Rob welcomes Dr. Chris Lewis to the cabin to discuss GREEN LANTERN #s 175 and 194!
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A very enjoyable close to yet another season in the cabin, and congratulations to Chris on his Robbie – which is all the more well-deserved given his excellent synopsis of GL #175.
Both of these issues came well after I had stopped reading GL – I became a regularly reader just before Green Arrow was dropped as the regular series co-star and stopped some time in just after #150. That run had several writers, but mainly Denny O’Neil and then Marv Wolfman, but what really kept me coming back was Joe Staton’s art. It’s nice that he came back to GL even later, and I have to say that, unlike Rob, I always preferred GL to Flash, especially after Carmine Infantino returned as the main artist on the latter title (I know this is almost sacrilegious to say in certain circles, but I was *not* a fan of his late ’70s/early ’80s output).
And yes, I’ve always been puzzled that the Shark is a GL foe rather than one of Aquaman’s. Also, given his apparent pathological fear of dolphins, I’d love to see him square off against Dolphin…
Thanks Edo; I can genuinely say that writing this synopsis was a labour of love!
I was a big fan of the Peter David run on Aquaman, so a face-off between the feral Shark and cunning Dolphin would definitely get my vote.
You know Dolphin, she’d just shag him.
I dunno, Martin. I think Dolphin does have some standards, and I *really* can’t see The Shark getting too many right-swipes on Tinder.
Check out his original costume!
An invisible yellow protective shield made perfect send to 14-year-old me … but almost broke my 54-year-old brain
I COMPLETELY agree Brian – it was one of those throwaway comic book speech bubbles which brought me to a complete screeching halt in the story!
I’m no physicist, but my understanding it that for something to be invisible it has to bend light around it, whereas something yellow just reflects back the appropriate frequency of electromagnetic radiation. So for something to be both yellow and invisible it has to both bend light and simultaneously reflect it. That seems impossible to me, but if there are any physicists listening, I would be fascinated to know if invisibility can – indeed – have shades of colour!
Great conversation. It’s funny, as a small child, I declared Green Lantern my favorite superhero, simply because I liked his costume and his powers. But it wasn’t until I bought GL #175 off the stands that I can recall actually enjoying a GL story. I remember finding the Shark genuinely terrifying, which is indeed a testament to Wein and Gibbons’ skill.
I think a lot of the early Crisis crossovers didn’t work because, to my mind, it seems like Wolfman (or DC editorial, or whoever) wasn’t yet sure what the story would be about, other than the supposedly necessary universal reboot. Read some of the GL issues between these two comics—you have the Monitor as a mysterious figure ensconced in his satellite, trafficking weaponry to the Demolition Team, of all people. Similar subplots took place in a ton of over DC titles—for some reason, the Monitor seemed invested in the success of the mortiest of morts, and I still don’t know why. There’s no doubt that the Crisis-crossover mandate wasn’t a good fit for much of the company line, if any of it.
Great episode to finish the season! You’ve inspired me to reread those great Wein Gibbons GLs! You’re welcome to borrow mine, Rob – but you’ll have to wait until I’m done!
Wow! What a difference a year and a creative ten makes. Once again Mountain Comics has brought me back to the days every comic was a fun adventure and delightful experience. As much as I’d like to believe it “comics were better then” I know it’s really “Matt as more innocent then”. Sure comics are definitely different now, but better is in the eye of the beholder. (And I’m nearly blind these days)
It was a wonderful conversation from when Hal Jordan was one of my favorite characters. Of course I didn’t read much of his own title, I knew him from Super Friends and Justice League of America. Boy did I want to grow up and be a space cop!
I started following Green Lantern on a monthly basis during the time John Stewart was the star of the book. Coincidentally I Also started following Iron Man on a monthly basis when Rhodes was in the armor… wait… two African American characters taking over the technology based superhero roles… and then in the 200th issues the original returns. Oh my god! Do you know what this means!!! Probably nothing. Sorry my paranoia got ahold of me there.
Anyway, great episode gents.
Thank you, Matt.
Deep down, we *all* want to be a space cop.
I do believe you saved the best ‘til last, Rob! What a terrific issue Green Lantern #175 was – the Wein/Gibbons team gave me exactly what I wanted after Hal’s interminable space exile (if you thought The Trial of the Flash outstayed its welcome…). Lots of Earth-based action with classic villains, new foes and plenty of soap. I really do miss comic writers balancing A, B and C plots, so the stories grew and developed organically. Gibbons drew such attractive people, whether it’s a hunky man in a tight superhero suit or a man in a black suit. And yeah, Len Wein was a master of the OTT script.
Absolutely brilliant résumé of the issue from Chris… if you ever start your own show, please have me on Service Station Stories.
Thanks for the namecheck, I’m sorry to have to tell you, Chris, that The Dandy weekly is sadly no more,the print edition ended in 2012, and the online version a year later. But the Summer Specials and Annuals continue.
Just in case you can’t find the individual issues, Rob, these stories are collected in a couple of lovely trades under the title Green Lantern: Sector 2814.
I agree, the original Shark is one of the most terrifying villains in the DCU, I thought this even before Jaws came out… I was lucky enough to inherit his first couple of appearances and he was just so frightening – he had mind powers like Super-Gorilla Grodd, but more so, and just wanted to scare and hunt people. And what big teeth he had.
Rob, the old Coots sound a lovely pair, helping your family make so many great memories.
In the UK Uhu is a glue, best not to drink it.
As for GL #194, boy, this was exciting – so much going on. From everything I’ve heard Noah, above, is dead on, there was a ‘need to know’ element to the crossovers and as the big story wasn’t worked out, we got a lot of ball spinning from the poor tie-in writers. But very entertaining ball spinning! I can’t wait to hear what Rob reckons to Carol when he finds out why she’s absent and Hal is so sad – the poor guy is so raw here in his interactions with Tom and Katma. Mind, Guy is totally off his ginger rocker. My fave bits here were the Katma Tui moments, she was such a great character. And you lads were right about the weird bits of dialogue, eg Ted talking about his ‘wife’. I mean, what was John wittering on about, saying he needed a diversion just before the shadow thingies attacked?
See you in the Poconos next year, Rob!
Alas! Rest in Peace “The Dandy”! Another pillar of childhood crumbles to dust!
Agree re: not trying to drink UHU Glue – that feels like an important Public Service Announcement. (Mind you, so does warning kids off the “watery chocolate drink”! )
Great episode. Always wonderful to hear Dr. Chris. And I am really fascinated by the various versions of ‘Mountain Comics’ you’ve discovered here. ‘Truckstop comics’ I think is a better name than my more mundane ‘beach comics’.
I never really bought Green Lantern regularly as a kid for some reason. I did get the occasional issue here and there but this Wein/Gibbons era also missed me completely. Not even the impulse buy issue ever crossed my paths.
But this Englehart Staton book is a different story. This one I started picking up because of the Crisis crossovers (3 official bannered ones of them) and how deep the book did mesh with COIE. Lots of upheaval in the book even just seen in this one issue! Hal really mopes a bit in this era. And yes Rob, there is a myriad of crisis crossover quality. Perhaps the worst are the one panel where someone says ‘the sky looks red’ and that’s it. Some crossover. At least here we are neck deep in the story.
As for Guy’s quest for power, he feels spurned. Hal almost married his girlfriend. He was in a coma. He missed out on being GL because of geography. I might have a grudge too.
Far and away, the best part of this episode though was hearing Rob say ‘the guardians get killed like a bunch of b*tches’. I nearly did a spit-take of my coffee while listening on my commute!
Thanks Anj – We really seem to have stumbled on a collective blind spot for many folks here. Hopefully the app will allow you to go back & explore!
I’d rather spend time at the beach than a truck stop!
Hi Rob,
I have a seemingly random question: Have you ever read The Tick #11? The reason I ask is because on page 14, a character refers to “weekends at the Poconos” and in the same panel there is a “Drink YooHoo!” vending machine advertising chocolate and strawberry flavors. This issue is part of my big re-reading project, and it immediately made me think of your Mountain Comics podcast. The story is hilarious, and was the direct inspiration for one of the Tick cartoon episodes. SPOOOOOOOONNN!!!!!!!
You made me want to read some vintage Green Lantern, no mean feat.
Great show fellas! I was very excited by the Wein/Gibbons run on GL. The house ads really grabbed me. But unfortunately the dreaded newsstand was a cruel mistress, and I missed a lot of issues. For instance, I got THIS issue, but missed the next. So I guess I assumed Hal was brain dead for months!
I will agree with other folks up above that Crisis cooridination was a mess. Marv really had no idea who the Monitor was or what his plan was before issue #1 of Crisis hit. So I can’t imagine how other creators felt. John wearing his mask is definitely a retcon catching up to events previously seen in the first few issues of Crisis.
Waiting for the announcement of Chris’ “Truckstop Comics” on the network!
A couple of folk have mentioned Truckstop Comics, was that Rob’s suggestion on the podcast? Apologies if I’m stepping on Chris L’s excellent toes, but in the UK we call trucks, lorries, and the places where drivers stop are service stations, so maybe Service Station Stories?
I’ve always wondered what the etymology was for lorry.
The best I can find – probably you’ve been there already! – is ‘…perhaps from dialectal English lurry (“to lug or pull about, drag”)’
And ‘truck’ seems connected to ‘trickle’, which is a shape of cheese at Christmas.
I will float to baseless theory that the inventor of the British truck loved a woman called Lorrie.
UK English is a particularly mongrel language, appropriating words from everyone else (including stealing words from North America). There are many examples of synonyms in British English due to the conquest of the northern part of the country by Vikings in the eighth and ninth centuries. (Eg Road and Street) – one with their origin in the Norse language, the other from an Anglo-Saxon direction. There’s a broadcaster in the UK from the north of England called Melvyn Bragg who has written books and recorded documentaries on this topic, if want some further study, Siskoid. (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiVwW0BizXx8DwT7esUJ-EaVDIB7nbyGj&si=kh5xmix7FXvrlHXx )
Clearly lorry and truck come from this divergence, because if the Vikings were enthusiasts for anything, it was long distance haulage . Both words are in use in the UK, but in my head canon, a truck can either be something that carries cargo but has no motive power of it’s own (eg an unpowered goods truck on a railway needs the power of a locomotive to get it moving) or less commonly it can be a smaller powered motor vehicle that has some goods carrying capacity, where as a lorry is very definitely a powered larger motor vehicle for road haulage.
I definitely & consciously amended my language on the show, as I thought “truck stop” might be more accessible to a trans-Atlantic audience than the British “service station”.
Fun with synonyms!!
Nothing really to add, but to affirm: Eighties GL good. This season of Mountain Comics good. Dr. Chris Lewis and Rob Kelly always good. That is all.
Thank you Cap’n!