Exit Stage Left: DC Comics Presents #97

I'm back. I got a gentle nudge from Tennessee and have decided to try to find the time to write on here more often. My job changed dramatically during the summer of 2011 and the dust is just starting to settle. Let's gets started with a rather odd finale to a rather inconsistent series. I always viewed DC Comics Presents as the poor relation of The Brave & the Bold. For starters, I far prefer Batman to Superman and I always felt that DCCP needed a consistent creative team. All of that said, there are some really fun stories over the course of 97 series. This particular issue, however, is not one of them. The story is one of those awkward Pre-Crisis tales jammed into a Post-Crisis world. The whole things feels as though DC is trying to burn off inventory before handing the car keys over to John Byrne. I think it would work better as a Elseworlds type tale, but I think that it technically fits into Pre-Crisis continuity. Steve Gerber is a writer who is amazing when he is focused and avoids allowing his big ideas to run away from him. This story starts strong, with a look at how the Phantom Zone came into being but they goes off into a variety of directions, touching on everything from the Bizarro World to Mr. Mxyzptlk. It is as if Gerber is trying to create his own Crisis to bring Superman continuity to an end. It simply doesn't work, and the endeavour is not helped in any way by Rick Veitch's pencils. Veitch is a good fit for certain titles, such as Swamp Thing, but I just do not think his loose, organic style works for a mainstream superhero book. Overall, this series deserved a much better send-off.