Once Upon A Geek – Blue Devil #8 (Jan 1985)

ONCE UPON A WEIRDNESS MAGNET – BLUE DEVIL #8!      

Our coverage of the classic 1980s BLUE DEVIL comic series continues with BLUE DEVIL #8 from January 1985! Diabolu Frank and The Irredeemable Shag find their joy as Blue Devil is trying to keep the Trickster out of trouble… so naturally Trickster robs a bank in mid-air! Finally, we wrap up with YOUR listener feedback and we fan-cast the character of Bolt!

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9 responses to “Once Upon A Geek – Blue Devil #8 (Jan 1985)”

  1. Ok here’s my casting for gopher
    Is Burt ward from Batman man 66 fantasy casting.
    So we can do this .
    And for the blue devil cross over
    Blue Devil travels in time and ends up in
    Ww2 and teams up with first black panther
    Writer Roy Thomas artist Jack Kirby villain
    Red skull

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  2. Frank and Shag danced around my choice for a Marvel crossover when they mentioned Beast and Angel. My pick would be the Fuzzy Elf himself, Nightcrawler. Kurt can fit into humorous situations (maybe he could bring some Bamfs w/ him?) and swashbuckling. Plus, he’s the original “looks like a devil but he’s really a hero” character. As for the creative team, I thought of contemporary creators, Jeremy Adams and Todd Nauck. Adams can write high adventure (see his Flash Gordon run) and drop in humor (witness his current run on Green Lantern) while Nauck is a perfect fit for Blue Devil and has already drawn a Nightcrawler limited series.

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  3. Another fun episode! I did not read the book when it came out so I had no idea Giffen did an issue! The shared pics show how much fun this would be.

    I know exactly when I discovered Giffen, the LSH Annual #1 with the return of Computo and the intro of the new Invisible Kid. Boy, crazy his style morphed so often. Like Shag, 5YL is my favorite Legion run so I am most enamored of that style of his. You can see some of it peeking out in this book for sure.

    Some answers to questions …
    For Bolt, I would cast Willem Dafoe … like ‘Streets of Fire’/’Live and Die in LA’ Willem Dafoe. Or David Bowie, like Bowie in ‘The Hunger’. I just get the sense that Bolt is lanky and weird.

    I’ll save Gopher for next issue but can’t wait til then for my Marvel crossover.

    Blue Devil and Mary-Jane – written by Dan Slott, artist Terry Dodson – It writes itself. Dan is sort of Peter Parker like in his demeanor. Mary Jane is sort of a fan-girl of his and decides to seek him out. But with his link to the supernatural, Devil realizes she doesn’t belong with him, she belongs with Peter, and that was taken from her by Mephisto. And so our hero and MJ descend into Marvel hell to Mephisto and undo ‘One More Day’. There will be so many cameos and guest stars – Phantom Stranger, Brother Voodoo, Hela, Neron, Gwen Stacy’s ghost, etc. I’d buy it!

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  4. Great episode, guys! This is a favorite issue from the series. It ALMOST makes up for how James Jesse is treated in Countdown.

    As far as a Marvel Team-Up for Blue Devil, I would go two directions:

    1. Magic: I would team Dan up with Magik from the X-Men. She is an irreverent badass who could match his humor, but would drive him crazy.

    2. Mech Route:A Blue Devil and Darkhawk team up would be fun. Both guys are thrust into the hero role and neither really understands the suits they wear or the forces that conspire against them.

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  6. I absolutely adore Giffen’s art in this issue. The lanky wackiness he brings to Trickster is delightful, and I couldn’t get enough of this story. The only minus: he didn’t draw BD in his costume! I really would have loved to see Keith tackle that. Alas. But in another universe, I believe Keith became the regular penciller on this series, and how great would that have been!

    Ok, about Dan’s comment “He splattered my alligator!” I’m pretty sure that refers to Dan wearing an Izod polo shirt with the little alligator logo. This issue was published during the explosive popularity of those shirts as preppies truly became a thing. At least, that how I read it.

    There’s few moments in comics as iconic as “They would have in Central City.” LOL!

    Just to say it, I am terrible at fan casting. I just come up empty every time, so that’s why I stay out of it. But I love hearing you guys talk about it, and that’s more important to me.

    Now for a BD team-up, I have WAY too many thoughts! A couple have already been mentioned, but I immediately thought of Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, as she lives in California, is also a reluctant hero to a degree, but is so different from Dan while bringing a Spider-family connection to the team-up which would be fun. Or, Wonder Man. Simon Williams and Danny working on the same movie, Namor is revealed as the producer with a plan to conquer the surface world (hey, he’s done it before), hijinks ensue.

    Thanks for another devilish episode, guys!

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  7. Since Shag was so bummed out that we didn’t get to cover the comic book ad for ABC-TV’s 1984-1985 Saturday Morning Cartoons, I looked through some other DC Comics with a December 1984 cover date, and didn’t find one. Then I checked some Marvel comics from the same month, like Beauty and the Beast #1, which only had the NBC & CBS ads we already covered. Then I tried the internet, and landed on an obscure website from a podcast with only a few episodes called “Saturday Morning Fever.” A fairly comprehensive gallery on the fifth episode (https://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/smf05-gallery/) seems to indicate that ABC did not buy space in any comic books for that season. The closest they came was a spread in TV Guide for a prime time preview special hosted by Weird Al Yankovic. Spotlights include Mighty Orbots, Wolf Rock TV, Dragon’s Lair, and Turbo Teen, plus returning favorites Super Friends, The Littles, and Scooby & Scrappy Doo. Clearly, we missed nothing in discussing these D.O.A. programs. Especially Shag, since he co-hosted that 2019 podcast episode with Rob Kelly. KELLY. K-E-L-L-Y. I’ll try to remember to ask him to name lion, rhino, and camel the next time we record.

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  8. It was the very last mention of the mobile bank being carried by a helicopter that finally jostled the memory of Steve Martin’s “L.A. Story,” and how it opened with a fast-food stand shaped like a hotdog being helicarried over the city. Someone had told me that was a reference to a foreign art film that opened with a statue of Jesus flying over a city, suspended from a helicopter. I love sharing the California craziness, with the topper that Central City would have of course maintained it in a fully operable condition throughout the move! The only problem is “L.A. Story” came out in 1991. I guess it’s just the common experience of streets so crowded that skycraning is a common thing.

    (I will still believe the original statue thing is referenced by the anime “Lupin the Third.” In one episode, after a heist gone wrong, they have to use a helicopter to steal the giant statue of Jesus from the hills above Rio de Janeiro. The cable holding it starts twisting in the wind, and Jesus’s giant outspread hands are swatting other helicopters out of the sky!)

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  9. So a mobile bank you say? Yup that’s a thing in the UK – for example you can read a story about them here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-42249248

    So of course it makes sense that you’d have a mobile bank and I can also see it would be quicker to move one by helicopter in LA than deal with LA traffic. Of course this isn’t the same idea as a banking van as we have. But the theory makes sense to me. Particularly as this looks more like a Temporary structure which might be used to “fill in” for a bank under reconstruction after a Supervillain Bank Robbery blows a hole in a wall or similar.

    Having Giffen on the art makes this feel far more like a DC Supernatural book than normal – I put this down to the Dr Fate work Giffen has done. Yet ironically it’s one of the least supernatural stories in the entire run! Talk about playing against type.

    Fancasting time again : Gopher…. well in Shags 1984s you are looking at one of the many kid actors who were holding shows together – Michael J Fox, Jason Bateman or for laughs Eric Stoltz – I mean cast Fox but swap out for Stoltz. Anthony Michael Hall would also be a good shout.

    But I’m normally casting for now and really Gopher could be played by whichever Disney Kids Male lead actor is available after Disney stiffed them on royalties etc I couldn’t name names any more as the Twins no longer watch the likes of Suite Life of Zack and Cody or Jessie or their current equivalent but one of them should do the trick able to play 10 to 12 years old with some comedy timing. Easy to find plenty of child actors these days I’m sure – I mean they can’t all be filming the new Harry Potter series that NO ONE WAS ASKING FOR.

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