New comics 9/30/09

A light week means a shorter podcast, and at the risk of being immodest, this week I think I am finally starting to put all the pieces together. Comics discussed include the Astro City: Astra Special #1, Blackest Night: Titans #2, Gotham City Sirens #4, Green Lantern #46, Justice League of America 80-Page Giant #1, Superman #692, Unknown Soldier #12, and Wonder Woman #36. Olivia helps as well, and as always the music is by R.E.M.

Download it here, stream it via the player at right, or visit the podcast homepage here. Happy listening!

Full Post

New comics 8/26/09

My throat's still a little sore, but the new comics just keep coming--!

Therefore, get ready for 32 minutes' worth of Batman And Robin #3, Blackest Night: Titans #1, Detective Comics #856, Fantastic Four #570, Flash: Rebirth #4, Gotham City Sirens #3, Green Lantern #45, Madame Xanadu #14, Superman #691, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #2, Unknown Soldier #11, Wednesday Comics #8, and Wonder Woman #35. Can you handle it?

Music, of course, is by R.E.M.

Download it directly here, stream it directly from the player on this here site, or go to the podcast homepage here. Happy listening!

Full Post

New comics 7/29/09

This week I go off on a little rant about Mark Millar's Fantastic Four, and there are references to Fargo and Stripes, as well as a thoroughly-unsurprising Monty Python reference. Otherwise, it's Batman: The Brave and the Bold #7, Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3, Detective Comics #855, Fantastic Four #569, Justice League of America #35, Madame Xanadu #13, Superman #690, Wednesday Comics #4, and Wonder Woman #34. Music, as always, is by R.E.M.

[EDIT: Sorry, folks, the Unknown Soldier stuff somehow got lost in the editing process. I'll try to work it in next week!]

Download it here, or go directly to the podcast homepage here.

Full Post

Friday Night Fights

Wonder Woman is a born warrior, trained in unarmed combat and the use of a wide range of weapons, and given powers by the gods and goddesses themselves -- but even so, she never stops learning.


Kind of puts the lie to any thoughts of towel-snapping locker-room scenes on Themyscira too, I suppose....

Don't tug on Bahlactus' cape!

[From "Bird Of Paradise/Bird Of Prey!" in Wonder Woman vol. 2 #16 (May 1988). Written by George Perez and Len Wein, pencilled by Perez, inked by Bob Smith, colored by Carl Gafford, and lettered by John Costanza.]

Full Post

New comics 8/13/08

Olivia turned four weeks old yesterday, and will be a month old on Tuesday ... not unlike my current-comics backlog, as it turns out.

I've also been reading a lot of non-superhero comics. I finally got around to The Professor's Daughter, The Plain Janes, and Black Hole, with Bottomless Belly Button on deck.

But yes, the superheroes still dominate, so let's get to 'em.

In Booster Gold #11, guest-writer Chuck Dixon joins regular artists Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund for a light look back at Batman's less-grim days. Batman, you say? Yes; Booster must pose first as Killer Moth and then as the Darknight Detective himself in order to fix the problems one of Dixon's one-shot Detective Comics villains has caused. It's part 1 of 2, and it seems content to gawk giddily at the trappings of '60s Batman and one of his goofier villains. (Killer Moth considered himself the anti-Batman, down to his own set of themed gadgets.) There's the usual drama about A World Without Batman, but we know by now how that sort of thing turns out -- especially in a two-part guest-written arc. It's still fun, though.

Someday soon -- maybe after Bottomless Belly Button and finishing another run through Watchmen -- I'll break out all of the Grant Morrison Batman issues to date. Maybe then I'll have a more informed angle on "Batman R.I.P." In the meantime, though, every issue seems like a mad dash through the storyline, with Morrison throwing out ideas and plot points left and right. Batman #679 finds the "emergency persona" in full effect, busting heads and behaving like a cross between Rorschach (i.e., vigilantism on the cheap) and the Frank Miller parody, with a little "Moon Roach" from Cerebus thrown in. I liked it pretty well, and I think my problem is that I read it too quickly.

Wonder Woman #23 finished the "Ends of the Earth" storyline with a big, brutal fight between Diana and the Devil, with her soul (among other things) at stake. I liked it on its own terms, but I still couldn't follow the changing loyalties and subtle reveals from previous chapters. Fortunately, the issue brought Donna Troy into the romantic subplot involving Nemesis, and let Donna have a good scene involving Amazon ritual.

Assuming we hadn't seen it previously, Action Comics #868 adds The Matrix to the other sci-fi influences writer Geoff Johns and penciller Gary Frank have brought to their ultimate version of Brainiac. While Superman contends with the villain, the more lively parts of the issue involve Supergirl and her soon-to-be-Jonah-Jameson-like rival, Cat Grant. It's all good, though.

Fantastic Four #559 tracks the Human Torch's fight with the New Defenders across Manhattan, while Sue has dinner with Reed's ex-flame and Ben takes his new love to see Johnny perform on "The Late Show." If you think this is mostly an opportunity for Bryan Hitch once again to demonstrate his photorealistic tendencies, you're not far off (although there is no David Letterman cameo, unfortunately). One money shot shows the Fantasticar flying low over Times Square. The issue has a couple of big revelations, one involving Magrathe-- I mean, the "new Earth" -- which is mildly surprising, and the other involving a classic FF foe which recalls both the Walt Simonson issues and JLA/Avengers. If you'd never read a Fantastic Four comic book before, you'd probably think this was pretty cool stuff, but for us lifers, it feels pretty hollow.

Green Lantern Corps #27 holds a hodgepodge of day-in-the-life-of-Oa subplots including the opening of "Guy Gardner's American Cafe" (it's not called that), a visit to the Green Lantern graveyard, and hints of affection between Kyle and Dr. Natu. However, the cover image refers (somewhat inaccurately) to the tragedy which I presume kicks off the next storyline, and it's a gruesome one. Guest penciller Luke Ross (with guest inker Fabio Laguna) has a less distinctive style than regular penciller Patrick Gleason, but considering that this issue is concerned with introductions (Guy's bar, the crypt), I suppose that's okay. I have to say, though, that the aforementioned tragedy seems to fall squarely within the "worthwhile = realistic = gruesome" thinking which DC can't seem to shake. This will sound like an empty threat, but I think I'll be dropping this book if things don't improve after "Black Lanterns."

Batman Confidential #20, Part 4 of the current 5-part Batgirl/Catwoman storyline, was pretty much like the other three chapters, except with Batman replacing the shredded costumes and outright nudity. By that I mean Batgirl isn't necessarily struggling to impress/one-up Catwoman here, but Batman himself. Still pretty entertaining, although Batgirl's dialogue tends to be a little too earnest.

Green Arrow And Black Canary #11 lays out the details of the Plot To Kill Green Arrow, along the way revealing the mysterious mastermind behind it all. Not bad for an expository issue, although I'm not sure it dovetails entirely with the "Countdown was responsible" tone of the first few issues.

I'll be honest: I was ready to declare Final Crisis: Revelations #1 (written by Greg Rucka, pencilled by Philip Tan, inked by Jonathan Glapion et al.) one of the worst comic books I have ever read. The art seemed deliberately ugly and incomprehensible, and the writing depended upon a good working knowledge of recent DC crossovers.

Well, re-reading it, it's not quite that bad. The writing still involves a particular learning curve, but I suppose if you're buying a Final Crisis [Colon Subtitle] book, you're halfway there already. The art isn't a model of clarity, but perhaps it fits the particularly grim mood of the book. This is an issue where Doctor Light dresses up helpless teens as rape-ready superheroines, and where the Spectre subsequently gives him and assorted other supervillains their ironic punishments for the even-more-sordid acts they committed in the course of recent DC crossovers. Furthermore, the story invokes one of the classic responses to an omnipotent character: making him powerless (or not so powerful) against a particular foe. I wouldn't mind it so much here if it hadn't just been used in Countdown To Mystery, although it does make more sense here than there.

Ultimately, though, I'll stick with this miniseries largely out of a need for closure. I hate to say it so bluntly, but at least we won't have Doctor Light to kick around for a while. Maybe by the end of this miniseries we'll have a functional Spectre and/or Question.

Finally, The Last Defenders #6 was a letdown on a couple of levels. First, the big revelation is something of a betrayal of the "non-team" concept. Second, I kinda get Nighthawk's role, but I've been reading those Essential Defenders (halfway through #4!) and does he really need to be validated this much? I guess I was expecting something more subversive. Also, the opening fight choreography was hard to follow.

Three weeks (or so) worth of comics left....

Full Post

Friday Night Fights

The Fourth World takes on the future as the 853rd Century's Justice Legion A invades the Justice League Watchtower!

In case you can't read the captions, Wonder Woman's bracelets are named Harmony and Charity. Harmony, Charity ...


... meet Mega-Rod!


This isn't the only fight, of course; but by the time we check in with these combatants, it's pretty much over.


A particle cannon (with Kirby Dots (TM), even!) might seem like cheating, but hey -- it's not like Wonder Woman didn't know who she might run into, back in the mists of history....



It's always the right time for Bahlactus!

[From "Prisoners of the Twentieth Century" in JLA #1,000,000, November 85,271. Written by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Howard Porter, inked by John Dell, lettered by Ken Lopez, colored by Pat Garrahy.]

Full Post

New comics 7/10/08

I read a good bit of Marvel in the '70s, but I never got into the Marvel Universe the way I did the DC Multiverse. I think that's part of the reason I have such affection for The Defenders. Both book and concept are hard to define, and deliberately so. Therefore, their possibilities are wide open, and they can provide a consistent, perpetual "outsider" perspective because their status quo is constantly changing.

All of that means I'm not quite sure what to make of the latest issue of The Last Defenders (#5 written by Joe Casey, pencilled by Jim Muniz, inked by Cam Smith). On one hand it's clever that our protagonist, Nighthawk, is constantly being foiled in his attempts to re-form the Defenders. They're a non-team, with little "form" anyway. On the other hand, though, the miniseries implies rather strongly that there is a "Platonic ideal" of the Defenders ... which would, paradoxically, defeat the entire purpose of having a non-team. So I'm curious to see how Casey resolves that little conundrum.

I'm still not sold on Jim Muniz and Cam Smith's art. This is a black comedy, and the thick, blocky Ed McGuinness style doesn't quite work. Maybe Kevin Maguire would have been too much to ask for, but he or someone like him could have conveyed both Nighthawk's schlubbiness and the big-super-action aspects of this story. Even so, I'm enjoying the miniseries, and like I said, curious to see how it works out.

Wonder Woman #22 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Matt Ryan) is likewise an arc's penultimate issue, wherein Diana struggles mightily with the dark forces roiling inside her. Pretty good struggle, too, although I got a little lost in all the reversals and betrayals. Lopresti and Ryan continue to turn in good work. It's not over-rendered, and it's well within the Adam Hughes/Terry Dodson-esque style the book favors. However, it's intricate enough in spots to evoke a more ... ornamented? ... feel, and that reinforces the "medieval" barbarian feel which has characterized Diana's quest. Oh, and there's another wacky misunderstanding involving Nemesis and Diana's ape-warrior houseguests. It goes on a bit too long, but ends in a way which I hope forestalls future shenanigans.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of Action Comics #867 (-5309 ... sorry ... written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Gary Frank, inked by Jon Sibal) is its portrayal of Supergirl. She only shows up for a few pages at the beginning, but she comes across very well. She's not a fantasy-teen with an impossibly thin frame; and neither is she mopey and consumed with questions of her place in the world. Instead, she's very believable both as Superman's protege and as someone with personal experiences of her doomed home planet. Much of this comes from Frank and Sibal, who give Kara the body language and expressions first of boredom, and then of creeping dread. For Supergirl, Brainiac is literally the bogeyman, and she's not too far removed from being a frightened child. Here's hoping we see more of this Supergirl in the future.

And yeah, Superman fights Brainiac too, in all its Terminator+Borg implacability. It's a virtually dialogue-free sequence lasting eight pages, and it wisely relies upon the art (no narrative captions, either). I used to be very hard on Geoff Johns, but he's really starting to find a good groove here. I wouldn't be surprised if he's growing more fond of his Action work than he is of Green Lantern, which by now must be very familiar to him.

Speaking of being particularly hard on something, Paul Dini will have to work overtime to convince me that Hush is a credible Bat-villain. His first effort, Detective Comics #846 (pencilled by Dustin Nguyen, inked by Derek Fridolfs) still falls short, although it's due more to Hush than to Dini. See, Tommy "Hush" Elliott was set up as an evil counterpart to Bruce Wayne: a bratty rich kid who tried to kill both parents but who blames Dr. Thomas Wayne (and, by extension, Bruce) for saving his mom's life. So -- stick with me here -- Tommy grows up to be a world-famous surgeon, engineers attacks on Bruce Wayne and Batman through Batman's greatest foes, and for some reason dresses in a trenchcoat, body-suit (with "H" symbol on the left breast), and hey-I'm-disfigured bandages around his head. Maybe he is disfigured now; I dunno. Anyway, Hush struck me as a collection of so-so ideas wrapped into a poor excuse for a supervillain. Consequently, I don't relish the idea of a five-part story focused on him.

However, "Heart of Hush" Part 1 does bring Catwoman back into the main line Bat-books, and Dini, Nguyen, and Fridolfs produce a neat story about Catwoman and Batman trying to bring down a much better idea for a wannabe supervillain, Doctor Aesop. That part of the issue was fun. Who knows, maybe the Hush parts will end up being worthwhile too.

Catwoman is, of course, a big part of Batman Confidential #19 (written by Fabian Nicieza, drawn by Kevin Maguire). This is the first part of the storyline which doesn't dwell on how she and Batgirl are Teh Sexxxay, and I think it allows everyone to settle down and concentrate on the characters themselves. I thought writer and artist had almost been working independently of one another the first couple of issues, so this was a good installment which advanced the plot well and also gave our heroines some good interaction.

I liked Booster Gold #1,000,000 (written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Norm Rapmund) a lot. More about Booster's relationship with Rip than the cover-featured Peter Platinum, it serves as a nice wrap-up to Johns' time on the title. Booster gets closure on what he considers his failures, and an old cast member from the original BG series rejoins. Chuck Dixon comes aboard for two issues before the new writer debuts, and whoever that is will have a lot to live up to.

Green Arrow And Black Canary #10 (written by Judd Winick, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Wayne Faucher) is a Big Fight involving the League of Assassins' super-powered flunkies, Team Arrow, and Batman and Plastic Man. As these things go, it's choreographed well, although I'm not sure how close Dodger (a/k/a Smarmy British Rogue) is coming to Mary-Sue status. At one point, Speedy observes she's got "half the Justice League" on her side, which is a pretty accurate assessment; but the villains are credible enough that they don't go down too quickly.

Finally, of course I bought Trinity #6, but I spend enough time talking about that as it is. So far it's been reliably entertaining, and if it does something especially good or horribly bad, I'll let you know.

Full Post

New comics 6/11/08

Booster Gold #10 (written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Norm Rapmund) feels a little "off" to me, and I don't quite know why. It's probably because there's so much going on. Rip Hunter narrates for a couple of pages, with his Chalkboard Of Destiny (TM) distracting the reader in the background. Booster takes over as the scene switches to the scrum with Max's forces ... and here, I think, is where things get too overloaded. Essentially the rest of the book takes place in and around a big superhero fight involving -- get ready -- a reunited Justice League International (including Guy Gardner, the good Doctor Light, J'Onn J'Onzz, and Batman); Superman; Max Lord; the original version of Despero; the white-ape Ultra-Humanite; Per Degaton; Black Beetle; Ted "Blue Beetle" Kord; Maximillian (the evil Skeets); Booster and his dad; and the Mystery Villain. Oh, and I forgot the interlude with Rip and the time bubble.

Johns and Katz and Jurgens do their best to break out of the fight the important character-based scenes involving Booster and his dad, the Beetles, and the sidekick droids; but even so, there's still a lot going on in the background. In other words, the scenes aren't put in perspective like they should be, so the rest of the players feel like distractions and/or afterthoughts. What's more -- and I admit this may be just me -- I couldn't remember the non-sacrificial function of the vehicle for the eventual heroic sacrifice. (Said sacrifice plays out like Wrath of Khan, or the last Lone Gunmen appearance, by the way.) There's a sacrifice, but I don't know what else it accomplished. We'll find out next issue, I guess.

Anyway, it's not a bad issue, and it may well play out better in context. It's just a frustrating installment for this month.

Most of The Last Defenders #4 (written by Joe Casey, pencilled by Jim Muniz, inked by Cam Smith) finds Nighthawk on the wrong side of just about everybody, as the term "non-team" starts to take on its most literal meaning. I thought it was fine, but once again, there's a lot going on in the background which apparently only has two issues to resolve itself.

Star Wars: Rebellion #14 (written by Jeremy Barlow, drawn by Colin Wilson) wraps up the current story arc with a lot of action, and a little denouement. There's a suggestion that Luke and Deena Shan are a little sweet on each other, and since this is the interstitial period leading up to Empire, I'm all for anything which gets him away from those understandable-but-creepy-in-hindsight feelings he showed for Leia. I have to admit I'm not as up on my Expanded Universe characters as I should be, or else I'd probably be more sympathetic to them. Still, I can accept how the narration builds Deena up, and I always like seeing spaceship combat. Once again the art reminds me of Howard Chaykin's early SW work from thirty years ago, except the brief glimpse we get of Han seems a little too paunchy for the whip-thin Harrison Ford of 1977. Pretty good if you've been with this story the whole way; probably better the more you know.

This month in Batman Confidential (#18 written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Kevin Maguire), Batgirl and Catwoman inch that much closer to making X-rated Internet fanfic mainstream, as they spend the first 10 pages naked from the neck down, fighting in a nudist club. The fact that Maguire draws Babs with all these extremely uncomfortable expressions and retreating body language doesn't make it better. If last month was an excuse for cheesecake, this month drops the pretense ... uh, as it were. As much as I like him, Maguire's figures are just rendered too literally for this extended sequence to be farcical. Maybe someone with a softer style could have pulled it off (what?!? sorry!) better. Cliff Chiang's "Naked Ollie" chases from Green Arrow/Black Canary come to mind, so Chiang or his designated replacement Mike Norton might have done well with this. Anyway, everyone puts their clothes on for the rest of the issue, and I presume the rest of the story. (There's only so many opportunities to play the nude card.) It's pretty entertaining, especially since it focuses on puppies. I am not kidding. It's almost like DC felt like it needed to atone for the nearly-nude scenes with, yes, puppies. So, in summary, come for the cheap thrills, stay for the puppies!

(P.S. DC, if you use that as a blurb, I'd at least like a free copy of the paperback.)

The "Barbarian Queen" scenes in Wonder Woman #21 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Matt Ryan) are fine, but I want to mention the Sarge Steel/Tom Tresser bit which opens the issue. On its own it's good: a typical "walk with me" scene which sets up a few familiar conflicts and advances the plot. However, these are two well-established spy characters who, by virtue of their respective careers, should interact on a higher level. Tom "Nemesis" Tresser had his own backup series in The Brave and the Bold, teamed up with Batman a couple of times, and was in the Suicide Squad; and Sarge Steel was Charlton Comics' answer to Nick Fury. So if this scene involved, say, Dirk Anger and Jimmy Olsen, it'd be easier to take.

As for Wonder Woman, her posse of '70s DC barbarians continues to grow, along with the savagery of her fights. "Losing her grip" is, I think, a fairly radical direction for the character, because it seems like most writers want to portray her as always in control, diplomatic, etc. However, it's still a valid direction; and I think Simone has presented it well. Diana's finding out what she's like without the fundamental sources of her strength. The art in the "barbarian" section is also tighter and darker, with more attention paid to the blacks and a more washed-out color palette (credit colorist Brad Anderson for that). Add a couple of callbacks to Simone's first arc and it makes for a good issue.

Green Lantern Corps #25 (written by Peter J. Tomasi, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Drew Geraci) presents the origin of the Black Mercy plant. It's a sensible, space-opera-y origin which maybe brings in Mongul a little too neatly, but it sends the story in a very Star Trek direction. New inker Geraci fits well with Gleason's pencils, giving them a little more definition in places and even putting a "cartoony" sheen on some of the figures. There's a misplaced word balloon on page 2, and there's more foreshadowing about different-color lanterns, but other than that it's pretty good.

About half of Green Arrow And Black Canary #9 (written by Judd Winick, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Wayne Faucher) features Plastic Man, with the other half showing Speedy and the British guy fighting super-powered bad guys. Thanks to Norton and Faucher, it's all portrayed with a light, breezy tone, which certainly makes some of Speedy's quips easier to take. Norton and Faucher draw a good Plastic Man too -- perhaps even nicer than what cover artist Cliff Chiang might have done. The issue builds to a couple of Dramatic Reveals: the bad guys' employer (which is pretty obvious) and the next guest-star (also not unexpected, but not unwelcome either). I continue to like this book.

Action Comics #866 (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Gary Frank, inked by Jon Sibal) is a heck of a start to the latest Brainiac storyline. The Daily Planet newsroom welcomes Steve Lombard, sports brute; and welcomes back noted innuendophile Cat Grant. Frank and Sibal really lay on the Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder references for Clark and Lois, but it's all good. (Cat looks like she had a familiar model too, but I can't place her.) However, the showpiece of the issue is Brainiac's abduction of Kandor, shown in flashback (naturally) with references to General Zod and Brainiac's Kryptonian origins. To say that Brainiac now = Borg + Alien wouldn't do it justice. It's cold, scary stuff which sets up his threat level very well. Still, there is a bit of Borg plotting in place: Superman defeats a pawn, but the "king" is still out there....

Trinity #2 (written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert) finds the Trinitarians battling personalized threats: rogue solar systems, giant robots, and a mystical metropolis. It's nice to see each handle their own in the space of a few pages or so. Meanwhile, in the second story (written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher), Green Lantern John Stewart fights Konvikt and Graak in a sleepy Massachusetts town square. So far Trinity looks like superhero comfort food, and if it continues like this I suspect I won't have too many bad things to say about it.

Finally, here's Titans #3 (written by Judd Winick, pencilled by Joe Benitez, inked by various people), a frustrating installment of a series which has yet to define itself. Benitez' art has personality, but he doesn't have a handle on these characters. I hate to go all fanboy, but in an early pedeconference scene, all the characters are the same height. At the very least Starfire should be the tallest, but in a long shot she looks shorter than the Flash. Likewise, Beast Boy and Raven should probably be the shortest. These aren't just stylistic choices, they inform the characters' personalities.

The plot of the issue involves the Titans pairing off, with unfortunate results. While there's an in-story explanation, the sad thing is that the book has already established its willingness to "push the envelope" with regard to these characters, so we don't know how much of their behavior was provoked. I'm not saying the Titans should always be hugging, but Winick hasn't done much to lay a foundation for their normal behavior. I'd like to think this book will find its equilibrium sooner rather than later, but it might not happen for a few more months.

Full Post

New comics 5/14/08

I wasn't planning on buying any more of Secret Invasion than I had to, but I was intrigued by the last page of Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1 (written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, pencilled by Barry Kitson, inked by Mick Gray). I won't spoil it for you, but it is a callback to an era I didn't think Marvel was in a mood to revisit. The rest of the issue is standard FF fare, following a Skrull infiltrator's sabotage of the Baxter Building. That's not the real story, though; and that's where the last page comes in. I've not read Aguirre-Sacasa's FF work before, but he does a good job here, getting through exposition about the sabotage and SI generally in an efficient manner. Barry Kitson's work is less cluttered than, say, his Legion pencils, and although Mick Gray has inked him before, the work doesn't seem as rigid. Overall, it's a nice-looking book that will probably work well as a standalone Skrull adventure.

Serenity: Better Days #3 (written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, drawn by Will Conrad) finds the crew having to rescue Mal, which was kind of a surprise to me because I didn't remember the last issue leaving off with that. In fact, this whole miniseries has seemed disjointed, issue-to-issue. It also feels a bit short, like it could have used at least one more installment. Anyway, this one is fine for what it is -- Whedon and Matthews obviously have the characters' voices cold; and Conrad does fine with the likenesses and the storytelling. Maybe in a chunk it will read better, so maybe I should be waiting for the trades instead.

The same may be true for Last Defenders #3 (written by Joe Casey, pencilled by Jim Muniz, inked by Cam Smith), which is starting to veer too much into arcane-Marvel territory for me. I don't have a problem with the dialogue or the art, but I get the feeling that I'm supposed to be more emotionally affected by the plot.

Huntress: Year One #1 (written by Ivory Madison, pencilled by Cliff Richards, inked by Art Thibert) is in a weird position. The modern version of the character has been around for almost twenty years. For much of that time she was a B-list character in the Batman books. She resented Batman for not trusting her (join the club), she teamed up with Robin, and slept with Nightwing. She had two stints in the Justice League, first under Giffen/DeMatteis and then under Morrison. For the past few years, though, she's been a more well-adjusted member of the Birds Of Prey -- a little hardcore on occasion, sure, but more often than not kicking back with a beer after a mission is done.

Therefore, the Helena Bertinelli of H:Y1 is something of an artifact -- all hardcore, no quarter asked, none given. This issue retells the story of her family's murder and casts her in something approaching the Michael Corleone role: she wants to get out, but she's so good at playing the game. The issue itself is told non-sequentially, with different color palettes (wielded by Jason Wright) for different time periods; and that can get a little confusing. There are also quite a few new (or at least unfamiliar) characters, so while we know the outlines of Helena's story, it can be a chore to fit the others' timelines to hers. Madison's dialogue doesn't go over the top too often, and apart from the flashback problems, Richards is a decent storyteller. Overall, it's not particularly bad, but if this were ten years ago, it'd be less of a jolt.

I don't want to sound like an apologist -- or worse, a chauvinist -- but despite the "Catfight Begins Here" tagline on the cover of Batman Confidential #17 (written by Fabian Nicieza, drawn by Kevin Maguire), the issue didn't strike me as an excuse for 22 pages of cheesecake. As an extended chase sequence involving Batgirl and Catwoman, it is basically two attractive women in skintight costumes leaping and jumping and falling and fighting, so ... well, I guess that does sound like an excuse for cheesecake. Still, Maguire doesn't go out of his way not to draw sexy women, and the 22 pages are spent mostly on the mechanics of the chase itself. Nicieza uses dueling narrative captions, the device Jeph Loeb taught me to hate, but since he focuses mostly on the earnest Batgirl, they're used to good effect. Looks like a promising, if inconsequential, story.

Bat Lash concludes with #6 (written by Sergio Aragones and Peter Brandvold, drawn by John Severin with help from Javier Pina and Steve Lieber). I've said it before -- this miniseries was produced fairly well, but on the whole it seemed more like a generic Western than something which would have established Bat's "Maverick"-esque personality. Since this is the end, the bad guy gets his, starting with an entertaining sequence which finds pretty much everyone else in the book throwing things at him. Pina and Lieber draw the climactic pages in a style which is a little cleaner than Severin's, but not incompatible therewith. Actually, I wonder if this is the end for ol' Bat, since the very last panel seems like something of a cliffhanger for someone who might only be familiar with the character through this book. I will say that if Aragones et al. come back for a sequel, I'll probably get it; but I wish this miniseries had had a little more distinctiveness.

Green Lantern Corps #24 (written by Peter Tomasi, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Prentiss Rollins and Drew Geraci) follows our familiar GLs as they track Arisia and Sodam Yat, captives of the Black Mercy. Those of you expecting the familiar ideal-fantasy-fate seen in previous BM appearances may be disappointed here, as the plant has been made a little meaner by Mongul. That's not necessarily bad, though; because honestly, how resonant would Arisia or Yat's ideal fantasy be (as opposed to, say, Kyle or Guy's)? Add a creepy interlude with the Sinestro Corps prisoners on Oa and it's a full issue. However, as hard as it tries, this issue has a very matter-of-fact feel -- almost day-at-the-office -- right up to the last page. That last page redeems it, though.

I don't have much to say about Green Arrow And Black Canary #8 (written by Judd Winick, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Rodney Ramos) except that I liked it. It's a little light on scene transitions, but that could just be me not paying attention. I like Norton and Ramos as replacements for Cliff Chiang, I thought Winick's dialogue was a little cute at times but I can take it, and I liked the misdirection at the end.

Winick's other book this week, Titans #2 (pencilled by Joe Benitez, inked by Victor Llamas), was more of a puzzle. First off, let's make one thing perfectly clear: I've read the Wolfman/Perez Titans. Whenever I continue the Big Titans Project, I'll be getting into the post-Perez years. I've seen Wolfman/Perez pastiches before, most obviously from Devin Grayson and Phil Jiminez. Therefore, I'm not sure the Old New Teen Titans are best served by a return to Wolfman/Perez sensibilities.

However, I don't know that they need Judd Winick and Joe Benitez (or whoever the artist will be next month). This issue finds the Titans -- who refuse to acknowledge that they've gotten back together -- making sure that all the ex-Titans are safe from Trigon's minions. That makes sense. What doesn't make as much sense is Benitez drawing Trigon like Iggy Pop and Raven (in what is basically a dream sequence) like Aeon Flux. In fact, Benitez and Llamas' work looks like the offspring of Sam Kieth and Ed Benes. It's not bad in the sense that it tells the story in an understandable way; but it's not even as "realistic" as Ian Churchill's work was last issue. Still, it has personality. As for the plot, not much happens this issue beyond rescuing Argent in the opening pages and visiting Trigon midway through. I do think this book has potential, but first it has to decide what it wants to be.

Superman #676 (written by Vito Delsante, pencilled by Julian Lopez, inked by Bit) is an "untold tale" of Supes' first meeting with the Golden Age Green Lantern, as the two track down Solomon Grundy on Memorial Day. There's a lot of Greatest Generation-oriented narration, with which I can't argue; but it gets a little obvious after a few pages. The art is similar to the Carlos Pacheco/Jesus Merino style, which is nice, although it's made more 3-D by the color effects of Marta Martinez, and that can get a little overpowering. In the end, though, it tells the story well. This is an issue more for the longtime fan who wants to see the most powerful hero of (current) DC-Earth's Golden Age meet the most powerful hero of "today." That reader will appreciate the nods to DC history which pepper the story, and might forgive the fact that otherwise the story tries a little too hard.

Speaking of DC obscura, Gail Simone is making me hunt through the old Who's Whos for the scoop on the guy behind Wonder Woman #20 (written by Simone, pencilled by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Matt Ryan). He sends Diana on a quest to help a certain public-domain barbarian defeat his famous nemesis. This means new penciller Lopresti gets to draw Diana fighting wolves and barbarians without the benefit of most of her powers. A flashback scene with Etta Candy sets up the quest and lets Simone address the issue of Jodi Picoult's "Naive Diana," who was flummoxed by pumping gas. I liked this issue better than the Khund storyline, although Simone seems to be settling into a groove of "who will Diana fight this month?" She's found the right voice for Diana to do it, though, so I'm not complaining too much.

Booster Gold #9 (written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Norm Rapmund) isn't exactly the perfect superhero-comic single issue, but it does demonstrate how much 22 pages can do. Basically the old Justice League International gang reunited to take down Max Lord and the mind-controlled Superman, it takes Booster and Beetle from a bombed-out Batcave to the final confrontation with the villains behind it all. (Continued next issue, of course.) Jurgens has done evil-alternate-timelines before, and in Justice League America to boot, so this is solid ground for him. Likewise, tweaking Infinite Crisis isn't too hard for Johns. This is an extra-fine storyline, and I'm eager to see how it ends.

Finally, Batman #676 (written by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Tony Daniel, inked by Sandu Florea) begins the long-awaited "Batman, R.I.P." arc with the Club of Villains, the Dynamic Duo taking out a would-be masked villain in about two minutes, a couple of scenes intended to beef up Jezebel Jet's character, and a visit with the Joker which took me a few tries to understand. Each is important not so much for their details, but for their tone. The issue as a whole hints that Batman's "happiness," both with Jezebel and in costume, will be his downfall despite the extent to which he's investigating the Black Glove's organization. If Morrison's basic take on the character is that "Batman always has a plan," this may be the storyline which tests his planning ability. Daniel and Florea convey this all in a satisfactory manner, from the ridiculous (the Green Vulture) to the sublime (the Joker). It's a good start to what is rumored to be a great story.

Full Post

New comics 4/9/08

You might already have seen my lengthy (shocking!) post about Titans #1 and Batman Confidential #16 over at Blog@Newsarama. Regardless, there's still a truckload of new books to go through here.

First I want to mention Green Arrow And Black Canary #7 (written by Judd Winick, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Wayne Faucher). When I saw that Cliff Chiang would be leaving this title, I announced loudly that he was one of the big reasons I was buying the book. If he went, I might just follow him; and how would you like them apples, DC?

Well, as it happens, new artists Mike Norton and Wayne Faucher do their darndest to replicate Chiang's endearing thick-lined style, which is nice. It also doesn't hurt that there's a touch of Mike Parobeck in their work. So, well done all. As long as Norton and Faucher are on the book, I'll be getting it.

As for the story, it may not please readers who think that longtime Justice Leaguers shouldn't comport themselves like they've OD'ed on "Alias" reruns; but hey, I liked it. After Ollie, Dinah, and Mia interrogate the guys they captured last issue, it's off to England for more hijinx in a pub. The story seems to have gotten padded out by at least an issue, but that may be so that Winick can introduce the guy our heroes meet this issue. Anyway, the trail leads back to one of Dinah's old flames, which should be interesting....

I liked a lot of things about The Last Defenders #2 (script by Joe Casey, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencils by Jim Muniz, inks by Cam Smith), but it's hard to describe why. The book isn't so much about this weird little group of "Defenders" as it is about the idea of the Defenders, and I suppose the sense that you can't impose too much organization upon it or it all falls apart. This issue is divided essentially in two: the opening fight scene which picks up from last issue, and the "infiltration" scene which sets up the cliffhanger. Running through the book is a jaunty, smart-aleck attitude where Joe Casey (by his own admission) essentially becomes Giffen's Justice League scripter, following in the keystrokes of J.M. DeMatteis, Bill Messner-Loebs, and Gerard Jones. It's that kind of attitude, and it actually ends up propelling the overall plot. Accordingly, the somewhat chunky, Ed McGuinness-y figures Jim Muniz pencils sometimes seem out of place -- too macho where they should be more comical -- but once we get past an Iron Man whose head seems to be shrinking as we watch, the effect becomes negligible. Revealing the book's villains as a couple of obscure Jack Kirby creations from the '70s doesn't hurt either.

Who wants to bet that Marvel does a "Special Rough Cut!" of Fantastic Four #556 (written by Mark Millar, pencilled by Bryan Hitch, inked by Hitch and Andrew Currie) where the stupid "blizzard" effects are removed? If you've seen the issue you know the problem. If not ... well, let's just say there are probably a half-dozen better ways to depict a snowstorm via sequential art, but obviously none of them looked as "realistic" as just putting random white splotches all over the panels. Especially when said panels depict dozens of tiny superheroes attacking a big red-white-and-blue robot. Thanks, Marvel, for making Hitch's work unreadable. The rest of the book is about like you'd expect; namely, very pleased with itself. I didn't think FF could test my patience any more than the JMS run did, but maybe I was wrong.

Superman Confidential comes to an end with #14 (written by B. Clay Moore, pencilled by Phil Hester, inked by Ande Parks), the conclusion of the Jimmy Olsen/Toyman story. I liked it well enough. I like Hester and Parks' work generally, and this issue hit all the right Toyman, Jimmy, and Superman beats. The story itself wasn't anything special, but it wasn't egregiously bad either.

It was good to see the regular team of Peter Tomasi (writer) Patrick Gleason (penciller) and Prentis Rollins (inker) back in Green Lantern Corps #23. The Boodikka story was only two issues, but it felt like an eternity. However, we're now looking at a few months with Mongul, the Sinestro rings, and a garden full of Black Mercy. This issue introduces that arc, with most of it devoted to summoning Guy, Kyle, Dr. Natu, et al. to Oa for their mission to round up the aforesaid yellow rings. I liked it pretty well. Tomasi has a better handle on the dialogue here than he does in Nightwing, by which I mean that he doesn't seem to be trying as hard to make the characters sound cool. Gleason and Rollins have long since settled into a comfortable groove on this title. The Black Mercy might be getting overexposed of late, but I still have high hopes for this story.

Another Green Lantern shows up in Wonder Woman #19 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Bernard Chang, inked by Jon Holdridge), but since he's unfamiliar to us, Diana spends most of the issue fighting him. It's a good illustration of the "fighting shows the value of not fighting" philosophy that informs the modern take on Wonder Woman, and it has the added advantage of letting Diana go one-on-one with a Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Etta Candy and a couple of Khunds have their own roles to play in deciding the fate of the planet. The art is good, but I still can't put my finger on who Chang's WW looks like. I was also pleasantly surprised at the ending, which I hope has repercussions down the line.

Speaking of repercussions, Booster Gold #8 (written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Norm Rapmund) finds the death-cheating Blue Beetle and Booster Gold teaming up with a motley crew of superheroes to invade Max Lord's headquarters and maybe try to free Superman from Max's mental control. Yeah, good luck with that. Johns and Katz's script is good as usual, and I notice this issue how much more fluid Dan Jurgens' figures have gotten over the course of this series. It's another solid issue of a title which might just make DC's labyrinthine history accessible to (and, more importantly, fun for) the casual reader.

On the other hand, there's Countdown #3 (written by Paul Dini and Sean McKeever, story consultant Keith Giffen, drawn by Freddie Williams II), a Superman/Darkseid fight involving Dark Mary Marvel, a Kryptonite-powered Jimmy Olsen, and the Atom. There's 40-odd pages left in this monster storyline, and they'll pick up on Wednesday with Jimmy Vs. Darkseid. I can't make that sound any better. Freddie Williams, bless his heart, isn't quite the right artist for this throwdown either -- his characters look just a little too goofy for what's obviously meant to be serious business. Well, except for the last page, but I think that on some level that's meant to be serious too ... and if so, that's just sad.

The serious/funny thing is handled much better, of course, in the concluding issue of Groo: Hell On Earth (#4 produced by Sergio Aragones, with help from Mark Evanier, Tom Luth, and Stan Sakai), in which the Sage manages to get everyone lined up so that war is averted and environmental catastrophe is at least mitigated. It's been a fun little story -- somewhat obvious as an allegory, but it's not like Groo has ever been subtle.

Serenity: Better Days #2 (written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, drawn by Will Conrad) finds the crew imagining what they'll do when they're rich, which turns out to be quite entertaining whether presented in single-panel gags or more extended sequences. The art is fine, and Conrad captures the look of the show and its cast well. As was the case last issue, the mechanics of one scene still don't make sense to me after multiple readings, but again, maybe I am slow. Also, the cliffhanger seems a little confusing. I was entertained, but maybe the book isn't technically as good as I thought.

Finally, I did buy Batman: Death Mask #1 (by Yoshinori Natsume), the "look! Bat-Manga!" miniseries, because I try to keep an open mind. I don't read manga, and I don't watch much anime, mostly because I am too busy with other things to give those media any significant attention. However, I will say that this Batman manga doesn't seem very innovative either for Batman or for manga. It certainly doesn't have the energy that a rookie like me might have expected. Instead, it's a black-and-white Batman story told from right to left. Maybe the speed lines and hyperactivity have been toned down for us entry-level readers? That would be understandable, but unfortunately the story isn't much to recommend either. The titular death mask kills people, there's a mysterious woman from Bruce Wayne's past, and Bruce is having strange dreams. But for the format, it'd be an average arc from Legends Of The Dark Knight. I'll keep getting the miniseries to see how it turns out, and to support this kind of cross-pollenization, but so far it looks like a missed opportunity.

Full Post

New comics 3/5/08 and 3/12/08

I've got a lot of these to go through, so I'll try to keep it short.

3/5/08

Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1: Very nice all around. I probably didn't need to see how another Batman/Superman fight would play out, but it's justified as a "lost chapter" of NF. The Robin/Kid Flash and Wonder Woman/Black Canary stories are cute, the period ephemera is well-done, and the behind-the-scenes look at the DVD adaptation is pure eye candy.

Teen Titans Year One #3: Was a little surprised at the pacing of the overall miniseries, as depicted in this issue; but better earlier than later, I guess. Besides, the story's new direction looks intriguing. It's been good so far, so I'm in for the rest.

Supergirl #27: It's an understatement to say that this book hasn't been what I expected. If you remember the Steven T. Seagle/Scott McDaniel run on Superman a few years back, it's kinda like that, except on downers. I'm pretty much buying this book to see if it all makes sense. Plus, I like Drew Johnson and this issue's guest (fill-in?) artist, Rick Leonardi. S'girl isn't frustratingly bad like, say, early Hawkgirl or late Gotham Knights. It's just frustrating.

Countdown To Adventure #7: I read this book for the Adam Strange/Animal Man/Starfire story. I have no idea what's going on with the Forerunner story.

Nightwing #143: I like the fact that writer Peter Tomasi isn't afraid to plug Nightwing firmly into the center of DC's superhero culture. It can get a little precious, and sometimes -- not so much in this issue, but certainly in the last one -- it distracts from the main plot. This issue was fine, but I bet if it were your first DC comic in a while, you'd be mystified.

Detective Comics #842: Batman must deal with an EVIL! suit of armor that he ended up wearing in the Ra's Al Ghul storyline from a couple months back. You know Spider-Man's black costume? Like that, except Batman doesn't destroy it, it doesn't make him dance like a poser, and (so far) it hasn't come to life. I'm not sure why the world needed this story.

Green Lantern #28: The "Lost Lantern's" trial results in the creation of a Red Lantern. Hal has a Clarice Starling moment with Sinestro. We check in with the demons on Ysmault. The Guardians issue a radical new law. I can see how it all fits together, but I know the dots won't be connected for about another year.

Countdown #8: Yay, Ray Palmer's back as the Atom! Yay, Firestorm is back (although whither Martin Stein?)! Yay, Habitat, the Hairies, and the rest of Jack Kirby's Jimmy Olsen creations! Boo, all the bickering and running around pointlessly.

3/12/08

JLA Classified #54: Will probably read better in the trade. Since this is the last installment of the Titus storyline, the "past" narrative takes up the top half of each page, and the "present" gets the bottom half. Sometimes that trick works, sometimes not. Here, it might've been better to split the pages vertically. As for the story, Titus beats the tar out of the League for as long as is dramatically appropriate. The ends on an ecumenical note, which is always nice, but a bit treacly for the Justice League. Overall, though, pretty good.

Batman Confidential #14: Part 2 of a new look at a one-off villain from the '80s, The Wrath. As a modern-style story with an out-of-date setting, it's not exactly a nostalgia-fest. However, I give it points for picking a time period other than "Year One." Otherwise, I'm not sure what the general appeal would be.

The Last Defenders #1: The Defenders are famous as Marvel's "non-team." This book goes a step further, taking pains to point out how its characters are nowhere near as cool as the original Defenders. It's a weird little exercise in obstinance wrapped in a story about white supremacists and big snake-monsters. I'll probably stick with it.

Fantastic Four #555: Boring. Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary are fine craftsmen, but there's still no life in an issue which features an illicit tryst, a duplicate Earth, and a giant killer robot. It's all hat and no cattle.

Superman Confidential #13: Part two of the Toyman/Jimmy Olsen story is okay, and I like Phil Hester and Ande Parks' art, but it feels a bit padded and lethargic. Probably could have used some pruning.

Star Wars: Rebellion #12: Part two of yet another "infiltrate an Imperial base" story that just kinda sits there. Colin Wilson's art reminds me of early Howard Chaykin, and his Luke doesn't look much like Mark Hamill either.

Bat Lash #4: The big apocalyptic issue which sets up the climax. This miniseries has been decent, but it's hard to reconcile all the blood and death with the happy-go-lucky tone which got me interested in the character. (Lots of cattle, but I thought the hat would be different, in other words.) Maybe Sergio Aragones can do it. We'll see.

Countdown To Mystery #4: I continue to like the Doctor Fate story as it plays with the (pretty much inevitable) conclusion that has Kent Nelson become the latest Doctor F. This installment includes the most traditional superhero action we've seen since early on, but the pieces still haven't fallen into place. Most origin stories seem to place the origin alongside another threat, in order to give the new hero something to do in the third act. This one is all about the origin process itself, with Inza's comic-book ventures serving as metacommentary. Makes me miss Steve Gerber that much more. P.S. This book also contains an Eclipso story which is once again threatening to meander.

Booster Gold #7: It's The OMAC Project, Take Two, as we see how Max Lord took over the world once Booster saved Beetle from an (untimely?) death. (By the way, I've just started the second season of "Star Trek Voyager," and Tom and Harry are reminding me a lot of Beetle and Booster.) More subplots converge alongside more trips into DC's nostalgia mine, so for me, pretty good.

Superman #674: New artist Renato Guedes brings a nice "bigness" to the proceedings. Outgoing writer Kurt Busiek brings back an old JLA villain (from just before the Detroit days) to threaten Superman. Meanwhile, Supes has problems with Mon-El and the Kents have a new apartment. It's a full issue which doesn't feel overstuffed.

Wonder Woman #18: Guest artist Bernard Chang helps Gail Simone send WW into space, in what looks like an oblique sequel to the "Space Pirate" storyline from the early '90s. Basically, she's challenged by the Khunds (who act like Klingons) to stop an unstoppable race which threatens Khundia. Also, she gets pre-engaged to Tom Tresser, and Etta Candy shows up too. Chang makes WW look like someone familiar, but I can't think of who. His art is a lot less porntastic than I feared it would be.

Countdown #7: Yet another parallel world, 90% close to the familiar DC-Earth. Another Tom Derenick-pencilled issue too. I swear, this series would be twice as good if it were half as long.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #6: This issue seemed so indebted to "Alias" (the TV show, not the comic book) that I'm starting to think Connor Hawke is the Michael Vaughn designated-victim figure. Remember when Vaughn drowned at the end of Season One, or when he got shot like Bonnie & Clyde at the beginning of Season Five? My money is therefore on Connor to pull through.

Green Lantern Corps #22: Part two of the Boodikka/Alpha Lantern storyline seems pretty forgettable, although it'll probably look a lot more important in 2009. Today, though, I'm tempted to think that all the procedural GLC stuff would fit better in this book than in Green Lantern, with the Boodikka story as a backup.

Full Post

New comics 2/13/08

Well, we're getting settled in here in the Memphis metro area (we're in the 'burbs, actually), and what looks like the main LCS is fairly close to the house, so good news all around. Thanks for all the good wishes, too. I'm looking forward to getting to know the area!

Still, you're not here for the travel tips, and I haven't hooked up the scanner yet, so...

Fantastic Four #554 (written by Mark Millar, drawn by Bryan Hitch) has some good ideas. Sue's Junior League-ish "super-team" is one of them, as is the idea that Alyssa Moy (glad I read the Claremont issues!) is just as good as Reed without being held back by family obligations. Hitch is reliably good, as usual. However, I can't decide whether Millar is ripping off Magrathea, the Quantum Mechanics from Hitch (and Mark Waid)'s JLA: Heaven's Ladder, or both. It's certainly a big enough idea for the FF (as it was for the Justice League), but Millar and Hitch have such matter-of-fact styles that it loses something, somehow, in "translation." I definitely get the idea that the A-games are being brought, but (at the risk of mixing metaphors horribly) their reaches may exceed their grasps.

Spider-Man Family #7 includes a funny, sweet story about the Looter's love for his piece of meteor rock. It's Mark Waid, Todd Dezago, and Karl Kesel's tribute to their late colleague Mike Wieringo, and I really enjoyed it. The rest of the issue reprints the first issue of a Venom miniseries obviously from the '90s, the first issue of a Gwen Stacy flashback miniseries, and a Japanese Spidey story. I'm still working my way through those, and also the bonus materials in Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure. The latter reconstructs the Lee/Kirby story that appeared (in altered form) in FF #108, and of course I can't say anything bad about Lee/Kirby FF.

Bat Lash #3 (written by Sergio Aragones & Peter Brandvold, drawn by John Severin) takes the overall story in a pretty grim direction, and for a story which has featured attempted rape as a major plot device, that's saying something. I do think the villains are made to be suitably evil, but I'm not getting much in the way of characterization from Bat himself.

Was a little surprised to see an Alpha Lantern story in Green Lantern Corps #21 (written by Sterling Gates, drawn by Nelson), since I thought the Alphas' "origin" was still unfolding in the main GL book. Anyway, the spotlight here is on Boodikka, who I believe was introduced in the Gerry Jones era of the very early '90s. Even so, this may be our first look at her homeworld and early life. It's an OK issue -- the main conflicts have to be restated for folks who don't know them already from the other title, and the story-specific conflicts are pretty familiar. Boodikka isn't the first Lantern to suffer the rejection of her old social group. The art isn't bad, but it's not particularly energitic either. However, the plot brings everything together at the end in a fairly new way, and if this is your first Alpha Lantern story it's probably not too shabby.

JLA Classified #52 (written by Roger Stern, pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Mark Farmer) features the present-day League's fight with Titus. It was good, in terms of book-length fight scenes. Every Leaguer got a spotlight, there was a bit of backstory involving an Amazonian prophecy, and it ended on a cliffhanger. Can't ask for much more than that.

I didn't quite know what to expect from Beautie: An Astro City Character Special (written by Kurt Busiek, drawn by Brent Anderson), but I ended up pleasantly surprised by its "Twilight Zone" feel. At first I wondered whether Anderson was just giving Beautie Barbie-like characteristics and mannerisms, so it was a little confusing before I realized that's the way she's supposed to look. Once I got past that, I realized how unnerving she would be even among the other AC characters, and that discomfort helps to define her. Overall, I thought it was a good standalone story, and it doesn't quite matter that it might not have much to do with the overall AC mega-plot.

Superman #673 (written by Kurt Busiek, drawn by Jesus Merino) wraps up the Insect Queen storyline with a bit of super-power use that made me, and no doubt other readers, think "it doesn't work that way!" I didn't dislike this storyline, because it built the IQ up as a credible threat, gave Lana something productive to do, and had some good scenes with Chris Kent ... but really, heat vision doesn't work that way, does it? As for the art, Merino has some of the same issues with choreography and poses that Peter Vale does, but overall he did a good job.

I liked Wonder Woman #17 (written by Gail Simone, drawn by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Ron Randall) pretty well, but I couldn't figure out why one Amazon appears to suffer a couple of mortal wounds on one page and then turns up somewhat less than dead shortly thereafter. Misdirection, I guess; which is how we get suspense. Anyway, this is more of Wonder Woman being the toughest person in the room (or in the jungle, or on the beach), as she intimidates the Nazis off Themyscira and then takes out the four Amazons who've wanted her dead since her birth. I was also surprised by the revelations about Etta Candy, who I guess got Superboy-punched somewhere along the way. Thought Ron Randall meshed pretty well with the Dodsons, too.

Green Arrow/Black Canary #5 (written by Judd Winick, drawn by Andre Coelho) was okay. Essentially a flashback about Connor Hawke's childhood, it also includes Ollie and Dinah's real wedding and sets up what looks like the next main storyline (which may well involve Connor's being healed). The flashbacks are rooted in the core of Ollie's character, which is (I think) the conflict between his extreme self-centeredness and his perpetual desire to make up for same. In other words, Ollie's a jerk who realizes his shortcomings about ten seconds too late. If you can get past that, he becomes more sympathetic, and these flashbacks probably become easier to take. Otherwise, there's probably no way you keep reading this book. Art was pretty decent -- kind of like Cliff Chiang, but with thinner, harsher lines.

Most of the action's on Apokolips in Countdown #11 (written by Paul Dini and Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, story consultant Keith Giffen, pencilled by Mike Norton, inked by Mark McKenna), but nothing much happens. Oh sure, Brother Eye and OMAC mow down para-demons, and Holly, Harley, and Mary fight a new (and probably less-powerful) batch of Female Furies, and Karate Kid gets some action as well, but I don't get the same sense of plot advancement from this issue that I did from the Earth-51 story which ran through the January installments. Art is good, because I think Norton and McKenna are capable storytellers with a clean, appealing design sense. Other than that the book has the same problems it's always had: it assumes you're in this for the long haul and it doesn't need to explain anything.

Finally, I wasn't surprised by the cliffhanger at the end of Booster Gold #0 (written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Norm Rapmund), because I'd seen the solicitations for future issues. Besides, no good can come of Booster's time-mucking. I did like the Zero Hour elements, though, especially the notion that this was the "Zero Month" issue which re-told Booster's origin. Unfortunately, I'm not getting the sense of camaraderie and joie de vivre that I should be from the return of the Blue and Gold team. Ted's just too serious -- understandably, I think, since he's just faced his own death. Maybe next month, when they're dodging OMACs, they'll be funnier.

Full Post

New comics 1/23/08

This is only tangentially related to the story, but while reading Wonder Woman #16 (written by Gail Simone, pencilled by Terry Dodson and Ron Randall, inked by Rachel Dodson and Randall) I wondered why the "swimsuit" costume ostensibly lets people take WW less seriously, when (say) Tarzan, Namor, Hawkman, Hercules, and other notable men can expose lots of skin to combat without such repercussions.

A scene in WW #16 has Diana stride ashore, loaded with weapons, and calling the Nazis out -- but she's not wearing the armor, helmet, cape, etc., which writers and artists since George Perez have used to signal that the serious butt-kicking is about to begin. Instead, she's wearing a slightly sturdier-looking version of her usual costume (or maybe it's supposed to be the usual costume and the Dodsons just draw it to look sturdier). To me, that says she doesn't care how exposed she might look -- because how she looks will have no bearing on the hurting she's about to administer. It's like my response to the Batman-needs-body-armor argument: isn't he that much more impressive in an ordinary cloth costume?

The issue itself was quite good: Hippolyta's bodyguards' motivations are understandable, Diana is a great presence, and Ron Randall's art assist meshes nicely with the Dodsons' work. The Nazis are a bit two-dimensional, but then again, they are just Nazis.

Countdown #14 (written by Paul Dini and Tony Bedard, story consultant Keith Giffen, pencilled by Tom Derenick, inked by Wayne Faucher) continued the title's upward swing, but again I think this Earth-51 arc only illustrates what might well have been its major flaw. Since all of January has been consistent -- same creative team, same story focus -- it's had a chance to build some dramatic momentum. Granted, the story isn't objectively that innovative, but it's still not as choppy as the past few months have been. I'm also digging the Batman & Red Robin team -- the suits look good together, kinda like the old Earth-2 "grown-up Robin" costume did, or even the Chris O'Donnell and Kilmer/Clooney suits. (Without nipples, of course.)

I didn't realize She-Hulk vol. 2 #25 (written by Peter David, pencilled by Shawn Moll, Adriana Melo, and Val Semeiks, inked by Victor Olazaba, Mariah Benes, and Dave Meikis) was supposed to be an anniversary issue until I got to the backup stories and the OHOTMU pages. Pretty entertaining all around, although I don't understand why Man-Elephant got the spotlight he did. I had been thinking about dropping the book, but I'll stick around for at least another month.

Crime Bible #4 (written by Greg Rucka, drawn by Diego Olmos) was very good. I liked Montoya's relationship with Rodor, I thought the story's central mystery was structured quite well, and I liked the denouement with the main villain. Like Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano on Gotham Central and Jesus Saiz and Chris Samnee on Checkmate, Olmos is yet another thick-lined, minimalist-realistic, blacks-heavy (I'm just making up terms here) artist working with Rucka, and it's always a good pairing.

It's too bad JLA Classified (#51 written by Roger Stern, pencilled by John Byrne, and inked by Mark Farmer) has been cancelled, because this issue is exactly the kind of thing I'd have loved to have seen more of. It's a flashback to the era of the original League, and it informs the overall arc's present-day plot, but it works pretty well on its own. A behemoth named Titus is taking the First Commandment pretty personally, destroying religious sites all over Earth, and the JLA (with help from occasional members Superman and Batman) has its hands full stopping him. Stern and Byrne can do this kind of story in their sleep, of course, so it's the little things which catch my eye: the Arrowplane, the Weapons Master's robot, a mention of "Spaceman X," the 1968 Batmobile. It's comfort comics.

There's a lot going on in Countdown To Mystery #5. Bruce Gordon spends much of the "Eclipso" story (written by Matthew Sturges, pencilled by Chad Hardin, inked by Dan Green) trying to figure out how much SCIENCE! he can do with Eclipso's powers, before he goes too deep into the Dark Side and reawakens ol' pointy-ears. It features more exposition on recent Eclipso history, fights with evil critters which apparently the Spectre can't automatically wipe out, and an omniscient narrator (much appreciated). Hardin and Green's art is clear and sharp, and by "sharp" I mean you could get a paper cut from some of Green's lines. It serves the story well, though, keeping the reader on edge (no pun intended).

The "Doctor Fate" story (written by Steve Gerber, pencilled by Tom Derenick and Shawn McManus, inked by Wayne Faucher and McManus) is also pretty dense with meanings, since Fate reads Inza's comic book work to get some clue into her psyche. Apparently she wrote and drew a Hellboy-meets-Spawn horror comic which might reveal her inner turmoil, or might not. Either way, the new Fate finally learns a startling (to him) secret about the Doctor's past, but we'll have to deal with that next month.

Superman Confidential #11 (written by Darwyn Cooke, drawn by Tim Sale) wraps up the title's inaugural "Kryptonite" story, as we all learn why the big chunk of Kryptonite has been narrating the whole thing. That's basically it -- it's kind of anticlimactic. Don't know how it reads as a whole ... probably a post for another day.

Finally, I liked Teen Titans #55 (written by Sean McKeever, pencilled by Jamal Igle, inked by Ruy Jose and Jimmy Palmiotti) quite a bit more than I did the noisy, crowded "Titans of Tomorrow" arc which preceded it. Much of this is probably because of Igle, whose work is always good, but I got the feeling that this issue gave McKeever more room to spread out. As the cover indicates, the spotlight is on Robin and Wonder Girl, who explore their relationship for most of the issue. Ravager steals a couple of scenes, though, and the way she plays off Kid Devil and Blue Beetle is entertaining too. Overall, it's a good slice of soap-opera, as you might expect from a teen-superhero team book. I was iffy about McKeever on this title, but as long as he can keep this up, I'll be happy.

Full Post

New comics 10/17/07

Since I'll probably never have the opportunity to do it again, let's lead off with Aquaman: Sword Of Atlantis #57 (written by Tad Williams and drawn by Shawn McManus), another comma of a last issue. It doesn't leave the reader hanging as badly as the final issues of Gotham Central or the latest Firestorm, but it's pretty noncommital.

With the globe-threatening problems taken care of as of last issue, #57 finds our cast embroiled in a hostage situation which turns into an opportunity to explore Arthur's true origins. Yes, Arthur is more connected with Orin than we might have thought; but anyone expecting the dramatic return of the "real" Aquaman may well be disappointed. In fact, I was kinda expecting that, considering that this was the book's last issue and all, but ignoring the character's upcoming role in Outsiders. That'll teach me to take my eyes off the bigger picture.

Speaking of pictures, the art is fairly effective, although McManus draws a less beefy Cyborg than I'm used to. I don't fault his storytelling, but I can't decide whether his figures are inconsistent, or just drawn to suit the emotion of the particular situation.

Otherwise, the issue itself is pretty transitory, answering some questions (yes, Narwhal looks to be who I thought he was) and raising others (whither Tempest?). Ultimately, it leaves Arthur (or "Joseph," by the end) in a more unsettled place than he was before, and that's not how I like my endings. If the current Aquaman doesn't parley his Outsider status (double-meaning probably intended) into a devoted fan following, I predict another "Aquaman: Rebirth" storyline before too long.

I didn't expect Checkmate #19 (written by Greg Rucka, pencilled by Joe Bennett, inked by Jack Jadson) to set up Salvation Run as much as it has, but in hindsight that shouldn't be a surprise. It's more political maneuvering, executed most skillfully by Amanda Waller and King Faraday in service of their SR-anticipating plans. Pointing up the connections between ex-Justice Leaguers and Waller's old Suicide Squad associates is a nice way to recall the roles of, and possible tensions between, those groups. Perhaps it also reminds readers that Justice League International (both the team and the comic) didn't take its mission too seriously, or at least not as seriously as Waller's Squadders. Anyway, as usual, Rucka does a great job laying out the motivations and keeping everything straight for the reader. Bennett and Jadson's work (assisted by Travis Lanham, I think, on colors) is suitably moody, but clean and direct enough that we can tell one "normal" person apart from another. A fine issue that has me eager for more.

The double-page spread from Justice League of America #14 (written by Dwayne McDuffie, pencilled by Ed Benes, inked by Sandra Hope), showing Wonder Woman, Black Canary, and Vixen strung up in some high-tech torture device, does look a bit excessive -- and that, aside from its unnecessary hypersexualization, is the point. Luthor wants to get Superman mad by showing the cruelties being inflicted on the other Leaguers, but Black Lightning successfully gets him to dial back his rage. That's pretty much it for the issue -- a lot of posturing and grimacing, which seems atypical for McDuffie and doesn't serve Benes' strengths well either. I can accept this issue as part of the larger storyline, but next issue's finale will have to do some heavy lifting to make up for it.

Not as much blatant cheesecake as you might have expected in The Brave and the Bold #7 (written by Mark Waid, pencilled by George Perez, inked by Bob Wiacek), a story which teams Wonder Woman and Power Girl. It's skillfully done, and it ties tangentially into the larger Book Of Destiny storyline, but its core is very familiar. While I liked it, there were a couple of things that bugged me. First, characters' faces seemed a little off in spots. I don't know if this is Perez experimenting or some trick of Wiacek's inking, but in places they looked more like a Perez/Bob McLeod combination. Second, Waid's "Look, up in the sky" joke walks a very thin line between working and not. Still, for the most part everyone does good work. I especially want to mention colorist Tom Smith, who gets to play with large-scale toys like the various environments, and small details like Power Girl's eyes (which, by the way, are up here...).

I've been buying Spider-Man Family (#5 written and drawn by various people) mostly for its offbeat, "generic Spidey" stories which have been pretty good. However, this issue's lead, written by Kevin Grevioux and drawn by Clayton Henry, didn't really do it for me. For one thing, guest-star Doctor Strange is deprived of his powers, and compensates with some ill-advised martial arts and telekinetically-animated blades. That made it seem more like the Doctor Strange animated movie, and thus not like the "real" Doc. Also, Doc gets the thankless thought-balloon speech where he notes that Spider-Man "is the definition of 'hero'" because he fights against the long odds, etc. The art is fine. The second original story, written by Dana Moreshead, pencilled by Eduardo Garcia, and inked by Roger Bonet, has Kraven leading Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan stand-ins on an urban safari. It's cute, but not that distinguished.

Captain America #31 (written by Ed Brubaker, drawn by Steve Epting) kicks off Act 2 of "Death of the Dream" with the Winter Soldier being tortured by Doctor Faustus and Sharon Carter struggling with the knowledge of her role in Cap's death. Most of the WS's torture involves tweaked "memories" of his time in The Big One with Cap, designed to turn him against his old mentor. Meanwhile, the Falcon, the Black Widow, and Tony Stark compare notes on Sharon and Cap's death. It was an effective issue that set up a decent cliffhanger. I especially like the way Epting captures the way the Red Skull gets giddily deranged on power.

Countdown #28 (written by Paul Dini and Tony Bedard, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencils by Al Barrionuevo, inks by Art Thibert) was decent. It covered a lot of ground, including (deep breath) Forager and Jimmy Olsen; Piper and Trickster escaping the Feds; Mary Marvel examined from afar by Shadowpact; weird visits with Brother Eye; and more fighting between the Challengers, the Crime Society, and the Extremists. I think it's found its level, which is to be a somewhat generic-looking comic whose periodical frequency and plot-point maintenance are its determining factors. If it leaves you one step closer to the end, one Wednesday at a time, it's done its job.

Finally, Bedard writes Birds Of Prey #111 (drawn by Jason Orfalas), the in-person showdown between online adversaries Oracle and the Calculator. It was good, with the suspense coming from the fact that if Oracle's face were known, her usefulness would be effectively ended. Calculator therefore has to look a little stupid and/or short-sighted not to put the pieces together, but who knows -- maybe he's just what they call "book-smart." Apart from that, Bedard's script is pretty clever. Orfalas' work fits with the style of regular artist Nicola Scott -- thin, clear lines, maybe closer to Ethan Van Sciver, but that's still good.

Full Post

Friday Night Fights

A somewhat spoilery scene from this week's The Brave and the Bold #7:

Power Girl's been possessed by Doctor Alchemy, and s/he's turned the Fortress of Solitude into Red Kryptonite, crippling Superman. What's more, she doesn't think there's any way Wonder Woman can sneak up on her -- that is, until something crashes through the wall....



The Invisible Plane gives Diana the perfect setup for a SUCKA PUNCH!

... (ahem) that is, as I understand the term.

Close enough, Bahlactus?

[From "Scalpels and Chainsaws," The Brave and the Bold vol. 3 #7, December 2007. Written by Mark Waid, pencilled by George Perez, inked by Bob Wiacek, colored by Tom Smith, lettered by Rob Leigh.]

Full Post

Thursday Night Thinking

First, a page's worth of context.



See, because Clark "thinking" with his ... well, never mind ... probably wouldn't have counted with Diamondrock.



Good thing he woke up ready for some regular good ol' wholesome THINKING!

[From "The Mummy Strikes," Superman vol. 2 #5, May 1987. Written and pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Karl Kesel, colored by Tom Zuiko, lettered by John Costanza.]

Full Post

New comics 10/10/07

Let's start this roundup with Green Arrow And Black Canary #1 (written by Judd Winick, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colored by Trish Mulvhill). I will admit freely that my purchase of this book comes from two major factors: DC's marketing plan, and Cliff Chiang. I bought the various "wedding specials" because they looked pretty decent, and even with all its faults I was intrigued by the wedding-night cliffhanger. (Plus I really liked Amanda Conner's work on that issue.) However, even with all of that, I probably would have resisted this issue were it not for the presence of Mr. Chiang. I liked his Detective and Spectre issues, but the "Dr. 13" story really won me over.

Chiang brings that same kind of spirit to this issue. His characters are incredibly expressive (sometimes to the point of exaggeration, as in the Dr. 13 story), but where, as with Black Canary here, the focus is on the shifting moods of a central character, that talent pays dividends. Chiang also has to deal with a good amount of guest-stars, including Batman, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Green Lantern, as well as a number of cameos. There are flashbacks too, and a fight scene, but it's all organized quite well, and everyone gets their own bit of personality.

Of course, Chiang's work is based on Winick's script, which is dialogue-heavy but actually finds room for a third-person omniscient narrator. What's more, it eschews first-person narrative caption boxes, so we're not distracted trying to match up thoughts with characters. It still doesn't explain why Dinah had to kill her attacker, but the arc isn't over yet. Yes, the issue does have nods to DC's latest round of Big Events (Amazons Attack, mainly), but the story doesn't depend on the reader's familiarity with them. Thanks to the flashbacks, it probably doesn't depend that heavily on all the wedding-buildup specials either. Overall, a good first issue, and I'll probably be with the book at least as long as Chiang is.

Next up is Booster Gold #3 (written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by Norm Rapmund), wherein Booster goes to the Oooold West (Yee-haw!) to team up with Jonah Hex. Basically, the task here is to save the doctor who'll deliver Jonathan Kent's great-grandfather, and thus ensure that Superman's timeline is secure. Before that, though, the issue advances a subplot involving Booster's slacker ancestor and a nosy reporter, and there's an incongruous one-page interlude flashing back to Booster and Blue Beetle III during Infinite Crisis. Also, there's another cameo by Team 13, which is nice. (Buy Architecture And Mortality!!) The 52 chronology-captions are gone this issue, maybe because we're in the 19th Century for half of it; but I kind of miss them. The pathos of Booster's current setup is also absent this issue. Anyway, it's not bad, and it's about what you'd expect -- a well-produced time-traveling superhero story.

I kinda liked Countdown #29 (written by Paul Dini and Adam Beechen, breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencilled by Manuel Garcia, inked by Mark McKenna) because it begins with the capture of the Challengers Of Beyond by Lord Havok and the Extremists. That's the A-story this week. Over in the other plots, the Newsboy Legion has a welcome reunion with Jimmy Olsen, Harley and Holly survive their trip to Themyscira, Mary Marvel goes further into the dark side, and Trickster and Piper enjoy diner food with Double Down, a villain unfamiliar to me. Oh, and the cover-featured Karate Kid gets one page with Brother Eye. Anyway, I liked the issue because it felt cohesive, like a complete unit of storytelling. The Havok/Challs story had its start and (putative) finish in this issue, and the other vignettes did good jobs of advancing their respective storylines. (Good thing, too, because we're just two weeks from the end of CD's first half.) Garcia and McKenna helped a lot, along with Rod Reis on colors, by giving their characters weight and presence.

Superman #668 (written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Rick Leonardi, inked by Dan Green) begins "The Third Kryptonian," which as we all know comes with an asterisk because it doesn't count Chris Kent, Power Girl, Krypto, or the Kingdom Come Superman (over in JSA). Anyhoodle, it changes out Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino for Leonardi and Green, and while the styles may be different (Leonardi is more "cartoony" than Pacheco), Busiek's sure-footed scripting is a constant. Man, I hope he's on this title for a long time to come. You've probably seen the previews with Chris Kent and Robin, and the whole issue's like that. Busiek's concerned with the logistics of making Superman a viable, believable character, but it's all in the service of a well-told story. "T3K" itself looks pretty straightforward -- an intergalactic bad guy wants revenge on Krypton's legatees -- but that's not a knock. If Leonardi and Green are on the book for the long haul too, that's all good. Their work is like a cross between Walt Simonson and Scott McDaniel, so I approve heartily.

Leonardi also pencils JLA Classified #44 (written by Justin Gray, inked by Sean Phillips), basically an extended trip through J'Onn J'Onzz's head via his memories of the Justice League. I like Leonardi and Phillips separately, but here they don't complement each other, with Phillips' inks making Leonardi's pencils look looser. I also got hung up on the continuity issues these kinds of flashbacks create. While that's addressed somewhat in the context of the story, it's still a pretty pedestrian "no one trusts the Martian" tale.

As it happens, no one trusts the Amazons after Amazons Attack, so here we are with a fill-in for Wonder Woman #13 (written by J. Torres, pencilled by Julian Lopez, inked by Bit). The main plot involves a protest outside the museum where Wonder Girl's mom works, but there's also a scene where Sarge Steel channels Jonah Jameson, and a more supportive encounter with the Justice Society. It's all pretty familiar. The art is good for the most part, although Lopez seems to want Diana to pose suggestively, giving us a butt-shot to start off page 13 and then a couple of boob-thrusting panels further down the page. Anyway, Gail Simone starts next month.

Fantastic Four #550 (pencilled by Paul Pelletier, inked by Rick Magyar) may be writer Dwayne McDuffie's last issue, which would be a shame. It certainly feels like a wrap-up, and there's even a farewell dinner at the end. Everything gets tied in pretty well, although I have to say I had to remind myself that Reed and Sue were studying the aliens featured herein. There was also a lot of technobabble (and eventually mysto-babble) describing the exact threat to creation. Still, a lot of balls to juggle, and no real slips, so McDuffie, Pelletier, and Magyar go out on top -- unless this wasn't their last, in which case I'll be happy for at least another month.

Finally, I talked a bit about Green Lantern #24 (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Ivan Reis, inked by Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira) over on B@N this week, but I'll go into more depth here. This is the big Sinestro Corps Vs. Earth issue that sort-of renders the Cyborg Superman Special redundant. By that I mean you don't need it to tell you the Sinestros are cutting swaths of destruction through the East Coast. Reis brings the same kind of detailed carnage to this issue that he did in Rann-Thanagar War, and thanks to the colors of Moose Baumann, it's made that much clearer. There are many crowd scenes, including double-page spreads for the Sinestros and the GLs, but none of them look crowded. There are rah-rah moments, which are appropriate given the series of little defeats the GLs have endured so far. It's a very effective installment of "The Sinestro Corps War," and it clears the decks for the big blowout which is sure to come next issue.

Not that there aren't problems. John's "stay black" line comes out of nowhere, and the way the issue reads, Kyle doesn't need the painting to get out of Parallax. That also seems a little easier to do this time around, but I suppose it has to do with Parallax's attention being divided. The notion that Alan Scott might be open to killing the Cyborg Superman is also a little disquieting, more so than the Green Lanterns having the lethal-force playing field leveled.

From what I know about Geoff Johns, though, I will say that it must be big of him, a loyal Michigan State alum, to put a U. of Michigan logo on Guy's power battery. If the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry is as fierce as, say, Auburn/Alabama or Kentucky/Louisville, that takes guts.

Full Post