But more than that — remember how in the ‘90s whenever a new hero was introduced, he’d travel around to all the big guns to get their approval and be anointed a real hero? The same thing happens here, with Hawk and Dove traveling to Gotham City and Batman giving his blessing to them — effusively. It’s really out of character for Batman and frankly kind of creepy.

For the second month in a row, an issue of Hawk & Dove starts with a rooftop chase. This time, Hawk is being chased by c-level Batman bad guy Blockbuster. The two have been sparring and fighting all the way from Washington DC to Gotham City (on foot, apparently. Just how close are those two cities?). Blockbuster stole an amulet from the Smithsonian and Hawk managed to wrest it from him, but now Blockbuster wants it back. The fight is brutal, and Blockbuster is winning. Dove shows up and the momentum shifts, but Blockbuster still manages to win and takes the amulet from around Hawk’s neck. The duo prepare to chase after him, but run afoul first of Robin, and then Batman. They learn that several mystic relics have been stolen by a sorceress known as the Necromancer and they decide to team up to stop her.

Once Hawk, Dove, Batman, and Robin arrive at the Necromancer’s hideout, the fight begins (again). Batman and Hawk take down Blockbuster while Dove and Robin battle the sorceress and manage to nab the stolen relics, breaking her mystic circle. The villainess disappears in a puff of smoke (literally), but not before spewing out villain defeat line #9: “I will see you pay for your trespass!” After an awkward pep talk from Batman, Hawk and Dove head back to Washington DC.

The art is significantly better this month. It may be that since Liefeld is now writing the comic himself, he can write to his own strengths as artist (and weaknesses too – cut out the two page splashes!). Art continuity is still an issue: Blockbuster rips the amulet from the defeated Hawk’s neck – an amulet never shown on the previous six pages, where every panel depicted Hawk. The Necromancer’s helmet varies from panel to panel. Liefeld’s Robin is surprisingly good – if he were drawing Dick or Tim; for Damian, the character looks several years too old. His Batman is quite good as well and he makes the new seamed costume look believable – if only his Batman didn’t have such a penchant fro uncomfortable poses.

On a scale of 1 to 5 deformed Captain Americas, with 1 being good and 5 being execrable, this art on this issue rates 2.5 deformed Captain Americas.

All Previous Hawk and Dove Reviews

Tags: comics hawk dove batman robin rob liefled

Click on the image for the full PSA

I’ve got nothing negative or snarky to say today, I think the Special Olympics are a great organization and I’ve had a great time every time I’ve helped them (and apparently I helped Superman as well).

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Nope. The mayor has the measles, yet still wants to attend the City Council meeting. Truly a problem requiring all the abilities of the Man of Steel (sorry, orphans, try to enjoy the searing pain from the toxic waste).

This is Superman, so he must have a brillaint plan to “beat those measly measles,” right? Wrong again. No shrinking down and battling the evil virus and its zombified cells. No jumping forward a few years in time, grabbing a measles vaccine, then jumping back in time to before the mayor was infected. None of that. Instead, Superman visits a glass factory and makes a giant glass globe.

Then he plunks the mayor in the sphere, along with his desk, some papers, and what looks like a very limited supply of air, and flies him off to the City Council meeting.

Mission accomplished.
This was truly a job for Superman.
Join us tomorrow when he helps City Councilman Adams take an old couch to the curb for trash pickup.

The doctor is working hard to “pull them thru” by…doing what, exactly? Putting a warm washcloth over their eyes? Tucking them in?

Now, I’m no expect on knockout gases, but I think I could do better than that.

I like the way there’s a list of rules on the back wall. I can only imagine what they say: “No roughhousing,” “No running with scissors,” “Wash your hands before returning to work”

This week, Hogan and jwsellers took first with 13 points. Nextsundayad, vivalavida, and wkmaier were close behind with 12 points.

Overall, James H and Nextsundayad share the lead with 39 points. wkmaier moves into second with 38 points while Dr. R drops to fourth with his 37 points. Yerkietand mbrigdan are tied for fifth with 35 points. If you have 31 or more points, then you are in the top 10%.

Click here to see the full scoreboard.

To the best of my knowledge, Demerol has never been considered a truth serum. That is a term usually reserved for certain barbituates (sodium pentothal, amobarbital) or anticholinergic drugs (scopolamine). Demerol (generic name meperidine or pithidine), on the other hand, is a very potent narcotic pain killer. Admittedly, unlike most narcotics, Demerol does have some anticholinergic effects, but these don’t kick in except in very high doses, and the poor victim would be unconsciousness and probably dead from a Demerol overdose long before the effects became clinically useful.

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Scarecrow’s first two appearances were in the Golden Age and, frankly, were not terribly imaginative or exciting. Jonathan Crane was little more than a thug (albeit an over-educated one) who used a scarecrow motif. The only fear he caused was by threatening and shooting victims with a run of the mill pistol. It wasn’t until the Scarecrow’s first Silver Age appearance in Batman #189 that his fear gas was seen, and even then it was fairly underwhelming and only seen in one panel. The gas was just one of several techniques used by Crane to instill fear in Batman and Robin.

scene from Batman #189 (by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff. February 1967)

Mr. Fear and his fear gas pellets appeared in Daredevil #6 and predated Scarecrow’s use of fear gas by two years. Zoltan Drago was slightly mad chemist who ran a failing wax museum. His brilliant plan was to devise a serum that would bring his wax figures to life, giving him an unstoppable army. Yet somehow, despite his genius, he was unable to get his experiments to work. Then one night, his cat jumped up on his work bench and spilled some of his chemicals onto a Bunsen burner. The smoke it gave off induced terror, and Drago decided to use his accidental discovery to become Mr. Fear.

scene from Daredevil #6 (by Stan Lee and Wally Wood. February 1965)

Puerto Rico,
You lovely island
Island of tropical breezes
Always the pineapples growing
Always the coffee blossoms blowing

Click on the image for the full ad

Interesting how the PSA claims the citizens of Puerto Rico have full rights and privileges of U.S. citizens, right before enumerating which rights they don’t have.

Apparently people living on Hawaii lack certain rights as they are not “mainland” citizens. (For the record, this PSA was published several years after Hawaii became a state.)

Back when I was a doctor in the Air Force, about a hundred of us were returning to the States after a several month deployment to Haiti. We had an overnight stay in San Juan, Puerto Rico, before flying the rest of the way back to Nevada. As we were getting off the plane, one of the airmen asked if he needed to exchange his money for “Puerto Rican money.” I calmly reminded him that Puerto Rico was part of the United States and his regular money would be just fine. I may have rolled my eyes a bit, too — sources vary. Looking back, I missed a great opportunity: I should have taken his $20, told him I’d exchange it, and then given him back a $5 telling him it was local currency.

This PSA can be found in DC Comics from April 1963. The script, warts and all, was written by Jack Schiff with art bu Sheldon Moldoff.

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