Make It Rayna

Rayna (she/her) goes through the DC core reading order and reviews the comics and her life. Also, it's just chill easy vibes all day here.

[makeitrayna]

Whiz Comics #2

Shazam! It’s pretty incredible to think that Shazam is out here as some ordinary kid who just gets pulled into some like weird universe thingy. I dunno. I genuinely don’t remember anything that happened. Kablam.

[makeitrayna]

Road Block Post -

I feel like getting cozy for a second because I haven't really read the next couple comics on the order. So I'm a completionist. Like if I play a game, I will literally do every single side mission in an area before moving to the next. It's one of the reasons I hate the infinite fetch quest thing I'd Skyrim and why I haven't beaten it at all in its ten year life. At the beginning of this DC Core order journey, I had to force myself to not read the Full order and stick to the core because it's very difficult to find the vast majority of those early issues to read. The DC Infinite app is great but it doesn't have the FUN Comics or some of the other weird issues.

So like after around two weeks of inward debating, I just hit the core order link and started reading. It was great, the app has all the Action and Detective Comics so far. It had the first Flash Comics. But now I have to Google issues to read them. And there's the sane part of my brain that says, just skip the ones I have to Google. Especially these Flash Comics because that Flash isn't one that anyone recognizes and I really really disliked that first issue.

Which that's a tangent I want to take right now. On the order page you can review the comics with a 5 star system. My brain being the way it is means I had to figure out my own personal review system. I think I'll start putting the stars on my reviews going forward but that would mean I would need to edit all my posts and put the stars.. Look I'm a mess sometimes. But the way I see it is 1 star is just egregiously awful. 2 stars is terrible. 3 stars can mean anything from I found it bad to I found it good, it's the average and most of my ratings around the 3 star range right now. 4 is great. 5 is absolutely incredible. I have yet to give a five.

Back to my main thing. I'm a completionist and I can't force myself to skip these missing issues. But the only sites I can find with them are either slow or filled with bad stuff. At some point I'm going to have to either just move on or force myself to use these sites I don't trust.

I also just decided to throw some random pictures of my cats for no particular reason.

See you all soon with my next review

[makeitrayna]

Detective Comics #35 - Batman With a Gun

This splash art is just so good. Batman with a gun. Unfortunately the rest of the issue isn't good. We get a buckwild story of a ruby idol with some not-so-subtle racism. I don't want to get too much into it but Batman really needs to breathe again. I don't mind all the killing because it makes sense for this iteration. He literally just wants vengeance so his kill count goes up each issue. I just miss the issues with cool aesthetic art and panels that were able to breathe.

Whiz Comics #2 - Chotto a Minute..

I'm officially on page two of the reading order and I immediately got surprised at the titles on the list. Looks like I'm going to be reading all kinds of weird stuff instead of rotating Batman and Superman. And that all starts here with the origin comic of Shazam, I mean Captain Marvel.

Wait, Captain Marvel..? Uhhh…. So a boy named Billy follows a creepy old man down a subway to meet SHAZAM who gives Billy all his special powers. All Billy has to do is say Shazam! And then he'll transform into the wonderful Sha- Captain Marvel.

Hmm.. I mean the story isn't much to write home about. Captain Marvel just seems like Superman for kids. Billy wants to be a journalist. Captain Marvek has all the same powers as Superman. I'm more interested in the legal mess of Shazam and Captain Marvel.

[makeitrayna]

Superman Part H - Clark Kent and Lois Lane, A Story of Harassment

I guess I need to start talking about the whole Clark and Lois thing. I really know I can't expect much from comics this old about how women are written and the way romance is handled. I can't wait to see a well written female in a comic which sadly might not happen for many more decades.

So Lois has been established in previous issues as a cutthroat, backstabbing, do anything for the story ambitious career-woman. Which more power to her for wanting to have a prominent career. I empathize with her methods because it really couldn't be easy to get to her position as a major journalist in the boys club Daily Star. But her actions are very much depicted as deplorable, and yeah she's everything I said she was, and so this story she gets her comeuppance immediately by being demoted to the LoveLorn part of the paper. She's a woman so that's where they're assuming she'd do best.

Clark is the one who gets her old position and when Lois is upset, Clark straight up says he can cure her sadness with a date. Again. Like five hundred attempts to ask Lois out and she always says no. Understandbly, she really shuts him down. Clark feels that she was cold this time so he's extra upset, boohoo please take a hint sir.

The story follows Lois then who immediately gets a hit in her new section by a woman who is worried about her husband, despite also saying her husband beats her. Like the getting beat by the husband thing I guess is no big deal in this time period. It's only treated as such a minor detraction. The big scoop is a potential smuggling ring.

Lois follows the story. Superman follows Lois. Superman saves Lois. Clark Kent steals the story. I get really enraged at Clark. I know the writers frame Clark Kent as this super stand up guy and he deserves to get with Lois one day which is so gross. I don't want these two to get together at all. I want Lois to be in modern times so she can report this creep for workplace harassment and get him fired.

I know though, different times.

[makeitrayna]

Flash Comics #1 - Too Fast

I went into the debut of Flash thinking "Wow. I better get ready to write a nice long piece for such an important moment" and well, I don't really know what to say. The story is as fast as the Flash. In twelve pages, our protagonist Jay asks out Joan, inhales some gas, spends weeks in a coma, wakes up with super speed, wind a football game, graduated college, randomly decides to be a hero, fights a villain group, kills a villain group, and gets a girlfriend.

I really don't know anything about the Flash. I never read any of his comics before. I've never seen the CW show. I've never seen him in a movie. And thanks to this super fast comic I still don't know anything about him.

I'm not even interested in the fact that he kills his villains immediately either. DC comics of this age just have killing. I don't know. I didn't really like this issue because it had no room to breathe. There's two back to back panels that feature Jay reading a paper and then Flash chasing criminals.

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #19 - Purple Plague..

So I guess it had to happen at some point. Superman would have to face a pandemic, one created by the super villain Ultra-Humanite.. And it disheartened me to see citizens do so much to try and keep themselves from going out and catching the disease. If this was 2021, people would've sprinted to the disease.. I don't really want to talk about this one.

Ultra-Humanite didn't escape this time and is declared dead.

Detective Comics #34 - wtf

I don't know if I have the words for this one.. Let's just go beat by beat. So Bruce, while in Paris which places this issue continuity wise before the previous, runs into a person with no face. This no face person has a sister. She's on the run from a mad villain named The Duc. Batman finds The Duc, gets captured and strapped to a super fast wheel, is launched into a garden where flowers have human faces. Batman chases Duc, kills Duc.

All the issues in Paris have just been absolutely buck wild. Guys melting faces off, vampires and werewolves. I'm starting to see how we ended up with the legendary Adam West Batman series and Batman cameos in Scooby movies..

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #18 - Clark Kent, Star Reporter

Another comic focusing on the stuff I like out of Superman. This one is all about conspiracy as Clark tries to uncover the story of a blackmailed senator. Turns out a bad newspaper rag is doing some dirty work to get paid instead of report the news. Superman saves the day. There was almost the plot of Superman having to get all the papers before their read in the morning. Fun stuff.

A guy tries to killer Superman with a bow.. A bow!!

Detective Comics #33 - Holy What The My God

First and most importantly, this has the whole back story. We get to see Thomas and Martha both die in front of Bruce and his promise of vengeance to all crime. And then Batman does a story where he straight murders a lot of enemies.

This was the Scarlet Horde's one and only appearance because Batman kills all of them. The end.

I do find it wild the difference between Batman and Superman right now. The two clearly have different power levels, Superman is an invincible god whole Batman is just a dude in a costume.. Meanwhile, Superman tends to deal with petty crime and fight in boxing matches while Batman is fighting a guy who literally kills over a thousand people in a single panel. I feel like their stories should switch..

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #17 - Super Ultra Humanistic Man

I really really enjoyed this one. This issue is everything I like about these early Action Comics mixed up with some real villain flair.

My favorite stuff in these comics are when Superman has to do some true heroics that only a super hero can do. And in this issue he has to save a sinking ship in the middle of a huge storm. The coast guard send in a unit to their watery demise. Superman has to swim head on and get to the boat. And the ship is on fire!

Heroic heroics ensue. Clark goes back to the story. And then the writers add in Ultra-Humanite with a conspiracy to sink ships for ransom money or something. Clark gets a chance to do a big story, Superman gets to fight his first super villain. This is just good stuff.

I'm also really learning to love how underpowered Superman is right now. If this was modern Superman, he'd just fly to the ship and use his breath to put out the fire and we'd miss the drama of Superman swimming the harsh seas and hoping a fire hose could do the job.

[makeitrayna]

Superman #2 - A review in parts

So we get to a weird part of the order where Superman 2 is split into parts A-D and part a made me need a quick break from reading and reviewing.

Part A - My First One Star Review

So Superman stumbles on a fallen-from-grace boxer who is about to take his own life and Superman is all about helping the downtrodden. This setup absolutely works for me on all levels.

Turns out the boxer was drugged in a title fight by his manager to fix the fight. Also great. Superman already has a vendetta against gambling and seeing him go after a fight fixer and an underground gambling ring would be in his character.

But Superman decides he'll just pretend to be this boxer, win a bunch of fights and basically hand this guy the championship. It sucks. Superman commits fraud, beats a bunch of innocent boxers and then let's the guy finish the fight. It's a story that was designed to be fun and it's a fun premise. I hated it.

Part B - Super Weapons

A scientist has designed the ultimate weapon, the weapon to end all wars: a chemical that even leaks through gas masks. I'm ignorant when it comes to history so I could be very wrong about this. But I wonder if, seeing as this comic takes places between the first and second World Wars, writers could even imagine a weapon as truly devastating as the atomic bomb. Wasn't WWI kind of known for chemical warfare? Was such a devastating bomb beyond peoples' imaginations like smart phones and flat screens were for futuristic sci-fi writers of the pre smart-phone age?

Hmm.. I guess I didn't say much about the story of this and I shouldn't probably try to be an expert on history or thought processes. It's an okay Superman story with Superman gassing a villain to death, turning other villains over to the police and a panel saying they will get the death penalty, and Superman destroying the formula for this new gas weapon so it can't hurt anyone.

Part C - Man of Steel Beams

There's some strange things happening at a construction site leading to the death of the workers. Superman investigates. Lots of people end up dead. A cop shoots a guy for running despite not really seeing that guy commit a crime. ACAB. Kind of standard fare Superman stories of these times.

Part D - A Short Story

With no pictures. All prose. Superman tells a bad guy to leave town which will only make problems in other towns. The police chief sucks. It's an okay story.

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #16 - Superman is a Cop

So we have another issue where Superman forces his strict morality on the denizens of Metropolis. This time he's decided that gambling must be completely destroyed on all fronts and begins smashing legitimate businesses as well as shady gambling halls. I'm starting to see why movies depict Superman as a bland good by default kind of hero with stories of how Superman basically smashes things he doesn't agree with.

Detective Comics #31 - Well..

So everything I loved about the previous issue and needed to just rave about, this issue decides to take the exact opposite approach. They heavily reduce the plodding panels of just stylish Batman in favor of panels quickly shooting the plot. For bat's sake, a giant ape just appears out of nowhere. I really thought I was taking crazy pills! A giant ape! In a story about a hypnotist and Bruce just having a fiance all of the sudden and a boat ride to Paris and werewolves and the first batarang and flying bat plane thing! Twelve pages of just nonstop things instead of letting the story breathe and bask in the aesthetic.

Detective Comics #32 - Oof

Yeah. This arc was really bad. Batman kills the Monk who turned out to be a werewolf that turned out to be a vampire. There were no more giant apes. There's like a plot here that has a lot of potential, who doesn't want to see Batman vs real vampires? That sounds rad! But trying to just rush out a globe traveling story where we didn't even know Bruce was engaged let alone her being hypnotized by the Monk let alone him being a werewolf but wait actually.. You see where I'm going with this.

[makeitrayna]

Detective Comics #30 - Why Batman Will Become An Icon

I realize that I can’t review Detective Comics the same way I review Action Comics. It’s absolutely astonishing how different it is from the Superman stuff and it’s forced me to reevaluate the way I read Batman. I can see why Batman will become such a powerhouse in comics and an international icon already and we’re only four issues into Detective Comics. That may seem like hyperbole but hopefully I can convey what I mean well.

So I usually try to review these comics based on their stories because often the art is fine. Occasionally Action Comics will give you a nice panel but generally, they have narration on every panel and use their words to convey their actions and plot. And Superman tends to go after some pretty heady plots. Action Comics likes focusing on social justice of their time, which is really surprising to me. Superman mostly solves inequality and helps the weak because he’s just so strong. Overall I would say Action Comics have better plots than these early Detective Comics.

The plot of issue number 30 doesn’t really stand out. It’s a by-the-numbers Batman fights a goon to get to the boss and the boss is Dr. Death again. It’s fine. Where Detective Comics stands out is style. These writers aren’t just content with letting Batman look stylish, they revel in looking cool. You get shots of the dark silhouette of Batman in clouds of smoke. There are multiple wordless panels of Batman climbing and swinging in the purple night sky with the full moon glowing behind him. His cape will extend into other frames as he’s laying the hurt into bad guys. It’s just so visually dramatic and stylish and cool.

Hot take again, but Batman is just cool. I feel like people of all times, even in the 1930s, like dark and edgy things. And considering that the first Batman appearance is like 8 pages and in four issues, he’s now a 12-14 page story tells me I’m right. When I got to Detective Comics, I actually expected Batman to be more in line with the campy Adam West series but what we have is very clearly the formula for the Dark Knight.

These comics are also just violent. Batman was shot in the previous issue but he tries to burn Dr. Death alive. And here we see the mangled, grotesque form of Dr. Death’s burned face. Batman does a swinging kick to break a goon’s neck and kills him (four for four with issues of Batman killing someone). Batman yanks Dr. Death backward with a tight cord around his neck and leaves his neck-bound body at a table for the authorities.

So I can’t review Batman by the plot. Instead I need to review and read Batman for style and coolness now. I’m very excited to get to the next Detective Comics and to see the next Action Comics just to contrast Superman to Batman in the 1930, which I feel is something we still like to do in the 2020s.

[makeitrayna]

This is a one comic review lightning round because I have a lot of thoughts on the next Detective Comics issue. I don't want to take away from it by having a throwaway review of a comic I found as just okay.

Action Comics #15 - Suberman

So the setup is that an all boys recreational facility needs a million dollars to stay open and Superman wants to raise the money by going on a deep sea treasure hunt. A fun easy read with Superman killing some sharks and reveling at his crew's mutiny which will lead to their broken necks. As fun as that sounds, this issue is just kind of okay.

I feel weird about having such a short post. But that's the way it has to be sometimes. So here's my interpretation of me feeling weird..

[makeitrayna]

Detective Comics #28 - So Batman Is a Killer Huh

Two appearances, two kills for Batman, I mean The Bat-Man, so far. A fairly good story complete with our hero dangling a villain out a high window. Apart from the killing, Bat-Man is very recognizable as the hero he will eventually become. 

Superman #1 - Okay…? 

*Cricket sounds* Okay so this was mostly just a reprint of the first few Action Comics plus a short story and an introduction to Action Comics #1. Unfortunately I didn't really like the extra context for that first issue, but not because the Planet Krypton and dead Kent family. I liked that Clark started the series as an established journalist, but this issue reveals that he wasn't even a hired journalist before issue one.. That was his job application. 

Action Comics #14 - Ultra-Humanite… Again! 

So they really couldn't help themselves and brought Ultra-Humanite back for a round 2 against our Superman. It's kind of an average issue for me. Nothing really stood out to me and personally I'd like to see the next issue go back to Superman doing heroics instead of facing a villain. So.. Onto the next! 

Detective Comics #29 - It's just Batman now! 

Three appearances, three henchman deaths. At least Batman didn't go out of his way to kill someone this time. Most excitingly, they've gone from The Bat-Man to The Batman. 

The thing I like is that Batman is really starting to turn into the iconic hero he is today. He had his first super-villain, Dr. Death who is clearly a misunderstood guy with that name. But Dr. Death has a flair for the dramatic and calls Bats out for a fight. 

Batman actually gets shot which really drives in the tension. He's just a normal dude with some crazy gadgets. Getting shot and dying is a real risk Bruce runs when he dons the suit. 

This issue is also much longer than the first two so I guess Batman was actually getting popular during these times as well and I can see why. Apart from the silliness of him in a tiny red car, Batman is very visually striking. This costume has a darkness to it and they like to set up dramatic looking scenes. 

Hot take here, but this Batman fellow seems pretty rad. 

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #13 - The Ultra-Humanite

I was fully ready to just do another lightning round but this issue is kind of a landmark in these early comics. First, we get quite possibly the very first super villain in comics, The Ultra-Humanite, a bald genius who can outthink everyone alive or something. 

I love that their first super villain for Superman isn't someone who can stand toe-to-toe with him. We all know it has to happen eventually but giving Superman a nemesis that can out-maneuver him mentally is a very good premise for an early villain. So how does Ultra-Humanite do it? 

Well my head canon is that after Superman went on a one man vengeance spree against all cars last issue, some taxi cab mafia had to form. Superman hates cars so him trying to destroy a taxi mafia makes sense weirdly enough. Superman catches a guy and then drops him to his death! One kill for Supes. 

He then follows another henchman to the Ultra-Humanite and gets captured. The villain does the run Superman headfirst into a spinning saw like an old James Bond bit only for it to shatter and a henchman catches a blade in the throat.

The narrator has to mention how he died a horrible death! Then Superman chases a plane down and crashes it, I guess to kill our first villain only for the villain to be missing. Nevermind the henchman that had to fly that plane and are now mangled corpses. 

I really really wonder when we'll get heroes are opposed to killing. Right now it's wild how violent and murdery these comics are. I'm into it.. 

[makeitrayna]

Detective Comics #27 - The Bat-Man

I have been so excited to finally see Batman in the order and honestly his first issue is what I would mostly expect from early Batman. Wait, he's The Bat-Man in this.

I actually thought I'd have a lot more to say about the very first appearance of Batman but I really don't. There's only 9 pages worth of story here! It starts with Bruce and Commissioner Gordon having a friendly talk when they go off to investigate a murder. Bruce sneaks off to become The Bat-Man and then goes off to catch the killer.

Interestingly, Batman's very first appearance has him killing the bad guy! He punches the guy who then falls into a pit of acid leaving Bats to say "Seems like a fitting end."

I guess they never expected Batman to become such an icon. Nine pages, a simple story but the first suit is very striking and dealing with murder is something I wasn't expecting so early. 30s comics go a bit hard, killing, violent humor all dressed up in a comic acceptable for children. Well back to the order. It'll be nice to switch between Supes and Bats.

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #9 - Sleutherman

Something about a detective. Superman is wanted. I don't really know. This one was weak. Next.

Action Comics #10 - Superman Says Prison Reform

Our boy Clark Kent hears about some atrocities being committed at a chain gang in a nearby town. And I'm just over here like, wait were chain gangs a thing less than 100 years ago? Wack. Superman goes in and gathers evidence of all the evil doing in this chain gang and gets justice served. Easy read. Fun premise. Next.

Action Comics #11 - Superman, Ecoterrorist.

Superman wants to investigate a suicide and finds that people are being scammed by a couple of fraudsters. Turns out they were selling stock of an oil field where they weren't doing any oil drilling. Of course Supes has to find the oil and then spill across the land and then burn it. What a monster.

Action Comics #12 - Superbadman

Wowow. Superman decides he's had enough of, let me check my notes, cars. So he decides to destroy used car lots, car factories, and harass reckless drivers. Bad.

So I'm really excited for the next comic in the order because it's Batman's first appearance! I can't wait to see if Batman does the same kinda things as Superman and handle social issues instead of fighting an extensive rogue gallery. It'll be a very nice break to move away from Superman also.

[makeitrayna]

Action Comics #6 - Capitalism ho! 

Some dude is pretending to be Superman's manager. He even hires a fake Superman. Lois of course has to take this assignment from Clark Kent so she goes. Gets in distress. Superman for the save. Easy, nice issue. Next. 

Action Comics #7 - Strongman 

Superman forces himself into a circus job as the strong man by kicking the circus' owners cart into oblivion. The circus also already had a strong man but Superman says he's the flashiest bitch this side of Metropolis. Oh and Superman rips all the clothing off the annoying office guy.

Action Comics #8 - Superman isn't About Fighting Villains… 

I'm officially 8 issues in and I'm fascinated by these old comics. So cards on the table, I've read a lot of comics, pretty much all Marvel, and mostly in their silver age or whatever. Those comics almost always followed this formula : Villain does villainry, hero has drama, hero sees villain, hero must defeat villain, hero drama. 

And I'm not sure if eventually these comics will also follow that route but Superman doesn't have villains so far. He has days he needs to save. Bad guys are beneath Superman because he's an invincible god-figure so how do you tell compelling stories? 

Well you start with people being weak. I haven't even talked about this issue yet but here's the situation, Clark Kent has to see a poor teenager taken off to a correctional facility and decides that's just not right. Kids shouldn't have to face the criminal justice system, they're children and can learn to be better. All people can, and Superman makes people better. 

He finds these kids and pleads with them to channel their energy in better ways. And that's a naive way at looking at things, you can't just do better when your circumstance keeps you down. And they acknowledge that!

Superman looks at these kids' living situation, the slums, the high crime rate area, etc. And he tears it down! He destroys this bad to bring in better housing systems and increase their quality of life. It's a comic so of course it works out for him instead of Superman really just destroying the homes of the poor and leaving them even more destitute but it's fun to see that an invincible god has to set his eyes on institutions and making changes for people instead of fighting the bald man in a robot suit. 

I don't know. Maybe these old comics aren't really about villains. I see Batman on the horizon in the order.. So I guess I'll know if Batman punches baddies instead of saving the day. Action Comics are neat so far though.