Good vs. Evil

The Brave and the Bold #11

DC’s epic team-up book continues, as the Challengers of the Unknown find themselves facing the evil alchemist Megistus himself, possessing the body of Metamorpho. What does he want Green Lantern’s power battery for? Meanwhile, why is Clark Kent beating the crap out of Steve Lombard and laying the liplock on passing blondes? Because he’s not Clark Kent — or at least, he’s the evil Clark Kent from the mirror universe, also known as Ultraman. After a brief struggle between Superman and Ultraman, the mirror-universe version of Mr. Mxyzptlk, called Mixyezpitelik, shows up and fills them both in on the crisis at hand — a red ion storm is on its way to Earth. It’s capable of causing horrific, random, and agonizing mutations in all forms of life, and Megistus is dragging it to our world. To stop him, Superman and Ultraman have to travel to his hidden HQ inside the sun itself. Not really a problem for a couple of guys who get their powers from the sun — but what happens if Megistus manages to change the sun…?

Verdict: Thumbs up. I tend to enjoy any stories featuring DC’s mirror universe.

The Spirit #15

The Spirit is on the trail of a band of diamond smugglers, and wicked femme fatale P’Gell is up to no good at the Ms. World Supermodel pageant in Paris. Could the two be connected? Oh, of course they are.

Verdict: I hate to say it, but thumbs down. There are too many lame gags, too much slapstick, too much cartooning. I like my Spirit stories to be a bit light-hearted, but this is just too much.