David Swan1

It's Comic-con and Disney/Marvel is announcing film after film to support their comic lineup and delight their fans so Warner Brothers/DC counters with the team up of all team ups, Superman/Batman. Here is a list of some thought that popped into my head after reading this announcement. 1. This announment reeks of desperation. A film like this should arrive organically. It took well over a decade before Warner Brothers could approve a -script and choose a director for a Superman movie. That long process ended with Bryan Singers Superman Returns; a film that could generously be described as imperfect. David S. Goyer is now tasked with coming up with a -script for a film intended to be released in two years. It has to be set in the realistic Christopher Nolan universe featuring a God teaming up with a man. Oh yeah, have fun with that Goyer. 2. This film cannot use the Nolan Batman. Nolan's trilogy began with the origin of Batman and ended with his retirement. In The Dark Knight Returns Batman had been absent for seven years and nobody mentions that time he teamed up with an ultra powerful alien to save the planet so they can't have it set prior to Dark Knight Rises. They could have Batman come out of retirement ala Frank Millers Dark Knight Returns but is the hobbled old Batman really the one Warner Brothers wants to go with for the JLA movie? Unlikely. 3. This film must use the Nolan Batman. It's far too recent for fans to simply forget Nolan's take on Batman. Christian Bale played a more human Batman than the uber competent comic book hero. Bale's Batman was not going to be doing things like building giant spy satellites like Omac or taking down killer robots with his batarang. This makes him real but even less useful to someone like Superman. My take on Nolan's Batman is that his Raison d'être is crime in Gotham City. I don't even see him going "on patrol" as in the comics. He comes out when needed for the biggest criminals. If Nolan's Batman was sitting in his Batcave and the events of Man of Steel came up on his monitor I imagine him sitting that fight out completely. He would accurately gauge it as out of his league and not relevant to his own struggle. 4. World's Finest Comics started publishing in Spring 1941 but it wasn't until July 1954 that Superman and Batman actually appeared in a story together. Those stories were generally light hearted so the idea of Batman assisting Superman was more of a fun pairing than a serious partnership. If you read the comics Batman generally wasn't a great help. Man of Steel introduced a more fully powered Superman with Super speed and the power to hit like a hundred locomotives. Batman on the other hand is watered down and lacks the comic hero's super intellect and detective skills. Those latter skills are about the only ones that could assist Superman. 5. Anyone who thinks Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play Batman is out of their mind. There is no way Warner Brothers will allow anyone but Bruce Wayne to put on the cowl and having Gordon-Levitt play Bruce Wayne would be highly confusing because fans think he's Robin. In fact having Christian Bale play Batman would be confusing since he would almost assuredly have to be an alternate Batman to the one in the trilogy. Gordon-Levitt also doesn't have the physicality to play opposite Henry Cavill unless he's capable of bulking up big time. 6. I happened to have loved Man of Steel. Now Superman will have to split screen time with another character who will almost assuredly have to have at least some kind of limited origin story. Maybe they could make the film a two parter but Warner Brothers seems intent on getting the JLA film out ASAP and that would put the second part in 2016 at the earliest. I have more thoughts but the post has gotten somewhat long winded. I'd love to hear others opinions. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I've had great success with auctions this year and last night I was all set to win another. It's not that I'm an extravagant spender, it's just that the comics I bid on don't seem to be in high demand and I tend to get them for well under guide. I found a lovely 9.2 Captain Marvel Adventures #113 selling on Heritage but I didn't consider it a must have. For one thing it was the 3rd highest grade and I usually prefer my comics in the top two. Also, I have a budget and I'm already in deficit spending so this would have pushed me even deeper so I set a hard limit which was slightly below guide. The auction was set to close at 11:00 PM which is past my sleep time so I put in my bid and went to bed. Although I was conservative with my bid I fully expected to win. When I put a bid in at night it generally occupies my thoughts and I might even have a dream of the auction results. At 2:00 AM I was awake and I felt compelled to go downstairs and check the results. I lost. Oh well. It keeps my budget closer to being in line and again this wasn't quite the grade I was hoping for. It is, however, one of my favorite CMA covers. Of course the joke is that having a pistol dual with Captain Marvel can never go well. He is, after all, impervious to bullets. For an even funnier example check this out (Don't be scared by the URL, Superdickery is just Superman being a... well you know) http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161:showdown-at-gotham-city&catid=28:superdickery&Itemid=54 To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

My goal is to one day win Golden Age set of the year and I thoroughly intend to meet that goal even if it takes me a decade or more but the fun is in the journey. So with the 2013 Registry Awards posted I thought I'd look through this years winners and see if I could possibly be competitive using my Captain Marvel Adventures collection. I'll go through them on by one. 1. 4GEMWORKS COMPLETE FOUR COLOR EMPORIUM, I have looked upon his/her mighty works and despaired. This collection is so far out of my league it's ridiculous. The first issue in this set is worth more than all my comics combined and the second issue is equal value to the first. Not only that but the set includes a lengthy set description and almost a complete set of images and issue descriptions for nearly all the absurd 1354 issue run. I cannot now nor will I ever be competitive with this set. It may not even be possible to put together a Captain Marvel Adventure collection to equal this one in registry points. 2. Jumbo!, There are single issues in here with more than ten times the registry points of my best issue. It is a 100% complete run with almost 100% images. Having said that I could at least CONCEIVE of one day, in the far distant future, being competitive unlike the four color collection which is in another stratosphere. 3. walclark's GA Hitler covers, This one has by far the lowest registry points although still well above mine. Even CGC acknowledges that the grades are not particularly high and there are gaps in the set. It does have 100% images and a single issue worth more than any issues in Jumbo!. I figure this one was sort of the oddball pick to keep the awards interesting. My collection doesn't have the oddball factor going for it so I may have problems squeaking past a set like this. The 2013 GA awards seemed like the best yet. Every set included tons of images and all the sets were non mainstream. This did not increase my confidence in winning any time soon. My set is more mainstream so I'd have to compete with the more brute force collections. Also, my set is just not complete enough even if the individual issues are very high grade. The longest continues run I have is a measly three issues and the highest registry point issue I have is 1100. It may be awhile before I consider breaking into an award group like this years. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

For me the comics I consider the greatest gems aren't first appearances or super high grades per say or the most desirable or most valuable. They are comics that, at least at this point, are entirely unique as in I own the only one in existence. This to me brings the whole idea of preservation to the forefront. Here is my list of my collections top gems. 4. Western Comics #25, A 9.0 isn't stunning but it does have white pages. What makes this one special is it is the only CGC graded copy in existence. 3. Captain Marvel Adventure #112, This is an investment grade 9.2 with one of my favorite CMA covers of all time. It's also a Crowley Pedigree but those aren't what makes it a gem. There are only 3 graded copies and the next highest grade is a lowly 5.5 so this is the only investment grade copy in existence. If you want to see a high grade issue #112 this is the only one. 2. Western Comics #19, A very nice 9.2 with off-white to white pages. This is one of only three graded issues. The next highest grade is a Mile High Pedigree 8.0 so this one beats even Mile High. I'm also a big fan of the cover. 1. All American Western #122, My biggest gem is my most recent acquisition. It's a beautiful 9.4 with a gorgeous Alex Toth cover and part of the Sixth Street Collection. This comic was actually the motivator for me to write this journal and I was going to mention that it was the ONLY CGC graded copy in existence but it appears another one has just been graded but it's a 9.0 leaving mine still at the top of the heap. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A Mile High Comic at 2 to 3 times guide There are lots of Pedigree's and from my experience most are priced just about exactly the same as non-Pedigree comics. There might be a slight bump but not much over 5%. However, Mile High comics are priced generally at 2 to 3x guide. There are at least three examples I have in mind of a comic priced at over 2x guide because they are Mile High and they have sat there for at least several years. You might think these are just sellers fishing but I don't get the impression this is the case. I think the sellers truly believe these prices are possible even as the comics sit there. If I were to speculate I would say the Mile High comics were at one time quite desirable but with the influx of other Pedigrees the interest has waned and sellers haven't caught on. Would anyone here spend 2 to 3x guide for the privilege of owning a part of the Mile High collection? Am I simply not recognizing the glory and majesty of Mile High? For me there are just too many other opportunities available to be plunking down a monster premium for a Mile High comic. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Latest addition to my collection I am super pleased to unveil my latest acquisition. This year has been absolutely amazing when it comes to auctions for me and this one may be my best deal yet. I won issue 122 of All American Western. This is the ONLY CGC graded copy of the issue. It's a golden age comic from 1951 graded 9.4 with white pages and an awesome Alex Toth cover. This also puts me in the number one spot in the All American Western set. I won't tell the price I spent but let's just say I got more than triple value in registry points per dollar spent. Let me add my thoughts on a previous journal. I can understand why people add comics to the CGC registry without including images and descriptions and I'm cool with that because it's still useful for knowing who has what issue. For newer comics it probably doesn't matter but for golden and silver age comics where the numbers can run in the handfuls or less it's useful. It's boring but useful. As to obscured sets I simply don't see the point and I don't understand why CGC even gives people the option. What I try to do is make my sets an experience so people can learn more about the comic and see the issues. Someone mentioned that they buy comics off EBAY and don't have a scanner. Every single CGC comic I've bought is off the internet and all my images were culled from seller supplied images. Not all are great but more often than not they are as good as anything I could do. The image I'll attach for All American Western 122 is straight from EBAY. There are a couple issues in my collection where I forgot to grab the image including the only 9.6 issue in my collection, Western Comics 14, but imagewise almost every issue has one. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Trying to reach number 1 is a pricey task. When building a Golden Age collection you have to take your opportunities when they arrive. In the case of Captain Marvel Adventures there are many issues with 5 or less graded copies total so if you miss your chance you may never see it again. I had set a spending limit for myself but found an auction item I couldn't pass up so I've gone into deficit spending that fills my quota into early September. I won a lovely 9.2 copy of issue 45 for over $200 under guide price. I kinda wanted this issue not because it has a great cover (which it doesn't) but because it somewhat resembles the cover of Shazam #4 from 1973 which was the series that first attracted me to Captain Marvel. So now I'm not supposed to do anymore spending until September except two can't miss opportunities have just cropped up which would probably push my deficit spending all the way to the end of the year if I win both. As I fill out my collection the opportunities will continue to diminish but for now I'm looking forward to less must have's becoming available. At least for the time being. To anyone who would like to see a Golden Age collection composed almost entirely of highest or second highest grade issues with most being Pedigree comics please stop by. I have 100% images and description. One day you will see this set as the Golden Age set of the year. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

According to Wikipedia Man of Steel has made $2,555 million dollars. This puts it right behind Avatars 2.78 billion and it was done in less than 2 weeks. *ahem, I think Wikipedia may have an error To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Man of Steel doesn't need my help and by the end of next weekend will likely pass the half billion dollar mark but I wanted to do one last posting in defense of the film. Of all the criticisms leveled at the movie the one that gets me the most is that this is a darker Superman. Even defenders seem to admit that this version of Superman is darker. No No No. The Superman in Man of Steel is as good or better than any other interpretation I've ever seen. What he did at the end of the movie was unavoidable and ultimately heroic. I want to know where Superman does dark things in the movie. He allows a man to throw a beer in his face, he repeatedly saves people including his classmates, he even permits himself to be taken by Zod to what may very well be his doom to protect mankind. When he first dons the Superman suit and begins to learn to fly his emotion is pure exhilaration. Even Metropolis is shown as bright and much more cheerful than its counterpart, Gotham City. Superman is a heroic, inspiration figure who is cast into a dark situation and triumphs but Superman is not himself dark. He does NOTHING to bring shame to the legacy of Superman. Contrast this with Superman Returns where our hero spent his evenings peeping on Lois and Richard White. What Superman isn't is goofy. His Clark isn't bumbling around perpetually pushing up his glasses. It seems like fans of the Superman MOVIES expect to see Lex Luthor with bumbling sidekicks and Superman spouting stiff corny dialogue. Anything else is DARK. Batman Begins has been my favorite superhero movie but after Man of Steel I'm torn. BB is probably the more technically proficient and better written of the two but Man of Steel did something no other superhero film ever did. It made me feel real emotion. Batman Begins was thrilling but I never felt real emotion for the character. Bruce Wayne's quest to clean up crime always felt remote. I felt the intensity and dedication of Bruce Wayne but his pain was not unique and had occurred at least a decade in the past. When Zod grabbed Martha Kent by the neck and threw her to the ground and Superman unleashed his fury screaming "DON'T EVER THREATEN MY MOTHER" while hitting Zod like a literal locomotive there was an intensity that I never felt with Batman's angst over the death of his parents. Unfortunately most of the best lines are in the trailers but in context they take on more emotional significance. I'm a huge James Bond fan but in all 23 movies I have only felt real emotion once and that was with the death of Tracy Bond and James final pathetically sad line. Man of Steel managed to stir emotions several times and when a movie can do that it has achieved something rare for me. Wayne's tragedy was sad but what Clark went through was horrific. First he learns he's not even human and by the end to have to destroy the last remnants of his own race to save his adopted world. It is the most heroic act any Superhero has ever performed. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

When Superman Returns came out in 2006 I went to see it with my wife and I was psyched. It was the first Superman movie in almost 20 years and the reviews were very favorable. When the John Williams theme kicked up as the audience flew through outer space I leaned over to my wife and warned her that I may geek out. And then the movie started. Within 2 minutes things started falling apart so here are the top five reasons why I didn't like Superman Returns.... 1. Lex Luthor. The first Christopher Reeve Superman movie came out in 1978 with a rather lighthearted take on Lex Luthor. His plan would cause immense destruction but he surrounded himself with such insufficiently_thoughtful_persons that it was hard to take him serious. In 30 years the Lex Luthor character has come a long way but Bryan Singer decided to recapture the Richard Donner Lex Luthor. Actually it's worse than that. We discover in the first minute or so that Lex was having sexual relations with a geriatric to gain her inheritance so now he's just an undignified sleezeball. 2. The Action. The scene of Superman rescuing the jet was awesome (except for Lois Lane's stupidity) but that was the movies peak action wise. He takes some bullets to the chest from a massive chain gun in a nonsensical scene created for the trailer. He gets beaten up by Lex Luthor. He lifts Luthor's boat from the water. He lifts New Krypton but there is really no action set piece besides the rescue of the plane for audiences to cheer for. 3. Luthor's Plot. This is the worst. It's basically the same plot from the 1978 movie except on a grander scale and stupider. Luthor plans to create a massive new continent made of Kryptonian crystals which will then wipe out much of the rest of the planet killing millions... no BILLIONS. Despite killing about a quarter of the Earths population people will flock to his continent and no one can stop him because he will have advanced alien weaponry. So we see Luthor and his crew sitting on their bleak desolate continent as it expands looking bored as hell. Maybe they were even playing cards waiting for the alien weaponry to materialize. Was the hellish granite looking land going to transform into something habitable? Let's say everything goes perfectly for Luthor. His rocky black nightmare turns into lush livable land. His island grows into a continent and aliens weapons spring from the Earth for Luthor alone. Superman sinks into the ocean dead from Kryptonite poisoning. North America is obliterated along with all his henchmen's friends and family. So what's the end game? The world is plunged into unprecedented economic collapse. Luthor HAS to claim responsibility since he's planning on declaring himself the owner of the continent. I assume there is still plenty of OTHER livable land on the rest of the Earth so people don't HAVE to move to Luthortopia. Could this handful of criminals hold off the entire world even with Kryptonian weapons? Could they stop the rest of the world's quest for revenge and what would Luthor get? Rich? Nothing makes the least bit of sense. 4. Richard White. Despite making over 400 million dollars worldwide Warner Brothers pulled the plug on the sequel issuing the cryptic comment that "It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned." I've never read an explanation of what that means but I suspect it's thanks to two characters, Richard White and Jason White. So Superman returns to find Lois Lane with a child and fiancé. Not just a fiancé but a guy who appears to be a really good dude who cares about Lois and his son Jason. Jason, of course, turns out to actually be Superman's son. This is just a total mess. Where do you take it from here? I assume the plan was to kill Richard in the sequel in a heroic death to clear the path for Superman but there is just no pretty way out of this situation and what in the world is Superman going to do with a son. It seemed like not only did the writers kill this movie they were already setting up the next movie to fail. 5. Superman lifts New Krypton. This is more the geek in me but this is so egregious I have to close with this one. Oh, the drama as Superman valiantly hoist New Krypton and flings it from Earth with his last ounce of strength. Wait a second. Just a moment ago Superman was rendered weaker than the average human thanks to the Kryptonite in the rocks. He literally had a shard of Kryptonite imbedded in his body but somehow was able to perform his greatest feat ever even as giant chunks of Kryptonite were about smacking him in the face. Then he crashes to Earth in an entirely undramatic death scene since every single person watching the movie new they were trying to create a new franchise. Horrible. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Superman Returns was a huge disappointment for me but there were some bright spots in the sea of bad. What I liked about Superman Returns 1.It was a lovely film to watch. For me the high point of the movie was Superman rescuing Richards Branson's plane. I loved the blue skies and the dreamlike quality of it all. There was a very calm lovely blue feel to the movie (except for the ugly New Krypton). Even the scene where Superman was spying on Richard and Lois was beautiful to look at and I enjoyed the obligatory scene of Superman flying into space. 2. The set design. There weren't really any big sets but what they did was very nice. In particular I liked the Daily Planet set and Lex's yacht. Even the scene with Jimmy and Clark sitting in a bar was well done. 3. The casting. I have no issues here. I thought Henry Caville was a better Superman but Brandon Routh did a fine job as far as I'm concerned and I wouldn't have minded seeing him return. I thought Frank Langella was a better Perry White because whenever I looked at Perry White in Man of Steel I kept thinking 'Did that guy eat Lawrence Fishburne?' Kevin Spacey wasn't the best Luthor but that was probably because he was saddled with a lousy -script and I thought Kate Bosworth felt more like Lois Lane than Amy Adams. 4. The scene of Superman returning to Earth with the black costume was well done and touching and the rescue of Branson's plane was awesome. To me this film is not to the level of Star Wars prequels level of disaster or a Battlefield Earth kind of train wreck but I would classify it as highly ill advised. Bryan Singer was trying for something, not sure what, but he failed big time. As to his assertion that $400 million should be a sign of success I have a feeling that Warner Brothers crunched the numbers prior to the film being greenlighted and estimated $400 million being the low end given the popularity of the character. The movie could have been worse but with a budget exceeding $200 million it really failed to capitalize on its potential. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Why Me??? For whatever reason my last two journals have not allowed people to respond on the message board even though I logged in. A shame since I love to be able to have people respond and it's a thread I'd love to discuss. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Don't read if you haven't seen the movie and don't want spoilers revealed. I've seen a lot of reviews from internet reviewers, often big fans of Superman who are foaming mad about this movie. Some anger is legitimate and some seems just bizarre. I've heard a lot of reviewers complain that the movie is just BORING. That one just doesn't resonate with me. Other complaints like the overuse of CGI are legitimate. So is Man of Steel appropriate for a 12 year old? I would say no. The volume of death and destruction is just off the charts but what I'm going to address is the ending. The BIG spoiler and see if I can't make some sense of it. *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER* Superman has just one inviolable rule. He never takes a life. At the end of Man of Steel Superman breaks Zod's neck with his bare hands killing him. He desperately tries to avoid it and agonizes afterwards but he does kill. So is this the most egregious insult ever heaped upon Superman by a writer and or director? Let me make a defense. 1. Did Superman do the right thing? Yes. Police kill, soldiers kill and we do not cast them as villains. In the movie the soldiers were attempting as best they could to kill the Kryptonians and they were not cast as morally bereft. This was Kal-El's first experience with any being whose power even approached his own and he could not contain Zod. Not only would Zod have killed thousands if not millions more he was moments away from killing a family right before Superman's eyes. There was no establishment in the movie that this Superman had set a no kill rule and his anguish was simply over his innate sense of right and wrong but in the end he had to weigh the morality of killing versus allowing countless more people to die and chose to end the killing with one final death. 2. Comic characters have the luxury of living in a fantasy world. Zack Snyder and DC chose to put their movies into a much more real world environment. Metropolis is not a retro city or futuristic city it is a real city. In the real world mass murders, in the midst of a rampage, are put down and a super mass murder needs to be put down fast. Superman doesn't obey the comic rule because this is not intended to be a comic. 3. Superman from the 1940's would have killed Zod in a heartbeat. In fact he would kill low level thugs without a hint of remorse. It wasn't the writers who set the rule it was a publisher who was trying to appeal to young readers. Why does Batman not kill The Joker knowing full well he'll be put into the revolving door known as Arkham Asylum? Not because of the slippery slope theory. Because DC doesn't want to lose the character. Killing the Joker would solve half the problems in Gotham City. 4. In Superman II, Superman tricked Zod, Ursa and Non stripped them of their superpowers and then.... uh.... tossed them into a crevice? When I was a kid watching the movie I kinda assumed he just killed them. They are never seen being carted off to jail. We don't close with Zod swearing revenge on the family of El. We don't see Superman agonizing about what he did to three living beings. The movie just continues on. If I were tossed into a crevice in the artic I believe I would be done for and I assume that was what happened to Zod and his cohorts. My bigger issue comes much earlier in the movie when Clark is working at a restaurant. He approaches an unruly customer who tosses a beer in Clark's face and tries to shove him only to find Clark as movable as a brick wall. Clark walks away and the customer tosses a can at his back and continues to mock him. That was perfect. The most powerful being on the planet took it all and walked away and showed himself to be not just the better man but the best. Unfortunately the scene finishes off with the customer later walking outside to find his semi completely demolished. Now Clark went from a zenlike calm to a vindictive jerk who in the moment failed to learn anything his father tried to teach him and the whole scene was played for a cheap laugh from the audience. Disappointing, but not nearly enough to ruin the movie for me.

My take on the new movie I'm a big fan of Superman, my favorite superhero. I'm a fan but I'm not a fanboy and if I don't like it I'll tell it like it is. I found Superman Returns to be a tremendous disappointment and it's 75% on Rottentomatoes was incredibly generous. The casting and set design were awesome and it had its moments but the plot was terrible. Man of Steel, by contrast, has garnered a very weak aggregate 55% which as far as I'm concerned is equally inexplicable because it is so much better. For me a truer indicator of the quality would be audience reaction. Superman Returns has 67% while Man of Steel has 82%. Sorry professional reviewers but I think you blew it. I wont get into any details because you can read a zillion others reviews but suffice it to say many of the reviews I read had legitimate concerns but overall the movie worked for me. One of the major problems I've had with movies these days (see Inception, Star Trek (2009), Skyfall, Dark Knight Returns etc) is that the plots make no sense. Hundreds of millions spent and they couldn't create a decent plot. The plot of Man of Steel wont win any awards but at least it's coherent. In fact I enjoyed Man of Steel more than the popular Dark Knight Returns although I put it below the first two Nolan Batman films which I thought were brilliant. The Kryptonian battles did sometimes resemble top notch video game cut scenes and I didn't buy Amy Adams as Lois Lane but overall the movie worked for me. Man of Steel will probably be the next movie to break $1 billion and will hopefully launch a great franchise. I do hope the second film does take SOME of the criticisms to heart but overall I had a great experience. Don't let the bad reviews scare you. There is no way it's a 55%. No way. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

As far as my CGC collecting is concerned this year has been almost all Captain Marvel Adventures. I've added six new issues and continued to slowly work my way towards the top position. Exceeding the 2009 Golden Age Set of the Year is going to be a long hard road. Mostly this year has been about focusing on one set and reducing my purchasing. Last year at this point I had purchased 11 CGC comics and bought 27 total throughout the year. This year I have purchased 7 CGC comics and intend to buy no more than 5 more. I am also, starting in August, imposing a hard cap on my spending, which will go down over time. This will slow down the improvements on my set but leave me enough for slow and steady upgrades. My ultimate goal remains to have the top golden age set. It may take a decade or so but so be it. The fun is in the journey. I now have 25% of the set with every single comic having an image and description. My collection has 22 highest grades with 11 being alone at the top. Almost all the rest are second highest grade. My lowest grade is a 7.5 and I have six 9.6's. Despite being well behind the top Captain Marvel Adventure set in volume and registry points I have a much higher average grade and far more top grades. My set wouldn't (and shouldn't) get a second glance at this point for golden age set of the year but it might merit a first glance. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

The Sorry Final Issue Issue 6 opens with Pop Culture putting Jack through 'This is Your Life and Death' a takeoff of the old show 'This is You Life' He brings out Kojak, Jack's mom and Doreen in a rather pointless section. Damon then comes out and he and Jack engage in a long battle across channels. The comic starts using a whole ton of guest artists perhaps because they were just trying to complete the story and grabbed up anyone who could get them to that goal. Here are the various channels with artists involved. 1. Star Trek by Michael Gilbert with Jack as Kirk and Damon as Spock. Mind you at this point the story has descended into pure slapstick, a huge departure from where the series began. 2. I believe it's Sergeant Bilko. The artist is Fred Hembeck 3. Godzilla by Walt Simonson with Jack as Godzilla and Damon as King Ghidorah 4. Lucille Ball by Trina Robbins with Jack as Lucille and Damon as Ethel 5. Western by Jim Starlin 6. Road Runner cartoon by Kevin MacQuire 7. Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Bill Wray with Damon as Leatherface. This one ends with Damon getting all of his limbs hacked off until he is nothing more than a torso and head (done humorously) 8. Giant Robot Anime by Keith Giffen with Jack as a small boy and Damon as a giant robot. Jack calls foul since Damon was ruined in the previous channel and the giant robot collapses to the ground Jack is declared the winner and reality is returned to normal. Despite all that has happened Damon in the end is not a bad fellow and Jack helps him along as he appears rather shaken up. For some reason the de-limbing didn't seem to affect Damon's limbs in the real world. The series ends with Kojak hiding in some bushes. Apparently he is the only thing that didn't revert back to normal. Also, Jack spots someone who looks a bit like Pop Culture but disbelieves it with a, 'naaaaah'. So that's Video Jack. I absolutely loved this series but the conclusion is just a smoking wreck as if everyone involved just wanted it to be over with. Whatever it was, whatever it could have been somewhere along the way there was a massive shift. The series starts with a brutal murder and ends with little more dignity than a Tom and Jerry cartoon. There is clearly a reason the issues can be bought at just about cover price and the series is almost completely forgotten despite the involvement of Keith Giffen. In my opinion this is a series that could be redone. Take the tone, style and plot of the first three issues and carry it forward. I've noticed that the views on my journals have dropped precipitously to the point where people appear to be actively avoiding them and that's my own fault. You can either keep your audience or you can't and I've clearly lost my audience so I'm going to take a break for awhile since these journals take awhile to put together. I've probably spent way too much time on a series that really didn't deserve that much effort. At some point I'll come back and maybe adjust my writing.

Things are not going well for a series that started with so much promise The first guest penciller for issue 5 is Al Weiss. We see that Uncle Zach has zapped Jack and Damon into a pirate movie and Damon is the captain. Things look bad for Jack until Doreen and her own attack Damon's ship. An odd looking ship comes sailing up on the pirate ship captained by the now grayish green looking Uncle Zach who presses the remote sending everyone into one of those late night soap opera's (think Falcon Crest, Dallas etc..) so popular in the 80's. The next guest artist is Carmen Infantino who, in his heyday, was a superior artist but over the years developed a unique style; a style I never liked. Characters always appear flattened and distorted like the entire world was tilted at a slight angle. As if the series couldn't get any worse we have one of my least favorite well known artists and an exceptionally dull reality. Jack and Damon are competing millionaires and Damon has just bought controlling shares in Swift Enterprises. Also, Damon has created a small army of robots based on a cohort of his from the real world named Tyrone which I hadn't mentioned before. Damon forces Jack and Doreen to have dinner at his mansion where a seated Uncle Zach is now truly dead. Damon inexplicably attacks Jack with flaming shish-kabobs (hence the cover) but the fight is interrupted by the Tyrone's heads exploding one by one thanks to some sabotage on the part of Jack. Seeing that things aren't going his way Damon pulls the remote from Uncle Zach's mouth and changes the channel back to the place he feels most comfortable, the MTV reality. Unfortunately for Damon the destruction of the Tyrone's has affected his M.T.V. army who are now all missing their own heads. Damon seems to be beaten until he pulls out his final trump card, a static bomb to destroy all the realities except Hickory Haven which he intends to escape to. This really doesn't make much sense and even Jack points out that he may be destroying all of reality but Damon goes ahead and presses the button with the final frame of the page being blank white. Reality now focuses on what appears to be a tuxedo'd man with a freakishly enormous smile and stars for eyes. This, ladies and gentleman, is Pop Culture and he will be putting our hero through, 'This is Your Life and Death'. Readers were treated (teased) to six pages of Keith Giffen penciling at the end of issue 5 but it couldn't save this train wreck. Why is it that only Jack is disoriented when reality shifts? Why is Damon always in a position of power in new realities? Why was Uncle Zach a zombie the last few issues only to die halfway through this issue? These questions and more will never be answered. The patient is dying but only with issue six will it finally be put out to rest. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Summary of Issue 4 Jack and Damon are still in the jail cell in the Andy Griffith show when they witness, what they previously thought was Otis, killing Deputy Fife with Fife's own gun. He turns it on the boys but Lucky for them Barney Fife only ever loaded his gun with a single bullet. The serial killer runs off deciding that a one on two fist fight wouldn't go in his favor. Jack and Damon head over to Floyd's barbershop to search for Kojak who previously swallowed the remote. Floyd had given Kojak a haircut and demands payment but is cut down by the serial killer who's now wielding a chainsaw prompting Kojak to press the remote sending them into another reality. Intermission Comic books are very much a visual medium but there are rare writers who can create masterpieces regardless of the artist. I'm thinking of Alan Moore with stories like V for Vendetta and From Hell which had art that I can't even pretend to say I liked. Then there are writers who aren't good enough to overcome really bad art. On page 9 the drawing is taken over by "guest penciller" Joe Barney and it's like all the energy drains out of the series. I cannot express what a jolt it is moving from Giffen to Barney but for me the series in one page went on life support. Jack and Damon find themselves in a sci fi film and Damon runs off with the remote. Turns out they are on the Nostromo in an Alien film. Jack finds Damon who is now paralyzed with fear and held in place by some goop. Looming above him is the queen Alien/Serial Killer whose eggs are hatching revealing Damon faced alien spawn. Jack flees and manages to open an airlock sucking the Serial Killer as Alien to a static demise. Yes, they really just killed what I thought was the main villain of the series and his death was really really bad. The remote is now shown being held by a rotting hand which presses a button sending Jack and Damon into a generic sitcom featuring Jack, Damon and Jack's mom. Here we get our second guest penciller Stephen DeStefano. Besides the ever present laugh track things actually don't seem that bad for Jack and the shadow is now gone from Damon's face. Jack just accepts the new reality but things begin to go downhill quickly. Jack's mom is getting increasingly surly and the shadow is starting to come back to Damon's face. As time goes on Jack's mom turns to drinking and the house becomes a mess of dirty dishes, smashed furniture and garbage. Jack's mom flips out when she catches him eating a cookie and slaps him across the face before leaving the house in nothing more than her underwear and fishnet stockings telling Jack the house better be clean before she gets back or she's kicking him out. The final page shows an angry Uncle Zach, with rotting hands, pounding on the remote to change the channel while looking at it as if he's terrified. I can only speculate that the series was not selling well and Keith Giffen decided to move onto other projects. Another possibility is a case of creative differences between Giffen and Bates. I'll note that the scene where the serial killer is killed is also when Giffen stopped doing the art. It feels as if maybe Giffen wanted the serial killer as the main villain and Bates wanted Damon. Personally I preferred the dynamics of the first three issues with Damon as more of a confused soul and the Serial Killer as the one truly evil character. Killing him was, in my opinion, a very bad move. As to Uncle Zach, is he dead or alive? This storyline also seems rather confused as will become even more evident in the next issue. A series that started with a ton of promise was fading fast and it's all downhill from here. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

In my intro to Video Jack I wrote that it was a six issue limit series but I don't actually know that to be true. It does last six issues and it does have an ending but they may have rushed out the ending once the series was scheduled to be cancelled. I'll speak more on that later but it is about impossible to find out anything on Video Jack on the internet so I can only speculate. Suffice to say I don't see anything on the comic labeling it as a limited series which in 1987 would have been standard. Issue 3 opens with Jack and Damon as Muppets and editor in chief Archie Goodwin explaining the story thus far. Goodwin explains that in other realities people behave according to their true nature which I guess means that Damon's true nature is dastardly. Marvel must have felt that the readers were getting confused with the concept since they devoted 5 pages to explain the backstory of a comic series only on its third issue. We return to the story in progress where Damon is shown to have a 3D TV which in 1987 would have been futuristic but is now somewhat common. Truly the future is now. A pair of resistance fighters break into Damon's pad but are blasted into oblivion by his laser light show causing Jack to accuse Damon of turning into a monster. Seeing Jack's reaction Damon decides it would be safer just to lock him up in chains but Jack is saved when Kojak uses his long cartoon tongue to reach out and push the remote in Damon's hand sending them back to the real reality. Damon, now normal again, is genuinely distraught over what he did in the video reality. He recognized the two resistance fights as classmates Wally and Todd and wonders if their deaths in the video world translated into the real world. As they walk through town they come across an ambulance pulling the bodies of Wally and Todd from a wrecked car confirming Damon's fear. They also come across a cop arresting the serial killer from the first and second issue. Jack and Damon sit around debating their situation in one of my favorite scenes in the series. Jack tries to console Damon by suggesting the possibility that Wally and Todd actually died in the car crash which then prompted their deaths in video reality but the conversation is interrupted when Jack inadvertently pushes the remote again sending them into a cartoon and then into a black and white television program. They're in the wholesome Andy Griffith show but the shadow has moved back over Damon's face showing him to be evil again and he fights with Jack for control of the remote before Kojak eats it. The two are arrested by Barney Fife and put into a jail cell next to Otis the town drunk who in the last frame of the comic is revealed to be the serial killer. For me issue 3 was the peak of the series. I liked the way Damon vacillated between being evil and being tortured by his own actions. The idea of having various realities that can affect each other had a ton of potential and the creepy, unnamed serial killer was shaping up to be a great villain. Keith Giffen's art brought a huge amount of style and fun to the story and THEN issue 4 happened..... To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Here are a pair of great videos Alan Moore Ditko himself To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Based on number of journal views it seems like a lot of people are losing (or never had) interest in Mr. A so I'm switching to something else. I'll return to Mr. A later. Video Jack was a six issue limited series from 1987 published under Marvel's EPIC line. Keith Giffen and Cary Bates are given co creator and plotting credits with Bates doing the scripting and Giffen the penciling. I would have been 17 when the comic first came out. The story opens in the town of Hickory Haven with the discovery of a young girls murdered body found stashed in a tree. Afterwards we are introduced to our main protagonist Jack Swift and his less than savory best friend Damon Xarnett. Jack asks a girl named Doreen to his house telling her he just got cable hooked up and his VCR is back from the shop. He suggests an evening of Max Headroom and Back to the Future. Mind you this is not some throwback to the 80's. Max Headroom was literally on the air when this comic was published and Back to the Future, released in 1985, would have been a popular rental. Doreen declines saying when she wanted Jack to ask her out the operative word was OUT. Let me go through this quickly. Damon's uncle Zach is into melding black magic and technology and comes up with a plan to change Hickory Haven into the town from "It's a Wonderful Life" using a VCR, a huge satellite dish and planetary alignment. He just cannot stand what Hickory Haven has become over the years and wants to change it into an idealized form. Unfortunately for him, on the way home from the video store he gets attacked by the same serial killer who did in the young girl and is left bleeding in an alley. Jack is flipping through channels when the cosmic alignment occurs and rather than getting "It's a Wonderful Life" Hickory Haven is transformed into MTV, kinda. * to younger readers: MTV used to be a music video channel not whatever it is today. In issue 2 Jack leaves his home but as he walks through the front door his clothes change into stereotypical 80's attire with fingerless gloves, jeans, studded wristbands and radical glasses. Also his dog Kojak has become an intelligent puffball with googly eyes. Jack discovers a wall of static that he suspects is the boundary of Hickory Haven. His mother arrives sporting a shaved head and green lipstick and sentences him to BR duty. Turns out BR duty is Book Reading duty which seems a weird punishment since books are apparently verboten. While reading Huckleberry Finn, Jack is interrupted by a group of M.T.V.'s (Mobile Tactical Vanguard -- see the cover of issue 2) who accuse him of having a book. Jack flees and comes across Doreen who is naturally all 80's upped. Here it becomes apparent that Hickory Haven didn't merely transform, it somehow has an entire history as if it was always this way. So far Jack appears to be the only one aware that the town has changed. Doreen knows Jack but she knows the MTV version of Jack as if he has been RADICAL all his life. We also find out Uncle Zach survived his encounter with the serial killer. Jack makes his way into some ventilation system and arrives at an abandoned library where people are "audioizing" books. I'm not sure if this is seen as terrible but given the fact that we have so many audio and digital books nowadays the future appears to be now. It turns out the M.T.V.'s work for someone called "his awesomeness" and Jack makes his way to Damon's house to get help. Damon's room is now blank white as if separated from reality and Damon (now with a perpetual shadow across his face and a massive toothy grin) sits holding a remote. It turns out Damon and his awesomeness are one and the same. I was hooked on Video Jack when I bought it in 1987. It has a cool 80's vibe with lots of pop references and it felt like a story where anything can happen. There was intrigue, humor, awesome 80's style and some wonderful Keith Giffen artwork. Giffen is interesting in that his art went through a dramatic change and Video Jack is from his coolest most stylized period. Unfortunately Giffen was going through a tough time in 1987 following an article in The Comic Journal accusing him or cribbing his art style from an artist named Jose Muñoz, an accusation he sorta accepted as true. Personally I don't care because I loved Giffen's art but he later backed off and developed a more sedate style. When I originally bought these comics I purchased the first three issues and STOPPED. Why? I honestly don't remember but it wasn't until decades later that I bought the last three issues and sadly discovered they were way below the standard set by the first three. I will continue with issues 3 and 4 in a later journal. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Don't think I dislike Mr. A or these stories. I actually finding them immensely fascinating and highly recommend them. In fact I wish there were more characters like Mr. A in mainstream comics. Not necessarily the same views but views and methods that are unconventional after all we live in a world where people believe all sorts of different things. Not only is it possible that a man in tights (or white dress suit) might hold unconventional beliefs it's probably more than likely. The tough part about that would be that Mr. A would most effectively be brought to life only by a true believer like Steve Ditko. Even though I heartily disagree with his beliefs I respect Ditko for putting his unvarnished beliefs into Mr. A. Story two 'When is a Man to be Judged" continues the theme of Justice. A man named Ike Kolb is sentenced to 15 years in prison thanks to the damning testimony of Rex (Mr. A) Graine. Kolb carries a teeth gritting, fist clenching hatred for Graine throughout his sentence vowing revenge. After seven years Kolb is paroled but his hatred continues to boil over. Even outside prison Kolb still sees himself a prisoner unable to release himself from the hate. As he walks through the prison gates who should be waiting for him but Rex Graine to remind him why he was sent to prison in the first place. Kolb had been a mob boss who had "sewn up" the town. The one thorn in his side was that nosy reporter Rex Graine. Kolb laughs at the idea of one man threatening his operation but discovers that Graine is too clean to be framed and cannot be intimidated so he decides to take matters into his own hands. Running into Graine on the street he tosses him a bullet casing and tells him he'll give him the lead part if he talks. Unafraid Graine gives a testimony that sinks Kolb and he's sentenced to prison. Back to the present Graine tells Kolb that his slate is now clean and the choice to remain clean is his own. That evening an assassin tries to kill Graine but falls for the old dummy at the desk trick. Graine, dressed as Mr. A, follows the killer back to Kolb's apartment but it turns out Kolb had no involvement. The killer tells Kolb that an armed dope dealer is following him so Kolb hides behind a door and attacks the man as he enters his apartment. He kicks him in the stomach and knocks him out with a hammer blow to the back of the head before recoiling when he discovers it's Mr. A. The killer pulls a knife to finish off Mr. A telling Kolb, "good or evil -- that's his code! You'll get no breaks from him! Mr. A dies and you live free!" Kolb tries to convince the killer to stop but gets batted away. The killer leaps at Mr. A with murderous intent but is knocked out by a kick to the face from Mr. A. Kolb panics telling Mr. A that he knows A considers him black and evil but Mr. A corrects him telling him he remains white. Despite getting attacked, Mr. A recognized that Kolb was tricked and didn't deliberately commit evil. Mr. A tells Kolb that he is not only free from prison he is free from guilt. In the last frame Rex Graine opens a letter from Kolb with a bullet in it symbolizing that his account with Graine is settled, essentially thanking Graine. Alright, so here we go. A man committed a crime, paid the price and Mr. A helped him to find the path to good. This was actually a pretty good story with a fairly positive message. This is the only Mr. A story I've read where the topic of redemption comes up and I had wondered if in Ditko's black/white world if redemption even existed. This story is sort of the lull before the storm. From here on out the stories get more extreme with the tempo really picking up in book 2. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Let me start this journal by saying that comics are generally created for the purpose of entertainment. Mr. A is not about entertainment, Mr. A is about prosthelytizing the views of Ayn Rand and advocating a way of thinking and living. However if a writer is suggesting a viewpoint to be applied to the real world it would make sense that the stories should take place in the real world. For instance it wouldn't make sense to write a serious story where the solution to the proliferation of nuclear weapons would be to have an alien Superman gather all the nuclear bombs in one giant net and fling them into the sun. The foundation of Steve Ditko's views are that good and evil are objectively rather than subjectively evident. Ditko makes no attempt to defend this view, it is simply accepted as fact and nearly every other view he advocates is built off of it. Ditko also creates his world to support this black and white view but the world of Mr. A in no way resembles the actual world. The cover story, 'Right to Kill' has a very simple message; mercy is asked for by evil while justice is asked for by good. Society should focus on justice and forget mercy. The beauty of the story is how bluntly Steve Ditko beats the reader over the head with the massage. I honestly can't remember ever reading a less subtle comic story outside of a Jack Chick tract. A young girl named Lilly is taken and held for ransom by three kidnappers. The parents quickly pay up but rather than release the girl two of the three kidnappers (one of whom is a woman) tell the third he has to kill the girl to get rid of her as a witness. The third kidnapper is less ruthless than the other two and is filled with dismay at the thought of slitting the young girl's throat. In fact the other two kidnappers plan on killing him after he dispatches the girl so they only have to split the ransom money two ways. The story then moves into the motif of the black and white card. Prior to the crime, the third kidnapper is shown to be on the white half of the card while the other two stand on the black but as he reluctantly joins in on the kidnapping scheme he moves from white (good) to black (evil). The story moves back to the present as the reluctant kidnapper stands over Lilly, knife in hand when Mr. A bursts in to save the day. Mr. A temporarily holds the kidnappers at bay with a pistol until the more ruthless of the male kidnappers shoves the female into Mr. A and a fight ensues. The female kidnapper threatens to kill Lilly with a knife prompting Mr. A to put a bullet in her head. Meanwhile the two male kidnappers are doing Mr. A's job for him. The reluctant kidnapper bashes the other in the head with a hunk of wood so he can get all the cash for himself but as he tries to run off he gets a bullet in the back from the man who was just hit in the head. The two lie on the ground pleading with Mr. A for help as blood gushes from their bodies but the emotionless Mr. A shows no mercy and carries Lilly out of the house. When Lilly suggests he help them Mr. A replies that only cares about the innocent and good people. The whole story has all the subtlety of a brick to the head. When Ditko tries to make us feel sympathy for Lilly he doesn't just show a frame or two of her suffering. Instead he includes thought balloons in frame after frame after frame. Thoughts like, "When will they treat me right.. act nice" and "Don't they care that I'm scared.. hurt.. sore..Sob..and I want to go home..Sob.." She continues with these thoughts throughout much of the story and she seems completely oblivious to things going on around her. Likewise when the two kidnappers are bloody and dying Ditko doesn't hold back one bit on their cries for help, "..Sob.. P.Please.. I'm sorry.. Don't leave me like this. Stop the pain..Sob..help me..Sob.." Mr. A shows absolutely no sympathy and simply steps over their bodies. It is left to a cop who appears in only a couple of frames to articulate the message Ditko is attempting to get across. "Many people think action against the guilty is inhuman! Justice to them is to treat those who initiate force and inflict pain better than those who must suffer the unchosen force and pain! And all in the name of concern for human life! What an obscenity! Mercy for the guilty, indifference to the suffering innocent victims and justice for no one!" Overall this story is more of a morality tale than an actual story. There is no mention of Mr. A's alter ego Rex Graine. He simply appears, rescues the girl and leaves stepping over the kidnappers dead or dying bodies. Mr. A generally does not kill outright as he did in shooting the woman in the head. Usually he does as he did with the other kidnappers which is to leave the person or persons to die. I expected the parents to have some comeuppance also since they gave the money to the kidnappers thereby negotiating with evil but nothing happened to them beyond suffering over the concern for their child. In order to push the idea of good and evil as black and white Ditko creates a black and white situation. We know the kidnappers are bad because we as the omniscient reader see their conversations and even read their thoughts. Ditko even goes the extra mile by having them plan on killing the girl with a knife no less. However Ditko isn't advocating no mercy only for the truly vicious. He is advocating no mercy for evil in general but he never defines evil other than to say it is objectively evident. Is a shoplifter evil? Is a slanderer evil? Is a drug user evil? Also, if cops break in on kidnappers and end up shooting them should they then walk over their dying bodies and eschew any sort of trial? It's interesting that Mr. A is able to shoot a woman in the head but still remain spotless. Of course there were extenuating circumstances but doesn't that defeat the whole idea of objective good and evil. I will return to some of these ideas in later journals but the main problem with the stories is that Ditko creates a black and white world for his black and white values but the real world isn't that cut and dry. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

I know I've been promising Mr. A for awhile but this is a tough one for me because you can't discuss Mr. A without getting political and CGC is certainly not a political forum but here goes. Mr. A is perhaps unique in the history of comics in that it is the baring of a writer's most cherished beliefs in comic form. But this is not just any writer, Steve Ditko is a comic legend. Frank Miller is another example of a highly regarded writer whose outspoken views have made it to the comic pages but as far as I'm concerned Ditko's views are far more extreme than Miller's and Ditko wouldn't even take offense since in the comic he praises extremism. His views essentially parrot those of the Russian born author and philosopher Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand's views are not some dusty relic in a museum. The 2012 vice presidential candidate from Wisconsin claimed to have entered politics after he was inspired by Ayn Rand. The junior Senator from Kentucky was literally named after Rand. Atlas Shrugged is on the second of a three part movie trilogy. What Ditko did was take the literal views of Ayn Rand and transpose them on Mr. A unvarnished. So what were Ayn Rand's view and thus Mr. A's views? To understand the thinking of Steve Ditko and his creation it's illustrative to contemplate the picture below which was a preview of the never released issue #3. Mr. A will be battling "The Polluters" as in the polluters of the mind. Starting from left to right the words drawn on the head move from good to evil. In the good category we naturally have freedom, justice, truth and... self interest?!?! Moving towards evil we get pragmatism, subjectivism and compromise. Mirroring the views of Ayn Rand, Steve Ditko believes that the world can be neatly divided into good and evil and you don't make associations with evil regardless of the situation. For instance he would have stood resolutely against détente with the Soviet Union in the 80's. But this raises the question of who is good and who is evil. In Ditko's mind this is not a subjective concept since subjectivism is evil. We might list countries like North Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia as evil but what about a country like Turkey or Mexico or China? You can only be good or evil, black or white. And what does it mean to be evil? Are the people evil? Is the leadership evil? Can you help the people but not the government? Ditko is able to avoid these nuances by creating a world as black and white as his own views. Moving into really evil section irrational appears twice. This may be to emphasize the evil of irrationality or it may be just a mistake since one of the words in the middle section is skep. The two most important evil words are collectivism and sacrifice. Mr. A probably rails against collectivism more than anything else and we're not talking about just Communism. We're talking about any group of people even two (does this include marriage?). Collectivism is the opposite of individualism which is in the good section. Note that Steve Ditko tended to create loner characters. One exception might be Hawk and Dove but they seemed to hate each other. Mr. A does not have an associate, a sidekick or seemingly even a friend. He is a true objectivist hero. Probably the most shocking evil for comic readers is sacrifice and Ditko means sacrifice in precisely the way one would think he does. Note that one of Ayn Rand's most famous books was "The Virtue of Selfishness" and believe me there is no intended irony in that title. Self interest is a virtue while sacrifice is evil. Sacrifice would be putting aside ones own wants and desires to help others. Habitat for Humanity... evil, Doctors Without Borders... evil, helping to give food to the needy at a soup kitchen... evil, military service... evil (unless you're doing it for your own self interest). Justice League of America? Oh my god, you've combined collectivism AND sacrifice. Super evil. I used to go into the inner city to tutor children... evil. This is not a misreading of Ditko's views. Mr. A stories are extremely verbose and repetitive. He goes on and on and on about the evils of working together. United We Stand... evil. Next Journal I'll get more into Mr. A himself To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Continuing The Question With each issue Ditko seemed to push the envelope a little further with the final issue being the most bizarre. An art critic named Boris Ebar goes absolutely ballistic when Vic's Sage's friend and television producer Nora Lace shows him a painting of a man standing in a triumphant pose. Boris is under the belief that the only worthwhile artwork is one where man is shown to be crushed by society, a shrunken huddled mass cowering in a corner. It's a strange view particularly given his absolutely insane reaction to the hopeful painting but Nora is also somewhat of a jerk for taking such pleasure in arrogantly taunting the critic and make no mistake she's doing it on purpose. This story actually carries over from the Blue Beetle story called "Destroyer of Heroes" where a man calling himself "Our Man" attempts to destroy heroic art pieces. "Our Man" actually starts to attract a loyal following but he's finally taken down by Beetle when he tries to destroy a statue called "The Unconquered". Boris Ebar appears in both stories and expresses his support for "Our Man" in the Blue Beetle story. It's a really weird pair of stories but I would say it's a reflection of Ditko's view of how some people think. I'm not positive who "Our Man" or the Ebar are supposed to represent (although I have my suspicions) but the triumphant spirit is clearly supposed to be the Objective philosophy; whether the Objective philosophy is actually a hopeful philosophy or not I'll let others debate. Here's my big problem with The Question as Ditko wrote him. He's just flat out not nice. Have you ever met someone who even when they're correct you dislike them for their correctness? In issue 4 story "Kill Vic Sage" The Question knocks his would be kidnappers into the rushing waters of a sewer. They plead with The Question for help but he refuses and allows them to get sucked down possibly to their deaths. One could argue that The Question was justified in taking revenge on his would be murderers but I don't get the sense that this is what is happening. It just feels like The Question doesn't care, as if he his no humanity. Boris Ebar may be an unpleasant man but the only crime we see him commit is trying to hire some guys to destroy the painting. Mostly he's just a man with tremendous inner turmoil hating triumphant paintings because they remind him of a time when he could have chosen a positive path through life. He's someone with a whole lot of self loathing and yet Nora and The Question take tremendous pleasure in torturing him and when Boris Ebar suffers a complete mental breakdown The Question shows not a shred of concern. Even when The Question is fighting criminals he's so smug about it you almost wish the criminals would smack him around a bit. As I've mentioned before Ditko took a literal black and white view of the world. There is no mercy for those who are on the path of evil. Although comics in general tend to neatly divide good and evil most traditional comic heroes take a somewhat merciful (sometimes overly merciful) view towards criminals. In many ways The Question is even more ruthless than someone like The Punisher because his motivation isn't revenge. In the five issues there is no definitive evidence that The Question killed anyone but he just seems so detached that you can imagine him killing and not losing a moment of sleep. Issue 5 was the final issue but Ditko would later recreate The Question in a character he felt would not have passed the Comic Code. Coming up is Mr. A. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.