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The ’90s Revisited: The Final Night #1

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Walt

final_night0001Dusk / Week One: Armageddon

Writer: Karl Kesel
Penciller: Stuart Immonen
Inker: Jose Marzan Jr.
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Gaspar
Asst. Editor: Ali Morales
Editor: Dan Thorsland
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: November 1996
Cover Price: $1.95

I’m quite sure I’ve read this before…but I’ll be darned if I can remember it. This actually felt like I was reading it for the first time. Knowing I’ve bought the entire series at least once before in bargain bins or as a cheap set, I can’t imagine I didn’t read it…though that’s entirely possible. I know I’d read the Superman tie-ins, as events from this led to the electric-Superman saga.

This issue sees an alien arrive on early, bearing grave news: an entity that consumes all heat/energy is approaching Earth’s solar system and will destroy the sun, and in turn rendering Earth a lifeless iceball. The heroes–around Superman–gather, and launch a two-pronged plan to repel or distract the sun-eater…but this wouldn’t be the start of an event if things worked out right away, would it? The heroes’ plan fails, and Earth is left in darkness…a final night from which nothing will survive more than a few days.

I can’t say I’m overly enthused at the art. I should like it–I usually enjoy Immonen‘s work–but there’s something a bit "off" about it here. Perhaps it’s reading this out of context, or expecting something different, or just seeing a number of no-longer-currently-familiar characters that doesn’t quite do it for me. The art is hardly bad…it’s just not what I "expected" or thought I remembered. Still, we have numerous characters and multiple super-teams represented in this issue, and things move pretty quickly from introduction to action to result in what I would (by contemporary standards) consider an "ultra-compressed" story.

The writing is good, solid stuff, and certainly makes sense for what’s going on. We have the introduction of a massive threat, a gathering of heroes and plan to confront it, the execution of the plan, and the result. Given this event is one month long, and its core is this 4-issue mini-series while more generalized action plays out in other titles, I am ok with the lack of detail to stuff here in favor of moving "core events" along. It also has me very interested in reading the various tie-in titles to see far more detail to the unfolding crisis.

While it certainly benefits by way of 1990s comics being so cheap these days, this is also the sort of "event" I would love to have today in 2016: instead of having to invest in 3, 4, maybe 6 issues of every single tie-in title as well as an event mini-series or few, the event plays out in a single mini-series as well as just one issue of any given title tying in. I almost wish I’d held off on reading this issue, solely for the fact that I’m ready to dive into the rest of the mini, yet have no idea when I’d actually get around to hunting down all the tie-ins to the event.

I snagged 3 of the 4 issues from one set of quarter bins, and the missing issue from another at a different shop a day later–so I have the benefit of scoring the entire mini for $1 total without putting any particular effort into getting it. As such, this issue is very much worthwhile to me FOR my twenty-five cents, as I can move straight into the rest of the series without waiting. However, I do suspect that taken as a singular issue completely apart from issues 2-4, this wouldn’t be all that great an issue in and of itself.

I enjoyed the reading, and look forward to the unfolding story, and continue to dig in on this run through fun back issues and nostalgia.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The ’90s Revisited: Robin #1

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Walt

robin0001aOutcast

Story: Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: Adrienne Roy
Letters: Tim Harkins
Asst. Editor: Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Editor: Dennis O’Neil
Covers: Tom Grummett, Scott Hanna
Cover Date: November 1993
Cover Price: $1.50 (Newsstand) / $2.95 (Collector’s)

Robin is no longer welcome in the Batcave. Bruce’s back is broken, the man himself off searching for Jack Drake (Robin’s father) as well as his own doctor. Jean-Paul Valley, formerly Azrael, is now the Batman. And Valley is not keen on having a partner. So, Robin takes off–now officially split from the “Batman and” designation.

A gang is stealing cars–and opts to hit a Gotham Heights dance, figuring there’ll be rich kids’ cars there as easy pickings. Meanwhile, Tim is in attendance with Ariana, and the two get caught up in things. Tim pursues as Robin, but gets run off the road…and encounters a new figure who does not seem that friendly.

It’s been probably 15 years since I read this. Elements, I remember. Ariana, and I recognize some of the names of other characters in the cast as characters that play a role going forward. I originally read this when it came out, back in late 1993, and I may have re-read it during my college years when I “caught up” on the series, buying a run of issues 1-40 or so to match to my run from around #50 to whatever was current at that point.

There’s no “previously” page here. No real description of the premise on the opening page. Only some small context to bring us up to date. So, to pick this up “cold” it’s a bit lacking as a first issue, that big question of “what set off ‘Batman’?” But this issue takes place very much in context of the overall “Bat-Universe” of the time, amidst stuff going on with Knightfall/KnightQuest, and part of the overall story at the time, part of the continuity was that with Jean-Paul Valley taking over as Batman, he wasn’t suited for a partner…certainly not a “junior partner” with more experience than he himself had at the time. So it was a good point for the story as a whole to see Robin split off…but in order to take a character like Robin–Tim Drake–and remove him from the midst of the Batman-centric stuff…it makes sense to explore the character in his own series. SO, as the start of the series, we see him essentially kicked out of the Cave, to begin his solo adventures.

I love Grummett‘s Robin work. It certainly works extremely well here…I see the character on these pages, and this IS “my” Robin. Flip through this issue, and it’s simply ROBIN. The character I grew up with. Reading through the issue, nothing stood out or took me out of the story in a negative way…I just flat-out ENJOYED the issue.

Dixon did a fantastic job with a number of Bat-elements…Robin being one of my favorites. As said above…though this issue wasn’t one to come to “cold,” it fits very much in the Bat-Universe, and Dixon does a great job with the character and supporting cast. Having read this, I’d love to dive in and re-read some more, time permitting.

The first Robin Annual–part of Eclipso: The Darkness Within–was the first time I’d see Robin featured on the cover of a comic, getting his own title. I now know (but didn’t at the point in summer 1992 when I first acquired the Annual) that Robin had had a mini-series (and I’ll be darned if I can remember if Robin II: The Joker’s Wild was out yet or not…but I’m pretty sure it was). Then there was Robin III: Cry of the Huntress, that I ‘discovered’ in late 1992, around the time of the Death of Superman, Sword of Azrael, Spider-Man 2099, and so on. Then the Summer of Superman and Bloodlines, Knightfall and the start of KnightQuest…and Robin gets an ongoing title.

A title that lasted some 180 issues, that with a couple of gaps I’ve since filled in I followed mostly from this issue to the end, 1993 to 2009.

robin0001bI’ve seen this newsstand edition in quarter bins a couple times. The copy I read for this post I got off a 4/$1 rack at a Half-Price Books; and I got a copy as part of a 100-something issue set I bought several years ago (for the price of about 10 modern comics). I don’t see the “collector’s edition” much…but both covers are rather iconic to me. I think I did get both when they came out; and though I presently despise variants, I don’t have the same problem with stuff like these that I do with contemporary variants: there were a static TWO COVERS available. To my knowledge, they were individually orderable by comic shops, and they were NOT “ratioed”–neither cover was intentionally “more rare” than the other as far as comic shops. The “Collector’s Edition” was “only” available through comic shops, while the “Newsstand Edition” was what would be found at Waldenbooks, 7/11, grocery stores and general non-comic shop locations. Since they were different venues, and both covers were available through comic shops…I’m ok with them. Additionally, the “enhanced cover” was twice the price…so rather than merely “missing out on” a preferred cover image, you were SAVING MONEY getting one cover over another. You would pay more for the “variant,” sure, but everyone paid the same, and it was readily available.

All that aside…the early issues of this series in particular were quite good, and though this one single issue might not suck you in…for myself, this was well worth the 25 cents, time spent reading, and time spent writing this post.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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