I DIDN'T THINK THIS DAY WOULD EVER COME!

But after 3 decades of pouring money, time, megabytes, brain real estate (& more money) into fine tuning a carefully curated comic book collection, I find myself with most of my missions accomplished, and, for once, without any major collecting goals - but one!  While the outlook of acquiring that copy of Star Spangled Comics #69 remains highly doubtful, the slightly more realistic task of finding good homes for 'my babies' may just be within my reach!

That's right, (can't believe I'm typing this) I've decided to invest in my family's future by selling my comic book collection.  So . . . I've gone through & performed the once unthinkable task of attaching a 'value' to each of my comic books.  In the interest of transparency: I've always used a popular online comics seller as a market price guide for my collection; in assigning values to my books, I've used that seller's prices as a starting point . . . and just started slashing.  Most of the books can be organized into a couple of different categories - there are THOUSANDS of books I'll stick in the Virtual $1.00 Box; there are dozens of TPBs to be had for $5.00 each; hundreds more moderately priced books at the $5.00 price point; and the rest are priced as marked in a Google spreadsheet that I'll gladly share with each interested party reading this - by request.

I've decided to go this route before the inevitable online listings, as I hope those reading this would make likeliest candidates to adopt a few well-loved comic books.  If you think you're such a candidate, please get in touch with me via email, Twitter or Instagram, and I'll share the details!

Thanks for reading, and I hope to be sharing my collection with you soon!

(A note about grading: I'll state the obligatory 'I'm not a professional grader, yada, yada, yada . . .' but have tried to be honest & in many cases conservative in judging condition; please inquire about specific books of interest, & I'll be happy to share more detailed descriptions and/or photos)

(A note about pricing: I stand by the prices listed.  At this point in my de-accession process I don't have the skill, time, or inclination to haggle, though I will make the concession of eating the continental US shipping cost for those spending $50 or more.  While I realize it's possible to come across better bargains out in the real world, I honestly think there are some deals - and perhaps even some steals - to be found in this collection)

I could not let October slip by without recording another annual episode of Happy Halloween, Dr. Thirteen!  This time out, however, you'll be getting not a single serving, but a DOUBLE DOSE of THIRTEEN THRILLERS!  I'll be recapping & commenting on two of the Scholar of Skepticism's original adventures from the tail end of the golden age, 'The Dolls of Doom' & 'The Suicide Tower' from issue #s 123 & 124 of Star Spangled Comics!

Download this episode HERE!

Scroll down to see images from these issues, and please be sure to check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Also, I'd love to hear from you!  Email me at: [email protected], or hit me up on Twitter: @itgblogcast

Thanks for listening!

Music in this episode: Star Collector by The Monkees/The Tower that Ate People by Peter Gabriel

Breaking & entering: a couple of Dr. 13's many skills
Terrence ups the stakes, forcing the bad guy's hand (and confession)
The curse of Oaxa claims its 1st victima
Mesmerized at the top of Suicide Tower, Dr. 13's force of will (& cigarette lighter) bring him back to full alert

Throughout it's 25-year existence, Vertigo Comics has produced some of the best comics of its time.  I have enjoyed its long-running ongoing series, like Hellblazer, Lucifer & Y: The Last Man, and some short term projects like Brubaker & Phillips Scene of the Crime & Grant Morrison's minis WE3 & Seaguy.  One of my favorite series through its several incarnations is The Books of Magic, which, like most of the great early Vertigo stuff grew from deep roots in the DC Universe.  I am super excited about its imminent relaunch - as part of Vertigo Comics' 'Sandman Universe' imprint - and the opportunity to once again follow the adventures of Books' protagonist, the young mage, Timothy Hunter!

Tim Hunter, not to be confused with that other bespectacled master mage-in-training (let's call him 'He Who Must Not Be Named'), has had a fairly decent publishing history & there have been several attempts to relaunch the concept of the inexperience magician, prophesied to the the 'greatest of his age,' learning the ropes & growing into his role as master of the mystic arts - some of these attempts finding more success than others.  As my favored topics here include uncollected comics, to celebrate the latest incarnation of Books, I thought I'd take a brief look at a trio of Books of Magic relaunches: the Peter Gross-written run of BoM from issues 51-75 of the 1st ongoing series, Hunter: The Age of Magic, and Books of Magick: Life During Wartime, almost all of which have yet to be reprinted.
Tim Hunter debuted in the 1990 prestige format 4-issue series The Books of Magic written by Neil Gaiman, who along with 4 painter/illustrators introduced us to young Tim, a boy in his early teens with the potential to do either great good or great evil after his first destined encounter with the magic of the DC Universe.  The prestige series was not a Tim Hunter character study, nor was it meant to be - BoM was more an introduction to the magical realms of the DCU, where readers were introduced (along with Tim), via guides The Phantom Stranger, Dr. Occult, John Constantine & Mister E, to such denizens of the darker side of DC as The Spectre, The Demon Etrigan, Mordru & Dream of the Endless.  By series end, it's implied Tim would choose the path of good magic.

It wasn't until Tim graduated to his own title (by way of the Vertigo imprint's Neil Gaiman-scripted x-over event The Children's Crusade), the 1994 ongoing Books of Magic series, that readers got to know Tim as a more well-rounded character.  A lonely English child - motherless, immature, perhaps a little whiny, but always possessing the potential for greatness - during the first 4 years of Tim's series, worlds began to open to him, as he learned the benefits & costs of magic.  He shared many adventures in Heaven, Hell & everywhere in between with a strong supporting cast led by young Molly O'Brien, Tim's 1st love, and favorite of series writer John Ney Reiber.  Each of Reiber's series scripts were previewed by Gaiman, who made himself available in a consultant's role - and these tales of a child coming to grips with his destiny were drawn by a variety of artists, with the bulk of the illustration work done by Peters Gross & Snejbjerg.  The first 50 issues of the BoM ongoing (and the Gaiman mini) have seen multiple printings of TPB collections and are well worth seeking out.

Tim's 'Other,' an evil doppelganger intent on killing 1,000 Hunters & absorbing their magical energy Books of Magic #s 51-75, Annual 3, Vertigo Winter's Edge 3 (1998-2000)

When Reiber decided to leave the title after 50 issues, a couple Annuals & a short story or two, series artist Peter Gross took on the writing chores and immediately breathed new life into the adventures of Tim Hunter.  Neil Gaiman curbed his involvement in the series at this point, though his spectre still loomed large in Gross' stories, as concepts & characters introduced in Gaiman's seminal Sandman series (like Titania & Auberon of Faerie, Lucien, Librarian of the Dreaming & The Deadboy Detectives) continued to appear & tie Tim Hunter into the shared fabric of the DC/Vertigo universe.  One of Gross' most important contributions to the Books of Magic was the idea of Tim as 'Opener' - a being of immense power capable at a young age (even infancy) of 'opening,' or unconsciously creating thousands of new alternate realities.  Certain inhabitants of Tim's fabricated universes were more self-aware than others & worshiped their young creator like a god.  Each reality had it's own multiversal version of Tim Hunter - some of these alti-Tims were good, some were bad, and one in particular - Tim's 'Other' - becomes acutely aware of his 'otherness' & begins a crusade to eliminate all versions of the young mage (and their respective universes), assume their power, and take - let's call him 'Tim Prime's - place as heir apparent to the legacy of magic.

At one point, Tim finds refuge in a new identity: Mary Throughout Gross' 25-issue run, Tim Hunter divests himself of all his magic, is forced to abandon his life (such as it was) due to the aggressive actions of his evil doppelganger, and finds refuge in a new identity (as a girl!), a new location (Gaiman's Inn Between Worlds), and a new supporting cast before wresting his life & power back from his evil twin.  Gross' stories are sympathetic to the importance both Gaiman & Reiber placed on pantheons of mythology in the adventures of Tim Hunter, but I think they also did the best job yet of presenting Tim as a boy - muddling his way through some pretty dark situation (but not without a touch of humor) and a burgeoning maturity.  Tim is also presented here for the first time clearly choosing the path of good magic, whether it be by subtly altering the mission of 'The Wild Hunt,' when he became involved with that millennia-old band which has tracked & killed gods, thinning out the ranks of pantheons worldwide, or - in a dramatic epilogue to the run - forcefully metamorphosing longtime demon foe, Barbatos, eliminating his evil forever in a surprisingly literal way.  Gross pulls double duty during his time writing the series, handling most of the artwork & lending his run a bit of an 'auteur' feeling - and with Michael Kaluta illustrating almost all of the covers, this 2-year story, which closed out Tim Hunter's 1st ongoing series, makes for a very attractive package.  This wonderful coming-of-age saga, so important in the development of Tim Hunter's character, has yet to be collected or reprinted (no digital, either!) - it really does deserve to find a new audience.

In HTAOM, Tim's at the cusp of his 20s - and experiences all the awkwardness involved with that Hunter: The Age of Magic (2001-2003) 

Tim Hunter returned in the 2001 5-issue mini-series The Names of Magic by the team of writer Dylan Horrocks (please check out Hicksville) & artist Richard Case (ditto, Case's excellent run with Grant Morrison on Doom Patrol), which was a great primer for the same crew's ongoing, Hunter: The Age of Magic.  Picking up shortly after Gross' BoM run, Names of Magic finds Tim Hunter once again in encounter with his 4 guides from the original mini (Constantine, Stranger, Occult, Mr. E), once again on the run through the world of distinctly English magic and in search of his true name (the importance of names has been well established in DC/Vertigo's occult-ish books).  Names of Magic also maybe/perhaps/possibly settles the long-standing, hazy mystery surrounding Tim's true parentage.  The new mini ends with Tim's enrollment in the mysterious White School, which promises to formalize his education in magic.

Horrocks & Case curiously begin Hunter: The Age of Magic (HTAOM) at the tail end of Tim's time at the White School, just as he's about to apply what he's learned there in the 'real world.'  It seems there's a lot of story potential in Tim's 'Hogwarts Years' that was squandered, but fast forwarding through time a bit allowed Horrocks & Case to tell the story of a more experienced Tim Hunter - he'd been taught at the White School to better harness his incredible magical energy & also developed a bit of reputation as a celebrity on campus (which through various portals & gateways, traversed several realms including Earth & Gemworld).  So it's actually a slightly arrogant Tim Hunter which greets us at the outset of HTAOM, at the cusp of his twenties, confident in his abilities & in high demand - whether if be for the affections of pretty students at the school, magical artifacts dealers looking to exploit Tim's talents, or Mr. Lily, the Agent Smith-like representative of the Golden Lotus organization who wishes to enlist Tim in his quest to unmake the world, giving it the reboot needed to completely eliminate evil & return the planet to a Garden of Eden-like state (even if this sounds like a bit of overkill, to me).

The caricature-esque Mr. Lily - one of the Books of Magic's creepiest villains Dylan Horrocks' scripts are dripping with Olde English magic (or what at the very least reads like it to the uninitiated like me - in this respect it reminds me quite a bit of Paul Jenkins' run on Hellblazer - one of my favorites of that long-running series), as Tim Hunter encounters a race of Faerie, Merlin himself, ley lines & the network of vagrant 'walkers' tasked with guarding the sacred sites of England.  In Lily, we have what I think is Tim's creepiest villain - supercilious, misguided in his 'good' intentions - mostly due to the way Richard Case draws him: a twisted caricature . . . and that chin . . .  Everyone else in the series is beautiful, though - you'd expect nothing less from Case & Steve Bird, who inked almost every issue.  The one demerit I'll give this series is for the covers: apart from a very few, I wouldn't consider any of the 25 cover paintings 'beautiful,' and though the last several are by Chris Bachalo (whose Vertigo work I generally like), I can't include these Hunter covers among his best.

This series was more isolated from the grand Vertigo shared continuity than any previous BoM effort, with fewer Sandman-related references per page than anything Tim Hunter had appeared in before - and maybe it's that ability to stand on its own (at least for 25 issues), along with the general excellence of the material (discounting the covers) that contributes to making this my favorite BoM series.  With no collections of HTAOM in existence (digital or otherwise), I can only recommend tracking down this series in single-issue format.

Lots of drink, drugs & sex in this series - all evident in this sequence Books of Magick: Life During Wartime (2004-2005)

In 2004, Tim Hunter was reunited (sort of) with his creator Neil Gaiman for the 1st time in over a decade in the series Books of Magick: Life During Wartime.  Gaiman helped craft the story of Tim being drawn into desperate alternate-dimensional religious warfare, with series writer Si Spencer and is back to being listed in the credits of each issue as 'consultant.'  Life During Wartime - conceived as a blank slate for Tim's character, free from previous continuity - in some ways continues the coming-of-age direction of Tim's previous series - but there's a grittiness here which is owed as much to the 'pulled from the headlines' holy war in the book as to the stylized illustration of Dean Ormston.

The gist of the series is this: sometime after the conclusion of Hunter: The Age of Magic, Tim is warned by an alternate reality version of old mate John Constantine of an evil faerie queen and her desire to unmake the universe - all universes, really (shades, here, of Mr. Lily).  She seeks to do this by killing her world's messiah - The Hunter, otherwise known as our Tim, who's worshiped as a god by humans & faerie-folk alike on this cracked-mirror earth.  It's on this world that a holy was is being fought between the evil queen's faerie army and a coalition of resistance fighters led by that universe's John Constantine & Zatanna.  Constantine counsels Tim to go into hiding - and hide he does - in a completely new world of his own making (thinking here of Peter Gross' Tim as 'Opener').  Much of the action in the early issues of this series occurs in this world Tim has created from scratch - it's ultimate wish fulfillment for an early-twenty-something.  Tim creates a home life, complete with dearly departed mother, a group of new friends & a new version of his greatest love, Molly.  He's down the pub every night with his friends partaking in drink, drugs & sex - there's lot's of sex in this series.  A side effect of this great effort of magical world-building is a bit of amnesia - Tim's previous life is (almost) completely forgotten as he exhibits a complete obliviousness to the war being waged in his name a universe away.  Tim's living fantasy eventually breaks down, however, as the war begins drawing Tim out of his daydream-made-real.

Un-making Tim's hipster fantasy The layers of reality (including our own - the violence seen in the series like golems of mass destruction & suicide spellcasters hit very close to home in the immediate wake of the Iraq War) make Life During Wartime a dense read - I was only feeling comfortable with the material on the 3rd time through; on the other hand, I think this is a series which rewards repeated visitation.  Si Spencer, coming off his time writing for 2000AD & for Brit soap 'Eastenders' knows his way around episodic fiction.  His characters are well rounded, his bar scenes particularly authentic, and his John Constantine (though not exactly the same character known & loved for years) was as direct, harsh & two-timing as you'd expect.  Dean Ormston is a quintessential Vertigo artist whose stylized artwork graced the pages of several 2000AD mags before drawing almost every one of LDW's 15 issues.  His monsters are fearsome, his violence bloody and his wide, sharp features on these characters provide a perfect look for this series.  Covers by Frank Quitely & Duncan Fegredo don't hurt this book's attractiveness, either.  The 1st 5 issues of this series - setting the table for the war between the followers of the faerie queen & The Hunter, and introducing Tim's hipster h(e)aven - were collected in this series' lone trade paperback, leaving 2/3 of the story available only in single issues.  Though obviously not a sales success, and as inaccessible a read as Books of Magick: Life During Wartime can be, it can be as equally rewarding for resilient Vertigo readers or fans of the Books of Magic.

This series would be the last we'd see of Tim Hunter for quite some time - which is too bad, as I found these series' to be the most interesting Books of Magic material.  Tim Hunter was allowed to grow up under the guidance of Gross, Horrocks & Spencer - they were fascinating reads that  tracked Tim's maturation process, and I'd have followed the adult adventures of Tim as long as Vertigo was able to publish them.  A young Master Hunter did pop up in DC's New 52 Justice League Dark for a bit . . . and the recent Sandman Universe special & the new Books of Magic series by Kat Howard & Tom Fowler will hopefully spell the dearth of Tim Hunter stories - it looks like we'll get to watch him grow up all over again!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! 

ITG is back with another participatory episode in this year's #BestEventEver blog/podcast team-up!  For the past 3 years, a loose confederation of comics bloggers & podcasters has gotten together to jam on one of DC Comics' annual x-over events - and this year, we've decided to dig deep into 1995's Underworld Unleashed!

The UU story, which shined a light on the villains of the DCU, ran through a 3 issue core mini series & over 40 tie-ins throughout the DC line.  On this episode, I'll be recapping issue #2 of Underworld Unleashed, in which Neron momentarily turns his gaze away from the villains, and instead focuses on DC's greatest heroes!

Download this episode HERE!

And please be sure to check out further Underworld Unleashed coverage at these fine sites:

• Relatively Geeky Podcast Network 

• Resurrections: An Adam Warlock/Thanos Podcast 

• The Retroist

• ChrisIsOnInfiniteEarths

• Cosmic Treadmill

• The Pop Culture Palace

• Rolled Spine's Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Podcast

• The Idol-Head of Diabolu

• Justice's First Dawn

• Comic Reviews by Walt

• Justice Trek: The Podcast

Scroll down to see a few images from these issues below, and check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Thanks for listening!


Music used in this episode: (Every Day Is) Halloween by Ministry; Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers 

Leave it to the Joker to sell his soul for a box of cigars . . .
Neron tempts Superboy . . . with a red herring
This sort of wide-screen epic violence would prefigure Howard Porter's upcoming run on JLA
This scan really doesn't do justice to the neon green of the captured 'soul stuff'
Some big names . . . and some crowd-scene fillers. Hey, I think I see Argus!
The shadow of Neron's true form flickering platonically on a cave wall

I'm thrilled to once again participate in what's become a fun annual tradition, the #BestEventEver blog/podcast team-up!  For the past 3 years, a loose confederation of comics bloggers & podcasters has gotten together to jam on one of DC Comics' annual x-over events - and this year, we've decided to dig deep into 1995's Underworld Unleashed!

The villains of the DCU got a chance to shine during this event, and some pretty interesting match-ups came about between the villains & some unfamiliar opponents throughout the DC line.  Case in point, on of the 2 stories I'll be recapping & commenting on: retired Golden Age hero, Ted Knight (formerly Starman) takes on infrequent Batman foe, Dr. Phosphorus in Starman #13.  And in one of the stories in the 12th issue of the anthology, Showcase '95, Starman-cast member, The Shade, is confronted by the primary antagonist of Underworld Unleashed, Neron!

If you're interested in taking the plunge with us, I encourage you to:

Download this episode HERE!

And please be sure to check out further Underworld Unleashed coverage at these fine sites:

• Relatively Geeky Podcast Network 

• Resurrections: An Adam Warlock/Thanos Podcast 

• The Retroist

• ChrisIsOnInfiniteEarths

• Cosmic Treadmill

• The Pop Culture Palace

• Rolled Spine's Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Podcast

• The Idol-Head of Diabolu

• Justice's First Dawn

• Comic Reviews by Walt

• Justice Trek: The Podcast

Scroll down to see a few images from these issues below, and check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Thanks for listening!


Music used in this episode: (Every Day Is) Halloween by Ministry; Starman from the 'Walk Hard' soundtrack; My Shadow in Vain by Tubeway Army

Good look here at Dr. Phosphorus' transparent skin, as he blasts Ted Knight The Starman trophy room - and fateful contact with Dr. Phosphorus With the flick of a switch, color floods back into Ted Knight's world - I'd get that wound looked at, though, Ted The nasty side to The Shade's powers The Shade, channeling his best Oscar Wilde, delivers one the more memorable lines in my collection

Ms. Tree Theatre is back to bask in the dying glow of late summer!  To celebrate a great season, join Max Allan Collins' & Terry Beatty's iconic indie comics private eye on a Carribbean cruise -- I know, I know, this is Ms. Tree we're talking about: sharp wit, lots of violence, great hairstyle -- why don't we call it what it is -- a 'Murder Cruise!'

25-ish minutes of recap & commentary await, if you:

Download this episode HERE!

Scroll down to see images from these issues, and please be sure to check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Also, I'd love to hear from you!  Email me at: [email protected], or check out more content on Instagram: @itgblogcast

Thanks for listening!

Music used in this episode: 'Sea Cruise' by Herman's Hermits/'Theme From Ms. Tree' by Cruisin'

An idyllic St. Lucia scene - if not for that dead body, there . . .
Ms. Tree gets right to the point
Masquerade dance party - with guests like Tintin & Wild Dog getting down
The third color used effectively to depict flashback
The top of Blackbeard's tower - literally breathtaking!

In this episode of ITG's ABCs (which is short for Anthology & Back-up Comics Stories), I'm having a look back at a 5-part story running through the fantastic Huntress back-up feature in Wonder Woman #s 309-313!

Join me as I recap and comment on this story featuring the Dark Knight Daughter & the debut of a sinister, but obscure villain with an unusual power over the vermin of Gotham City!

Download this episode HERE!

Scroll down to see images from these issues, and please be sure to check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Also, I'd love to hear from you!  Email me at: [email protected], or hit me up on Twitter: @itgblogcast

Thanks for listening!

Music this episode: 'The Lonely Bull' by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Hey, Earthworm -- Bob Cratchit called, he wants his wardrobe back
Sneaking a peak at Dan Spiegle's Huntress
Fending off the vermin of Gotham City
The Earthworm gets, literally, the last laugh

On this episode of ITG, we're celebrating the United States' birthday by taking a look the 1st story from Tomahawk #51 - 'General Tomahawk,' featuring a cameo appearance by father of the United States George Washington, and an unlikely set of disguises for DC Comics' premier frontier hero, Tomahawk & his teenage side kick, Dan Hunter, who attempt to infiltrate an enemy camp as practicing minstrels!  I honestly tried to keep the singing to a minimum on my recording, but if you're brave enough:

Download this episode HERE!

Scroll down to see images from these issues, and please be sure to check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Also, I'd love to hear from you!  Email me at: [email protected], or hit me up on Twitter: @itgblogcast

Thanks for listening!

Music in this episode is from 'Spirit of '76: Music for Fifes and Drums'

Bob Brown's homage to Emanuel Leutze's 'Washington Crossing the Delaware,' with Tomahawk standing in for the General
Tomahawk receives a temporary appointment as Continental General from Washington, himself
You're a mean one, Dan Hunter; Grinch-like, Tomahawk's teen sidekick 'relieves' the British storehouse of a few supplies
Sailing across the frozen river - the wind was cooperative

My favorite Coluan is by far the Legion of Super-Heroes' Brainiac 5 - and I love reading stories about his adventures in the far future.  But if there's anything better than reading about 1 Brainiac, it's reading about 2 -- sort of . . .  !  In this episode, I'll be recapping & commenting on Brainy & his teammates' animated-style adventure from Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #9!

Download this episode HERE!

Scroll down to see a few images from these issues below, and check out previous episodes of I'm the Gun on iTunes & Google Play!

Thanks for listening!

Interesting new look for Brainiac 5 & not-so-hot new look for Sun Boy
Even stranded on prehistoric Krypton, Bouncing Boy can't get Triplicate Girl off his mind
Reassuring Brainy & Bouncing Boy-shaped time bubble

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Super-Blog Team-Up for an nWo-style takeover featuring some very bad dudes from the DC Universe! Cue the music!

I was pleased & privileged to accept the return invitation to 'stand in' for the dearly (at least for now) departed Super Bloggers - and to mark the occasion, I thought I'd adapt an unused Where's The Trade? idea with a brief profile of some of my favorite comics 'stand-ins' - the bad boys from the planet Angor, THE super-villain team to beat in early 90s Justice League comics & cheeky Marvel villain analogs: The Extremists!  I'm amazed that, for a group based on such a throw away idea (analogs of 4 top Marvel villains -- and Dormammu), creators have been using some version or another of the Extremists in comics for almost 30 years!

Before I cover the publishing history of these true Harbingers of the Attitude Era, I invite you to check out the other late spring offerings from some fellow blasts from the #SuperBlogTeamUp past:

• Back in the Bronze
• Bronze Age Babies
• Chasing Amazing

The Extremists 1st appeared in Justice League Europe #15 (June 1990) in the first of a 5-part story called 'The Extremist Vector' - but the roots of this villain team date back much farther than that.  In comics cover dated Feb. 1971, DC & Marvel - or maybe I should say Justice League writer Mike Friedrich & Avengers writer Roy Thomas - exchanged charming, naughty swipes at the competition with the introduction of a team of super doppelgangers in their respective books.  In issue 85 of the Avengers, Thomas debuted The Squadron Supreme, a team of alternate dimension JLA analogs including Hyperion (Superman) , Nighthawk (Batman), Lady Lark (Black Canary) & The Whizzer (Flash), among others.  This Squadron Supreme was a revised version of a villain team of JLA dupes Thomas introduced in the Avengers about a year and a half previously called The Squadron Sinister.  Meanwhile, in Justice League of America #87, Friedrich introduced a doppelganger Avengers in The Assemblers (later, the Champions of Angor, The Justifiers & The Retaliators - no one could seem to keep this straight), whose membership included Wandjina (Thor), The Silver Sorceress (Scarlet Witch), Blue Jay (Yellowjacket) & Jack B. Quick (Quicksilver).  Each team of analogs met, misunderstood, and fought their respective series' stars, before in each case parting as friends.

Though introduced together, the legacies of these analog teams couldn't have been more different.  Squadron Supreme went on to be featured in several guest-starring appearances, mini series, and trade paperbacks printed in human ashes, while the Assemblers never got a push - they slipped down the card, forgotten for almost 20 years.

The Assemblers: Not-Quicksilver, Not-Scarlet Witch, Not-Yellowjacket & Not-Thor I didn't get into comics full time until after 1987, so I'm not sure what sort of reception greeted the Assemblers' big comeback to comics in the earliest issues of Keith Giffen/JM DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire's Justice League.  Shock? Surprise? Indifference? 'Who the @#*%!! are these guys?!'  But looking back, the use of Wandjina, Silver Sorceress & Blue Jay as antagonists to the League seems to have come a bit out of nowhere.  In the interim since their last appearance, it's revealed that the Asssemblers' home world Angor (no longer an alien planet, but an extra-dimensional analog for Marvel Comics' Earth thanks to the reality warping effects of Crisis on Infinite Earths) had been obliterated by the planet's nuclear weapons - and the trio of heroes (as far as we knew, the last survivors of their planet) take it upon themselves to rid DC Earth of their nukes, and save it from a fate similar to Angor.  The governments of Earth don't take kindly to this interference, and after a confrontation with the newly minted Justice League (soon to be International), by story arc's end the waning days of the Cold War status quo is maintained, Wandjina is dead (or at least very near death), Silver Sorceress & Blue Jay are taken into Soviet custody -- aaaand then things soon get really interesting for the survivors of Angor & the Justice League.

The 1st appearance of the Assemblers in JLA #87 can be found digitally, collected in color in the series of JLA Archives, vol. 10, specifically - or in the more recent JLA Bronze Age Omnibus vol. 1.  You can also find the story reprinted in black & white in Showcase Presents: The Justice League vol. 5.   It's typical early Bronze Age JLA - decent plot with good, if unremarkable Dick Dillin/Joe Giella illustration.  If you're reading this, you probably don't need my recommendation to pick up those early 'Bwah-Ha-Ha' Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLI issues, but I'll give it to you, anyway - they can be found in single issue format, trade paperback, hardcover omnibus & digitally - you really can't go wrong with these excellent comics.

4 top Marvel villains -- and Dormammu - the Extremists' template About 3 years after the JLI's dust-up with the Assemblers, in 'The Extremist Vector,' a story plotted & laid out by Keith Giffen and illustrated by Bart Sears, Pablo Marcos & Randy Elliot, running through the title Justice League Europe #s 15-19, we learn a lot more about the destruction of Angor when the Silver Sorceress escapes captivity & returns to her home dimension.  There, she runs into what appear to be a few MORE 'only remaining survivors' (what is this - Silver Age Krypton?), The Assemblers' arch-enemies and perpetrators of Angor's World Destruction, the Extremists!  These are 5 bad dudes - and since the super-heroes of Angor were not-so-coy nods toward the Marvel Universe's good guys, then it only makes sense for the villains of Angor to be modeled after Marvel's bad guys.  So let's meet the Extremists!

This collection of mega-powered malcontents began as a team of ordinary, everyday industrial thieves.  But a botched bomb heist & run in with (because this is a Marvel-ous origin story) MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF RADIATION mutates these unnamed criminals into a stable of monster heels!  We've got Lord Havok - leader of the team inside his powerful, shiny suit of armor.  Imposing & bug-like in his massive shell, Havok is a reimagined Dr. Doom.  Gorgon is a flabby, brutish lech - metal claws for hands & thick strangulating tentacles growing out of the top of his head - the Dr. Octopus of the Extremists.  Tracer is quick, athletic, ferocious - and insane.  An alternate universe Sabretooth.  Dr. Diehard wields the forces of magnetism - so he could only be a Magneto analog (though he does carry Daredevil's 'Double D' emblem on his chest).  And the strangest-looking & most frightening Extremist is Dreamslayer, the Dormammu stand-in (they can't all be winners, I guess) with his stocking feet, tattered cape and energy ball of a head, who taps into some pretty serious magical power - so serious that he's able to pull the location of the DC Earth from the Silver Sorceress' mind, and with a quick teleportation spell, The Extremists discover a new world to conquer!  What follows is a series of confrontations with Justice League Europe, whose membership at the time included Captain Atom (team leader), Power Girl, The Flash, Rocket Red, Crimson Fox, The Elongated Man & Metamorpho.  In the long history of the League, its heroes had yet to meet such a sadistic, brutal group of villains as the Extremists. They killed - they didn't think twice about it.  They'd grown bored on their home planet - it's populace had been wiped out by the Extremists' emmployment of their planet's stolen nuclear weapons.  They loved to fight - the tougher the opponent the better.  The Extremists are DELIGHTED to meet some super-hero resistance on this 'new' planet.  Upon first meeting their foes, the JLEers are beaten handily - it's basically a squash match!  And things get pretty dark when the League is teleported to Angor, prisoners on a desolate world, leaving no one to stop the villains back home who've hijacked Earth's nuclear arsenal and hold hundreds (thousands?) of missiles in orbit - an all too literal Sword of Damocles - in place to force Earth's surrender.

The muscular bulk & reflective material in the design of the Extremists plays to Bart Sears' strengths as an illustrator After enduring a surreal experience in a deserted theme park and finding their way home (& knowing they can't overpower the Extremists), the JLE must rely on wit, a little trickery, and a not-so-metaphorical deus ex machina in the form of Angorian Walt Disney-analog, Mitch Wacky to eventually defeat Lord Havok & crew - with a pretty startling swerve revealed along the way [Spoilers: all but one of the Extremists were killed with the rest of their planet's populace; the team the JLE has been fighting were theme park animatronics all along. Mitch Wacky came, he saw & he deactivated the technical tyrants with the push of a button].  This is really the first knock down, drag out deathmatch I can ever remember the Justice League having, and definitely the most soundly I'd ever seen them beaten at the time.  Arriving when it did in the wake of 'dark & gritty' depictions of action & angles in comics, and perhaps a little before things of that nature would become more commonplace in mainstream comics, 'The Extremist Vector' (and the Extremists) really pushed the envelope when it came to the use of violence in Justice League books.  The Extremists were the Justice League's 1st 90s villains - not only chronologically, but also in name (EXTREME!), attitude  - and in look!  These are Bart Sears/Keith Giffen designs and there's no doubt about it.  Sears is a master at depicting muscular bulk and shiny things - and the Extremists' appearance puts his talent for both on full display.  The members of the Extremists all have some sort of reflective element or detail in their outfits (in Lord Havok's case it's ALL reflective element) and they fairly pulse, or throb with muscular energy - even Dreamslayer, whose depicted a bit more - sinewy.  When comics fans think of early 90s artistic excess, I imagine those thoughts often land first on the work of someone like Rob Liefeld, but in my mind, you can get all that & more with Bart Sears' illustration at the time, and I think you see some of Sears' best work in the design of the Extremists.

'The Extremist Vector' is one of my very favorite Justice League multi-part epics - it's got a little bit of everything: awesome villains, high stakes, twists & turns - and provides a much needed signature victory for the young Justice League Europe team.

The nature of the JLE's victory over the Extremists should have made the extra-dimensional 'Outsiders' -- unavailable -- for further adventures - but avail themselves, they would, in issue #3 of Justice League Quarterly (Summer 1991), where in a story plotted by Keith Giffen & illustrated by Mike McKone, we get our best look yet at the planet Angor.  Thanks to Walt Disney-doppelganger Mitch Wacky's (with help from JLI's own Mr. Fixit, Kilowog) desire to crack the dimensional (and chronal) barrier into Angor's past in a crusade to prevent the Extremists' origins (and therefore the destruction of his home planet), we see just how closely the New York of Angor was intended to resemble the NYC of the Marvel Universe. True Believer, Angorian New York was THE hub of super-hero activity in that dimension.  At a meeting of the Assemblers (here called the Justifiers - blame Crisis), the creative team gets to poke fun at the Avengers, once again, with parodies of Iron Man, Hawkeye, the Wasp & Giant Man.  As if this issue were an episode of the Twilight Zone, Mitch Wacky's quest doesn't turn out quite the way he planned, and we get to witness, first hand, the violent births of Lord Havok, Dr. Diehard and their fellow hardcore stars.  Mike McKone's super-detailed work (here inked by Bob Smith) is always a treat, and the New York of Angor is an enormous spectacle of super heroic activity (and NOT just because Mitch, Kilowog and the JLI are reduced to the size of insects in this story).

Born in hellfire Dreamslayer, alone, later returns to face the Justice League in the run-wrapping, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink epic 'Breakdowns' storyline, in which Keith Giffen & JM DeMatteis tie up any & all loose ends from their 5 years on JLI.  The lord of the Angorian Dark Arts possesses the body of JL boss Maxwell Lord - and conquers the much famed island of Kooey Kooey Kooey (a much more serious situation than it sounds) and it's up to Silver Sorceress to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Dreamslayer's machinations - Dreamslayer's 2nd defeat & the death of the Silver Sorceress effectively closes out the original Angor/Assemblers/Extremists saga.

The above mentioned stories: 'The Extremist Vector,' Justice League Quarterly #3 & 'Breakdowns' are what I would consider 'essential' Extremist reading, but unfortunately due to circumstances, are unlikely to find their way into any trade paperback or omnibus collection.  Comics are a collaborative medium, however - and the efforts of talented creators like Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, Bart Sears, Mike McKone, Darick Robertson & others make these stories worth checking out in single issue format.

The Extremists would improbably turn up again, causing trouble for Supergirl in Peter David's 90s series - I was impressed with David's adherence to previous Extremist continuity; the inclusion of guest star (and former JLE member) Power Girl to help Supergirl/Matrix tackle the temporarily revived conquerors in a handicap match was a nice touch.  The Extremists would also be recruited to job for the (Old Teen) Titans in DC's water-treading 2015 event, Convergence.  These were both decent enough outings - Leonard Kirk's depiction of the Extremists in Supergirl was fairly on model, but he & Convergence: The Titans' Ron Wagner just weren't able to capture the malevolent majesty of the Extremists the way Bart Sears & his JLE inkers were (Chuck Wojtkiwicz came close in a Justice League storyline I won't be mentioning here).

Leonard Kirk's Extremists were pretty much on model in Peter David's Supergirl . . . aaand there have been other iterations of the team: Dreamslayer returned with a hodgepodge of Z-list nogoodniks in the latter days of the JLI era - but without the pretty essential gimmick of being tied to top Marvel villains, without the polished chrome and faint whiff of atomic radiation, the New Extremists had none of the charm of the originals & disappeared after a minimal amount of appearances.  Even other dimensional versions of the OG team, as seen spinning out of 2007's DC Countdown into their own mini-series Lord Havok & the Extremists (considered hailing from Earth-8, if you keep track of that sort of thing) or in the recent DC Rebirth Justice League of America title lacked the proto-90s savage beauty, wonderful melodrama and down right love-to-hate-themness of the old Angor gang.  I DO give writer Steve Orlando credit in those latter JLAs for imparting a 'til now unseen nobility in the characters of Lord Havok & Dreamslayer - and all said these latter interpretations attest to the staying power of the Extremists concept.

Despite their dastardly deeds & vile characterizations, the Extremists have somehow slithered their way into my heart - yet I find it baffling that this team, based on a 45-year old throwaway idea still gets some play in whatever passes today for the DC Universe.  While no where near as significant as the similarly 'analogous' Squadron Supreme, I'd argue the Extremists' legacy & relevance have (thus far) outlasted those of the Assemblers/Justifiers/Champions of Angor/Retaliators - and it's unusual to have the heels of a particular concept outstrip the babyfaces that way - but the Extremists are compelling foils & even with only one major grudge match with the Justice League under their straps - while they might not have the drawing power of a Despero or Starro or Injustice League, I'd still put them up there in pantheon of the League's greatest foes (cruiser weight division).

And speaking of vile bands of interdimensional rogues, like the Extremists, there's another such group that it's impossible to keep down - and that's the Super-Bloggers!  Please stay tuned for the return of that infamous confederation this summer!

This episode of Shanna Showcase sees Marvel Comics' greatest jungle queen out of the 90s & into the 'Aughts!'  So, you 'ought' to check out recap & commentary of Shanna's co-starring role with Wolverine in the lead story of X-Men Unlimited #48 with good looking painted art by Richard Isanove & script by old friend of Shanna & Ka-Zar the Savage alum, Bruce Jones!

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Thanks for listening!

Music in this episode: 'Love Dance' by Martin Denny

Shanna introduces herself with her own particular brand of 'Sweet Chin Music'
Richard Isanove's expressive faces remind me more than a little bit of Shawn McManus' work
Wolverine cracks the case
'Old?' Well, Shanna has been slapping around punks like Logan since 1972