75 Favorite Moments in DC History: Number 71

71.  J'onn J'onzz escapes from flames in his most dynamic slash page ever. (American Secrets #2, 1992)

Martian Manhunter: American Secrets is probably my favorite graphic novel* ever.  (*It's not really a graphic novel, it's a three-volume prestige-format comic.  But it's close enough.)

You'll probably recognize this image.  (Just look up.)  The pacing of American Secrets is one of its (many) strong points, and this splash page is not a throwaway.  Right after the previous two pages consisting of tense sixteen panels, the scene climaxes with this dizzying, breathless, wordless page:

Awesome art by Eduardo Barreto

I'm not doing enough justice to this comic in my descriptions, but trust me that if you are a fan of the Martian Manhunter, you need to read this book.  Like now.

Be assured, it'll show up more than once in my countdown.

75 Favorite Moments in DC History: Number 72

72.  The Phantom Stranger gets an origin.  And another one.  And another.  And another... (Secret Origins #10, 1987)

I think origin stories are a huge part of a character's potential success or failure.  Even the average non-comics-reader-on-the-street knows Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered and Superman was sent to Earth as a baby from the dying planet Krypton.  But what are you going to do about origins when you're faced with a character whose very essence is mystery of the unknown?

Well, in a rare instance of comics creators really getting things right and not violating the foundations of a character via retcon, DC offered readers a multiple choice for the Phantom Stranger's origins, thus leaving the mystery intact.  Four different origin stories are presented in Showcase #10, and which one you choose as the "right one" (or perhaps you can bend logic in your mind to accept all four if you so choose) is dependent on your interpretation of the character.

As far as I know (granted my knowledge is shallow), this is the only time a character's been presented with multiple origins.  I think that's a pretty unique storytelling device, and one very deserving of the Phantom Stranger.

75 Favorite Moments in DC History: Number 73

73.  Meet the Metal Men (Showcase #37, 1962, collected in Showcase Presents: Metal Men Vol.1)

The Silver Age of comics was a great, wacky, fun time.  One superhero team which embodies the lighthearted fun of the Silver Age was the Metal Men, a group of robots created by inventor Will Magnus and endowed with different personalities based on the chemical element of which they are made.  Silly, educational (it's the best way to learn about chemistry!) and downright fun, the original Metal Men comics are a great read for when you're looking for lighthearted, innocent fare.

Here's where they are "born:"

Click to enlarge!

75 Favorite Moments in DC History: Number 74

74.  Harvey Dent gets things done his way (Batman: The Long Halloween, 1997).

The Long Halloween was the first graphic novel I ever read, so I kind of have a soft spot for it in my heart. I know a lot of people aren't Jeph Loeb fans, but I rank this graphic novel as one of my favorites, and I really think Loeb gots things right with The Long Halloween.  Why?  Because not only is it a definitive retelling of Two-Face's fall-from-grace origin, but it showed how Harvey Dent is perhaps the most threatening of Batman villains: Harvey Dent is a scary, scary man, but not because he kills without abandon like the Joker, but because he believes in justice, just like Batman and Gordon and all the other good guys do.  The scary part is that he has no reservations about crossing the line to mete out justice, even if this means killing two men in cold blood.  Basically, in this incarnation, Harvey is like Batman without his "one rule" against killing, and if Harvey Dent protected Gotham instead, there'd be no criminals escaping every other month from Arkham to go off on killing sprees like they do under Batman's watch.  The even scarier part is when you realize that perhaps Harvey's way of doing things might actually be better.  For what's the point of having a justice system if it's corrupted, or a police force that can't protect its citizens, or an oath against killing if it only results in more death?

Here's that moment, and Harvey's reasoning:

Click to enlarge.

Now can you understand why I was so excited at the possibility of a Harvey Dent Batman?

75 And/Or An Unspecified Number of My Favorite Moments in DC History

Okay, so, as you know, Comic Book Resources is having a countdown of the 75 Most Memorable Moments in DC History.  Not too many of my favorite moments are on the list of 100 candidates.  So I figured, what the heck?  I can make my own list.  These aren't going to be anything ground-breaking or history-shattering or whatever, just moments I like.

Now, 75 is a really big number, so I'm just going to start off with 75 and see how far I can go.  I'll probably get bored around number 55 or so and move on to something else.  These aren't in any sort of order, because, like always, I'm making this up as I go.

So!

75.  Adam Strange Bursts Onto The Scene in 1958

Adam in his first uniform.  Thankfully, it was revised.

Adam Strange made his first appearance in a story in Showcase #17 in 1958.  He's the Ray Bradbury-est of comic book heroes, and that's why I like him.  Also, he has a rocket pack and a ray gun, and that's very cool, and he has a stripe down the side of his pants, which makes me very happy.  Adam Strange is a retro-chic, brains-over-brawn, skin-of-your-teeth kind of hero, and that's what makes him cool.

Adam Strange's origin story is that he's out walking one day and gets magically teleported to another planet called Rann via a Zeta Beam.  The Rannians welcome him, teach him their language, he meets a nice girl, and then just when things get interesting, the Zeta Beam "wears off" and he finds himself back on Earth.  In later issues, he becomes a hero on Rann, while he remains an ordinary man (well, an archaeologist...not that ordinary) on Earth.

And, yes, it's a rocket pack, not a jet pack.  Don't listen to the lies Wikipedia tells you.  Jets have intake valves.  Rockets don't.

Happy Shark Week!

For ten (or maybe eleven, I'm too lazy to look it up) years in a row, the Discovery Channel has devoted a week of its programming to sharks.  Why?  Becuase sharks are just awesome creatures.

So that got me thinking.  Are there any awesome panels in comics featuring sharks?

Well, here's one:

I challenge you to find a panel more awesome than a robot shark vs. The Question.

Happy Shark Week!