Blue Devil # 1-10 (DC Comics, 1984) [COMICS]

I didn't collect Blue Devil when it first came out--I got into comics just around the time its run was finishing up.  But the character really stood out, and the more light-hearted vibe of the series was appealing when I got deeply into the "Bwah-ha-ha" Justice League, so I went back and assembled a complete collection.  Re-reading it now, the series is obviously in an awkward time period, as it started about a year before Crisis on Infinite Earths, a series that changed a lot of the story-telling expectations in DC Comics.  Blue Devil is definitely silly in tone, and could easily have come out in the late 1970s.  Still, the series is a lot of fun (though rarely laugh-out-loud funny) and the character continues to make appearances to this day (and is apparently going to make its live-action small screen debut in the new Swamp Thing series, played by Ian Zering of 90210 quasi-fame!).  Anyway, on to the capsule reviews.

Blue Devil # 1 kicks things off with a great cover and an origin story.  Dan Cassidy is a movie stunt-man and special effects assistant.  He designs a monster costume full of electronic gizmos to wear while portraying the "Blue Devil," the bad guy in a B-horror movie.  While the moving is being shot on a jungle island, a couple of the lead actors (Wayne Tarrant and Sharon Scott, both major parts of the series' supporting cast) wander into an old ruin and awaken a real demon: Nebiros!  The rest of the issue is a big group fight scene.  After absorbing a demonic blast from Nebiros, Dan Cassidy is stunned to realize that his monster suit has bonded to his skin and can't be removed!  It's also infused the suit (and the trident) with demonic powers in addition to the mechanical ones.  It's a fun, solid introduction to the series that introduces other major supporting characters like Marla (the movie's director), Norm (its cameraman), and Gopher (Marla's kid nephew).  The text page promises the series will never be full of "grimness, grief, and alienation," and that instead it'll be a "fifty-fifty mix of moonshine metaphysics and high-tech-armament smashing."  It's only 1984, and mainstream comics will get way grimmer and angstier in the years to come, but already there's some push-back.

Blue Devil # 2 has Cassidy, still stuck in the suit and rather depressed, return to his home in Metropolis.  The other members of the crew, based in L.A., call to cheer him up, but things are interrupted when the super-villain Shockwave starts knocking down buildings in Metropolis in the act of stealing some "experimental" kryptonite from S.T.A.R. Labs.  Cassidy has to intervene, of course, and we have another big slug-fest issue.  A new sub-plot starts: Cassidy gets sued by the Blue Devil movie's producer to stop making public appearances in the "costume"!  The issue has lots of action and cute little moments, and moves quickly.  I like Cassidy and his supporting cast.

Blue Devil # 3 reveals that Shockwave was sent to steal the experimental kryptonite by none other than Metallo!  It leads to the traditional third-issue guest star appearance (Superman in this era) and another big battle.  It's pretty unremarkable over all.

Blue Devil # 4 is one of the best of the early issues.  Superman takes Cassidy up to the JLA's satellite and introduces him to Zatanna in the hopes that she can figure out a mystical way to remove the suit.  Zatanna says that only Nebiros, the demon who bonded it to Cassidy, could possibly remove it.  The two travel back to the island where the movie was filmed and Zatanna opens a magical portal to Nebiros' dimension.  Suffice it to say, there's a lot more fighting than talking, and Nebiros escapes the island and is free in the "real world."  The artwork in these first several issues is by Paris Cullins, and it's clean, clear, and impressive.  Zatanna looks beautiful!  It's a shame that Cullins doesn't stick around longer.

Blue Devil # 5 features Cassidy, Zatanna, Norm(!), and the Mexican army confronting Nebiros at the demon's secondary temple in Central America.  Nebiros causes volcanos to erupt, but after a big slugfest, the heroes succeed in pushing the demon back to his own plane.  Zatanna makes a great co-star in the issue, and I wish she became a more regular part of the series.  An earlier subplot is resolved with movie director Marla succeeding in getting the restraining order against Cassidy appearing "in costume" lifted.

Blue Devil # 6 gets into pretty silly territory, with aliens whose religion is based on receiving broadcasts of "I Love Lucy" fleeing to earth to escape robot police who are chasing them.  The aliens, Jorj and Lehni (a play on Of Mice and Men) are regular goofballs.  They arrive on earth in Las Vegas, which is where Cassidy and Norm end up after the previous issue's excitement in Mexico.  Shenanigans and wackiness ensue, and it's all too intentionally ridiculous for me.  More interesting is the first mention (with Norm doing the theorizing) that Cassidy is now a "weirdness magnet", drawing strange things to him wherever he goes because of his encounters with Nebiros.  I always loved this as a perfect in-story explanation for why super-heroes always "just so happen" to find themselves in dramatic situations.  The Hellmouth in Buffy does the same story work, as does the concept of ta'avern in The Wheel of Time.  A subplot starts up in this issue as well, with the Trickster on the run from the assassin Bolt (in the latter's comics debut).

Blue Devil # 7 is "Danny and Sharon's First Date."  Sharon, a Hollywood actress, has been a minor supporting character in some of the past issues, and Dan Cassidy has a thing for her.  The date doesn't go well, as Cassidy is much larger than he was before, so his clothes don't fit, he breaks the car (with his feet sticking out the bottom like the Flintstones!), and then the Trickster interrupts invoking "the bond between stuntmen" to convince Cassidy to help him escape from Bolt.  The book has hit its stride, and then are some genuine laughs here.  The Trickster ends up becoming a regular supporting character too, and a nice, surprising addition to the book.

Blue Devil # 8 sees Cassidy and Sharon agreeing to help the Trickster.  Trickster and the Blue Devil have good chemistry together, as Cassidy finds its hard to turn a super-villain bad.  It's revealed that Bolt has been hired by a criminal organization called (cleverly!) "The Organization" to get the Trickster, though the reason why has to wait until next issue.  Meanwhile, to fund his escape plan, the Trickster decides to rob a special mobile bank by lifting into the air for a high-altitude attack.  It's pretty fun, though the Giffen art is a bit of a shock compared to Paris Cullins'.

Blue Devil # 9 has, I have to admit, a completely original super-villain plan.  The Organization wants California to secede from the Union by physically lifting the state into the sky using the anti-gravity technology in the Trickster's shoes!  It's like reading one of those 1950s comics where Wonder Woman lassoes a planet or something.  The joy continues, as it's revealed that "The Organization" is really just three nebbish university professors, and that they've made a gigantic copy of the Trickster's shoe left behind on a previous occasion.  However, the professors don't realize that their giant shoe can only go up--the Trickster has one shoe for going up, and one for going down!  Blue Devil rescues them.  The whole thing was ridiculous but fun.


Blue Devil # 10 continues the goofy fun.  Supporting character Wayne Tarrant once had a career as a pop singer under the stage name Theseus.  But the real goddess Athena was angered by this, and ruined his musical career.  Now, with the Blue Devil movie about to release, Wayne decides to revive his singing stardom--and Athena isn't having any of it!  She sends the Furies (transformed from spurned groupies) after Wayne, and of course, Cassidy has to help out.  Since a Greek goddess is involved, Wonder Woman is a natural guest star and helps Wayne placate Athena.  A new subplot starts with a trio of professors (not the evil ones from the previous issue) who are studying "hyper-normal individuals" getting interested in the Blue Devil.

There's a lot to like about these first ten issues.  Dan Cassidy has the classic "I don't want to be a super-hero!" mentality, but of course keeps getting drawn into situations where he's saving lives and battling super-villains.  The artwork is really good, and the characters are distinct.  This isn't the sort of series you'd give someone to convince them that comics can be "literature", but it's a relaxing, enjoyable read if you're in the right kind of mood.  It's too bad, and surprising, that they've never been collected in trade paperback format.