Blue Devil # 11-20 (DC Comics, 1984) [COMICS]

Recently (okay, six months ago!) I reviewed Blue Devil # 1-10.  Now, I'll cover issues # 11-20.

Issue # 11 is a classic "it was all a dream!" issue.  Cassidy is sick and keeps ruining the scenes of the film he's working on.  The studio sends an auditor to figure out why there are delays and cost-overruns.  It what turns out to be a hallucination, Cassidy (as Blue Devil) battles all sorts of crazy stuff.  It's certainly not an important issue, but I guess passes the time okay.  It's kind of fun to see ads for things like Crisis on Infinite Earths.  I think I've heard of that!

Issue # 12 is a genuinely enjoyable read and laugh-out-loud funny.  It's the premiere of the Blue Devil move and Cassidy and his fellow actors and crew members are excited, by Shockwave decides it's time for a return bout!  Nebiros intervenes as well, and Etrigan the Demon appears near the end.  Cassidy has a real personality in the issue, and it makes the issue work really well.

I really like the cover of Issue  # 13.  "Tinseltown cringes at the feet of a starstruck demon!"  The demon in question isn't Etrigan (though he does appear in the issue), it's the Blue Devil--because Nebiros has taken control!  Nebiros/Blue Devil wreaks havoc in Hollywood.  Green Lantern John Stewart arrives, but Nebiros speeds up time to drain his power ring!  Norm calls the JLA and speaks to Vibe of all people (a sign of the times . . .) and requests Zatanna.  Yes!  Cassidy gets control of his body back, but Nebiros still controls his trident.  They finally manage to drive the demonic energies out by using . . . water.  It's an all-action issue, but fun.  A house ad reports that Blue Devil won # 7 in Amazing Heroes' "Best 10 Books of 1984" contest.  Not too shabby!

The cover of Issue # 14 reports "The Sensational Character Find of 1985!  Kid Devil!"  It's a goofy concept, but somehow one with legs, as Kid Devil (Marla's nephew, Gopher, who has made his own super-suit in imitation of his idol) has a surprising amount of staying power and later appears in DC Comics titles like the Teen Titans.  The issue itself is kind of dumb.  Gopher's folks' plane gets hijacked, and B.D. and K.D. have to do a mid-air rescue.  But evil movie producer Jock Verner's chauffer, Van, has been buffed into not-so-super-villainy and dons the moniker "Verner's Vanquisher" for a cliffhanger ending.

Issue # 15 reveals that Verner's Vanquisher has made quite the media splash as an apparent super hero.  But when a robotic King Kong attraction goes haywire and starts putting the public in real danger, Blue Devil and the Vanquisher race to see who can stop it.  The two end up fighting, and the Vanquisher kidnaps Marla as his love interest!  Kid Devil makes another appearance, and his parents figure out his identity.

In Issue # 16, the Vanquisher (whose powers are all in the suit, it turns out) takes Marla to his "secret hideout" (his apartment).  Marla calls Cassidy for help, and there's some fighting before everything gets sorted out and the Vanquisher realises that Marla doesn't like . . . like like him.  Cassidy realizes he's becoming a super-hero whether he likes it or not, Kid Devil gets permission from his folks to do some super-heroing under the supervision of the three professors of "hypernormal conflict studies", and Smitty & Rojek (Shockwave's goofball henchmen who for some reason had their own subplot) get apprehended.  Some of the best parts of the issue are the preview of the MASK comic (those toys were cool!) and a faux academic journal article by the professors.

Issue # 17 is a Crisis cross-over issue.  B.D. is at the beach when a goofy supervillain named "The Fisherman" attacks.  The bad guy's sarcastic henchmen presage the type of humor the JLI will embrace in a couple of years.  There's not much to this one; in the last panel, Green Lantern arrives and says he needs B.D.'s help.


We're in outer space for Issue # 18.  Some stuff must have happened in Crisis # 8, as we start here with Blue Devil hanging out with the Omega Men.  The issue is titled "The Last Parallel World Story" (I wish!), and involves "our" Cassidy and an alternate-university Dan Cassidy having to work together to  . . . I don't know . . . keep the universe intact or something.  It's all a bit weird.  Which, I guess works for this series.

Issue # 19 is a bit of an odd duck, containing three Kid Devil short stories (with Cassidy making only a cameo appearance at the end).  The first short is surprisingly good, as the Trickster makes a return appearance--tricking (and proving) that Captain Cold hasn't actually reformed as promised.  In the second short, K.D.'s costume gets stolen by another kid.  The third short is a cute Kid Devil/Robin team-up (as pen pals) versus a Scottish jewel thief named "Red-Eye".  I'm not a Kid Devil fan, particularly, but I didn't mind the issue as a change-up.

Issue # 20 starts out a fun story-thread that recurs in several subsequent issues.  The House of Weirdness (featuring legendary horror story hosts Cain and Abel) appear as B.D.'s weirdness magnet is working overtime.  I'm fond of Cain and Abel from Sandman, and it's really fun to see them here.  The story itself isn't great (involving an undead musician who wants to steal Sharon's soul), but the issue as a whole is solid.

Next time around, we'll be able to finish the rest of the series!