for it. I don’t say that to be mean, I say that because she was bad at her job if that was her goal. I hate zombie stories but if I was in charge of programming at AMC during the height of the Walking Dead I’m not killing that show because my job is to get ratings and make the viewers happy, not push my own tastes on the audience. I’ve been hearing of executives killing shows that got good ratings because they personally hated them and it gets on my nerves.
And Superman Family Album was a great addition. Pulling punches even on robots wasn’t. So one out of three is still bad. Beau Weaver is underappreciated as Superman. He did a great job separating the “Superman” and “Clark Kent” identities vocally and he deserves more credit. Sad he never got to play him again.
Tell others about the Spotlight:
Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Last time we finished episode one of the arc, “The Powerful Enemy”. Now we start “Desperate Measures” with one exception. I’m guessing that one scene will be here and like with the Doctor and Ian stumbling on an old trap, will connect scenes originally set to a cliffhanger. I miss the serialized Doctor Who of the past. Seasonal arcs just aren’t the same thing. It extends the important story too far and while it does allow for a more contained episode to give characters a bit more focus, it’s just not the same to me.
Note that while we are bridging between two parts of a two episode serial we are not yet halfway through the book. There are 15 chapters and while the odd number makes it harder to split (the epilogue is two pages and I’ll do that with the final chapter) the halfway mark should still be chapter seven or eight. That’s nitpicky for me. I haven’t read this since I got it many, many years ago so the pacing could be right for the book, like not using the cliffhanger between chapters, so take that comment for whatever it’s worth. I’m trying to pad the intro on the homepage.
With that, let’s check in with Barbara and Vicki as they give Bennett a surprise.
Tell others about the Spotlight:
So fighty that one cover can’t contain it!
Hardcase #12
Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (May, 1994)
“The Angry Past” part 3
WRITER: James D. Hudnall
PENCILER: Scott Benefiel
INKER: Jasen Rodriguez
COLORING: Moose Baumann & Foodhammer!
LETTERER: Patrick Owsley
EDITOR: Hank Kanalz
BW Media Spotlight 