How are the Legends of the Dark Knight Collections?

Editor's Note: Today Pierre tells us about several Batman Graphic Novel's he's recently bought. - Jim

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I have always been a big fan of Batman, or Batman-like characters like the Phantom, the Shadow or Marvel's Nighthawk, but for the past 10 years, I have not been getting many Batman comics. I think the last time I bought a monthly Batman comic was when DC published a Batman comic based on the Bruce Timm animated series or getting my Batman fix from the various Bruce Timm animated series or movies, or from older comics like the Brave and the Bold Showcases.

But lately DC has been releasing some comic compilations labeled Legends of the Dark Knight. I just got the Alan Davis one, and I did get the Jim Aparo one before that. Strangely enough, although I have been a big fan of Alan Davis since Wolverine: Bloodlust and his Batman: Full Circle, I only Had 2 Batman tales by Alan Davis.


The one issue he did that was part of the Batman Year Two TPB, and the Batman: Full Circle that serves as a sequel to Year Two. That was all the Alan Davis Batman that I had until now.


Did his Batman: Full Circle sell so poorly that it did not allow him to do more Batman One-shot?? Was Davis unhappy with the result that he did not want to do any more Batman comics??? II have no idea.

But there are about 8 comics and a short black and white short story in that book.

Reading that book was strange, it made me realize how much the Batman we actually see in Full Circle is pretty much the Pre-Crisis Batman. It highlights how much Batman did not change all that much after the Crisis. The biggest differences concerning Batman seems to have been the changes made to Catwoman, and the Joker being more of a homicidal maniac, but the Joker was actually changed with Killing Joke more than because of Crisis.

But it was fun to see where characters like McSurly and his Club actually came from. And the short black and white tale at the end was a fun and touching little story.

And there was a short tale with the Elongated Man by the Legendary Carmine Infantino. I loved his run on the Flash, and Elongated Man was a guest star on that book from time to time. It was fun to see what I assumed is the last Elongated Man tale by Infantino.


So although not that long, Legends of the Dark Knight by Alan Davis is a fun comic that is a nice contrast with the current Batman comics - worth every penny!

As for the one by Jim Aparo, Damn how the cover is god-awful.


They did a piss poor photoshop job putting that cover together, and damn the colors are way too dark. There wasn't much thought put into that cover. They poorly recolored a B&B cover and slapped the Legends of Dark Knight type on top of it.

The cover of the Alan Davis one was not colored as darkly as the Jim Aparo one, so that cover is not that bad. It is still a cover were they simply slapped the type on top of the cover, but it almost looks fine in this case.

Luckily, the inside artwork by Aparo is not as messed up as the cover. Although with the glossy/shiny paper, the colors are a little oversaturated, but that is a nitpick compared to the cover. I bought a Phantom HC by Aparo not that long ago where the printing was not of the best quality. But with the Batman one, the print quality is fine.

Just so you know how big of a Jim Aparo fan I am, I bought that Batman HC by Aparo even though I already own the same stories in the Showcase format. Damn how he is the PERFECT artist to draw Batman. And the good news is that this seems to be only the first volume of Batman tales by Jim Aparo. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long for the rest of Batman comics that he did.

There are many fine interpretations of Batman, Bolland, Davis, Giordano, Norvik, but Jim Aparo's Batman is the definitive interpretation of the character in my book.

Enjoy.

Until next time.
- Pierre

Ten Lesser Known Bronze Age Monsters

This week we will be celebrating Halloween here in the states, so what better way to do that on Flashback Universe than by presenting some of my favorite C-List and D-List creature comics from the Bronze Age? Sure you know Man-Thing and Ghost Rider but how many of these old school monsters do you remember?

1. Man-Bat

 
I know, I know. He's actually pretty well known, but let's call this one a gimme. Recently, Grant Morrison has used the character (premise) in his Batman run, but doesn't Man-bat seem like a perfect candidate from his own series? (Or at least one of the replacement titles they seem to be pushing out in quarterly waves now.)

2. The Scarecrow (from Dead in the Night )

At some point Marvel decided to start calling this character Straw Man (probably to make sure they could capitalize on his huge (huge I say!) fan base and not worry about legal back and forth with DC's similarly named character.

3. The Golem (from Strange Tales)

Despite only a handful of Bronze Age appearances, this character hasn't completely faded into obscurity. In 2002, he appeared in Brian K. Vaughn's The Hood mini-series and then in 2006 in Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. This character is not related to the Golem character than appeared in a few Invaders issues.

4. The Creature Commandos (Weird War)

Young Jim Shelley had no interest in War comics, so I completely missed this when it was in the Spinner Racks. I always forget about it now that I'm older, but it really looks like something I would dig.

5. IT The Living Colossus (Astonishing Tales)

Marvel's only Godzilla sized monster, IT!  is one of the few Marvel monsters who never managed to make an appearance in either Marvel Team-Up or Marvel Two-In-One. I suppose his (very) limited run and huge size both worked against him.

6. Simon Garth, The Living Zombie

Marvel has tried a couple of times to relaunch this character in these Zombie-favorable times. In 2006 with a 4 issue mini-series written by Mike Raicht which was followed up by another 4 issue mini-series by Eric Powell. However, neither of those minis came close to Walking Dead numbers, so there's less life in the Living Zombie than his name would suggest. I wonder if this premise would make a popular television show?

7. The Patchwork Man (House of Secrets)

Staggering out of the pages of Swamp Thing, The Patchwork Man didn't last long on his own. I seem to remember picking up this comic in my local 7-11 and being sort of freaked out by the cover (or something.)

8. Manphibian

He may have not held his own title, but this Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired monster did manage to get star billing on the first (and only?) black and white issue of Legion of Monsters.

9. The Living Mummy (Supernatural Thrillers)

Despite being another one of the lesser known Marvel Monsters, The Living Mummy had a pretty long run compared to some of the other people on this list. He also appeared in Marvel Two-In-One.

10. Lilith, Daughter of Dracula

What puzzles me about this character is, unless I'm mistaken, she's wholly owned by Marvel. So, why haven't we seen her more over the years (y'know, with all the interest in Vampires now?)

So, how many of those did you remember?
Was there someone you think I should have included?

Have a Happy Halloween!

- Jim

John Byrne's Fantastic Four Omnibus

Editor's Note: Last Week, Pierre talked about John Byrne's new comic, Trio. This week, he gives us his thoughts on another John Byrne book he bought: The Fantastic Four Omnibus. - Jim

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If you want a comic that is even MORE fun than TRIO, then go get yourself the Fantastic Four Omnibus by John Byrne. Damn that is a GREAT comic. Although I almost wish the Marvel Omnibus it was using the same paper as the TRIO comic.

Yes I know that some people are pissed when they don't uses the shiny glossy paper when they make comics in the Omnibus format (yes I am looking at you Chris Sims ;) ), but I think the shiny paper does not always make older comics look good. Some older comics artwork don't look too flattering when printed on that shiny paper. So, personally I don’t mind that the Kirby Omnibi are printed on thick newsprint.

But maybe that is just me.

Although the Fantastic Four Omnibus does not look bad, but the colors do look a little bit oversaturated on that shiny paper.

But that is a very nitpicky thing.

It is an AWESOME looking comic despite that.

I was surprised that it started with the Marvel Team-Up issues with the Human Torch drawn by Byrne. Then it also had a Marvel Two in One issue by Byrne. And we got the first run of FF with Byrne written by Marv Wolfman and inked by the legendary Joe Sinnott.

The sad part is that I had bought the Search for Galactus Premiere HC that already had some of the first FF run with Byrne. So once more, when I bought the FF Omnibus, ended up buying comics that I already owned.

Although to be fair, I already had most of them comics in that FF Omnibus. The only NEW comics I got in that Omnibus were the Marvel Two in One #50, the Avengers # 233, the Thing #2 and the FF Annual #17.

Although as a kid, the FF comic that I bought was in black and white, and it contained two FF stories per issue. And we only had the cover of only one of those two stories. Si a lot of the covers in that book were new to me.

The Omnibus does not contain that many extras, but it does contain a few.

It has a lot of the characters that Byrne did for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Some TPB covers. And a page 18 from FF#242 (see below) that was taken out when they made the Trial of Galactus TPB. But for some reason, it was not added back in for this collection. It was simply added in the extras at the end. WHY??? That makes no sense, why not put the page back where it is supposed to be??

Somtimes I sure do scratch my head at some of the decisions that are made when making them comics.

Some of the TPB covers that are in the extras were recolored with more modern coloring, and I have to admit that I like it.

I have to wonder why the Walter Simonson Thor Omnibus was recolored, but this one wasn't. What made Marvel decide that Thor should be recolored, but not the FF, or any other Omnibuses??

I don't get it.

But still, despite my few minor complaints, the FF Omnibus is an AWESOME comic that anyone should own. I can't wait to get my hands on the second volume, if Marvel ever decides to publish it. Heck we are still waiting for the second Uncanny X-men Omnibus with the end of the Dark Phoenix saga, and the legendary tale Days of Future Past.

I guess we have to be patient with them Omnibuses.

But if you don't want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for the FF Omnibus, then go get the TRIO TPB for about $18.

So you guys have no excuses now,

, go get yourselves some fun comics.  ;)

Until next time.

John Byrne's Trio

Note from Jim: It seems Pierre and I are getting in a groove of posting every other week (more by providence than by planning.) As such, Pierre (pictured below) provides us with today's post: A look at a comic you may not have heard of, but may want to check out!

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I can't help but think that IDW are doing a good job in general with their comics, especially with their Artist Editions. If I was more of a foolish fool then I already am, I would be buying wayyy too many of their Artists Edition. I own the Wallace Wood one (which will require a blog all of its own at some point) and have to stop myself from buying more. But in one of my visits at the comic shop close to my place... I could not help but notice John Byrne's new series...TRIO.

No... It is not the logo, or the artwork that got my attention. It is the non glossy cover. It looks like some very think bond paper, and I liked that paper. I don't like the glossy paper because too often you have to tilt the comic in order not to have a glare on the page as you try to read it or as you try to admire the artwork, but the TRIO cover paper was perfect, and it fitted perfectly with Byrne's artwork.

 But I did not pick it up.

Why says you?

For the past, 10 years... I have been pretty much a TPB buyer. Sometimes I will get the single issues... but more often than not, I will decide to wait for the TPB. Why says you once more?? Because wayyyy too often I end up buying the same comics multiple times.

An example of that is the Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War. I just bought the Absolute edition... so now I have to find someone to whom I can give the HC that I have. So when I saw the Trio comics... I waited for the TPB as usual. (Ironically... the TPB has a shiny glossy cover. ;)

And I know what many are thinking... TRIO?? really??

Yes... really.

I know what you guys are thinking because I had the same thought at first.

That this is the Fantastic Three... a cheap lesser version of the Fantastic Four. Espescially in light that the first foes that this TRIO faces are a Sub-Marinner like character...

and something not unlike Galactus.

But although it is derivative from the Fantastic Four... I enjoyed it. I had a great time reading that comic. It has that retro feel not unlike what we tried to do at Flashback Universe, but as opposed to us guys who try to recapture the magic of the comic we read a few decades ago... here it is MADE by someone who was already making comics all them decades ago.

Classic super-heroes... huge monsters... EVIL Nazi villain, this comic has it all.

If you guys like our FBU comics, you have to get that TRIO comic. Heck we might as well stamp the FBU logo on the cover, this IS a FBU comic. Is it perfect??? Of course not,

My biggest complaint with the TRIO TPB is that it ends on a cliffhanger. I would have much preferred to have a complete story in the TPB, and I can understand if it is a turn off for some people.

...but it still is a fun comic.

Check it out!

- Pierre

Classifying Bad Comics: Devalued Continuity

Continuing my posts on different types of bad comics. Today I'll introduce one the types that usually cause the most uproar - those wherein the writer has played havoc with established continuity.

Again, I'm not one of those people who feels all comics should be slaves to continuity. One of my favorite comic writers (Bob Haney) was notorious for not caring about continuity.


The saving grace in Haney's stories (and for most comics of that era) was they didn't rely on you knowing what happened in the last issue. Still, once you've decided to tell an ongoing story in serial form, then you have pretty much agreed to obey some laws of continuity, or put another way, the more you are relying on continuity to give your story gravitas, the more important continuity becomes.

Modern comics rely (overly much I think) on wanting the reader to be invested in ongoing storylines - which results in continuity having a greated influence than it didn in the Silver Age. As a result, there have arisen two types of Continuity contagions that can ruin a comic.

Today, I'll tackle what I see as the most comic problem: Devalued Continuity.

Over time, as writers and editors come and go on a series, it's not uncommon for some editorial mandate to force a writer to come up with a contrivance that basically oblivates established story lines. When doing this, if the events that the writer serves up are too far fetched, it runs the risk of diminishing the story line's continuity in a way a ignored plot hole never could.

Probably the beginning of this problem was the return of Jean Grey in X Factor 1 from the 90's.

The original premise of the series was that the four original male X-men would be joined by an undetermied female. This unused cover actually shows how far the series got in production without a decided upon fifth member.

However, an editorial decree made it necessary for Marvel to find a way to bring Jean Grey the dead. The solution? Well, that came from a fan letter from Kurt Busiek. He suggested that the Dark Phoenixed Jean Grey who died in X-men 137 was an alien who had assumed the original Marvel Girl's identity. Kurt had this idea that the Phoenix had duplicated Jean and left her in a pod on the bottom of Jamaica Bay. The actual story in which this all was explained was in Fantastic Four 286.

And while Kurt's explanation is plausable (as these go in comic book land) it sort of feels like a continuity cheat. (Especially when you take into account Cyclop's Jean Grey looking wife. Nothing awkward about that, aye? )


All these events may be "in continuity," but hasn't the writer undermined the value of the Marvel Universe with these type of shenanigans? I think so. And I think we see more of that now than we have ever seen before (partly because writers have gotten lazy) but mostly because editorial is driven by a need to satisfy the capricious demands of a superficial fan base. Instead of thinking about whether a story will be good, it's become more about putting the old toys back in the box. Whatever gets Hal Jordan back as Green Lantern is good enough to make the cut. As a result ,we've been getting some really bad stories.

In other words, all the Superboy Prime Reality Punches in the world...



...don't satisfactorily explain to me how Jason Todd came back to life.



Ultimately, if continuity is the coin of the realm, you run the risk of becoming penniless overnight when you do things like have an Editor in Chief Joe Quesada explain away a 20 year marriage of Spider-man and Mary Jane with words like, "It's Magic. We don't have to explain it."



Perhaps the big two can use Magic to make us care about their universes again.

- Jim

Pierre vs the New 52 - One Year Later

Pierre recently was able to catch up on a lot of the DC 52 storylines as his animation work starts to wind down. Here is what he thought. - Jim

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"Omactivate!"



That one word sums up perfectly the OMAC series that was released with the new 52. If you find it cool, you will love the OMAC comic. If you find this stupid, the NEW OMAC is definitely not for you.

Since it was cancelled after what, 8 issues?? My guess is that most people found this stupid.

And I assume that sales must have been pretty bad since all we got was the softcover TPB as opposed to the hardcovers that other series got.

Oh well.


Which is sad... because for me, the OMAC series was pretty much the only series out of the new 52 that I really enjoyed when the new 52 was brand new.

But not being a complete fool, I did not really expect a series that was made up of faux Kirby artwork ...and filled with Kirby concepts from the 70s to be a hit. Odds are that it was too dated or not edgy enough or some such crap.

But if you are one of the unfortunate souls who did enjoy the OMAC series, I would suggest that you get the Essential Hulk volumes that cover the era when Herb Trimpe was working on the series (Essential Hulk volume 4, 5, and 6 I believe.)

My favorite issue from that run HAS to be HUlk 204... which is sadly pretty much the end of the Herb Trimpe era of the Hulk.

So I guess that I HAVE to agree with those who called OMAC DC's attempt at creating themselves a blue Hulk.

But it was pure fun from page one to the end.

But what of the rest of the NEW 52??

Well, from what I can tell, it started with strong sales over all... but a few months later it was pretty much back to square one.

Series with characters like Batman that sold well BEFORE the NEW 52 still sold well, but for most new series... sales took a dive. So series like OMAC were cancelled. Heck at some point it seemed like all DC were doing was cancelling new comics that were not performing well. And from what I can tell, their second wave pretty much went by unnoticed. Other then the hype around stuff like a gay Green Lantern or some such thing, no one really cared about the second wave of the NEW 52.  I guess people were too busy being excited about the new Before Watchmen comics to even notice that second wave.

I had pretty much given up on the NEW 52, but once in a while, I would give a NEW 52 series a try.

I tried the Demon Knights TPB.


Loved the artwork, but did not care one bit about the characters or what happens in the story. The NEW 52 formula seems to be to put as much gore... sex, and vertigo elements as possible. Demon Knights has plenty of blood and gore to satisfy the most bloodthirsty fan, but I was surprised that they did not have a scene with a splash page with Etrigan and Xanadu doing the wild thing. I guess they did refrain themselves from going there.

I guess they had a hard time establishing properly the setting and all the character for this series. So you never really care about the characters and don't give a rat's ass whenever they are facing some sort of peril. But being a foolish fool, I gave other series a try.

The next one I tried was the Batman.


I love Batman... despite the fact that there hasn't been a good Batman comic in more than 10 years. I think that last time I bought a regular Batman comic monthly was when I was buying the comic of the Bruce Timm animated version. But there seems to be a lot of praise around the Court of the Owl story... so I was curious and decided to try the TPB. Of course this being Batman... the TPB is a HC. But still I gave it a try, and I kind of liked it.


I remember really liking Greg Capulo's artwork on Spawn, but it was strange to see his work without Todd McFarlane inking it. Took me some time to get used to it. And I am always amazed at how Batman is often seen as a more realistic super-hero... but how we end up with holographic masks and computer contact lenses, since those do exist in reality, right??

The tech in this comic is so advanced that it shatters any hope of ever being able to call this comic realistic. I have the same problem with the latest Batman movies. They are labeled as being more realistic... but the tech in those movies is so advanced... it makes Star Trek look like the Stone Age (yes I am exaggerating).

But let's get back to the comic. Even ignoring the advance tech out of Total Recall, this tale is far from perfect. Right from the start... we can see some of the confusion around the NEW 52. It seemed obvious that the NEW 52 was some last minute thing. That very little thought or planning had been put into this NEW 52. And that they had some pretty piss poor communication or did a piss poor job at coordinating the whole thing.

The best example of that in Batman is how they took the time to establish that Tim Drake was a former Robin and how he was a member of the Teen Titans. Heck even in Teen Titans we saw a photo of Tim as Robin swinging on a rope next to Batman. But now it seems, DC are saying that "No... No Tim was never Robin".

Now that comes from either piss poor planning, or piss poor communication between the editors/creators. But despite the magic tech and the poor continuity... this has been a pretty enjoyable/intriguing tale. The Owl seemed like a cool villain... but it was quickly revealed as one of many... which was still pretty cool.

Although it was convenient how Batman knocked out the ONE tooth that was required in the scene to reveal... something hidden in the tooth (am trying not to spoil too much). He knocked out the ONE tooth with the evidence he needed. Not several teeth and one of them being the one he needed. He knocked out the ONE tooth required, and no more.


Sadly... the HC ends on a cliffhanger... but I was intrigued enough by the tale to try out the next HC TPB.

Next up was Action Comics.


People kept on raving how great this book was and how Morrison was a genius in his telling of the tale. So I said... "F it, let's try out this sucker."( And in HC no less.)

My dictionary must be outdated because... the word genius describes nothing that is in this comic. Heck I can't even call it a good comic. Nothing in this comic is established properly.

When the comic starts... you are left wondering, when is this comic supposed to be happening?? From the Superman jeans with them patches and the police cars at the beginning, you would think that this comic is set in the late 30s. Are they trying to set the NEW 52 Superman in the late 30s once again??

No.

From whatever info we could get online, this comic is supposed to be set 5 years in the past. But looking at Superman's jeans, I haven't seen jeans patched up like this since about 3 decades ago. The same with the police cars. But at some point we see a blackberry to remind us that this comic is supposed to be set in modern times.

Although turning the Superman comics into a period piece could have been a good idea. But that is not what they did. I could go on all day about that comic... but I will try to keep it short.

When you see new characters like the Legion of Super-Heroes, or the Anti-Superman, or the K-men, or the guy with the moustache at the end (no idea who he is)... the comics makes no effort to try and introduce them. The writer counts on the reader already knowing who those guys are.


The writing in this comic is so amateurish... it stands on a level all of its own. If there was some Olympics of amateur writing... this would win the gold, the silver and the bronze all at once. Damn that was not a good comic. And as far as being a retelling/update to the Superman origin, it was freaking pointless.

What pisses me off the most is that we had Superman Secret Origin like what? 6 months before the reboot? It was a nice retelling of the Superman Origin that should have been the definitive Origin for at least the next 10 years.  But noooooo. DC had to have their reboot.  Damn!

Next was Justice League Hardcover


I already mentioned what I thought about the early Justice League issues, but I tried the HC hoping that it would change my opinion once I would have read the whole story. It did not change my opinion.

Damn how that was a bad origin.

The characters act like immature children... which is to make them "cool" I guess. As I feared the comic is pretty much done like a paint by numbers painting. And I would complain that Darkseid has the worst redesign in recorded history, but sadly that title goes to Cyborg.  As much as I usually like Jim Lee's artwork, damn he is a piss poor designer. He has to be the worst designer in the multiverse. And now that we know how Superman got his Kryptonian costume, the question stands.

Why does Batman have the same costume?? Is he wearing a Kryptonian battle armor? Did they retconn Batman as being Kryptonian?

I know that the reason is that both costumes were designed by Lee. The same with all them matching collars. But damn how that is poor design and planning. What is most disappointing is that this comic should have been good. Geoff Johns is a good writer and he usually has good ideas... and Jim Lee is a good comic artist in general. But the pairing of those two titans of the comic industry gave us something that is not worth reading.

Very disappointing.

And last... the last NEW 52 comic I have tried, Aquaman, also in HC.


And this comics settles the issue... Aquaman is nothing more then the guy who talks to fish. And the more they try to convince us that he is more than that, the more they convince us that that is all that he is. Sorry if you are an Aquaman fan. At least the art is gorgeous... but the story is pointless.

And it uses the NEW 52 formula with some horror/vertigo injected in the comic, some blood and some guts. All that is missing is some sex, which I am surprised they did not put in this comic. Is it because Aquaman is married to Mera and once you are married, you no longer have sex?  ;)

But seriously that was a boring comic with some great artwork, so not a total loss.

So what of the NEW 52 after a year has gone by? Some good stuff that was cancelled. Some intriguing stuff, but a lot of piss poor stuff that was not worth it. All in all, the NEW 52 was the perfect jumping off point for me.

I guess that if I want my DC super-heroes fix, I will need to keep on watching the Young Justice cartoon, or keep playing DC Universe Online.

We shall see.

Until next time.

Classifying Bad Comics 2: Jarring Outlandish Ideas

Continuing my discussion of bad comics from last week -
Last week I introduced my series on classifying bad comics by giving examples when a writer doesn't care about the character. Today, I'll bring another group into the classification: Jarring Outlandishness Ideas.

Now, let me just say for the record, I AM a fan of outlandishness in comics - when the context supports it. That is to say, in a continuity where the Flash can be turned into a human puppet...

...I'm pretty much cool with whatever you're gonna hit me with.

What I (and other readers) object to, is when the outlandishness of an idea is so poorly executed that it disrupts the tone of a series. That is to say, while it would be disconcerting to see aliens from X-Files show up on an episode of CSI, it is possible to incorporate those elements into CSI in a way that might work. However, if you are just throwing in aliens without any thought to how they should work in the CSI framework,, then you are creating a story no one will ever take serious.

Case in point Spider-man vol 2 and the entire Gathering of Five storyline

• Undoes the death of Aunt May (who readers had accepted as dead for 3 years at the time of the story.)
• Mary Jane has a still born pregnancy
• Norman Osborn becomes obsessed with magic

On their own and given some natural build up, there is nothing wrong with any of these plot points. However, all of the above was hastily dumped on readers in the course of a month in 4 separate Spider-man comics. So, what should have come across as powerful moments in Spider-man's life instead feels more like a bad imaginary story.

Let me be clear, it wasn't the haste that made the Gathering of the Five a bad storyline - It was the execution. In Anatomy Lesson Alan Moore was able to find a way to tell us everything we knew about Swamp Thing was a lie while organically incorporating his new truth into the story. Also Moore's changes didn't violate the intrinsic nature of the character (he is still a moody swamp creature.) The Alec Holland side of the character was always more of a story pivot than a character focus, IMO.

However, since then, many writers have tried to duplicate the success of Anatomy Lesson with dismal results. Case in point: when Jeph Loeb in the pages of Wolverine 55 tries to explain to readers how Wolverine isn't a mutant, but rather was descended from Maximus Lobo a wolf-like race also known as Lupines. This story was met with great deal of backlash and has been pretty much resigned to the Continuity Penalty Box.


In the hands of a better writer, it's possible that readers might have taken to this concept. I could see an Alan Mooresque approach with callbacks to Werewolf by Night, the Darkhold, Moonknight and Man-wolf. That is to say, if Loeb had found a way to weave Wolverine's new origin into an existing fabric of continuity, readers might have taken to the idea. As it was, the Lupine origins were met with the same sort of dismay you might expect if you were to suddenly say Batman is actually a mutant.

Speaking of Batman, just so you don't think I'm picking on Marvel here, DC has their fair share of jarring cringe worthy moments. Check out this clumsy bit of outlandish behavior from the Batman in Justice League vol 1 #84 




Not one of Batman's better moments.
Sadly, 40 years later, it seems history would repeat itself with another instance of this scene that was just as jarring:



As with the Spider-man plot points mentioned at the beginning of this post, there is nothing wrong with a Batman/Black Canary love connection in a story - as long as it is introduced with some care and consideration. However, modern writers seem less inclined (less patient?) or maybe are given less time to develop their stories appropriately.

Which means we will probably see more jarring outlandishness the future.

- Jim