Action #359, "People vs. Superman!"

ACTION COMICS #359; Feb. 1968; DC Comics (National Periodical Publications); Mort Weisinger, editor (E. Nelson Bridwell as assistant editor at this time but not credited in indicia of this issue); cover-featuring ""The Case of the People Vs. Superman!" The cover is by Neal Adams, who was just starting his run as DC's go-to guy for covers. It depicts Superman sitting on the witness stand in court as a tearful little girl points the finger at him, literally; "That's HIM! He's the man who KILLED my Daddy!" (This scene does not, incidentally, appear in the interior story.)
Review by Bill Henley. Some time ago I reviewed the previous issue, Action 358, in which Superman is charged with murder. I didn't have this follow up issue then. Now I do, so I guess I'll review it, just in case anyone is still on tenterhooks over whether Supes beat the rap or went to the electric chair (well, for him it would have had to be the Kryptonite chair.)
The story is written by Leo Dorfman and pencilled by Curt Swan with inks by Pete Costanza. On the splash page, a grieving widow throws a sympathy wreath in Superman's face. "YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND! Get away from me, MURDERER!"
On a "bleak day in Metropolis Cemetery," mourners gather for the funeral of Ron Noble, upstanding Metropolis citizen who agreed to an exhibition "boxing match" for charity-- and wound up dead from Superman's punch! Or did he? "Lurking nearby is Dr. Frost, the notorious underworld scientist," who boasts to a cohort about how the late Mr. Noble was really a gang leader who cooperated in a scheme to frame Superman. But Frost doublecrossed Noble; what was supposed to be a suspended animation pill to feign Noble's death was actually poison! Now, not only is Superman up on charges, but the ignoble Noble is really dead and Frost has taken over his rackets! When Superman (who is apparently out on bail) shows up, "Doc Frost" departs, but not before making a "big slip"-- accidentally dropping a small capsule to the ground. Superman spots it and curiously picks it up, intending to check if it is an illegal drug. However, his real business here is to try to make amends with the widowed Mrs. Noble. Forget it; she dashes his wreath in his face, shouting "Murderer!" Nobody among the assembled mourners believes the death was an accident, as Superman claims. (They should, actually. It may be plausible enough to believe Supes misjudged his strength and delivered a fatal blow, but what motive would he possibly have had to purposely kill the supposedly upstanding citizen Noble?). A cop orders Superman to leave and slips in a verbal knife; "The crowd's getting ugly, and who knows what might happen! Especially since you obviously can't control your super-powers!"
Soon afterwards, Earl Barton, "famed TV writer-lawyer" who retired from active practice after an accident confined him to a wheelchair, receives an appeal to resume his career as defense attorney. His client; Superman! (At the time this story appeared, Raymond Burr was starring on TV as wheelchair-bound detective "Ironside". Earlier, of course, Burr played infallible defense attorney Perry Mason. Sounds like the character of Earl Barton was intended as a meld of these two characters. He's not drawn to look like Burr, but I wonder if maybe the script originally called for Barton to resemble Burr and Weisinger vetoed the idea for fear of legal problems.). Barton accepts the job and assures Superman that acquitting him will be "a cinch," but inwardly he's not so sure; "Who am I kidding? I'll need every courtroom trick I know to get him off the hook!"
Meanwhile, Metropolis district attorney Alonzo Kroll holds a press conference and addresses reporters, including Jimmy Olsen, with stirring words; "There is no special code of justice for Superman! Whether he is a hero or a hoodlum, I will prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law!" But a look at Kroll's inward thoughts tells us that his motives are less than pure; he hopes that the fame of convicting Superman will propel him to higher elected office, even to the Presidency. (Actually, I figure convicting the beloved Superman and ending his mission of protecting Metropolis, would just as likely be a ticket to political oblivion as to the White House. Better, in my opinion, if the D.A. Character had been written as an honest man reluctantly doing his duty.)
The trial begins with jury selection, which is a tough task since so many potential jurors are prejudiced in Superman's favor, such as a carnival owner who is grateful to Supes for saving his Ferris wheel and its passengers from being toppled in a windstorm. Another rejected juror is Bruce Wayne, who is known to be a friend of Batman who is Superman's partner. (What's Bruce Wayne, who lives in Gotham City, doing on a Metropolis jury panel? And considering that he really is Batman, the world's greatest detective, shouldn't he be helping look for clues to prove his buddy's innocence? But I'm reminded of a neat story that appeared in one of the cartoon-based "Batman Adventures" comic books. Bruce Wayne does serve on a Gotham jury and, when asked to state in court whether he has any aliases, he says, "I'm Batman". He has to-- he's under oath to tell the whole truth! Fortunately, everyone thinks it's a bad joke and he only he's chided by the judge for disrespect.)
As the trial of Superman starts, DA Kroll tries to prove that Supes is a "conceited super-egotist" and "reckless bully". He cites honors given to Superman, such as the naming of a new element "Supermanium" and the issue of Superman coins and stamps by foreign nations, as signs of Superman's super-egotism, implying that Supes performs his super-deeds only to receive such plaudits. Kroll even calls Jimmy Olsen to the stand against Superman! Reluctantly, Jimmy presents photos of two of Superman's less illustrious feats; he wrecked the launching of a satellite and wrecked the Army's proving grounds for advanced weapons with a tornado created by super-breath. Jimmy insists that in both cases Supernan ran amuck only under the influence of Red Kryptonite. But DA Kroll sneers at Red K as a "convenient alibi".
Superman reassures Jimmy that he doesn't blame him for testifying, but then his girlfriend Lois Lane is called as a hostile witness. (See, Supes, you should have married her after all. Then she couldn't be forced to testify against you.) Lois tells how Superman once deflected a "mysterious nuclear weapon" from Earth but a detonation of the device in space killed a spaceship full of aliens. Under cross-examination, Lois explains that the aliens turned out to be condemned murderers on their own world and that anyway, it was an accident. But Kroll points out that Superman didn't know the aliens were criminals, and that he still broke his code against killing.
Superman doesn't do himself any good when he himself is called to the stand. Incensed by Kroll's badgering, he pounds the arm of his witness chair-- and shatters it! Just the sort of "accident" that supposedly killed Noble.
With everything going against him, Superman makes an unorthodox proposal to the judge. By enclosing the judge and jury in a giant bubble and carrying them into space to overtake light rays that have left Earth, he can enable the court to witness the death of Ron Noble for themselves! This doesn't help much at first, as what defense attorney Barton describes as a "powder-puff punch", the DA insists is a killer punch that caused Noble to collapse and die instantly. But observing the scene with his super-vision, Superman spots a crucial clue-- at the moment Superman hit Noble, he (Noble) bit down on a small capsule he was holding in his teeth! Supes is able not only to match the capsule with the one he found in Metropolis Cemetery, but to detect the same fingerprint I each one! And so, Supes adopts a "new strategy" in court. The next day, he and Barton call a "surprise witness"-- Dr. Frost! Observing that Frost carries a bottle of capsules around with him, Barton demands that Frost swallow one in order to prove that they are harmless vitamin pills as he claims. When Frost refuses, Barton charges that they are really poison capsules and that one of them was the real cause of Noble's death. He seeks and finds a volunteer from the court audience to prove it-- Clark Kent! Despite Frost's shouted warning, "No! Don't, you fool!", Clark swallows the capsule-- and falls over, apparently dead!
Confronted with the fact that his warning indicated he knew the capsules were deadly, Dr. Frost breaks down in the best Perry Mason tradition and confesses all in open court- how he and the late Noble were both criminals plotting to frame Superman, and how he doublecrossed Noble to his death.
Frost thinks he has achieved some measure of revenge in that "your buddy, Kent" is dead! But Superman pulls out a vial of "revival gas" and brings the mild-mannered reporter back to life, explaining that he was in possession of the poison capsule long enough to concoct an antidote.
Later, after the case against Superman is dismissed, we learn that no antidote was really necessary, for Clark, who swallowed the poison, was Superman, and the "Superman" in court that day was really Batman in disguise. What would the judge say, Batman wonders, if he knew what was really going on? "Guilty of massive contempt of court" is probably what he'd say, but Supernan, mighty defender of law and order, doesn't care; "Does it matter? Justice came out on top!" Supes flies off to "pay his lawyer's fee", which in this case, rather than handing over cash, involves helping doctors perform an operation to help the crippled lawyer walk again. (Not that Barton seemed to do his client much good in court. He probably should have advised his client not to testify in that breakable chair.)
I don't remember if lawyer Bob Ingersoll ever made this story the subject of one of his "Law is a Ass" columns in The late lamented CBG, but if he did, he must have made a real hash of it. Myself-- as I think I said when I reviewed part 1-- I think it would have been a lot more interesting story if it had confronted the real possibility of Superman accidentally killing someone, and left the readers, and Superman himself, in a little more doubt what really happened.
The "Metropolis Mailbag" letters page contains a few familiar names. Martin Pasko, future writer of Superman and much else, inquires about the name of the "great" new cover artist and is told its Neal Adams. Dave Cockrum suggests that Supergirl's hairstyle is "unattractive" and she needs a new 'do. (When he went to work for DC some years later, Cockrum missed the chance to redesign Supergirl, but instead provided a mass makeover for the Legion of Super-Heroes and then, at Marvel, the X-Men.) And Tony Isabella, whose name rings a bell from somewhere, praises "The Annihilator," a recent villain, as a worthy addition to Superman's skimpy roster of bad guys (but I don't think the Annihilator ever reappeared).
"The Super-Initiation of Supergirl" is written by Otto Binder (nearing the end of his long comics writing career-- I see that his last DC story was in Action #377) and is the first Supergirl story to be drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger, following Jim Mooney's defection to Marvel. While checking on a malfunctioning Linda Danvers robot, Supergirl encounters a girl named Joan who is tied to a tree and being attacked by a swarm of angry hornets! It's all part of an initiation hazing by Stanhope College's "secret sorority," Xi-Pi-Hi-Fi. After rescuing the girl, Supergirl resolves to bring down Xi-Pi-Hi-Fi. But instead of simply informing on them to the college administration, she decides to "teach them a lesson" a different way. Supergirl invades Xi's secret clubhouse and demands to be initiated into the group herself! If she's blackballed, then she'll expose Xi to the Dean. The leaders of the sorority agree on condition that they be allowed to devise special "initiation tests" for the Girl of Steel. (Getting spanked with a Kryptonite paddle?) But the leader Sonya has a secret plan to thwart Supergirl by figuring out who-- out of three Stanhope co-eds with the right physical measurenents-- is Supergirl's secret identity.
The first initiation test is for Supergirl to write the entire US Constitution on a blackboard in 10 seconds. With super-recall and super-speed, this is easy enough_ but Supergirl spots the Xi girls checking handwriting samples and deduces their scheme. She thwarts the scheme by writing in shorthand.
The next test is for Supergirl to squeeze a lump of coal into a large diamond. The Xi girls cluster around to admire it, but Supergirl realizes they are really checking it for fingerprints. Again, she thwarts the scheme by surreptitiously changing Linda Danvers' prints on her college record.
Nonetheless, the "female finks" have zeroed their suspicions in on Linda Danvers, and so their final demand is for Supergirl to pick up Linda and fly her around the campus three times! Ordinarily the simple solution would be for Supergirl to activate her Linda robot, but the robot is on the blink- it's legs aren't working though it can use its arms. But when she sees a girl studying near the robot's hollow-tree hiding place, Supergirl has a "brainstorm". Shortly, Supergirl flies around campus looking for Linda Danvers, and the Xi girls gloat as she is seemingly unable to find the girl who is actually herself! But then Supergirl spots Linda, and asks her to take a ride as she tests a "new flying maneuver". And so the Xi girls watch in frustration as Supergirl meets their final test without exposing her identity.
Returning "Linda" to the robot's hiding place, Supergirl has the robot remove the Linda wig and cancel the hypnotic spell which caused an unknowing girl to impersonate Linda. Still under a post-hypnotic spell of forgetfulness, she thinks she has just dozed off while studying in the woods. (But kind of a high-handed use of an unknowing and unconsenting person in Supergirl's scheme. Legally, it might even have been kidnapping. And what if something went wrong, such as a sudden super-villain attack, while Supergirl was flying around with her?)
To complete the comeuppance of Xi-Pi-Hi-Fi, Supergirl, now an official member, insists on joining a club barbecue. But in the guise of "helping," she burns the hot dogs to charcoal with heat vision and blows smoke in the girls' faces. "I get it! You're joining our group so you can SPOIL our kicks with your super powers! Looks like WE'VE been SUPER-HAZED!" They agree to disband Xi-Pi-Hi-Fi, and even present the failed pledge Joan with a necklace with a gold hornet charm. While showing off the necklace to Linda, Joan asks if it was fun for her to fly around campus with Supergirl. "Er... Like Thrillsville, Joan!"

Green Lantern #54, "Menace in the Iron Lung!"

GREEN LANTERN (2nd series) #54; July 1967; DC Comics (National Periodical Publications); Julius Schwartz, editor; featuring "The Menace in the Iron Lung!" On the cover by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson, a man in an elaborate iron-lung setup watches on. TV screen as a robot reaches out an extended arm to punch Green Lantern. "My destiny is to rule! Activate MISSILE-MAN! DESTROY GREEN LANTERN!"

Review by Bill Henley. Years ago, I had a nearly complete collection of the Silver Age GL title. Then a stack of the issues from the middle of the run went missing. When the third Showcase GL volume covering most of those issues came out in 2008, I put off buying it because I remembered those GL issues as being not all that great. Then when I decided to buy the Showcase book, I found it has gone out of print. Now I've acquired the book from an online dealer, and in rereading the stories I found that some of them are more interesting than I remembered. "Menace in the Iron Lung" is one of these, despite some distinctly goofy-- or should I say Definitely Campy-- aspects.
The book-length story is written by John Broome and drawn by Gil Kane, both pencils and inks. (One of the reasons I remembered this run of issues negatively was because a number of them were self-inked by Kane, which I didn't like. Reading the stories now, I'm not as put off by Kane's inking, though I still prefer his work inked by the likes of Murphy Anderson, Wally Wood or Dan Adkins.)
On the splash page, the seemingly helpless man in the iron lung is watching TV screens on either side of him. On one, Green Lantern is duking it out with a robot. On the other, Hal Jordan is having his lights punched out! "Though Im a prisoner in an iron lung, I have devised the perfect formula for defeating Green Lantern-- DIVIDE AND CONQUER! Split him and his alter ego apart--and overcome each of them SEPARATELY!"
(Checking Wikipedia on "iron lung," I find it was a device in which people with disabled breathing systems, most commonly from polio, were completely enclosed except for their heads so that their bodies could be surrounded by negative atmospheric pressure to assist breathing. The combination of the polio vaccine and improved breathing assistance devices have nearly eliminated iron lungs, but I guess they were still well known in 1967 when this story appeared.)
This story takes place during the period when Hal Jordan had abandoned Coast City and his test-pilot job out of pique when Carol Ferris jilted him for marriage. He's now working as an insurance investigator in Evergreen City in the Pacific Northwest-- and his latest assignment is an unexpected one. A man with the unusual name of Baron Tyrano is claiming that, in the course of his "anti-crime activity," Green Lantern did major damage to Tyrano's million-dollar estate! (Ah, inflation... Nowadays, a modest home in a posh area of the country could cost over a million dollars). "The boss doesn't realize that he just handed this case to Green Lantern!"-- who has no recollection of ever visiting the Tyrano estate. On his way to fulfill the assignment, Hal reflects that he is enjoying his insurance job because it is "full of surprises" and keeps his mind off his lost love Carol Ferris. But it will not be Hal who carries out this assignment. After charging his ring, Green Lantern takes off to inspect the damage he himself has supposedly done!
Kind of an unethical procedure for an investigator, perhaps, but it doesn't matter. For the insurance claim is only a blind for the true scheme of Baron Tyrano-- described as "a life prisoner in an iron lung, but a man of so gigantic an intellect that he has defied the fates and in secret has become one of the most powerful men in the world!" He is surrounded by uniformed henchmen and henchwomen, and at Tyrano,s command, one of them fires "Missile-Man"-- a flying robot resembling Tyrano himself- at the approaching GL! Our hero tries evasive action but the robot reaches out with its metal arm and delivers such a mighty blow that it not only knocks GL to the ground-- his life saved only by his ring's "automatic protection against mortal harm"-- but causes a confused Hal Jordan to appear, separately from GL, on a city street some distance away. Tyrano boasts, "The blow of my missile-creature was so tremendous that it SEPARATED Green Lantern from his alter ego! My device has divided my foe into the TWO SEPARATE PARTS of his personality! Now he can easily be defeated and captured! DIVIDE AND CONQUER! Ha, ha!"
(Okay, let's hold on here. In the first place, it's never really explained how Tyrano learned GL's secret identity.. Secondly, a super-villain might devise some super-scientific gadget to split GL and Hal into two beings, but it makes no sense that an ordinary physical blow would do it. Finally, of all the superheroes to use this ploy on, Hal/GL is one of the least appropriate. A few superheroes, like Billy Batson/Captain Marvel orDon Blake/Thor, are separate physical beings from their alter egos. Other "secret identities" at least affect a different personality from their heroic selves; Clark Kent is "meek" and "timid", Bruce Wayne is an "idle playboy, Diana Prince is a "mousy" military drudge, and even Barry Allen is "slow" and "lazy". Hal Jordan, however, is manly and heroic in both his identities, making no attempt to disguise his personality. I've always suspected that he used his ring to cloud the minds of the people who knew him in both identities, to keep them from noticing that they are the same person. That little mask certainly wouldn't do it.)
Anyway, even if the only difference between GL and Hal is that one has a ring and costume and the other doesn't, that may be enough difference for the gang of thugs Tyrano sends after Hal! Or maybe not! Hal manages to hold his own in an all out no holds barred brawl against the gang, but will numbers finally tell in the end? Meanwhile, Green Lantern has gotten up off the ground to take on the "Missile-Man" once more, but he finds himself dazed and mysteriously unable to aim his power ring beam properly. He attempts to use his fists against the robot while using his ring defensively to form shields, but "another wave of dizziness" weakens GL's will power and causes his shield to collapse. Sensing himself "in mental contact with someone I know well but can't identify," GL probes with his ring and discovers that the contact is with his alter ego, Hal, who is also battling for his life! GL's waves of weakness correspond with moments when Hal is under the most stress in his own cattle! And then a lucky punch connects and knocks Hal Jordan unconscious- and GL falls from the sky! Long hours later, Hal Jordan comes to his senses brutally aching in mind and body"-- but he senses that his alter ego Green Lantern is in even worse trouble. Shrugging off his own pains, Hal rises and rushes off to find his other half; "Green Lantern and I must rejoin each other! Split apart this way... We're vulnerable!"
Back at Baron Tyrano's lair, Green Lantern lies bound and unconscious as one of Tyrano's devices monitors the dwindling power in his ring. Once the power ring is exhausted, the Baron can carry out his master plan! He has a "body-switching machine", and with it, "Green Lantern and I will CHANGE PLACES! He will have my useless body-- and I will have HIS! I will possess the superbly conditioned body of a man BORN WITHOUT FEAR!" (Yeah, but he's blind, which might be inconvenient. Wait, never mind, wrong man without fear.) "I will be FREE of this IRON PRISON at last!"
(A running theme of these middle-period GL issues was that Hal Jordan, emotionally scarred by losing Carol, felt insecure and tried to assert his manhood by fighting bad guys with his fists rather than his ring whenever possible. The element of psychological angst, as well as the greater emphasis on physical action, was an apparent attempt to "Marvelize" the GL series. But anyway, maybe Hal would have been reassured if he knew Tyrano wanted him for his superbly conditioned self and not his ring. Though if it was me, I'd be looking to steal the body of some other superbly conditioned guy who wasn't liable to get me in trouble with the Justice League and the Guardians of the Universe.)
Meanwhile, desperate to find his other self, Hal Jordan returns to his hotel room to retrieve the invisible Power Battery which he keeps in a suitcase. The battery remains invisible even to him, and he can't use it without a ring, but "I've always noticed that there's a faint attraction like a subtle magnetic pull, between the Power Battery and Power Ring!" Hal uses this to track Green Lantern to the site where GL battled Missile-Man, and then to Tyrano's walked estate. There he finds the Baron's armed guards who threaten to shoot him for trespassing! Hal manages to distract one of the guards by dropping the invisible Power Battery on his foot, and then triumphs in another knock-down, drag-out fight... Only to risk disaster when he realizes the invisible Battery has been lost in the scuffle! Fortunately, Hal literally trips over the Battery, and then follows its pull to a window where he witnesses Tyrano making his final preparations!
GL briefly regains consciousness but, bound and with his ring now out of power, he is helpless! Hal crashes through the window and lays about him, swinging the invisible battery around him like a mace to fell Tyrano's henchmen. He reaches GL's side and finds him in a "state of shock" unable to speak, so it is up to Hal to touch ring to battery and finish reciting the Oath, despite new onslaughts by Tyrano's thugs. Hal completes the oath just as Tyrano re-activates his Missile-Man robot, now under his direct control.
Now it is up to Green Lantern to defeat the Missile-Man. At first it seems that GL's will power is not enough to defeat the robot's "fantastic energy", but at last a ring-beam explodes the synthetic creature into a thousand pieces!
As GL summons a specially equipped police squad to arrest Tyrano, one of his female attendants approaches Hal and tries to switch sides; "You can take me in any time, Mr. Alter Ego..." Upon learning what Tyrano intended for him, GL declares, "So you wanted my body, Tyrano? I almost feel flattered!" Tyrano eschews the usual curses and boasting of defeated villains; "I have nothing to say to you, Green Lantern!" But can the Power Ring undo Tyrano's work and unite our hero's two identities? Fortunately, the answer is yes; "A strange feeling... Like coming home!" "There's been a sense of terrible loneliness in the pit of my stomach! It's disappearing"
But as GL makes mental notes on his report for Pieface's GL casebook, and as Hal explains to his boss that Tyrano was guilty of (among other things) attempted insurance fraud, Tyrano himself is not discouraged as he lies in his iron-lung "prison" which itself is ensconced within a jail cell. "I anticipated my temporary defeat by Green Lantern-- and despite it I shall still gain my objective!" Caption: "Can the Baron really carry out his threat? Watch forthcoming issues for the next adventure dealing with the incredible MENACE IN THE IRON LUNG!" However, readers watched in vain till long after the end of the Silver Age; according to the GCD, Tyrano didn't reappear until GREEN LANTERN CORPS #204 in 1986 (a comic book I own, but don't remember anything about).

Sea Devils #3, "Ghost of the Deep!"

SEA DEVILS #3; Jan-Feb. 1962; DC Comics (National Periodical Publications); Rober Kanigher, editor; featuring "Underwater Crime Wave!" and "The Ghost From the Deep!", both written by Kanigher and drawn by Russ Heath. On the cover by Heath with wash effects by Jack Adler, the skin-diving Sea Devils are confronted by a giant woman directing a sea serpent to attack them!
Review by Bill Henley
When I was a young kid in the early 60's, I was fascinated by scuba diving. I never got to try it myself-- the closest I got was snorkeling in a small lake-- but I loved the TV show "Sea Hunt," and for a time I was also a fan of DC's team of intrepid divers, the Sea Devils.
I suspect the Sea Devils were inspired by the popularity of "Sea Hunt", which first appeared on TV in 1958 (though Kanigher and Heath first showed an interest in scuba diving in 1956 with "Frogmen," a one-shot tryout in SHOWCASE #3). But while TV's Mike Nelson tangled underwater with relatively mundane crooks and smugglers and the occasional shark, the Sea Devils-- leader Dane Dorrance, strongman Biff, pretty girl Judy and her kid brother Nicky-- battled an assortment of much more outre undersea menaces verging on the surreal (and absurd). The stories in this issue, which I rediscovered upon purchasing the Showcase Sea Devils black and white collection, are good examples of the true bizarreness of this series.
On the splash page (an appropriate term) of "Underwater Crime Wave," the Sea Devils ride the back of a swordfish, while holding on to a toga-clad prisoner, to attack a couple of skin-diving crooks wielding spear-guns. The story begins on land as the Sea Devils sit in a theater watching newsreel footage of "G. Nakko," a wealthy "man of mystery" with a Roman fetish who holds gigantic "toga parties" that would put Animal House to shame. While still in the theater, they are approached by a government agent asking for their help tracking down a "giant smuggling syndicate". Before they even leave the theatre, the agent is "kayoed," (it's not clear if permanently or not) by agents of the syndicate! The Sea Devils vow to carry on the mission, but first they put on a scheduled charity exhibition of their famed stunt-diving skills. Afterwards, an agent of Nakko, the "modern Nero," asks them to put on a show at one of his parties for ten times their usual fee. Dane curtly refuses; "We're not performing seals! Tell your modern Nero he hasn't enough money to buy our services!" "No one ever turned Mr. G. Nakko down before! You'll regret it!"
The next day, the Sea Devils start searching for signs of undersea smuggling but find no leads, after five futile days, the Devils spot a floating distress marker, and the three male Sea Devils dive to investigate, leaving Judy to mind their boat. "Dane-- I'll never speak to you again if you leave me here because I'm a girl!" "Nonsense, Judy! We need someone on the surface we can ABSOLUTELY depend on!" The Devils follow a line from the distress marker down into the depths, noticing an unusual profusion of sea life. Then when they follow the line into a cavern, instead of finding a trapped fiver, they themselves are trapped in a net!
They are dragged into a gigantic Roman-style coliseum which "Nero" and his gang have somehow constructed underwater! And they discover to their dismay that Judy has been captured as well, and is locked in a plastic container which is slowly filling with water. The other Sea Devils must engage in an undersea gladiatorial contest for the amusement of Nero, clad in toga and scuba gear, and a vast audience of scuba-clad spectators! If they cannot defeat all of their foes within one hour, Judy's container will fill up and she will drown!
The youthful Sea Devil Nicky is the first to fight, against a foe wielding a net. Nicky is able to escape and entangle the bad guy in his own net, with some help from a friendly porpoise. But his battle takes a full half hour's worth of his sister's precious air! Next, strongman Biff is forced to engage in an undersea boxing match, hampered by an excessively heavy weight belt. But when his opponent knocks him into an outcropping of sharp coral, The belt is severed and Biff is able to score a knockout. With just 15 minutes left-- and "Nero" silently gloating about a secret ace in the hole-- Dane has to battle bare-handed a foe armed with a sharp trident. But once again a sea creature comes to his aid (isn't that supposed to be Aquaman's shtick?) as Dane climbs aboard a passing swordfish and uses its bill to wrest away the trident.
"Nero" orders his henchmen armed with modern undersea weapons to attack the Sea Devils, but they and the swordfish counter-attack and free Judy from her prison, using "buddy-breathing" to keep her alive.
Having escaped "Mr. Nero's" undersea gladiator contest, the Sea Devils commandeer a "sea sled" vehicle from the bad guys to reach the surface. There they find a U.S. Coast Guard vessel which has spotted the Sea Devil's boat manned by members of the smuggling gang "who couldn't answer our questions." As the other gang members surface and are rounded up, Dane promises to provide all the evidence needed to convict them, including "Mr. Nero". (Just don't tell them about that whole Roman gladiator thing down there, guys, or they'll think you're nuts.)
The splash page of the second story "The Ghost of the Deep," also by Kanigher and Heath, depicts our heroes struggling in the coils of a giant sea serpent, under the cruel eye of a sub-sea goddess figure. The story begins with the Sea Devils taking a break from their watery labors by attending "a seaside night spot, the Circe Club." (Isn't teenaged Nicky a little young for a place like that?). The guys tease Judy for being entranced by the singing of a male crooner, Larry O'Day. But then, all three of them-- including Dane, who's supposed to be an item with Judy-- are caught by the spell of a girl singer calling herself Circe. "Look at you! Mooning over Circe Smith as if she were the legendary Circe! And YOU laughed at ME!"
"The next day, as the Sea Devils prepare to test some new deep-diving gear," Judy accuses Dane of still being "in a daze from that crooning female's song last night!" Dane insists that "when I'm diving-- I'm alert every second!" Not alert enough to escape a maelstrom that seizes all four Devils when they enter the uncharted waters! And finally, "in a strange, shimmering depth of the sea they have never reached before," the male Sea Devils stop and stare as if listening to some sound that Judy cannot detect, then start "cavorting like dizzy salmon! They act as if they have NITROGEN NARCOSIS!" An editor's note explains this is the dangerous. "Rapture of the deep," the result of diving at great depths, wherein a diver loses all grasp of danger and judgment."
Herself Judy seems unaffected, and tries to figure a way to get the men to surface. But then she finally sees what they see and hear-- a beautiful "sea siren" who has her male teammates enraptured! All three of them want to win this "Circe" for themselves! And none of them-- not Dane,or Biff, or her brother Nicky-- pay any heed when Judy tries to persuade them to head surface-ward!
Circe demonstrates the ability to communicate telepathically with her male victims (combined with dubious poetic skills); "Welcome to Circe's watery home! From it you shall never want to roam! To each of you, the task I give is this... Who brings me the greatest treasure,?his reward shall be a kiss!"
And so, the three male Sea Devils scatter to the sea currents, each determined To be the one to win the precious kiss! Nicky is the first to bring back a prize, after battling a "golden eel" to wrest away a golden necklace from a pirate hoard. Biff finds a jeweled crown on the figurehead of an ancient sunken ship, but to win it he must put his own brawn against the strength of the animated figurehead! As they lay their treasure at Circe's feet, she continues "tormenting them with her smile and song while she waits for Dane to come back!"
Dane discovers an "antique mirror encrusted with pearls," but has to fight a "giant otter" (drawn more like some kind of undersea Panther) to keep it. When he returns to. Circe, she reaches out for him and his gift. "She's choosing Dane! The boy I love!" (Boy? Dane seems to be a full grown man, though admittedly he hasn't been acting all that mature lately.)
As Dane approaches Circe for her kiss, he throws away his mouthpiece and air tanks! A horrified Judy darts in and presses her own tanks on Dane, then swims desperately for the surface with only the air in her lungs. The sight of this act of self-sacrifice snaps the others out of Circe's spell, and they follow her, with Dane offering his mouthpiece to Judy in the "buddy-breathing" system.
But Circe is not willing to give her love-struck victims up without a fight, and she sends her pet sea serpent after them! The four divers are caught in the coils of the serpent which threatens to crush the aqualung-dispensed breath out of them! Then the turbulent waters form another maelstrom which tears the Sea Devils out of the grip of the detention and up toward the surface.
Upon surfacing, the other Sea Devils want to know what happened to Judy's air tanks. They remember nothing of all the drama with Circe the "sea siren,' and when Judy tries to tell them about it, their response is, "Poor kid! You must have been down too long without air! You must have had a touch of-- NITROGEN NARCOSIS!"! An outraged Judy's rejoinder; "You MEN! You make fools of yourselves-- then so very conveniently forget about it! Ohh-- you're impossible!"
(Truth to tell, "a touch of nitrogen narcosis" is probably the best explanation of the goings-on in nearly ALL these "Sea Devils"stories.)

Showcase #92; Manhunter 2070, "DOA".

SHOWCASE #92; Aug. 1970; DC Comics (National Periodical Publications); featuring "Manhunter 2070" in "D.O.A," written, drawn and edited by Mike Sekowsky.

 Review by Bill Henley

 I hadn't thought about Manhunter 2070 in a long time until a few months ago I came across "The Judas Coin," a Walt Simonson graphic novel which featured a succession of past, present and future DC characters, ending with Manhunter 2070. I'm pretty sure that was the first significant appearance of the character since his unsuccessful tryout run in SHOWCASE #91-93 (the last three issues of the original SHOWCASE run). But I kind of liked "Manhunter 2070" when it first came out, and I resolved to do a review of one of those issues when I came across them. So here goes...

 As established in issue 91, Starker, aka Manhunter 2070, is a bounty hunter in a future a hundred years hence (from the original publication date), in which mankind has expanded out into interplanetary and interstellar space (via the "Bridwell Space Drive", har har) and conditions look a lot like the old Wild West. Though Starker collects rewards for the human and alien baddies he brings in "dead or alive," he's already rich, and is clearly motivated more by anger at the criminals he targets than by money. This second issue is an origin story which explains the reasons why, and it left the biggest impression on me of the three issues, so I'm reviewing it.

 On the cover, a young, space suited Starker stands on a tiny planetoid on which a cross marks a grave! "You can rest easy now, Dad-- I got them ALL-- EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!"

 The story begins in the "present" of 2070, in Janus, "resort city of Jupiter," where Starker is relaxing and escorting two pretty girls-- until they spot a "wanted" poster from the "Brotherhood of Space," which turns the tables on bounty hunter Starker by placing a 100,000 credit price on HIS head! Sternly, Starker insists that he must now part company with the two girls (to whom he seems more like an honorary uncle than a lover) lest they end up in the line of fire! As Starker's spaceship blasts off for Earth on automatic pilot, Starker accedes to the girls' pleas to tell then how his vendetta against interplanetary crime and piracy began.

 It began 17 years previously (that would make it the year 2053) when Starker was a young teenager accompanying his father, a wandering asteroid miner, who had just made the find of a lifetime, a rock full of the ultra-valuable mineral didanium. But the elder Starker's dreams of wealth and a settled life for his son are shattered by the appearance of a crew of ruthless space pirates with a sideline in asteroid claim-jumping! "Thanks for finding all this didanium for us!", the pirate captain sneers before brutally shooting down Starker's father!

 It appears that young Starker is about to share his dad's fate until a member of the ship's crew, the cook known as "Slops", intervenes. He urges the captain to let Starker remain alive to serve as his helper in the galley. "You know my rule-- no LIVE witnesses-- but okay-- a kid can't hurt us!" If Starker imagines that Slops is motivated by mercy to save his life, he is quickly disabused, as upon the two of them arriving in the galley, Slops lays him out on the floor by a brutal slap. "That's to show you who's boss here! Now get started cleaning this place up!"

 And so, long years begin during which young Starker knows nothing but brutality-- orders backed up by boots and fists-- from Slops and the rest of the pirate crew. However, rather than being cowed, Starker is hardened and confirmed in his hatred for the Pirates as he watches them victimize other innocents. He begins observing the Pirates closely as they practice their deadly combat skills in their leisure hours. Once he is caught "spying" on Slago, a pirate whose specialty is knife-throwing. Slago has him stood up against a wall with a fruit atop his head to serve as a William Tell-like knife target! The Pirates are impressed with the boy's "nerve" as he stands without blinking or flinching as Slago's hurled knife slams into the fruit on his head! Nonetheless, he is punished with a blow and warned against future "spying". But Starker is not deterred. He is totally focused on revenge, and "to get that revenge, I knew I had to be TOUGHER and BETTER than they were". Though he still pretends to be cowed in front of the pirate crew, he sets up a secret practice area in an unused hold where he can emulate Slago's skills with a stolen knife from the galley and practice combat moves against a dummy. He also wanders the ship to learn every nook and cranny of it, and lifts weights to "harden my muscles to match the hardness of my heart".

 "Zone day, when I had just turned eighteen," Starker begins the first stage of his revenge campaign by rebelling against Slops, his cruel master in the galley. When Slops tries to beat on him once too often, Starker fights back, takes a knife away from Slops, and beats him unconscious. Then, he hurls the senseless Slops at the feet of the pirate crew, announcing, "Meet your NEW waiter and dishwasher-- Slops is taking over THOSE chores now! I'M your new cook! Anybody object?" Will this act of rebellion win him a quick death? No; by the Pirates' rough code, "I deserved the job because I was able to beat Slops out of it", and besides, he turns out to be a better cook than Slops.

 After two more years of slightly higher-status servitude, Starker, now full grown, decides it is time for him to make his real strike for freedom and vengeance! He begins by systematically disabling the pirate ship's lifeboats. Then he lays a trap for foe member of the pirate crew, tripping him with a wire strung across a corridor, rendering him unconscious with a karate chop to the throat, and taking his weapons! "A blaster, a needle gun and a knife! Now I've got a chance!" He leaves the subdued pirate alive, tied up in a tool locker; he is not bent on killing the entire crew, just the five pirates who were present at the killing of his father!

 Starker smashes into a room where three pirates are playing cards. One of them is Sergio (no doubt, like the "Bridwell Drive," a backhanded tribute to a DC coworker) who is one of "the five". Starker warns the other two that his business is with Sergio and they should stay out of it. But all three go for their Ray-guns! Starker's draw is faster, and he blasts down all three! "I told you others I had no quarrel with you," says Starker, but they don't hear him, being dead along with Sergio.

 Then an alarm goes off and Starker realizes his attack is being seen by closed-circuit TV on the bridge. The element of surprise gone, Starker hurls his defiance; "Hello, Captain-- I'll be coming after you-- VERY soon!" "It's the kid! He's gone wild! He's killed three of my men!" "It was funny, even after what I had just accomplished, I was still just 'the Kid' to them."

 As the captain orders the crew to hunt down "the kid," Starker holes up in the engine room where he disables the lights. One of the crewmen sent after him is "Cyclops," not Scott Summers, but a one-eyed alien and one of his father's killers. Hanging from overhead pipes in the darkness, Starker seizes Cyclops by the beck with his legs! "For long minutes, powerful leg muscles stay locked around Cyclops' neck-- and then..." "That's number TWO, Dad."

 Starker knocks out another pirate from behind and gets the drop on two more, leaving all three tied and gagged in a storage room. Gaining entrance to the ship's weapons room (you'd think the captain would have kept a guard on it), Starker emerges with an oxygen helmet and four cans of "paralyzo-gas" which he introduces into the ship's ventilation system. At one swoop, nearly the whole crew is put out of action! But not the captain and his two chief henchmen, who are the remaining three of "the five," and who spot the gas danger in time to don their own oxygen helmets. "And one lousy punk kid did this!" Growls the captain. "Well, there's still THREE to ONE! Let's go get him!" The three imprudently "spread out," separating in order to find Starker, and the one who finds him first is Slago, the knife artist. "Disdaining the use of a blaster, he used his favorite weapon-- and MISSED!" Starker pulls his own knife; "Let me show you HOW to do it, Slago!" He throws the knife, in a panel showing the knife hurtling almost directly at the reader; "You do it like THIS!" And now it's three killers down and two more to go. Quickly Starker meets "number four," an alien named Dondor, and Starker's draw with a blaster is more accurate. "Only one more-- THE CAPTAIN!"

 Tracking the captain by closed circuit TV, Starker revels in the look of fear in his face. He catches up to the captain where he is trying to escape in a disabled lifeboat. "I knew I should have killed you back there on that rock!" "There's only one way out for you, Captain-- that's PAST ME!" "ALL RIGHT THEN- I'LL GO PAST YOU!" But he doesn't. "Two blaster a sounded almost as one," and though Starker appears to suffer an arm wound, only he remains alive! "That's the LAST ONE, Dad-- you can rest easy now!"

 Two days later, Starker brings the pirate ship to a "Space Security patrol station," where he herds into custody the Pirates who are still alive, "still groggy from the Paralyzo-Gas." "There's seven D.O.A. still in the ship outside your airlock." And so, Starker's career is launched as "the richest bounty hunter around," since the rewards on the pirate crew totaled over two million credits.

 As I indicated, this story left an impression on me at the time, mainly because it was more violent and brutal than I was used to in Code-approved comic books. That panel of young Starker throwing the knife particularly stuck in my mind. Even now I'm a little surprised this story got past the Code. Though it has seemed to me sometimes that the Comics Code took a more relaxed attitude toward comics set in past or future time eras than those set in the present.

 The next issue of SHOWCASE featured a "present day" Manhunter 2070" story, which ended on a cliffhanger; an unconscious Starker is about to be brained by a primitive, ax-wielding alien. Did he escape? "You'll find out in the next Manhunter 2070-- IF THERE IS ONE!" There wasn't. Not only were there no further Manhunter 2070 adventures, but issue 93 was the last in the legendary original run of SHOWCASE. In interviews years later, Mike Sekowsky claimed that his previous SHOWCASE feature, "Jason's Quest" about a wandering teenage motorcyclist, sold well and would have gone to an ongoing series if DC office politics hadn't caused Sekowsky to be fired from his editorship. (Of course, in those work-for hire days, nothing would have stopped DC from continuing "Jason" with different creators if they had wanted to badly enough.). As far as I know, though, Sekowsky never claimed "Manhunter 2070" was an unsung hit. Sci-fi comics are always an iffy sales proposition, unless tied in with a non-comics franchise such as Star Wars or Star Trek, and I guess "Manhunter" fell flat on the comics stands of 1970.

 I liked it, though, and would have bought a "Manhunter 2070" title if there had been one. Let us hope that Starker evaded that caveman's ax and went on to more adventures, even if we never got to read about them.

Blackhawk #102, "The Doom Cloud!"

BLACKHAWK #102, July 1956; published by Quality Comics; Alfred Grenet listed
in the indicia as editor with Richard Arnold as Associate Editor;
cover-featuring "See the Fantastic Flying Airport in THE DOOM CLOUD!" Oddly, there's
not a cloud in the sky on the cover, but there's a lot of other stuff in the
sky, as a futuristic flying-wing type aircraft and some regular planes attack
a ship and the boat on which the Blachawks are riding with bombs and
gunfire. Blackhawk stands heroically shouting orders, to whom it's not clear, since
the Blackhawks are behind him firing a machine gun at the attacking aircraft.

Review by Bill Henley

Like a few of the reviews I've done, this one is technically off-topic,
since it's really pre-Silver Age rather than SA. I recently managed to acquire
DC's BLACKHAWK ARCHIVE volume, which I'd been wanting to get for a long time,
and it inspired me to pull out one of my collection of Quality BLACKHAWK
issues to review. There's little doubt that the first "Silver Age" issue of
BLACKHAWK was #108, Jan. 1957, the first DC published issue. This is a sign,
however, that "Silver Age" did not automatically mean "better comics" than
their predecessors of the Golden/Silver Age interregnum. The end of the Quality
run of BLACKHAWK may have been only a shadow of the days when Reed Crandall
led the team through WWII, but still these Cold War sagas are more interesting
and exciting than the Silver Age DC tales pitting the Blackhawks against
alien menaces and what Mark Evanier called "factory-second costumed villains".

There are no credits on these stories and I have no idea who the writers
were, but the art I'm pretty sure is by the regular team of Dick Dillin,
pencils, and Chuck Cuidera, inker (and, at least by his own account, creator of
Blackhawk).

On the splash page of the first story, the Blackhawks storm into a science
lab to find a white-coated scientist being held helpless by the tentacle-arms
of a robot mounted on tank tracks. The inventor screams, "EEEAHHH! You
wouldn't destroy your own creator? Where is your gratitude?" A voice emanating
from a nearby computer console coldly informs him, "I am only what you made
me....a THINKING MACHINE! I have no emotions!" The opening caption reads,
"ADAM X was an electronic brain... a complex marvel... in one hour it solved
problems that would take human brains a lifetime! It even had a solution for
the biggest problem of all...how to become ruler of the world! First, it
said, ELIMINATE THE BLACKHAWKS.... the ultimate machine that could become MASTER
OF MANKIND!"

As our story begins, a truck driver is making a regular delivery of brass
and copper and stainless steel to the lab of one Dr. Snye. The driver is
curious what the good (?) doctor is "cooking up"in his lab, and eager to make the
better acquaintance of "Vera, who works with him...boy, what a gal!" But
first he has to collect some cash, for it seems Dr. Snye has not paid yet for
his previous shipments of supplies. But when the driver knocks on the door, he
is met by a metallic creature who demands delivery and has no intention of
making a payment. While other robots unload the truck, the driver flees;
pursued by the lead robot. By happy coincidence, the Blackhawks just happen to
be passing overhead in their jets, and observing the drama below, Blackhawk
uses his guns while passenger Chop Chop enthuses, "Velly clack shot destloy
robot but not hit victim!" (Incidentally, Chop Chop here, while obviously still
a politically incorrect ethnic stereotype, is no longer quite the fat and
giganticaly bucktoothed monstrosity he was in the earlier Quality days. I used
to assume the humanization of Chop Chop was a DC innovation, but actually it
began in the latter days of the Quality run.)

Landing near the lab, the Blackhawks greet Dr. Snye, who emerges and thanks
them for preventing a possible tragedy. "I don't get this, Dr. Snye! You
talk as if you didn't have full control of your own robots!" Snye explains
that indeed he does not, as the automatons are under the direct control of Adam
X, his invention. "It isn't just another super-calculating machine. Adam X
can THINK!" And obviously not programmed for modesty, Adam X chimes in, "I
am Adam X-- world's greatest mind!" The Blackhawks respond with expressions
of amazement such as "Donnewetter!" and "Yumping Yudas!" They respond more
favorably to another occupant of the lab, Vera, Snye's shapely "niece and
assistant," especially Andre; "MMMM! Tres bien! Tres joli! Also oo-la-la,
M'amselle Vera!" Not one to be distracted by a pretty face, Blackhawk demands
further explanations, and Snye explains that Adam X is programmed to "select the
most direct solution" to any problem. In this case the problem was that
Snye had run out of money for supplies (what happened to those Pentagon research
grants?) and Adam concluded the most "direct solution" was to take supplies
without paying. Sternly, Blackhawk warns that Snye had better disconnect the
brain before it gets him in real trouble. Meanwhile, the still-panicky
truck driver is calling the cops.

After the Blackhawks depart, Dr. Snye is of two minds; he knows Adam X is a
threat, but "there is so much I need to know and only Adam X can give me the
answers1" Vera has no doubts about what should be done; "A brain without a
soul is....is evil!" Resolving to disconnect Adam, Snye goes to do so and
finds the brain is still cogitating on the problem of obtaining funds and has
decided on the ultimate solution; "Rule the world and everything you need is
yours for the taking!" Snye protests that he has neither the desire nor
ability to rule the world, but Adam has an answer for that too; "You have only
feeble human brain! Adam X has perfect mind! Adam X will rule world for you!"
Convinced at last that Adam must cease to function, Snye tries to pull the
plug, but too late, for Adam has had the robots rewire his control panel so
that anyone trying to disconnect him gets an electric shock. Pursued by Adam's
robots, Snye and Vera try to radio the Blackhawks for help. Meanwhile, the
local cops are mobilizing for action, having actually believed the truck
driver's wild story of rampaging mechanical men. And a gang of crooks, hearing
the reports on a police scanner, decides to try to beat the police to the scene
and seize the robots for their own criminal use. And Snye reaches the
Blackhawks and alerts them, just before the robots capture and silence him.

The criminal gang blocks the police by moving a disabled car across the only
road to the isolated lab. Observing the forces converging on the lab, Adam
X gives the order, "Destroy all police! Leave criminals alive till their
usefulness is over!" The Blackhawks land their jets, commenting, "Yas ban a
yigantic yoke on Dr. Snye!" "It will be a joke on the world, Olaf...a mighty
grim joke....if that mechanical genius takes over! And it could!" Rushing
towards the lab, the Blackhawks encounter the criminal gang; "The Blackhawks!
Now's our chance to get rid of them too and collect a fat bonus from the
boss!" But instead the black knights make short work of the gang, which flees,
only to be menaced by Dr. Snye's creations; "Yow! It's one of those roberts,
or whatever you call it!" "Robot, you fathead!" The crooks' getaway car
crashes into one of the robots and then is hurled over a cliff by the robot as
the crooks flee. Leaving the crooks to the finally arriving cops, the
Blackhawks hurry to Snye's lab. Eager to rescue "la belle Vera," Andre tries to
unplug Adam but is shocked into unconsicousness. "Dr. Snye! Compared to your
creation, Dr. Frankenstein was a two-bit piker!" Blackhawk sets out to try to
cut the cables feeding the brain power from outside, as the other Blackhawks
run interference by tackling the robots. Another squad of robots is foiled
in its mission to destroy the Blackhawk jets, as the Blackhawks have cannily
set the planes to take to the air again under remote control. Failing to
reach the outside cables, Blackhawk makes a try to reach the inside cutoff
switch using his "insulated boot" to protect against shock. One of the robots
blocks him, but Blackhawk somehow manages to grab it by the arm, swing it around
on its tank tread ("Wheee! Blackhawk play clack-the-whip!") and propel
the robot into Adam X's control panel, smashing the panel and short-circuiting
Adam X. All flee as the lab is destroyed by fire, and Dr. Snye mourns the
loss of his life's work, but there are no hard feelings on Blackhawk's part;
"You can start againon some safe project! We'll see that you get a spot and
funds to work with!" And as they take off in their jets, our heroes improvise
yet another verse of their endless song...."No evil mind can rule a land, as
long as we can take a hand! WE'RE BLACKHAWKS!"

Before continuing with the Blackhawks' adventures, we get a four-page filler
war story, "Critical Target!" Set during the recent Korean War, the story
tells of Squadron Commander Dawson, whose dilemma in picking aircrews for a
vital bombing strike on a North Korean target is particularly acute. His best
flight leader is Captain Carroll, a former friend who is now his romantic
rival for the same girl back home. Because of Carroll's abilities, Dawson has
little choice but to pick him to lead the dangerous mission, but Carroll is
convinced Dawson is scheming to get him killed so Dawson can get the girl. The
anger gets even worse when Dawson returns from his mission alive, only to be
told the higher brass have ordered a second strike on the "critical target",
and Carroll is to lead that too. Once again, Carroll makes it back but is
determined to punch Dawson in the jaw, until he learns that Dawson is missing
in action-- refusing to order others to take risks he will not share, he has
taken a place on one of the bombers, and it was the only one not to return
from the second mission. After Dawson manages to bring his crippled plane in
on one engine, the two men are reconciled as "firm friends".

After fighting a sci-fi menace on American soil in their first story, the
Blackhawks return to more familiar ground for these pre-SA yarns-- battling
Communists in foreign territory-- in the cover-featured "Doom Cloud!" On the
splash panel, Blackhawk leaps from his own jet toward a Red plane, as Chop Chop
bemoans, "Oh woe! Blackhawk jumpee without parachute!" (Oddly, neither the
cover scene nor this splash scene exactly appear in the story.) "It's okay,
Chop Chop! I'm sure this joker will lend me his!" The freighter Lulane,
bound for Formosa (aka Taiwan), with "munitions for the Nationalist Chinese
defenders", is puzzled by the approach of a cloud in the sky moving against the
wind. Puzzlement turns to terror as the cloud spits out a swarm of gliders
carrying bombs to blow up the ship's volatile cargo. The Lulane radios the
Blackhawks for help before being blown up and sunk. Arriving in their jets in
time to investigate and help rescue survivors, the Blackhawks are puzzled by
the report, since gliders can't normally operate out at sea without the heat
waves that rise over land. They fly through clouds but find no trace of the
gliders, then receive a report that now the sinister gliders are attacking
Fushan harbor. Again failing to find the attackers, Blackhawk concludes that
the Reds have created a flying aircraft carrier which somehow conceals itself
within a cloud and pulls back its fleet of gliders-- "soundless, cheap and
expendable"-- when their mission is done. The Blackhawks decide to sleep on
the problem, but during the night the silent gliders make a landing on
Blackhawk Island itself (which somehow at some point moved from its original
Atlantic Ocean location to the Pacific). , and the pilots emerge to spray their
barracks with rifle fire. But to no avail, for the Blackhawks have been alerted
by "electronic detectors"-- "Yiiii! They were only dummies!" "We thought
the same thing about you and your mob!" While the Blackhawks battle the Reds
and send them fleeing to their gliders, their smallest member has a
brainstorm; "Oh woe! Chop Chop has fine idea....so good it scares honorable self...
but must do same for sake of Blackhawk victory!" While the Blackhawks find the
Reds have blocked the air intakes of their own jets, Chop Chop takes the
pilot's seat of one of the Red gliders so that he will be drawn up with them and
discover their secret. "Chop Chop, you crazy, nervy kid! Break off and
land again!" "So solly, but cannot control glider! It climbs without power!
Will keep belt radio open on guide beam so Blackhawks can follow!"

Arriving at the gliders' base, Chop Chop discovers, as Blackhawk suspected,
that it is a giant aircraft carrier held aloft by helicopter rotors and using
an electromagnetic generator to lift the gliders. Though he is Asian like
the Red Chinese pilots, Chop Chop is betrayed by his glider's lack on an
identification signal. "I am Comrade Nichivo, inventor of the flying carrier!
And you are one of the stupid Blackhawks!" "So solly! I am stupid all by self
to thlust head into noose in most unhappy manner!" After seemingly foiling
Blackhawk pursuit by releasing tinfoil strips to foul their radar, Nichivo
tries to force information from Chop Chop, but "Chop Chop velly solly but have
been bitten by mad Red! Have bad case of LOCKJAW! Cannot talk!" "He's as
stubborn as all the Blackhawks! Get rid of him! I have no time to fool with
stupid tools of capitalism!" Nichivo orders. But as Chop Chop is is about
to face a Red firing squad, the Blackhawks land their jets atop the carrier--
having been guided by Chop Chop's radio despite the tinfoil ploy-- and rescue
him and capture the carrier for the Nationalist Chinese. Flying off again,
they sing, "We did our jobs...we met the foe...we think we have a right to
crow.... AS BLACKHAWKS!'

In the days before letter columns became common, the one or two page text
story, required by postal regulations, was a common feature in comic books, but
rarely did this token text story feature the comic's regular character.
BLACKHAWK was an exception (and I'll bet that because of it, more readers
actually read the text story than usual). In "Intercepted Peril", while carrying
out a mission in Zingra City, where "the formal duel is not only legal but
practically necessary", Blackhawk is repeatedly challenged to duels and realizes
there is a plot for him to be faced by one challenger after another until
one of them finally kills him. He goads all thirteen of the plotters into
challenging him at once, and, as the challenged party, sets the conditions;
himself alone against all 13 at once, with fists, in a darkened room. Even the
Blackhawks cannot believe their leader can win against such odds, and they are
amazed when he emerges unharmed while his foes are all battered and beaten.
Blackhawk explains he simply withdrew into a corner and let all the
challengers beat each other to a pulp trying to find him.

Finally, in a regular comics story the Blackhawks discover "The Red
Professor's Secret!" In a castle courtyard, all the Blackhawks are covered by
purple-uniformed Red soldiers' guns, as Blackhawk moans, 'G-great guns, men! We've
blundered into a Red trap!" A beautiful woman named Fraulein Hegel is being
interrogated by West German law officers, but refuses to reveal vital
information to any lesser personage than Blackhawk. Accordingly, the Blackhawks
are summoned to the scene, with Hendrickson directed to handle relations with
the locals; "Ja, Blackhawk! Chermany is my old home!" (Hendrickson was
originally Dutch. I wonder when exactly he changed into an anti-Nazi German?)
The "distraught girl" reveals that her fiancee, physicist Professor Gartmann,
was kidnapped by Communist East German agents and is being held in a temporary
prison until he can be spirited behind the Iron Curtain Escaping
momentarily from his captors, Gartman called his fiancee on the phone and begged her to
obtain the help of the Blackhawks to rescue him, since only the famed black
knights can be trusted not to be Red agents. The Blackhawks agree to try to
rescue Gartmann from his prison at Todgraf Castle in the Bavarian Alps. On
the way, however, Blackhawk muses that he whole things seems a bit fishy;
maybe Gartmann is himself a Red who engineered his own "kidnapping" as a cover
for a plot. Nonetheless, they press on to Todgraf Castle, where they are
greeted by its master, Baron Von Horla, who seems to be hospitable and
cooperative-- until he springs a Red trap on our heroes. And the mastermind behind the
trap is none other than Fraulein Hegel herself-- she, not Professor Gartman,
is the Red spy. Gartmann is an innocent victim whom the Fraulein used as
bait to lure the Blackhawks, the Red's archfoes, into her trap (and so the story
title is in error, since he's not really a "Red professor".. Herded into a
cell along with Gartmann, Blackhawk incautiously drops a hint that rather
than being a mere pawn, Gartmann actually is developing a secret weapon for the
Allies. Intrigued, Fraulein Hegal demands that her former fiancee
demonstrate the weapon. But Gartmann has realized Blackhawk's real plan, and after
demanding "certain chemicals" in order to create his "weapon", he creates a
sudden explosion to catch the bad guys off guard. The Blackhawks subdue the
Reds with flying fists, and those who escape are caught by West German police
whom Blackhawk earlier alerted as a precaution. The Blackhawks win again, but
they don't sing about it this time, or at least we don't get to "hear" them.
(Earlier in the days of the Quality BLACKHAWK, the beautiful woman who turns
out to be an evil schemer was an almost invariable figure of the stories--
someone involved with the series must have been a real misogynist. This tale
is a throwback to that era.)

Doom Patrol #121 (last issue)

DOOM PATROL #121; DC Comics; Sept.-Oct. 1968; Murray Boltinoff, editor;

featuring "The Death of the Doom Patrol?", written by Arnold Drake and drawn by Bruno Premiani.

(This review by Bill Henley is a rerun of sorts. I reviewed this issue
years ago in the SAR list's pre-Yahoo days. That review was long ago lost in a
hard disk crash, but some interest was recently expressed in seeing this
unusual issue reviewed again, so I've pulled out my copy to reconstruct the
review.)

Traditionally, from the Golden through the Silver Ages, comic books and
ongoing series cancelled by the publishers went quietly, with no official
announcement to the readers and no attempt at "closure" for the series. (EC was an
exception in this as much else, as several of their titles featured
"farewell" notices in the last issues.) The remaining fans of a dead series might
become aware only gradually that it was gone, as a new issue failed to show up
on the newsstands for months....or as something else showed up in the slot of
a cancelled series (as with the experience that seems to have scarred Roy
Thomas' childhood, when he subscribed to ALL-STAR COMICS and received only one
issue before the title converted to ALL-STAR WESTERN featuring "a bunch of
cowboys and Indians" in place of his beloved JSA. ) This may be because when a
publisher decided to cancel a title or series, they immediately stopped
production of new stories, giving no chance to write an "ending"; or because the
publishers and editors didn't want to be bothered with complaints and protests
from diehard fans of a cancelled series.

However, during the Bronze Age and later, it became increasingly common for
publishers to announce in the last issue (or even before) the cancellation of
a title, and sometimes to produce some sort of wrap-up to the series. That
trend may have started with this issue of DOOM PATROL. The DP launched in
1963 (initially as a feature in MY GREATEST ADVENTURE, which converted to DOOM
PATROL keeping MGA's numbering) as a team of freakish, bickering superheroes
strongly resembling Marvel's Fantastic Four. However, the early issues had a
pleasing combination of DC and Marvel styles and carved for the series its
own niche in the Silver Age. Later, DP suffered from an overdose of "camp"
humor during the Batmania era. With "camp" waning, the DP stories got more
serious again, but sales declined nonetheless. But editor Murray Boltinoff
seems to have had a special fondness for the title, and decided to make an
unusual effort to save it. And so, we come to this issue.....

On the cover (signed by Joe Orlando) spectral figures of the four original
Doom Patrol members-- Negative Man. Elasti-Girl, Robotman and The Chief--
stand (in the wheelchair-bound Chief's case, sit) despondently amidst their own
tombstones and open graves. "Death" covers were common in DC comics around
this time, but this time they meant business. The blurb is, "Is This the
BEGINNING or the END of the DOOM PATROL? YOU DECIDE!"

The splash page depicts story artist Bruno Premiani completing a panel of
the shocked DP members facing oncoming doom, and anxiously asking editor
Boltinoff, "It's true, Murray? They will die? You didn't tell me how to finish
this page? You're gonna kill our-- Doom Patrol?" Addressing Bruno but
pointing a finger directly at the reader, Murray Boltinoff replies, "I don't know,
Bruno! It's not up to me! Unless the 'Marines' send help, the Doom Patrol
will die after this issue! And you, jolly reader, YOU are the Marines! Only
you can save the Doom Patrol now-- and I KID YOU NOT!"

(Reportedly, this page was originally drawn to include writer Arnold Drake,
who had scripted every issue of DP, with help from Bob Haney on the debut
issue. But Drake was on the outs with DC management, possibly because of an
attempt to form a writers' and artists' union. Drake moved on to Marvel for a
while, and his image was retouched out of this story panel. Apparently, if
DOOM PATROL *had* continued, it would have been with a new scripter.)

Artist Premiani continues to lament the impending loss of the Doom Patrol;
Robotman, "tin man with a human brain"; Elasti-Girl, who gave up a movie
career for superheroics, "the biggest star role I ever played"; Negative Man, who
gained the power to control the super-fast energy being Negative Man at the
cost of being radioactive; "You win some, you lose some, Bruno!"-- and the
Chief, "greatest brain in the world!" Premiani again protests killing these
great guys off, but Boltinoff reiterates their fate is up to the readers; "Later
we'll tell them how they just MIGHT save the DP!"

As the actual story begins, a fiendishly grinning Madame Rouge-- the French
villainess with elastic powers who in previous issues had wavered in loyalty
between the Brotherhood of Evil and the DP's Chief-- prepares with her
henchmen to release a bomb on "Target Zero", an unassuming-looking house.
Meanwhile, her former Brotherhood of Evil colleagues, the disembodied Brain and the
intelligent gorilla Monsieur Mallah, wonder what Madame Rouge will do. Mallah
is pleased she has clearly turned against the Doom Patrol, but the Brain is
convinced she poses just as much of a threat to the Brotherhood. And he is
proven right sooner than he knows, since "Target Zero" is the Brotherhood
headquarters and the Brain and Mallah are literally blown sky-high by Rouge's
bomb. At Doom Patrol headquarters, the Chief learns of the apparent death of
their archfoes. Robotman and Negative Man are unfazed-- "There goes another fun
group!"-- but the Chief warns that the DP, and he personally, will be
Rouge's next target. "The only woman I ever-- loved-- is out to destroy me!"
Robotman scoffs, "Baloney! The Brain was probably knocked off by some other
criminal genius-- like the Kidney or the Lung!" Once again, Rouge proves him
wrong very quickly, as a car passing the DP headquarters rains machine gun fire on
the building. The DP members escape harm, but an innocent bystander on the
street is wounded. As Negative Man carries the man to the hospital.
Robotman gathers the spent bullets for ballistic analysis. But the Chief shouts a
warning, and Robotman shoves a "dud" shell under a sofa cushion just in time
to muffle an explosion. Knowing that the Chief would gather the bullets for
analysis, Rouge set up one as a "mini-bomb". "She knows all about us! Didn't
I generously take her into our little nest and teach her? GAAAAAD!"

Meanwhile, the remaining Doom Patrol member Rita Farr, aka Rita Dayton, aka
Elasti-Girl, is trying to spend some quality time with her husband,
millionaire Steve Dayton (an occasional DP ally, as the psychically-powered Mento,
but not a member). But between Dayton's financial dealings and college
teaching hobby, and Rita Farr Dayton's DP duties, the recently-weds don't get much
down time together. "Listen, sweetie, when are you gonna leave that gang of
far-out Boy Scouts!" "When they no longer need me, you know that!" And a
radio bulletin about the machine gun attack on DP headquarters tells Rita that
the team still needs her. As she puts on her DP uniform and rushes out,
Dayton gripes, "Marconi, drop dead!" Arriving at DP headquarters, Elasti-Girl is
startled to find Robotman and Negative Man aiming heavy guns at her. "Put
down those shooting irons!" "Not on your life! Madame Rouge just declared
all-out war! So if you want to sign up, this is the recruiting office!" But
a caption warns, "If you knew what was ahead, girlie, you'd burn your draft
card!"

As the story continues following a house ad for a "Lois Lane Wedding 80 Page
Giant", Rita learns how Madame Rouge is targeting her one-time lover for
death and confesses, "For the first time in the history of the Doom Patrol--
I'm REALLY scared!" The Chief tries to be reassuring; "As the youngsters say
today, don't lose your cool!" Then three mystery "blips" on the DP's
oscilloscope turn out to be helicopters dropping incendiary bombs on the DP's
mansion. Fortunately, the mansion itself is completely fireproof (I guess Rouge
didn't notice that when she was hanging out there) and two of the enemy choppers
are brought down by the DP's "hunter rockets", while Negative Man blows up
the third. But the attack leaves a scene of chaos in the surrounding
neighborhood; Negative man compares it to "London after the Nazi blitz", and Rita
thinks it resembles "Dante's nightmare of Hell", while to Robotman it just
reminds him of "my pal P. J. O'Mara's bar and grill after a Saturday night
fun-fest!" But the Chief is not feeling jocular and warns that Madame Rouge's
vendetta against the DP "endangers every living thing in the city!" Wilmer Boggs,
a representative arriving on the scene from the Federal government in
Washington DC, agrees, and delivers government orders for the DP to leave the city
and seek sanctuary until "the woman called Rouge can be hunted down!"
Robotman does not react well to the thought of running from a fight, especially
when Boggs threatens the DP with "deportation" if they don't leave voluntarily.
(Legally, of course, U.S. citizens can't be "deported", though they could be
arrested or placed in 'protective custody".) But Rita breaks up a
confrontation between Robotman and Boggs, and the Chief agrees for the team to
evacuate the city, much to Cliff's disgust. The disgust is increased when, as the
DP members board a plane, their adoring fans see them off with jeers and signs
reading "So Long Scared Patrol" and "Bye-Bye Cry Babies". But Robotman and
the others are mollified when the Chief reveals their destination-- not a
government hiding place, but an "impregnable fortress" on a Caribbean island,
previously prepared for just such an emergency, with its own nuclear power
plant and heavy weaponry, from which the DP can prepare its own counterattack
against Madame Rouge.

But once again Rouge-- and her new ally, Captain Zahl, a former Nazi U-boat
commander with his own longstanding grudge against Niles Caulder aka the
Chief-- seem to be a step ahead. They are lurking near the DP's new island HQ in
Zahl's submarine, and launch an attack before the DP can settle into their
new "fortress". A missile from the sub blows up the plane the DP just arrived
in. Zahl's frogmen from the sub attack on the beach, but are easily
defeated by an angry Robotman. But then Zahl surfaces the sub and launches a trio of
weapons specially designed to counter the DP's powers. A cannon blasts
Larry Trainor with irradiated sand, which at first seems harmless, but then Larry
finds "The sand blasted into your skin is completely radio-resistant! Your
Negative Man is imprisoned within you!" Elasti-Girl grows to giant size but
is trapped by a giant steel net which will not allow her to grow further and
which is too strong for her to break out of. (Why she can't *shrink* out of
the net isn't clear.) Robotman starts to free Rita from the net, but he in
turn is immobilized by a "magnetic charge" fired from the sub which
"permanently magnetized half of the tiny motors that activate you!" And so, with the
Chief helpless in his wheelchair, the Doom Patrol seems to be at the mercy of
Captain Zahl and Madame Rouge. But Zahl has a fate literally worse than
death in mind for our heroes....

The sneering ex-Nazi sub commander notes that what the Chief values most is
his reputation as a defender of common humanity. "You vould love to die for
'glorious mankind', ja? But vould you die for the smallest part of it? Vould
you die for a handful of stupid, ordinary men?" It seems that Zahl has
wired explosives to Codsville, Maine, "a small crumbling town in New England",
home to "14 useless fishermen! They die in two minutes-- or YOU do!" Zahl
holds one plunger which will blow up Codsville, and another which will destroy
the DP in their traps. The Chief must choose. Zahl fully expects which
choice the Chief will make, and then "Every vord we say is being broadcast to the
world! Ven you make der LOGICAL choice-- all vill know dot der great Chief
loves HIS skin first-- like any man!"

The Chief asks his DP comrades to share in the choice; shall they die for
"14 ORDINARY men-- STRANGERS to us"? "Strangers, Chief? Didn't you teach us--
ALL men are our brothers?", Negative Man replies. Elasti-Girl and Robotman
cite the Pilgrim Fathers and the "Hebrew children", once "ordinary men", now
figures of history and legend. And so the choice is clear. And now
dissension appears amongst the DP"s foes, as now Madame Rouge insists that the plan
was for the Chief, whom she once loved and perhaps still somehow does, to be
humiliated but not actually killed. Zahl is still convinced that the DP will
save their own skins, but he is proven wrong; "Here is our answer, Zahl!
FIRE AWAY!" "Fools! HEROIC FOOLS! So be it!" And, over Rouge's protests,
Zahl hits the plunger which causes the DP's island to blow up in a gigantic
explosion. Rouge screams, "You betrayed me! You killed heem-- a man who was
worth 100 of you!" "Stupid voman! What do I care for your childish love
affair! Even till der last minute he taunted me! But he vill not taunt me again!
Niles Caulder and his Doom Patrol-- are dead!"

Dead, perhaps, but not forgotten, as the news flashes around the world;
"Could all the super-deeds of this astounding group equal this single lesson in
courage?" The people of a tiny New England town agree, "Codsville is dead!
But our renamed village of FOUR HEROES, Maine, is just beginning! And we'll
make it one THEY could be proud of!" And the next day, Steve Dayton orders
his yacht close to the destroyed island despite the still "boiling ocean
floor", in order to drop a memorial flower into the water; "Goodbye, my love! This
is not your last resting place! Your shrine is within me!" And then Dayton
speeds away to begin a grim mission; "I'll spend every part of a billion
dollars to do it-- to destroy those who took her from me! NOT A SINGLE ONE
SHALL ESCAPE!" (Curiously, we don't see how the DP's one-time junior member
Beast Boy reacts to the loss. Perhaps it was thought at that point BB was a
better-ignored remnant of the team's "camp" era.)

The Doom Patrol seemed to react in an oddly passive fashion to the traps and
ultimatum of Zahl and Rouge. Certainly they had overcome worse dangers in
their career. And indeed, Boltinoff and Drake must have had some idea at
least vaguely in mind as to how the heroes could actually escape their apparent
doom. But whether they would get the chance, lay in other hands. For the
last panel, we return to Boltinoff and Premiani, as the Argentine artist asks,
"Then it IS true? They are dead? The Doom Patrol would never fight again?"
"It would take a miracle to change that ending, Bruno! A tougher job than
even the DP ever faced! And only you out there-- the reader-- could do it!
You always wanted to be a superhero didn't you? Okay, Charlie-- let's see you
try!" "THE END-- or IS it, CHARLIE?" This is followed by a truncated
half-page letter column. After a few comments on preceding issues, editor
Boltinoff addresses the readers again; "So where do we go from here, all you
disciples of the Doom Patrol? Do you believe that they must never be banished from
our midst, that theirs has been a soul-stirring, provocative, exciting and
unique contribution to comicdom, or do they perish with this issue, fade
ignominiously from the scene? Does it really make no difference, or will it feel
as if you suddenly lost five trusted friends? You, and only you and your
pals, have the answer, and that answer is in a sudden spurt in sales! So tell
your friends! Tell your enemies, even... to buy, BUY this issue.... or it's
bye-bye Doom Patrol!"

But if any readers respondied at the time, going out and buying multiple
copies of the issue or urging their buddies to buy copies, there apparently
weren't enough of them to make a difference. DOOM PATROL was cancelled and, for
the time being, stayed cancelled, and the DP members stayed apparently dead.
Almost ten years later, in 1977, a revived version of the DP started
appearing, in SHOWCASE and later in its own title, but Robotman (who was salvaged
and rebuilt by none other than the Metal Men's Doc Magnus) was initially the
only carry-over member. That revival series eventually mutated from a
conventional superhero series to a bizarre semi-absurdist series written by Grant
Morrison and others. I didn't really follow that series, but I gather that during
its course the Chief and the other original DP members were eventually
brought back to life, though in weirdly changed forms. Much more recently, the
Doom Patrol was "rebooted" by John Byrne, with the Chief, Negative Man,
Robotman and Elasti-Girl starting their careers over from the beginning, and the
original series, apparently including their "deaths", retconned out of DC
continuity. The new series wasn't a sales success (personally I thought it was
OK, and I didn't object to the retcon/reboot, but somehow it never quite
caught the spark of the original series) and was cancelled in its turn, but at
least the heroes survived the cancellation this time....

Metamorpho #17, "Last Mile for an Element Man!"

METAMORPHO #17; Mar.-Apr. 1968; DC Comics; George Kashdan, editor; featuring the Element Man in a tale written by regular Meta-scribe Bob Haney, drawn by new artist Jack Sparling, and given the unintentionally-- or was it?-- prophetic title, "Last Mile for an Element Man!" On the cover by Sparling, Metamorpho is on trial. He is surrounded by an angry crowd pointing accusing fingers at him, and a figure with a robe and gavel-- who wears a helmet with "see no evil" fingers covering his eyes-- shouts, "Justice is not blind, FREAK! Anyone can see you are...." Metamorpho himself finishes the sentence; "Guilty! Yeah... I'm guilty...GUILTY!" Review by Bill Henley On the splash page a prison guard with keys walks towards a cell as a clock ticks. It is ticking down the moments till a scheduled execution, and the condemned prisoner is none other than Metamorpho. ""All right, it's time...are you ready?" "Ready as I'll ever be, chum! Let's get it over with!" "What amazing turn in the fabulous life of the Element Man has brought him to this...the last mile? Walk with him toward death's bony embrace-- if you dare-- and all shall be utterly revealed!" As our hero walks toward his scheduled doom, he passes the witnesses to the execution, who include his former closest associates-- grim-faced tycoon Simon Stagg, a black-veiled Sapphire Stagg, and an eager grinning Java the caveman. Asked if he has any last words, Metamorpho says, "I'm glad it's over! I'm glad to be going! My real life ended a long time ago!" A tearful Sapphire suddenly breaks down, crying, "NO, REX, MY DARLING! IT CAN'T END THIS WAY! I LOVE YOU...I'LL ALWAYS LOVE ONLY YOU" But her father Simon Stagg holds her back, sternly warning her not to "besmirch the Stagg name" and reminding her that she herself "helped put Metamorpho here!" The means of execution is a "cryonic deep-freezer which alone can stop his unique life". As Metamorpho steps into it, he thinks, "So long, Sapph baby", as she continues to sob, Simon tries to comfort her by reminding her that she remains heiress to the Stagg "power and glory", and Java exults that Sapphire will now be his (yeah, right); "Has not Java waited a million years for this?" But how did Metamorpho get into this meta-mess? To find out, we go to a flashback to the end of the previous issue, in which the Element Man's foe Queen Jezeba suddenly aged thousands of years and died and her lost city of Ma-Phoor collapsed around her. Then a dark-cloaked figure called Mr. Shadow appears announcing, "Destiny has played its hand! Now you will do as I say!" But before our hero can hear Mr. Shadow's demands, someone else wants to give him orders. Two "international police agents" appear on the scene, accompanied by Simon, Sapphire and Java, and accuse Metamorpho of "murdering one Wally Bannister, husband of Sapphire Stagg!" "Yes, you beast, Rex, you killed my husband before the honeymoon even started! I HATE YOU, YOU INHUMAN MONSTER!" The police agents candidly admit they do not have the power to arrest the chemical-powered Element Man if he doesn't want to submit, but "appeal to (his) belief in law and order!" Metamorpho agrees, "I dig the law and order bit-- and I'm going to show you all this is just a crazy mistake!" He hopes not only to save his life but to "turn off that hate-light in Sapphire;s eyes!" But as the trial proceeds, a string of supposed eyewitnesses swear to seeing Metamorpho push Wally Bannister over the rail of a ship; Java gleefully testifies how Metamorpho was supposedly insanely jealous of any rival for Sapphire's love; and Simon Stagg as defense attorney (where did he get his law degree?) makes only a lame effort to defend his client by tacitly admitting guilt but urging the court to remember his client's past heroics and "judge him as a super-hero gone astray!" Our hero has no proof of his claim of having been far away in a now-destroyed lost city, and even Rex Mason himself begins to question his own innocence, wondering if he really killed Bannister in a "chemical blackout" and concluding despairingly, "Sapph...the whole world...they hate me now! No use going on living!" The story goes on, however, but not till after house ads for the new series HAWK & DOVE ("Steve Ditko, Like Lightning, Strikes Again!" and an ACTION COMICS/SUPERGIRL 80 Page Giant, and a page of "Contest Winners" suggesting creative ways for Metamorpho to use his chemical transformation powers, such as forming a clear glass safe for Stagg's money, a "beauty chair" for Sapphire, or starch for caveman Java's shorts. Following this frivolity, back to the grim business at hand, as Metamorpho freezes solid with a last thought of Sapphire and the "execution box" is given a burial at sea. He is remembered with mixed emotions, some people still hailing him as a hero and others rejoicing at his death. But one remaining admirer has the ability to do more than mourn, as Urania Blackwell, the former secret agent who in a previous issue gained Metamorpho-like powers as Element Girl, goes underwater to find and revive the man she too loves. But as she finds Metamorpho's sunken grave and turns her hand into an acetylene torch to free him, she is confronted by a new figure-- the guy from the cover who wears the "see no evil" helmet (along with skin-diving equipment) and declares that he is "The Prosecutor!" His "mission is this world" is to make sure anyone accused of a crime is found guilty-- regardless of whether or not they actually are guilty. The Prosecutor, working for a mysterious, unnamed "client", saw to Metamorpho's execution, and now his task is to make sure our hero stays dead. An angry Element Girl uses all her abilities against the Prosecutor, but he has powers of his own which threaten to overwhelm Element Girl in the underwater battle. But as they fight, seawater enters the crevice Element Girl made in Metamorpho's deep-freeze box and jams the cold-producing mechanism. Just as The Prosecutor is on the verge of defeating Element Girl with a force field, a pair of "magnetic armatures" appears to create a counter-force and stymie the agent of injustice, sending him fleeing on his "automated sea sled". Metamorpho has revived and acted to rescue his would-be rescuer. But he's not sure he's grateful; "Why didn't you just leave me in the 'Big Cool'? I'm a murderer... a stupid freak who commits crimes and doesn't even remember them!" But Element Girl reveals what The Prosecutor told her about his role in framing Metamorpho, and our revitalized hero vows that he will make The Prosecutor "clear the old Metamorpho name.... or I'll make buzzard bait of him!" Element Man and Girl follow Prosecutor's sled, hoping to trail him to his mysterious "client". His destination proves to be a barren volcanic island; "That joker's client couldn't hang out here...there's nothing on this burnt hunk of real estate!" But The Prosecutor summons a strange figure who arises out of smoke and flame from a volcano and is addressed as "Algon". Watching invisibly in the form of a cloud of hydrogen gas, Metamorpho remembers where he heard the name Algon before... Algon was the first Element Man, who had chemical powers ages before in the city of Ma-Phoor. Now he exists in a bath of lava which he hopes will fully restore his former powers, and he wants to be the only Element Man left standing. It was he who was recruited by The Prosecutor to pose as Rex Mason and murder Wally Bannister so that Metamorpho could be framed. Algon retreats into the lava bath, but Metamorpho does not fear to pursue him there, and the younger, stronger Element Man defeats his predecessor in battle. Then Algon starts to disintegrate, for the lava bath he thought would fully restore him to life is instead destroying him. In his last moments, Algon reveals how he was an ancient Roman soldier who entered a pyramid and gained element powers (just as Rex Mason did centuries later) until the treacherous Queen Jezeba of Ma-Phoor destroyed his powers with the Orb of Ra. The repentant, dying Algon urges Metamorpho, "Now you are the only Man of Elements! Do not abuse your sacred powers....use them for good!" As he dies, Algon sees the ghostly face of Jezeba, whom he still owes though she betrayed him. Metamorpho resolves to keep his vow by using his powers solely for the good of humanity and never again as "Stagg's errand boy! I'm gonna play it alone....my way...all the way!" Not alone, Element Girl reminds him, for she will be at his side. Our hero agrees, deciding he has been a "sap" about Sapphire, who failed to defend him when he was accused of murder. But the two of them will have "every cop in the world on our necks" unless Rex Mason can prove his innocence-- with his only defense witness, Algon, now dead. His only hope is to track down the Prosecutor again and learn the identity of his true "client". Meanwhile, the Prosecutor himself is entering a "hidden fortress" and confronting his "client", who can be seen only as a figure inside some sort of strange cocoon and surrounded by giant insects. Prosecutor confesses that he has failed to destroy Metamorpho for good, but vows to finish the job with some additional help from his "client". Nothing doing, says the "client", who has no tolerance for failure and is concerned that the Prosecutor may lead his enemies to him before he is ready to strike in person. The "client" summons a swarm of giant bees to penetrate Prosecutor's protective force field and sting him to death. And at this point, Metamorpho appears as closing narrator; "HOLY BLUE HANNAH, METAMANIACS! We gotta stop right now until next issue! Looks like my pal, the Prosecutor, is in large trouble! And like, who in blazes is this weirdo 'client' of his? I gotta find out to survive! Stick with the old Element Guy, kiddos, 'cause I'm gonna need all the help I can get in the next adventure of the world's most fabulous freak-- ME, METAMORPHO!" But if anybody waited eagerly for that next issue to learn more about the Prosecutor and his insectoid "client", they waited in vain. That next issue never showed up on the stands, and Metamorpho's subsequent adventures-- Batman team-ups in BRAVE & BOLD and a series of backup stories in ACTION COMICS and WORLD'S FINEST-- never picked up on the Prosecutor plotline. Nor did Metamorpho keep his resolve to operate strictly as a fighter for justice and renounce his love for Sapphire and his servitude to Simon Stagg. Element Girl vanished from sight after this issue, and later Metamorpho stories went back to the status quo of Rex Mason loving the flighty Sapphire and working, on and off, for Stagg. In my recent review of DOOM PATROL #121 I noted that that last issue of that series broke with an earlier tradition, in which cancelled comic-book titles would vanish abruptly without any warning and with no closure of any ongoing storylines. Obviously, this last issue of METAMORPHO follows that earlier tradition. The plug was pulled suddenly on the title and nobody in the editorial office cared enough to make an announcement in the last issue (the lettercol also makes no mention of the title ending) or rewrite the story to tie off the dangling plotlines. Conceivably, the "Last Mile' story title and opening scene of Metamorpho's "execution" reflected inside knowledge by writer and editor that the title was about to end, but more likely it was just standard fake jeopardy. (Some time later, METAMORPHO was mentioned in a Mark Hanerfeld "Wonderful World of DC" fan column in other DC books, among other vanished/cancelled titles whose fans had asked "Whatever happened to....?")