Misconceptions of my youth
The classic argument for why Crisis on Infinite Earths was necessary was that DC’s multiple Earths were just too confusing to new readers, turning them off. As someone who started …
Author: frasersherman
The Empire of Crime: The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
If writers turn terrorist we’ll all be in trouble. Writers such as Richard Condon and Robert Bloch routinely come up with scarier terrorist plots than the ones in real life. …
Harley Quinn and “Definitive” Characters
Harley Quinn turns 26 this year. That’s why rebooting characters back to their “definitive” version is usually a bad idea. As probably everyone reading Atomic Junk Shop knows, comics make …
Dr. Mabuse: “A picture for our times”
Dr. Mabuse is Weimar Berlin’s Professor Moriarty. He uses his power like a kid kicking over an anthill and watching the insects run.
Gambling With Men’s Souls: Dr. Mabuse
Before comics were even a thing, Germany’s Dr. Mabuse became a legacy supervillain. Norbert Jacques created Dr. Mabuse (pronounced like “a boozer,” not “abuse”) Weimar Germany’s master criminal, in …
“Are you Guardians simply improvising?” The DC Challenge
DC Challenge is the kind of series where creating an alternate timeline where the Nazis won WW II was meant to simplify the plot. DC launched this 1985-6 twelve-issue limited …
Doc Savage vs. the Depression
Doc Savage didn’t just fight evil. Living in the Depression, he fought suffering.