Who’s the Puzzler?
http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2014/06/whos-puzzler.html

Who’s Quakemaster?
http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2014/06/whos-quakemaster.html

Who’s DC’s Quicksilver?
http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2014/06/whos-dcs-quicksilver.html

Who’s the Red Bee?
http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2014/06/whos-red-bee.html

Answer: Blackhawk, who starred in over a hundred issues of the title at DC. Of course, it was cancelled several times during that run — first in 1968, then again in 1977 (after being revived with the original numbering), and finally in 1984 (after a second original numbering revival), ending with isssue 273.

Blackhawk had a great run, but, DID YOU KNOW? What is the one Quality book which continued at DC, uninterrupted, for 30 years? Answer: GI Combat, which ran at DC from #44 through #288, spanning from 1954 through 1984.

(The Romance book Heart Throbs also ran for over 100 issues at DC after coming over from Quality, being cancelled in 1973. But that one does not get as much notice as Young Romance or Young Love, for whatever reason.)

I do want to say is that the alternate name for The Red Bee, the “Scarlet Hornet,” sounds a lot like the Charlotte Hornets, who are returning to the NBA next year! #BuzzCity

They’d both have to grow beards.

Chris

It appears that Mr. Colon has carried forward some elements of Mr. Ordway’s original cover design (notably the race between Reverse Flash, Reactron, The Ray, and Quislet, as well as the placement of Red Tornado), but it would have been nice if he had also used the Robin I/Rag Doll, Robin III/Riddler, and Richard Dragon/Quakemaster fights as well.

In any case, Mr. Colon’s cover was undoubtedly rushed.

Best,
Xum (pronounced “Zoom”)

Nope Shag, not role playing, when I mentioned my “DC mod,” I meant something a bit more complicated than that. I have “modded,” or modified, a game called Freedom Force, which is, undoubtedly, the greatest superhero game ever made. I’ve basically created my ideal DC Comics PC game, using Freedom Force as a base.

I was referring to a fairly massive project, called the DC Universe According to Grey, which includes a good 80% of the characters y’all have been talking about on this podcast. I actually put together a little demonstration of what I meant when I mentioned that team of characters. you can find it here:
http://bentongrey.wordpress.com/2014/04/26/dc-defenders/

The mod itself is a collection of campaigns, or series of missions, for the JLA, the JSA, Aquaman, Batman, Hawkman, the Atom, and the Question. I’m going to be adding more to it in the future, too. You can learn about the mod itself here:
http://bentongrey.wordpress.com/mods/
Let me warn any interested folks, though, this is a beta release, and it is so large that it is a bit buggy in spots. I’m starting on a 2.0 release soon-ish.

This is why I’ve been asking you questions about stories and characters, not for roleplaying purposes, but to create campaigns and missions to add to my already massive mod.

Now, as for thoughts about this episode:

I love the Question, and that love comes entirely from JLU, as I’ve never read a single (none JLU) decent comic featuring him. He, like Mr. Freeze and several other characters, truly came into his own only under the hands of Mr. Timm and company. They found the true hearts of those characters. The Timmverse is so close to the perfect version of the DCU (other than its portrayal of Aquaman and a few other points) that this isn’t all that surprising, I suppose. I actually based a lot of my own particular version of DC that I mentioned above on the Timmverse.

The same is true of R’as Al Ghul, in fact! You’ll have a whole new appreciation for the character, Shag, should you watch the classic Batman: TAS episodes with him, but then TAS is the best of all Bat-worlds.

I’ve got to say, I have to agree with Alex Ross on his reaction to Prof. Zoom’s murder of Iris. Events like that just don’t have any place in a setting where a man can shrink himself to six inches tall and fight crime, good moral upbringing can make a man out of a demigod, and a half-breed Atlantian is the King of the Sea. I’m not quite so particular on exact dates, since I didn’t read these books as they were coming out, but there are several moments that, collectively, mark the shift in DC Comics from a wondrous, heroic universe to something darker, rougher, and more flawed. The Death of Arthur Jr., the death of Iris, and a few other awful stories push the characters and the setting into the shadows, and they have never really recovered. It’s a source of sorrow for me, especially since comics were just coming into their own when these things happened. DC was telling better, more rational stories, characters were growing, and they were just beginning to achieve a balance between wonder, adventure, drama, and humor. I suppose that’s why I love Alex Ross’ Justice so much. It’s the best elements of that era without the silliest bits and without that shift into darkness.

The Riddler is definitely the best entry of those I’ve seen. That’s beautiful, but I really don’t care for that costume. I like the modern one a lot better, as it grants Mr. Nygma a bit more dignity, and, genius that he is, he deserves a bit of dignity.

Holy Hannah, y’all are right. Roy Raymond is INCREDIBLY boring, and his stories are a slog. He’s the only backup feature in Detective Comics that I just skip outright.

Hey! What’s with all this hatred of the New Gods! I love the 4th World Stuff! Kirby all the way, man!

I completely sympathize with Rob on his frustration at Jason Todd’s inclusion as Robin over Dick Grayson. For my money there will only ever be one Robin, and that is Grayson! I love the character, and I hate all the torture they’ve heaped on him over the years. In fact, I really love the E-2 version, who grows into his own man without all the angst and stupidity. I also really like that Neal Adams costume, though a slight update would make it fantastic.

It sounds as if I’ve missed something of a debate on Arrow, but count me among its detractors. I’ve tried my best to give this show a chance, watching at least half-a-dozen episodes, but it is just so lousy with the stink of CW that I find myself strangling from the cliched TV reek. I feel like I’ve seen every single one of these people and these characters before. The plots are far too much soap opera and far too little daring-do for my taste. I finally gave up on it after an episode that felt as if it was composed entirely of dramatic scenes of people opening doors dramatically to reveal, with great drama, the dramatic surprise visitor on the other side who, dramatically, confessed a dramatic secret! I found myself waiting for someone to admit to being an evil twin. The ANGST! The DRAMA! Ohh, it is trying so hard to be cool and hip that it physically hurts me, as a superhero fan, as a lover of stories, as a professor of literature, it is quite painful. To be fair, there are some really strong elements to it, behind the drama, the angst, and the wide, shallow, and mostly despicable cast of supporting characters, there were occasionally some interesting moments.

Hyperbole aside, I can understand how, if you took an editing machete to the show, there might be something there folks could like, but it certainly isn’t something I can get in to. None of the characters are likeable, and the protagonists so little resembles the Emerald Archer that, even if I could get past the tone of the show, I don’t know that I could really find much of value in the adventures of this generic bow-toting murderer.

Finally, and I imagine this is hardly worth saying, but don’t listen to Frank about how long you spend on your entries! 😉 I’m most interested in hearing the characters themselves discussed, and the art/design aspects aren’t as fascinating to me. So, discuss away, gents!

Roy Raymond’s comeback was in Superman in the Seventies, not DC Comics Presents. When Firestorm debuted I wrote in suggesting a relationship – well, Roy/Ron, two incredibly stuffy names, they HAD to be related in the DCU. That was before we (and probably DC!) knew about Ronnie’s background. Remember Roy Raymond Jr, aka Owlman? Best forgotten!

And hey, I liked the original Jason Todd. Yeah, his origin was unoriginal, but you could argue that it was the universe providing a second Robin the same way it would make a Batman every 20 years on an alternate Earth. Or you could just go with the coincidence and enjoy the issues as they came out, follow the development of Jason in a series of great stories by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, culminating in the fantastic Detective Comics #426 (I wonder how that would have gone had Killer Croc been a Firestorm baddie, as originally intended). And over the next few years we got such great sequences as the Nocturna business, before Jason was reinvented as a non-ginger tosser. The original definitely deserved the cover position of honour.

Despite praising the most recent issue of Batman and … guest starring the Atlantean Ace, I’m not what you’d call a Ra’s Al Ghul fan – what use has Batman for a James Bond baddie, someone who doesn’t even live in Gotham? I’d rather see Captain Stingaree, any day.

Raven should have been exiled the second Trigon was defeated, for her shady ways, making poor, dumb Wally West fall in love with her by force of mind power. Angsty bint.

Adam Strange: Planet Heist is something I read every issue of, and I’ve no memory of it at all beyond the rubbish new suit he wore. I’ve just looked up the précis and nope, nothing. Still, it can’t have been as awful as the mini-series which killed off Alanna for a bit and immediately had Adam shack up with some Earth floozy. Now that was memorable.

I had to look up ‘Mac daddy love’ but I’m no better off.