Author: Rob

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

Kryptonite is a material from DC comics very own Superman mythology. The ore form of a radioactive element from Superman’s home world of Krypton. It is famously known for being the ultimate natural weakness of Superman and most other Kryptonians.

The word Kryptonite has since become known as an Achilles’ heel, the one true weakness of an otherwise invincible man.

The concept of Kryptonite was conceived in an unpublished 1940 story “The K-Metal from Krypton”, by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel. The K-metal in the story was a piece of Krypton which robbed Superman of his strength while giving humans superhuman powers, a plot point which decades later made its way into the Smallville.

Jerry Siegel also stated that the name of the planet Krypton was taken from the element Krypton due to the common denominators of high density and viscosity between the two.
(Yeah I don’t quite get it either. Science > Rob Base)

The first “published” use originated in the Superman radio series in June 1943 in the story arc “The Meteor from Krypton”.

Kryptonite covers a variety of colored substances, but usually refers to the most common “green” form. The material is usually shown as having been created from the radioactive remains of Superman’s home planet Krypton, and generally has adverse effects on Superman.

As well as it’s use as a plot device and some “rumors” state it was also a means to allow Superman’s voice actor, Bud Collyer, to take occasional time off. (which was for the most part been debunked –  check Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #76 )

It would take many years for the big evil K -word to make it into the comics. It wasn’t till 1949 that comic book writers incorporated Kryptonite into their stories, as a new danger and weakness for Superman and to add an “interesting” element to his stories.

Editor Dorothy Woolfolk claims she brought Kryptonite to the comics. She told the Florida newspaper “Today” in August 1993 that she had found Superman’s invulnerability dull, and that DC’s flagship hero might be more interesting with an Achilles’ heel (So to speak) such as adverse reactions to a fragment of his home planet.

By the end of the 1940′s comic book heroes became passé and needed to stay relevant in a changing landscape. Kryptonite helped Superman not only stay relevant but made him seem more fallible.

Kryptonite, in its first comic appearance (Superman #61, in 1949), was a rare and unique. It came to earth inside a single meteorite from the exploded planet Krypton. Superman captured the two small pieces of Kryptonite, one from a fake swami (pretending to “hex” Superman with it) and another he purchased from a jewelry store, (wonder what the value of Kryptonite was in 1949?)  and threw them into Metropolis’ river.

Overtime, Kryptonite was depicted as being so abundant that many two-bit criminals kept a stock pile as a precautionary measure.

Later it was explained that the explosion of the planet Krypton had opened a “dimensional warp” (similar to a wormhole) which allowed the ship that was carrying the young Kal-El to reach Earth in a relatively brief time, and a large amount of planetary debris had also passed through this “warp” and emerged near Earth at virtually the same time, accounting for the seemingly improbable abundance of Kryptonite material and its availability to Superman’s enemies.

Kryptonite is most commonly depicted as green in coloring, with a few exceptions; it was red in its first appearance in Superman #61 (November 1949). When Superman followed the time trail of a piece of red rock that weakened him, he was able to trace his origin back to Krypton for the first time. Other colors of Kryptonite, having different effects, began to show up frequently beginning in late 1950s comics, reaching a peak in appearances in 1960s Superman series.

To reduce the amount of Kryptonite used in Superman storylines, all known Kryptonite on Earth was transmuted into “k-iron” in a 1971 storyline titled “The Sandman Saga”, though Kryptonite could still be synthetically manufactured by a variety of known and unknown means, and additional material left over from the destruction of Krypton would continue to fall from space.

In the years to come, Kryptonite would continue as a thorn in the side of our big blue hero. Though after John Byrne rebooted the Superman mythos (after Crisis on Infinite Earths), Kryptonite became much rarer in the DC Universe and many of the multicolored varieties were eliminated.

Yet it wouldn’t stop future writers and editors from messing up the K-Metal from Krypton.

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

I have been a life long Transformers collector and enthusiastic about all its properties (except for the Michael Bay stuff).

Up until the first Bay film, I had over 7000 unique pieces of Transformers toys. I also had every single comic and a few imported books from Japan and one even from Korea.

My love for this property has led to people referring to me as a purist. This really couldn’t be further from the truth.

I accept all the Transformers incarnations. Be it G1 or Prime, I have followed this property with open eyes. I remember the first Transformers comic I got and how utterly confused I was as a kid because the comic didn’t follow the cartoon show.

Heroes like Grimlock where highly intelligent and not some dumb Dinobot. Villains like Rabbat lead the evil Decepticons into battle.

IDW has done an amazing job with the continued adventures from these old Marvel books. But I feel its important to know that if you are a new fan these issues will not help you catch up on the franchise.

So if I was to review each issue I’d be forced to do a 6 page catch up/History lesson on all the books to date. No casual fan can just jump on without reading the Transformers wiki for days.

So I say if you love the Transformers and grew up as a G1‘er you will love the current crop of comics.

If not you better be ready for a history lesson.

Follow me on Twitter @AltMindz

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

A washed up cop, bodies of dead and abuse children, flashes of moments that could only be interpreted as schizophrenia. This is the story told in this first issue.

“He sleeps, and in sleeping he dreams of small, distorted clouds like crippled children, twisting and crawling across a sky the color of sewer water.”

A once hard-working detective is now alone. He drinks and smokes way too much. His life is in a dilapidated state. And he knows all too well what it all means. All these dynamic images would classify under any well written drama be it on TV, in a book or in a movie.

Yet it’s in the first issue of a comic book, not just any comic book, it’s a Crow comic. James O’Barr has found his rhythm again and these last few crow books are all over the map and all over time.

This story written to take place in the 1970s feels and acts just like as if you are there. This book is a solid 5/5 and should be read right now!

Follow me on Twitter @AltMIndz

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

If you have read my other reviews you will know that I am a sucker for all these great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. I just recently gave The Secret Origin of the Foot a 5/5. This issue stars Old Hob, He is a creation from  IDW’s editor-in-chief, Chris Ryall. Yet reading him in this issue you feel like you should already know him.

He loosely reminds me of Hallocat from Archie Adventure Series (bio from turtlepedia.wikia.com):

Hallocat (previously known as ‘Pookey’ before the mutation) was a truckers pet cat, his owner had been illegally dumping toxic waste for a chemical plant whose foreman did not want to dispose of the waste properly in an effort to cut costs. One day, Pookey got under the foreman’s feet, tripping him. In a fit of anger, the foreman picked him up and threw him into a vat of toxic waste (which was actually mutagen).

And this is Old Hob‘s origin (Also from turtlepedia.wikia.com):

Old Hob was a stray cat that came across the Turtles and Splinter after they were dropped by the pair of ninja that had stolen them from Stockgen. The mutagen that was included with them had spilled, and Old Hob had come in contact with the agent as well. He tried to scurry off with a pre-mutated Raphael. Old Hob’s eye was clawed out by Splinter. He would later mutate and team up with Baxter Stockman to get revenge on Splinter and the Turtles. Since the mutagen Old Hob came into contact was contaminated, he was sent to bring in the other mutants, alive or dead, in order to get the mutagen samples from their blood. He was put in charge of a street gang and tried multiple times to take down Splinter and the Turtles.

Old Hob is telling his origin story in a very film Noir style, He has a hatred for humans and a greater hatred for Master Splinter. This story is very existential in its delivery and so typical in its structure. This doesn’t take away from the character at all.

Most Comic book villains fall prey for this very set up, Old Hob may not be The turtles version of Doctor Doom but he most certainly isn’t Paste Pot Pete! He will be a force to be reckoned with.

I am hoping this story picks up and we learn what his plans are. For this I am giving Old Hob a solid 3/5 and once again IDW makes us love being a Turtle !!!!