Wonder Woman on the radio

Martha Thomases

Martha Thomases brought more comics to the attention of more people than anyone else in the industry. Her work promoting The Death of Superman made an entire nation share in the tragedy of one of our most iconic American heroes. As a freelance journalist, she has been published in the Village Voice, High Times, Spy, the National Lampoon, Metropolitan Home, and more. For Marvel comics she created the series Dakota North. Martha worked as a researcher and assistant for the author Norman Mailer on several of his books, including the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Executioner's Song, On Women and Their Elegance, Ancient Evenings, and Harlot's Ghost.

You may also like...

4 Responses

  1. Chuchundra says:

    12 issues and I still have no clue what's going on.

  2. mike baron says:

    Oh come on, Chuchundra! Kid fell through a singularity into an alternative universe. Two races: the sky-dwelling Luftar and the earth-bound helmut locked in a struggle for supremacy. The kid throws in with the Luftar. It's not that hard.

    • Russ Rogers says:

      There are elements that I like in this story. I've made comments on those. I have been told that my comments on ComicMix comics can be overly critical. I sometimes feel awkward that I am the ONLY person commenting on the comics, without any response. I feel like I'm shouting in the wind. Does what I have to say matter? SO I haven't commented in a while. And there have been NO comments on Black Ice since Issue 8. Now, the first comment made since then is "white washed" with "Oh come on … it's not that hard."No. It is that hard. Where did the singularity come from? [Issue 1] Why are the Helmut and Luftar at war? They seem to live in isolated areas. They have separate technology and I assume economy. Where is the dispute? What are they fighting over? What do they want to reign supreme over? What do the Luftar have that the Helmut want or vis versa?Neil sure was lucky there was a sky boat right under him. Was that just dumb luck? [Issue 2] How did Orum survive the fall from the sky boat with motorcycle? [Issue 5] He drove off the boat wearing a tight fitting vest, there didn't seem to be room for him to wear a parachute or flying rig. How did Orum arrange with the Helmut to pick him up so quickly? [Issue 6] Was their meeting prearranged or preordained? How were Helmut and Orum in contact? How have the Helmut made such radical leaps in technology? What are the floating brain things, "the lanterns" [Issue 11]? Are they related to the sentient gaseous balloons, like Unis? Are those "Haddison" [Issue 13, read ahead]) that hold up the airships? Is Unis a Haddison? Was it Unis that was attacked and floated away? [Issue 12, page 60] Is she dead? Is the floating brain that looks like a jellyfish (the lantern) an older version of the floating brain with eyes (the Baby Haddison)? They seem to get along. How many species of floating, telepathic brains live on this planet? Is there a direct connection between the death of one Haddison [page 60] and the birth of another [page 61]? Why does the sage appear to be such a comic-fop/boob one moment [Issue 7] and then have perfect knowledge of Orum's plans the next [Issue 8]? How does the sage gain knowledge of Orum? Is that the work of the "Anicle"? [Issue 13.] Is an "Anicle" just another kind of telpathic brain and this one in kept in a jar?Was the singularity that drew our hero, Neil, into this alternate universe generated by the Helmut in an attempt to capture more alien technology? Or was this an entirely random event? Was it just dumb luck that had Neil fall onto a floating ship and not to his doom? How much are the Lanterns, Haddisons and Anicles actually guiding events?Is Suki the girl in green on page 60, the one with Orum? (" Gaurd. Take the girl and go.") Who is that girl? Why is she being led away be a guard?No. Not every plot element should be spelled out in black and white. Yes, there can be elements of mystery in a story. Sometimes it's fun to be befuddled by a story for a while. But should there be complete non sequiturs in a story like this? "Gaurd." (Uh, which guard?) "Take this girl… (Uh, who's the girl? Is that Suki? I thought she was dead. [Issue 8]) "and go." (Uh, where? Why? Is she a prisoner? What did she do? Is she being led away for her own protection? Is she being led back to Prince Orum's chambers so he can abuse her some more? Is she just being shuffled out of the panel because she didn't need to be there to begin with?)The problem with a fantasy story that keeps tossing in "deus ex" elements like floating telepathic brains, singularities that just pop in and out of existence for no reason, the "Anicle," or a civilization that is able to assimilate and replicate alien technology overnight is that every time Mike Baron asks the reader to "stretch their imagination" to include just one more concept that the plot depends on, the more confused we get and the less emotionally involved we become. It also doesn't help that the publication schedule has been … well, sporadic. When the story doesn't seem to make much sense, you can blame the reader for a lack of comprehension, or you can blame the writer for a lack of clarity.In this case, Mike Baron would love to blame the readers. But … he's the writer. It's all very clear to him.

  3. mike baron says:

    Russ, I appreciate your taking the time to raise these questions. Of course it's all clear in my mind to me. The answers to all your questions are inherent in the story and will probably be much more clear when the entire story is published as a single volume. I certainly don't blame you for your confusion. I blame you for rising gas prices.