Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #567

Previously in Detective Comics...

Detective Comics #567 starred Batman a story by renowned Harlan Ellison with art by Gene Colan, and one of my favorite Batman covers drawn by Klaus Janson.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in their final Detective Comics backup strip titled "The Face of Barricade" written by Joey Cavalieri and pencilled by Stan Woch.

The story begins with ohmygod!!!

Skeletor Barricade looms over Green Arrow, kicking him and tormenting him with vague clues about his real identity.  He recalls the story of how Green Arrow brought about the ruin of his life, revealing to readers that Barricade is actually Lars from Detective Comics #556-557.

Lars' loyal followers at the monastery restored the Book of Ages using some alchemical tricks; this brought Lars back to life... sort of.  Lars, despite looking like death, will live as long as he remains in physical contact with the book.  His humanity will be restored once he gets the Wisdom Key which is hidden in Onyx's tiara.

Onyx brandishes the tiara in front of Barricade so he'll leave Green Arrow alone, but her whip does nothing to keep the villain at bay.  He lifts up Onyx threatening to snap her neck.  Ollie, meanwhile, grabs his bow and arrow and takes aim.  He heard Barricade say he had to remain in contact with the book, so he fires at one of Barricade's leg cuffs, hoping that's where the book is secreted.  Sadly, he guesses wrong, so he fires at one of Barricade's wrist gauntlets.  That, too, proves futile.

Before Black Canary can get away with the tiara, Barricade slams a heavy fist into the wall, shaking the building's foundation and causing Black Canary to fall into the room.  Barricade tries to get the tiara from Dinah, but Ollie fires one more arrow that rips open the back of Barricade's costume, exposing the Book of Ages hidden at the small of his back.

As the book falls loose, Lars dies again.

As the heroes realize the Wisdom Key isn't with the tiara, they realize that Onyx has slipped away.  We find her again in the park meeting with Tommie, the friend she hurried out of the music store.  Only, Tommie isn't feeling very friendly at the moment.  She gave him the Wisdom Key and pushed him away to maybe keep him safe, but he sees it as making him a target for some nasty villain like Barricade.  The story ends with Onyx walking away unhappily.

Even though Crisis on Infinite Earths ended about a year before this issue came out, this story is considered Black Canary's last pre-Crisis appearance.  The next time we see her is in the fourth chapter of the Justice League reboot miniseries, Legends, which I'll be reviewing soon.  As a finale to her pre-Crisis period, though, this story is pretty anticlimactic.  I enjoyed seeing Onyx revisited and this two-parter was a nice follow-up to the Green Arrow and Onyx's side-adventure ten issues earlier, but I would have rather seen more out of the Steelclaw story and more development of Dinah's voice-based mind control powers that Joey Cavalieri built up over the past year.

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #566

Previously in Detective Comics...

Detective Comics #566 starred Batman and Robin in a story by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan, who also drew the cover.  Interestingly, this story served more or less as a Who's Who entry for Batman's rogues gallery with Jason Todd studying his mentor's foes in the Bat-computer.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in a backup strip titled "Old Enemies Die Hard" written by Joey Cavalieri and drawn by Jerome Moore.

We open with Dinah Laurel Lance taking her lover, Oliver Queen, home on her motorcycle.  There is no mention of Mayor Bolt or his costumed alter-ego Steelclaw, or his son who Green Arrow and Black Canary saved last issue.  I guess we just assume that Steelclaw died.

Examining the wreckage of his apartment, Ollie tells Dinah that nothing is missing.  This wasn't a robbery; someone came looking for him and trashed the place when they realized Ollie wasn't home.  He plays the tape on the answering machine (or "phone machine" as he calls it) and hears the message from Onyx, who is holed up in a music shop with her friend Tommie.

Meanwhile, at the music store, Onyx is trying to convince Tommie to let her go because she's in danger.  Tommie believes she came back to Star City to see him, though, and they kiss.  Then their tender embrace is interrupted by a large armored figure smashing through the wall.  The stranger calls himself Barricade and fights Onyx.

Green Arrow appears and fires an arrow that snatches the tiara away from Barricade.  Then he fires off another arrow that wraps chains around Barricade... chains the villain easily snaps out of.

I miss the story of Steelclaw--that was sort of anticlimactically wrapped up.  But I'm glad we see Onyx again and this story will put a cap on events last seen in issues #556 and 557.

Come back next Friday for the final part of Green Arrow and Black Canary's adventures in Detective Comics...

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #565

Previously in Detective Comics...

Detective Comics #565 starred Batman and Catwoman in a story by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan, who also drew the cover.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in a backup strip titled "Death by Misadventure" written by Joey Cavalieri and drawn by new penciler Stan Woch.

Green Arrow and Black Canary were sneaking around an old mansion looking to rescue the mayor's son from kidnappers.  Black Canary was knocked out by the mayor in his sinister guise as Steelclaw, while Green Arrow opened a door upstairs that set off an explosion.

When Green Arrow picks himself up, he is greeted by two boys.  One is Bruce Bolt, the mayor's son; the other is Rick O'Connor, who the editor's note refers to as "Hi-Tek" from a zillion Green Arrow stories, remember?  I actually don't remember this character, but whatever.  Hi-Tek helps Ollie to his feet and explains that he was assisting Bruce's tutor when they discovered that strange men were following Bruce home from school and lurking around the house.  They got permission from the tutor, a woman named Myrna Cuthbertson, to build some home-defense booby-traps, including the door bomb.

Outside, the two kidnappers happen upon Steelclaw over Black Canary's unconscious form.  One of the hoods intends to shoot her in the head, but Steelclaw objects.  Mayor Bolt has infiltrated the world of crime hoping to take it down from inside, but he can't allow Black Canary to be murdered.  Unfortunately, the goons are no longer interested in letting Steelclaw boss them around.

The gunshots get Green Arrow's attention up in the house.  He looks out the window to see one of the gunmen about to execute Dinah.

Green Arrow comes down and unties Black Canary.  Then Bruce Bolt and the others follow and little Brucie asks about the hooded figure bleeding out on the lawn.  Won't that be awkward when he finds out it's his dad.

Onyx tries to leave the shop but Tommie has her locked inside and demands to know what she's afraid of and why she came back.

Come back next Friday for the next part of Green Arrow and Black Canary's continuing adventures in Detective Comics...

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #564

Previously in Detective Comics...

Detective Comics #564 starred Batman and Robin in a story by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan, who also drew the cover.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in a backup strip titled "This Masquerade" written by Joey Cavalieri and drawn by Jerome K. Moore.

After Green Arrow and Black Canary beat the information they need out of some Star City hoods, we jump to Mayor Bolt holding a press conference where he talks about the need to fight the city's rampant crime wave.  Marty Costa watches the press conference on television until he gets disgusted and orders his men to kidnap the mayor's son.

Across town, Ollie and Dinah are also watching the mayor's speech.  Dinah, too, feels disgust, knowing that the mayor is really the costumed criminal mastermind known as Steelclaw.  However corrupt Mayor Bolt may be, though, Dinah knows that his son is innocent and must be protected.

The heroes ride Black Canary's motorcycle to the mayor's mansion.  They split up and sneak onto the premises from different sides.  As Dinah creeps across the lawn, she thinks of how annoying Ollie's overprotectiveness is, and how she might be better off as a solo adventurer.  (This was sort of around the post-Crisis time when John Byrne was considered for a Black Canary solo book, but that fizzled out.  Instead of going solo, Dinah would soon join the new, international Justice League.)

Black Canary skulks around the outside of the mansion, observing its worn, almost decrepit state, while failing to notice the cloaked figure stalking up behind her.

Green Arrow gets inside the house and searches room to room for the mayor's son.  He witnesses Marty Costa's men arrive in a van outside and has to double-time his search.  Thinking he hears voices down the hall upstairs, he rushes to check one of the nearest closed doors.

Outside, Black Canary is unconscious from an anesthetic administered by Steelclaw when he snuck up on her.  Steelclaw ties her up, wondering why the former Justice League heroine would turn to a life of crime.  He wonders, but doesn't care all that much; he's just proud to be able to take her down and leave her bound for the police.  Then Steelclaw, too, is caught unawares as Marty Costa's hoods draw their guns on him.

Meanwhile, in another part of Star City, the kid named Tommie is cleaning up the back of the shop where he works when he discovers Onyx hiding in the back room.

The more I read of this storyline, the more I wish something had come of Black Canary's newfound superpower--that is her ability to persuade men into giving up information because of something in her voice.  I honestly like that a whole lot more for the character than her sonic scream.  Unfortunately, Cavalieri introduced it in this story arc, and I don't think anyone else ever picked it up later.  And within a couple of years, Mike Grell would take Dinah's sonic powers away completely in The Longbow Hunters.

Come back next Friday for the next part of Green Arrow and Black Canary's continuing adventures in Detective Comics...

The Calculator Saga Finale: DETECTIVE COMICS #468

Continuing from this week's amazing exploits of Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, the Atom, and Elongated Man individually combating The Calculator, writer Bob Rozakis brought this thrilling saga out of the backups and into the main pages of Detective Comics.  Joining Rozakis was Marshal Rogers, making his debut on the character of Batman, along with regular inker Terry Austin.

Detective Comics #468: "Battle of the Thinking Machines" opens with the Caped Crusader swinging by a construction site where the Calculator is robbing a newly unearthed time capsule of its centuries-old trinkets.  The Calculator uses the equipment on his chest and head to project an axe; he hurls it at the rope Batman uses to swing down, cutting the line and sending Batman falling to the street.

Calculator anticipates every one of Batman's attacks with the gadgets from his utility belt, effortlessly thwarting the Dark Knight's attempts to capture him.  At last, Batman gets the better of Calculator by using the criminal's own projected objects against him.

As Batman takes the Calculator into custody, the villain pushes some buttons on his chest piece, claiming he will turn defeat into victory.  This is basically the same thing Calculator has been saying for the past five issues of Detective.  Every time one of the Justice Leaguers smacked him down, Calculator bragged that this was all part of his plan.

The next day, Morgan Edge of Galaxy Broadcasting calls Bruce Wayne, hoping to sway the wealthy playboy into voting his way on some boring corporate stuff.  Bruce isn't interested in dealing with Edge, and he blows him off so he can head to a meeting of the Justice League of America.  Of course, he doesn't tell Morgan Edge he's meeting the JLA, and Edge assumes Wayne is jet setting with some supermodels.

In the Justice League Satellite, Batman tells Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Elongated Man, and the Atom that the Calculator broke out of jail that morning.

The heroes discuss the Calculator's crime wave when Aquaman interrupts their meeting to tell them that the Calculator is committing a crime in Central City.  Aquaman is only there on Monitor Duty, and the Flash is away from Central City battling in the future.

The six heroes teleport down to Star City only to find the Calculator waiting for them, even applauding their arrival as it fits right with his plan.  Green Arrow fires a boxing glove arrow, but Calculator redirects the shot directly at Elongated Man.

Using his uncanny and ill-defined powers, the Calculator turns the heroes' attacks against each other, as Batman's batarang snaps Green Arrow's bow line just after he misfires, sending the arrow back at Batman.  Black Canary stumbles into Elongated Man and gets tangled up.  Hawkman drops Atom on Calculator from a distance; the Atom's full weight should smash Calculator, but he bounces off harmlessly.  Then Hawkman moves in for the attack.

The Atom changes to his normal size and appearance as Ray Palmer.  He takes a swing at Calculator but cannot connect.  Ray is physically unable to hit the Calculator.  As the villain saunters off in victory, he reveals that by allowing himself to get captured by each of them in the past, he inoculated himself to ever getting caught by these six superheroes ever again...

...WHAT?!!

Okay, Rozakis, that is some straight-up Bob Haney level insanity!  You couldn't provide a better explanation than that?!!

The next day, Bruce Wayne is obsessed with finding a way to stop the Calculator when Morgan Edge shows up to nag him about the Galaxy sale at the board meeting.  Edge's sudden appearance gives Bruce the inspiration for how to thwart the Calculator, but it pisses Edge right off as he has twice been ignored by Wayne.

Later, the Calculator reads that S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City is going to launch another time capsule, so he goes to, like, rob it or something.  Along the way, he uses his head projector thing to create a blizzard and freeze a pair of police officers attempting to arrest him.  When he arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs, he creates a crane to hook the time capsule.  Then Batman arrives.

Batman throws some gadgets but they have no effect on the Calculator, of course.  The Calculator projects a large cage and throws it at Batman.  Then, inexplicably, the floor rotates changing Batman and Calculator's relative position, thereby dropping the cage down on Calculator.

See, Batman could not capture the Calculator, but the Calculator could capture himself.  He rages and howls and his equipment sputters and breaks down on him.  Later, Batman explains to his fellow Justice Leaguers how he tricked the Calculator.

Then an irate Morgan Edge calls to complain about stuff we don't care about.

Maybe the reason you've never seen Batman laughing is because it looks creepy as hell!  Seriously, Marshall Rogers makes him look insane in that last panel; this should be a cliffhanger into a Joker story!

Speaking of Rogers, his figure design and panel work is pretty solid.  I especially like he deviates from the normal construction to throw out some interesting special effects, like how Hawkman crashes during his fight with Calculator.  On the other hand, he's pretty spartan about backgrounds in a lot of these pages.  Rogers would go on to be one of the best Batman artists of his time, but this early issue needs a bit more work.

The story is pretty crazy.  As a climax, I like that Rozakis brought the five heroes back to help Batman foil the Calculator, even though none of them were particularly helpful.  The Calculator would eventually become a serious villain for the DC Universe in general and for the Birds of Prey in specific.  At this early stage of his career, however, he's pretty much a joke.  His costume is lame and his powers are so wonky and inconsistent that it's hard to take him seriously.  I mean, Signal Man was better than this guy.

Thus concludes the Calculator Saga.  Come back tomorrow when I jump forward nearly one-hundred issues of Detective Comics for the next part of "Pretty Bird" with Black Canary and Green Arrow.

The Calculator Saga: DETECTIVE COMICS #467

Continuing from yesterday's thrilling adventure of Green Arrow and The Calculator, writer Bob Rozakis, penciler Marshal Rogers, and inker Terry Austin test the Calculator's criminal computations against the Winged Wonder in Detective Comics #467.

Presented here, uninterrupted, is the six-page backup story "The Man Who Skyjacked Hawkman" starring, naturally, Hawkman.

Come back tomorrow for the final part in the Calculator Saga starring Batman and all the heroes who have appeared in the last five chapters!

The Calculator Saga: DETECTIVE COMICS #466

Continuing from yesterday's thrilling adventure of Elongated Man and The Calculator, writer Bob Rozakis, penciler Marshall Rogers (doing his first work for Detective), and inker Terry Austin test the Calculator's criminal computations against the Emerald Archer in Detective Comics #466.

Presented here, uninterrupted, is the six-page backup "Take Me Out of the Ballgame" starring Green Arrow.

Come back tomorrow for the next part in the Calculator Saga starring Hawkman!

The Calculator Saga: DETECTIVE COMICS #465

Continuing from yesterday's thrilling adventure of Black Canary and The Calculator, writer Bob Rozakis, penciler Ernie Chan (then going by the name Ernie Chua), and inker Terry Austin test the Calculator's criminal computations against the Stretchable Sleuth in Detective Comics #465.

Presented here, uninterrupted, is the six-page backup story "The Elongated Plague" starring Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man.

Come back tomorrow for the next part in the Calculator Saga starring the Ace Archer, Green Arrow!

The Calculator Saga: DETECTIVE COMICS #464

Continuing from yesterday's thrilling adventure of The Atom and the nefarious Calculator of Crime, writer Bob Rozakis, penciler Mike Grell, and inker Terry Austin test the Calculator's criminal computations against the Blonde Bombshell in Detective Comics #464.

Presented here, uninterrupted, is the six-page backup story "A Hot Time in Star City Tonight" starring Black Canary.

Come back tomorrow for the next part in the Calculator Saga starring the Stretchable Sleuth, the World-Famous Elongated Man!