Tattoo You!

So my guardian angel in bloggery, Shag, was kind enough to share some nice scans of the Red Tornado-centric tattoos with me that I am now sharing with you.

Shag covered the Firestorm tatts over on his Firestorm Fan page, and Rob! has recently added the Aquaman tattoos to his Aquaman Shrine.

This cartoon was so awesome in the love that it shared across the DC Universe, especially for the "underappreciated" like Red Tornado, Blue Beetle, Aquaman, Ryan Choi Atom, Plastic Man, and B'wana Beast. 

Of course Reddy's sticking around on the Cartoon Network in that Young Justice cartoon, which reminds me. I need to get back to posting on that. . . 



Closing out the War

While Red Tornado had a prominent role throughout "The Elemental War," issue #93 of Firestorm really set the Elemental Android back on the path towards heroism.

The issue opens with Reddy scaring some pilots over Tokyo. As promised, here's that special moment between Firestorm and Red Tornado with a little Swamp Thing on the side (kinda like parsley - yeah, I went there).

From here, Reddy splits and eventually seeks out Captain Atom, more of which will be investigated in the near (or not-so-near) future. Of note, since this is the absolute last entry in "The Elemental War" crossover, be sure to check out Diabolu Frank's post over at the Power of the Atom. Frank provides a funny, unbridled assessment of Reddy's new threads.

More Elemental War

So Shag started this whole thing going - and by whole thing I mean the retrospective crossover analysis of the "The Elemental War" story from Firestorm in 1989 - with his inital thoughts on "The Elemental War." I added some initial thoughts on Red Tornado's involvement in the war, but left you all hanging, waiting for more.

In the interim, Shag revisited the War, specifically Firestorm's encounter with Maya - the spirit of the Earth itself. Following that, Shag shared his thoughts on Firestorm's chat with Swamp Thing. Ah, the good ol' days of DC Comics where Swamp Thing could make an appearance or two and not be considered a licensing risk.

Along the way, Frank Delano - over on his Power of the Atom blog - shared some funny thoughts about Reddy's new shell such as it is at the end of issue #93.

Meanwhile here, however, let's take a look at the fury that spins out from Red Tornado during the War.

Teaming up with Naiad, Red Tornado moves in to put the hurt on Nohana, and there's no escaping a ravaging BADAM! 

Following a successful and hideously destructive strike on Nohana, the duo set their sights on Tokyo. As they plod along, Firestorm meets Maya (previously mentioned, be sure to check it out over at Firestorm Fan) and the two discuss the origin of Red Tornado.

There's an asterisk in Maya's word balloon that doesn't have any creidt attached to it, so I'm curious as to what exactly it is that she's saying about Red Tornado and his beginnings. Those beginnings, as described here, seem to fly in the face of what was established shortly before in the pages of Justice League of America.

Naturally Red Tornado's continuing story goes elsewhere from here, but the next issue features a special moment between Firestorm and Reddy.

Elemental War

You all know my friend, Shag, right? He of Firestorm Fan and Once Upon a Geek, Shag, suggested to run a mini crossover of sorts between Firestorm Fan, and the Power of the Atom - a blog that frequently features Captain Atom, THE Atom, and even Red Tornado on occassion. 

Shag got it all started covering the first segment of the "Elemental War." Be sure to check out his coverage there as he shares his thoughts about the Naiad and Firestorm splash pages (get it? Yeah, it's a good pun, but it's Shag's not mine) that get the story to a boiling point (OK, that one is mine).

That said, here's some pages from when Red Tornado enters the fray. Images are brought to you courtesy of Shag.

 

"I have heard a voice in the wind, I have felt a wound upon the Earth! Whoever or whatever thing you be, if you harm the planet you must answer to the Red Tornado!"

 

Tom Mandrake was really given a chance to shine during this storyline, and he took full advantage of it. Nansi Hoolahan stepped up to the plate and tried to drop some high-class ethereal colors on the art. Unfortunately, limits of technology kept the book from being as amazing as today's coloring would have enabled it to be. Imagine, if you can, Naiad colored with ripples and sea foam patterns. This certainly would have been a different looking book.

Aw yeah! Back to school!

A few years back, the governor of the lovely state of Michigan declared that public schools in Michigan cannot begin before Labor Day. This was a move on her part to help boost the tourism income. Except Labor Day is a three-day weekend, and starting the day after Labor Day truly makes no difference whatsoever on when people return from their trips. The only economic goose it may have given is to Friday before the weekend, but even that is suspect.

At any rate, there's still a good two weeks until school starts here, but school supply shopping is in full swing. Every loaded backpack needs something super, though. God help us all, but Wal-Mart is bringing the super.

 A wonderful folder and notebook set, featuring the George Perez art from the cover of Justice League of America #217. I'll come back and talk about the story later, or you can check it out yourself at Rob Kelly's sensational JLA Satellite blog.

The cover really puts the heroes out there for us, and not just the same old Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern. As you can see Superman and Wonder Woman are present and accounted for, but this image also has Hawkman, Firestorm, Aquaman, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom (who got really lucky with the hole punch) but especially good, old Red Tornado. Reddy holds a special spot on this cover, notebook, and folder - right between Wonder Woman and Superman.

Very special thanks to Shag of Firestorm Fan and Once Upon a Geek for the heads up on this one.

DC Comics Super Heroes and Villains Fandex

Coming to me courtesy of the Irredeemable Shag, I'm sharing with you, my friends, the Red Tornado entry from the not-so-brand-new, but new-to-me DC Comics Super Heroes and Villains Fandex. Click on over to Shag's Once Upon a Geek and check out his review of the piece as a whole. Afterwards, come on back, we'll be here waiting for you.

My oldest daughter (and therefore passed along to her sisters, but since lost, naturally) used to have a couple learning games set up very similarly to this. The learning games were simple math and spelling, things of that nature. Admittedly, this is a bit of a far cry from that, but it's the first thing I thought of when I saw this solicited. I have yet to get my grubby paws on a copy, but with Father's Day on the horizon, anything is possible.

I point you to the Aqua-marketplace on Rob Kelly's magnificent Aquaman Shrine to connect yourself to a copy of this bad boy.

Naturally, DC chose to go with a shot of Reddy drawn by Ed Benes from Brad Meltzer's "The Tornado's Path" story. This image is from the foldout poster that popped up in issue #7 (I believe, sound off if I'm wrong here). Interestingly enough, I had Meltzer sign this image in my hardcover copy of "The Tornado's Path" during his recent signing tour for Heroes for My Son.

Back to the Fandex, though. I do like the line, "Red Tornado grew a soul." If only it were so easy.

Thanks again to Shag!

Let's get it started!

Quite a while back, during the Super Powers 25th Anniversary blogathon, I grabbed this blogspot as a placeholder, fully intending to give some love to Red Tornado on the eve of his all-new six-issue mini series by Kevin VanHook and Jose Luis. Unfortunately, life got in the way, and when you try to balance being a father of three, reviewing four (or more) or more comics a week, along with the rigors of a 9-5 job, some things slide.

One of those things that slid a bit was my Doom Patrol blog. I'm trying, I really am, but like this spot for Reddy, the DP blog doesn't get as much love as it deserves.

I'm going to make a stronger effort to get some content on both blogs with greater frequency.

Reddy's enjoyed quite a bit of popularity of late, with numerous appearances on Batman: the Brave and the Bold, consistent page time in the JLA book, and more than a few toys and collectibles produced in his likeness. My hope is to cover those and more here.

I might even have a few surprises.

Swing by next week, and I'll clue you in as to why Reddy's a fave of mine. Until then, here's a link to a small clip of Reddy's appearance in the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths DVD that just released. Thanks to Shag for the link!

The image above is courtesy of DC Comics from their website.