Dazzler #21

Dazzler #21 (1982)
by Danny Fingeroth & Frank Springer
cover photo by Eliot R. Brown & Bob Larkin
cover model June McDonald

We are at the halfway point, because SOMEHOW this series will last until #42.
And yes, that is actually the real cover.

The credit to the cover come from the letters page of issue 27. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything about a model named “June McDonald” with a quick search… possibly because it’s probably not her real name.
I would be extremely interested to know if she did anything else of note, and even more so to learn what she thinks about this whole thing. Though I’m guessing this photoshoot took like fifteen minutes, considering the results.

This is a double length issue to celebrate… uh. Why IS this thing double length? Shouldn’t that be reserved for issue 25?

Anyway, Dazzler is so busy with her subplot about her family history that she misses a potential team-up with an interesting superhero, so she’s stuck with Angel.

You might remember Dazzler’s father suffered a complete psychotic breakdown. There’s a psychiatrist present, sure, but let’s have a singer get a crack at it first. (WTF!?)

Seeing his daughter makes Angry Not Tony Stark snap out of his stupor to return to his natural state: ranting about how he hates her.

And finally, FINALLY Dazzler has had enough of this jackass!!!

The cover promised us “the shameful secret of Dazzler’s past”, but this is actually the story of what happened to her mother.
If you’ve ever read a comic book in your life… or seen any kind of fiction, really… you probably already figured out that Dazzler takes her passion about music from her mother.

And Dazzler’s father confirms to have been a garbage human being for years, because as soon as he gets a job as a lawyer he insists that his wife give up her career.
Notice he was perfectly fine with her working “in sleazy dives” as long as he needed the money.

Hmmm, Dazzler is in her 20s in her series, and this is an 80s comic, so… welcome back 1960s sexism, it’s never a pleasure to meet you!

Dazzler’s mother continues her career and ends up having an affair. We’re supposed to think the man that seduces is a sleaze and that this is a horrible, drug-filled place… but the narration is coming from Dazzler’s father, so in my headcanon he’s WILDLY exaggerating the filth.

While I have next to no respect for Dazzler’s father and think her mother did the right thing to leave that jackass… she’s not exactly a pillar of virtue, since she abandons her daughter.
Why wasn’t divorce an option, exactly?

Honestly, can you blame Dazzler for not believing her father?

You might remember that Dazzler’s mother randomly befriended her backup singer…

…so we get to see HER side of the story: they WERE divorced!!!
Dazzler’s father doesn’t mention this. I checked.

Dazzler’s mother has the worst luck with her husbands.

This is the DAZZLER series, folks: sometimes she rescues Galactus from a black hole, sometimes she fights a blind sax player, and sometimes she has to deal with her mother’s drug addiction.

When Dazzler’s mother admits she’s never seen her daughter perform, Dazzler’s friend blackmails her into doing it.
That’s not me exaggerating for comedic effect, that’s literally how she phrases it.

 

Dazzler decides to throw herself into her career to avoid thinking to much about her family history, so she accepts an offer from a promoter that is CLEARLY just a money laundering pimp.

This could be Dazzler’s big shot: a concert at Carnegie Hall!

 And all she has to do is allow him to sexually harass her.
Wait, WHAT!?

Dammit, her agent was one of the only two halfway decent people in the supporting cast!

Well… okay, maybe this is an occasion to have Dazzler demonstrate her success is not based solely on her looks. She IS supposed to be a very talented performer, after all.

Oh God, please don’t let this turn into an anti-drug comic.
I don’t think I could stomach Dazzler giving lectures, as well-intentioned as they might be.

No, mercifully she just puts the pimp in his place.

I mentioned this comic is double-length, so it has time for a shopping montage.

We’re seeing less and less of Red Moustache, but Dazzler reassures him that he doesn’t have to be jealous of Angel: he’s just a good friend.

Aaaand that’s the kiss of death for Red Moustache. He’s sticking around as her boyfriend, but come on, this is basically his expiration date.

Yeah I mean come on Red Moustache, there’s no reason to be jealous. Just because he’s rich and her grandmother likes him and he sneaks by the window at night to kiss her on the lips.
Well, maybe the last one IS a bit much.

Time for Dazzler’s concert, which I’m frankly surprised isn’t immediately targeted by every single supervillain in town.

 You know what it means: MORE superheroes being Dazzler fans! The Thing and Human Torch were already fans, but so far Reed and Susan were just her friends. It’s already hard enough to imagine Susan dragging him to a concert in the first place, so I’m considering they are both fans.

The Avengers also show up, with She-Hulk returning the favor for her appearance earlier in the series now that she’s a major player. The fact that THOR goes to the concert is hilarious!!!

And more!!!

Despite their previous team-ups, so far I didn’t include Spider-Man among the superhero fans because he was always involved as a hero or photographer. But if he goes out of his way to attend the concert, that’s enough for me!

Perhaps risking proving her father right, Dazzler keeps being offered drugs.

Speaking of her father, he’s perfectly fine! He was so off the deep end that psychiatrists have no idea what to do with him… but ONE conversation with his daughter and he’s fine!?

Oh crap, he’s warped her into saying he’s been right all along, isn’t it?

That could be how the story, and potentially her entire career, ends… if it wasn’t for SUDDEN MOTHER!!!

She’s the best of what she does, and what she does… cannot be heard by anyone because a comic book has no audio.

Captain Freaking America being a Dazzler superfan is the most hilarious thing in the history of comics.

Slightly different from what I imagined.

Then Dazzler closes her concert with an extremely beautiful song. Or at least we’re supposed to think it’s beautiful… not only we can’t hear the music, but with the spacing of the letters I seriously have a hard time READING the song.

Okay Dazzler refused taking drugs, but Beast DEFINITELY smoked something.

Also, my reaction to like 99% of the Dazzler series.

Of course Dazzler’s singing managed to reach both her parents, who have a reconciliation of sorts.

And so we close with Dazzler being a famous singer now, having fixed most of her family issues.

How are there 21 more issues of this thing!?!?

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Dazzler significance: 6/10
Her mother does stick around a bit, but her family history will take center stage once we meet Dazzler’s half-sister properly.

Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Just the sheer coincidence of Dazzler meeting her mother 90% by chance, but it’s more of a soap opera trope than anything else.

Does it stand the test of time? -5/10
Soooo… “if you’re a woman in show business, being harassed is part of the job” has… not aged particularly well, hasn’t it? Sure, Dazzler does give SOME pushback to the idea, but it falls completely flat.
Also: how is this a “shameful secret of Dazzler’s past” as the cover says? She did absolutely nothing wrong (FOR ONCE), if anything her secret is that her parents are terrible!
Her mother’s shame is abandoning her daughter, sure, but according to her tale she DID get a divorce… did she really “betray” her husband as he keeps repeating? She abandoned her daughter, sure, but resent her for THAT and not for leaving that piece of crap!
Besides, even if they weren’t divorced… he went into a full psychotic breakdown because his wife cheated with him and left like twenty years after the fact!?!?

Obligatory underwear shot: 28
That’s Dazzler’s mother. So THAT is where she gets it from!

Also, what did you think the shopping montage was for?

Superhero fans: 27
Adding Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, She-Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Wonder Man and Spider-Man.