Comic Book Feeds

Miles is back in the classic red and black costume this August for the beginning of a new era from writer Bryan Edward Hill and artist Nico Leon.   New…

The post BROOKLYN’S FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN RETURNS TO ACTION AND CONFRONTS A DARK THREAT FROM THE PAST IN MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #1! appeared first on First Comics News.

A Blood-Soaked Pulp Fantasy Where Axe-Swinging Meets Occult Chaos…and Survival Isn’t Guaranteed. APR. 20, 2026, (PORTLAND, OR) — Mad Cave Studios brings GRIT back to print, returning readers to the…

The post Southern-fried Sword and sorcery gets its due… appeared first on First Comics News.

PORTLAND, Ore. 04/20/2026 — The legendary Rob Liefeld (Youngblood) will team up with artist Seth Damoose (Tales of Mr. Rhee, Savant) to bring fans an exciting Youngblood spinoff in the upcoming…

The post LEGENDARY ROB LIEFELD TEAMS WITH SETH DAMOOSE TO BRING BELOVED YOUNGBLOODCHARACTER HIS OWN SOLO SPINOFF IN BADROCK LAUNCH THIS JULY appeared first on First Comics News.

If you never, ever checked out ComicBook+, you should! It contains 1000s of public-domain comics from the Golden Age and up through the Silver Age. It is also a fantastic…

The post MLJ’s Hidden Jackpot appeared first on First Comics News.

2000 AD Prog 2479 UK and DIGITAL: 22 April £3.99 COVER: STEVEN AUSTIN WITH MATT SOFFE In This Issue: JUDGE DREDD // FLAMES AND WHITE PHOSPHOROUS by TC Eglington (w) Paul Marshall (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse…

The post 2000 AD Prog 2479 preview appeared first on First Comics News.

About two and a half years ago, I bought a pair of shoes for work. I usually maintain three pairs of shoes - a pair of sneakers for weekends, a pair of black dress shoes for whenever I have to dress of up, and these - my go-to work shoes that I used to wear almost every day. In September of 2024, I realized that these shoes were starting to wear down - they were about a year old at that point, and they were starting to fade. However, I decided that I could probably get to Christmas with them, so I waited on replacing them.
Then I got sick. A doctor gave me a letter that said I had six to twelve months to live. My priorities shifted. I had to 'get my affairs in order'. I had debts to resolve. Bank accounts to organize. A will to revise.
I looked at these shoes and decided that they were sufficient. They would see me through to the end.
I no longer needed these shoes for work. I was 'permanently disabled'. I still pulled these shoes out from time to time. I wore them to the doctor's office when he told Mary and me that the many rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy had not helped; my tumors continued to grow. He explained that he had 'nothing more he could do', but suggested we consider a 'second opinion'. 
I wore the shoes again when we drove to Pittsburgh. To our surprise, the doctors had a plan. Lutathera; a nuclear treatment designed for pancreatic cancer, but which may also attack my tumors since they shared many characteristics.
Four trips to Pittsburgh. Four treatments. Eight months. Same shoes. Because why get new ones, right?
But, because of God's grace and mercy, the treatments have worked. My small tumors have been destroyed. Larger tumors made smaller. 
I decided I felt healthy enough to substitute teach a few days a week. I looked at the shoes and decided they'd get me through that. They could substitute teach one or two days a week. I was still 'permanently disabled', right?
But my most recent visit was the most optimistic. Out of my team of doctors, my local oncologist was the most positive. He was effusive in his hope for my future. We have options - either more treatments of Lutathera to destroy the tumors further, or other treatments that are likely to prevent further growth and stablize tumors where they are. I will have cancer for the rest of my life. I don't know what that is, but it's no longer 6-12 months. My affairs are in order as much as they need to be. I don't feel permanently disabled.
This morning, I saw a listing for my dream job. If you could write up a perfect role for me, this is it. It would allow me to leverage everything - my education, my passions, my experiences, my hobbies. All of it comes together in this one job. 
I sent in a cover letter and my resume.
I think it's time to buy a new pair of shoes. I'm going to need them.

The youngest state of Southeastern Parsulan is at once ill-omened and favored with great promise. Morrgna, capital of the Republic, is famed for the strange lights that can frequently be seen in its night skies: the aurora-like ribbons and curtains of pale color, sometimes with faces or forms moving through them and the flickering will-o'wisps that pass through the streets or hang in place for a time before fading. Such lights are often seen in association with the irruption of shadow cysts and they do seem to foreshadow the difficulties the area has with demonic forces.

At the same time, the Republic seems to be on the rise. Less than two decades ago, it was a sparsely populated backwater, ravaged by the demonic Wild Hunt. The tide turned with the so-called Miracle of the Church of Saint Lampada, wherein Leonhart Urzen, now First Citizen of the Republic, led a band of refugees in repulsing an assault by a demonic host. The cost of victory was the death of Leonhart's adventuring companions and their retainers, a group now celebrated as the Fallen Heroes. Those Heroes are entombed with honor in a crypt beneath the great church, guarded by special Keeper-Priests, for reasons that are doctrinally obscure. They are venerated on All Heroes Day, and the night before their spirits and those of the city's other dead are propitiated with offerings and their forgiveness is sought through rituals led by the priests.

Leonhart guided the formation of the Republic by inviting in neighboring cities and towns, and organized a militia, both protect the land against demonic incursion and to collect magical artifacts that emerge from the shadow cysts and bring them to Morrgna's dungeon vaults for safe keeping. While citizens guard the cities and serve in officer roles, Mercenaries and adventurers compromise most of the forces sent into emergent shadow cysts and patrolling beyond the walls of the cities and towns. Those who die in service are considered to be added to the ranks of the Fallen Heroes laid to rest with the original group beneath the church. Though few would refuse such as an honor, agreement to this burial honor is said to be a stipulation of admittance into the militia's ranks.

In the post-industrial fantasy, The Gutter Prayer, by Gareth Hanrahan, gods are essentially strange loops of magical energy, powered by worship and quite obviously a lot more trouble than they're worth. At least most of them don't eat the souls of living being like the gods in R. Scott Bakker's The Second Apocalypse series, but that's about the only thing one could say in their favor. 

One of the interesting things in Hanrahan's portrayal are the saints. These saints are much like "The Gifted" in my Weird Adventures setting and in other posts in that they are people effectively imbued with super-powers by a god. As such, they make good inspiration for an approach to clerics in fantasy rpgs.

Saints differ from your standard cleric of the D&D variety in a few ways. One, they don't seem to cast spells, just manifest divine powers. Two, they aren't necessarily people of high faith, but ones who just happen to be on the same psychic wavelength as the god, making it easier for the god to establish a connection and work through them. Third, the saints, then, aren't the evangelists and expanders of a faith, generally, but it's holy warriors.

I've long felt that having clerical magic-users that are separate and distinct from regular priests and priestly hierarchies worldbuilding-wise, and this remains a really good approach, I think, and I feel like Hanrahan provides a flavorful implementation of it, with an interesting take on the gods, in general.

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on April 18, 1985.

Batman and the Outsiders #23: The story continues from last issue: the Outsiders are trying to rescue Halo from the Aurakles. First, they travel to Japan to retrieve the ritual necessary to call forth the Aurakle whose soul is captive in Katana's sword. They compel the being to take them to its dimension. There they defeat the Aurackles in a surprise attack leading up to a threat to destroy them all via Black Lightning's power and Metamorpho turned into a conductive line. The Aurackles give in and let Halo go. Halo is conflicted over the fact that she stole Violet Harper's body, possibly even inadvertently killing the young woman, but Katana tries to assure her that Violet was a terrible person who didn't deserve life, making Violet (like Terra) one of the "utterly evil young women" of the era. Halo isn't completely convinced, though, so maybe Barr isn't either. Davis' art is perhaps not as polished as what will come from him in a few years, but it's already great.

Blue Devil #14: Mishkin/Cohn and Kupperberg/Maygar introduce Kid Devil, whose Marla's nephew, Gopher, in a devil suit he built from stuff in Dan's workshop. Smart kid! Dan is, at first, annoyed, but when the plane Gopher's parents are arriving in is hijacked, Kid Devil is helpful in saving them.

G.I. Combat #278: The first Haunted Tank story by Kanigher/Glanzman is sort of weird (which has been happening a lot lately). The Elder Craig is having nightmares and survivor's guilt about his former tank crew from WW I that were never recovered. When trying to defend a bridge at Riviere Du Diable, the crew finds a tank and bodies from the previous war, then slip into some liminal realm (time travel maybe?) where they are unable to act in their defense, but the ghosts of Craig's old crew come to their rescue.
There are 3 short World War II stories. One is brief Haunted Tank piece about the younger Craig, but the other two feature non-series characters: a G.I. in love with a French girl trying to save her village and a klutzy apiarist G.I. who uses his bee-knowledge to save the day.
Finally, there's a Mercenaries story, but it is one of the weakest some far, I think. After foiling a kidnapping attempt against some guy in San Francisco, they agree to be his bodyguards and go with him to his secret research vessel, Pandora, in Antarctic waters where he's developed a ship-based satellite-killer missile. All of this makes him seem like a super-villain, but before we can explore any of this they are attacked by a Soviet ship. The Mercenaries sink Pandora rather than let it fall into Soviet hands.

Green Lantern #190: This Predator arc takes a weird turn. As Stewart tries to get his ring to tell him his predecessor's secret ID, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the reporter Tawny show up with video tapes that record Stewart visiting with the two heroes at Carol's house in Coast City, something that none of them remember. Suddenly, everyone is paralyzed, and Predator swoops in and pops the tape out of the player. Katma is unaffected and tries to stop him but can't. The others have no memory of these events.
Meanwhile, Hal is on a stakeout, trying to figure out who the Predator is. He follows him, but the Predator alludes him. In the abandoned theater where the Predator had apparently been holed up, Hal catches the distinct smell of Carol's new perfume. 
Also, Guy Gardner starts to come out of his coma.

Infinity, Inc. #16: The Thomases and McFarlane/DeZuniga introduce Mr. Bones, who has a design that sort of anticipates McFarlane's Spawn. Before this though, the issue has a beach volleyball match to get in some gratuitous swimsuit shots not unlike a lot of stuff we'll be seeing in X-Men in the latter eighties. Among the bikini beauties is the newly introduced Yolanda Montez, who we aren't told much about yet, but she arrives with Wildcat. Anyway, after all this, Bones catches Fury alone and kidnaps her. To be continued!

New Teen Titans #10: Having finished the previous storyline, this issue is mostly setup for things to come. Lilith is made an Olympian god, and the other Teen Titans are sent back to Earth. Everybody is happy, except for Azrael who's really broken up, and the Titans are perhaps realistically but amusingly not terribly sympathetic to him. Cyborg kind of makes fun of him, and Azrael flies off. Meanwhile, a Tamaranian ship heads toward Earth to retrieve Koriand'r now that the Citadel is defeated.
Most of the issue is devoted to Joe and Kole. He helps her go looking for her father. In a sequence like something out of one of DC's bygone horror titles, her scientist Dad rants and tries to force them away. Joe possesses his body and they go into his laboratory, which they find full of monstrous human mutants created to find some form that could survive a nuclear war. freaked out, Joe and Kole flee. I'm sure that's not the last we've seen of Dr. Weathers, though.

Sgt. Rock #402: The main story by Kanigher/Redondo tells something of Wildman's background as the seemingly neurologically locked-in G.I. is about to receive a metal for bravery. Wildman manages to wake up and move to declare he doesn't deserve the award as the real act of heroism was performed by a former student of his who had just joined Easy.
In the second story, a reprint from 1974, an Indian survivor of a U.S. Cavalry attack on his village gets revenge on the soldiers by stealing their horses in a mountain trap. When a blizzard descends, the warrior pragmatically uses the horses to survive while the soldiers freeze to death.

Saga of Swamp Thing #38: Moore and Woch/Totleben get "American Gothic" underway with the Swamp Thing returning to Rosewood, Illinois, which he last visited about 3 years ago to the day in issue 3. Flooding Rosewood didn't get read of the vampires, but instead caused them to evolve into an aquatic, eusocial form, even more dangerous. Before telling Swampie anything more of the secrets he wants, Constantine wants him to deal with those vampires, so Swamp Thing wades in to do that.

Warlord #94: I reviewed this issue here.

Who's Who #4: More C's! Looking at characters particularly related to the period I've been reading here, we have Circe from Wonder Woman who re-appeared not too long ago, Computo showed up in Legion, and the Construct who just turned up last week in Red Tornado #1. Color Kid is also fresh off an appearance in the Legion of Substitute Heroes Special #1. There are also several entries for characters/organizations that had their first appearance in this period: The Creature Commandos soldiered through Weird War Tales for a period close to its ending; Colonel Future from introduced in Superman #378 and had at least 1 appearance since, and then there's Croc who got a whole arc in the Bat-titles. Two of these represent dangling mysteries: The identity of Colonel Computron was left unrevealed, though maybe it has been post-Crisis, as the character has had a few appearances. The generic, shadowy villainy of the Council from Supergirl is likewise noted here, though it never got fully exposed or dealt with. In the "Obscure Characters that Trey likes" column, we have Claw the Unconquered with art by Giffen.

My vacant in Hawaii last week got me thinking about the subgenre of pulp adventure fiction that dealt with tales of freighter captains or sailors making having adventures in various ports of the South Pacific. The radio show Voyage of the Scarlet Queen is in this genre as are Howard's adventures of Sailor Steve Costigan. Aviators get into similar sort of adventures in the same locales as well, as seen in the 80s TV Tales of the Gold Monkey and the comic strip Terry & the Pirates.

I think the same basic setup of these stories could be transported to a science fiction setting. Imagine a group of relatively closely spaced, small worlds (to be "realistic" about it, they would likely have been placed there by an Arbitrarily Advanced Civilization). It could be a Dyson Swarm or its remnant like in Reynolds's Revenger series, or it could just something like the Vega System as presented in DC's Omega Men (which could be a kind of modular ringworld, I guess). Why small worlds? Well, I think it better reflects the island or city focus of the source material and makes it easier to place them relatively close together.

Whatever the setup, this system is on the hinterlands of "galactic civilization," a place where outlaws, adventurers, and malcontents would drift to from the more controlled, "safe" worlds. Within the source material, of course, this is the unexamined Western-centric view of South Pacific, but in a science fiction setting this could more genuinely be the case. Similarly, the elements of colonialism and exploitation of native peoples is probably something to avoid (unless one wanted to make that a central conflict of the setting), but like in Vance's Demon Prince series, a lot of unique or eccentric societies may have grown up there as generations of nonconformists fled the core. Perhaps among the ruins of an alien Precursor race, ideas about whom may be part of the eccentricity of some of the societies.

The vibe could be very retro pulp, but you could just as easily do it with inspiration from Cowboy Bebop or with an Alien/Outland aesthetic.

 Thought I would share a health update with all y'all...

After about ten rounds of chemo, at least fifteen rounds of Keytruda, and four rounds of a nuclear treatment, my most recent scans show that the nuclear treatment, Lutathera, has actually stopped the tumors from growing on my spine, ribs and pelvis, and may in fact be shrinking them. We're working on getting another round of Lutathera to see if we can make more progress, but the fact is that they have stopped my cancer from growing. My original prognosis was that I wouldn't be here today, but I've actually started to substitute teach a few days a week when I'm feeling up to it, and I have some hope for hanging around a few more years. Thanks again for all of the prayers and support that you've sent my way, and for the support you've all given Mary and Grace as well. We truly appreciate it.

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) through Crisis! This week, I read the comics released the week of April 11, 1985. 

Red Tornado #1: Busiek and Infantino/McLaughlin give Red Tornado his first solo series. It feels like this was maybe greenlit before the new Justice League as the old League shows up in it (though the story specifically says they aren't the League but the "world's major heroes.) Anyway, everyone's done on poor Tornado: Lana Lang says in a news report he can't be trusted. Kathy worries her relationship with his alter ego John Smith won't work because he's passive and unambitious. Even the League shows up to demand he cease operating as a hero. Obviously, a super-villain is beyond it. The Construct is trying to drive a wedge between Red Tornado and humanity by manipulating human thought processes with a signal. I've never been a big fan of "poor misery on the hero" stories, but ultimately it depends on where its going.

Superman #409: The first story is more Silver Age throwback goofiness from Boldman and Swan/Williamson. Ferlin Nyxly, a villain who has apparently appeared before, is up to his old tricks of stealing alien technology and using it to oppose Superman. He does so here, and due to circumstances not worth discussing, Jimmy and then Lois have to "pilot" Superman in his fight with the bad guy.
The second story by Stradley and Schaffenberger/Hunt has Superman fretting his double life, feeling he doesn't give adequate time to either. Maybe he should just be Superman and not Clark Kent? A talk with a tech at GBS convinces him Clark Kent matters too.

Amethyst #7: While traveling, Prince Garnet reveals to Amethyst both where he's been and what it has to do with Fire Jade. We learn that she is the former Lady Emerald who in her youth had been sucked into limbo with Prince Garnet, though she escaped much sooner, she had been tied to the malign creature that ruled there, and when she died of poison, her soul went there and the creature offered her the chance to rule beside him as Fire Jade rather than pass on into the realm of death.

Arak Son of Thunder #46: This was an issue I bought off the spinner rack. The Thomases/Lofficiers and DeZuniga present a story that the series was perhaps begging for: Arak Son of Thunder meets Thor (or Thunor, here) God of Thunder! Arak tells his traveling companions a tale of his time with the Norsemen. Seriously injured in a battle over a beached whale, he's taken by a Valkyrie to Valhalla. Initially, his claim of being the son of a thunder god leads to a brief fight with Thunor, but once he proves able to wield the god's hammer, he as accepted as a brother. After all that, he's returned to Earth.

Batman #385: Moench and Hoberg/Patton bring the Calendar Man case to an end with Batman and Robin apprehending him at the Gotham Zoo, and Robin playing a pivotal role. Batman and Robin reach and agreement regarding their partnership in this issue, with Jason being the voice of reason here. This and him referring to Bruce as a father and him as a son makes it all the more unfortunate that this version of the character got wiped from the comics history in exchange for the more difficult Jason Todd who will get killed by a call-in gimmick and later be resurrected as an anti-hero.

Batman Annual #9: Barr and a group of artists do a series of shorter stories meant to show different aspects of Batman. The first with art by O'Neill/Ordway is the best, with Batman tracking down the killer of the parents of a boy in Jason's class, to keep the boy from being consuming by a desire for revenge as Bruce Wayne was when his parents were killed. The second has art by Nino and has a more bloodthirsty Batman manipulating a group of bankrobbers and a violent terrorist cell into wiping out each other through use of a well-timed cracker (or the Christmas cracker variety). Jurgens/Giordano illustrated Batman solving the murder of a former tennis pro, embittered after being paralyzed in an accident. It's one of those stories that pauses in the middle to give the reader a chance to solve it. The final story with art by Smith is Rashomon-like in that a young child, a teacher, an arsonist, and Batman himself, tell different versions of just how events went done when Batman saved the child from a burning building and took a bullet form the arsonist.

Flash #347: Both sides present their closing arguments in the Flash's trial. Meanwhile, the Reverse-Flash, or someone masquerading as him is taking out the Rogues one by one. Frye decides to return to vigilantism to track the Reverse-Flash down and rashly increases the power on his never-before-mentioned nuclear pacemaker installed by his scientist brother. He manages to get film of the Reverse-Flash, though.
In another strange development, jurist Nathan Newbury appears to have powers of mind control/suggestion. I'm sure he's not going to use those to get the Flash convicted!

Jemm, Son of Saturn #11: This penultimate issue has a some really nice, dynamic work for Colan in places. The White and the Red Saturnians go to war and Jemm and friends try to get back to Earth. On Earth, the gang trying to take out Tull storms his base. Tull has outplayed everyone, though. He stops the war with the power he absorbed by draining the life of the Koolar warrior, then starts draining more White Saturnians. Jemm uses his power to stop him, but it isn't enough until Bouncer, having discovered Tull's lab, his comatose body and the machinery, throws a big piece of it to crush Tull.
Final victory isn't one though, as a Koolar with a grudge against Jemm has kidnapped Luther and taken him to Earth, demanding Jemm face her.

Legion of Super-Heroes #12: In the opening, Levitz and Lightle/Machlan have the Legionnaries taking on group of space pirates using Bgtzll phasing, but most of the issue is about the Legion election and other big changes. Everyone from the new President of Earth to the Science Police is speculating on what the outcome might be. The three founders move to a rotating advisory status and become reservists, and Element Lad again becomes leader. Despite its low-stakes premise, this is a well-done issue that interestingly showcases the importance of the Legion to their world.

Omega Men #28: Klein and McManus continued the weird tale of Wombworld. The six Omega Men scale a furry (at least it looks like it) tower complex of Psions and seem likely to be killed, until Ryand'r seems to convince another alien in the Psion's employ to help them. However, it's revealed the alien almost intended to help them and is working with the entity that runs the station to confound the Psions.
In a "Tales of Vega" short by Steve Parkhouse, two bumbling hunters encounter a crashed starship on a jungle world. The spaceship is active enough that it repeals takes actions to repel the invaders, scaring them away but starting a fire for them to cook their food with.

Star Trek #16: Barr and Sutton/Villagran have Excelsior return to their own universe, but they are hardly greeted as heroes, as Styles in the Christopher Pike backed up by a group of other ships, takes them into custody. Kirk makes a sly play to get what he wants from Starfleet. He leaks his logs to an Andorian reporter assigned to Starfleet, Lyndra Dean. She writes a story revealing the most recent Mirror Universe incursion and Kirk's role in defeating it. Kirk is again a hero, and there are protests outside of Starfleet command in his favor. Starfleet tries to pressure Dean to reveal her source but she doesn't budge.
The Admiralty agrees to give Kirk a ship again--the Excelsior, but they assign Spock to captain a science vessel, Surak. Dean is surprised when flowers are beamed into her apartment with a thank you card from Kirk.
This was a fun issue. one of the best of the week.

My earlier post on the new setting I'm working on drew some questions related to the uninvolved gods and how the cleric class would work. I thought it was worth a post of its own. 

When the gods withdrew from the world it was no particular impediment to organized religion. To the contrary, priests could now make whatever pronouncements or demands they wanted without fear of divine contradiction or rebuke. The populace, worried at what the loss of the gods' favor might portend for the future, were eager for any message than offered hope or a path to the gods' return. In this period, the power of the temples increased, but so did conflict between them and various self-proclaimed prophets and spiritual teachers. 

This situation didn't last, thanks to the devastation of the Demon Wars and the invasion by the demons' monstrous allies. Human civilization was devastated, and cities became isolated. The society that had sustained and supported the temples and the priesthoods faltered, and once again faith in the gods was shown to be no protection against calamity. 

The priests and temples remain, though, particularly in the major city-states. The gods are real, after all, and no one expects them to return to a world that doesn't honor them or keep their ritual observances. Certain rituals, too, perform an important civic function and rulers rely on their observance to perpetuate their legitimacy.

In the smaller villages and hinterlands, though, the temples and shrines were mostly abandoned, the priests fleeing to the cities or killed in the conflict along with much of the rest of the population. As time passed, and these regions became (somewhat) safer, the common folk returned, but the priests often didn't.

Into this void strode another form of clergy. Those who, without official blessing or ordination, were able to wield a portion of divine power. They roam from village to village performing spiritual important services. They officiate marriages and civic ceremonies and conduct community rituals at festivals. They mediate between villagers and the spirits or the dead and perform exorcisms when necessary. Joining with other adventuring sorts, they also kill monsters threatening the people. These individuals are often called "Shepherds." They are the most common representatives of the absent gods encountered outside of the city-states.

Shepherd is the name used by the Nimble rpg for its "mostly cleric, but some druid concepts" class. It seemed a good as name as any to use here. 

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were on stands in the week of April 4, 1985. 

Legion of Substitute Heroes Special #1: My brother and I had this issue back in '85, but I would have guessed we had at least another issue of Ambush Bug under our belts before this came out since I recall us already being familiar with the Giffen art style and humorous approach. It's possible with the vagaries of the newsstand, we didn't pick it up until a little bit later, I suppose.
Anyway, from the cover's faux editorial note on this issue makes it clear this is a humorous one-off to forewarn more traditional Legion fans. But in addition to the Subs, it features Matter Eater Lad heavily, and Pulsar Stargrave, perhaps suggesting that Legion lore isn't really as serious as some fans might think. The government of Bismoll has just purchased a new computer system, and Senator Tenzil Kem (the former Matter Eater Lad) has concerns. These fears seem warranted since the computers look like a whole herd of the Legion foe, Computo, and they are confirmed when the computers attract and embody Pulsar Stargrave. Luckily (maybe) Kem had already called in the Subs!
Mostly, they wander around lost while Kem solves the problem, though Polar Boy helps in Stargrave's defeat by freezing him to make him brittle, and then the unconscious Stone Boy delivers the decisive blow--when Kem drops him onto Stargrave from a height.
It's a silly issue, but an entertaining one.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #4: The uh, crisis deepens this issue. Batgirl and Supergirl share a moment in Gotham where Supergirl is able to help her friend out of a paralyzing despondency. In Japan, the Monitor oversees the origin of a new Dr. Light, who (I guess) is meant to be a lot more powerful than the original, because he certainly pins a lot of hope on her. Earth-6 is destroyed by the antimatter wave, but Pariah manages to save Lady Quark. 
Despite the new allies for the Monitor, his foe is also on the move. The shadow demons coalesce into larger shadow beings in the vicinity of the various towers/tuning forks. And though w're told that this is all part of the Monitor's plan, Harbinger strikes at the command of the enemy, apparently killing her mentor. Pariah assumes they are doomed. At that moment, the heroes of both Earths 1 and 2 can only watch in horror as their worlds, consumed by anti-matter and all is nothingness.

Atari Force #19: Baron and Bareto/Villagran bring our heroes home to New Earth but hardly get a warm welcome. They are forced to make a landing in an area where a new robotic weapon system is being tested. They survive that but then are taken into custody, there to await their trial. 
In the Taz backup by Hannigan and Wray we learn why Taz was carrying the red alien adversary when we first encountered her. It highlights Taz's singleminded pursuit of vengeance.

DC Comics Presents #83: Barr and Norvick/Hunt serve up some deep cut villains for this Superman/Batman and the Outsiders team-up. An accident turns Alfred Pennyworth into the villainous Outsider once again (last seen in 1977), and Superman joins forces with Batman and the Outsiders to defeat him and his ally I.Q. (last seen in 1982).

Fury of Firestorm #37: Nino's art is interesting here, but Cavalieri's story is confusing filler. We have a frame sequence where Martin and Ronnie are eating sushi and trying to figure out what recently went wrong with their powers (a plot point I don't recall) and flashback to an event earlier in their career where they lost control of their powers due to feedback but Ronnie figured out a solution to the problem due to a dream he had, after he attended an astrologist's lecture who told him to pay attention to dreams. Or perhaps that was part of the dream? I don't know, but it didn't hold my interest.

Justice League of America #240: This is another fill-in, this time by Busiek and Sekowsky/Mandrake. A frame sequence establishing two S.T.A.R. Labs research discovers a person in the time streaming and tracing their timeline to find out who they are. It turns out to be Phineas Quayle, a genius physicist from the 1930s whose altruism led him to travel time to seek out a solution to the Great Depression. Appalled by the future he saw, Quayle came to see superheroes as emblematic of the societal decay and rampant individualism he perceived, so he becomes the super-villain the Anomaly to defeat the Justice League and save everyone by "fixing" the future. He was defeated but made his escape into the timestream where he was trapped until the researchers freed him. He goes off to plot again, and the researchers just sort of shrug and assume the JLA will deal with him again.
The story very much feels like a Silver Age throwback, which was the intention. They even brought in classic JLA artist Sekowsky to pencil it.

Shadow War of Hawkman #3: We get a bit clearer idea this issue of what the Thanagarians are after. Apparently, all the upheaval on their homeworld has caused them to lose some of their technical know-how and the Hawks on Earth are the only ones that still have this tech they see as essential for conquest. They still seem advanced enough to cross interstellar space to come to Earth and steal stuff, which seems to be enough for most conquerors, but hey, can't be Thanagarians without antigravity belts, I guess. We also learn Shayera is still alive as she rescues Katar from Fell Andar and his crew. It turns out it was poor Mavis that died. 
The Thanagarians hook up one of their number's brain to the absorbacon and start surveilling everyone on Earth to see who else might know the location of the Hawks' tech. Katar and Shayera realize this will happen, so they destroy their devices hidden at the museum then sneak into JLA headquarters (getting in a fight with Aquaman and Elongated Man) to wipe info from the computers. Unfortunately, the Thanagarians have found and commandeered their spacecraft parked in orbit before they accomplish this.

Tales of the Teen Titans #54: Randall is on art here as Slade spends a short time in jail on the gun charge, and Gar pushes his friends away as he plots to kill his enemy. In the end, Slade is tired of being the Terminator, and Gar finds he can't kill him, so instead the two talk, and Gar gains some understanding. I think overall the issue is well done. I don't mind giving villains depth or nuance, nor do I mind this sort of "bad guy imparts wisdom" story, but absolving Slade by putting all the blame on Terra for her "being evil," and adding additional details to make it an easier sale (like revealing she had killed the king who helped raise Gar in Africa) is a bit much. I think Wolfman could have told a similar story without rehabilitating Slade to such a degree. Or even better, He could have never portrayed Terra and her relationship with Slade that way he did in the first place!

Vigilante #19: Wolfman is back as writer with Denys Cown on pencils and Maygar on inks. Vigilante gets involved in a family tragedy played out as a deadly confrontation between a young gang member in Chinatown and his father who is a gunrunner for the Tongs. The issue is one long fight sequence we begin in media res, interspersed with flashbacks to both events in Chase's life and that of the gang member leading up to this moment. Chase gets ready to assume his role as a judge and does what all superheroes seem to do when they quit: throw their costume in a round, domestic-style trashcan on the street corner.

 I pitched the idea that I have been kicking around to my players after the last session, and they were into it. So into it they have already began thinking about characters, despite the fact we were going to play a module for a month or so while I got prepared! Still though, I'm glad to have the enthusiasm. Everybody seems interested enough in Nimble, too, which is the system we plan to use over 5e.

Anyway, there interest made me go ahead this weekend and get down in writing things I had been kicking around regarding races/ancestries in the game.

Darklings: These will be the Tiefling stand-ins. They are mutants essentially, born to human parents exposed to the tainted mana emanating from the demons' side of the Terminator or from Shadow cysts.

Dwarves: Spontaneously generated from the spilled ichor of a fallen titan. Like your usual Dwarf but given this is a setting with ancient Magitech, they have a inclination for that. In fact, there's a rumor a cabal of dwarves is trying to create a machine god to run the cosmos more efficiently that either the titans or gods did.

Elves: Like your typical elves really, though I think longer lived that the D&D standard. Dark elves (the name has nothing to do with coloration) are likely holdout titan-partisans.

Halflings: Svelter than the D&D standard, mostly like the half-foots (feet?) in Dungeon Meshi in appearance. Like in the 4e "lore," they will be a nomadic people, either in big wagons or barges.

Meks: Mechanicals. They were created as servants and soldiers by the now-fallen Magitech Empire of Alphanion, but have developed more independence over the centuries. They reproduce via Mothernodes, ancient pieces of Magitech sometimes found in Alphanion ruins. They take the place of the Warforged, but broader in conception. The Steam Men of Hunt's Jaekelian novels, Mattie from Sedia's The Alchemy of Stone, and the droids in Star Wars are also influences.

Myrclawr: Cat people of the anime/manga variety. They are also a created species from the Age of the Wizard-Kings.

Reposting this from 2024 is my reminder to myself to get around to finishing this series one of these days. I also think I may revise a couple of the ones I have already written.
 
One of these days, I'm going to completely finish (and maybe publish) this series on the Great Wheel, but until then, here's everything I've done.
The Planes of Pure Law
The Planes of Chaos
Hell
CarceriHadesArboreaElysiumBeastlandsGehennaTwin ParadisesThe Layers of Heaven (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4)ArcadiaLimboYsgard

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on March 28, 1985.

Ambush Bug #1: Giffen, Fleming, and Oksner bring us the solo debut of a character Giffen has pushing for a while now. I loved this issue when it came out, and I think it holds up reasonably well today. The plot of the main story involving Republican terrorists threatening to release stores of old nerve case unless the Congress votes to begin production of new nerve gas, is not so alien to our current political moment to have lost its satire, if some of the details (like a joke about Boll Weevil Democrats) belong to a different time. Giffen's latter 80s style of a lot of panels with rough black line borders and no whitespace in between has reached its mature form, though characters are not quite as stylized here as they will get.

Action Comics #568: With the cover of this issue, I wonder why they didn't publish it as the February issue? The stories continuing to be continuity-free, so I don't see why this month's and last month's couldn't have been switched. Anyway, the first story isn't the cover story but a bit of silliness by Maggin and Swan/Williamson about Superman being called in to help when a stage magician's magic (he has real magic but doesn't use it in his stage performance) accidentally sends the audience (including Perry White's grandkids) to India.
The second (longer) story by Boldman and Bender/Nino goes with the cover. A thief fleeing the 30th Century into the past, accidentally delivers a device into Jimmy's hands that he thinks is some sort of matchmaking device after suggests he come to a particular street corner where he meets the lovely Jennifer, with whom he matches so well. Soon, Lois and Clark get in on the matchmaking, pairing Lois with detective Preston Chandler, and Clark with the librarian Mindy, who turns out also to be the superheroine Nova-Woman. In the end, Science Police Officer Shvaughn Erin shows up to reveal the device isn't a matchmaker, but a thought actualizer, drawing images from a person's subconscious and making them solid. She takes the device back and the dream dates disappear.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #32: Kupperberg and Duursema continue "The Magic Odyssey" with part 3. Confidant that his magic has returned, Arion ignores Yoshiro's warnings and goes on a quest to recover a dark jewel that can somehow turn Wyynde back to normal. Unexpectedly he is returned to the Darkworld where he arrives at the place he spent some many years in his youth. He encounters Ghy, a somewhat sinister looking imp that was nevertheless a childhood friend. Unfortunately, as we saw last issue, Arion has fallen into a trap set by Tomokata (who's trying to steal Chian from him) and Dark Majistra who was imprisoned inside the dark jewel, but now freed.
Meanwhile back in Atlantis, King D'Tilluh has taken his own life. As the ministers debate who to name as his successor, T'Galla, the king's warrior daughter barges in having just returned home.

All-Star Squadron #45: Continuing the story from last issue, Johnny Quick and Libby get the location of Blitzkrieg's hideout from his assistant, Zwerg. Johnny is delayed, but Liberty Belle and Hawkgirl attack the hideout where Blitzkrieg is using the vibrations of the Liberty Bell to cure his psychological blindness? Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me either!
The two battle Zyklon while Blitzkrieg rants and waits for a lightning strike to power the device, Frankenstein-style, which will restore his sight. Hawkgirl and Zyklon knock each other out. Lightning strikes, and it restores the Baron’s sight but also giving Belle sonic powers! Blitzkrieg manages to escape, though.

Detective Comics #551: Moench and Broderick/Smith continue the Calendar Man story from Batman. Doing some sleuthing, Batman figures out where Calendar Man is likely to strike next, but he sidelines Robin out of fear that Calendar Man will make good on his threat to kill him. Batman surprises Calendar Man at his caper, but the actions of a thug who figured Calendar Man wasn't up to the task of killing Batman, distracts the hero and Calendar Man escapes. Batman gets home to find Jason is missing, having rashly gone out as Robin on his own.
Cavalieri and Moore/Patterson present a Green Arrow backup that seems ripped from today's headlines. After a run-in with overzealous immigration enforcement at a diner, Ollie and Dinah try to help the undocumented immigrant brother of an El Salvadorian refugee working there. Ollie learns that there is a network of people helping those fleeing the war-torn country get into the U.S. A Catholic Church turns out to be one such sanctuary, and that's where Ollie meets Francisco, the man he's looking for. Unfortunately, immigration enforcement raids the place, and Oliver is taken into custody with Francisco and the local priest. Elsewhere, the mysterious Onyx gets ready to begin her search for Oliver Queen.

Jonah Hex #91: Fleisher and Morrow have Hex encounter a "nearly eighteen" year-old runaway looking to become a trick rider in a Wild West show after he saves her from a rattlesnake. A romance blossoms, though Hex protests (weakly) about their age difference. He goes with her to Rory Starbuck's Wild West Review but runs into trouble when he catches some disgruntled former employees in an act of sabotage. Ultimately, Hex briefly disguises himself as a clown to catch the badguys--but also catches Carolee two-timing him with Starbuck after taking literally his protestations that she should be with somebody younger.
Meanwhile, Emmylou is having hard time making good her escape from Brett and his gang, and when she does, she appears to fall into an abandoned well. The next issue blurb promises something we won't expect. I wonder if it has anything to do with another ad for Hex (coming in June) in the letter column?

Sun Devils #12: Jurgens and Mitchell bring the series to an end, and it's a bit anticlimatic. The Sun Devils reunite with the beaten Rik and go on to take the Starcrusher back from the Sauroids, but there's no boss badguy to confront here, just a lot of minions. Perhaps the real interesting developments of the issue are elsewhere. Earth is made aware in time to throw off the Crustate attack. Rik and crew (after some soul-searching) decide not to use the weapon to destroy the Sauroid homeworld, but then they turn it over to the Centaurian leader who promptly does so, then brands the Sun Devils outlaws so they can't reveal the truth of what he did. After their goodbyes, the team splits up to go into hiding, Rik takes off on his own, supposedly, but he's aware that Anomie, who he forgave but said he couldn't be in a relationship with again, has stowed away on his ship.                                        
Tales of the Legion #324: Levitz/Newell and Jurgens/Kesel have Ultra-Boy, Mon-El, and White Witch arriving at a scene of planetary destruction that Gigi is certain is the work of Dev-Em. The Legionnaires tangle with a masked Dark Circle agent that is as powerful as Dev-Em, but then there is more than one of them. Unmasking their defeated opponents, they find they are Dev-Em clones. The Dark Circle reveals that are holding the real Dev-Em captive with Kryptonite. Meanwhile, Dawnstar still pines from her love from the previous lackluster story.
In the backup by the same writers with art by Colon/Martin, Invisible Kid has to solve the mystery of why a project to map the planet Ordse is being sabotaged.

V #5: Bates and Smith/Alcala continue the story from last issue. Earl Meagan (the Carl Sagan stand-in) continues his personal mission of against the Visitors over the objections of Resistance who thinks his attack, if carried out, will cause massive reprisals by the aliens. Predictably, Diana's overtures of peace are a ruse, and she takes Meagan captive on the Mothership, unaware he's carrying a micro-nuke in his body. Meanwhile, Ham and Chris infiltrate the Visitor facility where Kyle is being kept and learn it is essentially a big food science experiment in fattening up humans to make them tastier!
In the letter column, the editorial vaguely references big changes coming to the TV show that will put the comic out of step but promises a special issue soon to reconcile the two. The letters are an interesting time capsule. Many praise V (a series now mostly forgotten I think) as the best science fiction TV show since Star Trek (The original series, of course. TNG is still about 2 years away.)

World's Finest Comics #316: Cavalieri's and Stroman/Aiken/Garvey's latest villain to challenge the combined might of Superman and Batman: Cheapjack, the top hat-wearing leader of a biker gang called the Werewolves of London that operate out of the woods on the outskirts of Gotham, I assume. The cover says he's "back," but this is actually his first appearance. He's started a gang war by kidnapping the daughter of the head of the Massimo crime family. He wants to corner the drug market to flood the streets with his new drug, synthedrine. Batman and Superman go undercover in the rival gangs to stop the war.
Team-up books are always a bit weird continuity-wise, as the can't (or at least typically don't) fit easily with what's going on in other books. We get that here as Bruce Wayne seems caught between potential love interests: a businesswoman and a nightclub owner, without any mention of the separate love interests he's caught between in his solo books. Superman, despite all this going on in his books, finds a lot of time to gang out in Gotham, buddying around with a guy that the rest of the DCU would suggest he's had a falling out with at this point. 

I'll be posting a bigger update soon, but I wanted to give a shout out to Christopher Cortright and his supplement Five Foes for Stalwart '85. As a publisher, I'm not able to review or rate it (at least, I think that's why), but I'd gladly give it five stars if I could. Chris did a nice job with this, and I hope you support him.
Thanks!

Our Land of Azurth 5e game concluded last night with our heroes facing down a shadow creature of immense size. Every bite attack it made threatened to swallow one of the party, and it periodically emitted bursts of necrotic energy. Luckily, they have Dagmar to keep throwing out the healing and two energy weapons they obtained long ago from visitors from the future (or perhaps past?). Erekose drained his energy rifle attacking the creature and was forced to go back to his sword. Ultimately, they destroyed the monster, but it went out in a blast of negative energy.

Dagmar checked on the emaciated form of the Wizard. He was alive but barely and not saying anything useful. Waylon tried shooting the black, anti-glowing orb over head with his energy pistol. The blasts seemed to burn it, but it didn't take it long to heal. 

A group of Gloom Elf priests in tall hats emerged from the shadows (naturally!). They didn't attack but suggested the party's actions were futile. The Anti-Sun was already beginning to manifest in this world. It had provided the power that allowed the Wizard to manifest a giant shadow to fight the machine of the rebels, though the effort had drained him. They did not care. The Anti-Sun was here!

The party's response was to attack them. In a few rounds, they had killed the elven priests, but the avatar of the Anti-Sun was still hung above their heads. Luckily, they remembered (with a hint from the DM!) that they had previously defeated a shadow dragon by overloading one of the energy weapons. They did so again, and the resultant explosion put a ragged hole in the black sphere. Dagmar gave her all into a blast of radiant energy that finished it off, closing the portal.

The party heard noises in the chamber outside and prepared for another fight, but it turned out to be the soldiers of the rebellion led by Queen Desira of Virid and Warrior Princess Bellona of Sang. They related that once the giant shadow of the Wizard was defeated, and the Gloom Elves mysteriously withdrew, the city fell quickly. Their forces were just mopping up. 

The party debated saving the dying Wizard but ultimately decided to let him die rather than risk it.

The princesses suggest the party return to the camp and get some food and rest. They do, and the first person they know they run into is Kory Keenstep. He talks circumspectly about a trip back in time that he chose not to take, but his sone Kully did. When queried further, he suggests the party talk to the Clockwork Princess, Viola.

The party finds her in the command tent. She reveals that defeating the Wizard might have likely led to the destruction of Azurth, as his existence constituted a causal loop around it. The only way to protect against that was to stabilize Azurth's history.

Instead of using a children's story to serve the evil ambition of one man, Azurth needed a new story to sustain it. So, the princesses sent back a storyteller, Kully the bard, to tell the faeries, the proto-goddesses of Azurth, a new story. One not subverted by the wizard.

The world would reset in about 14 hours.

The party asked if they would remember. Viola said she wasn't certain. Possibly they would since they had been to the beginning of Azurth themselves. They'll just have to find out.

The following morning, the party awakened in their residence, the former Dove Inn in Rivertown. There were no signs of war or occupation anywhere. The statue in the town square is not of their rivals the Eccentrics, but of them.

The End

The Masters of Mayhem are:

Dagmar ...... AndreaErekose .......... BobShade ........... GinaWaylon .......... TugZabra ......... Kathy
previous members:
Kairon ........... EricBellmorae ...... Haigenand Kully Keenstep ...... Jim

Jason and I are still working on our 2-page comic for the first issue of the Swords Against! Sword & Sorcery anthology. Jason sent me the inked first page so I could start laying out the lettering, and that's what the images here are from, though there is a still some clean-up and shadowing to come on the art.

This is how it starts with the barbarian Karkath:

And this is how it ends for him: