Scarab (Vertigo)

"Scarab" is a comic book written by John Smith and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, featuring a superhero called Scarab.

It ran for only eight issues between November 1993 and June 1994, although the character has reappeared in DC's Justice Society of America series.

Concept

"Scarab" was originally conceived of as a revival of DC's Golden Age superhero Dr. Fate, but Smith's proposal was deemed "too extreme" for an established character [http://www.2000ad.nu/classof79/JS_interview.htm John Smith Interview] , "Class of '79" (retrieved 20 September 2007)] . "Scarab" was consequently cut down to a limited series featuring a new character, with a retroactively-created backstory that placed Scarab within an alternate Golden Age.

Plot

Louis Sendak is a 78-year-old man, and a retired superhero. A green door in his house leads to an other-worldly labyrinth where his father would often disappear to during Louis' childhood to collect strange, alien items. One of these items was the Scarabaeus, which latched on to Louis in 1941 and transformed him, giving him an ambiguous set of mystical super-powers.

Crossover

Two Indigo Prime agents, Dazzler and Creed, appear in "Scarab" #7. A lot of John Smith's stories are set in the Smithiverse and are usually part of a broader plan but the appearances in "Scarab" was more due to the problems that Smith had encountered with the series, "by that time I was probably just so sick of the thing I thought - 'Fuck it. I’ll rip off my own story' – and stuck in ‘Indigo Prime’ as a lazy way out.".

Publication

* "Scarab" (by John Smith, with pencils by Scot Eaton and inks by Mike Barreiro, 8-issue limited series, Vertigo 1993-1994)

Notes

References

*
*

External links

* [http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing48/feature1.shtml The Return of Khepri]