A comprehensive review of the 1987 Spectre v2 ongoing series

Our first article about the Spectre v2 ongoing series began with us telling you about the origin of the series and the Spectre's scaled-down powers, but quickly got side-tracked as we began outlining all the great artists who had collaborated on the series. In this second part we're striving to give you an overall summary of this 1987 ongoing series...

[I'm trying my best here to review this series as objectively as possible. It's been a while since I've read 1992's The Spectre v3 (aka: John Ostrander's Spectre) or any 1940s Golden Age stories from his More Fun Comics days. For all intents and purposes, I'm more or less going into this with a 'clean slate'. -J]

The Spectre v2 ongoing series ran for 31 issues and a single 1988 annual (all written by Doug Moench). This series was only offered via Direct Edition — it wasn't sold on newsstands — meaning you either had to have a home subscription or purchase it from your local comic book shop. Being a Direct Edition made it possible for Spectre v2 to bypass the Comics Code Authority (CCA) seal and contain content geared towards a 'mature audience'. This was very much in-step with what was happening with Swamp Thing v2 at the time, Despite being a 'no label' book, DC editorial opted not use profane words, show graphic sex or violence and only be as strong as 1988 prime time television.

This ongoing series also sported the NEW FORMAT seal on the cover — this meant that there were 24 pages of story instead of 22, all of the ads were at the back of the book, the paper stock was better than newsprint (but not as good as Baxter), and new 'computer coloring' was being used. Swamp Thing v2 would also move into this format with issue #60 and Doom Patrol v2 with issue #19.*

Under the editorial direction of Bob Greenberger, Moench initially sets up the Spectre v2 as a supernatural mystery comic; James Corrigan is no longer a cop, he's a private investigator with an office above Madame Xanadu's Greenwich Village parlor. The stories are mainly narrated from Corrigan's point of view and tend to involve a supernatural case/mystery that he's trying to crack (often involving a murder). The Spectre is a discarnate spirit which comes and goes as he pleases, but is usually working towards the same objective as Corrigan. The first three issues establish the tone of this series, and by issue #4 the series really starts to hit it's stride. Reader reaction to a new Spectre ongoing series consisted of a lot of hesitation — readers pointed out that the reason a Spectre series hadn't worked very well in the past is because the character was too powerful (on the verge of being God-like) and thus difficult for the reader to form a relation to. Moench effectively fixed this by scaling down the Spectre's powers and giving him a weakness.

Spectre v2 #3

I honestly don't think that Doug Moench is given enough credit as a writer of supernatural fiction. Moench is best known for co-creating Marvel's Moon Knight, his run on Marvel's Master of Kung-Fu with Paul Gulacy and, most notably, his 1983 to 1986 stint as a writer for Batman and Detective Comics. Most fans don't realize that Moench's 1970s writing resumé includes a huge catalog of work for Warren Publication's Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella horror magazines, as well as a variety of Marvel's black-and-white Curtis Magazine titles (i.e., Dracula Lives!, Haunt of Horror, Vampire Tales, Monsters Unleashed, Tales of the Zombie).

If I didn't know any better, it would seem like Moench's first major goals with this series were to try to conclude a few open-ended story lines. In a two-part story illustrated by Gene Colan and Steve Mitchell, Moench explains what happened to Jim Corrigan post-Crisis up until the beginning of Spectre v2. Moench masterfully sidesteps around the continuity nightmare that is Crisis on Infinite Earths by explaining it as a natural phenomena ["red rains"] that happened to be occurring during the course of the story:

Spectre v2 #5 - Ernie Colon and Steve Mitchell art

Issues #7 and 8 of the Spectre v2 reintroduces Golden Age mystical super-villain Wotan (last seen in 1981's All-Star Squadron) to a current audience in what may be the creepiest Zatanna story I've ever read. Moench keeps a tight continuity in these issues, as the remaining Demon Three members (Abnegazar and Ghast) are still looking for their missing brother and references to Justice League of America #256 - 257 are mentioned. (At this point, Zatanna was predominantly a Justice Leaguer, having last appeared during 1986's Justice League Detroit run.) Moench also resolves the lingering question of what happened to Zatara following the events of Swamp Thing v2 #50:

Spectre v2 #5 - illustrated by Cam Kennedy

Spectre v2 #9 is the first issue that Gray Morrow starts his six issue run (as penciller AND inker) on the series. Issue #9 incited a lot of controversy in the comic book fandom community at the time, not because the Spectre (a spirit) and Madame Xanadu (a human) 'consummate' their relationship [that idea has already 'been done', as seen in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing v2 #34], but because of all the nudity in the issue. (Fun Fact: Madame Xanadu sleeps totally in the nude while wearing ALL of her jewelry. Flaunt it if you've got it, is the message here.) Comic book stores owners were taken by surprise because there was no mention of adult content on the cover of the issue, and they had no forewarning of the nudity within the issue. One rumor is that DC editorial thought the dark green overlays printed over the image would conceal enough to not be an issue — but as evidenced by the finished product, this was not the case whatsoever.

Truth be told, the Morrow-illustrated issues were my favorite issues of the Spectre v2 to read. Morrow's art brings a sense of realism and fits the mood of the series — his Spectre is a very human-looking Spectre (which, y'know, adds to the creepiness factor). It feels a bit like a throw-back to the Golden Age version of the character when the writers were still trying to flesh out his powers.

Spectre v2 #12 - illustrated by Gray Morrow

As mentioned, Morrow's last issue was Spectre v2 #15, which is also the last issue Robert Greenberger is credited as editor. Starting from #16 (and until the last issue of the series) Andy Hefner would now be manning the editorial reins. Issue #15 concluded with the promise of 'A New Beginning' and issue #16 quickly wraps up the lingering Cult of the Blood Red Moon storyline (that's been running since issue #1) with Chris Wozniak and Mark Farmer on art. Corrigan also comes clean to his police department contact about who he really is (this is a bit of a change, since a previously recurring plot device was Corrigan going to great pains to conceal his association with the Spectre).

Issue #18 brings a BIG CHANGE to the character, as Jim Corrigan and the Spectre are no longer two separate entities, but one and the same person who switch back & forth (think: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde). I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Spectre's powers get augmented, too.

Spectre v2 #19 - Corrigan changing to the Spectre. Mark Badger art.

By issue #20, we're seeing a completely NEW direction in this series: Jim Corrigan decides to run a paranormal detective agency and begins hiring eccentric employees to fill the roster. For a few issues, Spectre v2 goes back to the whole 'detective agency/mystery' aspect, but ultimately gets derailed by a 6 issue story arc that, in my humble opinion, killed interest in this series.

Written by Moench and pencilled by Tom Artis (along with various inkers), the Ghost in the Machine story arc (Spectre v2 #24 - #29) involved the Spectre battling a new meta-human with the power to control... (wait for it)... computers! This was honestly one of those 'what were they thinking' moments that had me scratching my head. Considering issue #23 was an Invasion! tie-in and guest-starred Deadman, Dr Fate, Phantom Stranger and the Demon, it would seem like great things were in store for Spectre v2. Ghost in the Machine featured NO guest stars, didn't really add any new plot development, featured a throw-away villain and took half a year to tell. Depending on who was inking his pencils, I found Artis' art a little too exaggerated/comical for the story... which really gave the whole thing a light-hearted feel. The only noteworthy item about this story arc is that it's the first appearance of Jason Praxis — a character who would later become a member of Booster Gold's Conglomerate in the issues of Justice League Quarterly (circa early 90s). But really, that's not enough of a reason to track these issues down.

The final two issues of the series, #30 and #31, feature a two-part story that kind of just... ends the series. It was actually a very well-written story involving Corrigan's paranormal detective agency and a haunted house/demon possession. The art (Fred Butler and Gonzalo Mayo) was back to being shadowy and sinister, and the story itself was very suspenseful. Moench seems to have put a lot of heart into this 2-parter: a recently introduced character is given the spotlight in these issues and subsequently killed off. Part of me wonders if Moench was blindsided by the cancellation of this series, and was trying to give a new character he created a respectful send off.

The Spectre is (quite possibly) one of my favorite Golden Age comic book characters. Aesthetically speaking, he's easily recognizable in his green-and-white colors and possesses a disquieting demeanor that is just begging to have ghastly stories written about him. Doug Moench, under the guidance of Greenberger (I'm starting to assume), really wrote this character correctly by keeping him closely tied to the other mystical characters of the DCU — essentially continuing what Moore's Swamp Thing v2 had started. Appearances by Phantom Stranger, Madame Xanadu, Zatanna, Zatara, Deadman, Dr. Fate, The Enchantress, and Baron Winters really anchored this book as part of a separate universe within the DCU (which would somewhat end up being the foundation that is Vertigo). Everything from issue #1 to issue #16 was engaging and entertaining to read, and had me guessing which DC mystical character might appear next.

panels from The Spectre v2 #11 (1988). Gray Morrow art.

Keeping all this in mind, Spectre v2 felt like two different series' joined together (with the second series starting at issue #17). I'm assuming it was a change due to Helfer's editorial direction, but Spectre v2 #17 and beyond felt like the emphasis was mainly placed on Corrigan and his budding detective agency while the Spectre's involvement with the rest of the mystical DCU took a back seat. (The exception to this, of course, would be the Invasion! tie-in issue which had an ensemble cast of DC mystical characters.) In the letter column of issue #18, Greenberger directly states to a reader:  "Doug, Chris and Andy are moving the Spectre out of the mystical realm for a while, allowing the character to investigate the new changes that have wrought these last few issues".

To see a series change so drastically while written by the same writer always leaves me a little conflicted. I really enjoyed the first half, and the second half not so much. Moench did a great job of keeping the Spectre away from the rest of the mainstream DCU. Even with the mandatory Millennium and Invasion! cross-overs, he still manages to keep the presence of *other* DCU characters at a minimum (the exception being Batman, but it was for a crossover with Detective Comics #582). Moench inserts a lot of philosophical discussion into the story (this was something readers noticed he did with Master of Kung-Fu as well): Corrigan is often discussing moral issues with the Spectre regarding who deserves to be punished and how badly they should be punished. Is anyone really 'evil'? Or just a victim of circumstance? It's worth noting that nowhere in this series is 'The Voice' (the one that Spectre answers to) ever identified as 'God'. Most stories in this series take up two to three issues and there aren't many stand-alone issues.


Why was Spectre v2 cancelled after issue #31? I have no hard evidence or sales numbers, but I'm going to boldly guess that an editorial change, a new 'direction' halfway through the series, inconsistent art teams (Bart Sears was rumored to be next in line to illustrate the series, drew one issue and then left for something else), and shipping delays (the Invasion! tie-in issue was released 2 months after the event had ended) killed interest in this book.

While I just made this series sound like a dud, let's not forget that Spectre v2 had an incredibly strong opening with a terrific creative team (Moench/Colan/Mitchell/Greenberger) and some beautiful covers illustrated by A-level talent. Additionally, the Spectre is such an interesting character, Who doesn't like the Spectre? The book practically sells itself. At it's peak, this series inspired enough renewed interest in the Spectre to justify DC publishing the 1988 Wrath of the Spectre limited series (reprinting the Michael Fleisher/Jim Aparo Adventure Comics stories and a few brand-new stories originally written in 1974).


How does Spectre v2 hold up today? Well, there's a few moments in this series that, as you read them, really make you think "yep, this was definitely written for an 80s crowd in mind". A few notable examples include:

-a veiled rant about Ronald Reagan (exhibit 'F'):

Spectre v2 #12

-an issue all about crooked cops trafficking cocaine:

-the entire 6 issue Ghost in the Machine story arc is about a meta-human who is attacking humanity via arcades, computers and electronics. Remember when local arcades were still a "thing"? The meta-human's plot involved enslaving all 983, 523 computer users all across the country. Wow... that takes me back, Another cover has the Spectre being attacked by CDs. Remember when Compact Discs were the newfangled thing and your friends would show off their new CD-player and CD collection like it was the most glorious piece of hi-tech equipment to ever exist? Yeah, those were the eighties.

As of this writing, I do not believe that ANY of the Spectre v2 has been reprinted in a collected format by DC comics. Which is a shame — since those first sixteen are definitely worth reading. If nothing else, pick up those Gray Morrow issues (#9 to 15) which can probably still be found for under $4 a piece. Issue #11, which is a Suicide Squad tie-in, is especially worth the effort of seeking.


As we conclude this comprehensive review, I'd like to leave you with what the Spectre looks like under his cowl (courtesy of Gray Morrow):

Spectre v2 #15

-Justin


*Big thanks to Rob Perry for filling in the gaps about the NEW FORMAT edition, rumors about artists meant to draw the book and the shipping delays during the last half of the series.

A review of the 1987 Spectre v2 ongoing series

It was DC Executive Editor Dick Giordano's idea to give the Spectre his own book again. This was apparently decided before Crisis On Infinite Earths, since the DC editorial team determined that the Spectre was TOO powerful of a character and would need to be taken down a few notches before he was given his own ongoing series. Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas, Steve Gerber* and Bob Greenberger conferred and set a plan in motion: as a result of various events in 1986's Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and the Last Days of the Justice Society Special #1, the Spectre gets demoted to becoming a lesser-powerful supernatural being.

*If you're wondering why Steve Gerber is in the aforementioned list, it was because Gerber was Giordano's original choice as writer for the Spectre v2 ongoing series (scheduled to start in 1986), Gerber is best known for his work on Marvel's Man-Thing, Defenders and Howard the Duck titles. Due to scheduling conflicts between Gerber and DC comics [i.e., animated G.I .Joe cartoon and Howard the Duck film], Gerber writing Spectre v2 never actualized. Actually, a few of Steve Gerber's early 80s DC proposal never saw the light of day, and you can read about them on Brian Cronin's Comic Book Legends Revealed #254.

Prior to Spectre v2, Doug Moench had been writing Batman AND Detective Comics, as well as a few other projects for DC (Slash Maraud, Electric Warrior, and Lords of the Ultra-Realm). When Denny O'Neil became editor of the Bat-books in 1986, he was looking to move Batman into a new direction and Moench was replaced as writer [don't worry: Moench would return as regular writer again in 1992]. Moench offered a proposal to Giordano and Greenberger on a Spectre v2 ongoing series, which was well-received and the idea was ultimately given the 'go ahead'.

As the ongoing series begins, Moench wastes no time in addressing what happened to the Spectre after Swamp Thing v2 #50 and Last Days of the Justice Society Special, quickly explaining to the reader that this is a not-so-powerful Spectre who has had most of his powers stripped away. Moench also quickly introduces Kim Liang and (re-introduces) Madame Xanadu as supporting characters — as they will both play major roles throughout this series. Jim Corrigan was also reinstated as the Spectre's 'alter ego', but more on that later. Meonch chose the Cult of the Blood Red Moon (last seen during the I...Vampire! issues of 1982/1983's House of Mystery) as the Spectre's first major antagonists and they would remain a thorn in the Spectre's side for the first dozen issues or so.

By issue #2, we get a better idea of the Spectre's situation; the Spectre is Jim Corrigan's "soul", and can leave Corrigan's body for a maximum of 48 hours. It's explained that if Corrigan dies then the Spectre has no "host" body to return to and will also die (in a manner of speaking). Having the Spectre's incorporeal form split from Corrigan is a painful experience for Corrigan.

As far I can tell, the Spectre has the following powers: he can 'possess' inanimate/inorganic objects and transform them, he can become invisible, he can turn into a mist, he can communicate with the deceased (some exceptions apply) and he has limited mind-reading capabilities. Despite being 'ghost-like', the Spectre can still throw a punch. Another stipulation imposed on the Spectre (by whoever he answers to) is that he now has to mete out punishments that 'fit the crime' — no more turning jaywalkers into glass or whatever.

Spectre v2 #1 - pencils by Gene Colan and inks by Steve Mitchell

The Spectre v2 really makes a REALLY STRONG first impression with Gene Colan on pencils and Steve Mitchell on inks. Colan and Mitchell (along with Gerber) were part of Giordano's original vision for the Spectre v2 creative team. [Coincidentally, like Moench, Colan had also been working on Detective Comics from 1982 to 1986.] Colan on the Spectre is a natural choice, as Colan is best known for his work on Marvel's The Tomb of Dracula (and other various Dracula-related titles). Colan's pencils bring a sinister and foreboding atmosphere that is perfectly suited for supernatural-themed stories (as evidenced in DC's Night Force). Mitchell's inks compliment Colan's pencils quite nicely, and it's a bit of shame that the Colan/Mitchell team-up only lasted for the first six issues of the series. Nevertheless, after Colan and Mitchell left, we were still treated to a really impressive line-up of artists:

Spectre v2 #7 - illustrated by Cam Kennedy 

Cam Kennedy (best known for his work on 2000 AD's Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper features) took over as guest artist for two issues.

Spectre v2 #10 - illustrated by Gray Morrow

Gray Morrow became the regular penciller and inker as of Spectre v2 #9 and remained until issue #15. Morrow, who's realistic art had been featured everywhere in the 1970s (DC, Marvel, Warren Publishing and Archie Comics), was an amazing fit for this series and I'm so glad that this series existed just so that Morrow had a chance to draw several issues.

Spectre v2 #17 - Chris Wozniak pencils with Ricardo Villagran inks

Gray Morrow would be the last regular penciller/inker for the next nine issues. Following Morrow leaving the book, it was pretty much a rotating creative team. Chris Wozniak was one of the few pencillers that would stay consistent and on any given issue teamed up with Mark Farmer, Ricardo Villagran, or Mark Badger. Bart Sears and Mark Pennington illustrated issue #22. Tom Artis pencilled a six issue story arc that lasted until issue #29. Artis had a rotating cast of inkers which included Ralph Cabrera, Al Vey, and Tim Gula during this run.  The series concluded with Fred Butler and Gonzalo Mayo as pencillers for the last two issues. respectively. Jim Baikie pencilled and inked the 1988 Spectre v2 Annual #1.

Spectre v2 #19 - illustrated by Mark Badger

I wanted to give a special mention to Mark Badger's art for Spectre v2 #19 (as well as issues #18, #20 and #21 — you can see his strong influence in the finished work). During a previous review of the 1988 Martian Manhunter mini-series, I was a little harsh regarding his art on that mini stating that it was 'too abstract/psychedelic' for the story. In this case, Badger's abstract style fits the mood and theme of the Spectre v2 ongoing series perfectly, and I really wish he had stayed on as the regular artist until the end of the book. Just terrific stuff.

I can't talk about the art in this book without mentioning how impressive the cover gallery to the first half of this series was. A lot of big name (and soon to be 'big name') artists had contributed covers that are absolutely pin-up worthy. Here a few covers that really stood out...


A few Mike Kaluta covers:

A few Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez covers:

A few Mike Mignola covers:

A few Charles Vess covers:

I feel that some books (particularly the Spectre) need the RIGHT artist in order to convey the RIGHT mood, which is why I'm putting so much emphasis on the art in this book. Now that we've dealt with who illustrated what, it's time to talk about what was going on between the covers. So far, this article is running way longer than I had planned, so we'll conclude with a comprehensive review in part 2.

-Justin

The new Suicide Squad film is fast approaching and, well, I'm not even up-to-speed on the histories of all of the characters on the roster. This article is just as much for myself as it is for you, so hopefully you'll enjoy...

Know your Suicide Squad: Killer Croc

[Killer Croc has been heavily active in DCU Continuity for the past two decades, but for the sake of keeping 'on theme' with this webzine, we're only going to focus on his 80s appearances all the way up to the very early 90s. - editor]

Created by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan, Killer Croc first appears in Detective Comics #523 (1983). He's a slim gangster in a trench coat and fedora who goes by the name of 'Croc' and spends most of his time skulking in the background. I'm going to set the scene here: it's the early 80s and Gotham City gangsters Rupert Thorne and Tony Defalco have been dethroned, so there's a bit of a power-vacuum within the Gotham Underworld. Dick Grayson is still Robin, but he's an active member of the Teen Titans, and his relationship with Bruce Wayne is starting to show some strain. Bruce seems to be getting a bit more tense and is currently juggling two women in his life: Selina Kyle and Vicki Vale. On the editorial side, Len Wein had recently started editing both Batman and Detective Comics and intended on merging the continuities of all Batman titles (i.e. Batman, Detective Comics, Brave and the Bold, and World's Finest) to keep everything feeling like it's occurring in the same universe.

In his third appearance (Detective Comics #524), Croc's fedora gets knocked off in an altercation and we get the first full-view of his scaly face:

Despite the scales, he is still rather 'human-looking'

Croc was first presented as a 'smooth operator' making moves to take control of Gotham City's underworld, and his first major murder within Gotham City was performed using a long-range sniper rifle. Croc's debut appearance had him involved in a six-issue story arc running between Batman #357 - 359 (1983) and Detective Comics #524 - 526 (1983). [It wasn't unusual for Batman stories to continue from one title to the next.] It's kind of interesting to note the progression of Croc going from a tactical criminal mastermind to a berzerker hand-to-hand combatant within these six issues. At his worst, he's an experienced alligator wrestler who is really trying hard to break Batman's back - he's not trying to eat people, yet. At least one reader picked up on this rapid evolution of the character and wrote in to comment on it. Wein replied with "We got the impression that Croc's dual nature was somehow tied in to his reptilian appearance. Half of the time he was clever, manipulative, a real snake. But still being half human, he was given to all-too-human fits of rage. Made sense to us!" [It should probably also be noted that Killer Croc only goes berserk after Batman infiltrates his 'home'. More on this later. -J]

Killer Croc's pre-Crisis origin is summarized in Batman #359 (1983): he was born with a hideous skin disease in a lower-income area of town and had a dead-beat aunt as his only care-taker. Croc spent most of his youth in and out of prison, and kills another inmate when he's a young adult. After spending an additional 18 years behind bars he gets paroled and joins the carnival as an alligator wrestler. Some time after joining the carnival, he decides to leaves and start getting his revenge on those who did him wrong in the past - ultimately deciding to take over the Gotham Underworld. In so many panels, Conway depicts Killer Croc as a "victim" of the system - perhaps even a villain to sympathize with. Any sympathy the reader may acquire for Croc pretty much goes out the window after the events of the next few issues.

Detective Comics #526 (1983) was Gerry Conway's last issue in this Batman saga before he went over to start working on The Fury of the Firestorm. Doug Moench would replace Conway as regular writer for Batman and Detective Comics. Conway's run ended with Killer Croc meeting with the rest of the Batman Rogues, and the addition of a new Batman Family character.

The reason why Killer Croc's first recognized appearance (Batman #357, 1983) will cost you a little more on the back issue market is because Batman #357 is also the first appearance of the pre-Crisis Jason Todd. No, not that fiesty dark-haired scamp who stole our hearts (and the Batmobile's tires) during Max Allan Collins' Batman run, we're talking about this guy:

You see, in pre-Crisis history, Killer Croc was instrumental in Jason Todd becoming Batman's new Robin because Killer Croc kills Todd's parents. Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, this was Killer Croc's greatest claim to fame. This was taken away from Croc after the Jason Todd origin was rebooted. Todd's father was still killed by a Bat-Villain, but this time it was Two-Face instead of Killer Croc (Batman #410, 1987). Why was Croc bumped for Harvey Dent? Batman: The New Adventures starts at Batman #408 (1987) immediately following Batman: Year One. Is it possible that DC editorial wanted to re-introduce Harvey Dent/Two-Face as quickly as possible in the "new Batman reboot" in order to establish him as an important fixture in Bat-lore? Writer Max Allan Collins reached out to us and told us that he was instructed to "make Jason Todd wholly independent from the previous version". The Two-Face arc, which Collins' mentioned that he would've resolved very differently, was his own idea. DC editorial pretty much gave Collins a carte-blanche to re-imagine Jason Todd's origin any way he saw fit, so there was no intentional effort on DC's behalf to omit Croc from Jason Todd's history.

If you get the sense that I'm focusing a little too intently on Killer Croc's first six-issue story arc from 1983, well... that's because I am. Croc didn't do very much for the rest of the 80s.

Killer Croc's next appearance was in 1986's Batman #400. This anniversary issue was a superb self-contained story that featured all the major Bat-Villains and boasted an all-star cast of artistic talent. A few sentences cannot adequately explain what a visual treat this issue is, so we'll need to save that for another day. Instead, we'll just mention that all of the Bat-Villains are freed from their various methods of incarceration and Killer Croc gets another shot at Batman. Killer Croc is still a vengeance-fueled monster, albeit a human-sized one. Truthfully, he looks like a professional body builder with a horrible skin condition. At some point, Croc has the audacity to break into Wayne Manor and attack Alfred. (If you're seeing a lot of parallels with 1993's Knightfall, please note that Doug Moench wrote both this issue and was also part of the Knightfall writing team.) For anyone keeping track, this issue occurs after Crisis on Infinite Earths, but before the 1986 Batman reboot. The pre-Crisis Jason Todd (who now suspiciously looks like a dead-wringer for the Dick Grayson Robin [ex: black hair, wears a traditional Robin costume]) appears in this issue and Batman goes to great efforts to keep him away from Croc. The reader is briefly reminded that Croc killed Jason's parents and, in a struggle, Batman ends up defeating Croc with a gas pellet from his utility belt. [While doing research for this article, I discovered that Detective Comic #566 and Batman #400 are inter-connected. How cool is that? -J]

Croc's first post-Batman reboot appearance would be brief [an entire 3 pages] in Swamp Thing v2 #66 (1987) written by Rick Veitch. By this point, he's more or less regressed to a reptile state and has trouble stringing together sentences with proper nouns and verbs. Still human-sized, but unbelievably ferocious, Batman ends up subduing him with nerve gas. It's alluded that Croc is now crippled due to Batman's actions. Croc and Batman's very brief and abrupt appearance (they literally come in crashing through a window) served as an 'action break' in an otherwise very dialogue-heavy story about Swamp Thing and Abby working out relationship issues.

Secret Origins #23 (1988), also written by Veitch, is a recap on the origin of Dr. Jason Woodrue - aka the Floronic Man - told from the point of view of a wheelchair-bound Killer Croc. The Floronic Man, who in the past few years has had strong ties to Swamp Thing thanks to Alan Moore, was slated for bigger things in 1988 thanks to the Millennium cross-over event and his inclusion in 1988's The New Guardians series - so clearly, a recap was in order to re-familiarize readers with the character. Throughout Killer Croc's narrative, we realize he's a lot more intelligent/cognitive than he appears and by then end of the story it is revealed that he has recovered from his nerve gas induced paralysis (it's hinted that's it's due to his 'reptilian' abilities). I'd like to think that this was Veitch's way of tying up any loose ends for both Croc and Woodrue before letting go of the characters for new creative teams to use.

Killer Croc's next appearance would be in 1991's Batman #471 written by Alan Grant and edited by Dennis O'Neil. Grant decided to portray Croc in a sympathetic light for this issue - we get a Croc who just wants to belong and feel like he has a home, so he takes up in the sewers of Gotham City with a group of homeless people. We get a quick recap of his back-story in this issue: this includes a lot of electroshock therapy, a serious hate for Batman, and a brief mention that he never knew his parents and was raised by a neglectful aunt - of course there's no mention of Croc killing Todd's parents, because that's been retconned. Grant very craftily kept most of Croc's pre-Crisis origin intact while giving us a bit of rationale explaining why Croc acted the way he did. This was one of Grant's signature story-telling devices - to provide a 'human element' to a story or character.  The issue ends with Croc seemingly 'sacrificing' himself to save his adopted family from an environmental disaster and Batman looking like a heartless chump who just won't leave Croc alone. Croc's search for 'a home' retroactively syncs with his debut where he goes into hysterics at Batman for breaking into his private residence [way back in the Croc's first 1983 story arc].

While Killer Croc no longer being associated with the origin of the new Robin may have diminished his importance as a Bat-Villain, it made him easier to sympathize with - especially since he'd been so sparsely used in the DCU throughout the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s. To a new era of readers brought in by 1989's Batmania, he was still a relatively new character that only Batman fans who had been following the series for the last decade may remember. That was all about to change in 1992.

Batman: The Animated Series, episode 23 (1992) "Vendetta"

Batman: The Animated Series, with it's neo-noir atmosphere and intelligent storytelling, really opened up the Batman universe to a new fan-base of television watchers in 1992. Despite being a long-time Batman fan with a functional knowledge of Batman's rogues gallery (mainly via Super Friends and The Adventures of Batman cartoons), this was my first exposure to Killer Croc. In the animated universe, Killer Croc goes by the name of 'Morgan' (not 'Waylon Jones') and seems to have some sort of history with Detective Harvey Bullock. His origin is also slightly altered as he's apparently had a career as a professional wrestler prior to becoming a criminal. I'm not going to dwell too much on his Batman: TAS appearances, but the show was a fantastic vehicle for introducing previously forgotten Bat-Villains and making them relevant again.

The last big Killer Croc appearance we'll cover is this installment will be his inclusion in the Knightfall event. Quite possibly thanks to his Batman: TAS appearance, Croc had more than a bit part in this 1993 event — first appearing in a few Knightfall 'prologue' issues (Batman #489 & #491) and then in an entire chapter (Detective Comics #660). Knightfall was THE Batman comic book event of the early 90s and spiked a renewed interest in Batman-related characters among comic book collectors everywhere [not just the readers/collectors, but the speculators, too].

Detective Comics #660 (1993). cover by Sam Keith

Readers hailed #660 as one of the best appearances of Killer Croc in nearly a decade, demonstrating just how dangerous of a Bat-Villain he had the potential to be. Coincidentally, Detective Comics #660 was Croc's most reptilian appearance in this list of appearances. It would seem that as time goes by his appearance progressively becomes more and more crocodile-like (this is evidenced by his new 52 appearances with his elongated crocodile-like snout and gigantic hulking frame).

Killer Croc in Detective Comics #660 (1993)

With the exception of Bane and Clayface (and maybe even Man-Bat), Killer Croc holds the distinction of being one of the few Bat-Villains who can physically overpower Batman in physical combat. I've always found Batman's villains to be more interesting than Batman himself. While not my favorite Bat-Villain (that honor would go to the Penguin), Killer Croc always stood out as being a green scaly monster among a group of relatively normal-looking people in costumes. So, suffice to say, his later evolution doesn't feel like a 'realistic threat' but more of a 'fantastic creation' that brought a horror/sci-fi feel to the Batman mythos [to be fair, Clayface, Solomon Grundy and Gentleman Ghost made me feel the same way]. What was Conway's 'grand plan' for Killer Croc, you wonder? Well...

In a 2009 interview with Gerry Conway on Cary's Comics Craze, Cary Ashby spoke with Conway about Croc's success:

“It’s a big surprise to me,” he said about Croc becoming more prominent in Batman’s Rogues Gallery of Villains since his first appearance in DETECTIVE COMICS No. 523 (dated Feb. 1983). “It was a surprise to everybody.”

Conway considers Croc “a good foil for Batman,” because Batman is intelligent while “Killer Croc is brutality and straightforward violence.”

“A lot of Batman’s Rogues Gallery is clever. He’s not clever,” he said. “It gave them (the Batman: The Animated Series creative team) a neat way to get into the underground.”

This is as far as we're going to go regarding the history of Killer Croc, but we have more articles about the Suicide Squad if you're so inclined:

• Who is El Diablo and why is he in the NEW Suicide Squad film?
• Know your Suicide Squad: The Enchantress
• Task Force X podcast
• Jason Brown reviews the Suicide Squad

A brief summary of The Omega Men ongoing series (1983)

When Marv Wolfman first discovered that he would be writing Action Comics in 1980, he had big plans for the Man of Steel. According to Wolfman, the writers at DC had a “tendency to create aliens faster than rabbits created heirs” and, for continuity reasons, this was difficult for a writer to keep track of. Thus, Wolfman’s first order of business was to create consistent alien races to be integrated into the DC Universe - hence he came up with the Citadel and the Psions*. Before Wolfman started writing Action Comics, he discovered that his proposal for a new Teen Titans series had been approved and decided to incorporate his new alien races into the New Teen Titans (ex: Starfire was on the run from the Citadel AND the Psions). Around the same this time, Wolfman was assigned to write the Green Lantern series, so he also took this opportunity to incorporate the Citadel in a story about Green Lantern battling space aliens in the distant future. Several months passed and Wolfman was looking to write a fill-in issue for Green Lantern and decided on a whim to write a story about a bunch of aliens on the run from the Citadel. Created by Wolfman and Joe Staton, they originally named the group “The Outcasts” but decided on a different name since Wolfman saw spin-off potential with this new team. The three Green Lantern issues that the Omega Men appeared in received a very positive reaction from fans and Wolfman realized they were on to something. Wolfman had the Omega Men appear in a few other stories he had written (ex: New Teen Titans, Action Comics) to gauge fan reaction before DC boldly unveiled the 1983 prestige format The Omega Men ongoing series to comic book shops across the country.

I refer to the 1983 The Omega Men series as ‘bold’ for two reasons:

• they were part of DC’s pilot project to publish deluxe books - these consisted of an offset printing process and superior quality Baxter paper (the books sold for more than newsstand prices) 
•  the series had no Comics Code Authority seal whatsoever - they could print all of the gore, foul language and sexually explicit material they wished

(Both of these modifications were made in an effort to appeal to serious comic readers who wanted higher-quality products with more mature content and mainly bought their comics from comic book specialty shops.)

The 1983 Omega Men series was a huge departure from the precedent Wolfman had already established. For starters, Wolfman was too busy with other projects so the writing tasks for this series were assigned to Roger Slifer (Wolfman remained as editor, however). Whereas Wolfman’s Omega Men was an adventure book about a team who banded together to battle foes, Slifer’s Omega Men was about a team of characters who joined to battle a common foe but were overcome with internal disputes and conflicting personal agendas. The series started with a bang and within the first six issues the Citadel War had been resolved with the Omegans as the victors. The first six issues were pencilled by Keith Giffen and were absolutely fantastic to look at. Giffen dropped the book after the sixth issue citing 'Science Fiction Super Team Overdose Syndrome’ as the cause - Giffen had to let one of his sci-fi books go, so he dropped The Omega Men and stayed with Legion of Super-Heroes (just for context, Giffen’s infamous Legion of Super-Heroes Poster came out around this time). Tod Smith took over as penciller after Giffen left.

The poster that almost caused Giffen to quit comics!

As previously mentioned, The Omega Men series did not have the Comics Code Authority seal, and the first six issues contained a lot more graphic violence, adult language and implied nudity than some fans thought was called for. Slifer defended the content by saying that war was not pretty and by toning it down, the book would water-down the horrors of war and lose the impact it was trying to make. Slifer recognized that the longer the series focused on the Citadel war, the sooner it would stagnate - so he opted to end it quickly. Instead, Slifer had the series focus on the aftermath of the war - so we had a lot of stories involving political intrigue, the rebuilding of war-torn cultures/planets, power struggles, the moral ambiguity of characters within the series and how relationships played out amongst the Omega Men. Not too many readers realized that Slifer was weaving a lot of political allegory into the plot lines reflective of present-day world political situations in 1983 (ex: Vietnam/South American conflicts). Additionally, Slifer tried to keep The Omega Men self-contained with not much involvement from other mainstream DC characters (probably because he had realized they had created their own comic universe). Roger Slifer left the book at issue #13 because of irreconcilable differences with DC (it was due to creator’s rights, apparently) and Todd Klein (former letterer for the series) filled in as writer for a few issues until Doug Moench became the regular writer.

When Doug Moench and Tod Smith became the regular Omega Men creative team (The Omega Men #17) the series took a sharp turn: the mood was lightened and the series was less about fighting a bloody galactic war and more of an action/adventure comic. Some fans criticized Tod Smith’s illustrations for being too cartoony. Other writers and illustrators came and went (ex: Sharman DiVono, Kevin O'Neil, Marv Wolfman) before the final creative team of Todd Klein and Shawn McManus was settled upon (The Omega Men #26). Marv Wolfman gave up editorship of the series to Alan Gold after issue #24 - mainly because he was too busy with other projects - but still provided Gold with editorial advice to keep the series moving along. Back-up tales featuring the citizens of the Vega star system began to appear after issue #24 - this was a popular feature with fans and included stories written by Alan Moore (among other great talent). McManus’ painted covers for the series also received a lot of praise and adoration from fans. Omega Men #33 experienced a format change as more pages were added and advertisements were removed - Klein and McManus had to stop accepting other assignments so that they could focus on the creative thrust in the series. Sadly, the series was cancelled after issue #38.

Shawn McManus painted covers:

With all of the brilliant things going for this series, why was it cancelled? Well...

A lot of fans were put off with Keith Giffen leaving the series after issue #6. Roger Slifer leaving after issue #13 didn’t help things either. I’m going to guess that the momentum that Giffen and Slifer created kept the series going strong, because in issue #18 the letter column reveals that The Omega Men was one of DC’s best-selling books at the moment. Strangely, while The Omega Men had excellent sales, they were somehow receiving hardly any fan mail. It was speculated that they started to lose readership around issue #22 - one theory was that the sea of other deluxe comic books being sold at specialty comic books shops were just too much competition for the title to bear. A new creative team (Klein and McManus) was brought in at issue #26, and in an effort to bolster sales introduced new characters (a former Green Lantern Corps member and Starfire’s younger brother) and a new war-themed storyline. Sales took a major dip around issue #28. Despite the boost in artistic quality that McManus brought to the table, he was unbelievably slow at getting issues illustrated and editor Alan Gold often had to find fill-ins to buy some time allowing McManus to catch up with whatever story he was working on. By the end of the series, The Omega Men had turned into an anthology book in an effort to tie up loose ends - the series was a victim of creative floundering (ex: characters were left under-developed, sub-plots were suddenly dropped for inexplicable reasons, some writers felt that The Omega Men should be a 'team book' and other writers did not, etc). In retrospect, Alan Gold admit that ending the Citadel War so early in the series may not have been the best story-telling strategy. The Omega Men mainly relied on word-of-mouth as far as advertising was concerned and you’d be hard-pressed to find an ad for the title in any DC publication at the time. Cancellation at issue #38 meant they couldn’t conclude a few storylines that had been developing. Most of the core team of the Omega Men died in the 1988 Invasion! DC comics company-wide cross-over event.

What was great about this series was that it was constantly evolving. It went from being a book about a band of rebels fighting a galactic war, to a book exploring the aftermath of a galactic war and the chaos that ensued. It then jumped to an action/adventure series - exploring the characters and their personalities further. It later turned into a giant space opera with weird sci-fi undertones. All the while the series explored themes such as diplomacy vs blind action, aggression vs trusting love, and blind obedience in religion (to name a few). Throughout the series the origins of just about every race that Wolfman dreamed up (Psions, Tamarans, Okaara) are gradually revealed and their cultures are thoroughly explored. This series lasted 38 issues and 2 annuals (which is not bad for a self-contained non-mainstream DC book) and covered a lot of ground in regards to Wolfman’s imagined Vega galaxy. I mentioned that Slifer wanted to keep this series self-contained but that ultimately did not happen - the Omega Men had a Crisis on Infinite Earths cross-over (The Omega Men #31), a Blue Devil appearance (Blue Devil #18) and a Teen Titans appearance (New Teen Titans v2 #16). Despite the Omega Men starting in the mainstream DC Universe (way back in Green Lantern v2 #141) they ultimately evolved into a sci-fi book with their own galaxy of characters.

First appearance of Lobo (1983)

If anyone remembers the 1983 Omega Men series for anything, it would be for the infamous first appearance of a bounty hunter named Lobo (debuts in The Omega Men #3). When Lobo (created by Giffen and Slifer) first debuted he was a skinny clown-looking guy who rode a flying chair. So, basically, Lobo looked nothing like the jacked-up space-biker anti-hero we all know and love, and that’s because he only got his makeover by artist Simon Bisley sometime in the early 90s. After The Omega Men were cancelled in 1986, Lobo became a recurring character in Giffen’s 1989 L.E.G.I.O.N. series and basically became the poster boy for comic book anti-heroes.

*An early prototype of the Psions first appeared in a back-up tale of 1973’s The Witching Hour #13 (written by Marv Wolfman)

Early Psions (sounds like 'science')

Addendum: 
Alan Moore was editor Alan Gold’s first pick to write the Omega Men ongoing series: “Alan Gold phoned me up and asked me if I wanted to write The Omega Men, but I couldn’t because I’ve got a lot of other stuff and The Omega Men is not something I could see myself do easily without making some really really major changes … But what I did was, I offered to write a synopsis of a possible way that the Omega Men could be sorted out and made into a more viable sort of concept. I wrote about 27-30 pages.” (Amazing Heroes # 58, October 1984)


Further Reading:
What was Marv's opinion on this series? Glad you asked...


[This article first published on DC in the 80s tumblr in October 2013]

Review of Arion, Lord Of Atlantis ongoing series

Arion, Lord of Atlantis started as a back-up feature in the Warlord (issue #55 to be exact) back in 1982. Apparently, then-editor Laurie Sutton mentioned to Paul Kupperberg in passing that Dragonsword (the Warlord’s current back-up feature) wasn’t going to last forever and they were going to need a new back-up feature to run. The only requirement for something to be a back-up feature in the Warlord was that it had to be of the sword and sorcery/fantasy genre. Kupperberg suggested a story about a young mage and Sutton requested that it be set in Atlantis - and that, my friends, is the origin of Arion, Lord of Atlantis. The hardest part of the whole creation process was coming up with a name for Arion (which was finally decided at the last possible minute) - other potential names included Orion, Atlan and Tynan. Arion was ultimately created by Kupperberg (writer) and Jan Duursema (artist).

The Arion, Lord of Atlantis back-up feature ran from Warlord #55 to #62 (1982). The back-up feature was alright and focused heavily on myth and magic and cosmic blah blah blah, but I found the language was very ‘Old English’ (i.e.: 'nay’, 'ye’, 'verily’,…) and that took away from my enjoyment of the series*. Nevertheless, it still set up the premise of a plot and some interesting story elements/characterization and it was enough to please fans. By the time the back-up feature ended, Arion had his own ongoing series the following month - which is relatively unheard of for a back-up feature. Although we shouldn’t dismiss the power of a back-up feature… Legion of Super-Heroes started as a back-up feature and look how they turned out. Conquerors of the Barren Earth then replaced Arion as the Warlord’s back-up feature once Arion got his own ongoing series.

In the early 70s, the sword-and-sorcery genre was experiencing a revival. The most notable example of this was Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian published in 1970. In an attempt to cash in on this trend, DC comics rolled out a few sword and sorcery titles during the 70s: Sword of Sorcery, Tor, Claw the Unconquered, Kong the Untamed, Stalker, Beowulf and the Warlord. Of all the DC sword and sorcery titles released, only the Warlord managed to survive into the 80s. In 1982, the Conan the Barbarian film was released and it gave the sword and sorcery genre another surge of popularity. Keeping this in mind, in the early 80s, DC comics was publishing at least seven sword and sorcery titles: the Warlord, Arak, Amethyst, Masters of the Universe, Camelot 3000, Conquerors of the Barren Earth, and Arion, Lord of Atlantis.

Arion, Lord of Atlantis #1 picks up where the back-up feature from the Warlord dropped off, and the reader is thrown into the middle of a story. Kupperberg was continuing his previously established storyline and Jan Duursema resumed pencilling chores on the ongoing series. Fans were already accustomed to Duursema’s pencils, as she had previously pencilled a few issues of the Warlord. I’d probably argue that Duursema’s pencilling got better as the series progressed, but that just may be me getting used to the art as it seemed to be a nice fit for the atmosphere and mood of the story.
It needs to be noted that while the series was named after Arion, his three comrades-in-arms (the oriental Lady Chian, the Native American Wyynde and the teenaged Mara) were just as popular as Arion was. I’d probably argue that Lady Chian was MORE popular with the fans than Arion - eventually Lady Chian received her own back-up feature in the series. Kupperberg is known for writing strong, self-sufficient women (ex: Supergirl and Powergirl) and Lady Chian was no exception. It was later revealed the Lady Chian was loosely based on Mariko from the Shogun series, and I’m going the guess that Wyynde was inspired by Chief Bromden from 1975’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Mara was named after Kupperberg’s wife and was mainly inserted as a comic relief character to contrast the other three stoic serious characters.

One of the strong points of this series is that Kupperberg inserts a lot of characterization into the storyline which results to a lot of characters/interpersonal relationships growing and constantly changing. Kupperberg intentionally set it up so that Arion was introduced as a snobbish, anxious, unlikable person with cosmic-like powers just so that Kupperberg had something to work with (ex: allow him to grow as a person and become more human and compassionate). One of the hurdles Kupperberg had to cross was that Arion began the series as an all-powerful mage, and the problem with all-powerful characters is that it’s pretty easy for them to battle any foe and solve any problem. If a character is never really in danger, then the element of excitement is never there. Kupperberg solves this by having Arion lose his magical powers sporadically throughout the series and Arion trying to regain his lost powers is a recurring theme of the book. Another recurring theme is Arion’s conflict with his evil brother (which fans got tired of halfway throughout the series). The series also deals with magic vs science, as science was slowly being introduced to Atlantis and this caused friction amongst the population.

The Arion, Lord of Atlantis series is notable for the creators (Kupperberg and Duursema) following through the series from beginning to end. There were a few exceptions of course: Kupperberg left for other projects and Doug Monech took over writing chores from issues #4 to #11, and Cara Sherman Tereno filled in for Duursema from issues #24 to #29. For anyone who didn’t know: Jan Duursema is married to artist Tom Mandrake (and I believe he was inking over her pencils for the first ~12 issues). Editors changed several times throughout the life of the series - it went from Ernie Colon (#1 to #8) to Joe Kubert and finally ended with Karen Berger (#27 - finale).

This series lasted 38 issues and a double-sized finale - not bad for what began as a back-up feature. In 1983, advanced sales of Arion led every other DC comic book with a November cover date - which gives you some indication that it was a popular title during the first year of it’s run. Arion’s sales began to decline as interest in the sword and sorcery genre began to decline - so I’m guessing somewhere around summer of 1984. Around this time, the series began to heavily borrow elements from science fiction… I’m just going to say it: at this point in this series his primary weapon is a flame sword (which acts very similar to a light saber) and in issue #22 he battles something that looks like the Sarlacc pit - these are two big nods to 1983’s Return of the Jedi (intentional or unintentional?). I’m not sure if Kupperberg was aware that the series was being cancelled as new supporting characters and storylines were being introduced right until the bitter end. In 1992, Kupperberg tried to revive a modern-day version of the series (Arion the Immortal), but it only lasted 6 issues. Kupperberg finally concluded the Arion story he set out to tell in his Two Tales of Atlantis e-book.

While Arion, Lord of Atlantis may have been cancelled in 1985, that did not prevent the series from having some sort of impact on the DCU. The Atlantis in pre-Crisis Arion universe was not the same Atlantis as seen in pre-Crisis Warlord universe (even though one title debuted in the other). I’m not even sure if it was the same Atlantis that Aquaman inhabited. The Crisis On Infinite Earths (in an effort to add cohesion to the DCU) retconned that. It was revealed that Arion’s Atlantis was the same as Aquaman’s Atlantis (as explained in the 1986 Aquaman mini-series), and that Arion was actually Power Girl’s grandfather and that Power Girl was not a Kryptonian (as previously believed) and was actually an Atlantean. Kupperberg was writing Power Girl at the time, so it all worked out (also: Kupperberg tends to run a tight ship in regards to characters he writes). The Dark World that appeared in Arion also played heavily into Amethyst’s Gemworld mythos (edited by Karen Berger) and I think there’s some sort of connection whereas the inhabitants of Atlantis came from Gemworld or something. There’s a 1990 mini-series called Chronicles of Atlantis that deals with all of this.

Arion Lord of Atlantis was an enjoyable series with solid writing. The characters are well-written and they grow on you. The locale is set in 45,000 BC, so don’t expect any interaction with any other modern-day DC characters (exception: DC Comics Presents #75 where Arion teams up with Superman - written by Kupperbeg). It wasn’t a ground-breaking series, but it definitely filled the void for a sword and sorcery title and had it’s moment in the sun. Kupperberg did fun things like hold a reader-based costume submission contest in which Arion would wear one lucky reader’s costume for several issues. Kupperberg and Duursema were really cool about interacting with the readers.

*When Mara is introduced in Arion, Lord of Atlantis #1 she was a jive-talker using 80s slang (ex: “buster”, “old man”, etc.). Apparently Mara was cast as a street-tough Atlantean kid, and was written to speak like she was from Brooklyn. It was a mistake made before Ernie Colon started editing. Doug Monech phased it out.

This article first published January 2014.