2010 Reading #45: Showcase Presents: The Elongated Man
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty by Hugh Kennedy.
42. The Suffrage of Elvira by V.S. Naipaul.
43. The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
44. The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship by David Halberstam.
45. Showcase Presents: The Elongated Man by Gardner Fox, John Broome, Carmine Infantino, Sid Greene, et al. I used to read these shorts in the back of the old issues of Detective Comics that my uncles had left behind at my grandparents' house; at the time I had no appreciation for the richness of Infantino's lines, or the subtlety of the eight-page mystery format as opposed to, say, the whacked-out JLA stories that Fox was also writing at the time. Ralph and Sue Dibny were the Nick and Nora Charles of superhero comics, globe-trotting, wealthy hobbyist detectives, yet still always likable. And let's face it, Ralph's powers are really freakin' weird; sometimes the shapes he contorts himself into are creepily inhuman. What was best about the Dibnys was that they had a successful, loving marriage, and while it doesn't read precisely as a partnership through a modern-day lens, it was wildly progressive for the time. Sadly, happy marriages are something that the current editors-in-chief at DC and Marvel seem to abhor (see also: Peter Parker and Mary Jane), since it wasn't enough to kill off Sue and Ralph in the pages of Identity Crisis and 52, it had to be done in such a way that it uglified their relationship retroactively. Stay classy, Dan Didio; you're the reason we can't have nice things. Me, I'll be hanging onto the Dibnys of these stories (seriously, this volume is worth it for Infantino's art alone) and the Justice League Europe years.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
41. When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest Dynasty by Hugh Kennedy.
42. The Suffrage of Elvira by V.S. Naipaul.
43. The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
44. The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship by David Halberstam.
45. Showcase Presents: The Elongated Man by Gardner Fox, John Broome, Carmine Infantino, Sid Greene, et al. I used to read these shorts in the back of the old issues of Detective Comics that my uncles had left behind at my grandparents' house; at the time I had no appreciation for the richness of Infantino's lines, or the subtlety of the eight-page mystery format as opposed to, say, the whacked-out JLA stories that Fox was also writing at the time. Ralph and Sue Dibny were the Nick and Nora Charles of superhero comics, globe-trotting, wealthy hobbyist detectives, yet still always likable. And let's face it, Ralph's powers are really freakin' weird; sometimes the shapes he contorts himself into are creepily inhuman. What was best about the Dibnys was that they had a successful, loving marriage, and while it doesn't read precisely as a partnership through a modern-day lens, it was wildly progressive for the time. Sadly, happy marriages are something that the current editors-in-chief at DC and Marvel seem to abhor (see also: Peter Parker and Mary Jane), since it wasn't enough to kill off Sue and Ralph in the pages of Identity Crisis and 52, it had to be done in such a way that it uglified their relationship retroactively. Stay classy, Dan Didio; you're the reason we can't have nice things. Me, I'll be hanging onto the Dibnys of these stories (seriously, this volume is worth it for Infantino's art alone) and the Justice League Europe years.