The 68th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: The comics that we remember..

It is amazing to me the comics that we remember.  You know you read your first issue of say....the Amazing Spider Man and for some reason, the pages from that issue stays with you.  Whenever you read a different comic book and still somehow you remember that one issue from your childhood.  Everyone has that issue that brings you back to your childhood, to the years when you first picked up a comic book.  It really didn't matter if it's because of the character, the artwork or even the colors, there's something about that first issue.

Some of us are lucky enough to be able to hold on to that comic book, most of us (like me) we were maybe a little careless, I know I was, I lost that comic.  Never to be seen again.  I still remember my first comic book, I mentioned it in my broadcast before.  I remember the pages and somehow I still remember the story line, the art and the cover.  As I said it's amazing how these comics stay in our memories.

I've already talked about my first comic which is an issue of Fantastic Four, that was my first comic, one that I will always remember and I hope that one day, I can maybe get a copy of that issue.  Well, apart from the Fantastic Four, there's another title that I remember vividly.  I've been wanting to talk about this for a while but I just could not find these five issues.  I couldn't find the comic.  I know I had these comics a long, long time ago but I just couldn't locate a physical copy.  So I had to shelve this edition of the broadcast.  I thought yeah, I'm going to give up on this topic.  Then a friend of mine said: "Hey, you know that 1984 comic you were talking about?  I have it, well I have the digital edition."

Well, I was over the moon.  I started compiling some pictures from this title and this is what I'm going to share with you for this edition of the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.  For this edition, it's the comics that we remember.  Let's get started.

The year was 1984.  The JLA satellite is in ruins and the Justice League of America is disbanded.  Yeah you heard me, the JLA is no more.

Well, at least that's what Aquaman wanted.  He's calling for the Justice League to disband in order for the United Nations to charter a new, full-time League. Most of the members of the team leave, but a few stay and are joined by new members: Vixen, Steel, Gypsy and Vibe. The team relocates to the Bunker in Detroit which was built on orders of General Hank Heywood, Steel's grandfather.  All this took place in Justice League Of America Annual # 2 by Gerry Conway, drawn by Chuck Patton and Dave Hunt.  The JLA Annual also featured the first appearance of the Bunker, which is the JLA's new Detroit headquarters and also the first appearance of Vixen's classic costume.

The Annual's Editor, Alan Gold elaborated on the background on how the new team came to be in the indexer notes of this comic. The text also notes that Justice League of America #233 (cover date, December 1984) is to appear "60 days from now".  I don't have this issue, JLA Annual # 2 but I remember reading it a long time ago, I think a friend of mine bought a copy and he told me about it and let me read it.  Well after JLA Annual # 2, I decided to look for the next issue of Justice League Of America # 233 and wouldn't you know it, it was probably my lucky day.

Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of their other team books, which focused upon heroes in their late teens/early 20s, Gerry Conway and artist Chuck Patton revamped the JLA.  As I mentioned before, it's amazing what the mind remembers and what the mind forgets.  I cannot recall anything that took place in school but this I remember, this issue of Justice League Of America # 233.  Before I go any further, a few years later I read that this version of the JLA was called JLA Detroit and despite my own err fond memories of this team, well, there were a lot of people who weren't too pleased with one character in particular and that's the guy on the cover, Vibe and for good reason too.

I read that a lot of readers and in fact even a few well know writers and artists didn't really like the Vibe character for a few reasons, he was considered too cheesy and his character was depicted as the stereotypical latino street punk.  I didn't know at the time because this was in a way my introduction to the world of DC Comics.  Up until that point I only knew two characters in DC Comics Superman and Batman.  This was something different to me.  The creative team behind this issue was Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton and Bill Anderson.

In this issue titled Rebirth One: Gang War, The League stops a gang fight between the Skulls, led by Crowbar, and Los Lobos, led by Vibe's brother, Armando Ramone. In jail, Crowbar is taken by Overmaster.  This issue continues with it's introduction to the new members of the JLA. 

Apart from getting reacquainted with Zatanna's powers and Vixen's as well, we found out what Vibe was capable of. 

Apart from Vibe, there was another character introduced through JLA Detroit, he was one of the new young heroes in the JLA, his name is Steel.  As a matter of fact he was the second Steel, the late Henry "Hank" Heywood the III.  Hank was the grandson of the original Commander Steel, Commander Steel, Henry Heywood, a wealthy industrialist, incorporated the same mechanized components into his grandson, much to his grandson's disapproval.

 Although it was originally stated that Heywood performed unnecessary surgeries on his grandson, it was later revealed in Justice League of America #260 that if he hadn't made his grandson into Steel, "Hank would have been dead... years ago" . Now, I'm not too sure about that, as Hank later remarked that his grandfather may have been driven insane by the metal in his skull.

This issue ended with Malcolm Tandy meeting his destiny on his way to becoming a super villain.  After reading this issue, I couldn't wait for the next issue, I waited and waited and again I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this cover.

Issue # 234 featured Vixen on the cover.  The concept of the four issue titled Rebirth was simple, each issue would features one of the new characters, a different one in each issue until # 236.  This issue was titled Rebirth Part 2: Claws.

This issue centered on Vixen who takes down a group of Red Dawn terrorists. She learns the group is financed by the leader of the African nation of M'Changa, General Maksai, her dead father's half-brother. Fifteen years ago, her father, Reverend Richard Jiwe, lead a peaceful revolution in M'Changa. But, after being elected president of the nation, Reverend Jiwe was killed by General Maksai who took over as the nation's strongman via a military coup. 

While this issue was mostly focusing on Vixen and her history, I was more into the dynamics of the new team as shown here in the three pages where Aquaman was a bit of a jerk.  Hey, even Zatana agrees.  While all this was happening, a new bad guy named Overmaster is making his moves and recruits Shatterfist into the Cadre.  While watching from behind the scenes was the Monitor, I didn't know at the time the significance of this character and what would happen later on.

I was like Wow, there's just so much going on in one issue and we're just two issue into JLA Detroit, things were shaping up for a showdown between the JLA and the Cadre led by Overmaster.  I couldn't wait for the next issue and I guess the newspaper vendor or whoever who owned that shop kept ordering some more comics because 30 days later, I found this issue.

Justice League of America # 235 was titled Rebirth 3: Heavy Metal.  In this issue Vixen attacks General Maksai, who wants Vixen's Tantu totem for his own, in the M'Changa embassy but is shot. The League comes to her rescue and refuse to hand her over to the NYPD for her role in breaking into the city jail to interrogate the members of Red Dawn who she previously captured. 

In this issue, we see more and more how Aquaman is treating the younger members of the team and how he'll do whatever he needs to.  Case in point, how he persuaded Steel to see his point.  What's interesting is the Martian Manhunter's reaction to all this happening around him.    

Since this issue is titled  Heavy Metal, we get to see Steel in action against a member of the Cadre.

Oh, see that lady over there, well that's Gypsy, another new addition to the JLA, she's been making sporadic appearances over the past few issues.

In flight, the JLA learn that Steel was transformed into a cyborg by his grandfather. An instant later, the team is transported by Overmaster to face The Cadre.  It was time to finally meet the Overmaster and his entire team, the moment had come, we'd seen a few of their members but now it was time for the big reveal.  Conway and Patton to me did not disappoint.  Was it worth the wait?  Yeah, I thought so, what a great page, what a reveal!!

I could not wait for the next issue and luckily I was able to buy this next issue.

This is the cover to JLA issue # 236 titled: Rebirth Conclusion: Gypsy Genius. The Justice League battle Overmaster and the Cadre in his Arctic mountain headquarters. 

Finally we got to see the entire Cadre on one side and the JLA on the other.

So, what happened next?

This issue featured some really great artwork from Chuck Patton along with Rick Magyar who did the inks for this issue.  I think they worked well together in my opinion.  It featured some really memorable pages for me like the one above when we saw the powers of Black Mass.

Wait what happened to Gypsy?  Does she get involved?  She wasn't on the flight when Overmaster transported the JLA away.  Well, worry not because Dale Gunn and Gypsy fly from Detroit to help the team. 

This issue had some really great artwork as I mentioned and some unforgettable sequences as well, like this one, here's a look at what Aquaman can do, which is more than just talk to fish.

The Justice League finds out that Overmaster was some type of power hungry parasitic creature living off the real Overmaster host. The Cadre disappears and the Overmaster's spaceship blasts out of the mountain into outer space.

These pages are still in my memory, vividly.  I can't understand why these four issues were so memorable to me but they are, comics I'll think of fondly.  One thing I remember is that when you combine the four issues together, they make a nifty poster. Whatever happened to these issues, I don't know, I know for a fact that I had them and that I enjoyed reading them but I can't recall where they are now.  Maybe when we moved to a new house years ago, they were left behind some how.  I can't remember.  I hope one day to find these issues again, reading them on a mobile device or tablet is great but nothing beats the feeling of having a real comic book in your hands.  

What happened to JLA Detroit, well the final storyline for the original Justice League of America series  which ran from #25 to #261 concludes with the murders of Vibe and Steel at the hands of robots created by long-time League nemesis Professor Ivo, and the resignations of Vixen, Gypsy, and the Elongated Man during the events of DC's Legends miniseries, which saw the team disbanding.

There you have it, a look at the comics we remember.  I'm sure you have one or maybe more than one comic that will always be in your memory, if you want to tell me about it, leave a comment.  Thanks for dropping by for this edition of the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, I hope you liked it, it was for me a walk down memory lane.  Thanks again, see you next time for the next broadcast and as usual take care.