Comic Cuts - 29 March 2019

I had a break mid-week from the work that I've been doing for the past few months as a commission came in from a newspaper for an obituary that will now go on file until the appropriate time.  (Obviously I'm not going to say who it was for, but it was an author whose work I know and like.) Around that, I've managed to almost finish the text of the first two Gwyn Evans books, which are now properly sized and laid out. I just need to put in something at the back of the book to cross-advertise the rest of the series, so I'm not far off finishing.

I also still have to do the covers. I have a slightly firmer idea of what I'm hoping to do with them, but I haven't had a chance to actually put that idea to the test of actually doing it. Are my Photoshop skills up to it? Are my ideas workable, or will the whole thing turn into a disaster? Honestly, I don't know. I haven't had a spare day for weeks to even begin experimenting.

I did, on the other hand, have a brilliant family day out on Sunday. We even went to the pub and had a nice walk in the afternoon. I'm aware that it sounds like my niece and her husband came round to the care home to take me out for the day, but that's kind of what it felt like. Sundays have been the only day of the week I've had to work on things that I want to work on for the past few months but even I have to admit that it can be a little claustrophobic in my little office, especially when the sun is shining outside. I've had magazines that need indexing (I still try to contribute to the FictionMags Index when I can), tidying up cover photos, answering emails from sometimes weeks earlier, do bits of research, sort out more things ready for Ebay, and make tiny inroads into tidying up. It all takes time and getting out of the house was a treat.

I finally knuckled down to watch The Titans, which had mixed reviews when the first episode appeared. I was almost tempted not to bother, but I do want to watch Doom Patrol and that is tied in to The Titans, making the latter required viewing.

There are a lot of introductions in The Titans. The Doom Patrol are introduced in episode four, but its a bit like paying a fortune for a comic that has the first appearance of a character, only to find that actually they're in the background of panel three, page eight. The Doom Patrol are here, but they're little more than set dressing and have nothing to do with moving the plot forward.

So let's start at the beginning.

Dick Grayson is a detective with the Detroit PD, having walked away from his life in Gotham City. Still tormented by the death of his parents, he has found solace in being Robin... but his association with Batman is turning him darker and more violent. In an effort to step out from Batman's shadow, he tries to discard the Robin side of his persona, but finds that being a vigilante is sometimes the only way to dispense justice in Detroit.

He is recognised by Rachel Roth, a young teen whose stepmother has just been murdered, but whose psychic abilities allow her to flee to Detroit, where she is arrested. Dick, living up to his name, refuses to help her, but does ask after the stepmother. By the time he realises Rachel has been telling the truth, she has been abducted from the police station.

Meanwhile, a girl awakens in a car with no memory of how she got there. Kory Anders, aka Starfire (for it is she) has betrayed gangster Konstantin Kovar, who she subsequently burns to a crisp when he threatens to kill her while she is questioning him about who she is.

Meanwhile, Rachel kills her kidnapper by allowing her dark side to emerge.

Meanwhile, a green tiger steals some stock from a store before turning into a young boy with green hair. Gar Logan later befriends Rachel and these two are probably the most enjoyable pair in the show.

Dick and Kory both have a habit of running off whenever problems get too much for them. Brooding and conflicted, especially after the new Robin shows up, Dick Grayson shows none of the leadership qualities that you'd want in a leader. In fact, it is only with the arrival of Donna Troy (Wonder Girl) that you think "Finally, a grown up!" Despite the sex and language (both of which are still relatively mild), this is certainly not an adult show... young adult maybe, but for the most part everyone is reacting to situations at the level of early teen (the same problem DC's shows have over on The CW). That works fine for Rachel and Gar, but not for other characters.

But it's not all bad. The aforementioned Wonder Girl shows promise, and Hawk and Dove, introduced in episode two, have potential. They have problems founded in their troubled relationship and troubled pasts, but they have genuine affection for each other. The murderous family who are sent to track down Rachel are bickering, funny and chilling. And, yes, the Doom Patrol seem an interesting bunch. The main cast, incidentally, are fine... it's the characters that need a bit of work.

Overall, I'm glad I stuck around to the end. There is to be a second season, and if the writers can get to grips with Dick Grayson and let him come to terms with who he is, maybe that will stop him sucking all the fun out of the show. The show raises a few questions about the violence of vigilantes in the DC Universe, but doesn't yet have any answers. It will be interesting to see where it goes while searching for them.

To end this week's column with something I spotted on Flickr, where someone had sourced the two elements that went into the making of the cover to Hate by Hank Janson. I've added a couple of additional bits here, but I need to acknowledge Uilke, who spotted this.

The artist who put together the Hate cover took elements from two American paperbacks, Beyond Defeat by Hans Werner Richter (Crest Books) and We Walk Alone by Ann Aldrich (Gold Medal Books).  The original of the Richter was subsequently used by Digit Books and was also used abroad.