I understand Ostrander has pitched a Suicide Squad relaunch to DC several times, and they’ve shot him down each time. I think he’s great, and the late-'80s issues still stand up very well today in a way that many other books from that era seem badly dated. (Claremont, I’m looking at you!) But he’s older, and not a “hot” writer, so DiDio and the Johns/Morrison braintrust might already have a Suicide Squad or Secret Six book lined up to start after Infinite Crisis.
I’ve never read Spectre because I’ve never been overly fond of mystical or omniscient characters, but since Starman is my favorite series ever and we seem to have similar tastes, I’d give it a shot. I think that JLI, JLE, Suicide Squad, Question (by O’Neill), Spectre, and Sandman Mystery Theatre are all prime candidates to be collected in DC’s low-cost black-and-white Showcase trade paperbacks, the big thick volumes they just started that are similar to Marvel’s Essentials.
I heard that Ostrander’s been semi-retired since the death of his wife/collaborator. If he wants to relaunch Suicide Squad, they’d be crazy not to let him try it.
Oh, I agree. The main thing that’s great about Spectre is Jim Corrigan’s character arc in the book. Sure he has mystical powers and whatnot, but Corrigan is all too human and has to come to terms with a lot. I’d say more about that but it’s hard not to spoil anything.
I got a minor in theology and was one class short of another minor in philosophy in college because that stuff really interests me, and there’s lots of good philosophical debate in Spectre, and it’s mostly on very human terms. Father Craemer from Suicide Squad is a supporting character, and he’s great. Personally I fall into the agnostic/athiest crowd, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the series at all. It sucks that you’d have to track down all the single issues, but we eventually did. It’s in desperate need of a snazzy TPB collection, at least.
I’d fully agree with this: I’ve been an Ostrander fan since FIRST comics (Yay Grimjack!) and love Sucide Squad, but when it comes right down to it, if I had to choose one single Ostrander series as his “best”, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick his Spectre run.
One of my favorite issues was in the mid-20s: it’s funny, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. A reader bet Ostrander that Ostrander couldn’t/wouldn’t acknowledge the fact that in the heyday of the '40s “stupid, goofy adult sidekick” fad (think “Woozy Winks”, or “Doiby Dickles” or “Etta Candy” or Flash’s “The Three Nitwits” or Superman’s “Hocus and Pocus”…etc.) the Spectre had his own “stupid, goofy, adult sidekick”: Percival Popp, Super Cop! (a bumbling fat policeman who was basically around to A) get into trouble so Spectre could rescue him and B) to screw up and thus make things harder for the Spectre. Ostrander not only brought Popp back (without cheating!) but wrote one of the best stories of the last 20 years.
Another good one has the Spectre ask a friend what he wants for Christmas and when the friend says “Ohhh, I dunno…wouldn’t it be nice if no-one in New York was killed today?” and…um…that’s not the sort of thing that’s smart/appropriate to say to the Spectre.
Yes! Ah, Percival Popp. You wouldn’t believe you could have a good story there, but you can.
I went to Wikipedia to see what they had on John Ostrander. It wasn’t a long article, but they did point out that before he became a writer he studied theology and intended to become a Catholic priest. Boy, it really shows.
BBVL, while rambling about The Spectre above I left out a point I meant to make. Earlier when you were discussing Deadshot, you said you liked sympathetic villains and redemption stories. Me too, and it’s not too big a stretch to fit Spectre into those categories. The overall story is really about Jim Corrigan’s journey toward redemption, and considering the things he does (especially in this series!) the Spectre isn’t really heroic. Man, after talking about it, now I want to go home and read it all over again.
I wasn’t reading comics during Most of Ostrander’s heyday, but I loved his Martian Manhunter series of a few years ago. Very smartly written, and genuinely moving at the end. Hmm. I think I may pull that out and reread it soon.
So, anyone wanna hazard a guess what dread disease Spider-man is dying of?
Think they’ll let him die then ressurect him in the post-House of M housecleaning?
JLA #121: Hey, the scene on the cover almost exactly matches a scene from the story. Don’t see that everyday. Good story too.
Wonder Woman #222: I almost feel bad for the Cheetah. Almost.
Jimmy Olsen #115: aka this one. Nifty little Silver Age story in which Jimmy gains superpowers (take a shot), Superman is a dick (kinda), and Aquaman goes down like a bitch (kinda). Worth the $1.75 I paid for it laughing it the hokey dialogue and the dickery.
I hit a sale today and got the last three issues I was missing from Joe Casey’s Cable run: #62, 63, and 68. I haven’t read any of them yet, but now I have #44-70 and the “#-1” special, the entire saga by writers James Robinson and Joe Casey, to read in a row.
I also got Deathstroke #41, a random issue from 1994 where Deadshot (a character cbawlmer and I both like) kills Deathstroke, foreshadowing their duel from the more recent Villains United #6, and Solo #7, DC’s new anthology title spotlighting my favorite artist, Mike Allred. Also got the “Once More With Feeling” Buffy figure for myself and picked up the “Bad Girls” Wesley figure for Selkie.
