The Awakening (2011) D: Nick Murphy. S: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Shaun Dooley. Classy enough melodrama about post-Great War ghost hunter Hall going to investigate a boys’ school with a possible killer poltergeist on the roster. She meets various possible (human) suspects, such as fetching vet teacher West and creeper draft-dodger Mawle. The film’s on a budget and impressive with the constraints; sadly, the script’s finish leaves the actors flailing.

Burnt Offerings (1976) D: Dan Curtis. S: Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith, Bette Davis, Dub Taylor. Badly directed, badly written, and atrociously photographed horror picture about how a creepy house affects summer tenants: mom Black, dad Reed, fun aunt Davis, and tween Montgomery. Davis brings almost all the life to it, and she’s not around a lot. The rest of the performances disappoint to varying degrees, though the script and direction disable them. Boring, too.

The Changeling (1980) D: Peter Medak. S: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh, Eric Christmas. Greiving Scott moves into a spooky old mansion where there seems to be a ghost similarly aged to his recently passed daughter. But then how does rich guy Douglas figure in? They tie it together surprisingly well, thanks to an eager Scott and strong direction from Medak. Excellent cinematography. The third act has some significant problems, but often impressive.

Flaming Gold (1932) D: Ralph Ince. S: William Boyd, Pat O’Brien, Mae Clarke, Stanley Blystone, Richard Alexander. Pal Boyd and O’Brien have their own oil well, which the big boys sabotage. Boyd has to go to New York City for help, where he meets working girl Clarke and falls for her. Except then O’Brien finds out her backstory; light drama ensues. Lots of oil drilling footage, along with surprisingly thoughtful character work. Great performance from Clarke.

The Haunting (1963) D: Robert Wise. S: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Lois Maxwell. Beautifully done haunted house picture about timid, put upon Harris branching out on her own only for it to be at professor Johnson’s ghost investigation team. The film determinedly pushes through some of its awkwardness, with director Wise leveraging Harris’s captivating, inward performance along with Davis Boulton’s spectacular black and white photography. Excellent, albeit too cognizant of genre limitations.

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) D: Robert Aldrich. S: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Bruce Dern, Ellen Corby. Visually histrionic–while admirably not dramatically so–soft Southern Gothic about recluse Davis calling on semi-estranged cousin de Havilland for help saving the family home. Davis’s a recluse because she killed a beau in the prologue and de Havilland’s finding out the intervening years haven’t been good for her mental health. Davis does great in an undeserving part.

In the Grey (2026) D: Guy Ritchie. S: Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rosamund Pike, Eiza González, Fisher Stevens. Competent action set pieces, done on a budget, can’t make up for the banal, exposition-heavy script–international asset-recovery lawyer González has good-guy mercenaries Cavill and Gyllenhaal working for her. No one cares enough to put any effort into their performances (save Stevens, the bad guy’s lawyer). Director Ritchie’s idea of male bonding is exhausted gay jokes.

J’Accuse (1919) D: Abel Gance. S: Romuald Joubé, Séverin-Mars, Maryse Dauvray, Maxime Desjardins, Angèle Guys. Breathtaking condemnation of the First World War centers around poet Joubé fooling around with married woman Dauvray, only to end up serving with her husband (Séverin-Mars). Through those complications, the film explores jingoism, (toxic) masculinity, and misogyny, and how they intersect. Beautiful work from writer, director, editor Gance. He takes some big third act swings, landing enough of them.

The Legend of Hell House (1973) D: John Hough. S: Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, Peter Bowles, Roland Culver. Tedious, poorly written haunted house movie (scripted by Richard Matheson, adapting his own novel) takes place in a world where hauntings are real but maybe the afterlife isn’t. Academic Revill wants to show up mediums Franklin and McDowell. Hunnicutt’s along as Revill’s emotionally abused wife. Weird, creepy to ladies, and absent any scares; instead, bad acting, directing, writing choices.

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) D: John D. Hancock. S: Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Kevin O’Connor, Gretchen Corbett, Mariclare Costello. Peculiar pastoral horror picture about city folks Lampert and Heyman moving out to the country to start apple farming. Pal O’Connor is along to help, gal Costello to vamp. Lampert’s just out of a mental hospital and very worried she’s not better. The title implies one gimmick, the film’s actually got another, but doesn’t embrace either. Only coincidentally imaginative.

The Orphanage (2007) D: J. A. Bayona. S: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Geraldine Chaplin, Edgar Vivar. Thirty-ish years after leaving, Rueda returns to the ORPHANAGE where she grew up, bringing husband Cayo and son Príncep along. Her plan? Open a home for people to dump their developmentally disabled children. Don’t worry, Rueda won’t have any staff to assist her. Oh, and there are ghosts and haunted things. Rueda’s compelling, while not really any good.

The Set-Up (1949) D: Robert Wise. S: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton. Exceptionally well-made drama about aging boxer Ryan not knowing he’s supposed to take the fall in his next fight. Great real-time narrative, lots of excellent character work, outstanding direction from Wise, a breathtaking Ryan performance, a glass-jawed conclusion, which chickens out on struggling wife Trotter. Nice to see Edwards as always. Ryan does his own boxing.

The Sheep Detectives (2026) D: Kyle Balda. S: Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Emma Thompson, Bryan Cranston, Brett Goldstein. Very cute–with excellent CGI sheep–tale of a flock of sheep banding together to solve their shepherd’s murder. The sheep can talk, with Louis-Dreyfus voicing the main character (even if the movie forgets she’s the lead). It’s funny, adorable, couple times smartly funny, with delightful performances all around. Barely matters the resolve’s thin. Thompson’s a particularly hoot.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) D: Justin K. Thompson. S: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, J.K. Simmons, Jack Quaid. Pitch perfect sequel explores the Spider-Man mythos through three “outsiders” (Moore, Steinfeld, and Isaac). Moore’s got a minor foe (Schwartzman) leveling up with inter dimensional powers, reuniting him with Steinfeld, and running afoul of her boss (Isaac). Sensational CG animation, beautiful editing, pacing, and performances. They even manage to line up the exciting conclusion cliffhanger well. It’s amazing.

The Vanishing (1988) D: George Sluizer. S: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Bernadette Le Saché, Pierre Forget. Pretty good thriller about ter Steege going missing and her boyfriend, Bervoets, trying to find her. Except then there’s a jump ahead, and the film focuses on otherwise mundane villain Donnadieu. Director Sluizer isn’t above dangling red herrings, but some fine filmmaking compensates. Even without a personality, Bervoets remains more interesting than rigorously examined Donnadieu, which causes significant imbalance.

Victor/Victoria (1982) D: Blake Edwards. S: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, John Rhys-Davies. Cute comedy with musical numbers about down-on-her-luck Andrews impersonating a male female impersonator and becoming a nightclub hit. Preston’s delightful as her co-conspirator, Garner’s a gangster (which is unfortunately important) who falls for her–regardless of gender. There’s some cool friendly to the gays stuff, but also ableism and misogyny. Warren’s fantastic as Garner’s moll.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) D: Robert Aldrich. S: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Anna Lee, Bert Freed. Former vaudeville child star Davis takes care of her sister, former Golden Age star Crawford, who everyone thinks Davis once ran down in a car, breaking her spine. They experience conflict. Davis gives a pointless tour de force, Crawford’s also in it, Buono’s hilarious. But it’s beyond tedious; director Aldrich runs out of ideas in the first twenty minutes.

The Wicker Man (1973) The Final Cut D: Robin Hardy. S: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt. Devoutly Christian police officer Woodward goes to a remote island to investigate a missing girl. There he finds hostile townsfolk, no missing child, general debauchery, flirtatious women, and island’s owner Lee running a pagan cult. Some fantastic scenes, beautiful direction, and excellent performances from Lee and Woodward. Always disquieting. The second act gets long, but the finale’s a corker.

Superman: Lost (2023) #1 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Portentous, if not actually big, concept SUPERMAN limited. He and Lois are happy workaholic marrieds until he disappears on a Justice League mission. Except he reappears–twenty years later–at just the same moment Lois finds out. It’s actually a bit of a team banter book, which is fine from Priest, but nothing’s gelling yet. Good-looking enough art.

Superman: Lost (2023) #2 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Priest’s all over the place with the narrative–intentionally (present then varying degrees of past)–with Clark’s first stop in his trip back home. It’s an Earth-like planet, seemingly without any secrets to reveal. The numerous reveals keep the otherwise light outing going (fun dialogue only goes so far); so far, all Priest’s got going is the gimmick.

Superman: Lost (2023) #3 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. After a concerning Lois characterization (Clark’s got a time limit on recovering from trauma), it’s a fairly outstanding issue. Big space adventure with grounded, beautifully detailed art. Priest’s finding Clark’s voice, which is working through being more concerned with his own wellbeing than the beings he’s encountering. Provides interesting fodder amid strange new worlds and so on. Book’s cooking.

Superman: Lost (2023) #4 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Priest changes the book but keeps the momentum. We skip ahead to Clark settled and trying to help on a planet divided between the haves and the people they’re trying to eradicate. There’s some fun and some pointed political observations, with a crowd pleaser hard cliffhanger. It’s just taking the story back two issues; Priest’s back to being cautious.

Superman: Lost (2023) #5 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. Some surprises and some excellent art get the issue through. Clark was LOST twenty years and halfway through they’re barely at five years. Seems like we’ll need some more jump aheads. The book’s moody and competently done, but it’s on autopilot for this one. Priest gives away too much in the lack of certain characterizations. It’s on cruise control.

Superman: Lost (2023) #6 W: Carlo Pagulayan, Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz. The present day stuff is still concerning (Priest’s not making a Clark should be in therapy joke is a tell), but the flashback’s good. LOST is going to be about the single planet; committing to it helps Priest with the stakes. Flashing forward and back not so much. And there’s a big cop out about horny superheroes. Great cliffhanger.

Superman: Lost (2023) #7 W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Lee Weeks, Michael Jason Paz. Artist changes and Lex Luthor, it’s like they didn’t have a finish for the book. While flashback Clark listens to a potential future from a potential future self (most of the Weeks material), Lois decides the present day arc needs a kick in the pants if Priest can just do imaginary story homages to fill. It’s knowing not creative.

Superman: Lost (2023) #8 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Michael Jason Paz, Will Conrad. Well. Priest certainly does know how to do a much ado about nothing. Not a plot homage, just a plot without any character development for the ostensibly growing Clark. Some of it has to do with the Lex Luthor subplot, which isn’t any good (Priest’s Lex’s boring), and doesn’t earn it any patience. Great art, however. Great art.

Superman: Lost (2023) #9 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Brett Breeding, Carlo Pagulayan, Dan Jurgens, Michael Jason Paz. Honestly, LOST does read like a Superman who day dreams about himself illustrated by Dan Jurgens. And they get Jurgens to do it and those pages are rough. They clash with the better art, but the issue–Priest’s go at a Lex and Superman issue–is already a fail. Luthor’s got more personality stealing a Hostess. Bad cliffhanger, too.

Superman: Lost (2023) #10 [2024] W: Christopher Priest. A: Carlo Pagulayan, Joe Prado, Jonas Trindade, Jose Luis, Julio Ferreira, Michael Jason Paz. In addition to multiple complete cop outs, timey-whimey and otherwise, Priest also has a *Superman: The New Movie* beat-for-beat-for-beat “nod.” It’s out of nowhere, which is fine because the fill-in art on it makes it feel all the more artifical. So it’s easy not to take the issue’s bellyflop finish too seriously.

Movies

Boom Town (1940) D: Jack Conway. S: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Chill Wills, Frank Morgan. Overlong big-budget studio melodrama comes up empty. Roaring Twenties oil “wildcatters” Gable and Tracy, whose friendship-turned-business-partnership-turned-love-triangle (with Colbert) ostensibly drives the narrative. Unfortunately, the more rackish Gable gets, the less Tracy’s around, and Tracy’s a lot more likable. Lamarr’s all kinds of wooden as a scheming harlot. Okay action; real bad editing.

Human Highway (1982) Director’s Cut D: Dean Stockwell. S: Neil Young, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper, Charlotte Stewart, Sally Kirkland. Micro-budget post-apocalyptic absurdist comedy from Neil Young, Stockwell, Tamblyn, and Devo. It’s at least twenty percent music video, though the occasional full cast numbers are much better. It’s strange without anything particular to recommend it (and the anti-Middle Eastern stuff is gross–brown-face), but it’s often entertaining and always enthusiastically executed. Great miniature effects work, too.

The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026) D: Reinaldo Marcus Green. S: Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll, Jason R. Moore, Judith Light, Chelsea Brea. Effective and well-executed but middling outing for Berenthal’s PUNISHER. Set at an indeterminate time related to the years past Netflix show, it tries hard to be moody until it’s time for the kickass righteous ultra-violence; albeit not particularly impressive action movie stuff. More proof-of-concept than full pilot episode. Light’s a lot of fun. And, Bubs.

Blue Beetle (1967) #1 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Fun first issue for BEETLE; however, the QUESTION backup ends up overshadowing it. The feature’s fun, with some great art–Ditko’s doing a ballet–but the much shorter QUESTION has more plot and more character. Even with the new BEETLE’s origin in question in the feature. The art’s downright delightful even if the typeset word balloons don’t play.

Blue Beetle (1967) #2 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. BEETLE’s secret origin involves killer robots, mad scientists, secret islands, and the original Blue Beetle. There’s not much more to it, except the framing device, which has his love interest in danger as well. It’s fine, but nothing special (other than Ditko doing a pin-up). The Question backup is similarly ho-hum. Just fighting a science criminal.

Blue Beetle (1967) #3 W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. BEETLE gets back on track with a strong feature. The formula seems to be basic science hero plot. The bad guys steal Beetle’s gun and use it to rob banks, even if they can’t figure out how to shoot it. Gorgeous movement in Ditko’s visual ballet. The Question backup’s better, too. Okay mystery, no subplots, implied politics, excellent art.

Blue Beetle (1967) #4 W: Steve Ditko, Steve Skeates. A: Steve Ditko. And off again… when the BEETLE feature doesn’t just have Ted after science crooks, it flops. Worse, there’s not the action ballet. Here, he’s tracking the original BB to a remote island on an archelogical expedition and there’s an evil cult. Yawn. The Question backup’s weird, too. Office infighting, bland villains. All Ditko’s energy seems spent (four issues in).

Blue Beetle (1967) #5 [1968] W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Self-parody about how the squares will inherit the Earth. In the feature, Beetle and guest star Vic Sage battle evil, nihilistic young artists. Ted and Vic are mad they don’t love [white supremacist dog whistle] enough. Oof. The QUESTION backup has Vic torturing the bad guy to radicalize him into psychosis, thereby requiring apprehension. Middling (for Ditko) art.

Blue Beetle (1967) #6 [1974] W: D.C. Glanzman, Steve Ditko. A: Steve Ditko. Leadenly portentous but solid “issue” (unpublished until a fan publication did so) has Ted Kord once again in trouble with the law, while the court of public opinion is condemning scientists, science, and Blue Beetle! The villain’s a mostly invisible man, so even without the best Ditko ballet, the physical stuff is still great. It’s just also incredibly goofy.

Movies

Barton Fink (1991) D: Joel Coen. S: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Steve Buscemi, Tony Shalhoub. Newly successful New York playwright Turturro goes to Hollywood, quickly discovering his “common man” hotel is a dump and he’s got writer’s block. Plus, there’s something a little odd about neighbor Goodman. Throw in a famous author, Pearl Harbor, and some murder, and… the Coen Brothers don’t find the movie. Some great filmmaking and good acting, but it misses.

Crime Doctor’s Man Hunt (1946) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Ellen Drew, William Frawley, Ivan Triesault, Claire Carleton. Despite an interesting mystery–albeit not a mysterious one–the entry can’t overcome Castle’s repetitive, rote direction. Yes, it’s soundstage after soundstage but it’s always the same shot during the endless expository scenes. Excellent Baxter with a flashlight sequence, and both the photography and music have their moments. If any of the supporting cast worked out, it might’ve clicked.

Just Before Dawn (1946) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, Adele Roberts, Martin Kosleck, Marvin Miller, Robert Barrat. Banal (but lethal) entry involves Baxter happening upon a poisoning ring and a plastic surgery for wanted criminals concern. They’re barely connected (but still less contrived than Baxter’s entry into the case), which means the mystery isn’t particularly involving. Baxter’s more an adventurer this time around; it doesn’t play. Even with the thin parts, the performances are okay enough.

Millennium (1989) D: Michael Anderson. S: Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J. Travanti, Robert Joy, Maury Chaykin. Too high concept, too low budget sci-fi about the correlation and not causation of time travelers and airplane crashes. Kristofferson’s a no-nonsense flight investigator, Ladd’s a mystery woman who’s sometimes a sex kitten, other times a badass future warrior. They do not appear to enjoy kissing each other; Kristofferson makes his adject disinterest obvious. Ladd’s eventually appealing.

36 Hours to Kill (1936) D: Eugene Forde. S: Brian Donlevy, Gloria Stuart, Douglas Fowley, Paul Fix, Jonathan Hale. Relaxed cheapie thriller about gangster Fowley taking a cross-country train to escape a dragnet, only to run into somewhat nosy reporter Donlevy. They then get into a love triangle with mystery woman Stuart. It’d be a lot better if at least ten minutes (of a sixty-five-minute runtime) weren’t dedicated to crappy racist jokes at Fetchit’s expense.

A Blueprint for Murder (1953) D: Andrew L. Stone. S: Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill, Jack Kruschen, Barney Phillips. Visiting brother-in-law Cotten begins to suspect Peters, step-mom to his niece and nephew, has malicious intent. Half the movie is Cotten and the supporting cast trying to catch her, half is the aftermath. The procedural stuff’s a drag. Cotten’s okay, but Peters only gets to show personality in the finale. Too low budget, too thin script.

Crime Doctor (1943) D: Michael Gordon. S: Warner Baxter, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel, Bess Flowers, Ray Collins. Densely plotted origin story has amnesiac Baxter becoming a renowned psychiatrist who used to be some kind of crook, but he avoids finding out until the last twenty minutes (of sixty-six). Occasionally inventive, usually competent, always efficient. Baxter and love interest Lindsay lack chemistry. Collins’s the mentor, Litel’s the villain. Also fun is spotting the THIN MAN alums. Adapted from the Philip Morris-sponsored radio show created by Max Marcin; first of ten CRIME DOCTOR films starring Baxter. Followed by THE CRIME DOCTOR’S STRANGEST CASE.

The Crime Doctor’s Courage (1945) D: George Sherman. S: Warner Baxter, Hillary Brooke, Jerome Cowan, Emory Parnell, Anthony Caruso. Baxter’s on vacation in sunny Los Angeles and quickly gets involved with a case of newlywed Brooke discovering husband Crane was cleared of his first two wives’ suspicious deaths (days after marrying them). There’s not much mystery to this one, just red herrings and a bunch of supernatural intimations to pack the runtime. Baxter’s game enough, but COURAGE’s thin. Followed by CRIME DOCTOR’S WARNING.

The Crime Doctor’s Warning (1945) D: William Castle. S: Warner Baxter, John Litel, Dusty Anderson, John Abbott, Miles Mander. Overlong installment has Baxter trying to clear rich kid turned wannabe artist Irwin, who may be murdering his models. There are plenty of faces to spot in the supporting cast–Mander’s the most fun of the credited, J.M. Kerrigan of the uncredited–but their scenes are always short. It’s mostly Baxter investigating alone in dark sets. Definitionally middling. Followed by JUST BEFORE DAWN.

The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943) D: Eugene Forde. S: Warner Baxter, Lynn Merrick, Gloria Dickson, Lloyd Bridges, Sam Flint. Very efficient programmer has Baxter investigating a rich guy’s murder by poison. Bridges is the prime suspect, and a fellow Baxter saved from a previous charge involving a poisoned rich guy. The mystery itself’s solid, and director Forde does well with suspense. The actors not as much. The finish needs to be better, but it nearly works out. Followed by SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT.

Seconds (1966) D: John Frankenheimer. S: Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Richard Anderson, Murray Hamilton. Incredibly intense, meticulously photographed (gorgeous James Wong Howe black and white) and edited (Ferris Webster and David Newhouse) sci-fi thriller about two painters, lapsed amateur Randolph and successful but lost Hudson, and their dealings with a peculiar services company. Great performances from Randolph and Hudson. Excellent Frankenheimer direction. The third act whiffs a bit, but not too much.

Shadows in the Night (1944) D: Eugene Forde. S: Warner Baxter, Nina Foch, George Zucco, Lester Matthews, Ben Welden. Baxter’s out of his element at a seaside estate trying to figure out patient Foch’s nightmares, except he’s having them, too. The first half drags but once the reveals get started, it’s a fine enough mystery. Foch’s wanting. Welden’s very nearly Baxter’s sidekick, providing sorely needed rapport. The series’s brutal efficiency rarely allows time for the numerous red herrings. Followed by CRIME DOCTOR’S WARNING.

Shoeshine (1946) D: Vittorio De Sica. S: Franco Interlenghi, Rinaldo Smordoni, Annielo Mele, Emilio Cigoli, Bruno Ortenzi. Stark, compassionate rendering of postwar Roman boyhood. Best friends Interlenghi and Smordoni luck into a financial windfall only it comes with devastating consequences. Fantastic performances, particularly from the mostly young cast. De Sica’s direction is superb. Sublime pacing and plotting, the editing is outstanding. Relentlessly depressing, but never quite despondent. The film finds the humanity everywhere it looks.

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) D: Alexander Mackendrick. S: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene. Amoral New York press agent Curtis will do anything to stay in also amoral gossip columnist Lancaster’s good graces. Determining who’s more amoral and how many lives can be ruined in the continuous thirty-six hour present action is the relentless, often mortifying character study. Fantastic performances, photography, and direction. Great location shooting. Spectacular, rapid fire dialogue and pace.

Comics

Masters of the Universe The Motion Picture (1987) #1 W: Ralph Macchio. A: Art Nichols, Dennis Janke, George Tuska, Mike Zeck. Rote movie adaptation is only of note–barely–for the use of the HE-MAN toy designs instead of the movie costumes (except for the cheap-o new movie creatures). George Tuska’s pencils are hurried, but he gives the book more than it deserves. Not enough to make it worth a look, but at least there’s some bare competence.

Balkan Ball is an Ebony strip, which means there’s lots of racist caricature to negotiate, amplified by Ebony getting a sidekick, Pierpont, who is also visualized in racist caricature. Scarlett appears, too. So it’s three… well, it’s actually more, but only for what ought to be a delightful sight gag. As usual, Ebony’s strengths as a character work against the weaponizing visualization. Last big Ebony adventure: it was about him being a good detective on his own, even though others thought he wouldn’t be, so there was a very obvious disconnect. Balkan’s a little less disconnected as Ebony is more comfortable in his crimefighting abilities.

After the splash page, which sets it up as an Ebony (and Pierpont) strip, we get Spirit ditching Ebony to go to a fancy ball and keep an eye on the jewels. It’s for the war effort. So Spirit gives Ebony the car for the night (no, sir, the other car). Spirit then goes to pick up Ellen Dolan to take to the fancy ball, but the reader learns she’s already made a date with a prince. Ellen says there are all sorts of royalty around with the war on. Commissioner Dolan’s not particularly thrilled she’s dating a prince (suggesting loose moral behavior amongst Europe’s royalty). When Spirit gets there, Ellen tells him off and sends him out before breaking into tears at him finally picking her.

Not great Ellen writing.

Spirit then runs into the prince on the street—well, bumps—and is pretty sure he’s a professional thief, not an exiled royal. But Spirit lets it go and heads to the ball.

Meanwhile, Ebony goes to pick up Scarlett to take her to the movies, but she saddles him with her cousin, Pierpont, who’s a stereotypical troublemaking kid. Scarlett then runs out, and Ebony’s stuck. Worse, Pierpont is holding him a little hostage, threatening to badmouth Ebony to Scarlett. Instead of the movies, they go to bingo, where it turns out Pierpont’s a wunderkind at selecting the right bingo card.

Except they then get held up by some thugs, who they take out in short order—Ebony’s a crimefighter with a flying car, don’t forget—and those thugs are part of a plan to take out the Balkan Ball, bringing the threads together.

The narrative is thorough and precise. Eisner and studio hit all the points to build the story along, once again frustrating in what should be a cool strip for a little Black kid to be reading in summer 1941 instead of some traumatizing shit. Ebony and Pierpont are instrumental in foiling the heist, which will also get Ellen and Spirit into some close quarters; angry ones, too.

And the finish is well-executed. Good art on the Spirit’s relatively quick resolve with Ellen; probably the horniest Eisner and studio have gotten about this pairing. Spirit’s had some other hot encounters, but I don’t think any with Ellen. It’s brief, though. And there are some not-ideal power dynamics.

Then Ebony gets a good finish, too. Except they draw it racist, so there’s a shitty element to it.

Technically, stellar narrative pacing and plotting. Some of the other stuff… ick.

Big Driver (2014) D: Mikael Salomon. S: Maria Bello, Ann Dowd, Will Harris, Olympia Dukakis, Joan Jett. Tonally concerning, poorly written adaptation of Stephen King novella about cozy murder mystery novelist Bello surviving a sexual assault and attempted murder. Way too many exploitation vibes for a Lifetime TV movie, especially how it objectifies Bello’s trauma for audio-video fodder. She does better than the project deserves, though even a tense third act can’t overcome the writing.

Man Wanted (1932) D: William Dieterle. S: Kay Francis, David Manners, Una Merkel, Bess Flowers, Elizabeth Patterson. Girlboss Francis can’t find a good secretary until she hires recent Harvard grad Manners. Except he’s only good at it because he moons over her the whole time. Too bad she’s married to philandering Thomson (and Manners is engaged to annoying Merkel). Manners is lousy, so the precisely shot lusty moments don’t work. Francis’s solid, good production, wanting script.

A Night in Casablanca (1946) D: Archie Mayo. S: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Paul Harvey, Charles Drake. Groucho takes over the Hotel Casablanca, unaware he’s in the crosshairs of escaped Nazi Ruman, who’s hiding stolen treasure in the hotel. Very choppy, with whole subplots disappearing. A handful of decent moments, but the low budget and Mayo’s iffy handle on directing the picture hurt. Verea’s the fatale (she’s solid). Harpo gets to play a very pretty song.

Project Hail Mary (2026) D: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. S: Ryan Gosling, James Ortiz, Sandra Hüller, Milana Vayntrub, Meryl Streep. Amnesiac Gosling wakes up on a spaceship far from Earth and has to remember why he’s there. The audience learns through pointlessly expository flashbacks. Drew Goddard’s script or Lord and Miller’s direction are both profoundly flat, with no dramatic tension, even in disaster sequences. Daniel Pemberton’s unceasing muzak doesn’t help either. Gosling and Ortiz do okay, for zero reward.

The Racketeer (1929) D: Howard Higgin. S: Robert Armstrong, Carole Lombard, Roland Drew, Paul Hurst, Kit Guard. Languid romantic melodrama about semi-legit gangster Armstrong falling hard for fallen woman Lombard, who can’t shake her devotion to drunken violinist Drew. Guard Armstrong’s right-hand man, Hurst, is the cop out to get them. Very talky, very slow (at an hour and change); no one can pace their dialogue. Perhaps notable as an early talkie, otherwise not.

Solarbabies (1986) D: Alan Johnson. S: Richard Jordan, Jami Gertz, Jason Patric, Lukas Haas, James Le Gros. Dismal post-apocalyptic kids movie about a bunch of rollerskating orphans (don’t worry, it doesn’t make sense) finding a magic orb. Top-billed Jordan’s the vicious cop after them, Durning (who hopefully enjoyed his trip to Spain for filming at least) is the weary orphanage warden. Nothing good about it, though many elements are worse than others. Terrible music.

Welcome to Collinwood (2002) D: Anthony Russo. S: Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, George Clooney, Gabrielle Union. Often funny remake of BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET relocates the action to an impoverished Cleveland neighborhood and its desperate denizens. Nice performances all around, with standouts from Rockwell, Macy, Washington, and Clarkson. It’s short, breezy, and amusing, but the writing and directing Russo Brothers don’t have anything other than excellent actors performing an adequate screenplay. Simultaneously tries too hard and not enough.

Comics

Action Comics (1938) #592 [1987] W: John Byrne. A: John Byrne, Keith Williams. Big Barda comes to Metropolis and is almost immediately captured by one of Darkseid’s previously unknown ex-minions. Meanwhile, Clark Kent visits a clinic treating victims of an unknown radiation poisoning. The two things are connected, leading to a rescue and a fight. While multi-hyphenate John Byrne canonically loves Kirby, you couldn’t tell from the story or art.

Action Comics (1938) #593 [1987] W: John Byrne. A: John Byrne, Keith Williams. John Byrne’s attempt to make Superman relevant again to readers now includes brainwashed Supes and Big Barda doing pornos together. Darkseid sends Mister Miracle to the rescue for dumb reasons. Some implied sexual assault (again), bland Byrne art, and tedious writing round out the issue. It’s further example of Byrne sapping the life out of Kirby characters, nothing more.

It’s one issue-long story this time, no backup, which is both good and bad. It’s bad because this issue’s a letdown from the previous two “Earthwar!” entries, but it’s good because after an issue of Joe Staton penciling instead of James Sherman… It’s okay if the issue is over.

Writer Paul Levitz carries on as though nothing’s changed with the penciller replacement. Except Levitz’s exposition plays very differently against Staton and inker Jack Abel’s bland future scenery. It’s not just bland compared to the previous issue; it’s bland for any Legion. Staton and Abel are working fast, and it’s impressive how much they get done; completion, not excellence, is their goal.

The wind’s out of the sails immediately, with Levitz opening with that female Science cop Wildfire almost killed a couple issues ago. She gets a name this time—Shvaughn Erin—and quite a bit of expository reflection to catch readers up. We get to see Staton and Abel’s take on moody close-ups. Not promising. We also finally find out why she was on an urgent mission to see the Legion at the start of this story arc–one of their greatest foes has escaped captivity. She’s fairly sure the escape will have something to do with the resolution of this big storyline. So much so, she knows not to think the name of the great foe; be too soon to reveal.

The story then jumps to Weber’s World, the artificial planet of intergalactic peace, as aliens arrive for the long-promised peace negotiations. Not good space alien art. Lots of dialogue for them, and weak art to go along with it. It’s rough times, though Staton and Abel do better with the action scenes than the talking heads. And there’s some action in this part. It’s chase action, which is probably the best kind for the artists. Because their space-war action art won’t really click, nor will their future ground-war action art. They get it all done, though. They do accomplish their task.

Superboy and the guys who didn’t do that genocide–which they totally could have done, too, they’re tough guys–last issue on Khund arrive on Weber’s World just after the latest assassination attempt, and because the negotiating aliens (the Dominators, who are supposedly peace-loving) only trust the Legion, Earth negotiators are on their own.

Levitz cuts from the protagonists of parts one and two and does this summary bit over the war on Earth. It’s all about the valiant Legionnaires who are still around, making their last stand. There’s a bit about their deeply held value of not killing sentient beings, which is an odd inclusion unless someone read the last issue and thought they should remind some of the boys. The “sentient” bit lands odd, of course. Presumably, the multiple telepaths have cleared all their meats.

Anyway.

This section of the issue gets tedious fast. It’s cameo and guest star time, but it’s not exciting. The book’s not visually engaging. Sometimes, quite the opposite. And it gets more and more tedious as it goes on. No matter what Levitz has in store, Staton and Abel don’t make it look interesting. By the time the comic gets to the conclusion—after a nothing-burger reveal of the “Earthwar!” masterminds as an old Legion nemesis (with no editor’s note or context from Levitz for unfamiliar readers, which is a choice of its own)–the art’s operating on fumes, looking more like a proposal than finished work.

The issue’s a race for both Levitz—whose pacing for this story is completely different than the previous two entries—and the artists. They both make it, the artists worse for wear, and Levitz has exhausted his repertoire of narrative devices. He tries everything, and Staton can’t make hash out of any of it.

For part three in this arc, it’s a major letdown and entirely obvious why it’s happened. It is an exemplar team superhero comic narrative, again, only for the endurance, this time, not for the quality.

Maybe Sherman’s back next time. And if not, hopefully Levitz figures out how to adjust to Sherman’s absence for the finale.

The Tale of the Dictator’s Reform is not Spirit’s biggest creative swing to date, but the strip is definitely the wildest. Hitler coming to the United States on a fact-finding mission—only to have a change of heart thanks to Spirit’s intervention—will forever be singular. Eisner and studio know the strip won’t age well, with the ending acknowledging certain inevitables, but it’s also a strip from summer 1941. It’s five months before Pearl Harbor, it’s years before learning the extent of the Holocaust; it’s incredibly naive, but earnestly so.

The splash page is a lengthy expository paragraph (with humorous little illustrations) explaining Hitler—who is unnamed because, remember, at this point, the United States still had diplomatic relations with Germany—wants to see what’s going on in the United States and help people see they should be on his side. Again, it’s earnestly done, so it’s not like Eisner knew the Nazis got a bunch of their ideas from the United States, its politicians, and its citizenry. Instead, Hitler’s going to find out no one here likes him, fascism, or any of the hate he’s selling.

Good thing Hitler went to Central City instead of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The strip takes its subject from a council of patriotic hoboes to a couple little kids getting the better of him. Dolan’s going to hear about the visit from the kids’ father and will sound an alarm. By that time, Hitler’s found his way to Wildwood Cemetery, where Spirit hosts him for some light exposition and lighter debating. It doesn’t take much for Hitler to see the error of his ways, just some good, plain talk from the Spirit.

The final page of the strip has Eisner resetting the stage, but there’s also some follow-up to the police’s search. Sight gags with Hitler were probably a lot funnier in summer 1941 than later, but they’re still a flex at that point. As a comic strip, The Spirit has always been produced in a world with Nazi Germany; it just took a while to acknowledge it in the story content, with Spirit only relatively recently getting into the spy game. And they’re still cagey about proper nouns—the “Dictator” comes from the country of Europe in the strip… Eisner and studio had their reasons, but those reasons might be too constraining for their ambitions here.

Technically, there’s not a lot going on with the strip’s execution. Some good composition choices, the kids in the park are funny, but the strip fails in its didactic efforts. It’s thin.

Though, right on for them running with it. Eisner and studio probably didn’t know the extent of Nazi sympathy in the United States at the time, but they knew some of it, and they delivered a definite condemnation.

Weird strip.

Dusk and Twilight is, no pun, a dark strip. The splash page introduces us to Dusk, who may look like he’s in a carnival act, but he’s actually a murderer with hands of steel and a gentle disposition. We learn these two details on the second page, when he goes to a famous brain surgeon’s house, asks the little daughter to show him into the dad’s office, strangles the dad, pats the daughter on the head, and strolls away slowly enough to make sure he gets to hear the daughter find the body.

It’s creepy. It’s the youngest kid ever in danger in The Spirit; it’s the strip’s first psychopathic-killer protagonist of this nature; and it’s not even the biggest swing in the strip. Once Dusk is done delighting in the screams of a little girl, he goes on a jaunt through a nearby cemetery. It just happens to be Wildwood Cemetery, where Spirit and Ebony are returning home after their latest adventure. Ebony’s a little nonplussed about it, prompting Spirit to ask why he’s not more excited about catching killers.

Ebony looks directly at the reader and asks how he’s supposed to be so invested in human life when Europeans are being murdered by the thousands, and no one in the United States seems to give a shit. After a “right on” from Spirit, Dusk happens across the duo and starts thinking about killing at least one of them. Spirit spots something off about this particular guest star, and they take a walk, leaving Ebony to wait.

Dusk will take Spirit to his underground lair and introduce him to his wife, Twilight, who Dusk has kidnapped and either kept primal or made primal. Twilight’s always trying to kill Dusk with throwing knives, but she’s got terrible depth perception. She’ll later prove perfectly good slashing with her knives, but only when Spirit’s trying not to hit another female guest star in the strip.

At this point, Dusk becomes less scary and a tad more cartoonish. Spirit has had savage wild women before; it’s had mad scientists who make mutant henchmen to fight Spirit. Even after an interlude at the Central City police department, so Dolan can get on the case, and the briefing talks about the little girl finding the dad’s body, Dusk seems a little more for a smile than a scare. Not a laugh, he’s too dangerous to be funny, but he’s got personality. Especially once he discovers Spirit isn’t the kindred… spirit (sorry), he had hoped.

The art is sometimes a little more Expressionist in the establishing shots than usual, lots of curling visuals, including Dusk’s wiry frame. But the art’s also rather hurried. Lots goes on with varying levels of detail; figure detail, character detail, yes; background detail, detailed scenery, no. Again, it’s hurried. And a lot of the strip’s visual pacing relies on sight gags, which makes it feel more like a traditional comic strip at times–panel, panel, punchline, and so on.

It’s a solid Spirit. Outside the opening macabre (and Ebony’s plea), it’s not particularly distinct (well, Spirit does get really upset about having to fight another lady, as I said), just a perfectly fine strip.

Once again, the feature story opens with Wildfire being a jerk. Last issue, he was going to let a Science Police officer die because her spaceship wasn’t well-maintained, and this issue, he’s going off on a fascist rant. At least it’s less life-threatening this time. It’d also be less striking if his girlfriend, Dawnstar, didn’t demand absolute loyalty to the Legion leader from her teammates. There’s a definite fash vibe to the story, which just increases later, with even Superboy lashing out.

Wildfire and Dawnstar are on the Weber’s World team, Superboy’s on the Earth defense team. The former’s supposed to be protecting a galactic peace summit, but the other power hasn’t arrived, and there are already terror attacks against the good guy negotiators. A confounding, frustrating situation, so it’s good the other heroes on the mission—Ultra Boy and Mon-El—frequently ignore Wildfire’s directions and, in fact, do save people’s lives. While writer Paul Levitz will focus on the Earth-bound story arc, the Weber’s World story has a lot of kick to it. Partially because of the intergalactic intrigue stuff, partially because it gives penciller James Sherman a chance to draw a future city planet, and it’s gorgeous.

Sherman, ably inked by Bob McLeod, turns in a sumptuous piece of work here. Every element—faces, figures, backgrounds—invites intentional inspection. Especially the facial expressions; Sherman’s got these big expressive eyes and intense detail. And those expressions get dark, too. Devastated at the loss of life during space-based warfare Superboy is one thing, but potentially genocidal Superboy is a whole other. Sherman and McLeod make both happen.

Great art. If there’s better future space teen superhero art, I can’t wait to see it someday.

Anyway.

Back on Earth, it’s not the other power from the negotiations attacking (those are the Dominators), but rather the Khunds. The Khunds appear to be a human colony gone nasty, and they’ve launched a drone ship attack on Earth. Earth’s not ready for it. Wildfire’s not there to say it’s because the Science Police are bad at their job, but it sure seems like they could be better prepared (more on Science Police preparations in the backup, it turns out).

Brainiac 5 pisses everyone off, telling them there’s no way to win the battle for Earth. They need to retreat and regroup. Deputy leader Element Lad isn’t listening to any of that quitter talk, so he ships Brainy off to Weber’s World (with no presence in the rest of this issue) and forms a strike force to go take out the leader of the Khunds. The team consists of Element Lad, Colossal Boy, Sun Boy, and Superboy. They’re going to the capital city, populated mostly by civilians.

Element Lad’s going to take it to eleven and threaten painful murder, while Superboy’s not going to promote truth, justice, and that stuff.

All that anger gives way to Levitz revealing—or at least establishing—the villains, and setting up for next issue.

It’s excellent comics.

Then there’s the backup, which does indeed involve the Science Police (more, actually, since they don’t have any character-level presence in the feature). The Legion’s “prettiest” members are out for a night on the town when some criminals hijack the levitating restaurant. The Science Police are having their annual award dinner and are the perfect target. As long as the criminals have the brass held hostage, the rank and file won’t stop them from looting all the fancy shops of future Metropolis.

It’s a sizable, fourteen-page backup from writer Paul Kupperberg (with a Levitz plot), penciller Arvell Jones, and inker Danny Bulandi. The Legionnaire team is Dream Girl, Shadow Lass, Princess Projectra, and Light Lass. They immediately take on the criminals, only to discover the hostage part of the equation, and are captured.

Except they’re not, because Princess Projectra has projecting-hallucination powers, and so does maybe Dream Girl? It’s the traditional Legionnaires’ powers equation with a distinctive setting. They’re in the “civilian” future city, and while Jones doesn’t go for Sherman’s detail, he does lean into the scenery. The art’s got a lot of personality.

The story has the Legionnaires splitting up to stop various heists, which are very similar to those in the modern day, and each learning a clue to unlock the third act. It’s straightforward, solid superhero stuff, not superlative like the feature, but a nice, sturdy way to round out the issue.