Robin #19

Robin 19, “War Gods in the Hood,” Cover Date August 1995

Written by Chuck Dixon, Pencils by Mike Wieringo, Inks by Stan Woch

Tim Drake, aka Robin #3, is the Robin I grew up with as a kid in the 90’s. After the disaster that was the Jason Todd death, Tim Drake was created to be a smart, dedicated hero in his own right that wouldn’t be resented by fans for “stealing” Dick Grayson’s job the way Todd was. Early writers of the character, primarily Chuck Dixon, really focused on the “detective” aspect of the character. It’s easy to blame Batman’s sidekick getting his own series as some sort of early 90’s cash-grab, but the early Robin books tend to be consistently very good. All written by Chuck Dixon, who handled the mini-series and first 100 issues of the solo series, the books also benefitted from solid art from veterans like Tom Lyle and Tom Grummett. In the book’s second year, Mike Wieringo took over as the book’s regular penciler, and here we are!

Review: X-Force #46

X-Force #46, “Behind Closed Doors,” Cover Date September, 1995
Written by Jeph Loeb, Penciled by Adam Pollina, Inked by Mark Pennington

Most people on the outside looking in at X-Force see it as proof of 90’s excess: it was Rob Liefeld’s pet project, the book that set all sorts of speculator records before being overshadowed by Jim Lee’s X-Men #1. Despite not having its own media presence, there was a line of action figures featuring endless variations of Cable, the team’s gun-toting mystery-man. While it’s true that the book as drawn and plotted by Rob Liefeld was the sort of big, bombastic action you’d expect from a book called “X-Force,” what a lot of people may not remember is that Liefeld’s tenure on the title was exceptionally brief.

X-Force had begun life as the New Mutants, the mid-80’s teen group created when Jim Shooter noticed that there were basically no more teens on the X-Men title (except Kitty), and while the team’s roster had changed in the wake of Cable taking over as leader, these were still characters that had existed in some form for several years. As I mentioned in my New Warriors review, I am a sucker for “teens growing up” stories, and X-Force is no exception. Personally, I found the leader-less “wandering around” phase far more interesting than the military strike team. So let’s get into it!

Review: Avengers #393

Avengers #393, "Dark Days Dawn," Cover Date December 1995
Plot by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Script by Ben Raab, Pencils by Mike Deodato, Jr., Inks by Tom Palmer

Review: Iron Man #323

Iron Man #323, "Innocent Eyes," Cover Date December 1995
Plot by Terry Kavanagh, Script by Dan Abnett, Pencils by Hector Oliveira, Jim Cheung, and Yancey Labat, Inks by Mark McKenna

Review: Badrock #1

Badrock #1, Cover Date March 1995
Plot and pencils by Rob Liefeld, Script by Eric Stephenson, Inks by Jonathan Sibal and Danny Miki

Last week I reviewed Angela, the surprisingly good Spawn spin-off about an Angel that does not wear pants. It probably helped that Neil Gaiman was the writer. So in the interest of fairness, here is another Image comic from a few months later, a Badrock spin-off from Rob Liefeld's Extreme! Studios. Like all Liefeld creations, Badrock is a blatant theft of an existing character (Marvel Comics The Thing), but the twist is: he's only 16 years old when he's turned into a granite rock monster guy. Radical!

Review: Force Works #18

Force Works #18, "Welcome to Nowhere," Original Cover Date December, 1995
Written by Abnett & Lanning, Penciled by Yancey Labat, Inked by Rey Garcia

Review: Iron Man #322

Iron Man #322, "The Darkest Page to Turn," Cover Date November, 1995
Written by Terry Kavanagh,Pencils by Jim Cheung and Sergio Cariello, Inked by Mark McKenna and Hector Collazo

Generation X Annual 95 #1

Generation X Annual 95 #1, "Of Leather and Lace," Cover Date November 1995
Written by Scott Lobdell and Jeph Loeb, pencils by Ashley Wood and Shawn McManus, Inks by various including Bill Sienkiewicz, cover by Michael Golden

We interrupt your regularly scheduled "making fun of Avengers: The Crossing" for a very special crossover event with my sibling blog/podcast, Your Stupid Minds. This week we review Generation X, the TV pilot(?) that has about the same budget and quality as the Fantastic Four film from 1994. To celebrate, I'm reviewing Generation X Annual 95, an issue that came out the same month as the Crossing, over in the X-verse.

Review: Avengers #392

Avengers #392, "The Past is With Us Always...", Cover Date November, 1995
Written by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Pencils by M.C. Wyman, Inks by Tom Palmer

It seems like forever since I've checked in with the Avengers during this Avengers crossover. Just so we're caught up: Iron Man murdered two people, but apparently doesn't remember doing it. He found the records, but seems to have forgotten them, and the next thing anybody knew, surveillance footage was changed to be of Hawkeye. Hawkeye was brought in by Force Works, presumably for questioning, but U.S. Agent and War Machine broke him out of Force Works headquarters before anything was resolved. There's also a mystery door in Avengers Mansion that a guy named "Neut" came out of, stabbing forgotten Avenger Gilgamesh. And now we're all caught up!

Review: War Machine #20

War Machine #20, "A Little Muscle," Cover Date October, 1995
Written by Dan Abnett, Pencils by Fred Haynes, Inks by Johnny Greene

Review: Force Works #17

Force Works #17, "Cybermancy!" Cover Date November 1995
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Pencils by Jim Cheung, Inks by Rey Garcia

Review: Iron Man #321

Iron Man #321, "Psi-Fi," Original Cover Date October, 1995
Written by Terry Kavanagh, Penciled by Heitor Oliveira and Marcos Tetelli, Inked by Mark McKenna

Following the thrilling conclusion to Avengers: The Crossing, you'd expect the ramifications to be felt pretty deeply in a comic starring a guy we just saw murder people. But, as the saying goes, expect the unexpected.

Review: Avengers #390

Avengers #390, "Campfire Tales," Cover Date September 1995
Written by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Penciled by Mike Deodato, Inked by Tom Palmer

I've gone into it a bit already in several other posts, but 1995 saw Marvel fracture into several different editorial branches, each with its own editor-in-chief. This might not have been so bad if the editors weren't all "separate but equal," and driven by stockholders and their marketing department to directly compete with one another. Thus, the Clone Saga is born out of a desire to compete with the X-Men's successful "Age of Apocalypse," as is the slightly lesser known but equally infamous "The Crossing." So let's do it!

Review: Avengers #389

Avengers #389, "Message From Home," Cover Date August 1995
Written by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Penciled by Fabio Laguna, Inked by Scott Koblish

Well, last month we wrapped up "Taking A.I.M.," so now the Avengers go into the home-stretch before "The Crossing," as Deodato needs another fill-in after a strenuous TWO issues in two months. So let's all enjoy a one-off about Deathcry!

Review: Avengers Unplugged #1

Avengers Unplugged #1, "Unchain My Heart," Cover Date October 1995
Written by Glenn Herdling, Art by M.C. Wyman and Sandu Florea

Last month, I alluded to Marvel's corporate synergy and how it created the greatness that was Fantastic Force as part of an attempt to expand the "Marvel Universe" editorial brand that didn't have the hot sellers that X-Men and Spider-Man's clone saga had at the time. In addition to the majesty of Devlor the Inhuman, Marvel of this time created "Unplugged" versions of books like Avengers and Fantastic Four, a great way to enjoy acoustic versions of your favorite superhero comics. Seriously though, they're pretty bad. Let's get to it!

Review: Avengers #388

Avengers #388, "Into the Breach," Taking A.I.M. Part 4/4, Cover Date July 1995
Written by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Pencils by Mike Deodato, Inks by Tom Palmer

Previously on The Avengers/Captain America: Our assembled heroes have arrived at Boca Caliente, an island owned by A.I.M. that was used to develop a new cosmic cube. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong and unexplained energy is shooting out of the ground and several dead characters have been willed into existence. Captain America has entered the source of the breach where he found MODOK struggling to contain the energy.

Review: Captain America #441

Captain America #441, "Through the Perilous Fight," Taking A.I.M. Part 3, Cover Date July 1995
Written by Mark Gruenwald, Pencils by Dave Hoover, Inks by Joe Rosen

Previously on the Avengers: we are rather obliquely told that Boca Caliente has the power to grant wishes, a result of A.I.M.'s attempts to create a new cosmic cube. Captain America apparently wishes his WWII partner Bucky back into existence, while a small boy wishes for a dog and Quicksilver inadvertently wishes for his dad Django "Unchained" Maximoff to show up. The Avengers, Cap's team, the Red Skull, and a bunch of Adaptoids are all poised for a showdown as M.O.D.O.K. appears re-born, attacking Cap and Bucky.

Review: Avengers #387

Avengers #387, "Island of Spirits," Taking A.I.M. Part 2 of 4, Cover Date June 1995
Written by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Pencil breakdowns by Mike Deodato, finishes by Tom Palmer

Previously on the Avengers: In last issue's Avengers, the team encountered the Red Skull at an abandoned base in the Yukon. Black Widow battled him to a draw until Red Skull disappeared. Captain America returned, wearing armor due to health problems. Then, in Captain America, Cap and his squad (Free Spirit, Jack Flag and Falcon), the Avengers, misandrist villain Superia, and the Red Skull all converged on the mysterious Boca Caliente, following a lead on A.I.M. creating a new cosmic cube. The group's have all split up, with Cap receiving an injection of something from Superia.

Review: Captain America #440

Captain America #440, "Dawn's Early Light," Taking A.I.M. part 1 of 4, Cover Date June 1995
Written by Mark Gruenwald, Pencils by Dave Hoover, Inks by Joe Rosen

I should admit going into this that I'm not a fan of Captain America. I think he works fine as a part of the Avengers, but I think he's an incredibly dull protagonist compared to just about every other Marvel character. So while I know a lot of obscure trivia about most Marvel characters, I've only read a few scattered issues of Captain America before Brubaker and Epting tricked me into buying an amazing crime book that featured Captain America (until he was killed off 25 issues in).

Review: Avengers 386

Avengers 386, "Shadow Hunt," prelude to "Taking A.I.M.," Cover Date May 1995
Written by Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh, Pencils by guest penciler Angel Medina, Inks by guest inker Scott Koblish

 Previously on the Avengers: Bob Harras had begun co-writing with Terry Kavanagh, a Brazilian artist known for his depictions of heroines in thongs took over the art chores, and the Avengers found themselves led to a base in the Yukon territory where they were attacked by the Red Skull!