InsaneJournal

But, more than that, these are just really great comics. You can really tell they spent a lot of time with the characters' previous appearances to channel their various dynamics. But what're you listening to me for? Read on, and see for yourself!
NOTE: The scans aren't mine, but honestly they almost never are.


Blue Beetle v6 #5, Oct '86 (7 1/3 pages out of 22)

The issue opens with Vic Sage at his desk, putting together what he knows about the Blue Beetle.

Charlton Bullseye and Americomics may have thrown him through various stations, but he's happily (well, happily enough for Vic, at least) back at WWB-TV here, though there's no longer any sign of Crown City or Hub City, both Ted and Vic work out of Chicago. He comes off more as a genuine investigative journalist than Ditko's crusader, too.
Another notable addition is replacing Vic's on-the-job nemesis with Syd, an ornery fellow who's actually a legitimate superior to Vic instead of just the son of his boss. He's still just a foil for Vic, but we'll see more about their relationship and what it means for our hero later.

Meanwhile, some of these young toughs being mentioned so much lately knock over a "candy store" (a liquor store maybe?) owned by the local mob. Ted is in pursuit and loving every minute.

I love the fact that he's not just in it to help the city, but even the gang kids if at all possible. That kind of optimistic attitude is one of the great things about Ted.
Unfortunately, the gangs of Chicago have some kind of guardian angel they refer to as Big M, who launches bazooka shells at anyone pursuing the kids. One hits a wall next to the Bug and in the confusion, Ted loses the thieves.

This issue has at least four sub-plots running through it, with all of them settling on the issue of a recent upswing in gang-related crime. Meanwhile, Ted deals with the classic issues of being a good-natured young man juggling a personal life with superheroing while having a memorable supporting cast. It channels the feel of early Spider-Man so heavily that I can't think of a better send-up to Ditko. I really wish it was collected in trade or something. Vic's guest spot is even analogous to Spidey's early team-ups with the Human Torch, with a bit of Ben Urich/Daredevil thrown in.

Anyway, one of the people interested in the upsurge in youth violence is this guy.

The guy who walked in is his son Richie. Don Vincent wants Richie to get to the bottom of this guardian angel business the gangs are gloating about. Richie complies, with unspoken apprehension (thanks, Paris!)
On the other side of town, our hero sticks his nose where it doesn't belong, as usual.

Vic checks the address Rodent supplies, and finds an old scrap heap under conspicuously heavy guard. Knowing it smells fishier than Aquaman, Vic sticks to what he knows...

...Trespassing, with a little breaking-and-entering on the side.
What's great about this page is how it's a direct lift from Vic's first appearance, not just the words, but the art, too. Even Vic's green-checkered overcoat! Paris' shot of The Question is a little more dynamic, but I never posted that entire scene from Blue Beetle v5 #1, so you won't exactly be able to compare those two bits.
But enough of that, it's time for some two-fisted detective work!

He's punning! Oh, I couldn't be happier.
After taking out the guards, Vic has a look around at the junkyard, but is interrupted by the thugs arriving for their meeting.

They do just that, and sooner than he'd had hoped. The next panel, even.
Things're looking pretty bleak for Vic when...

Aside from signs they'd read Ditko's series, the way they play off each other makes me think at least Len had read the Americomics Special, and the results are absolutely delightful.

All of their ridiculous jokes really warm my heart, I love these two together!
A big guy name of Slab comes to teach them how a real brawl goes, but with agility and teamwork they make short work of him.

Suddenly, a bazooka shell launches right in the middle of the melee. In the confusion, the kids hoof it, praising Big M the whole way, while Vic and Ted regain their balance.

I forgot to include one more panel here which is really bizarre given the time of release. It has Question in the foreground, but the way the shadows play on his face and coloring makes him look more like Rorschach! Whether Paris did it on purpose or not, I have no idea.



Blue Beetle v6 #6, Nov '86 (7 1/3 pages out of 22)

There's something really serendipitous about this issue, in that Vic appears on exactly nine pages, and one and a two-thirds of them are pure recap, making cutting it down a breeze. Sure, I'm neglecting some of the many subplots in this issue, but this series isn't about Ted Kord's supporting cast.
We begin in the Bug, where Ted and Vic are comparing notes on the gang violence investigation, and the chemistry between them only gets better.



Vic Sage: knows how to make an entrance, knows how to make an exit. It's the in-betweens that get in his way.

And ain't it a hell of an exit! I'm sorry Vic, the Awesome Police called, they said you've not only filled your quota for cool stuff, but you're running such a surplus that they had to pull some in from elsewhere that month to keep the cosmos in balance!

I wonder who in November of '86 could've had their cool taken away to accommodate this...

!!!
Wow, way to be a dick, Vic! The Awesome Police wanted me to tell you that they'll discuss your punishment later, but until your case is heard you'll be forced to wear the leisure suit to keep your cool at manageable levels, but you'll have to get out of the standard get-up first.

Alright, the only thing I ever knew about Paris Cullins before reading this was that he was black and drew Blue Devil (i loved Blue Devil when i was a kid, we used to get those big packs of back-issues at Toys'R'Us and they'd be full of Blue Devil), and the only thing I knew about Len Wein was that he looked like Terry Long. And just with that information, there's no way you could miss that cameo. I think I love these guys.

More sub-plots progress as Don Vincent and Richie talk about what they've discovered on this guardian angel the gangs have. As the scene progresses, we learn how Richie doesn't want to carry on the family business the Don spent his whole life establishing for his sake. Richie wants to be an actor instead! The Don tries to keep his attention on the matter at hand, but when Richie lives the room, you can see his remorse for forcing his son into a life he doesn't want.
Meanwhile, Ted interacts with his charming supporting cast, and acts live a generally great guy. He's gotten over some vague superhero angst he had the previous issue, but still doesn't have time for his girlfriend, what with having to investigate the gang kids still. Poor guy.
And in another bizarre parallel to Watchmen, Lt. Fisher, the cop who would be investigating Ted Kord's connection to Dan Garrett's death if not for this whole gang uprising has a run-in with the Deltoids, a musclebound gang who work out of (and at!) a gym. The Watchmen parallel occurs when Fisher finds out where the gangs are meeting Big M by breaking a guy's finger. It gets to a point where you wonder if they weren't doing this stuff on purpose, but it would've been worse if Vic were the one doing it.

Speaking of,

Hell of a way to run, guy!
But more importantly, something big happened on this page, did you catch it? Yeah, I'm talking about that fifth panel. Whereas Ditko's Vic found nothing so disgraceful as compromise and acting out of anything other than self-interest, here's he's against almost the very opposite, bigotry and narrow-mindedness! The seed is planted, the man transitions from Objectivism to Humanism, and are we hearing any complaints aside from perhaps Ditko's? Certainly not from me! Thank you, Len.

Back to the plot, the rendezvous is set at the dilapidated Globe Theater, where Big M reveals himself as Muse, a garish clown commando with lots of guns, but extremely well spoken. He tells the gangs that the mob is on its last legs, all it needs is a good push to topple it over, and he's just the guy to lead them to it. When some express skepticism, he backs himself of with muscle, nearly strangling a guy as an example.
Ted is watching from the ceiling beams. Just as he decides he's seen enough, the beam breaks out from under him and drops him to the floor, and the gangs aren't happy about the interruption. He puts up a good fight, but there's simply too many of them.
Things're looking pretty bleak for Ted when...

That's right, it's the return of the leisure suit. They're working together even better than last time, check out the way Vic flips Ted over his back! But they're still dreadfully outnumbered. It can't, and doesn't, last.




Blue Beetle v6 #7, Dec '86 (approx. 7 1/3 pages out of 22)

Oh there's just so much to this issue, but most of the important stuff is at the end, so I'm just going to speed-run this.
Tied up against the Muse and an army of thugs, what do Vic and Ted do?

Vic shows just how stubborn he is, and Ted chides him for it. Ditko would've played this as ultimate heroism, Len makes it look like bravery mixed with foolishness. Guess which one I'm fonder of?

Thankfully, Ted has a plan. Muse is trying to be funny here, and he is, but taken with what we know about Vic now, well, let's just say I've only seen one case of creepier unintentional foreshadowing.

They break their bonds and hit the Muse with the Bug. The police show and everyone scatters. The Muse has his own exit strategy.

Once they make it out, Vic tells Ted to drop him at the same place as yesterday.


Ted's got dozens of them, and he sends them all over the city to keep track of the gangs. In the meantime, he and Vic sit and wait.
The Muse isn't as patient, so Don Perignon gets an unexpected early wake up call.

Not one to be played for a sap, the Don tosses him off the bed and calls in his goons. The Muse tosses a smoke bomb their way and jumps out the window. After they recover, Richie rushes in to see what happened.

If you're anything like me, I'm sure you've guessed where this is going by now, but just wait, it gets better. The gangs have decided they don't need the Muse to join forces, so they meet up at Wrigley Field to work out a merger. The discussion is heated, but hasn't come to blows yet. One of Ted's Snoopies catches the gathering, but our heroes aren't the only ones who know what's going down. When the stadium is surrounded by black cars filled with armed gunmen, Ted decides he needs a little extra speed.

The Don's men are in position, the cars drive onto the field and surround the gang kids, but Vic and Ted are just in time.

They take 'em on, but still have time to banter amongst themselves.


Turning back to strategy and dealing with the numbers, Vic and Ted decide taking out the Don'll hold off the mobsters when a new challenger enters the ring.

"Go home!" he cries, "before someone gets hurt!"
That gang kids are livid. One of them is set against the Don, and takes his gun to him. The Muse jumps in front of him, saying "No! Don't shoot, he's my--"



And there you have it. No strawmen, just people. People with their own intentions, hang-ups, goals and ultimately failures. For understanding that, for getting that there's more to people than just what they do, but the motivations behind what they do, and the often heartbreaking results when they come in conflict with others are the real crux of storytelling, thanks again Len. I can promise you I'll be scouting eBay for any collections of this series.

I'd like to imagine that none of the people present left the same way they came in, that they learned something from this like it were a shared turning point for them, but that could just be me being naive. Though aren't these kind of stories written to exercise our hearts, to enrich our hopes in a better way? I think we have to believe there is, otherwise we simply stare into the abyss, and darkness lies that way, for the abyss is staring right back. Even if it's naive, hope is an important part of survival.

On a lighter note, for any Renee fans out there, I found this fantastic wallpaper by the inimitable Cully Hamner through Greg Rucka's blog. I know it's on my desktop!


The next installment'll be delayed a bit. I'm moving next week, so I have a lot of packing to do and won't have time to write these posts. Not only that, but I've gotta go through O'Neil's series and figure out which parts I want to post. I hardly want to go through all thirty-six issues, and if I do it'll end up pretty compressed, chances are. I know I'll go through the first arc, and the one where Vic reads Watchmen, and his encounter with the Riddler since a) worst cover ever and b) The Question and the Riddler can't be anything but a match made in comic book heaven.

Either way, stay tuned for Zen & Violence in the coming weeks! Join us, won't you? And be kind to yourselves in the meantime.