The Classy Comics Podcast

The Justice Society battles Psycho Pirate, Solomon Grundy, and deals with having Johnny Thunder as a member of the team.
Affiliate link included.
Transcript below:

Graham:The Justice Society battles Solomon Grundy, Psycho Pirate and a mysterious visitor from the future. Find out all about it as we take a look at All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 7, straight ahead.
[Intro Music]
Announcer:Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.
Graham:Some of the earliest collections published by D.C. were the hardcover D.C. archives. These books cost $50 each at the time of their original pressing and they started producing them in the 90s. This particular book was released in 2001 and All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 7 collects issues 29 to 33 of All-Star Comics and features the Justice Society of America, the world's first superhero team. This volume features their post-war adventures and the good news is that if you want to read the stories, you don't have to hunt down a copy of this book. You can purchase individual issues of All-Star Comics out of the comixology or Amazon Kindle comic store for $1.99 an issue and so for five issues that adds up to be $10 and if you wait for a half off or buy one get one free sale, it's even a less than that. The big advantage of this particular book is the introductions from Roy Thomas. Roy Thomas was a great comics writer in his own right and he was also noted for a lot of nostalgic comics, comics that were set in the Golden Age or fleshed out Golden Age continuity. For example, at Marvel, he wrote The Invaders and at D.C., he wrote the All Star Squadron and he just loves the Golden Age of comics, has such a wonderful appreciation and knowledge and so reading books that have his introductions on it, that is really the big benefit. So, that's the one thing you miss if you read them digitally.
Alright, so let's go ahead and we will get to talking about the Justice Society and the issues. In this book the roster is set. Now, the comics are approximately forty pages an issue, which is down from the Golden Age and in accordance with that there was a shrinking of the team. At times there were as many as 9 members of the Justice Society but this was shrunk down to six plus a secretary. More on that in a moment.
The team was made up of The Flash, in this case Jay Garrick, Green Lantern, who is Alan Scott and not part of any intergalactic Green Lantern Corps, Hawkman, then there's Doctor Midnite. He is a hero who was blinded but discovered that he was able to see in complete darkness and also figured out a way to make goggles so that he could see when it was light out. Some have considered him a predecessor to Daredevil. Then there's the Atom, Al Pratt. The Golden Age Atom didn't have any striking power. He was just a short guy who was also really tough and could really hit very hard, though later he would gain some super strength.
Then there was Johnny Thunder, who at times I found to be annoying but sometimes, and I think mostly in this volume, I found to be amusing. He is a bit of a dope. He's a private investigator, not a whole lot of talent or fighting ability, a very comical fellow until he says the magic words “say you”, or an appropriate variation thereof and The Thunder Bolt, this magical pink creature appears and is able to do Johnny's bidding and often resolve problems. Wonder Woman is the secretary of the Justice Society at this point. This is a really odd situation that feels really, really sexist as well as a bit stupid. You send the Atom and Johnny Thunder out on missions but Wonder Woman sits back at the headquarters. So, it's a question of what's going on.
Wonder Woman had met with and teamed up with the Justice Society back in All-Star comics number 13 ...

The Justice Society battles Psycho Pirate, Solomon Grundy, and deals with having Johnny Thunder as a member of the team.

Affiliate link included.

Transcript below:

Graham: The Justice Society battles Solomon Grundy, Psycho Pirate and a mysterious visitor from the future. Find out all about it as we take a look at All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 7, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]

Announcer: Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.

Graham: Some of the earliest collections published by D.C. were the hardcover D.C. archives. These books cost $50 each at the time of their original pressing and they started producing them in the 90s. This particular book was released in 2001 and All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 7 collects issues 29 to 33 of All-Star Comics and features the Justice Society of America, the world’s first superhero team. This volume features their post-war adventures and the good news is that if you want to read the stories, you don’t have to hunt down a copy of this book. You can purchase individual issues of All-Star Comics out of the comixology or Amazon Kindle comic store for $1.99 an issue and so for five issues that adds up to be $10 and if you wait for a half off or buy one get one free sale, it’s even a less than that. The big advantage of this particular book is the introductions from Roy Thomas. Roy Thomas was a great comics writer in his own right and he was also noted for a lot of nostalgic comics, comics that were set in the Golden Age or fleshed out Golden Age continuity. For example, at Marvel, he wrote The Invaders and at D.C., he wrote the All Star Squadron and he just loves the Golden Age of comics, has such a wonderful appreciation and knowledge and so reading books that have his introductions on it, that is really the big benefit. So, that’s the one thing you miss if you read them digitally.

Alright, so let’s go ahead and we will get to talking about the Justice Society and the issues. In this book the roster is set. Now, the comics are approximately forty pages an issue, which is down from the Golden Age and in accordance with that there was a shrinking of the team. At times there were as many as 9 members of the Justice Society but this was shrunk down to six plus a secretary. More on that in a moment.

The team was made up of The Flash, in this case Jay Garrick, Green Lantern, who is Alan Scott and not part of any intergalactic Green Lantern Corps, Hawkman, then there’s Doctor Midnite. He is a hero who was blinded but discovered that he was able to see in complete darkness and also figured out a way to make goggles so that he could see when it was light out. Some have considered him a predecessor to Daredevil. Then there’s the Atom, Al Pratt. The Golden Age Atom didn’t have any striking power. He was just a short guy who was also really tough and could really hit very hard, though later he would gain some super strength.

Then there was Johnny Thunder, who at times I found to be annoying but sometimes, and I think mostly in this volume, I found to be amusing. He is a bit of a dope. He’s a private investigator, not a whole lot of talent or fighting ability, a very comical fellow until he says the magic words “say you”, or an appropriate variation thereof and The Thunder Bolt, this magical pink creature appears and is able to do Johnny’s bidding and often resolve problems. Wonder Woman is the secretary of the Justice Society at this point. This is a really odd situation that feels really, really sexist as well as a bit stupid. You send the Atom and Johnny Thunder out on missions but Wonder Woman sits back at the headquarters. So, it’s a question of what’s going on.

Wonder Woman had met with and teamed up with the Justice Society back in All-Star comics number 13 ...

Can this Peter Parker in High School book recapture Spider-man charm or is it plagued by the old Parker luck?
Affiliate link included.
Transcript below:
Graham: Peter Parker goes back to school. Find out more as we take a look at Spidey, Volume 1: First Day, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]
Announcer:Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.
Graham:Spidey was a series from 2015 that offered some promise for fans weary of One More Day and just the general massive continuity of the Spider-Man series or was just nostalgic for the days with Peter Parker in high school, Spidey would fit the bill. I thought it might be something like Untold Tales of Spider-Man. This was a series from the 1990s that told tales from Spider-Man's early days back in the 1960s and these were stories that were drawn in that style and intended to be slotted right in to the original continuity but what I found was that Spidey is actually set in the current day. It's not set in the current timeline of the Marvel Universe as Peter Parker is in high school in current day. So, it's out of continuity but we’ll go ahead and take a look at the issues.
Issue one opens with Spidey battling a young woman in a bunny outfit who's robbing a bank. Now, I'm not aware of her actually being a marvel supervillain. It just looks like she decided to rob a bank while dressed as a bunny maybe hoping that with so many super villains running around New York City that it would just be assumed by the people the bank well we better do what she says because she probably has powers of some sort but Spiderman's able to dispatch her even though she does throw a punch at him, a rabbit punch I guess, and Spidey makes some puns such as telling her what's up doc and says silly rabbit bank robberies are for felons, which I thought was kind of funny if a bit groan inducing.
At high school Peter is struggling in history. However, his teacher arranges for him to get tutored by Gwen Stacy, who will be tutored by Peter in science so that she can do better in that subject. It's a good mutual exchange. However, his efforts to get to Gwen are interrupted by Flash Thompson who does general bullying of him until Gwen punches Flash in the face and knocks him to the ground saying to Peter that I can't have anyone knock your brains out before I can take advantage of them and I actually have a lot of problems with this scene. Where to start. First of all this isn't really consistent with Gwen’s character both in punching Flash and in doing so for such mercenary reasons. We don't really get to know a whole lot about her characterization isn't all that great in this book or, to be honest, even in Stan Lee’s original writing of Gwen Stacy. In fact, Flash continues to bully Peter and she never does anything about it the rest of the book and it has no impact on Flash or his status in the school or as a bully. So, it's incredibly pointless, has nothing to do with who the character is. So I think I’ve ranted enough about that scene.
Then Doctor Octopus shows up when Peter’s at a lab. They fight in some sort of random quick battle with Doctor Octopus getting away and him warning that he'll see Peter again and this issue was really not all that focused.
Issue two is quite a bit better. The book features Spidey battling Sandman and also the events that lead up to that including Peter being nervous and Aunt May telling him to be himself and he reflects that being himself actually means different things because there are different versions of himself that appear in different situations and it's an interesting observation and I think they do a good job using it as a narrative device in the story.
Issue three focuses on the importance of balance and f...

Can this Peter Parker in High School book recapture Spider-man charm or is it plagued by the old Parker luck?

Affiliate link included.

Transcript below:

Graham: Peter Parker goes back to school. Find out more as we take a look at Spidey, Volume 1: First Day, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]

Announcer: Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.

Graham: Spidey was a series from 2015 that offered some promise for fans weary of One More Day and just the general massive continuity of the Spider-Man series or was just nostalgic for the days with Peter Parker in high school, Spidey would fit the bill. I thought it might be something like Untold Tales of Spider-Man. This was a series from the 1990s that told tales from Spider-Man’s early days back in the 1960s and these were stories that were drawn in that style and intended to be slotted right in to the original continuity but what I found was that Spidey is actually set in the current day. It’s not set in the current timeline of the Marvel Universe as Peter Parker is in high school in current day. So, it’s out of continuity but we’ll go ahead and take a look at the issues.

Issue one opens with Spidey battling a young woman in a bunny outfit who’s robbing a bank. Now, I’m not aware of her actually being a marvel supervillain. It just looks like she decided to rob a bank while dressed as a bunny maybe hoping that with so many super villains running around New York City that it would just be assumed by the people the bank well we better do what she says because she probably has powers of some sort but Spiderman’s able to dispatch her even though she does throw a punch at him, a rabbit punch I guess, and Spidey makes some puns such as telling her what’s up doc and says silly rabbit bank robberies are for felons, which I thought was kind of funny if a bit groan inducing.

At high school Peter is struggling in history. However, his teacher arranges for him to get tutored by Gwen Stacy, who will be tutored by Peter in science so that she can do better in that subject. It’s a good mutual exchange. However, his efforts to get to Gwen are interrupted by Flash Thompson who does general bullying of him until Gwen punches Flash in the face and knocks him to the ground saying to Peter that I can’t have anyone knock your brains out before I can take advantage of them and I actually have a lot of problems with this scene. Where to start. First of all this isn’t really consistent with Gwen’s character both in punching Flash and in doing so for such mercenary reasons. We don’t really get to know a whole lot about her characterization isn’t all that great in this book or, to be honest, even in Stan Lee’s original writing of Gwen Stacy. In fact, Flash continues to bully Peter and she never does anything about it the rest of the book and it has no impact on Flash or his status in the school or as a bully. So, it’s incredibly pointless, has nothing to do with who the character is. So I think I’ve ranted enough about that scene.

Then Doctor Octopus shows up when Peter’s at a lab. They fight in some sort of random quick battle with Doctor Octopus getting away and him warning that he’ll see Peter again and this issue was really not all that focused.

Issue two is quite a bit better. The book features Spidey battling Sandman and also the events that lead up to that including Peter being nervous and Aunt May telling him to be himself and he reflects that being himself actually means different things because there are different versions of himself that appear in different situations and it’s an interesting observation and I think they do a good job using it as a narrative device in the story.

Issue three focuses on the importance of balance and f...

TV superhero icons collide as DC's most popular live action TV hero from the 1960s meets it's most popular live action hero from the 1970s.
Affiliate link included
Transcript:
Graham: Get ready for an epic that spans three decades and brings together two of the most beloved nostalgic takes on D.C.'s big superheroes as we take a look at Batman 66 Wonder Woman 77, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]
Annnouncer:Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.
Graham:One of the precursors to the revival in interest in Adam West Batman series, was the Batman 66 comic series. It was a digital first series and ran for 52 digital issues and then went over to crossing over with other programs from the 1960s. There was Batman 66 meets the Green Hornet. A pretty obvious choice that one. Then Batman 66 meeting The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Batman 66 meeting Steed and Peel from the 1960s Avenger series and then a nostalgia for Batman 66, got someone at D.C. Comics thinking how about we do Wonder Woman 77 on the Lynda Carter T.V. series and then they did Wonder Woman 77 meets the Bionic woman, which was just an absolute delight to read and that brings us to the ultimate D.C. nostalgic crossover Batman 66 and Wonder Woman 77.
Now, of course the question is how do you bring those two series together because they are in two different eras. Why actually, they are in three different eras because the first season of Wonder Woman was a period piece set during World War two. In the second and third season on C.B.S., the series became a modern series in order to save budget. So, with writer Jeff Parker on board who wrote the original Batman 66 series, they went with a three-era structure for the story.
The first third of the book kicks off with Batman and Robin intervening in a robbery where the earth Eartha Kitt Catwoman is stealing the book, Lost World of the ancients the second volume and she's doing it on behalf of a Ra’s al Ghul, who is being represented by his daughter Talia, who gets away even though Catwoman is caught and agrees to share what she knows.
And this leads to a trip to the Batcave where Bruce tells the story of what happened to the first volume and that was that an auction was happening at Wayne Manor where both volumes were being auctioned off. There were a variety of bidders there. Among them was the father of a girl named Talia and another man. They both lost out to a long-time collector but one of the losing bidders revealed himself to be a Nazi. In fact, he was there in a Nazi uniform along with several other men. Now, you might think it does not make sense even if you are a Nazi spy to be one running around in a World War Two America with a Nazi uniform on even if you've got an overcoat on over it but this is a comic book and in comics, Nazis often wore their uniforms when it made no sense to do so behind American lines and right in the USA. So, I will allow it.
And so, we see Talia and Bruce making off with the book and being chased by Nazis and Ra’s al Ghul trying to get the books away from both the Nazis, the legitimate buyers and Bruce. At the same time, at the auction is Diana Prince, who, of course, turns into Wonder Woman when it is time to go into action and we get to see a lot of great Wonder Woman action, we get to see some sense of Bruce's resourcefulness as well as Bruce stumbling into what would become the Batcave. We also see a Batman 66 origin for Ra’s al Ghul and this is something that Parker and the other writers on Batman 66 have done in introducing popular Batman villains who weren't introduced in the original 1960 series for various reasons including that they hadn't been created in the comic books yet and introducing them into this 1960s world and so we get to see that with Ra’s al Ghul. So,

TV superhero icons collide as DC’s most popular live action TV hero from the 1960s meets it’s most popular live action hero from the 1970s.

Affiliate link included

Transcript:

Graham: Get ready for an epic that spans three decades and brings together two of the most beloved nostalgic takes on D.C.’s big superheroes as we take a look at Batman 66 Wonder Woman 77, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]

Annnouncer: Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.

Graham: One of the precursors to the revival in interest in Adam West Batman series, was the Batman 66 comic series. It was a digital first series and ran for 52 digital issues and then went over to crossing over with other programs from the 1960s. There was Batman 66 meets the Green Hornet. A pretty obvious choice that one. Then Batman 66 meeting The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Batman 66 meeting Steed and Peel from the 1960s Avenger series and then a nostalgia for Batman 66, got someone at D.C. Comics thinking how about we do Wonder Woman 77 on the Lynda Carter T.V. series and then they did Wonder Woman 77 meets the Bionic woman, which was just an absolute delight to read and that brings us to the ultimate D.C. nostalgic crossover Batman 66 and Wonder Woman 77.

Now, of course the question is how do you bring those two series together because they are in two different eras. Why actually, they are in three different eras because the first season of Wonder Woman was a period piece set during World War two. In the second and third season on C.B.S., the series became a modern series in order to save budget. So, with writer Jeff Parker on board who wrote the original Batman 66 series, they went with a three-era structure for the story.

The first third of the book kicks off with Batman and Robin intervening in a robbery where the earth Eartha Kitt Catwoman is stealing the book, Lost World of the ancients the second volume and she’s doing it on behalf of a Ra’s al Ghul, who is being represented by his daughter Talia, who gets away even though Catwoman is caught and agrees to share what she knows.

And this leads to a trip to the Batcave where Bruce tells the story of what happened to the first volume and that was that an auction was happening at Wayne Manor where both volumes were being auctioned off. There were a variety of bidders there. Among them was the father of a girl named Talia and another man. They both lost out to a long-time collector but one of the losing bidders revealed himself to be a Nazi. In fact, he was there in a Nazi uniform along with several other men. Now, you might think it does not make sense even if you are a Nazi spy to be one running around in a World War Two America with a Nazi uniform on even if you’ve got an overcoat on over it but this is a comic book and in comics, Nazis often wore their uniforms when it made no sense to do so behind American lines and right in the USA. So, I will allow it.

And so, we see Talia and Bruce making off with the book and being chased by Nazis and Ra’s al Ghul trying to get the books away from both the Nazis, the legitimate buyers and Bruce. At the same time, at the auction is Diana Prince, who, of course, turns into Wonder Woman when it is time to go into action and we get to see a lot of great Wonder Woman action, we get to see some sense of Bruce’s resourcefulness as well as Bruce stumbling into what would become the Batcave. We also see a Batman 66 origin for Ra’s al Ghul and this is something that Parker and the other writers on Batman 66 have done in introducing popular Batman villains who weren’t introduced in the original 1960 series for various reasons including that they hadn’t been created in the comic books yet and introducing them into this 1960s world and so we get to see that with Ra’s al Ghul. So,

The Hulk battles dinosaurs in Colonial America. Need we say more?
Affiliate link included.
Transcript:
Graham:Join us as we travel back in time to 1602 when Dinosaurs ruled North America. Well, at least in the Marvel 1602 universe. It's time for Marvel 1602: New World, straight ahead.

Announcer:Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.
Graham:Marvel 1602: New World is a sequel to the original Marvel 1602 graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. The plot of that story took Marvel heroes and had their beginnings set in the 17th century with characters like Matt Murdock, Nick Fury, Stephen Strange, Peter Parquagh, spelt in a very old English way, as well as the X-men, though in a different form. One of the plot threads of that book is that the first child born in North America Virginia Dare came to England along with a very white Native American known as Rojhaz in order to get aid for their colony from Queen Elizabeth but unfortunately by the time they arrived, Queen Elizabeth has died in King James is in charge.
It turns out Rojhaz was actually Steve Rogers, i.e, Captain America from another universe who had been sent back in time and the Age of Heroes had started early. Nick Fury returns Rojhaz to the modern times and goes himself at the end of Marvel 1602. However, that left a lot of people in this new world at the colony of Roanoke, which unlike in our universe, was not lost and Virginia Dare’s life not a mystery. She lived in 1602 and got powers of her own. David Banner is hiding out having failed to capture Fury, which is what King James wanted as the book starts and J. Jonah Jameson has started a broad sheet, the Daily Trumpet and he’s using Banner’s young servant, Parquagh, to help with the broad sheet and to employ him since Banner has disappeared.
However, early on in the story, Banner actually makes a reappearance. He is lost and confused but the Hulk takes over when dinosaurs attacked the settlement and the Hulk is able to repel the invasion. However, this proves as an opportunity for Norman Osborne. Osborne wants to get rid of the local Indians because they're not willing to deal with him and he wants their lands for reasons that are revealed later on in the book but Rojhaz had actually preparing them for what white settlers might do and so they are very wise to his ways and really not interested in trading. However, the colonist, when they see that the Hulk, are really freaked out and so they decide to pass a law banning witchbreed. Now, witchbreed is a term in Marvel 1602 for those who have superpowers. It was applied to the X-Men in the previous book but, unlike in our universe, they are not as advanced as to make a distinction, like they do in the main Marvel 616 universe, between those who have superpowers through scientific means and can be totally cool and those who are mutants and are therefore dangerous and evil and must be destroyed. So, pretty much Banner, just like the X-men, falls into the category of witchbreed and is imprisoned.
However, back in England, King James begins to wonder what happened to Banner. So, he sends someone to check into what's going on and the person he sends…he sends his man, Ross, who is commanding his military forces along with a Spaniard in a suit of iron armor known as Iron Lord. So, this is a 17th century electricity powered version of Iron Man with Tony Stark inside and they eventually, when the English arrive, they arrest the governor because they had set up their own form of government and slate him to be executed. The governor is Virginia Dare’s dad and this actually leads to Peter Parquagh taking on the role of The Spider after making a homemade mask and Virginia Dare lends a hand too as in this world, she has a shape shifting abilities to turn herself into any animal.

The Hulk battles dinosaurs in Colonial America. Need we say more?

Affiliate link included.

Transcript:

Graham: Join us as we travel back in time to 1602 when Dinosaurs ruled North America. Well, at least in the Marvel 1602 universe. It’s time for Marvel 1602: New World, straight ahead.

Announcer: Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.

Graham: Marvel 1602: New World is a sequel to the original Marvel 1602 graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. The plot of that story took Marvel heroes and had their beginnings set in the 17th century with characters like Matt Murdock, Nick Fury, Stephen Strange, Peter Parquagh, spelt in a very old English way, as well as the X-men, though in a different form. One of the plot threads of that book is that the first child born in North America Virginia Dare came to England along with a very white Native American known as Rojhaz in order to get aid for their colony from Queen Elizabeth but unfortunately by the time they arrived, Queen Elizabeth has died in King James is in charge.

It turns out Rojhaz was actually Steve Rogers, i.e, Captain America from another universe who had been sent back in time and the Age of Heroes had started early. Nick Fury returns Rojhaz to the modern times and goes himself at the end of Marvel 1602. However, that left a lot of people in this new world at the colony of Roanoke, which unlike in our universe, was not lost and Virginia Dare’s life not a mystery. She lived in 1602 and got powers of her own. David Banner is hiding out having failed to capture Fury, which is what King James wanted as the book starts and J. Jonah Jameson has started a broad sheet, the Daily Trumpet and he’s using Banner’s young servant, Parquagh, to help with the broad sheet and to employ him since Banner has disappeared.

However, early on in the story, Banner actually makes a reappearance. He is lost and confused but the Hulk takes over when dinosaurs attacked the settlement and the Hulk is able to repel the invasion. However, this proves as an opportunity for Norman Osborne. Osborne wants to get rid of the local Indians because they’re not willing to deal with him and he wants their lands for reasons that are revealed later on in the book but Rojhaz had actually preparing them for what white settlers might do and so they are very wise to his ways and really not interested in trading. However, the colonist, when they see that the Hulk, are really freaked out and so they decide to pass a law banning witchbreed. Now, witchbreed is a term in Marvel 1602 for those who have superpowers. It was applied to the X-Men in the previous book but, unlike in our universe, they are not as advanced as to make a distinction, like they do in the main Marvel 616 universe, between those who have superpowers through scientific means and can be totally cool and those who are mutants and are therefore dangerous and evil and must be destroyed. So, pretty much Banner, just like the X-men, falls into the category of witchbreed and is imprisoned.

However, back in England, King James begins to wonder what happened to Banner. So, he sends someone to check into what’s going on and the person he sends…he sends his man, Ross, who is commanding his military forces along with a Spaniard in a suit of iron armor known as Iron Lord. So, this is a 17th century electricity powered version of Iron Man with Tony Stark inside and they eventually, when the English arrive, they arrest the governor because they had set up their own form of government and slate him to be executed. The governor is Virginia Dare’s dad and this actually leads to Peter Parquagh taking on the role of The Spider after making a homemade mask and Virginia Dare lends a hand too as in this world, she has a shape shifting abilities to turn herself into any animal.

At long last, one of the big questions of DC Rebirth is answered as the identity of Mr. Ozis revealed.
Transcript:
Graham:It's time to learn who the man behind the curtain is. Join us as we take a look at Superman Action Comics: the Oz Effect, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]
Announcer:Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.
Graham:Well throughout D.C. Rebirth and I think in Superman and also in Action Comics, the question of who Mr. Oz is, this mysterious mover behind the scenes, has been front and center and this volume of Action Comics answers that question. It collects Action Comics Number 985 to 992. It begins with a two-parter written by Rob Williams called Only Humans. Essentially, Machinist is using mind control to take people over and to make them do evil. When Superman disables this mind control, he finds Lex core Microchips are behind it and he confronts Lex, angry and thinking that Lex has returned to evil. Lex insists that he doesn't do it and he makes a very persuasive argument because if he'd had done it, it would have worked. So, Luthor puts on his pseudo Superman battle suit and goes out and joins Superman to help him fight the Machinist. And essential the Machinist is able to take Luthor’s suit and activate it and turn it against Superman. And this is a good story for the Superman/Lex relationship and Lex does end up finding a way out, and we're going to get into spoilers for the story in a second. The way that Luthor is able to do that is by overloading the power when the suit goes after Superman and Superman is then able to defeat the Machinist. However, at the end of the story, it's revealed that Mr. Oz is behind the alterations in Lex's microchips setting the stage for the Oz effect and essentially in the Oz effect, the world is growing crazy. There's so much going on that is so bad that Superman can't keep up with it.
The story opens with Superman saving the day and saving some medical supplies but there is so much that's going on all at once. You have a guy with a red, white and blue bandana about to kill immigrants while others plan to steal medicine to buy guns and there's an oil spill out to happen because the boat’s pilot is drinking figuring, hey we’re out this far working for Lex Luthor, we ought to have some fun. A black rhino’s about to be killed, there's child labor in a foreign country, a prison break, an idiot is starting a fire thinking it's justified because it's in the neighborhood of one percenters and Superman does what he can. He prevents the guy with a bandana from killing the immigrants but he arrives too late to prevent the oil spill and he finds the black rhino killed and ends up in the midst of a civil war where the military are planning on destroying a village full of innocent people and saying to leave absolutely nothing to make sure they got the guerrillas and Superman just pops out of nowhere, from their perspective, and screams, “your own people, what's wrong with you” and he is just furious at what's going on and this is all to Mr. Oz’s plan as he appears with the purpose of convincing Superman that it is time to leave humanity, that they are not worth saving and here I really have to get into spoilers for this story and this is a big point but it's in the first issue of the plot arc.
The identity of Mr. Oz is revealed to be, and this is the spoiler warning, it's revealed to be Jor-El, who after Krypton was destroyed was transported to Earth. This is by a force that is rewriting and messing with the D.C. Universe and he arrived in the midst of a struggle that convinced him that humanity was dirt and this was totally a mistake to send humans there and while Oz has created an army of terrorists that are trying to do all s...

At long last, one of the big questions of DC Rebirth is answered as the identity of Mr. Ozis revealed.

Transcript:

Graham: It’s time to learn who the man behind the curtain is. Join us as we take a look at Superman Action Comics: the Oz Effect, straight ahead.

[Intro Music]

Announcer: Welcome to the Classy Comics podcast where we search for the best comics in the universe. From Boise Idaho, here is your host Adam Graham.

Graham: Well throughout D.C. Rebirth and I think in Superman and also in Action Comics, the question of who Mr. Oz is, this mysterious mover behind the scenes, has been front and center and this volume of Action Comics answers that question. It collects Action Comics Number 985 to 992. It begins with a two-parter written by Rob Williams called Only Humans. Essentially, Machinist is using mind control to take people over and to make them do evil. When Superman disables this mind control, he finds Lex core Microchips are behind it and he confronts Lex, angry and thinking that Lex has returned to evil. Lex insists that he doesn’t do it and he makes a very persuasive argument because if he’d had done it, it would have worked. So, Luthor puts on his pseudo Superman battle suit and goes out and joins Superman to help him fight the Machinist. And essential the Machinist is able to take Luthor’s suit and activate it and turn it against Superman. And this is a good story for the Superman/Lex relationship and Lex does end up finding a way out, and we’re going to get into spoilers for the story in a second. The way that Luthor is able to do that is by overloading the power when the suit goes after Superman and Superman is then able to defeat the Machinist. However, at the end of the story, it’s revealed that Mr. Oz is behind the alterations in Lex’s microchips setting the stage for the Oz effect and essentially in the Oz effect, the world is growing crazy. There’s so much going on that is so bad that Superman can’t keep up with it.

The story opens with Superman saving the day and saving some medical supplies but there is so much that’s going on all at once. You have a guy with a red, white and blue bandana about to kill immigrants while others plan to steal medicine to buy guns and there’s an oil spill out to happen because the boat’s pilot is drinking figuring, hey we’re out this far working for Lex Luthor, we ought to have some fun. A black rhino’s about to be killed, there’s child labor in a foreign country, a prison break, an idiot is starting a fire thinking it’s justified because it’s in the neighborhood of one percenters and Superman does what he can. He prevents the guy with a bandana from killing the immigrants but he arrives too late to prevent the oil spill and he finds the black rhino killed and ends up in the midst of a civil war where the military are planning on destroying a village full of innocent people and saying to leave absolutely nothing to make sure they got the guerrillas and Superman just pops out of nowhere, from their perspective, and screams, “your own people, what’s wrong with you” and he is just furious at what’s going on and this is all to Mr. Oz’s plan as he appears with the purpose of convincing Superman that it is time to leave humanity, that they are not worth saving and here I really have to get into spoilers for this story and this is a big point but it’s in the first issue of the plot arc.

The identity of Mr. Oz is revealed to be, and this is the spoiler warning, it’s revealed to be Jor-El, who after Krypton was destroyed was transported to Earth. This is by a force that is rewriting and messing with the D.C. Universe and he arrived in the midst of a struggle that convinced him that humanity was dirt and this was totally a mistake to send humans there and while Oz has created an army of terrorists that are trying to do all s...