Author: Mark Perigard

Writer. Editor. Survivor. Half-man, half-metal.

DC Gets its Freak on with the Doom Patrol

On By Mark PerigardIn Comics6 Comments
Negative Man! Elasti-Girl! Automaton? The Doom Patrol debuted in 'My Greatest Adventure' No. 80.
Negative Man! Elasti-Girl! Automaton? The Doom Patrol debuted in ‘My Greatest Adventure’ No. 80.

Like many fabulous things, the Doom Patrol was born out of desperation.

It was late 1962, and DC’s “My Greatest Adventure” faced cancellation.

Started in 1955, “My Greatest Adventure” was one of DC’s many anthology books that ran amok with weird sci-fi tales, such as “I Was the Hunted Man-Bird of Mystery Mesa!” (in issue No. 75) and “Cure Our Robot Ruler – or Die” (in issue No. 77).

Gee, you’d think with stories like that, the comics would be flying off the shelves.

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Did Warner Bros. License a Wonder Woman Sex Doll?

On By Mark PerigardIn Comics1 Comment

 

“Previews” is the monthly catalog for comic book stores and their fan-boy and fan-girl customers to peruse upcoming merchandise. The thing runs over 600 pages a month, and is a look into what’s going to be hot (or not) in comics and related merchandise.

In the latest issue, amid the ads for new comics, graphic novels, trading cards and Funko figures, there appeared the most curious solicitation: 

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That Time Captain America Almost Became Caitlyn America

On By Mark PerigardIn Comics1 Comment
Captain America no more?
Captain America no more?

Marvel Comics writer Mark Gruenwald loved Captain America.

And he proved it in countless stories of the Star-Spangled Avenger during the ’80s and ’90s. His Cap was the strong, unwavering hero that serves as the template today for the big-budget blockbusters starring Chris Evans.

But not every story can be a masterpiece. Sometimes the pressure of the monthly deadline – or here, the biweekly deadline – can prove to be too much for even the most able of scripters.

Take, for example, “The Superia Stratagem,” a six-part saga running bi-weekly during the summer of 1991 in which Cap goes up against a secret society of female super-villains.

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To Celebrate ‘Wonder Woman,’ DC makes Golden Age Fans an Offer They Can’t Refuse

On By Mark PerigardIn Comics1 Comment
Golden Age greatness: Green Lantern, the Flash and Wonder Woman in one comic.
Golden Age greatness: Green Lantern, the Flash and Wonder Woman in one comic.

In honor of its latest blockbuster film “Wonder Woman,” DC released last week an astonishing amount of Golden Age comics in its comics app.

I’m tempted to say “unleashed,” only because I’m feeling giddy about discovering scores of comics that haven’t been available for decades.

And you don’t have to be a Wonder Woman fan to love this material.

New to the app: “Wonder Woman” Nos. 8-15, “Comic Cavalcade” Nos. 1-13, and “Sensation Comics” Nos. 10-40.

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DC Edges Closer to a Justice Society Return

On By Mark PerigardIn Comics4 Comments
Golden Age Flash returns.
The return of the Golden Age Flash.

A year after its successful “Rebirth” launch, DC has teased the return of the Justice Society of America.

In the just completed story arc “The Button,” a four-part crossover in issues of “Batman” and “The Flash,” two members of the legendary super-team missing for years make appearances.

“The Flash” No. 21 opens with Johnny Thunder on the edge of a rooftop, screaming into a driving rain for his thunderbolt.

Orderlies grab the feisty 90-year-old and drag him back down.

“We lost the Justice Society! It’s all my fault!” he cries.

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