Challenge of the Weapons-Master! (Part 1)
Page 1.
Mike Sekowsky's art wasnt glossy or pretty,but it did have its strong points. For one thing, his use of body language was good. Look at Wonder Woman, it's clear she is trying to get up out of her chair. Sekowsky also didn't try to make his characters always look poised and heroic, either. Often they seemed like regular people in flashy costumes, just standing around or carrying things or walking up a slope. And when they fell or got knocked down, they weren't grceful but looked as if they were really hitting the ground.
Page 2.
This establishes the premise and gives our bad guy a reason to challenge the heroes. Of course, being a troublemaker, I wonder about Xotar being slightly dense. He has this wonderful time-travelling robot which can easily go back ten thousand years. So why return to where the police are ready to arrest him? Go somewhere else, anywhere else. Even a decade or so earlier, before he is a wanted criminal. Heck, find some peaceful tropical island in the 14th century and set himself up as ruler, going back and forth to accumulate all the loot and luxury and willing women and entertainment he could ever want. Nah, too easy. He must go back to the one spot in time and place he should not go. Dummy.
Page 3.
Fair enough, exposition dump, might as well get it over with.
Page 4.
This always seemed tragic to me. The time-traveling robot once had a name, ILARIC, a consciousness, a life all its own. In fact, it solved the secret of time travel by itself and built a time travel device within its own body. But then Xotar cut the control wires from the brain and reduced Ilaric into a simple vehicle. How heartless. I wondered as a kid if Ilaric was dead... that is, its awareness had stopped. Or even worse, was that genius level mind still awake, helplessly watching Xotar drive around in its former body? This isn't addressed in the story, but even when I was little, sitting on the living room floor with comics when I should have been outside playing, the fate of Ilaric seemed so sad.
Page 5. Yeah, I would say being snatched up in the claws of a gigantic robot qualifies as an emergency, Snapper. You are justified in calling for help. In the fourth panel, Hal Jordan has really long hair for 1960. He must have gotten a few remarks from fellow test pilots ("What are you, a symphony director?")
When you read Snapper speaking the words that Xotar is sending him, you should hear Marvin Millers voice. It gives the scene that old school sci-fi feeling. ("People of Earth, attention!")
Mike Sekowsky's art wasnt glossy or pretty,but it did have its strong points. For one thing, his use of body language was good. Look at Wonder Woman, it's clear she is trying to get up out of her chair. Sekowsky also didn't try to make his characters always look poised and heroic, either. Often they seemed like regular people in flashy costumes, just standing around or carrying things or walking up a slope. And when they fell or got knocked down, they weren't grceful but looked as if they were really hitting the ground.
Page 2.
This establishes the premise and gives our bad guy a reason to challenge the heroes. Of course, being a troublemaker, I wonder about Xotar being slightly dense. He has this wonderful time-travelling robot which can easily go back ten thousand years. So why return to where the police are ready to arrest him? Go somewhere else, anywhere else. Even a decade or so earlier, before he is a wanted criminal. Heck, find some peaceful tropical island in the 14th century and set himself up as ruler, going back and forth to accumulate all the loot and luxury and willing women and entertainment he could ever want. Nah, too easy. He must go back to the one spot in time and place he should not go. Dummy.
Page 3.
Fair enough, exposition dump, might as well get it over with.
Page 4.
This always seemed tragic to me. The time-traveling robot once had a name, ILARIC, a consciousness, a life all its own. In fact, it solved the secret of time travel by itself and built a time travel device within its own body. But then Xotar cut the control wires from the brain and reduced Ilaric into a simple vehicle. How heartless. I wondered as a kid if Ilaric was dead... that is, its awareness had stopped. Or even worse, was that genius level mind still awake, helplessly watching Xotar drive around in its former body? This isn't addressed in the story, but even when I was little, sitting on the living room floor with comics when I should have been outside playing, the fate of Ilaric seemed so sad.
Page 5. Yeah, I would say being snatched up in the claws of a gigantic robot qualifies as an emergency, Snapper. You are justified in calling for help. In the fourth panel, Hal Jordan has really long hair for 1960. He must have gotten a few remarks from fellow test pilots ("What are you, a symphony director?")
When you read Snapper speaking the words that Xotar is sending him, you should hear Marvin Millers voice. It gives the scene that old school sci-fi feeling. ("People of Earth, attention!")