Polite Dissent

Batman: Gotham County Line #2
Steve Niles, writer
Scott Hampton, penciler

Batman is feeling tired and light-headed. He suspects that he has been drugged, so he draws a sample of blood and runs it through the Batcomputer. The computer returns the results quickly (must be nice). What did they show?

Glucose 60-109 mg/dl.

Interesting how Batman’s advanced Batcomputer can only give a range for this test, and not a specific number. Anyway, 60-109 milligrams-per-deciliter is the normal range for a fasting glucose (blood sugar) test. A lower result would suggest some kind of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), while a high number would suggest a high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), and possibly diabetes (or possibly a recent meal).

Electrolytes normal.

This tells us that Batman’s sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate are all normal. Not a big surprise since he was not showing symptoms of high- or low-levels in any of these.

Blood Urea Nitrogen normal.

A test that with the creatinine gives a quick snapshot of how the kidneys are performing. It’s strange that the creatinine is not mentioned here. In fact, the glucose, electrolytes, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine make up a standard chemistry panel known as a Chem 7 (or SMA-7 or BMP), so it seems the Batcomputer left something out.
Blood urea nitrogen is usually called the BUN. Don’t make the same rookie med student mistake I made: BUN is pronounced “B-U-N”, not “bun.”

AST, ALT, SGOT, SGPT, and GGT, and Alkaline Phosphatase levels normal to low.

There’s redundancy here. AST (aspartate aminotransferase) is the same thing as SGOT (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase), and ALT is (alanine transaminase) another name for SGPT (serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase). In medical school, we were taught that AST and ALT were the more “modern” names, but I notice that many laboratories are going back to the traditional SGOT and SGPT. Regardless, the ALT, AST, GGT (gamma glutamyl transpeptidase) and Alkaline Phosphatase are all liver enzymes. They are elevated in cases of liver damage or disease (trauma, hepatitis, or heavy alcohol consumption, for instance). Batman’s reading of “normal to low” suggests that there is nothing wrong with the liver.

No drug metabolites detected.

Of course, you can only test for drugs that are known to exist. There are no testing assays for brand new or experimental drugs. Just a thought.

Batman’s blood tests are normal. His approach was what I like to call a “shotgun approach” to testing. Draw a whole bunch of labs and see if by chance anything is abnormal. It’s not the best way to conduct medicine as it gives you too many false postives and whole bunch of wasted time. He may be a great detective, but he needs to leave the medicine to the trained professionals (those that he doesn’t exile to Africa anyway).

It’s time to pause and take a moment to look at what search phrases brought folks to Polite Dissent. The usual suspects (Dave Trampier, Gor, Hawk and Dove, Zatanna) were all near the top, joined this month by quite a few searches for both the Bing Crosby/David Bowie “Little Drummer Boy” and the apalling Beach Boys song “Little Saint Nick.”

Search phrases are in green. My comments — if any were required — are italicized.

Love’s Not Time’s Fool Department
english translation of shakespeare noval taming of the shrew
You do realize that Taming of the Shrew was written in English, right?
lyrics i hate men from taming of the shrew
“I Hate Men” is from the musical Kiss Me, Kate which is based on Taming of the Shrew, in more ways than one. Anyway, it’s a great song (particularly the line about Lassie), and here are the lyrics.

Good Questions Department
what happened to scottie mythbusters
I wonder that myself. And what happened to the original assistant Christy?
if a wound is cleaned and medicine put on the cut will it prevent tetanus
Tetanus is most common in puncture wounds and burns. Cleaning a wound helps, but sometimes it’s not enough, and that’s where the tetanus vaccine come in.

Medical Questions Department
medication error involving a nurse on atropine
Was the atropine the medication error, or was the nurse on atropine (which seems bizarre)?
what drug is in the form of a blue pill
There are many, including Clarinex, Synthroid, and Warfarin — just off the top of my head. This one’s probably the one you’re thinking off, though.

You People Scare Me Department
where to purchase animal immunizing dart guns
wkrp fiction and wkrp fanfic
fan fiction;robin; kidnap;chloroform

I Have No Idea What These People are Even Talking About Department
staph infection is frog puncture would in horse
as i wants addresses of alls of alls attackers

Tonight’s House is a repeat of “TB or Not TB,” guest starring Ron Livingston who — depending on your tastes — you may remember from Office Space or Sex in the City (or maybe Band of Brothers).

Jack Cross #3 “Love Will Only Get You Killed, part 3 of 5”
Warren Ellis, writer
Gary Erskine, penciler

In Jack Cross #3, we are treated to a lovely picture of Cross punching an opponent in the head and the damage to the brain beneath the blow. Nice image. Of course, brain injury doesn’t quite happen that way.

The brain is a well-protected organ. It is surrounded by the skull and several tough membranes. In addition, it is floating in a layer of cerebrospinal fluid which acts as a kind of shock absorber. The only way a blow can directly injure the brain is if it cracks the skull and impacts the brain.

However, because the brain is floating in the cerebrospinal fluid, strong blows will cause the brain to move around within the skull cavity. The acceleration and deceleration caused by severe blows can damage the brain leading to concussion, unconsciousness, and even permanent brain damage. The exact reason that these forces injure the brain is unknown, but is thought to occur on the cellular level. Rotational acceleration is even worse, leading to more severe damage.

In extreme cases, a blow can cause enough acceleration for the brain to impact the inside of the skull. This impact can cause direct damage to the brain in addition to the cellular injury mentioned above. Strong punches can also tear blood vessels within the skull and brain, leading to intracranial hematomas which can cause unconsciousness or death.

Think about boxing. The competitors don’t pummel each other’s foreheads trying to injure the brain; instead they strike the jaw in an attempt to land a solid blow that snaps the head back (linear acceleration) or around to the side (rotational acceleration).

I’ll gladly admit that this post has been an oversimplification of the brain injuries caused by brawling, but it’s a good basic primer in how these injuries occur — and it’s not by a direct blow to the brain.

Grand Rounds this week is being held over at Random Acts of Reality. As always, this an excellent collection of recent medical blogging posts, so make sure you check it out.

---

Speaking of Med Blogging, voting for the 2005 Medical Weblog Awards is open thorugh January 15th over at Medgaget.

The clinic where I work is hosting a Trivia Night on January 21st here in O’Fallon, Illinois. All the money raised will be going to one of the local hospital charities. It’ll be a fun night, plus it’s relatively inexpensive as Trivia Nights go. We’re just fifteen minutes east of St. Louis, so I encourage anyone in the area to join a team and compete.

Plus, I’m in charge of the questions, so you know it’ll be worth a laugh or two…

I’ve been spending several hours a day for the last week playing Dungeon Siege II. The original Dungeon Siege was one of my favorite hack-and-slash style RPGs, and it had some innovative concepts, especially in regards to skills and character progression. The new game logically extends some of these concepts into a more comprehensive skill and bonus system.

Overall, this game is a slightly prettier version of the original Dungeon Siege. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: the same could be said about Diablo II, another favorite game. The underlying storyline is incrementally better as well.

Dungeon Siege II is an enjoyable game, but it’s also one of the most frustrating games I’ve played recently. I’d like to recommend it unreservedly, but I can’t. There are too many poorly thought out gameplay elements. In fact, there are several areas where Dungeon Siege II has actually taken a step backwards from the original game:

1. Saves. Unlike the original game, players are only allowed a single save game in Dungeon Siege II. And while you can save anywhere, you always start over in the nearest city, not the spot where you saved. This leads to a lot of needless trudging throughout the game. If this were a console game — or even a console port — I could understand this; but this is a PC game and there’s no need for this frustrating save system, especially since the first game did it right. (There’s also no easy way to load the saved game. You have to go back to the main menu and load it from there, you can’t load it in game).
2. Pathfinding. I’m having more problems with pathfinding AI in this game. The members of my party routinely get stuck behind walls and rocks.
3. The screen real estate is too cluttered. There are character portraits and status displays in the upper left, a large information panel in the top center (that all too often obscures other menus), and a large “order bar” at the bottom with a map. There are no hot keys that will hide/reveal this information as in the first game. You can resize the character information (to a point), but you have to click and drag each portrait separately. Increasing the resolution helps with this cluttering to some degree, but it also makes the map (the one useful item on the order bar) significantly harder to read (especially when trying to find those important “blue dots.”)
4. Shopping is an annoyingly inefficient. If I want to stock up on potions, I have to drag and drop each potion individually. If I’m buying 10 potions for each member of my party, this means I’ll need to do this 40 or 60 times. In the original version, there was a hot key you could click to buy an item instead of having to drag and drop.
5. The game has limits in the original setting (”Mercenary”). Your party can’t be any larger than four, including pets and pack mules. The more powerful enemies and better treasures are not encountered. You can only get a larger party, stronger foes, and better treasures by playing the games at the higher levels — but you can’t play thses levels until you “unlock” them by finishing the Mercenary setting. This forces repetition if you want to get your money’s worth. It seems to me that players should want to play the game again, not be forced to.

While most of these are annoyances, the save game situation is a real distraction. What is so frustrating is that the original game got all these right. The cynic in me suspects the programmers were trying to lengthen a short game, or focused too much on multiplayer to the detriment of the single player.

Unless these issues can be fixed, I’d recommend waiting to pick up Dungeon Siege II in the bargain bin in a few months.

Mutopia X #5
David Hines, writer
Lan Medina, penciler

Chamayra Ortega, daughter of police detective Ismael Ortega, was accidentally shot by an anti-mutant terrorist in the previous issue. She has been rushed to the nearest hospital for evaluation and treatment.

Doctor #1: The x-rays show severe trauma to the stomach and lungs.

While x-rays are best for bones, they can certainly show lung trauma including pneumothorax (a collapsed lung) and hemothorax (bleeding around the lung). The x-ray wouldn’t show much in the way of detail or specifics, but it would be enough to know that something is wrong.

Stomachs, on the other hand, do not show up well on plain x-rays. The stomach can be successfully x-rayed if some sort of oral contrast — such as barium — is used, but that’s not an option in a trauma scenario.

Doctor #2: We don’t have time for a full CT Scan.

That’s debatable. Her blood pressure is stable and she’s receiving a transfusion, so there would probably be sufficient time to obtain a CT as they’re fairly quick. It’s definitely the surgeon’s call, however; so I’ll leave it up to him.

Nitpicks:

• the blood pressure cuff is too low…it’sover the elbow.
• If she has impaired breathing, she should be intubated and not on a face mask.
• The way her gown is arranged, there is no way the doctors can examine the wound
• That x-ray is way too small for a child her size, and a strange view as well.

---

I’m confused about why the doctor was so surprised when he operated on Chamayra and found evidence of gunshot trauma. She was shot just the previous issue.

I suspect that Hine is suggesting that the doctor found evidence of her original wound –when she was accidentally shot by her brother in one of the later issues of District X instead of the wound from when she was shot in Mutopia X #4, but the writing is not very clear on that point.

---

That has got to be the ugliest cover ever for any comic. Why would that induce anyone to buy the comic?
“Oh look a rotting and worm infested apple — I have to read that book!”

My autographed print of Thrillkiller Batgirl alongside my new Thrillkiller Batgirl action figure.

Tags: comics batgirl

I have got to get me a pair of those.

Tags: comics advertising

Dynamic Tension…now where have I heard that phrase before?

Tags: comics advertising rocky horror

A now infamous classic ad to end the weekend.

As originally discussed over at Dave’s Long Box.
(Click on the image for the full-sized ad).

Tags: comics advertising oj

This is the first of two recently acquired New Teen Titans drug awareness public service comics drom the 1980s. This particular comic starts out with a letter from then-First Lady Nancy Reagan telling kids to fight the battle against drug abuse. There is a strong martial theme running through the letter as if she expects the Draft to start any moment. No mention of astrology, though.

After a start like that, things can only get better, right? Think again…

The Teen Titans, teamed up with generic teen hero “The Protector,” stop a group of drug dealers at an amusement park (and destroy most of the park in the process). Then the Feds show up and take over.

Feds: Titans, Protector,thanks. We’ll take over now.
Protector: It’s the Federal Task Force!

Now when I say the Teen Titans, I’m referring to the classic Wolfman and Perez New Teen Titans from the early ’80s. Well, most of them, anyway. Robin is conspicuously absent. Everyone’s favorite ex-druggie super hero, Speedy, is also conveniently missing.

The Protector asks Wally West (a.k.a. Kid Flash) to keep an eye on his cousin Ted who just moved to Wally’s home town of Blue Valley, Nebraska. It seems that Ted once had a bad drug habit and the Protector is concerned he might fall prey to temptation again.

Everything is going great for Ted at first. He meets a nice girl and is doing well in school. Then Coral, a conniving cast off from Jem and the Holograms, talks him into trying drugs again. After that, it’s too late — he’s hooked! Ted starts doing harder and harder drugs. He breaks up with his girlfriend and begins skipping school.

Ted quickly runs out of money and the dealer won’t give him any more drugs. He and his buddy end up snorting some spilled cocaine off of a bathroom floor. When that doesn’t prove effective, the two of them attempt to rob a local convenience store. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong store and the shopkeeper pulls out a gun and wings Ted’s friend. Ted runs away and is found sobbing on the ground by his ex-girlfriend Amy, who takes him to the hospital to get help.

Meanwhile, the Titans (and the Protector) bust the dealer and the local drug ring. They all visit Ted and his friend in the hospital who both promise never to do drugs again.

The book ends with several pages of activities for readers regarding peer pressure, communication skills, and taking responsibility. This last part is actually very clever and well done.

The story is by Marv Wolfman, who created the New Teen Titans. Sadly, none of his normally keen storytelling skills or inventiveness are evident in this heavy handed story. There is page after page of by-the-book recitation of “drugs are bad for you” facts. In terms of the art, Ross Andru draws the action scenes well, but his talking heads approach to the didactic parts makes the dull sections even duller.

This comic was brought to you by DC Comics, the President’s Drug Awareness Campaign, and NSDA (the National Soft Drink Association).

Tags: comics medicine psa teen titans

Roger asked for some information on medically induced comas. As always, I’m happy to oblige:

When the brain is profoundly injured it begins to swell. There are many injuries that can lead to swelling including brain surgery, trauma, massive strokes, certain infections and certain toxins. This swelling and the resultant increase in intracranial pressure can injure the brain even more, leading to permanent brain damage or death.

Over the years, various methods have been used in an attempt to reduce the swelling of an injured brain. None of these techniques have been perfectly successful. Common procedures include hyperventilation, steroids, and medically-induced comas. In this last situation, the patient is kept unconscious by high doses of intravenous barbiturates. These drugs reduce the metabolic activity of the brain and decrease cerebral blood flow. This allows the swelling to go down, or at least, not progress as fast.

Medically induced comas have recently been used for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after his stroke and surviving coal miner Randal McCloy for his carbon-monoxide injured brain. Jeanna Giese, the teen-aged girl who survived rabies, was treated in part with a medically-induced coma.

Medically induced comas are not a panacea for all brain injuries. They have a significant rate of side effects, most likely due to the high doses of barbiturates required. Cardiovascular depression is the most common side effect, though immune suppression and gastrointestinal problems are also common. There is also some controversy regarding how effective the comas are at preventing brain damage. They are generally a treatment of last resort when more conventional therapies have failed.

• This article provides information on medically induced comas that is easy to understand yet comprehensive.
• Yesterday, NPR interviewed a well-known neurologist on medically-induced comas. Listen to it here.

Tags: medicine coma brain injury.

This medical review of House contains lots of words (probably too many) and several spoilers, so don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Fletcher Stone, a famous journalist, is at an office function when he falls and hits his head on a desk. There is some confusion whether he tripped or fell. He was knocked unconscious briefly, and when he came to he was unable to speak normally. He had developed aphasia and he only spoke in random words. He could understand what was being said, but was unable to talk intelligibly. When he was later examined in the hospital, he was also noted to have agraphia, the inability to write. Both aphasia and agraphia are signs that something very bad is going on in the brain.

Stone had apparently been the stereotypical “wild journalist” for most of his life. He had volunteered for risky assignments, drank copious amounts of alcohol, and indulged in frequent recreational drug use. He gave up all his vices when he got married a few years before the episode occurs.

House is away in Baltimore and Cuddy wants to transfer Fletch to another hospital. Foreman convinces her to let the rest of the team handle the case, though they keep in touch with House by phone for most of the episode. They initially suspect that Fletch may have had a stroke, suffered a seizure, or may be having a medication reaction. A carotid Doppler was normal as was an EEG. Fletch suddenly develops a coughing spell and has trouble getting oxygen. He is emergently intubated and placed on a ventilator. A chest x-ray shows pulmonary edema (fluid build-up in the lungs). He is given a diuretic (a “water pill”), which apparently worked very well because he is never shown intubated or having breathing problems again.

Meanwhile, his drug screen has come back positive for amphetamines. His editor confesses that Fletch had found difficulty sleeping in his new married life, so he started taking sleeping pills. Those made him too tired during the day, so he started taking amphetamines. Of course his wife knows nothing about this.

Fletch starts running a fever of 101. The team is now concerned about infection (encephalitis or meningitis) or an autoimmune disease. The treatment for these two conditions is very different, and treating both would be counterproductive, so they have to choose one treatment and go with it. House suggests treating the suspected infection with antibiotics and antivirals. He also insists the team obtain an MRI. The MRI shows brain swelling; it also shows scarring in the brain — as if from an old injury — but not in the areas of the brain that would cause aphasia.

Feeling they’ve reached a dead end, the team falls back on an old House standard: breaking and entering. Foreman and Chase search Fletch’s office and home. They find the sleeping pills and amphetamines, as well as a bottle of Topamax (officially a seizure medication, though it has many unofficial uses). At the hospital, Fletch starts complaining of a metallic taste and Cameron realizes that he is going into kidney failure (a metallic taste in the mouth is a symptom of kidney failure).

A lumbar puncture is performed. This can be a dangerous procedure on a patient with elevated intracranial pressure or brain swelling. When the puncture is performed, a sudden drop in intracranial pressure can occur. In patients with swelling, this can be enough to smash the brainstem against the spinal column, causing death. Luckily, Fletch’s test is performed safely and shows some non-specific signs of infection.

Belatedly, the team realizes that Fletch is hiding some of his past from his wife. They lure her out of the room and are able to discover that Fletch has bipolar disorder, which is why he had been taking the Topamax (one of its unofficial uses is as a mood stabilizer). To “cure” his bipolar disease before getting married, he had crossed the border into Mexico or the Caribbean and had an experimental brain surgery designed to cure bipolar. It didn’t work, but it did cause the scarring that the MRI revealed. Also, while he was “south of the border” he contracted malaria, and that is the underlying disease that had been causing all his problems. Fletch is soon cured of malaria, but sadly, his wife had left him because he kept too many secrets from her.

The writers played very loose with the diagnosis of aphasia. The symptoms shown by Fletch (sentences seemingly composed of random words – yet retaining understandable syntax) are not common in any type of aphasia, particularly the “expressive aphasia” Cameron mentioned. In addition, the idea that one can “decode” aphasia is simply ludicrous.

The final solution of malaria was a bit of a letdown as well. Malaria can certainly cause kidney failure and pulmonary edema, but it’s very rare and only in very severe cases. I’m not certain how the malaria caused the aphasia — a stroke maybe? — as that part was conveniently left unexplained. I find it hard to believe that malaria severe enough to cause renal, pulmonary and neurological disease would not have been easier to diagnose; there are many more common early symptoms including the classical cyclical fever (a high fever recurring like clockwork every 24-36 hours). According to the timeline of the episode, Fletch would have to have had malaria for several years without knowing it — something unheard of. While a mechanically tested blood sample would not show malaria specifically, it would show other abnormalities that could be picked up on. Finally, intravenous quinidine is not routinely available in the United States and must be shipped directly from the CDC so the hospital would not just have some on hand.

The soap opera aspect consisted of House and Stacey flying to Baltimore to defend House’s Medicare billing. A snowstorm leaves them stranded in Baltimore and in a single hotel room. There is some mutual smooching going on, but then the case intervenes. Things are left up in the air between House and Stacey, but with a definite “this is never going to work” undertone. I’m not sure why they had to fly to Baltimore (except to get them together and out of the hospital). The billing inquiry could have been handled over the phone or by mail.

I give this episode a B+ for the mystery, bot only a C- for the solution. The medical content also earns a below-average C- (mostly for the “decode the aphasia” scenes). The soap opera earns a B.

• Previous House reviews

Tags: television medicine house aphasia malaria.

I’m re-reading the Ellis and Millar Stormwatch and Authority runs, so expect them to pop up from time to time here in the near future. Just like this.

Jenny Sparks: Secret History of the Authority #4 “Many Happy Returns”
Mark Millar, writer
John McCrea, penciler

The Scene:
Captured by the Nazis while attempting to rescue a stolen occult object, Jenny Sparks is held captive by Albert Speer. To keep her sedated, she is injected with large amounts of the drug Largactil.

The Reality:
Largactil is one of the brand names of the drug chlorpromazine. Readers from the United States may be more familiar with its other brand name: Thorazine.

Chlorpromazine was the first true anti-psychotic drug. Originally developed to treat nausea, it was quickly recognized for its ability to help people suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Due to concerns about side effects — of both the temporary and permanent variety — the use of newer anti-psychotic drugs has supplanted the use of chlorpromazine in most parts of the world. (However, recent studies suggest these newer drugs may not be much better after all).

Chlorpromazine is a very sedating drug. In fact, another name for this class of drugs is “major tranquilizers.” 200 milligrams is a fairly high dose, particularly for someone who has never been on the drug before, so Jenny would be extremely sedated.

There is one major problem with Speer’s use of chlorpromazine: it wasn’t invented until 1950, well after the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II.

Must be those time traveling Nazis.

Tags: medicine comics chlorpromazine.

You ever notice that you rarely see super-heroes who age normally and die of naturally causes? Those that don’t die young seem to either have their aging slowed or reversed, or go out in a blaze of glory.

Certainly JSA has dealt frequently with older heroes, but even those have had their aging artificially slowed. The only storyline I can think of that really addressed the concept of elderly super-heroes was the “Old Justice versus Young Justice” story from Peter David’s Young Justice.

DC seems to have the most older super-heroes, but this is no surprise as they’ve been publishing super-hero titles longer. Still, many of their older heroes died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and most who survived that died in Zero Hour.

I’m not saying this lack of aging heroes is wrong. Being a super-hero is a dangerous occupation, after all. Heroes are going to die in the line of duty or make enemies who will hunt them down after they retire. Frankly, I doubt there’s much interest in an elderly super-hero title, so I can’t blame anyone for not publishing one.

Still, it’s an interesting train of thought.

Here’s a list I’ve compiled of the aged/elderly heroes active in the past decade or so, and what happened to them:

Died in a Blaze of Glory or by Self-Sacrifice: Starman* Johnny Quick* Wesley Dodds* Slowed Aging or Renewed Youth: Scarab Green Lantern (Alan Scott) Flash (Jay Wildcat Hourman (Rex Tyler) Brutal Death: Tarantula* Didn’t Die but Instead Became Some Sort of Immortal Being: Blue Diamond Johnny Thunder

Aging Gracefully: Liberty Belle Ma Hunkle Max Mercury** Pat Dugan

Feel free to correct me or add any that I have missed

---

*”Aging Gracefully” until their death
**Is Max even still alive?

Tags: medicine comics aging.

In the recent Infinite Crisis/Days of Vengence Special*, the Spectre kills the Lord of Order Teratraya and the Lord of Chaos T’Charr in his bid to wipe all magic from the universe. Since Hawk and Dove receive the powers from these entities, they immediately lose their powers and their career as crime-fighters seems over (and it lasted, what, all of a year-and-a-half?).

I’m of two minds about this.

First, T’Charr and Teratraya are already dead. They died back in Hawk & Dove #17 (October 1990), so it would be hard for the Spectre to kill them now.

Second, I don’t really care. Sure, I’m one of the world’s biggest Hawk and Dove fans, but if they’re going to be around, I want them done right. Quality over quantity. The team has already had two good runs: the original Skeates/Ditko/Kane run in their own title and the Teen Titans back in the ’70s, and the Kesel and Kesel run in the ’80s and ’90s. The two attempts since then haven’t impressed me. I’d rather remember the good runs than struggle through mediocre ones.

*Hat tip to Charles W

---

While not a slave to continuity, I’m definitely a fan of it. I like having a consistent past for the characters. Having this 40+ year history is one of the things that makes our hobby unique. I can understand why this would be intimidating for some readers, particularly the new ones, but it should be viewed as a challenge rather than an obstacle. I am aware that Joe Quesada among others has advocated caring less about continuity and more about telling “great stories”; I’d be more willing to agree with this if they were actually telling great stories.

This has been a long-winded introduction to why I’m not fond of the new Hawk and Dove team. I like having Dawn Granger return as Dove, but I’ve never fully accepted her (never before seen or even mentioned) sister Holly Granger as the new Hawk. It’s possible that given enough time and some good explanations, I could learn to like her. But for now, she goes against two previously well-established facts of the Hawk and Dove canon (and I’m probably the only person in the world who can use that phrase non-ironically):

1. Dawn Granger is an only child.
All the pictures on the walls in the Granger house show 3 people: Mom, Dad and a single child. Dawn herself mentions being an only child in Hawk & Dove #20, as she’s sitting bored at home wishing for some excitement. I’m sure there’s some way this can be explained away: Daddy’s little secret or an evil twin, but those explanations only make it seemed horrible clichéd.

2. Hank and Dawn are the last Hawk and Dove
The death of T’Charr and Teratraya in Hawk & Dove #17 means that they can no longer bestow the powers on anyone else. This was one of the main themes of the latter half of the Hawk & Dove series. The two of them would be the last Hawk and Dove, ever. In the scene below from Hawk & Dove #18, Hank reflects on this fact with Dawn ( “Unity” refers to T’Charr and Teratraya as a combined entity).

scene from Hawk & Dove #20

scene from Hawk & Dove #18

I know I’m behind in my reviews and recaps of the Hawk & Dove series, but I’ll catch up posting this weekend, at least through their adventure with the Titans and the death of T’Charr and Teratraya.

Remember: Continuity doesn’t have to be bad; some of us like it. And Quality over Quantity.

Tags: comics hawk dove infinite crisis .

Chris and others have talked in the past about how bad the comic Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose is, but I had never had the chance (or the desire) to check it out for myself. Yesterday, however, while I was waiting in line at my local comic shop, I found myself passing time by looking though the discount box and what should I stumble across except for an issue of this very comic.

It was such an appallingly bad comic book on so many levels that I doubt I’ll ever pick up — or even touch — another issue ever.

Still, this one caption caught my eye and got me chuckling. I knew I just had to share it, no matter the entire quarter it cost me.

Technically, it’s not incorrect grammar or punctuation, but surely there was a better way of phrasing this.

Or maybe Brandi really is an ex-girl.

Before reading this recap, you might want to refresh your memory of the villains Gauntlet and MAC, from Hawk & Dove #1 and #8, respectively.

While the SCU mechanic Kirby is working on the robot MAC, Captain Arsala is proudly showing off the new SCU helicopter. Unbeknownst to them, Andromeda — a strange woman dressed as a ’50s housewife — is spying on the compound, all the while uttering house-wifey non-sequiturs. She kills a police officer and takes over her appearance so she that can sneak onto the compound.

Encountering Hank, Dawn, and Ren, Andromeda accidentally drops one of the teleport discs used by MAC and Gauntlet. The heroes recognize the disc and quickly turn into Hawk and Dove. Gauntlet teleports in to help Andromeda, who he refers to as his “wife.” A fight ensues as Hawk and Dove try to prevent Gauntlet from reaching the SCU warehouse and MAC.

During the struggle, Gauntlet is torn apart, the SCU’s new chopper is destroyed, and Hawk critically injured when the SCU warehouse explodes. Andromeda grabs MAC and what is left of Gauntlet and teleports away, but not before Kirby can slip a tracer on them. Hawk is nowhere to be seen, but Dawn and Ren manage to track him back to his apartment where they find that he has been injured so badly he cannot change back into Hank.

Hawk heals quickly, so by the next morning he has recovered enough to turn back into Hank. He and Dawn travel to the Titans Tower to ask for help in defeating MAC and Gauntlet once and for all. Speedy is enthusiastic about helping, but Cyborg has a big chip on his shoulder regarding Hawk. The rest of the team him into it, and they all decide to help Hawk and Dove.

They track MAC to a small private island owned by Douglas Strange, a reclusive scientist, and his wife Andromeda. Landing on the island, the team is promptly ambushed by MAC, Gauntlet and Andromeda. Dove, Raven, Speedy and Jericho slip away to explore the island. They discover a metallic alien who it is clear is the real power behind the scenes. He is strong and nearly invulnerable, but susceptible to Speedy’s acid arrows which they use to drive him away. In the main battle, Andromeda takes control of Cyborg’s circuits and Hawk has to take him down mano a mano. Once the alien is defeated, MAC, Gauntlet and Andromeda are quickly subdued.

Sadly, Andromeda is killed in the fight. Professor Strange tells the Titans that years ago the alien landed on their island. He killed Andromeda, then rebuilt her as a super-powered android in order to keep the professor in line. It was the alien who needed all the gold MAC and Gauntlet were stealing. With the alien gone and Andromeda destroyed, the Titans and Hawk and Dove leave the professor alone on the island. Once back at Titans Tower, Hawk has some harsh words with Cyborg then storms out. Dove follows behind, but not before leaving her number with the team.

Despite the inclusion of the Titans, or maybe because of them, this storyline never achieves much more than mediocrity. MAC and Gauntlet, even with the addition of Andromeda and the alien, don’t have enough villainous cachet to carry out a three-issue storyline. The death of Andromeda adds a touch of poignancy, but it’s too little too late. The Titans are forgettable in their appearance. Admittedly, this is one of the less exciting Titans line-ups ever (their version of JLA: Detroit), but other than the Hawk/Cyborg throw-down, their addition adds nothing to the story. And what does Cyborg have against Hawk anyway? He’s never worked beside him before. During Hawk’s only appearance with the New Teen Titans, Cyborg and Changeling were off looking for Robotman. He probably doesn’t want anyone stronger than himself on the team.

Frankly, this storyline and the following issue are the low points of the first half of Hawk & Dove. They’re not bad; simply average. They’re used to tie up dangling storylines from the first year. Don’t worry — the excitement picks up in the issue after next with the beginning of the true origin of Hawk and Dove.

Tags: comics hawk dove teen titans .

The CBDR — the Comic Book Drug Reference — continues to be updated. Well over 100 different drugs now, not even counting the appendices.

Tags: comics medicine cbdr .

It was just supposed to be a quiet night at the restaurant. Aunt Ruth had reserved a room so that she could throw an engagement party for Donna and Kyle. Dawn had other plans — it’s the night of Dove’s date with Captain Arsala, conveniently at the same restaurant. She doesn’t want the Captain to know who she really is, so she wears a wig that looks just like Dove’s hair. Her mother catches her when she’s putting the wig on, but with an understanding wink, helps her get dressed.

The date’s not going well at first. All Dove (well, Dawn) and Arsala can find to talk about is work. Upstairs in the private room, the conversation isn’t going much better. Ruth and Hank begin to argue about Viet Nam. Ruth reveals that she was a war protestor during the conflict, and she and her friends even went as far as plant some bombs at a local defense contractor. When the police try to arrest them, one of the other girls is shot and Ruth ran away and has been on the run ever since.

Downstairs, the Dove/Arsala date is finally picking up speed. However Dawn realizes that she’s much smarter as Dove, and knows that that’s who Arsala thinks he’s on a date with. The captain’s pager goes off: a strange costumed woman with the power to cause explosions has been making her way across town towards the restaurant they’re at.

It seems that Ruth’s friend somehow survived being shot, but the experience turned her into the villainous Shellshock. As Shellshock, she can fly and has the power to make items explode, just by speaking their name. She seems to blame Ruth for their past and as luck would have it, has finally managed to track her down tonight of all nights.

Luckily both Hawk and Dove are nearby and jump into action to save Ruth. Remember how when Hawk was injured, fur could be seen beneath his costume? Well in this fight, Dove is injured. Instead of blood coming from the wound, light pours out of it. In the end, Shellshock speaks her own name as Hawk smashes her with a table and she explodes. Hawk tells Ruth that although he doesn’t agree with what she did, he understands why she did it, and lets her escape before the police arrive.

Hawk and Dove re-enter the restaurant to find a scene of slaughter. Kestrel’s back, and he’s possessed Ren’s body.

Mostly forgettable, the story does provide some good moments. The whole Dove/Dawn/Arsala date is funny, particularly when Dawn’s mother finds the wig. Shellshock has a neat look, but a strange power. Her motivation is never explained well enough. Why does she hate Ruth – and why did it take her 20 years to find her? You’d also think she would know better than to speak her own name and make herself explode.

The return of Kestrel was handled well. It explains why Ren had been acting so erratic (read: chaotic) recently, and leads into the subsequent four-part storyline where the origins of Hawk and Dove are finally revealed.

Tags: comics hawk dove kestrel .

The second of two New Teen Titans anti-drug PSA comics from the early 1980s. Once again, this comic features an intro by then-First Lady Nancy Reagan as well as the Robin stand-in “The Protector.”

The plot is extremely basic. The Titans bust some drug dealers, thrust themselves into the lives or some local children, and bust some more drug dealers. Every few pages, one of the neighborhood children takes a few panels to explain why they became a junkie and why they don’t want to be one anymore. It’s a lot like the married-couple interludes in When Harry Met Sally, only without the charm. Speedy, everyone’s favorite ex-druggie superhero gets his own page as well.

It’s plainly obvious this time that generic teen hero “The Protector” is just a re-tooled Robin. There are a number of slip-ups along the way that show he was originally meant to be the Boy Wonder. For instance, in the first few pages me mentions how happy he is to work with the Titans for the first time, yet he keeps saying things like, “And you know how Starfire is.” In the most blatant scene, there is a close up of pair of eyes behind a dark green diamond mask giving orders to the rest of the team — despite the fact that no one present wears that mask (except Robin. Who’s not there because he sold his soul to Nabisco. You heard me! He’s not there! Nothing to see here! Move on!)

The art this time is by George Perez, and as usual is outstanding. The story by Marv Wolfman is plodding and slow. It hits all the “drugs are bad” talking points, but in a pedestrian un-inspired way. I think Marvel’s method of having two shorter stories per PSA comic makes for a much better read.
Just like last time, the last four pages are do-it-yourself worksheets on ethical dilemmas for the reader. This time, these pages are introduced by Ernie the Keebler elf. In my professional opinion, if you hear a little elf talking to you, you either need to stop taking drugs entirely, or start taking some much stronger ones.

Take a look at the back cover. Look familiar? It should. It’s the same as last week’s, just with Speedy in place of Kid Flash (though I suspect that this is the original).

This comic was brought to you by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Customs Service, and those fun loving elves from the Keebler Company.

Tags: comics medicine psa teen titans

Because not only do you have to deal with the insurance companies and lawyers, but there’s Hippocrates to deal with as well.

From Doctor Strange #39, words by Chris Claremont, pencils by Gene Colan.

Tags: comics medicine hippocrates doctor strange

In the previous issue, Doc had been stabbed through the chest with a mystic spear by the champion of the evil sorcerer Urthona. Luckily, Doc was able to slip away in his astral form so the wound wasn’t immediately fatal. With the help of Morgana Blessing, he was able to defeat the warrior.

In this issue, Doc’s body is dying. He is rushed to the hospital where they notice that a green ichor dripping from his wound instead of blood They send him immediately to the operating room. Doc’s astral form reaches Sara Wolfe and she tries to sneak into the surgical suite, but one of the surgeons catches her. With the help of the Eye of Agamotto, she convinces him to let her scrub into the surgery. While the surgeons are handing the medical aspect of the surgery, Sara/Doc are handling the mystic side. There are supernaturally corroding forceps, magically super-sized bacteria that attack the operating team, and a mystic poison that stops Doc’s heart from beating. In the end, Doctor Strange has to merge his astral form with the chief surgeon in order to save his own life.

Thoughts: Doc sure hangs out with an awful lot of very good looking women. Sara Wolfe, Morgana Blessing, Topaz, Clea, and on and on. A career in the mystic arts is starting to look better and better. Sure, giant bacteria could never really exist because of the square-cube rule, but these are magic bacteria. You know, bacteria have some nasty survival tricks; they’d make good villains (or at least henchman) when magically increased to human size. The OR team really needs to work on their sterile technique. I’m pretty sure touching the Eye of Agamotto (and who knows where that’s been) breaks sterility. There’s really not much point in me medically critiquing this issue. Almost all the “medicine” is magical in nature. In the end, Strange is saved when his own astral form takes over the body of a cardio-thoracic surgeon to solve a cardio-thoracic problem (and remember that Strange is a neurosurgeon; he’s lucky if he even remembers what a heart looks like). Frankly, I’m just along for the ride.

Tags: comics medicine doctor strange

At the end of Infinite Crisis #4, all the previously Earth-2 members of the JSA disappear from Earth-1 and reappear on the newly re-established Earth-2. Persumably this same thing happens to every former Earth-2 resident: hero, villain, and civilian alike.

For example, you’ll notice that while Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore) remains on Earth-1, her step-father Pat Dugan (S.T.R.I.P.E.) vanishes to Earth-2. My question is this: what happens to Courtney’s little sister Patricia? Patricia’s mother is from Earth-1 but her father is from Earth-2. Does she rip in half? Cease to exist? Is there an Earth-1½ for her and all the other in-betweeners?

Just wondering.

Tags: comics infinite crisis

One thing about the web: it stores your typos forever. A few days ago, I noticed that someone had ended up on my site by searching for the word “venticular.” This led them here, and it seems that I misspelled ventricular as venticular in one of my first posts. So now I’m torn, do I fix the typo, or do I leave it for posterity? I think I’ll leave it.

Tangent #1
What’s amazing is that venticular seems to be a very common misspelling. If you search for it, you’ll find pages and pages of links — and Polite Dissent doesn’t even show up until about page 5. Someone has way too much time on their hands to find my little site on a list like that.

Tangent #2
I’ve noticed that misspellings are surprisingly common in scientific papers published online, particularly the ones that are several years old. Some of it is probably due to poor spelling and editing, but I suspect much of it comes down to bad OCR and proof-reading afterwards. I assume someone scanned in an older paper and posted it online. That would explain all the misspellings of arthroscopy as anthroscopy. An r and n look similar to an OCR program, so arthro- becomes anthro-. You may remember that anthroscopy ended up in an issue of JSA and I’ve wondered was it a misspelling on the part of the letterer (or writer), or did Geoff Johns do some faulty online research and think that anthroscopy was a real word?

Tags: comics typos

Expect posting to be a little sparse this weekend asI get ready for the Trivia Night sponsored by my office tonight. It’s our first time hosting one and my first time working at one, not to mention that I’m repsonsible for all the questions. If all goes well, I’ll post the questions (and answers) Sunday night for all to see (and comment on, complain about, and “tell me where I went wrong”)

Tags: trivia

The game consisted of ten rounds of ten questions each. There were ten categories, so each round consisted of ane question from each category. Twelve teams competed, and each team could have up to 8 people.

Each team could also purchase up to ten “mulligans.” They could use a mulligan once per round to skip a question, yet still get full credit for it. Most teams purchased the maximum ten mulligans.

I was originally going to spread out the tough questions evenly over the ten rounds, but I was concerned that because of the mulligans, teams would be able to skip all the hard questions. Instead, I saved the harder questions for the last five rounds (and this is reflected in the fact that the percentage of right answers for the first five rounds averaged out at 65%; but dropped to 41% for the last five rounds).

I tried hard to have a variety a questions so that having a well-rounded team would be important. I avoided trick questions.

Questions are below the cut. The category is in brackets at the begining of each question. Answers will be in the comment section.
Read more…

Continuing the Trivia Night questions, rounds three through six.
Read more…

Finishing up the Trivia Night questions with rounds seven through ten. These were some of the hardest rounds, particularly rounds eight and ten.

Read more…

In 1985, Marvel Comics published a comic to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Conceived by John Starlin and Berni Wrightson, Heroes for Hope starring the X-Men was a “jam” book, with dozens of different writers and artists contributing pages of stories.

So, 1985 in X-Men years…what does that get you? Well, Storm is in her powerless punk princess mode, Wolverine is still in his brown costume. and Magneto’s there in his ridiculous purple costume with the giant M on it. Rogue, Colossus, and Nightcrawler are present, as well as Shadowcat in her blue costume that she wore for about six issues. Rachel Summers is also on the team in that red and yellow I’ve-got-a-bird-on-my-chest-why-are-you-staring-at-my-breasts monstrosity. Yep, the X-Men I grew up with!

The writers are the A-list of established pros and up-and-comers from the ’80s, along with a few surprises. Stephen King writing a Marvel Comic twenty years before last year’s big announcement? It’s in here. Alan Moore writing the X-Men? It’s in here too. Other writers of note include Stan Lee, Chris Claremont, Harlan Ellison, Mike Grell, Steve Englehart, Bill Mantlo, and many more.

The list of artists is stellar as well. John Byrne, John Buscema, Berni Wrightson, Brian Bolland, Gray Morrow, Steve Rude, Howard Chaykin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Walt Simonson, Richard Corben, Mike Kaluta, “Charlie” Vess, Frank Miller and other talented artists leap off the pages.

And as for the comic itself? It sucks. The X-Men are attacked by some sort of ancient and primeval hunger/despair entity, first at the mansion in Westchester, and then later in Africa. They aren’t defeated by it, but nor do they triumph; in fact, there is no change in the status quo between the first page and the last, except that now the X-Men know that hunger is bad.

I give Marvel and the writers and artists involved credit for trying something different and donating time, effort — and one presumes money — to a good cause. It’s just a shame that the book had to be so forgettable given the talent involved.

Tags: comics medicine psa x-men

I just caught this allusion on a recent re-read of the Sandman Mystery Theatre series. From #27, here’s a subtle mention of the Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite’s alter-ego, Charles McNider.

“Damn… he’s a nosy one too“

Story by Matt Wagner and Steven Seagle, art by Guy Davis

Tags: comics medicine sandman dr. mid-nite

Manhunter #18 “Who’s Your Daddy, part 3: Domestic Violence”
Marc Andreyko, writer
Javier Pina and Fernando Blanco, artists

Kate Spencer’s biological father, Walter Pratt, has myeloma. Enlisting the aid of the villainous Dr. Moon, he has kidnapped his own grandchild in the hope that he can be used as a donor for a bone marrow transplant.

Myeloma is a cancer of the blood forming cells of the bone marrow. Because of this, it can present as both a blood disease (anemia) and a bone disease (bone pain and unexpected fractures). Kidney failure and frequent infections are also common. Myeloma has a high mortality, with the average survival after diagnosis being on the order of three to five years. Myeloma can be treated, but rarely — if ever — cured.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the main therapies for myeloma. Bone marrow transplant is another option. This can either be an autologous transplant (using the patient’s own bone marrow), or an allogeneic transplant (using the bone marrow of a matching donor, usually a relative). Autologous transplants put less of a strain on the patient, but do not prolong the survival to the same extent that allogeneic transplants do; however, allogeneic transplants are much harder on the patient and are usually reserved for younger patients.

What about Walter Pratt?

How he was diagnosed, and how low ago, is never mentioned. There is a forearm x-ray visible in Dr. Moon’s office, so it’s fair to assume that Pratt has been having some bone symptoms (a bad sign). It is no surprise that Pratt is pushing for an allogeneic transplant as it gives him the best chance at survival, though the moral costs are high (which is clearly not a problem for him). Pratt would generally be considered too old for an allogeneic transplant, but his super-powers will likely aid his recovery, making it a viable choice after all.

Still, Dr. Moon’s proposed treatment has me concerned.

First, as Pratt himself notes, the lab and operating room are far from sterile. Due to the radiation and chemotherapy, as well as the myeloma itself, Pratt is going to be much more susceptible to infection. Sterility is very important.

Second, Dr. Moon gives Walter a radioactive “cocktail” to drink that will destroy his bone marrow. When radiation is used to treat myeloma, it is given externally, not internally. A radioactive cocktail will destroy more gastrointestinal tract than bone marrow. There are some oral chemotherapy drugs for myeloma, but they are not radioactive. Both radiation and chemotherapy take several days to have a full effect on the bone marrow. Walter would not be ready for a transplant that same day.

Third, since when is Dr. Moon an oncologist? He generally focuses on the mental aspect of patients, not their physical side.

Andreyko seems to have his myeloma facts down, so I doubt these are slip-ups on his part. I suspect these “errors” are intentional and his way of showing how sadistic and manipulative Dr. Moon is, and that he is not above experimenting on conveniently available victims patients. Pratt undoubtedly knows this, but also realizes that this may be his only chance for treatment.

Tags: comics medicine manhunter dr. moon myeloma

Zombies are great, particularly when the zombies in question are wearing costumes (and it would be even better if these zombies were wearing pirate or ninja costumes). Here a few random thoughts that struck me as I was reading Teen Titans #31:

• Dove sure has buffed up since dying. What’s he doing, lifting weights in the afterlife?
• Don died as Dove during Crisis on Infinite Earths, but Hank died as Extant when Atom Smasher manipulated the timeline in an early issue of JSA. Shouldn’t Zombie-Hank be in his Extant costume?
• Does Tula’s one-hour out of water limitation still apply to Zombie-Tula?
• Other than Hawk and Tula, you’d be hard pressed to find a weaker group of Zombie Titans to sic on the current Titans. This is the epitome of Dave’s Riddler Factor, where a lame villain somehow manage to pose a threat to a hero that should by all rights totally outclass them. In order of power, I’d rank them as follows:
  1. Hawk
  2. Tula
  3. Dove
  4. 3-way tie for lameness between Kole, Lillith, and Danny Chase. (Lillith may pose a threat when alive, but not as a brain-eating zombie. Kole and Danny were never a threat, even when alive.)
• The last half of the comic is clearly Todd Nauck’s work, yet he isn’t credited on the cover (though he is on the splash page).
• Missing dead Titans include Terra, Jericho, Golden Eagle, Gnarrk and everyone who died last week in IC #4.
  (Spoiler: Risk, Panth, Wildebeast, Bushido, and Red Star).

Tags: comics zombies hawk dove teen titans

Trustworthy minor characters suddenly turn into unstoppable killing machines:

The OMAC Project or the Manhunters from Millennium?

Tags: comics OMAC millennium

Tags: comics doctor strange

Tags: comics medicine legion of super heroes

It seems the server was down most of the day. So much for my posting plans. Oh well, it gave me a chance to play Lego Star Wars (now that game is tremendous fun).

I’ll catch up tomorrow…

When last we left Hawk and Dove, they had returned to the restaurant after defeating Shellshock to discover that Hank’s girlfriend had been possessed by Kestrel. Teasing and taunting, Kestrel takes particular particular delight in tormenting Hawk by changing his visage between that of Kestrel and that of Ren. Kestrel slices open a dimensional doorway with his/her claws and tells Hawk and Dove that this time they’ll have to meet on his home turf: the world of Druspa Tau. The doorway closes behind Kestrel.

The only person they know who can travel dimensions is Barter, so they look him up in the phonebook. Strangely, his phone number is only six digits long, but it seems to connect. When Dawn opens her bedroom door, they find themselves in Barter’s shop. He agrees to take them to Druspa Tau but wants to strike a better bargain for the trip back. Hawk has other ideas, knocking him out and tying him up.

Entering Druspa Tau, Hawk instantly feels stronger and more powerful. Dove is having a harder time trying to integrate all the information her enhanced senses are receiving. It turns out that Druspa Tau is not only Kestrel’s home, but also the home dimension of Hawk and Dove and thus their powers are exponentially increased there.

A small world with few resources, Druspa Tau is nearing the Kali Yuga — the mythical time when Order and Chaos will fight their final battle. M’Shulla, one of the Lords of Chaos, is fomenting rebellion to advance the Kali Yuga. Kestrel is at his side, and together they convince Hawk to join them, pointing out that they are fighting the entrenched government of Druspa Tau in order to bring more freedom to its citizens.

Dove encounters Rome, one of the priests of the Order goddess Arriya. He believes that Dove is an incarnation of Arriya and he leads her to Arriya’s citadel, but they are ambushed by the Lord of Chaos Child and his companion Flaw. In a brief battle, Dove easily defeats Flaw, leaving Child helpless.

---

Hawk is relaxing in M’Shulla’s castle. Since this is a world of magic, his costume can be removed; underneath is a broadly-built spiky and hirsute warrior. Sadly, he also has — this being the early ’90s — a mullet. He refuses to let Ren/Kestrel take off her costume because he doesn’t want to see what Kestrel really looks like.

M’Shulla and Hawk, with help from Kestrel, attack the city at the base of Arriya’s citadel. The priest Rome tries to stop Hawk but is quickly defeated and captured. While exploring the city, Ren comes across Barter and not realizing who he is, unties him.

Meanwhile up in the citadel, Dove is learning her role in Druspa Tau. She understands that this world has very limited resources and some order must be imposed upon its citizens or they will all die all out within a few generations. Hearing the news that the city below has fallen to M’Shulla she realizes that it will only be a matter of time before she has to confront Hawk.

This is the first half of the four-part storyline that reveals the origin of Hawk and Dove. The story is well-written with equal attention paid to both Hawk and Dove. They both make different choices of Druspa Tau, but the changes are entirely consistent with their personalities and beliefs. It’s nice to see the return of both Kestrel and Barter.

The art, as usual for Greg Guler, is good. His Hawk costume fits the underlying warrior’s persona, but is definitely a design of the early-90’s. Dove’s designs is more ephemeral and hard to describe, but I suspect that’s intentional. Guler does a particularly impressive job onM’Shulla, drawing him so that he is always shifting appearances and is rarely the same from one panel to the next, from raven to crone to serpent to demon, always changing –j ust like you’d expect a Lord of Chaos to be.

Tags: comics hawk dove kestrel .

Being a household consisting of a family doctor and a teacher, we often get things in the mail designed for children. Case in point today, when we got a sample packet of “Weird n’ Wild Creatures” cards. These are good sized full-color cards, each detailing a particulardangerous animal. They can describe current animals (anaconda, grat white shark), historical creatures (saber-toothed tiger, dinosaurs), or mythical beasts (cerberus, hydra). If I were five or six years old, this would be cool. I was totally into dinosaurs and monsters at the age, and could bore an adult to tears with my recital of dry dinosaur facts.

However, since I’m no longer five, the cards got pitched after a brief review and reminiscence. One thing quickly caught my eye: included with the larger cards were a set of smaller cards of the same creatures set up as a collectible card game. Clever idea, but clearly incorrect. Everyone knows that Nessie could easily take out nearly any other animals (except maybe King Kong, Godzilla, or Titano), but these cards have her losing to a frilled lizard and a tree frog. Nessie, call your lawyer.

Attack:3 Defense:3 Life:90	Attack:7 Defense:4 Life:100
Attack:2 Defense:8 Life:80	Attack:3 Defense:4 Life:70

Tags: animals card games nessie