Comic Book Feeds

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:

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on February 21, 1985.

Batman and the Outsiders #22: Alan Davis makes his American comics debut taking over on art from Aparo. As the Outsiders arrive in the ruin of the JLA satellite, this issue feels very modern (or at least very early 21st century) in its portrayal of a very driven Batman with secret plans to make up for what he perceives as his JLA teammates' shortcomings and his tendency to view his new teammates as instruments to use toward his goals. The team has brought Dr. Jace with them to use the JLA's special equipment to help them learn more about Halo's origins. Examining her brainwaves, they awaken her hidden self and discover she is an aurakle, one of a group of sentient energy beings that have existed since the before the universe. The aurakle that became Halo had been fascinated with organic beings and inhabited the body of Violet Harper after her death.
At first, the Outsiders are sort of skeptical about Halo's story, but after a group of aurakles arrive to force her to re-merge with their "unity", they can't doubt it. At first the Outsiders hold their own against the energy beings, but the aurakles blow a hole in the station and take Halo away. Several of the Outsiders and sucked into space, but Geo-Force saves them and Metamorpho seals the breach.

Blue Devil #12: Under the demonic influence of his trident, Blue Devil goes on a bit of a rampage but given the tone of this book it's played a bit for laughs with his maniacal statements being mostly movie industry cliches. Green Lantern tries to stop him, but well, fire can be yellow...so they have to call in Zatana. She gets to the bottom of what's going on, and as they free his trident from its demonic possessor, Etrigan shows up and attacks, not knowing Dan is cured. They soon straighten things out, though, and Etrigan leaves. The Demon is miscolored this whole issue so that he looks like he's shirtless but still has red frilly cuffs.

Green Lantern #189: John Stewart and Katma Tui combat Sonar and his new super-powered cronies, Throttle and Blindside. Meanwhile, Hal and Carol investigate the identity of the Predator, but so far, they haven't found anything substantive. Hal also pays a visit to Guy Gardner in the facility where he lives, having suffered brain damage. He intends to pay more frequent visits as he fills a kinship with this other former Lantern.
In the "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" backup by Klein and O'Neill, Xax, the insectoid Green Lantern of Xaos, tried to feed the hungry masses, but his ring wasn't up to keeping up with the demand. He tries his best to prevent a war between clans fighting over the harvest. The Spider Guild invades and wraps the Xaosians in cocoons. Xax saves some of his fellows while confronting guild machines, but he falls into a yellow metal trap.

Infinity, Inc. #15: The Chroma story arc (if we can call it that) concludes this issue. Mostly, the story is about the disagreement among the Infinitors with Obsidian frustrated the others still seem to be fascinated with the alien and are blind to the threat he poses. Backing up Obsidian's intuitions is the crowd building ominously outside the hospital where Chroma is recovering and the other Infinitors sort of baseless but persistent feelings of his beneficence. This all comes down to a short fight between them at the hospital before Chroma just decides humanity isn't ready for him yet and leaves. It seems Thomas is going for the sort of comic-book-profound, cosmic story of his days at Marvel, but this just doesn't reach the level of bombast to pull that off. McFarlane's layouts are much more conventional this issue with better use of space, and the stylistic flourishes he will later be known for are either embryonic or being tamped down by DeZuniga's inks.

New Teen Titans #9: I read this issue in 1986 when it was reprinted in Tales of the Teen Titans #68. Wolfman and García-López/Tanghal continue the story from last issue. The Teen Titans rally the Titans of myth to carry the battle against Thia to Olympus. The first encounter Kole who Thia made imprison the Amazons with her crystal powers. The freed Amazons are able to join the fight, which is good because Thia sends the monstrous Typhon against our heroes. Ultimately, Hyperion sacrifices himself to destroy his wife, though two consumed together in flames. The Titan team defeats Typhon, and Lilith is reunited with the winged alien. In the aftermath, a grateful Zeus decrees that the surviving Titans of myth, and Lilith, now recognized as a demi-goddess, may remain in Olympus.

Sgt. Rock #401: The first story is one of the oddest of Kanigher's works on this title. Easy company see's a meteor coming streaking across the sky, then encounters the large meteorite stuck in the ground. Then it seems to sort of follow them, showing up when they encounter a group of refugees and share food, then again in the stream near a bombed-out village, where Rock referees a confrontation between a lone German soldier and French locals, both only children. The mysterious visitor, drawing conclusions about the contradictory nature of humanity, leaves again for the cosmos.
The next story by Joe Kubert is about a German corporal who basically becomes an avatar of death in guilt over being the sole survivor of his squad is a reprint from Weird War Tales #1. The final story by Arata and the Kubert brothers tells the story of a boy who played with toy tanks designed the resemble those of World War II, but finds his own interactions with military vehicles in Vietnam less enjoyable.

Saga of Swamp Thing #37: Moore and Veitch/Totleben introduce John Constantine, who is a mysterious world traveler on a mission to combat the coming of some malevolent entity. Constantine shows up in Louisiana where Swamp Thing, tended by Abbie, is still trying to regrow his body. Constantine taunts him with knowledge about the swamp thing's capabilities and purpose and challenges him to meet him in a town named Rosewood outside of Chicago in a week. Swamp Thing accepts the challenge, musing that the name "Rosewood" seems familiar to him. We're also told in passing by Abbie that Nukeface is "probably dead," so that's that, I guess.

Talent Showcase #17: We get the ending of Collapsar's storyline by Tillman and Woch, and it involves him bringing together two factions on the alien world he wound up on. Sort of anticlimatic, really. 
The other two stories are sort of action stories (one kind of spy-fi) written by Rowlands. They both demonstrate a feel for story structure and breakdowns that is definitely a cut above what we generally get in this title. Some credit for this may well be due to the artists, too: Grindberg on the spy story and Ron Wagner on the action one, both of whom would have long penciling careers for various publishers mostly not on superhero books. Unfortunately, neither of the stories are very good overall.

Warlord #94: I reviewed this issue here.

Who's Who #4: This is the Cs so there are a lot of Captains here. We get the recently acquired Charlton character Captain Atom making his DC debut. His first in-story appearance will be Crisis #6. Interestingly, his alter ego is given as Nathaniel Adams in a retcon. Captain Carrot is here, too, showing Earth-C isn't forgotten, nor is Earth-S with Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. present. The cool but obscure adventure character Captain Fear is featured in his Simonson rendition. We last saw him in Unknown Soldier #256 back in 1981. Cheshire from NTT is here, as is that Forgotten Hero, Cave Carson. A half-page Chlorophyll Kid entry is a harbinger of a rising profile for the Legion Subs. The standout illustration this issue, though, has got to be Dave Stevens' Catwoman I.

 A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a new setting I was thinking about for after my current Land of Azurth game comes to an end. I now think I will call it Parsulan (or at least I will for the moment!) borrowing a name coined by a friend of mine for a setting we co-created back in the 2e area. I think Parsulan will be the name of the continent this campaign is focused on. I recycle some other names from that old setting, as well, in homage.

So in addition to the aspects I mentioned before, this is what I think Parsulan will be like:

Post-apocalyptic. Having been overrun by demonic forces (true demons and their allies) several centuries ago, the magitech-employing civilization that existed prior was reduced to "points of light." There are still in typical D&D and fantasy fiction standing, city-states isolated by sparsely populated wilderness.

Absent gods. The gods, at least the major ones, have forsaken the world and retreated into the Overworld. Clerics preserve the civic rituals practiced in the days of old and try to keep the old beliefs alive, hoping that the gods will return if humanity shows sufficient humility and piety.

Adventures Guild. It's a common concept in Japanese Standard Fantasy worlds, but as I envision it, it's has much more of a Jianghu element than the very modern employment agency/professional organization of so many anime, though it will likely have elements of that--as well as being a burial society.

Dungeon Zones. Inspired by the rpg Sword World 2.5's "shallow Abysses," I think there will be eruptions/excrescences of the Demon Realm maybe called "shadow cysts" which will engulf and distort areas of the land, leading into places of altered reality and danger. These form around a nidus called a seed or heart. Only neutralization of this heart will cause of rupture and ultimately dissipation of the cyst.

I originally posted these in 2016...
These are model sheets for the Sectaurs cartoon. The items depicted here should had a little post-apocalyptic strangeness to any treasure haul:







Find more here.

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) through Crisis! This week, I read the comics released the week of March 14, 1985.

Superman #408: Hannigan/Kupperberg and Swan/Williamson deliver a pretty interesting story for a Superman title of the era, dealing with a topic that will come to the fore in more "serious" works later: How much control should Superman exert over humanity in the name of saving us? The backdrop for this dilemma is the looming threat of nuclear war, perhaps inspired by the airing of the British TV film Threads on Superstation TBS earlier in 1985, or perhaps it was just part of the zeitgeist that led to films such as The Day After and Threads. In any case, Superman is having nightmares about a being the sole survivor of a nuclear war as the breakdown of nuclear talks is in the news. He considers deactivating the worlds' nukes but is unsure whether that is the best choice. An interaction with the Lori Lemaris' people in Atlantis, where he misjudges the situation, then one with a group of teens in a misadventure to regain a baseball from a junkyard, leads him to conclude that he should have faith in humanity, and be there when they need him but let them learn and take risks. His faith seems rewarded as the news reports nuclear talks resumed.
The second story by Bridwell and Swan/Rubenstein is more conventional. Superman stops an alien race in a generation ship from warring among themselves and finds a new planet for them to live upon.

Amethyst #6: Mishkin/Cohn and Estrada/Smith have Amethyst teaming up with Sardonyx who was being forced to kill Citrina by Fire Jade if he wanted to get his kingdom and family back alive. With the aid of a mysterious stranger who turns out to be the presumed dead Prince Garnet, the two return the kingdom of Sardonyx to Gemworld from the weird other realm where it had been sent.

Arak Son of Thunder #45: The Thomases, Lofficiers, and Forton/DeZuniga continue the voyages of the Arak and friends in the Karama. Near the island of Serendeeb, they encounter a beautiful, flying, green girl with butterfly wings. The king demands the girl's return, but Alsind has fallen in love and runs off with her. The king commands Arak and friends bring the girl back or a quantity of gems equal to the king's weight. In the jungles, they discover the weird life cycle of the weird woman--they turn from butterfly women to voracious giant caterpillars. They are forced to kill the creature to save Alsind.

Batman #384: Moench and Hoberg/Nebres have the remnants of Dr. Fang's gang get in touch with the Monitor (which seems like it places this story prior to the beginning of Crisis). He calls on Calendar Man (who hasn't appeared since issue 312 in 1979) who plans a series of crimes to culminate on March 21. Calendar Man is certainly a lesser Batman rogue, but Moench makes him suitably threatening. Meanwhile, Batman finds confirmation that Catwoman is still alive, and Vicki Vale breaks up with Bruce Wayne.

Flash #346: Bates and Infantino keep on going, and at least there's a break in the trial "action." As the cover gives away, the Reverse Flash appears to be back and boasts he's going to kill the Flash like everyone thought the Flash killed him. Meanwhile, Cecile's courtroom stunt last issue sends Fiona into another psychiatric tailspin, so the Flash vows to himself to let Barry Allen stay "dead" to aid her recovery. He also reveals his true identity to Cecile and reveals how he got a different face (as we saw when the plastic surgeons of Gorilla City did reconstructive work on him back in issue 342).

Jemm, Son of Saturn #10: The angry job of Red Saturnians, incited by the rogue priest, are prepared to kill Jemm, but with Luthor's help, the alien prince rallies and makes his escape. He's still very weak, which is a problem because the White Saturnians are preparing a final assault, and thanks to Jemm's actions last issue, New Bhok's defenses are weakened. 
Synn's been experiencing an illness than sounds suspiciously like morning sickness, which may be a problem for her concubine. Meanwhile, Tull is draining all of the power of the Koolar he was given, but Crazy Freddie, Luther's brother, and Bouncer are joining forces in the hopes of taking him down.

Legion of Super-Heroes #11: Levitz and Colon/Mahlstedt present a story focused on the founding Legion members: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad. The three are feeling their age now (though they are presumably not even 30 yet!) and wanting to get on with their lives beyond the Legion. 
What better way to take a trip down memory lane than to visit Glacier Point, Antarctica, the minimum-security prison where the men who tried to assassinate RJ Brande and thus were the catalyst for the formation of the Legion are about to be released. The men and all the other prisoners seem oddly passive, and the three are uncertain how they feel about the prison.
Back at Legion Headquarters, Bouncing Boy is reviewing applicants with an eye toward expanding the team. Superboy shows up and he regales him with (courtesy of Levitz and Giffen/Kessel) the story of his first meeting with trainee Comet Queen.

Omega Men #27: Klein and McManus/Smith continue their new direction for the series. The Omega Men are captive on the strange planet, Wombworld, where they are subject to a Psion experiment that shifts their powers, and they encounter a creature named Piper who appears to age rapidly. They assist him on his request to locate "Twilla." While I haven't made up my mind about the new direction yet, McManus's art does a great job of evoking the "space fantasy" vibe.

In a "Tales of Vega" short by Moore and Cullins, a anthropologist studying the mating habits single-sex inhabitants of the planet Culacon, abandons any scientific distance in her dubious pursuit of firsthand knowledge and meets a sad end as she learns who they manage to reproduce without apparent females.

Star Trek #15: Barr and Sutton/Villagran bring their Mirror Universe arc to a satisfying conclusion. First though, Kirk and company have to convince the Klingons and Romulans to ally with them to cripple the Empire. Both ultimately agree, though both plan to betray our heroes (and each other) pretty much the moment that's accomplished. The Excelsior crew reveal their plan to cripple the computer systems of all Imperial vessels, exploiting their different technological development. Their plans and complicated by two things: Mirror-Saavik having secretly replaced original Saavik, and an Imperial attack fleet advancing quickly under the command of Blaine, the Imperial officer Kirk humiliated a few issues back. Needless to say, Kirk and his crew are one step ahead of everybody, though they have to do some improvising on the fly. With all the major powers of this universe humbled, Excelsior heads for home, having given a boost to the rebellion to be led by Mirror-David and Mirror-Spock.

Jason Sholtis

Friday, I shared a peak at how Spells Against Civility, the short comic Jason Sholtis and I were doing for the Sword & Sorcery magazine Swords Against! currently in crowdfunding.

I mentioned that Jason and I were doing this in the "Marvel Method," which is to say that he's drawing story not from a panel-by-panel script, but instead from a plot, then I'm scripting the dialogue and captions from his pages (and then lettering the script on the pages. We're a two man operation!).

Above you see a bit of the finished artwork for page one, but here is the rough of that entire page:

The Revenger Trilogy is a series of science fiction novels by Alastair Reynolds. In a future millions of years hence, there is a spacefaring civilization amid ancient habitats that form a Dyson Swarm around the sun. Sisters Adrana and Arafura Ness flee their stifling life of wealth to become "bone readers" aboard a solar sail privateer searching for ancient, technological artifacts. 

Things don't go simply easily, as their ship falls prey to the infamous pirate, Bosa Sennen. From that encounter, the sisters are propelled into danger and more adventure than they ever wanted, and ultimately, the deep mysteries of their civilization.

The books are highly enjoyable in their own right, and the world would make a great rpg setting, but beyond that, I think that, in part, they are excellent inspiration for dungeoncrawling sort of adventure in any setting.

Working Class Treasure Hunters

The "dying in holes in the ground" aspect of low-level D&D beloved by old school play is poorly represented in the fiction of Appendix N, but the Revenger series very much portrays this sort of thing. Privateer crews are typically hard luck folks with scars, missing limbs, and stories of former comrades lost in the pursuit of that elusive big score. Such crewmembers have specialties: readers, openers, appraisers, to be efficient in the unglamorous work of seeking out treasures. These treasures are often strange--not as strange as things brought from the Zone in Roadside Picnic--but things that the current civilization can't make nor sometimes even guess their intended purpose. In these novels, these items often function as low level, utilitarian magic items.

Dungeon Lore

Having good intelligence on Baubles is a crucial part of "cracking" them. Baubles are surrounded by force fields that only open at certain times and openers rely on information from other privateers and their own readings and calculations to augur the time and duration of openings. Acquired maps are also essential for efficient and profitable "delves." Baubles have colorful names like His Foulness, the Cuckoo, Wedza's Eye, and the Yellow Jester, and their own internal arrangements and hazards.

Creative Uses

I mentioned before items brought out of Baubles, well their are obvious things of value like quoins (their unit of money), robots, or energy weapons, but also things that can be used less obviously in the privateers life. Bosa Sennen's dread ship has near invisible black sails made from catch cloth found in Baubles: a material that responds to some unknown and otherwise undetected emanation of the sun. Privateers prize even small peices of look stone, a strange glass-like substance that when peered through allows the ability to see through solid object. 

The Revenger series presents, in part, professional treasure hunters focused on resource-oriented and practical aspects of their trade. There are few "monsters" presented--just the pirates and one other threat I won't give away. The dangers are traps or merely hazardous aspects of the environment.  These aspects make more solid inspirations for elements of D&D that don't usually get much of a showcase in fiction.

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 March 7, 1985. 

Best of DC #61: I haven't reviewed these digests since the earliest days of this blog series, but since I have mentioned this issue many times and how great I thought it was in my childhood (and I still do), I thought I should note it. If you only wanted to read one anthology of late pre-Crisis DC material to judge what it had to offer, this would be the one. We've got "Anatomy Lesson" from Swamp Thing, "Who is Donna Troy?" from New Teen Titans, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner?"from Legion of Super-Heroes, and "Final Duties" from Green Lantern, then lesser, but still notable stories: "Babe's Story" from Atari Force, "Killers Also Smile" from Sgt. Rock, "Viva Nebiros" from Blue Devil, and "If Superman Didn't Exist..." from Action Comics.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #3: I bought this issue off the stands as well. We get introduced to Alexander Luthor, last survivor of Earth-Three and an adolescent now composed of both matter and antimatter. He's in the care of the Monitor. Harbinger, meanwhile, is preparing for her betrayal.
Flash is somehow in the future (his series will get around to this, I'm sure!) and to escape a wall of antimatter, begins vibrating his molecules back in time--which again leads to us seeing him giving a desperate warning to Batman and the Outsiders and the Teen Titans in the 20th Century, as they try to save people from the antimatter wave in New York. Also in the present, though out in space, Brainiac becomes concerned about events and decides to seek out Lex Luthor.
In Markovia in 1944, the Monitor's chosen, Blue Beetle, Dr. Polaris, and Geo-Force, wind up fighting alongside a who's who of DC's war comics characters: Sgt. Rock and Easy, Stuart's Raiders, and the Losers. Those last wind up losing their lives to shadow demons.
Cyborg, Green Lantern, Psimon and Firebrand arrive in Texas in 1879. They meet up with several Western heroes including, Nighthawk, Scalphunter, Bat Lash, Johnny Thunder and Jonah Hex. The two disparate groups join forces and fight the shadow demons. Either what happens isn't clear or I missed something, but somehow Nighthawk winds up in a separate place from the group and is taken by the antimatter wave riding towards a town.
Other heroes fall: Psycho Kid is taken by the wave in the 30th Century. In Earth-AD, Solovar succumbs to his injuries suffered last issue. We're only 3 issues in and things are looking bad for the heroes!

Atari Force #18: Baron and Bareto/Villagran open with Tempest escaping from detention on New Earth, but he spends much of the issue lost in weirder corners of the multiverse until Dart is able to guide him to Scanner One. Scanner One has to get back home because supplies are running low, but the navigational path is a treacherous one. Dart, based on her vision, volunteers Blackjak for the task, and ultimately, Martin relents. Blackjak's new eye makes it an all but impossible task, but the Tazlings restore his mechanical one in time for him to get them to safety.
In the Hukka backup by Manak and Rogers/Delbeato, Young Christopher Champion takes Hukka with shopping with him to buy some action figures, but Hukka stays behind and the store closes. He gets chased by the security patrol dog. Christopher, realizing his pet is missing, uses his phasing powers to rescue the critter.

DC Comics Presents #82: Bates's story here is pretty good but elevated by Janson's art. Alanna is having recurrent nightmares and when she begins to mumble in Kryptonian, Adam Strange calls in Superman. It turns out Alanna is possessed by a Kryptonian demoness called Zazura, who is out to destroy Rann. When they figure out her presence on Rann is due to it passing through the area of space where Krypton was when it was destroyed 30 years ago, they are able to use a crystal harvested from Krypton's dust to weaken and destroy her. Superman also gets a chance to commune with other spirits of his lost homeworld, those of its people.

Fury of Firestorm #3: This issue isn't Kayanan's or Kupperberg's best interior art, though the cover is nice. Perhaps it was rushed? Storywise, Conway picks up where last issue left off, with Firestorm having been left for dead, Stein silent, apparently unconscious, and the Killer Frost/Plastique team headed for Niagara Falls. Firestorm pursues them, and luckily, he's helped in this second round by Firehawk. He takes down Plastique while Firehawk deals with Killer Frost. Later, Ronnie visits Stein in the hospital as he recovers from a concussion. Though he will miss him when the Professor moves to Pittsburgh, he now feels better able to go on without him--but when Doreen mentions college to him, Ronnie begins thinking that they can both go to school in Pittsburgh!

Jonni Thunder #3: Turns out Red Nails isn't just an exotic entertainer and club owner, she's also very much in the know regarding the statue and apparently able to put together an electrical super-weapon to threaten the city, cribbed from Tesla's notes! Jonni and Harrison Trump have to make common cause to escape Red and her Glamazons (that's what they're called!), then thwart her super-weapon. In between all that, 'Slim' Chance makes yet another attempt to steal the Thunderbolt statue.

Justice League of America #238: In the beginning of the issue, Conway and Hoberg/Patton address the continuity problems created by Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash being away for "weeks" while the old JLA was disbanded and a new one formed, all while having ongoing adventures in their own titles--and Flash even being on trial. The solution: "Crisis did it," which may make this the first appearance of that explanation that will get used quite a bit in years to come. The issue ends with the 3 going back in time via Flash's treadmill to not "create a paradox."
That out of the way, we get down to Vixen having her final confrontation with her uncle. He kidnaps Mother Windom to provoke her, and Aquaman seems to use his telepathy to briefly stop her from going after him, but Martian Manhunter intervenes and reproves him for his coercive tactics. Maksai dies as a result of his actions, and Vixen's father is avenged.

Shadow War of Hawkman #2: The editorial notes in place of a letter column in this issue make clear that Isabella is engaged in sort of Thomas-like retcon and streamlining of the Hawk mythos, which I suppose makes this the first in an almost continuous history of such from the mid-80s on. In the main story, the Shadow War continues with the murder of a mutant who is just practicing with his flight powers. In Midway City, Katar Hol prepares to go after the attackers. He tracks them to their cave hideout and meets their leader Fell Andar. He first has the upper hand, but they manage to capture him when he is shocked by his discovery that they are Thanagarians.

Tales of the Teen Titans #54: Buckler does interior pencils here, though Barreto proves the cover. The trial of the Flash uh, Terminator continues, and it isn't going well, because in the New York state of the DCU if they don't have an admitted super-criminal super-soldier with links to a terrorist organization beyond a reasonable doubt on a murder wrap, they've just gotta let him go! So decides Judge Adrian (Vigilante) Chase. Anyway, Slade is helped in escaping justice by the mysterious impersonator who creates doubt that he is in fact the Terminator. This turns out to be Gar Logan using Mento's helmet to project an image. He wants Slade free to he can seek his own justice. Meanwhile, Azrael pines for Lilith and Lilith wonders about his past. This stuff might build tension if it all hadn't been explored in the past couple of issues of the sister title.

Vigilante #18: After painting Linnaker as a relentless killer last issue, Moore and Biakie move to at least humanize him a bit by revealing his thoughts in a letter he wrote to his daughter from prison. As he searches for a way to get out of town with a terrified Jodie, Fever and Vigilante keep up their uneasy partnership to try to track the two down. In the end, Vigilante and Linnaker engage in a brutal fight, but Jodie grabs a gun and shoots Vigilante, not her father. Fever runs over Linnaker with a car, however, and keeps on doing it until he's definitely dead. Jodie in horror starts to shoot her, but Vigilante takes the gun. In the aftermath, Vigilante is trouble by all of this, and by what he read in Linnaker's unsent letter, including attacks on the hyprocrisy of society and the nature of judgement. 

With our Land of Azurth campaign nearing its conclusion, I've been thinking about what might come after. Or more truthfully, I've thought of several things that could come after in the last few months as I've felt the end was nigh.

Currently, I've been considering a variation on an idea I've had before: a high adventure occasionally dungeoneering fantasy world inspired by Japanese Standard (Western) Fantasy. Magitech will plan a big role in the setting, and there will be a loose approach to anachronism (even looser than standard D&D settings). This sort of setting will also support the expansive "ancestries" available these days in 5e and high action combat.

The incursion of "demons" (more like the broader D&Dism of fiends than the specifically chaotic evil variety) in service of a Demon King that will reside in the dark side of the physical world rather than a separate plane. I think the world will be shape like an inverted bowl with the demon world being within the concave surface. The "rim" will be the Terminator, a region that never sees more of the sun than twilight and holds numerous lonely fortifications to watch for demonic incursion.

To the extent that it will be variant from standard D&D, I don't worry much about my players accepting it. They've been playing in Azurth for over a decade so that shouldn't be a problem! I do want it to be distinct from Azurth though to provide a somewhat different experience.

In the Latter Ages of Earth, it is known that the scientist mages of more lucent eras spoke of an invisible, co-existing realm. Scholars know this as the Plane of Shadow. It is long been rumored that there are artifacts allowing minds or shadows to be translated into this shadow realm. These legendary artifacts are known as black mirrors. 

The Plane of Shadow is no ethereal realm, but a place of matter as solid as any, but it remains aloof and invisible. It only interaction is with gravity, so that there might well be whole ecologies of this shadow matter upon the Earth unknown to the mundane world. 

If the black mirrors truly exist, it implies that there is or once was, a civilization or entity on the other side capable of constructing some sort of form for a mind passing through. If such a Shadow or intelligence civilization exists, they could well have some means of sending agents into the world of mundane matter as well.