DCU Comic Book Reviews

JSA CLASSIFIED #19 and #20

Skin Trade

January and February 2007

Written by Scott Beatty

Pencils by Rags Morales

Inks by Michael Bair

Cover by Rags Morales

Synopsis

While the concept of stealing kidneys is an urban legend, Dr. Mid-Nite learns that someone really is stripping meta-humans of vital organs and parts.  Dr. Mid-Nite first investigates Roulette, who leads him to fashion model Angelika, who recently received a pair of wings.  From her, Dr. Mid-Nite gets the name of a clinic with exclusive clientele.  At first, Dr. Mid-Nite thinks the organ thief is Ultra-Humanite, but he soon learns the thief is Dolores Winter.  When the Ultra-Humanite took her body, the doctor who performed the surgery took her brain and put it into a new body.  Since then, Dolores has had many surgeries to obtain a perfect body and now she sells meta-human organs to other famous people.  She attempts to take Dr. Mid-Nite’s eyes, but he is able to break free and the break up her little organization, although she is able to get away. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

The good news is that the heart of this Dr. Mid-Nite story is related in some degree to medicine, who obviously would be his specialty.  The bad news is that there is very little in terms of an obstacle of Dr. Mid-Nite as he goes from Point A To Point B to Point C with little or no difficulty.  At no point during the story did I feel Mid-Nite was being tested or challenged and as such there was no sense of urgency; there was nothing at stake, just Mid-Nite’s medical curiosity to determine if the urban legends were true or not.  Worse, Dr. Mid-Nite doesn’t really solve the mystery; the answer was told to him by the villain herself.  Despite this, I liked the story and I especially liked the way Dr. Mid-Nite approached each situation.  The key to the character, I think, is to not make him like Batman, something pointed out by the characters.  Yes, Dr. Mid-Nite must work in the shadows, but that is only because of his eyesight and not a reflection of his personality.  First and foremost he is a doctor, which really shows in this story.

Interestingly enough, this is a story that manages to be about Ultra-Humanite without actually being about Ultra-Humanite.  I am sure many old-time readers guessed the villain at the end of the first issue, only to have the actually revelation pulled out from under them.  I really liked how they took the original origin and turned it on its head and made Dolores’ actions and her quest for perfection seem genuinely plausible (or as much as it could in the fiction of the DCU).

I also noticed that of the people identified with having meta-human organ transplants, they were all in the entertainment business, either as a model or actor.  Strangely enough I don’t think I need to add anything more.  Our society has reached the point that what we see on the screen or on the page is not real or at least not natural.

Comic Connection

Nick Kelly (aka Argus) first appeared in the Flash Annual, issue #6 (1993) during the Bloodlines crossover event.  Argus has the ability to see beyond the normal spectrum of vision. 

The Ultra-Humanite first appeared in Action Comics, issue #13 (1939) and is generally considered to be the first comic-book supervillain.  The Ultra-Humanite was killed by the Crimson Avenger in the Stealing Thunder storyline in JSA, beginning with issue #11. 

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