Comic Book Resources

I have no idea who these people are, but if they’re on a quest for fear, they might want to glance to their right and check out the apparent vampire and his buddy, the huge Nazi gorilla.

I mean, that gorilla’s got a mask whose eyeholes change size and shape to reflect his expression! Either that or it’s just very asymmetrical, which is just as bad.

Bloody asymmetrically-masked Nazi gorillas!

i also don’t know who they are. if they don’t have their own comic, what medium are they having their adventures in? Is it a cartoon?

Is that I . . .Vampire, Infectious Lass and Dr. Thirteen? Wait, was this a back up in some book? Was it actually good?

They star in the Dr. 13 back-up feature in the Spectre book, Tales of the Unexpected. As I understand it, they’re head and shoulders the best thing in that book.

how did this get past everyone’s radars? It’s DC’s less full of itself yet oddly more bitter version of Nextwave.

Also: It’s pretty brilliant.

I missed it too, but that one panel looks like a pretty good team.

I didn’t buy this book for the Spectre story, which frankly, I found to be far too bloody and complicated, but the Dr. Thirteen adventure, which was hilarious and invigorating. And FUN! I’d love to have them get their own series.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a book where the lead and the backup features were more at odds with each other.

I did read somewhere that the Dr. 13 series will be republished as a standalone TPB. Hope that wasn’t just a rumor or something….

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a book where the lead and the backup features were more at odds with each other.

Dr. Strange and Nick Fury in the old Strange Tales.

…sorry, compulsive geek footnoting. Carry on.

Greg, I’d say The Spectre and Dr. 13 are further apart than those.

And Chroom, that’s not just a Nazi gorilla–it’s a *vampire* Nazi gorilla.

While I think ‘Architecture and Morality’ was brilliant stuff (and I’l be getting that trade), I don’t know if an ongoing book is such a good idea. This feels like a lightning-in-a-bottle stiuation, where any continuation just won’t measure up.

They need their own series, the back-ups were awesome.

And the search for fear… is Captain Fear.

That last page was just plain cool.

I’d buy it. Oh hells yeah, I’d buy it.

They’re from Tales Of The Unexpected? Man, I need to pick that up. Or wait for the Dr. 13 trades, apparently. And Infectious Lass??? This old-school LOSH fan just had a big geek out moment when I saw her. Sign me up for a book starring this cast!

Joe- I can’t believe you missed this! It was Pure Rice.

azz rocks.

Anyone not buying 100 BULLETS as well is a LOSER. That is all.

The back-ups are getting their own trade, yeah? I cannot wait to get that.

Yes yes yes! This Dr13 story was awesome, showing a completely different side to Azz’s writing - more melancholy and whimsical. I loved it.

This was the only good reason to read Tales of the Unexpected.

I mean, where else could you find Dr. Thirteen and his daughter Traci Thirteen, Infectious Lass, Captain Fear, I … Vampire, Anthro the First Boy, Genius Jones, the ghost of J.E.B. Stuart, and the Primate Patrol (Nazi apes, one of which becomes a VAMPIRE Nazi Ape…)

It was all kinds of random goodness from the many obscure corners of the DC universe, and I’d totally buy a miniseries featuring them, especially if they pulled in even more Pre-Crisis wonders.

Even if by some freak accident “Team 13″ don’t get their own series - which I doubt, as they’re pure gold in comics form - the vampire nazi gorilla (whose name eludes me right now) already is this year’s most sensational character find.

Who’s the artist who drew that picture of the Team?

That would be Cliff Chiang.

So what’s this about a trade? Just Team 13 or other tales too? When’s it coming out?

Trade collection in the just-released solicits! September 19th.

Yup, September 19th. Here’s the solicitation text for it:

“Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang join forces to tell the adventures of Dr. Terrence Thirteen, a parapsychologist who disproves reports of supernatural activity. In this story collected from TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #1-8, Dr. Thirteen rounds up a group of the world’s magical beings to prevent strange forces from tearing asunder the very fabric of the past, present, and future!”

I would normally smite in the general direction of anyone who did not already know what this awesome meta-crack was. But then I realize that they were probably scared off by that new crappy Spectre in the front section of the books, so I cannot blame them.

I agree utterly. This was a magnificent story and a brilliant meta-commentary on the state of the industry. The Architects were totally unexpected, but wonderfully done.

Plus, Vampire Nazi Gorilla. How can you turn down a comic including Infectious Lass, Genius Jones, Doc 13 and Vampire Nazi Gorillas?

the kamisama said:
“I would normally smite in the general direction of anyone who did not already know what this awesome meta-crack was. But then I realize that they were probably scared off by that new crappy Spectre in the front section of the books, so I cannot blame them.”

You just pegged me. I had no interest in the new Spectre, so I passed over it, not even realizing these back-ups were in it. But I now plan on picking up the trade just to try it out.

One other thing- I’m familiar with most of the cast except Genius Jones. Is he a new character, or another one of DC’s pre-Crisis characters being revived?

Genius Jones was created by Alfred Bester and first appeared in 1942, according to Toonopedia.

I think this would work well as a a set of Mini-series. One or 2 a year. I cannot imagine anyone can sustain the brilliance of the original as an ongoing monthly.

I loved the cast of characters and I think the set up for hte next story is there, but where to after that?

Regardless, I still want more Team 13 and all the absurdity that goes with it.

Add my voice to the chorus who didn’t know this existed behind the Spectre stories (which I have zero interest in, even though I’m not a goatee hater).

Also, I just stumbled across the solicit that went up this afternoon and came here to mention it, but unsurprisingly, my fellow CSBG readers are all over it. Still, worth noting what an awesome Super-Friends cover homage Chiang has delivered:

http://comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/200708/dcu/DR13_AM_TPB.jpg

This was awesome. Easily the finest One Year Later story dC did so far. And Azzarello best DC universe work by miles. I’d buy a sequel and I’m getting the TPB. And it has a nazi vampire gorilla! Even the Architets understood how great is that!

I mean, where else could you find Dr. Thirteen and his daughter Traci Thirteen, Infectious Lass, Captain Fear, I … Vampire, Anthro the First Boy, Genius Jones, the ghost of J.E.B. Stuart, and the Primate Patrol (Nazi apes, one of which becomes a VAMPIRE Nazi Ape…)

Am I the only one who read that and thought “hmm, sounds like the DC version of Agents of Atlas?

Which actually sounds like a good idea…

Bill Reed said:
“Genius Jones was created by Alfred Bester and first appeared in 1942, according to Toonopedia.”

Thanks, glad to see such an old character hasn’t gone forgotten. That’s one of my favorite aspects of DC. They have SUCH a long lineage of characters, and it seems that no matter how goofy, weird, or idiosyncratic the concept was, somebody at some point will come up with a way to spin the character into a decent modern day read.

’bout damn time DR. 13 got some love round these parts. For my money, it’s the best superhero story from the last year, and probably this decade. It’s also the perfect antidote to the current “direction” of comics that so many people here like to bitch about. (You thought Kyle Baker’s PLASTIC MAN took the piss out of modern superheroes? That was nothing compared to DR. 13.)

I’m as big a fan of Brian Azzarello as you will find (and of Cliff Chiang’s, for that matter), but I didn’t think he had a story like this in him. It’s sweet, sad, and poignant, and it reveals a genuine fondness for the characters. It’s also freaking hilarious. The page that follows the above panel is comic gold.

If you’ve ever complained that the fun has gone out of superhero comics, you HAVE to read this one.

Yeah well, but it wouldn’t work well for a second time.

Those characters were dragged up from the DC pits, for this special occasion because they were down there in the first place.

I’m probably more happy if this 8 parter was the end of it.

I couldn’t resist buying the book once I realized it had a follow-up to this book with the greatest cover of all time:

http://comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=34523&zoom=4

This was the only good reason to read Tales of the Unexpected.

I mean, where else could you find Dr. Thirteen and his daughter Traci Thirteen, Infectious Lass, Captain Fear, I … Vampire, Anthro the First Boy, Genius Jones, the ghost of J.E.B. Stuart, and the Primate Patrol (Nazi apes, one of which becomes a VAMPIRE Nazi Ape…)

*SPOILERS*

Versus Mark Waid, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison, no less!