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Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #30: Detective Comics

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #30: Detective Comics edited by Len Wein Detective Comics is one of DC’s longest-running comic book series, and indeed, they’re named after it. While it’s best known as the birthplace of Batman, over the years it’s hosted several other features involving some form of detection or mystery solving. This collection features 11 (sort of, one’s a two-parter) stories…

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*cools ur dashboard down*

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My scrapbooks are full of "identity reveals" and retractions thereof, so I am always skeptical until the preponderance of evidence kicks in. Sadly, I lost my videotape of the Johnny Nevada show where he had six people who'd been "revealed" as Superman at one point or another, including perennial favorite Clark Kent, as guests.

So your recent interview with the Sandman gave me a question for you, as a historian, in your field of study.

Primary sources are considered the absolute gold standard for history, and most superheroes guard their identities quite closely, meaning you can't take any random person's word on who any given superhero is and what their real history is.

So with some superheroes, proof would be pretty easy. For example, there are comics that swear Superman has a secret identity and that it's Clark Kent. If that was true, Kent could prove his identity as Superman by demonstrating his physical abilities (e.g. lifting cars, flying). At that point you could theoretically make the argument "oh, he's not Superman, he's an unrelated metahuman who mysteriously has chosen to never reveal this for...reasons I guess," but there would be no logic behind that, so "yes, he really is Superman" would be the more logical conclusion.

But then you get into superheroes like Batman. If Bruce Wayne waltzed into your office in the cowl with the Batmobile parked outside and said "I'm Batman," all that would prove is that his cosplay budget is entirely unfair. At a stretch, it might prove that he knows Batman, or that Batman for some reason was like "Mr. Wayne, I need you to impersonate me" and Wayne said "okay sure, I see no way this could possibly go wrong."

So how would one go about determining the identities of heroes like this? Is it even possible to have a primary source for un-unmasked heroes?

Well first we need to settle a point of ethics that has been drilled into the back of my head since my college days.

Generally we do NOT go about determining the identity of superheroes behind their masks. It's not our jobs and most of us would not consent to it if it was. So called "identity sleuthing" IS a thing and it DOES happen but its the kind of community that really festers on the uncomfortable parts of Youtube and 4Chan where people are trying to drag superheroes out into the light for clout, or for personal grudges, or for bigotry, or because of some misguided sense of transparency.

People in my position don't CARE about who a superhero is behind the mask. That's not information we need in the moment to do what we do. Would it be easier to pontificate on a hero's actions if we knew who they were and where they were coming from? Sure, but the risks, not only the physical danger it would put heroes under but also the near certain chance of ruining their lives isn't worth it.

That being said, once we DO have a superhero's identity. How do we know? Well.

(A photo shoot Oliver Queen conducted when his identity as the Green Arrow was unveiled. No seriously, that was a thing he did)

The most publically prominent "unmasking" of a superhero in the modern day is certainly the reveal that Justice League perennial and Star City protector Green Arrow was actually billionaire and social activist (and politician, advertiser, Queen has done a lot of things) Oliver Queen. So, how do we know that Queen is Green Arrow?

Well, for starts the circumstances of the unveiling make it pretty clear. Queen turned himself in for the homicide of super terrorist Prometheus (that is an ethical quagmire for another time I assure you). He was arrested in the guise of the Green Arrow, while acting as the Green Arrow, while dressed in Green Arrow's equipment and carrying his weapons.

Like you said though, a lot of that is circumstantial, it could be that he was only acting with the Green Arrow's NAME using his vast wealth (one would truly wonder when bored layabout Queen somehow became a world class archer but that's beside the point) so, how else do we know?

In the face of his surrender to authorities, Queen knew that his secret identity would be forfeit. As such he didn't resist the attempts to corroborate his identity. Nor did his teammates in the Justice League when they confirmed his intentions (which tells US that they would, can, and probably already have obscured their members' identities from the public in other circumstances which I can't begrudge them for). The Justice League's records were unredacted on all public channels removing any covering of information that might otherwise have revealed his identity.

And then there's the most important kind of corroboration: Community corroboration. Now that its out in the open, his teammates, his friends, his comrades openly confirm that Green Arrow is and always has been Oliver Queen. While they COULD theoretically be lying about that its an Occam's Razor problem. If he's already walking himself out in front of the news camera, why wouldn't the League just say what it means?

And that's the best way to know. In my current profession I deal mostly with heroes whose identities have been known for years. Most golden age heroes unveiled their identities once the Keene Act was amended and the Justice Society reappeared. We know Wesley Dodds was the Sandman despite his lack of (visible) superpowers because he revealed himself as the Sandman, was refereed to as the Sandman by his fellow heroic colleagues, died and was then buried by that same community in the guise of the Sandman.

If you're looking for more than that you're digging down into a "what is truth" kind of argument I can't really help you with.

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Pointless anecdote time! Back in the day I had a temp job at a window washing agency...as a file clerk. Their secretary had quit in a huff and announced her resignation by emptying all the filing cabinets, throwing the files in the air and dancing on them. Thus my job was reassembling the filing system and making sure everything was in its place.

Whilst I was there I got to see their hiring process for window washers, the most important thing being the practical exam. One of the owner would show the potential new hire how to wash a window, then ask them to clean a window. 50% of the applicants failed this test.

They were also hiring for a new secretary, though I only got to see the one applicant. She was an attractive young woman who had obviously spent a lot of time getting her hair and makeup just right wearing a dress that showed off her nice figure--maybe just a little short for professional. After she'd gone, I heard the owners talking, and while one seemed positive, the other reminded him "we hired the last one based on looks."

Once I'd finished rebuilding and cleaning all the files, they did offer to let me stay on, but the bosses were flaky enough for me to understand why the secretary had quit, so I declined.

And fate decided "Hmmm...yea that's good enough to entwine these two in the narrative for the rest of their lives"

Amazing Spiderman 78

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What is the deal with the Sentry? I could swear that guy wasn't around a few years ago and then was?

So here's the thing about superbeings. Some of them are immensely powerful - powerful enough to make everyone forget they ever existed. (Most of them are mutants, but that's another topic entirely.)

Today's topic is Robert Reynolds, the Sentry.

(Image of Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, and his new wife Lindy at their wedding, surrounded by other superheroes.)

The Sentry appeared on the scene early on after the Fantastic Four made their public debut. Armed with the power of a million exploding suns, he was a paragon of the early superheroic community, beloved by all. He married his sweetheart, Lindy Lee, and took on a sidekick, Scout, was an early proponent for mutant rights, and helped the Fantastic Four take down Dr. Doom. All was well with the world.

And then the Void appeared - a dark entity that came about when the Sentry first gained his powers, tied to Reynolds' mental state. Reynolds' own dark side. The Void went on a rampage through New York, killing a staggering amount of people, so the Sentry worked to stop him - permanently. With the help of Reed Richards and Doctor Strange, Reynolds got the whole world to forget about the Sentry, himself included.

Years later, the Sentry resurfaced, his memories returned, and along with him the Void. With the aid of Reed Richards, the Void was defeated once more, and the Sentry joined the Avengers and had a high-profile career as Manhattan's Golden Guardian, returning to his former place of prominence.

But it wasn't to last. Reynolds' mental state was unstable enough that it could easily be taken advantage of, and Norman Osborn did just that, recruiting him to his Dark Avengers. Osborn - magnificent bastard that he was - used the Void's power for his own destructive intent, culminating in the Siege of Asgard, where Sentry died at the hands of Thor.

He's been resurrected since, and has appeared sporadically, largely during major crises, but always a major wild card. Last we're aware, he's well and truly dead, having been slain at the hands of the King in Black, Knull.

But we wouldn't be surprised if he came back again. Guy is hard to keep down.

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Book Review: The Second If Reader of Science Fiction

Book Review: The Second If Reader of Science Fiction edited by Frederik Pohl If was a science fiction magazine that ran from 1952-1974, with its most successful years being under editor Frederik Pohl, winning three consecutive Hugos for Best Professional Magazine 1966-1968. Mr. Pohl has considerately included some stories from before his tenure in his second collection of favorites. He provides…

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morning walks 🌸

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Picture this: Spider-Man and the Punisher in the same movie.

Get Daredevil in there too for the full trio.

Spider-Man and Daredevil both have their own dynamics with the Punisher, and it gets really interesting when all three of them are together. Because Daredevil's dynamic is that he wants to save Frank's soul. He sees Frank as a broken, lost man who needs spiritual guidance to find his way back to the light.

Spider-Man's dynamic is that the Punisher is a fucking murderer and needs to be punched in the head, then locked away.

So when you get Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the Punisher in a room together, you get a spicy recipe for conflict.

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This makes a bit more sense in 1895, when In His Steps was written. The modern fashions and hairstyles to make the story more "relatable" undercut some of the cultural assumptions the author made.

They're in a relatively small town with no hospital and no transportation that could get the ill man safely to one quickly enough, even if he had money to pay. He's lucky the town "doctor" is willing to do the little he can as charity.

Mind, the original book is more extended sermon with various subplots than a novel.

That beard is fake right?

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✨️prettiest girl Akane Tendo✨️

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Manga Review: Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Omnibus Edition 5

Manga Review: Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Omnibus Edition 5 story by Eiji Otsuka, art by Hosui Yamazaki Well, it’s been a long time since I looked at this series. Mainly because Dark Horse decided that sales weren’t good enough to economically produce the individual volumes, so they started reprinting Kurosagi in an omnibus edition that has three normal volumes in one big block. This volume…

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16bit Sensation - Episode 7

Oh SNAP! That ending though...things are getting twisty turny. And just when everything was looking up too! 😭

I hope we get Mamoru's POV and not just everyone freaking out that he disappeared. Maybe this will deepen his bond with Konoha now that they're both time travelers.

Notes:

I guess Konoha's futuristic art style isn't that different from stuff back then. It just has a softer color palette and finer details than the 1999 crew is used to. It would be interesting to see a deeper analysis of the subtle differences in styles.

Mamoru's Super Octa-Core monstrosity was pretty funny. On the one hand, it's of course gigantic, but gaming towers nowadays aren't exactly small, so it's not that ridiculous.

The manager returns and redeems himself through groveling. I guess he's suffered enough during his hospital stay. Glad Kaori never showed him mercy (sympathy-wise).

The professional marketing lady who seems to not know anything about otaku culture is really cute. I liked her interactions with Konoha in this episode.

Part of me thinks Mamoru's a dumbass for opening the game right after flashing back to Konoha revealing that that's the time travel device, but I get he probably doesn't fully believe it either (although he should by now). He could have at least waited to show Konoha. They could have time jumped together!

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my most toxic tumblr trait is that although i know nothing about warrior cats, i follow like 30 warrior cats fan artists and routinely use warrior cats phrases like "kittypet" (which i think is a slur?) with no contextual knowledge of what they're supposed to mean

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This is kind of a plot point in Rumiko Takahashi's Mao manga! The magic system was imported from China at a time when housecats were unknown in Japan (I disclaim any historical accuracy) so their metal-wood-fire-water-earth elemental system doesn't have a place for such felines and therefore our hero having cat powers breaks the system. (It's not a complete win button because it's a curse and has bad side effects including berserking.)

It's no use playing rock-paper-scissors against a catgirl.

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In the lore of Arthur and the Knights of Justice, which is about an American college football team time travelling back to Camelot to become the knights of the round table, birds canonically do not know how to lie

I think about that a lot

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Or to temporarily screw over the hero.

Generally groups with non interference clauses like that only cite them in order to make exceptions.

Action Comics 748