A review of the 1986/1987 LEGENDS mini-series

LEGENDS had begun as a follow up to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Seen mainly as a springboard for launching several new titles such as Giffen & DeMatties' run on Justice League and John Ostrander's Suicide Squad, it still stands on its own as an entertaining read.

The plot is relatively straightforward, but with enough happening in each issue to make it feel like a bigger story than the page count suggests. Darksied is scheming with Glorious Godfrey on Apokolips to destroy the so-called superhero 'legends' of earth. If he does so, it will make humanity stop believing in higher ideals and be much more susceptible to being brainwashed and taken over. The Phantom Stranger shows up and makes a bet with Darksied that humanity will never turn its back on its heroes and good will never truly be snuffed out. To carry out his plans, Darksied sends Godfrey to pose as a TV preacher, G. Gordon Godfrey, and use the media to spin the public into believing that the very existence of superheroes mocks the 'common man' and that the US Government should outlaw them.

Glorious Godfrey as outspoken pundit from LEGENDS #1 (1986).
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

The public is surprisingly quick to agree with this and after a few incidents of anti-superhero mob attacks, Ronald Reagan is forced to temporarily order all heroes to cease activities for the time being.

I should point out that although it’s implied that Godfrey is somehow using New God technology to hypnotise people in to following him, it’s never outright stated as such, so what we’re left with is the fact that he was able to simply get the public to attack Batman and Robin up in a department store after they just saved them all from an armed robbery.

Fun fact: Five of the  eight characters in this panel were co-created by Gerry Conway.
Justice League Detroit (with Firestorm and Cosmic Boy) from LEGENDS #1 (1986).
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

Darkseid also sends out his minion Brimstone, a plasma-based skyscraping entity who fights with the Detroit-era Justice League (in a bittersweet last adventure before the end of that team), and is eventually defeated by the newly-created Suicide Squad. We get to see them in action, fighting atop Mount Rushmore.

Suicide Squad vs Brimstone from LEGENDS #3 (1987).
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

Ronald Reagan plays a background role, but it's a vital one; it’s his executive order to temporarily ban superheroes (in response to mass public unrest) that creates much of the drama of the series. Contemporary politicians in superhero comics is always a tricky issue -- since it instantly dates a comic book's longevity. It is rather interesting that he’s presented as an unknowing tool on behalf of Darkseid, the super-villain who Jack Kirby always equated with Richard Nixon.

The Then-President of the United States consults with Superman in LEGENDS #2 (1986)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

Many heroes are affected by the ban. Captain Marvel, having been tricked by a clone of Macro- Man planted to explode when struck by lightning, believes he murdered him and is afraid to use his magic word to change from Billy Batson again. Blue Beetle is shot by a cop after he stops a criminal, thinking maybe it’s time to give up crime-fighting.

Blue Beetle being shot at by cops. From LEGENDS #2 (1986)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

Guy Gardner saves an out of control plane from crashing by landing it on the freeway, and all he gets for his trouble is a bunch of angry passengers and inconvenienced motorists. Guy is atypically in control of himself in this mini, and seems like a competent, if not hot-blooded, Green Lantern. In comparison with Hal who he’s replacing, he seems like a much more exciting GL, making constructs of crazy monsters and using his power ring in clever ways like popping a small hole in an oil tank above a bad guy's head, as opposed to Hal "Giant Baseball Bat" Jordan.

Guy Gardner in all his glory! From LEGENDS #5 (1987)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

This characterization stands in contrast to the half-cocked hotshot that would be a main character in DeMatties and Giffens’s Justice League International.

Dr. Fate is watching all of these event unfold and decides that it’s time to act. He gathers Superman, Batman, Flash, Beast Boy, Guy, Black Canary, Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel for the upcoming battle.

Gang's all here! From LEGENDS #5 (1987)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

It all ends with a big showdown in Washington DC with the Dr. Fate assembled heroes versus Godfrey with his human-controlled Hunger Dogs and an army of parademons. Even Wonder Woman shows up, in her first Post-Crisis appearance in 'man's world'.

The dramatic debut of the NEW post-Crisis Wonder Woman in LEGENDS #6 (1987).
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

After disposing of the mechanical hounds, Godfrey taunts the heroes that they won't dare hurt innocent, if deluded, bystanders. In the end though, it’s the innocent children who save the day by rushing to the unruly mob and telling them that the superheros are good guys after all. Godfrey strikes a child, releasing the people from his spell and turning the tide of the battle. It ends with the heroes standing around making a somewhat unrealistic speech about how although hero worship isn’t healthy, there will always be a need for people to believe in something greater than themselves. And if it wasn’t hammered enough in that this story is a religious allegory, the book ends with a quote from The Book of Ephesians.

The altruistic ending from LEGENDS #6 (1987)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

This theme -- demonstrating that the ability to influence the beliefs and values of the general public is a formidable power -- is a very common one though DC. It goes back to Jack Kirby and Darkseid’s quest for the Anti-Life Equation, all the way to the public turning on Superman in Kingdom Come (another book with heavy religious allegories), and is quite prominent in Grant Morrison's Final Crisis.

Glorious Godfrey preaching to the mob in LEGENDS #5 (1987)
Pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Karl Kesel

Iris Allen walking home is Final Crisis #4 (2008)
Art by J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco, and Jesus Merino.

A lot of what makes LEGENDS interesting is how, in many ways, it’s the first true BIG super team-up in the wake of the new status quo. Although Guy Gardner had been seen previously, this really feels like Guy's FIRST big public debut as the Green Lantern of Earth, and I’m sure that was the intention of the writers as they introduced Guy to a whole new crop of readership.

LEGENDS is a scientific experiment that seeks to ask the question "What would the fearful and hateful humans that populate the Marvel Universe (and X-Men comics in particular) do if they where in the much more superhero-friendly DC Universe"? The answer they seem to come up with is that they would act like jerks for a while, but in the end they would revert back to their docile selves. Somewhat unfulfilling if you ask me. It should be remembered that Watchmen was coming out at the same time as this mini-series, and didn’t shy away from asking tough questions about the morality of hero worship with schmaltzy scenes with children.

This book also fulfills the promise of showcasing a 'shared universe' by incorporating the heroes from the infinite earths that where saved during Crisis On Infinite Earths. Most notably, Earth-Two's Dr. Fate, Earth-Charlton's Blue Beetle, and Earth-Fawcett's Captain Marvel/Shazam.

Captain Marvel/Shazam from LEGENDS #5 (1987)
Pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Karl Kesel

Dr Fate! From LEGENDS #4 (1987)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

John Byrne's pencils are in top form. It’s his version of Superman straight out of the Man of Steel mini-series, right down to the sharp eyes and confident smile. It’s interesting to see him draw Captain Marvel, he even captures C.C. Beck's "squinty eyes" on him. Byrne's art totally fits for a series like this, given the time when it came out. It’s clean but not lifeless, gritty and detailed but not overly cluttered. It’s hard to tell how much of the art that comes out is Byrne's pencils or Karl Kesel's inks. I’ve heard that, as more and more work would be assigned to Byrne, he would forgo drawing backgrounds and would only stick to characters. The inker would sometimes fill in the backgrounds and other details when needed. This is the case in some of the later issues of Marvel's Alpha Flight (for example 1984's Alpha Flight #13 features an eleven page dream sequence with no words and minimal backgrounds -- a sequence I DO like by the way).

Billy Batson to Captain Marvel in LEGENDS #3 (1987)
Pencils by John Byrne, inks by Karl Kesel.

Ultimately, I think it’s a good mini-series that deserves reading for being a bridge from Crisis On Infinite Earths to Justice League International, but I think it’s a bit simplistic in its morality. It’s just on the edge of being a mature readers book, but then it reverts back to the world of 'Peter Pan and Tinkerbell'.

The series is written by John Ostrander and Len Wein, with pencils by John Byrne and inks by Karl Kesel.



-Anthony Kuchar

Mel Ford's DC fan art

Mel Ford's art caught my eye two weeks ago as I was browsing around the internet checking out chat forums and etc. I really like Mel's work. I'm having trouble coining the term here, but I feel his art would fit somewhere along the lines of 'abstract art' - mainly because he's using lines and shapes to capture the essence of the subject rather than visual realistic details. Additionally, Mel seems to like all of the same characters I grew up reading. I managed to track down Mr Ford and chat with him about his work and influences.

DC80s: Do you have an art background? How long have you been illustrating for?

Mel Ford: I've worked off & on in Graphic Design over the years. I've taken the usual array of basic drawing classes as well. Really though I think my illustration style didn't take off until last year when I started trying to figure out how to create art on my IPad. That's how I do all my art now. So I've been doing it as long as I can remember, but feel like I haven't made any real progress until recently. I'm hoping to get comfortable enough to create all ages Graphic Novels or children's book illustrations.

Which DC comics did you grow up reading? What Marvel comics did you grow up reading?

I read almost EVERYTHING. I loved team books most of all, though. So Justice League of America, Brave and The Bold, Legion of Superheroes, Teen Titans and most definitely All-Star Squadron! Ordway and then Kubert? Who could resist that? On the Marvel side, again it was mostly the team books: Avengers, Defenders, Fantastic Four, and X-Men. Plus I loved the reprint stuff Marvel did back then, especially Marvel Triple Action and Marvel's Greatest Comics (and let's not forget Treasury Editions!) To this day I have most of my Avengers issues from back then and filled in most of the issues I'd missed.

Were you still reading comics in the 80s? If so, which ones stood out?

The issues I remember most from the 80's may be the Death of Captain Marvel and The New Mutants Graphic Novels. But I read comics all through college, We had a regular ritual of hitting the comic store every week when new stuff came out. I definitely remember when Crisis on Infinite Earths came out and essentially destroyed three of my favorite books (i.e. All Star Squadron, Infinity Inc, and Legion of Superheroes).

Some of your illustrations are making me nostalgic for the DC Animated Universe and the art of the late Darywn Cooke (i.e. DC: The New Frontier, 2004). Were you influenced whatsoever by Bruce Timm's rendition of DC characters?

I was late to discovering Darywn Cooke's artistic style, I wasn't paying attention to comics at all at that time, but it's definitely a huge inspiration to me now. I love the Bruce Timm style as well. My favorites were the Justice League shows he did. It's definitely an influence figuring out how to say what you want to say without getting too fussy with the lines etc. Some of that is down to process though. I only draw digitally these days, but for whatever reason I hate using a stylus. So I'm just using my fingers to draw everything. When I had a smaller screen that limited how detailed I could get, so I had to figure out how to make the figures work with less detail.

So, if someone wanted to order a commission from you, how could they reach you? Do you have any current projects you are working on that you'd like to share?

Really not doing commissions. Trying to concentrate on doing some work with some very cool indie creators I've met just through posting stuff online and still trying to attract some attention to my kid lit illustrations.

We've posted a few of Mel's illustrations in this article, but we're not even scratching the surface. For more of his work (including lots of Marvel stuff), check out Mel's Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Why yes, Mel also does page layouts (click to enlarge)

DC retro art of Amy Spaulding

One of our absolute favorite things to do at conventions (besides chattin' with comics pros, cosplayers and DC comics fans) is taking a walk through 'Artist's Alley' to scope out the wares of local illustrators and artists. We keep our eyes peeled for any art featuring DC comic book characters. It's really interesting to see how different artists portray their favorite DC characters. Currently, it would seem that *most* convention illustrators and artists are producing anime-influenced art, which I''m sure appeals to the gaming crowd [these are fandom conventions after all, so I'm sure artists are trying to hit as many audiences as possible]. That being said, I'm always drawn to art that looks "different" from whatever else is displayed en masse out there, and I'm a sucker for painted and mixed medium art. Amy Spaulding hits all of the above-mentioned points quite effectively. Visually stunning, her painted/mixed medium art stands out among the crowd and makes use of interesting motifs - really, who isn't a fan of the realist painted art [Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, etc] most prominently found in 1940s/1950s americana?

Amy studied fine arts with a concentration in painting at Queen’s University and then went to Sheridan for illustration. Sheridan is where she became interested in narrative visual storytelling and comics. In studying illustration she found her inspiration was in mid century pulp, pinups and advertising. Anything from Zane Grey covers, Gil Elvgren’s pinups, Robert McGinnis to 50s kitchen ads.

Amy's appreciation of female comic book characters is apparent in her art. Surprisingly, Amy really didn’t read comics growing up. "I devoured fantasy novels", Amy told us.  "My favorites were Terry Brooks’ works, in particular The Sword of Shannara Trilogy, Terry Pratchett and Tolkein."

"I really dove into comics in my late twenties and my instant favorites were golden age Wonder Woman and Shazam. They embodied everything I loved about mid century in terms of style and a healthy dose of kitsch. Wonder Woman is still my go to, I am obsessed with Cliff Chiang’s run at the beginning of the new 52 and Yannick Paquette’s work on Wonder Woman Year One."

"Kelly Sue DeConnick and Gail Simone are writers that have never disappointed me and I will usually pickup any of their projects. Pretty Deadly is one of my favorite pieces of writing ever."

Meeting with Amy at the Ottawa Comicon was a real treat, and I'm really luck I got to catch up with her. In the past few years she's been quite active on the convention circuit and has made appearances at Toronto Comic Con, Wonder Con, Megacon and she just got back from HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC which she couldn’t speak highly enough of. You can all catch her at Montreal Comicon in a couple weeks, Boston Comicon, Toronto FanExpo and Hal-con in Halifax.

Amy is currently opening up her commission list for Montreal Comiccon. Posts with price breakdowns are all over her social media and any more specific inquiries can be directed right to her email amy.spaulding@gmail.com. Commission slots can be purchased directly on her Etsy shop as well.

Amy also told us that she's working on some fun side projects that will showcase her love of retro kitsch. She has some fabric designs and tiki inspired resin jewelry coming out this summer which she will be displaying on social media very soon.

Amy's website: Amyspauldingart.com
Amy's Instagram: amy_spaulding
Amy's Twitter: @acspaulding
Amy's Tumblr: amy-spaulding
Amy's Facebook: facebook.com/amyspauldingillustration/
&
Amy's Etsy page: awemeillustrates.etsy.com

The DC fan art of Brennan Bova

Today's fan art spotlight is on Brennan Bova who hails all the way from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Brennan's favorite DC villain is Deathstroke: "His solo stuff is really good though I haven't really read enough of his comic stuff. I mostly just really enjoy him in media. Every TV show he's in he's been the dominating force". Brennan remembers being most impacted by Alan Moore's DC work from the 80s (i.e. The Killing Joke, Swamp Thing and The Watchmen), as well as Batman: Year One and Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol.

Brennan also created a series of Darkwing Duck covers in the style of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns.

Brennan is one of the few DC fans who've actually gotten to work in DC animation. "Weirdly I'd never considered it [as a career] but I went on a field trip to the Ottawa International Animation festival in grade 11 and we were stuck in a screening of a bunch of schools that were recruiting with their students' demo reels and whatnot and that made me want to try it. Up until that point I had no idea what I wanted to do."

On animating for Teen Titans Go!:
"I worked on a lot of season 2 and just a little of season 3. Generally 30 seconds [per week] is still what we aim for and the time it takes to do it varies from episode to episode. Some are just easier or harder than others. Sometimes we can finish early, sometimes we work late nights and weekends."

"To do one episode of Titans takes between 20-30 animators but it's often a struggle with just that many; on a hard episode there's always a big push to hit deadlines. The number has fluctuated between seasons.The show is a lot more difficult than I think a lot of people realize. A lot of hard work goes into every second of that show. There's also another studio that does half of the episodes and I have no idea what their crew is like."

"As for my favorite episode, it's probably '40% 40% 20%' or the Kid Flash episode. The one I worked the most on though was the yearbook episode which was also a good one."

Two screenshots from Brennan's favorite episodes that he's worked on:

Gizmo and Kid Flash from Teen Titans Go! episode "Multiple Trick Pony" (2015)

Cyborg on a winged horse from Teen Titans Go! episode "40%, 40%, 20%" (2015)

Additionally, Brennan published his first children's book in 2015: Where Did the Dinosaurs Go?

Check Brennan Bova's online digital gallery for more of his work - and he does a wide range of 80s art work (see below). Yes, he also does commissions.