PHANTOM FRIDAY

Against all odd, I became a fan of Lee Falk’s Phantom. I say that because, as a very young child, I only saw the Phantom newspaper strip on Saturdays. Because Saturday was the only day my father had time to read a newspaper. When he was finished reading the paper, I would read the comic strips.

Obviously, the story strips didn’t make much sense when I only saw them once a week. That didn’t stop me from making up my own tales based on the Saturday strips. The strip I most enjoyed doing this with was the Phantom.

I was delighted when I discovered the Phantom comic books published under the Gold Key imprint. Since that time, I don’t think I ever passed on buying a Phantom comic book. Not every Phantom has been a good one. The bad ones give me a chance to play my own “create a story” game, which I still enjoy.

Currently, Phantom fans can read the current newspaper strip by the great Tony DePaul with art by Mike Manley (dailies) and Jeff Weigel (Sundays). There are hardcover books reprinting the Phantom strips from the 1936 beginnings of the character and, by the Ghost Who Walks, do I wish I could afford those. There are the occasional new Phantom comics in the United States, though those tend to be uneven in quality. For the truly obsessive, there are Phantom comic books from Australia.

Frew's The Phantom is the longest-running comic-book series with the character in the world and Australia's bestselling comic book. The title is published roughly every three weeks. I’ve been buying it since issue #1100; the most recent issue I’ve received is #1822.  The issues are a delightful mix of American comic strip reprints and new-to-me Phantom adventures from Europe. In addition, Frew publishes three other Phantom titles:
                                                                                
Giantsize Phantom is a standalone quarterly comic book reprinting Frew's other characters from the 1950s as well as The Phantom. I’m tickled by how many of these other heroes are basically the Phantom in different settings and times. The Walkers aren’t the only super-hero family in the game.

Kid Phantom is a quarterly, all-color, glossy comic book aimed at children and featuring original material. I bailed after the second issue because, well, it’s not very good. Keep in mind though yours truly hss a long-standing aversion to comic books about existing teen/adult characters when they were kids. I would make an exception for Superboy, but the rest of that bunch creep me out. Even the revered Little Archie is a little hard for me to take.

Finally, Phantom's World, a standalone quarterly comic book series presenting Phantom adventures from around the world, often seen for the first time in English, as well as original material.

Like most of my Vast Accumulation of Stuff, my copies of the Frew Phantom comics are spread throughout said VAOS. I know there must be hundreds of issues I haven’t read yet. But I am trying to stay relatively current with the newer issues as I get them. And that’s what this recurring bloggy thing feature will be about: my remarks on these newer issues.

The Phantom #1810 has a great new wraparound cover by Shane Foley, whose art also appears in Alter Ego. Shane’s passion for the Phantom is clear and his name will turn up again today.

This issue presents “The Prisoner Who Didn’t Exist” by writer Claes Reimerthi aka Michael Tierres with art by Jaimi Vallve. The story was first published by Semic Press in Scandinavia in 1987. The 32-page story involves one of the current Phantom’s ancestors and the illegitimate son of the first Phantom, an ancestor who never took the Phantom oath. It’s a terrific story which, unfortunately, does not end in this issue. Its continuation appeared in Frew Phantom #1733, published in 2015.

That’s one of the drawbacks of the vast assortment of Phantom tales from around the world. Frew hasn’t always been able to get stories in their proper publication order. I’ll be looking for #1733 when next I go through my boxes of Phantom comics...because I liked this issue a lot.
                                                                              

Giantsize Phantom #6 is 100 pages of The Ghost Who Rocks and some of his fellow masked adventurers. The cover is by Glenn Lumsden and the issue comes packaged with a Phantom Universe card spotlighting an intriguing character called Miss Mist.

Leading off the issue is “The Vapors of Vulcan,” an insanely wonky Phantom story drawn by Pat Boyette and likely written by Joe Gill. It’s from The Phantom #47 [Charlton; December 1971].

Other stories and features:

The Raven by Paul Wheelahan. The hero is a unjustly disgraced man “condemned to life beyond the law.” In this story, he works to save the life of an innocent man facing death by hanging.

The Shadow (but not the one you’re thinking of) appears in a all-new story written and drawn by Jeremy Macpherson.

“Heroines with Bite” is a prose article about Australian heroines created by Peter Chapman. From Gem Comics #16, we get a reprint of a Chapman tale starring the Vampire. She was a cool character, but this was her only appearance.

The Phantom Ranger is a western hero who appears in another all-new story written and penciled by Roy Mann with inks by Max Fish. This is a quirky tale wherein the Ranger’s girlfriend puts him in charge of her ranch. The other ranch hands cheer their new boss and don’t seem to even notice that he’s wearing a mask. The story rambles a bit and has a crazy ending (?), but it’s fun.

The prolific Shane Foley contributes a new story of Peter Chapman’s Sir Falcon, who is frequently mistaken for the Phantom. The story of this hero starts in 1420 and continues through the original’s heirs, so you can understand the confusion. I love this character.

The final component of this 100-page wonder is an interview with Graeme Cliffe, author of a history of Australian comics. There is so much to learn about that country’s comics creators and history. I’m going to be looking for that book.
                                                                              

Phantom’s World Special #4 is another 100-page comic book that also comes with a Phantom’s Universe card. This one features Devil, the hero’s trusty wolf sidekick.

This issue puts the spotlight on Italian artist Angelo Todaro with “The Honglong Kidnapping,” a 64-page epic putting the Phantom against a vast criminal organization, and “Shangri-La,” a 22-page story whose title reveals its inspirations. These are entertaining adventures with exceptional art.

The Frew Phantom comics are available directly from the publisher. For more information, go to: www.phantomcomic.com.au
 

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

MORE MOVIES

Tony loves to watch cheesy monster movies and then write about them for your amusement and edification. For today, I’m writing about the final two movies in the 2009 Creature Collection, a two-disc, five-movie set. I have previously reviewed:

Snowbeast (May 9, 2018)
Blood Tide (June 4, 2018)
The Demon (November 28, 2018)

Next up is Lady Frankenstein (1972), a English-language, Italian horror film directed by Mel Welles, written by Edward di Lorenzo, and starring Rosalba Neri (under the name Sara Bey), Joseph Cotten, Mickey Hargitay and Paul Müller. The Creature Collection lists the running time as 88 minutes, which doesn’t jibe any of the versions listed by the Internet Movie Database. The running times range from 83-99 minutes. My best guest is that cuts were made to reduce the amounts of gore and nudity, neither of which seemed to be excessive in the version I watched. The movie is rated R for “really trying to look like a Hammer film and not achieving that.”

SPOILERS AHEAD
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SPOILERS AHEAD

The IMDB summary for the movie gives away major plot developments from the film:

When Dr. Frankenstein is killed by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant Marshall continue his experiments. The two fall in love and attempt to transplant Marshall's brain in to the muscular body of a retarded servant Stephen, in order to prolong the aging Marshall's life. Meanwhile, the first monster seeks revenge on the grave robbers who sold the body parts used in its creation to Dr. Frankenstein. Soon it comes after Marshall and the doctor's daughter.

What is it with relatively major stars like Joseph Cotten appearing in horror movies only to die well before the end of the movie? Do they give producers a discount if they don’t have to stick around until the end? Anyway...

The entire cast chews the scenery like it was all you can eat wings night at the local sports bar. Of course, in this typical horror-movie village, the main sports seem to be fornicating and hanging people in public. An all you can eat wings hanging would doubtless be a huge success. As for the fornicating, that’s pretty much its own reward.

Neri is fun as Tania Frankenstein, the surgeon daughter of Cotten’s Baron Frankenstein. She’s all “girl power” and “lusty glances” as she goes about her mad scientist business. She does not take kindly to her dad’s trying to keep away from his experiments, which she’d expected to work with him on. She plays Dr. Marshall like a fiddle, trying her womanly charms for his cooperation. It’s been said that a woman can’t change a man, but Tania proves that wrong by putting Marshall’s brain in a hunky young body.

Also lining up at the buffet are Hargitay as the village’s lawman and Herbert Fux as the grave-robbing Lynch. You’ve seen their like in dozens of similar horror films.

All the leading players end up dead, some while having sex inside the Frankenstein laboratory. Terrible person that I am, I sort of laughed out loud at that finale fornication. It was just the perfect way to end this movie.

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The original running time of Lady Frankenstein is 99 minutes, but the version I saw is 84 minutes. I have no idea what was cut, but it’s a crime against nature if any of the missing minutes featured the delightful Neri in states of undress. By the way, she was cast by the people who financed the movie after it ran into some trouble coming up with enough money to make the film.

Lady Frankenstein isn’t a classic, but it’s worth watching once or maybe even twice. If the full version of the movie ever crossed my path, I’d probably watch it again. It’s cliched and goofy enough to be entertaining.

                                                                            

Night Fright, the 1967 American sci-fi horror movie, is something we refined film critics like to call “a hoot-and-a-half.” If you were making a parody of a low-budget sci-fi horror movie from the era, it would look like this movie. I’ll get back to the budget it a bit.

Night Fright stars sci-fi veteran John Agar, who you’ve heard of, and Carol Gilley, who you haven’t. It was written by Russ Marker and directed by James A. Sullivan. The movie runs a not-so-tight 75 minutes - grab a snack during the scene of rebellious college kids dancing like old white people near the lake they’ve been warned to avoid - and was cut to 65 minutes for the U.K. I don’t know what was cut, but there isn’t any real gore and absolutely no nudity. Wikipedia offers this summary:

A Texas community is beset by a rash of mysterious killings involving some of the students from the local college. The sheriff investigating the deaths discovers the startling identity of the killer responsible for the murders. A NASA experiment involving cosmic rays has mutated an alligator into an ogre-like form and bullet-proof unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for blood.

SPOILERS AHEAD
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There’s not much I can add to the Wikipedia summary. The spoiler warning is so I can discuss the low budget.

The first two victims of the mutated alligator creature are said to have been horribly mauled in their car. When the car is examined, its white interior shows no signs of the attack. I’m guessing the car was loaned to the movie by a cast member who didn’t want his or her ride covered in blood. It costs extra to get the interior of a car washed.

Why do I opine this is a cast member’s car? Because a scene where Gilley uses a phone in her character’s kitchen was shot in Gilley’s actual house. The Mustang she drives in the movie was her husband’s ride. What a trooper and that’s not the best example.

The best example is the scene when a dummy made to look like Gilley is used to lure the alligator creature to its death. The movie couldn't afford a dummy, so Gilley had to sit like a statue for the scene. After the creature is killed, since her character’s nurse’s uniform was worn by the “dummy,” Gilley is wrapped in a blanket. Since she also played a nurse in The Yesterday Machine, I suspect she owned the uniform.

Gilley only made one other movie. She played a clerk in Zontar: The Thing from Venus (1966). Bet she supplied her own wardrobe.

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If you read past the spoiler warning, you saw I poked fun at this low-budget flick. But, honestly, it’s worth watching once for the cheesy fun it provides. As for me, I’ll keep watching the skies for more movies like this one.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

MOVIES MOVIES

I love cheesy monster movies. You know this about me. So it should come as no surprise that I’m reviewing a pair of cheesy monster movies today.

First up is Rogue (2007) from Greg McLean, the director and writer of Wolf Creek. Which I’ve never seen, but maybe I will on account of I enjoyed this movie. The DVD I got from the library identifies this as the “un-rated” version, but I have no idea what that means. To sum up, of all the killer crocodile movies ever made, Rogue is one of them. Here’s the Internet Movie Database synopsis:

An American journalist on assignment in the Australian outback encounters a man-eating crocodile while trapped on a rapidly flooding mud island.

That’s factual, but not complete. For complete, I have to warn you that there are

SPOILERS AHEAD
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Jaded travel writer Pete McKell [played by Michael Vartan] takes a tourist river cruise to kill some time while he’s waiting for his ride out of the Australia. The cruise captain is plucky Kate Ryan [Radha Mitchell]. The passengers are the typical mix of potential crocodile chow: a widower grieving for his wife, a kind of creepy photographer, an upper crust sort of fellow with his ailing wife and rambunctious daughter. Also getting in on the action are Kate’s ex-husband and his jerk friend.

When Kate spots some smoke on the horizon, she decided to check it out in case anyone needs help. Someone does need help. Namely Kate and the cast as the crocodile attacks. Jerk friend is the first to die and, after that, it’s the bad luck of the draw as to whom gets chomped next.  The climax comes when Pete must rescue the seriously injured Kate in the lair of the crocodile. 

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Rogue has some bite to it. There are some surprising developments and a character who rises to the occasion in true making of a hero style. This almost makes up for the many factual errors concerning crocodile habits and the like. The acting is adequate throughout. The lightning, not so much. According to a synopsis I read after I had watched the movie, Kate was far more badly injured than could be seen.

The movie won an Australian Film Institute award for “best visual effects” and was nominated four other times. It is based on a true story of Sweetheart, a giant saltwater crocodile responsible for a series of attacks from 1974 to 1979. Sweetheart attacked outboard motors, dinghies and fishing boats, but never killed anyone. He was captured and died en route to captivity.

The bottom line? Worth watching once, especially if you enjoy films of large animals eating people. I do, which is why I’m working on a screenplay called Mar-a-Lago Mamba Massacre. 

                                                                                                                                                                
The Demon is a 1979 South African slasher film that was released in the United States under the title Midnight Caller. Clearly meant to leech off the amazing success of Halloween (1978), it stars Cameron Mitchell and Jennifer Holmes and was directed/written by Percival Rubens. It is a schizophrenic film and, as I watched it, I wondered if it was two slasher movies combined into one. Here’s the Internet Movie Database summary:

Random people are terrorized by a malevolent man who brings their worst fears to life. 

That summary is just plain wrong. The random people part is correct and the killer is, indeed, malevolent. However, if anyone’s worst fears are involved in the movie, Rubens failed to make that clear.

SPOILERS AHEAD
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SPOILERS AHEAD

The first movie involves a fourteen-year-old girl who is kidnapped from her home by a faceless Michael Myers type. He murders her and then a driver who gives him a lift back to town.

Two months later, the girl remains missing. Her parents hire ex-arine and freelance psychic detective Colonel Bill Carson (Cameron Mitchell) to find her, though the girl’s dad is pretty sure she’s dead and wants to get revenge on her killer. Carson gets the usual psychic vibes. The girl’s body is found.

Another vibe gives a vague location for the girl’s killer. Her dad goes after him and is also killed. The distraught mother and wife blames Carson and shoots him dead. All in all, Mitchell is on the screen for around ten minutes.

The second movie has our killer stalking two young women. There is quite a bit of nudity in this movie, culminating in a tense battle and chase through the house the women share. When the movie ends - the killer presumably dead - it ends so abruptly that I wondered if the DVD had neglected to include the movie’s final scenes.

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The Demon is not a good movie. Its best moments are the nudity and the closing battle between the killer and his intended victim. It drags often. Normally, I don’t consider nudity to be either a plus or a minus, so it’s a measure of how bad this movie is that I list it as one of the best parts of the film.

This isn’t worth watching. If you watch it, my sacrifice in watching it will have been for naught.

I got The Demon in the 2009 Creature Collection, a two-disc, five-movie set. The other films are Snowbeast (1977), Blood Tide (1982), Lady Frankenstein (1972) and Night Fright (1968). I’ve previously reviewed Snowbeast and Blood Tide and, if you click on the titles, you’ll be directed to my reviews of same. I will be reviewing the other two movies soon.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

 

TONY'S TIPS #284

New in TONY'S TIPS at Tales of Wonder...The second of my Stan Lee columns wherein I talk about some of my favorite Stan Lee comics!

COMICS COMICS COMICS

My local Medina County library and the ClevNet system of which it is a member continues to be a great source for reading comics that I would otherwise never see. Recently, I discovered a writer whose work was unfamiliar to me.

The Story of Lee Volume 1 by Sean Michael Wilson and Chie Kutsuwada NBM; $11.95] was published in 2010 under NBM’s ComicsLit imprint. Here’s the back-cover come-on:

Lee, living in Hong Kong, meets Matt, a fine young Englishman. Their relationship becomes stronger by the day, despite their deep cultural differences. But there is Lee’s Dad to contend with; [he] views this affair very suspiciously. And there is another contender for Lee’s heart, a Chinese man, whose jealousy takes on twinges of xenophobia. Will Lee and Matt’s relationship successfully cross the cultural divide and overcome the negative odds? Two worlds collide creating good sparks… and bad ones.

Though not autobiographical, Story of Lee is informed by Wilson’s experiences in Hong Kong and women he knew. This gives a reality to his story of two young people who meet and fall in love. I found I could relate to Lee and Matt, but also to Lee’s father and to Wang, the young man Lee’s father would prefer to see Lee with. There are no overblown dramatic confrontations in this initial volume, just the family and personal conflicts most of us have had to deal with our own lives.

Wilson’s writing is good and natural. Kutsuwada’s storytelling and drawing is also good and never feels forced. I like these two lovebirds and I’m eager to read the second volume in the series. That one will flip the situation somewhat because it will have Lee moving to Scotland to attend university there. Consider this first volume recommended.

ISBN 978-1561635948

                                                                              

There’s a lot I don’t get about the DC Universe “Dark Night/Metal” titles, although, in the name of full disclosure, I wasn’t enamored of the original “Metal” titles either. At the top of each issue is a come-on that reads “The New Age of Heroes,” but several of these comics feature existing heroes or new takes on existing heroes. I don’t glean why the pencil artist get top billing on the covers of the comics when it doesn’t appear they’re produced in anything much the usual manner, the usual manner being that the story comes first and everything is (or should be) in service of that story. If the pencil artists are plotting these titles, wouldn’t they be credited for that in the interior credits? 

 

Anyway... I read New Challengers #1-3 [$2.99 each] because I’ll read pretty much any comic book called Challengers. The original Challengers of the Unknown series was a favorite of mine from Jack Kirby’s origin issue through many other talented creators. I was somewhat cooler on subsequent rebooted versions, but I still read them.

Written by Scott Synder and Aaron Gillespie, these new Challengers are people who have died and now live on borrowed time. The launch artists are Adam Kubert (pencils) and Klaus Janson (inks), but, by the third issue, penciller V Ken Marion and inker Sandu Florea are listed in the credits with Kubert and Janson.

An individual claiming to be Professor Haley of the original team tells the team they’ve been selected to join “a proud tradition of death-defying individuals” brought together “to uncover, confront and solve the mysteries of our universe.” As he tells it, hundreds of men and women have been Challengers with the original team (as we know it) being the most prolific and public. This Prof doesn’t inspire trust, but the notion is intriguing enough that I’ll stick with the title for a bit, especially since “my” Challengers make an appearance and add to the intrigue.

The writing and art on these issues are good. When I sort the next batch of comics loaned to me by a good friend who buys a lot more comic books than I do, I’ll read the subsequent issues of The New Challengers and write about the title again.

                                                                          

When Brian Michael Bendis brought the original teenage X-Men to our time, I thought the concept was audacious and entertaining. These time-lost mutants have overstayed their welcome, as I learned when I read X-Men Blue #10-23 and X-Men Blue Annual #1 over the past weekend. The regular issues are priced at $3.99 each with the annual going for a dollar more.

The issues are written by Cullen Bunn, who is very prolific and who has done several comics I’ve enjoyed in the past. X-Men Blue isn’t one of them. Indeed, when I look over these issues, what I see is mostly stories and concepts Chris Claremont already did and did so much better. I wish I could be more positive here.

I did like the notion that Hank (Beast) McCoy would feel at a loss in the modern world. In his time, he was a big science guy. Today, he’s years behind the other Marvel Universe scientists. While I’m not sure turning to the Dark Arts is in keeping with the character as I knew him, I could see him having an extreme reaction to what he feels is his shortcomings in the science department.

Beyond that, what X-Men Blue gives us are retakes on old Claremont concepts like an endless barrage of alternate universe X-Men, Mojo on Earth and time-crossed adventures. There are stories that cross into other X-Men titles and Venom. Add so-so art and my interest in this title is virtually non-existent. Sorry, Marvel.

One more thing I did like. Trapped on our Earth, Mojo sets up his own television network specializing in fake news. It’s redundant - our real-world Fox News has already been weaponized - but it's a kind of fun idea nonetheless. I’ll probably at least skim the rest of the issues I have to see if anything good is done with this idea.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

Kate Burkholder was raised Amish until a horrible assault and the aftermath of that assault drove her from that community. Now she’s the chief of police of a town including that same community. Burkholder is the hero of a series of ten novels by Linda Castillo, crime thrillers set in the fictional town of Painters Mill, Ohio.

A Gathering of Secrets [Minotaur Books; $26.99] is the latest Kate Burkholder novel and one of Castillo’s best. A young Amish man experiencing Rumspringa dies horrifically in a fire that destroys his family’s barn. The reader knows from the start that this is a murder; it doesn’t take Kate and the other investigators long to determine that as well. For one thing, the animals normally housed in the barn were led away from it before the fire.

The victim seems to be a typical, well-regarded young man. He was industrious and skilled, working two jobs. He was planning to be baptized in the Amish faith and marry his girlfriend. However, he had secrets and those secrets are not forthcoming from the always intensely private Amish community. Indeed, there are those willing to kill to keep those secrets.

Though happily cohabiting with John Tomasetti of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Burkholder struggles with her past and with her tenuous ties to her old life. This case generates a great many questions, some of them questions Kate must ask herself. She faces deadly perils during the course of her investigation. She uncovers shocking revelations. The closer I got to the end of this book, the faster I was turning its pages.

Even you’re not a fanatic for crime thrillers set in Ohio like me, I believe you’ll enjoy A Gathering of Secrets and Castillo’s other  Burkholder novels. Here’s the list of them:

Sworn to Silence, Minotaur Books, 2009
Pray for Silence, Minotaur Books, 2010
Breaking Silence, Minotaur Books, 2011
Gone Missing, Minotaur Books, 2012
Her Last Breath, Minotaur Books, 2013
The Dead Will Tell, Minotaur Books, 2014
After the Storm, Minotaur Books, 2015
Among the Wicked, Minotaur Books, 2016
Down a Dark Road, Minotaur Books, 2017

                                                                                  

I have discovered yet another mystery series set in my native Ohio. Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien [St. Martin's Paperbacks; $7.99] is set in the Asia Village restaurant and shopping area of Cleveland. Lana Lee is a young woman working in her family’s Ho-Lee Noodle House following a brutal break-up and a dramatic departure from her previous employment. She’s a likeable and relatable protagonist.

When the Asia Village property manager is murdered, suspicion falls on Peter, the Ho-Lee Noodle House cook, and Lana, who delivered the fatal dumplings to Mr. Feng. What follows is a fun thriller wherein Lana courageously-if-not-always-wisely pushes through overlapping webs of secrecy to uncover the true killer.

Chien delivers an authentic setting and interesting characters. I thought the novel dragged a bit in places - it probably could have been a few dozen pages shorter - but was glad I pressed on to the conclusion. She and Lana won me over. I’m looking forward to their next noodle shop mystery.

ISBN 978-1-250-12915-4

                                                                              

I wrote the above review a few weeks back. Dim Sum of All Fears: A Noodle Shop Mystery [St. Martin's Paperbacks; $7.99], the second in the series by Cleveland author Vivien Chien, arrived at my library in time for me to take it on my trip to Las Vegas to be a guest at the Great American Comic Convention. Between the four-hour flight and some downtime in my hotel room, I finished the novel before I boarded my return flight.

The second book is better than the first one. Lana Lee is now kind of sort of dating Detective Adam Trudeau. She’s interviewing for a job that would get her out of the family noodle shop. She’s made a new friend in Isabelle Yeoh, owner with her seemingly flighty husband Brandon of the souvenir shop next to Ho-Lee Noddle Shop. That’s when it all comes tumbling down around her.

Her parents go to Taiwan to be with Lana’s ailing grandmother. They leave her in charge of the restaurant, which creates a rift between Lana and her law school-attending older sister. And, because this is a mystery, Isabelle and Brandon are brutally murdered in their store. Despite admonishments from her detective kind of sort of boyfriend to not "play" detective, Lana starts investigating with the handicap of having to run the family restaurant as well.

I like Lana. She’s not driven by any need to be a detective, though she’s now been put into that position for the second time. She is in this matter to uncover the truth and get justice for her friend. No matter how many times the other parts of her life bare down on her, she is determined to succeed. There are, of course, several suspects, some of them unpleasant to the extreme and all of them concealing things about their various pasts. There is crushing self-doubt and life-threatening danger. Our girl, with a little help from her friends, manages to find the truth and the justice she seeks for her friend.

SPOILER AHEAD
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One of my favorite moments in this novel is when Detective Trudeau avoids telling Lana that he told her so. He’s just glad she is okay and more than willing to leave any further discussion to some other time. He’s a smart guy. I’m thinking he’s going to quickly learn to appreciate how capable and smart Lana is...and maybe work with her in the future. I’d like to see that.

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Dim Sum of All Fears gets a thumbs up from me. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Murder Lo Mein [$7.99], which will be released in late March of 2019.

ISBN 978-1-250-12917-8

That’s all for today, my friends. I’ll return tomorrow with another all-new bloggy thing.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN OCTOBER

October was another challenging month for me. I had an epic case of  “con crud” that developed into something worse. On the other hand, there were joys like the start of Black Lightning Season Two on TV and the trade paperback publication of Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands. My proudest comics creation continues to bring me happiness in so many ways. Which is not to say my life is free of frustration and even disappointment.

I’m disappointed there are folks at DC Comics who think it’s a good idea to reduce a headliner like Black Lightning to another Batman sidekick. I’m frustrated that, while the publisher is making use of my creation in less than optimal ways, they have not yet given me the go-ahead on an ongoing Black Lightning book that would follow Cold Dead Hands. I’m waiting on a “yes” or “no” on several other projects I’ve pitched to DC and other publishers.

I’m disappointed DC isn’t promoting Black Lightning. I’ve done more promotion for the Cold Dead Hands trade than they have.

That lack of promotion extends to merchandise. While we have gotten a real swell high-end Black Lightning/Cress Williams statue, that has largely been the extent of the Black Lightning merchandise to date. They can and should do better.

October was when it became clear that “Tony Isabella” can not stay a one-man operation. I need an assistant to help with my convention and other appearances, and to handle some of the behind-the-scenes stuff on projects I want to launch. The next step in this regard is to figure out how I can make enough money to pay such an assistant a morally acceptable minimum wage of $15 per hour. I’ll be working on that in the months to come.

October reminded me that comics is a crazy business. My character is headlining a hit TV series. My Cold Dead Hands series received critical acclaim. I’ve proven to be a popular guest at conventions and TV shows. Why isn’t my e-mail box flooded with offers from the comics publishers? Go figure.

October was also the run to the mid-term elections. Beyond saying that the Dumpster President and the Republicans have shown me that  there is no rock bottom where they’re concerned, I’m not going to talk about that today.

Still...that’s the comics industry and that’s life. I’ve worked in the former for 46 years and will turn 67 in December. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. And, for all the confusion, disappointments and life’s little pains, there isn’t a day in my life that passes without my recognizing the good in my life. I share my happiness on a daily basis on Facebook and Twitter.

That’s my way too long introduction to this list of the things that made me happy in October...

October 1: Chatting with Mike (Luke Cage) Colter for a few minutes. There’s a bond of sorts between Luke Cage and Black Lightning. Both shows have actors dedicated to telling these important stories and Colter is one of the best. I’m very proud to be associated with the two best shows on television.

October 2: The Ringo Awards. Glad to see Mine!, Batman/Elmer Fudd, Mark Morales and Joelle Jones win. Plus seeing Denny O’Neil receive the lifetime achievement award for his career and Marc Andreyko the humanitarian award for the wondrous Love is Love anthology. A great evening all around.
                                                                               

October 3: Bruce Burke, one of my first three black friends who put me on the career path of writing and creating characters of color, visited me at Baltimore Comic*Con. It was our first time together in over three decades. It absolutely made my weekend!

October 4: Bob Greenberger did a great job moderating my spotlight panel at the Baltimore Comic*Con. I hope we get to work together on something soon. He’s a multi-talented editor and writer.

October 5: Baltimore Comic*Con. What a wonderful event! Great fans, vendors, volunteers! Well over 100 comics and media guests. Amazing cosplay. I hope the show enjoyed having me there as much as I did being there.

October 6: While I was in Baltimore, my daughter Kelly successfully completed the 2018 Akron Marathon. Her best time ever. She had a huge smile on her face in every photo: before, during and after the race. I’m so proud of her.

October 7: The Cleveland Browns won their second game of the season in overtime. It wasn’t pretty and the team has work to do, but they have become fun to watch again.

October 8: Kudos to the “A” team at Metro’s hospital in Parma, Ohio. They were efficient, friendly and knowledgeable treating me early Sunday morning. There are some health issues in play, but I’m on the mend.

October 9: Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson speaking out against mental health stigma in a funny, genuine and thoughtful way. I’ve been impressed by his work and now by him as well.
                                                                           

October 10: Black Lightning Season Two kicked off with an amazing script with a key moment in nearly every scene. Salim Akil deserves an Emmy nod for writing this one.

October 11: Journalist Dan DeRoos put together a wonderful piece on Black Lightning and myself for Cleveland’s CW station. It aired on October 9. This is the kind of respect comics creators deserve and should be a model for other such pieces.

October 12: God Friended Me. Whether its events are driven by human predictive science or a loving deity, this TV series makes me feel good.

October 13: Our Syracuse NY Comic Con weekend was a blast from the event itself and the people we saw there to the fun little town of Baldwinsville where we stayed. We had a great time!

October 14: Destiny USA in Syracuse. Though we didn’t have time to explore the sixth largest shopping center in the US, we had a fine meal at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

October 15: Though I’m sad the Cleveland Indians post-season ended so soon, I am thrilled the racist Chief Yahoo caricature has made its last appearance on team uniforms.

October 16: Sirius XM has reactivated the Billy Joel channel (30). After Harry Chapin, Joel is my favorite songwriter/performer. His music continues to speak to me.

October 17: The Ohio Democratic candidates this mid-term season are outstanding! Not just the better choices than their opponents, but overwhelming better choices for my state. [Sadly, the GOP's voter suppression tactics and gerrymandering won them key state offices. I'll be talking about that in an upcoming "Citizen Tony" piece.] 
                                                                               

October 18: The Marvel Monsterbus volumes. I treated myself to this gorgeous two-volume set of the pre-hero Stan Lee/Larry Lieber/Jack Kirby stories I loved as a kid. The love endures.

October 19: I voted today. I’m thankful voting is so easy in this too-Republican and too-white city of Medina. I’m horrified voting is not this easy everywhere and pray that will change as concerned citizens vote the GOP out of power.

October 20: New comics publishers, new comics imprints, new comics  creators. I think 2019 is gonna be a great year...and I hope I'll be part of that.

October 21: Former Republican Max Boot has become a strong voice of opposition to the white nationalist party the GOP has become...and gives me some small hope for the resurgence of sane conservatism in my country.
                                                                                   

October 22: Adrian Tomine’s covers for The New Yorker. Every one is a delight.

October 23: This season’s second episode of Arrow was much better than the first. Kirk Acevedo still sucks ass and the flash forward stuff is still silly, but the rest of the show is coming together. I especially like the new villains and the writers developing Katie Cassidy’s character.
                                                                                 

October 24: Legends of Tomorrow is back! With John Constantine and a murderous unicorn and more mystical menaces in the future! It’s my second favorite CW show!.

October 25: I was stuck on a bloggy thing I wanted to write. Then I figured out how to make it work. It’ll be the first thing on my schedule tomorrow.

October 26: Midnight, Texas is back for a second season and didn’t take long to make life in that town as scary as ever. Can’t wait to see what happens.

October 27: I’m halfway through the new edition of Barbara Slate’s You Can Do a Graphic Novel: Comic Books, Webcomics, and Strips and loving it. Great tips for new and old creators alike.

October 28: Ian Boothby and Tom Richmond’s send up of Svengoolie in MAD #4 [December 2018]. Maybe the funniest thing I’ve read in the magazine this year.

October 29: Having the thick skin of a Cleveland sports fan. Man, do I need it this year.

October 30: When people contact me to discuss business via e-mail rather than Facebook, Twitter or phone calls. It’s the only way I can keep my business straight.

October 31: Kevin M. Kruse, whose Twitter feed is must-read for its insights into history and politics. Watching him politically slap around know-nothings is a rush.

After three conventions in as many weekends, I’m home for the next two months plus. I’m looking forward to completing two books I’ve been slowly working on. I’m looking forward to completing a bunch of pitches for new projects. I’m looking forward to getting caught up on my e-mail and all the things I post on my Facebook page every day. And I’m looking forward to posting nigh-daily bloggy things.

Thanks for your patience. The best is yet to come.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

NEW BLOGGY THINGS COMING SOON

I have completed my appearance and convention schedule for 2018. That means, I'll be home for over two months. Over two months where I can again write everyday. That means new and regular bloggy things are coming your way. You gotta catch them all!

SPIDER-MAN/IRON MAN: MARVEL TEAM-UP

 

Published last month by Marvel, Spider-Man/Iron Man: Marvel Team-Up [$24.99] reprints my story "Hometown Hero" featuring Whiplash. Set in my home town of Cleveland, the tale focuses on Mark Scarlotti as he deals with an enemy even more dangerous to him than Iron Man (Jim Rhodes) and Spider-Man.

Here's what Amazon says about this trade paperback:

Web-head meets Shell-head in a collection of their greatest Marvel team-ups! When the Avengers are captured, Spider-Man and Iron Man find themselves caught in a tussle through time between Kang the Conqueror and Zarrko the Tomorrow Man - a saga that draws in the Human Torch and the Inhumans! Spidey and Iron Man will need a little help from Doctor Strange if they are to survive the mind-bending powers of the Wraith! But the villain has a friend too - the deadly Whiplash! Things get explosive when the volcanic menace Magma erupts into our heroes' lives! And it's a team-up with a diff erence as Jim Rhodes in the armor joins a black-costumed web-slinger in battle with Blacklash! Discover why Spidey and Iron Man are two great tastes that taste great together!

COLLECTING: MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) 9-11, 48-51, 72, 110, 145

Writers: Gerry Conway, Bill Mantlo, Tony Isabella, Len Wein, Herb Trimpe, David Michelinie

Pencils: Ross Andru, Jim Mooney, Sal Buscema, Herb Trimpe Greg LaRacque

TONY'S TIPS #283

Last week in Tony's Tips at Tales of Wonder: The first of two columns on Stan Lee, the man who inspired me to want to write comic books, one of first bosses in comics, a mentor, a teacher and a friend!

GREAT AMERICAN COMIC CONVENTION (November 17-18)

It’s been a long year of conventions and other appearances for me, but it ends with the Great American Comic Convention, Saturday and Sunday, November 17 and 18, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, 3150 Paradise Road in Las Vegas, Nevada. Barring some unforeseen developments, this will be my final public appearance of the year. I may stop by a local Cleveland event or two just because I want to show my support for local creators, but there’s nothing on my appearance schedule beyond the GACC.

The guest list for this event is incredible. Besides yours truly, GACC will host Kelley Jones, Jose Delbo, Elliot S! Maggin, Wendy and Richard Pini, Tom DeFalco, Ron Wilson, Trevor von Eeden, Allen Bellman, Kyle Baker, Rick Leonardi, Alex Saviuk, Arthur Suydam, Tim Bradstreet, Matt Haley, Randy Emberlin, Jae Lee, David Roman, Adam Rapmund, Jeremy Clark, Free Isabelo, Ming Chen from Comic Book Men and clinical psychologist Dr. Suzana E. Flores, author of Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel's Wolverine. I’m especially excited to see Ron Wilson for the first time in about a decade and meet the great Kelley Jones for the first time ever. Kelley and I did a six-issue and wildly underappreciated Grim Ghost series a while back. 

From the event’s website:

[GACC is] a gathering of great comic book creators and memorabilia at the beautiful Las Vegas Convention Center, centrally located in Las Vegas. Joining us this year are some of the best comic book writers, artists and professionals who have created and shaped memorable characters such as Superman, who is celebrating his 80th Anniversary. What makes GACC different from any other comic book convention in Las Vegas is the guests have worked on titles ranging from the Silver Age of comics all the way to today's newest hottest titles. You will find comic book dealers from across the US as well as Las Vegas dealers offering you the widest selection of comic book memorabilia. We are proud and excited to be able to bring you a great show to enjoy. So make sure to register today and be ready to enjoy a good old-fashioned comic book show. Thousands of comics for sale including a large selection of graded comics, a cosplay contest and door prizes.  

The GACC runs 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday. Ticket prizes run from $20 to $150 for special VIP packages, one of which is a Black Lightning VIP package that includes a GACC Black Lightning VIP T-shirt, a Black Lightning VIP Remarque print, a poster, fast pass, early entry, VIP Panel seating and, on Saturday afternoon, a one-hour Meet and Greet with little old me and Trevor Von Eeden.

There is also special ticket pricing for active or retired police, fire & rescue or military personnel living or working in the Clark, Lincoln or Nye Counties of Nevada. You can learn more details about this and the VIP packages from the event website.

Besides the Meet and Greet with Trevor, I’m scheduled to do a Black Lightning presentation sometime during the weekend and will also be participating in a tribute to Stan Lee. If you can’t wait until the weekend, I’ll be appearing on the Las Vegas CW morning show on Friday.

When I’m not appearing on a panel or TV program, or exercising my slot machine arm muscles, I’ll be at my booth somewhere on the show floor. Because I’m flying in, I’m not bringing my usual merchandise spread. I will have copies of Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands, July 1963: A Pivotal Month in the Comic-Book Life of Tony Isabella Volume One and a few copies of Black Lightning Volume One. I will also have a number of Black Lightning, Hawkman, Daredevil and Luke Cage posters for sale. Cash only.

I do charge for my signature, but I think the prices are pretty reasonable:

Any items purchased from me: no charge.

Any one item not purchased from me: no charge.

Additional items: $5 each.

Items signed in front of a grading company witness: $10 each.

Photos are free.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing my bloggy thing readers and my other fans and friends at the Great American Comic Convention. This is my first Las Vegas appearance and I’m confident a great time will be had by all. Especially Saintly Wife Barb, who was able to get some time off work to attend this convention with me. Here’s your chance to meet the most patient woman in the world.

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November has been a crazy month for me. I’m way behind in answering e-mails and the like. However, after Thanksgiving, I have a solid two months plus where I will be staying home, writing two books and finally knocking a bunch of odds and ends off my way-too-long “to do” list. If you’re waiting on something from me, I thank you for patience.

I’ll be back on November 20 with more stuff.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

TONY'S TIPS #282

Last week in TONY'S TIPS at Tales of Wonder...Barbara Slate's You Can Do a Graphic Novel: Comic Books, Webcomics and Strips; Resident Alien: An Alien in New York by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse; and Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Melissa Iwai!

                                                                                  

                                                                                     

GRAND RAPIDS COMIC-CON (November 9-11)

My penultimate comics convention appearance of the year will be the always glorious Grand Rapids Comic-Con. The event will take place Friday through Sunday, November 9-11, at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This convention has become one of my favorites. It’s incredibly well run with dozens of great guests, a fantastic program and terrific vendors. I almost feel sorry for the legion of fans who will be attending this event because, throughout the con, they will making touch choices as to what programs to attend, what guests they want to meet and what choice comics and other wonders they will spend their money on. Here’s a quick hint: there won’t be any bad choices. Just be you, enjoy the things you love, and you’ll have a wonderful time.

The convention’s website lists two dozen media guests. Among them is Ricou Browning, who played the Creature from the Black Lagoon. That’s someone I want to meet and talk to, too. Other media guests include Walter Koenig, John Ratzenberger, Doug Jones and Highlander Adrian Paul. While I may not know all about the other media guests, I know enough to know many fans will be thrilled to have a chance to meet them, get their autographs and maybe a picture with them.

There are at least two dozen comics guests: Kevin Eastman, Michael Golden, Arvell Jones, Mike Grell, James Tynion IV, Joyce Chin, Steve Orlando, Agnes Garbowska, Renee Witterstaetter, Matt Haley, Robert Pope, Thom Zahler, Dirk Manning, K. Lynn Smith, Jason Moore, Scott Rosema, Comfort and Love, Douglas Paszkiewicz, Seth Damoose, Randy Zimmerman, Dan Monroe and representative from Michigan-based publishers Source Point Press and Caliber Comics.

There are literary guests like the super Shea Fontana of DC Super Hero Girls, a favorite of mine. There are cosplay guests and even YouTube guests like the amazing Harp Twins. Not to mention dozens of talented folks in Artist Alley.

Other events: a short film festival, a Grindhouse movie festival, a car show, an art show, a Hall of Heroes Museum exhibit, an anime room, events for kids and more. Expect to see lots of knock your eyes out cosplay throughout the weekend.

Every day of the Grand Rapids Comic-Con will give fans a choice of dozens of interviews, panels and other programming. I’ll be on two panels during the weekend.

On Friday in Grand Gallery E-F at 4 pm, I’ll be a participant on Joyce Chin’s Breaking In and Staying In The Entertainment Industry. Along with Joyce, Steve Orlando and Agnes Garbowska, we’ll discuss being “discovered” in mainstream entertainment, the importance of first chances within the field and how to stay relevant within your chosen love and profession. Beyond my obvious answers of “staying alive” and “not going away no matter how much they want you to,” I hope to offer some of the hard-won wisdom I’ve acquired over my 46 years in comics.

On Sunday on the Main Stage at 12:15 pm, I’ll be giving a talk on Black Lightning and My Road To Diversity. To quote from the show’s website:

The creator of Black Lightning (now a hit series on the CW) and Misty Knight (who appears in Netflix’s Luke Cage and other Marvel TV series), talks about the career path that led him to seek out writing assignments on characters of color and to create characters like Black Lightning and Misty Knight. You’ll learn secrets behind comics as Tony talks about his career and answers your questions.

When I’m not on a panel or wandering around the convention hanging out with old friends, making new ones and buying stuff, I’ll be at Booth 540 selling and signing Tony Isabella stuff. At this time, I am planning to bring:

Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands
Black Lightning Volume One
Black Lightning Volume Two
July 1963: A Pivotal Month in the Comic-Book Life of Tony Isabella Volume One
Black Lightning posters (three different ones)
Hawkman poster
Daredevil and Luke Cage mini-posters.
I do charge for my signature. Here’s my policy...

Any items purchased from me: no charge.

Any one item not purchased from me: no charge.

Additional items: $5 each.

Items signed in front of a grading company witness: $10 each.

Photos are free.

I’m looking forward to seeing my bloggy thing readers and my other fans and friends at the Grand Rapids Comic-Con. Trust me. You will have a wonderful time at this event.

******************************

My final appearance of the year will be at the 2018 Great American Comic Convention, Saturday and Sunday, November 17-18, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. Saintly Wife Barbara will be coming to this event with me. I’ll have much more to say about on Monday, but, in the meantime, check out the show’s website.

There is a lot of stuff going on in the world of Tony Isabella and, unfortunately, it means you won’t be getting regular bloggy things until after Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, I’ll be home for two solid months, finishing a couple of books and developing a brand-new super-hero universe. I’m looking forward to having the time to do what I love best. I think you’ll be pleased with what you read.

That’s all for now. Look for my next bloggy thing on November 12. See you then.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

BLACK LIGHTNING BEAT 10-31-18

“Black Lightning Beat” is the ongoing blog-within-the-bloggy where I discuss all things Black Lightning. In yesterday’s installment, I wrote a scene-by-scene commentary on the first half of the Black Lightning Season Two premiere: “The Book of Consequences: Chapter One: The Rise of the Green Light Babies.”

We continue...

Real-life political commentator Angela Rye is shown on a television broadcast talking about blacks being experimented since the days of slavery and since. She says the plight of the Green Light Babies is nothing new for black people. But...

...the more I learn about this stuff, the more horrifying it is to me. I went to all-white schools in Cleveland, which was a terribly segregated city when I was a kid. There was never a whiff of this in our history books. Indeed, given the control Texas conservatives have over our nation’s textbooks, I wonder if today’s kids are learning about this sad history.

Jefferson Pierce [Cress Williams] is watching the broadcast. Lynn Stewart [Christine Adams] walks into his bedroom. After their fight earlier, she had thought she would go to her own place. It didn’t seem like where she should be. They reconcile and talk things out. Both fear what could happen to their daughters if the government makes it open season on metahumans. It’s a fear that seems way too real in the Dumpster President’s America.

What also seems very real to me is Jeff and Lynn talking about the events of the day. Jeff tells Lynn Bill Henderson [Damon Gupton] knows he’s Black Lightning and that Anissa is Thunder. Lynn thinks maybe Jeff should see a therapist to help him deal with the stress of his life. That leads into sexy banter that, once again, is something to which I think most married couple can relate.  It’s a wonderful scene played by two outstanding actors.

Anissa [Nafessa Williams] comes home and stashes the cash from her attack on the drug house in her closet. It’s a short scene and I think it reflects her taking a moment to consider the consequences of what she has done. Her reflection will be short-lived.

Peter Gambi [James Remar] and Jeff have a conversation about Kara Fowdy [Skye Marshall], now revealed as a ASA spotter. Our hero is stunned by this news. He clearly had no idea that Fowdy had her own double life. There’s not much more Peter and he can do except wait to see if she can deliver the briefcase that was taken from Martin Proctor [Gregg Henry] during the previous season’s finale.

Another heart-sinking scene comes as we cut to Jennifer [China Anne McClain] hanging out with and getting her hair done by her friend Kiesha [Kyanna Simone Simpson]. Jen gets a text from Khalil [Jordan Calloway], but doesn’t respond. Kiesha starts talking about what a freak he is and, further, how all these Green Light babies are freaks. The hurt look on Jen’s face as Kiesha predicts the “end of days” was a punch to my gut.

The act ends on a humorous note. The masked Anissa interrupts a bible study at the church. When Reverend Jeremiah Holt [Clifton Powell] sees her, he and several other members of the congregation pull out guns. Though it’s a sad commentary on our reality, I have to admit the staging and timing made me laugh.

Anissa pours the money into the aisle and walks away. The reverend praises the Lord. 

The next-to-final act starts at the funeral parlor where ASA agents are carrying away the late Issa Williams [Myles Truitt] in a body bag. His mother is screaming at them until Issa claws his way out of the bag. He’s alive, but his power has been activated. When his face/neck glows, people are compelled to reveal ugly truths.

Issa’s mom says this can’t be her boy, that she was happy to bury  him because she knew he was out on the streets doing Green Light. She recovers and apologizes, but the feds are ready to shoot Issa. The teen’s family interferes and Issa runs away.

At the Pierce house, Jen and Kiesha are watching the funeral parlor scene on Jen’s phone. Kiesha goes back into her “freaks” and “end of days” routine. Jen loses control of her powers, rushes into her bathroom and yells at Kiesha to go home.

Back at the Green Babies warehouse, Agent Odell [Bill Duke] is not the least bit happy that Lynn is now in charge of the youngsters. He wants to know who pulled the strings to get Lynn this position. She says the government experimented on these kids and she’s going to give the community the tools to deal with the situation. Odell clearly doesn’t like his authority being challenged. On the other hand, I do like seeing this Lynn/Odell conflict. You can guess who I’m rooting for.

Back at the Pierce home, Jefferson has returned home to find Lynn and Anissa outside the bathroom. When he enters the room, Jennifer is sitting in the rub surrounded by a virtual ball of electrical energy. She’s terrified. Jeff is terrified as well, but helping his child takes precedence. He helps her out of the tub and painfully absorbs her electrical energy. The melding of such intense emotion with the special effects is one of the best things about the show. Powers, like everything else in Freeland, have consequences.

That brings us the finale, which is incredibly fast paced. Writer Salim Akil blew me away with how much he could fit into just a few minutes of screen time.

School board member Napier Frank [Robert Townsend] tells Jefferson that the board has voted to close Garfield High. Jefferson offers to resign as principal. When Frank asks him if he’s sure, Jeff says it’s about saving Garfield and not his job.

Night has fallen. Issa sits in the basement. He looks so terribly alone that the moment breaks your heart.

Lynn is walking in the room where the Green Light babies are being kept in suspended animation. Without any dialogue, we still see the enormity of the task before her.

Anissa is packing another bag with money. She isn’t thinking ahead to the consequences of stealing from very bad people.

A sleeping Jennifer is floating above her bed with her electrical energy making her glow. She almost looks peaceful.

Then we get the final scene of the episode, the one that damn near made my heart stop. Fowdy confronts Tobias Whale [Marvin “Krondon” Jones III] in his penthouse. He’s ready for her. He tells her that Syonide was the last thing he loved in this world and then shoots Fowdy with a harpoon.

Fowdy screams in horror and pain. Tobias starts pulling her closer to him. She cuts the tether, slides on the floor past Tobias and launches herself out the window. Damn!

I’ve been praising the performance of Jones since the first time he appeared in the first season. My Tobias Whale is utterly ruthless, but Jones and the writers have given their Tobias much more range.
He is ruthless, but he was also capable of love. If there’s no one left to love, will he become even more dangerous?

This episode was a great way to start the second season of the best show on television. Now comes a question for you.

Would you like me to do a blow-by-blow commentary on every episode of Black Lightning? Three more episodes have aired since this first one, but I’m looking for an excuse to watch them a second time as well. Let me know how you feel about this.

I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2018 Tony Isabella