Bursting with Enthusiasm

Wow! That was a heck of a good week for me...not a clunker in the bunch.

First we start with the next episode in the Great Fables Crossover, with the Literals #l, although it is actually third in a series of nine. I hope that lots of people are picking this up, because it's pretty good, really, although an explanation to someone who ISN'T reading Fables or Jack of Fables, would be incredibly convoluted. But the Creator of all the Fables has rediscovered his identity...and he's bored, and wants to come up with a new spin on the Universe. Naturally, the Fables and various other literary manifestations, not to mention some others, are against this idea.

You won't BELIEVE what he does to Bigby!

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, #4 of 5. Geoff Johns writes it, and George Perez draws it, and oh, what the heck, I enjoyed it. We finally get an explanation of Bart's return, and why exactly he's young again. It makes perfect sense to me. Superbrat Prime is being his usual charming self, and the Brainiacs have a cunning plan. Oh, and there is time travel and an interesting twist. What's NOT to like?

Green Lantern #40, and the shit well and truly hits the fan.

Blackest Night #0. Technically speaking, this is supposed to be out on Saturday, for Free Comics Day, but my beloved Comic Book Store Proprietor took pity on me, after I fluttered my eyelashes at him, and made pouty noises. I may be getting long in the tooth, but by God, I still have SOME Feminine wiles. It's quite nice of course, and has art by Ivan Reis, so I'm QUITE happy.

Justice Society of America is the farewell issue I believe, for Geoff Johns, and it is a nice little change of pace from all the mayhem, with Courtney's belated Birthday party. The artwork by Dale Eaglesham is simply gorgeous of course, and I have to admit that I even started to tear up...just a tiny bit, at Wildcat's confession to Wildcat Jr.

"I'd be YOUR sidekick any day of the WEEK, you Pain in the Ass!"

Truly, words to live by.

Get it. It...it's sweet, dammit.

Trinity #48. Whew, we're in the homestretch now, by God! Krona receives something of a surprise.

Wonder Woman#31. I can honestly say, that I did NOT see that coming, with the identity of Genocide. Whew! Also, I loved her reunion with Nemesis, and the fact that she didn't want to mention that the back of his hospital gown was open the whole time as he was walking away from her. Obviously, being in the Justice League, and having FINE asses like Hal's and John's around, has given her a taste for Male pulchritude...at least when it comes to hindquarters.

...Where was I? Oh, some other good stuff happens too.

I wish that ALL my comic weeks were as good as this one!

Sweet Sweet Wednesday

Ah, my favorite day of the week. And we managed to have a beauty today, having gotten past the 90 degree weather here in lovely New England. I like summer, but I just thought that I was actually going to have a little bit of Spring first. But the temperature is back to normal, and the tulips and the daffodils are blooming like made, and goshdarn it, I am in a helluva good mood.

So, I thought I would share this little gem with those among you with discerning tastes.



Isn't it purty? It's by Ethan Van Sciver, and of my favorite red-headed maniac. And look, there's Ice!

I just may swoon.

And Speaking of Star Sapphires...!

Here is the nice page from DC's Source.



That's a whole lot of pink. Er...violet.

I do like the fact that all of the costumes are not exactly alike. Miri remains my favorite, because she's just so darned...cute. R'amey Holl sort of cute. Let's face it, Pat Gleason sure can do cute.

I sure hope that Ferris Air has some sort of set up that allows it to operate while the owner is off in Space doing her thing. I suppose when you come right down to it, the DC Universe must have all sorts of interesting legal thingamajigs in place to take care of things, such as who the heck is actually running Wayne Enterprises, or Kord Industries? Or Dinah's Flower shoppe for that matter. Maybe it is something that they set up with Oracle?

Ahem.

I must confess to having rather a soft spot for the Zamarons. They must have gotten AWFULLY fed up with the Guardians back in the day, when the little blue munchkins decided that emotion was for the birds and all of that. They probably didn't pick up their socks either. That sort of thing can wear on a woman.

I do wonder how Carol is going to interact with Queen Aga'po, once she's back to hanging out with the rest of the Sapphires. Since Carol did several stints of service as their nominal "Queen", it could get interesting. Or was Aga'po Queen all of the time, and the Zamarons were just humoring poor Carol. It could have even been their version of hazing for all we know. Or maybe they just really liked sticking it to the Green Lanterns, and thusly, to the Guardians a bit. Can't you just see them sitting around and drinking cosmopolitans and laughing their asses off, talking about Carol chasing Hal? Now THAT could be one heck of a mini-series.

What ABOUT Cowgirl?

Hal Jordan's latest inamorata, is the lovely Gillian, aka Cowgirl. She flies a jet, she drinks beer, she wears cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, and wouldn't know a dirty martini if it walked up and bit her in the ass. She's the rootinest, tootinest little ol' gal you ever did see, and she and Hal are humping like bunnies.

However...I'm beginning to wonder just a tiny little bit...if she's really enough of a CHALLENGE for Hal. If there is one thing that our Mr. Jordan likes, it's a challenge, and I'm thinking that Cowgirl may have been just a bit too easy for Hal to woo.

From the very first time she shows up, although he's appearing as a Green Lantern and not as a handsome dashing test pilot, she nevertheless, is all over him. Remember the whole "the green is hot and the black is cold" thingie with his uniform? You don't figure that out, unless your stroking him. And really, who can blame her?

Then they get shot down together, and he gets to do his whole gallantry bit. Then she gets shot down AGAIN, and he gets to actually RESCUE her this time, which of course, appeals enormously to someone like Hal. She's also figured out that he's actually Green Lantern, which I suppose makes her smarter than Carol.

Or is she? I'm pretty damned sure that Carol figured out who Hal really was, YEARS ago, but she was also smart enough to realize that Hal loved the whole dual identity bit...so she was probably just humoring him.

But Gillian seemed to fall into Hal's arms awfully quickly and easily, at least in comparison to Carol. But can it last? Plus there is the concept, that in so many ways, she is basically a female version of Hal. I know that Hal has strong degree of narcissim in his personality, but even HE might find it a bit cloying after a while. If he wanted a sassy blonde pilot, I've always believed that he could have a hell of a lot more fun with Lady Blackhawk.

Carol of course, went and got married, and since Hal actually does have a few morals, he backed off. He didn't actually go after Kari Limbo after all, until he thought that Guy was dead, for example. Granted, he only waited five minutes, after he thought that Guy was dead, but he DID wait. BUT...Carol went and got herself a divorce, and you can't tell me, that that didn't start the wheels turning and churning in Hal's head. Besides he enjoyed that whole Star Sapphire cat fight just a bit too much.

And really, let's be frank. Carol is way hotter than Cowgirl.

It's Gonna Be a Green Summer

Who's looking foreward to Blackest Night? I'M looking foreward to Blackest Night! I haven't been this excited since the Sinestro Corps War, a couple of summers ago. It's about time that the Green Lanterns got some love. I mean, I LIKE Batman and Superman and Wonder Woman, but it seems as though they get all of the attention sometimes. Well...at least Batman gets all the attention.

But here we have things kicking off in May, with the Free Comics Day offering of the Zero issue of Blackest Night, and then the whole crossover REALLY getting going in July. We also have the animated version of Green Lantern coming out July 21st. Hollywood is working on a live-action version of Green Lantern, that should hopefully be out next year. Green Lanterns have shown up in the animated "Brave & the Bold" cartoon. Beau Smith is supposed to be doing a Green Lantern Annual this year. Beau Smith!

Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps have two of my favorite writers, with Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi. They have two of my favorite artists with Doug Mahnke and Pat Gleason. More excellent artists, such as Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Philip Tan are working on Blackest Night.

It...it's as though DC is doing all of this JUST FOR ME!!! And I really haven't been having a torrid affair with Dan Dideo!

It's just an excellent time to be a Green Lantern fan.

Oh What the Heck

Boy howdy, is my mind a complete blank. This working for a living thing is HARD! Nevertheless, comics are indeed a cruel mistress, and I must obey. So, here's a picture of Kyle with no clothes on.



Hah! I thought that would grab your attention! And yes, that's Batman, who shows up to give Kyle a few home truths, and try to scare the crap out of him in the bargain.

I wonder if Batman ever showed up unannounced in Hal's bedroom? He probably would have gotten a hell of an eyeful if he did.

Thursday's Reviews of Wednesday's Books

There were actually some pretty good books coming out this week, so I am all a'twitter.

Firstly, we have Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert's Detective Comics #853, which is the second half of his "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader" story, and although a bit delayed, it is...Super! The art is lovely of course, and as usual, Gaiman presents an interesting and tightly interwoven story. It also manages to combine "Goodnight Moon" with Batman's near-death experience, and if that's not something to die for, then I don't know what is.

It's really really good.

Next, we have the beginning of the Great Fables Crossover, in Jack of Fables, as Snow WHite and Bigby go and visit Jack, after Jack dropped his little bomb on them, back in the last issue of Fables. Again, it's just a lot of silly fun, with a few moments of "what the heck?"

Also, very good.

The sole Marvel occupant of this list, is of course, the Incredible Hercules, which continues to astonish and entertain me. They also haven't raised the price...yet. Athena,Hercules and Amadeus Cho battle against both Hera and her group, but also Osborn's wacky evil Avengers,and it's one long and highly amusing romp.

Then there is Justice League of America. I've been frustrated by this book, it can be very draggy, but every once in a while, they'll change the artist, and we end up with a really decent story. This time we have Rags Morales instead of Ed Benes, and things beging to improve immmediately. There is a certain amount of fallout from Black Canary's decision to throw in the towel, especially since the rest of the remaining members don't particularly FEEL like quitting. There is some very nice character work with John Stewart and Vixen, and between Dr. Light and Firestorm.

So what the heck, I liked it.

I've actually been buying Outsiders ever since Peter Tomasi came on board, and I haven't been disappointed, even though I really think that Geo-Force is a dweeb. But Metamorpho is always fun, and so is Alfred, so I've been enjoying this story as well.

Besides, it's worth it, just for Owlman's lines.

Finally, we end up with Trinity. All KINDS of stuff is going on here, and Lex Luthor even ends up being heroic...albeit in his own peculiar fashion. I am quite looking forward to seeing how this all ends up.

So...a pretty good week. A pretty FUN week, and that's always a good thing. Sometimes I complain about my comics, but for the most part I would rather rave about them, and this week, I could.

A Slight Delay In Posting

Normally, I start my day, by getting the kids off to school, brewing up a pot of tea,reading the newspaper and then stumbling into my library, to sit at the computer desk and start going through my favorite blogs and sites. I finish up, by posting whatever brilliant and scintillating ideas may come to me...although since those are few and far between, you actually end up with pictures of Hal or Batman making fools of themselves.

However, as of today, I have joined the ranks of the gainfully employed! Woohoo! I'll be rich...RICH! Well, actually I won't be rich, but at least I can keep up the car payments, which is a always a good thing. So, instead of posting in the morning, I'll be posting in the afternoon or early evening. I realize that this is not particularly breathtaking news, but since I acually lead a pretty dull life, it's darned exciting to me.


And...just keeping up the tradition, here is a nice picture of Hal's ass.



Oh Hal. Never change.

Oh Dinah!

Didn't you used to be competent? It is no mistake to say that I haven't been much enthralled with the latest depictions of the Black Canary, both in her own book, Green Arrow/Black Canary, and in the Justice League. So, just for shits and grins, I picked up my copy of Birds of Prey: Perfect Pitch, that ocllects the issues of #86-90, and #92-95, by Gail Simone and various artists...and they are AWESOME!

I rather miss Dinah being awesome.

Lately, she seems to have been portrayed as lacking in the skills to use her own powers, weak, incompetent, and shrewish. Whenever she's in a bad mood, she beats up Ollie. Granted, I can imagine that living with Oliver COULD be incredibly annoying, but still...! In the Justice League, despite being the Leader, she is constantly second-guessed and undermined by the other members of the club. She whines, she stomps her little feet, and then goes off to yell at the hapless remaining members, which seems a bit unfair.

When Gail was writing her, she took the time and trouble to improve her fighting skills to a frightening degree of perfection. She even made a deal with Shiva, for Heaven's sake. She managed to take out an entire army of thugs led by Vietnamese Warlords...by herself. She didn't need Ollie to come and rescue her. She didn't need the Justice League to come and help out. She understood her own powers and skills and realized that she was capable of killing just about anybody with only her index finger.

"No matter how joyous and loving a life you choose to live...that's always there, the worm in the apple. Shake hands with a new person, take note of their nerve clusters and pressure points. Go out with friends, knowing how easiy you could knock them all senseless...You can't compartmentalize a lifetime of learning where to place your fist, just because you might be in polite company..."

Contrast that bit of self-awareness, that intimate knowledge of her own ablilities, with the careless and ill-tempered treatment of her own husband, and it makes no sense. Black Canary, of ALL people should be the very LAST person to get in a snit and start shoving people. ANY people, much less her own husband, and presumably, True Love.

Black Canary can be extraordinarily dangerous, and it doesn't make the rest of the Justice League look particularly smart to go around disrespecting her at every turn either. This is why, I've been coming so close to dropping her book, because I simply cannot believe that Dinah is such an idiot, that she can't control her own Canary Cry, or that she doesn't carry pick-locks, or that she couldn't have taken out Cupid in about 2.3 seconds...without even mussing up her hair.

THIS is how Dinah is supposed to be portrayed.



As a genuine Bad-Ass.

Maybe some day, the other writers will remember this, and go back to portraying her as she is.

Green Lantern Corps #35

Well, it took me long enough, but I'm FINALLY getting around to drooling over the latest issue from Tomasi and Gleason. And it's a dandy, by God! I also just noticed that Rebecca Buchman is the inker for Pat Gleason, and she does a lovely job. She's probably been doing this for a while, but sometimes it takes me some time to notice these things. And while I still miss Moose Baumann, I have to say that Randy Mayor is doing a bang-up job on the coloring.

The coloring is quite breathtaking as a matter of fact, the first thing to really jump out at you as you open the book, it's all reds and greens, and glowing.

As we begin, poor Voz is in trouble. BIG trouble. This is a shame,because I have always liked Voz, from back in the day when he and Guy were prisoners of the Draal together. Vice has busted out of the Sciencell and is spewing his...uh...spew, all over Voz, to the delight of Kanjar Ro, in an adjacent cell. Well, up to the point where his own safety is in jeapardy, when he quickly changes his tune.

The Scarred Guardian picks precisely this moment, to strip the stasis field that has been holding all the Yellow rings, and the shit, as they say, hits the fan. And THEN some. Kyle and Guy round up every Green Lanter with a pulse that they can find, and head for the Sciencells. There is a rather fun shot showing a stream of Lanterns, some well-known, and some not so well-known, including one that is simply a rectangular box, which made me smile.

Back at the Sciencells, which are rapidly becoming a slaughterhouse, Lyssa Drak is busy gloating, which seems a bit premature, since Vice is busy killing Yellow Lanterns as well as Green.

Hey, some strategy! Always a good thing!

And, right at the "Crap in a Hat!" moment, we are switched to Daxam,and the continuing adventures of Arisia and Sodam Yat. They've arrived, and are having a bit of a personal conversation over what one of the Guardians had told Yat to do, back when they were meeting with the Zamarons...the whole "blow up the planet" thingie. Arisia is quite startled to learn that Yat would have gone ahead and done it, because I'm getting the impression that Yat is a good little soldier. Maybe he should hang out with Isamot and Vath more, because I'm getting the impression that Arisia is looking at him a little bit sideways.

Anyway, it's probably a good thing that they stopped to have this conversation, because it turns out that Mongul has left a sentry guarding Daxam. Only the biggest, honkingest Space Snake that you ever did see! Seriously, this must be a cousin to the Midgard Serpent or something. Fortunately, he's not too bright, and they sneak in, clinging to the underside of a meteor.

The Daxamites are coping with the fallout from their invasion about as well as you would expect...which is to say, not well at all. I'm beginning to see why Sodam is so down on his home world. In order not to become slaves, Sodam's Dad tell them all to jump off a cliff...and they DO! Fortunately, Arisia and Sodam sail in and manage to save some of them...but not all. Their arrival is not unnoticed by Arkillo, who is walking around with his tongue hanging around his neck as a little reminder of his run-in with Mongul. Arkillo however, seems actually pleased, which I suppose is not too surprising considering his feelings toward Mongul.

Oddly enough, the xenophobic Daxamites seem quite glad to see the Green Lanterns. They may be filthy aliens, but still, it's better than jumping off a cliff! Yat gets a little payback by slinging his Dad around, and then exhorting his fellow men into fighting. Woohoo!

And then at this crucial climax, we jump to Soranik and Iolande who are on Korugar, trying to call the people down. They were all wound up, hoping for a nice public execution, and it didn't exactly turn out the way that they expected. It must have been a bit like having the Superbowl cancelled at the last minute. They were probably having "Kill Sinestro" parties and stuff.

Well...guess who shows up? It's Daddy Dearest!

There is a LOT going on in this issue...a WHOLE lot. It is paced rather nicely too, you get all wound up to the climax of the scene, and then, boom,you are at another part of the plot, but it works. The only thing that I didn't like about this book, is that it ended way too soon, and now I have to wait until May to find out what happens!

There is a lot of stuff going on in the main Green Lantern book,and I love it,but in some ways, I have to say that I actually prefer Green Lantern Corps, because I like seeing more than just Hal.

Now...I just want to see what happens when everyone realizes that Scar is the one behind all of this.

Oh Computer, I Missed You So

Well, I don't normally post on a Sunday, but since I missed both Friday AND Saturday, I suppose that I should let you all know that I'm not dead or anything. But since it is that time of year, I WAS attending the annua NETSA Trade Show at the fabulous Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort in deepest darkest rural Connecticut. NETSA of course, stands for New England Tire Service Association, or something like that, and my Sweet Baboo is on the board, so there is a LOT of wining, dining and schmoozing. Frankly, my feet are STILL killing me. When oh when will I realize that vanity is my downfall and wear sensible shoes?

So...I MISSED you all. I didn't go on a computer for two whole DAYS, and my blogging hand is shaky. And while Tire People are a wily and hardy breed, and the chocolate torte was to DIE for, it just wasn't the same. Not only did nobody know about Blackest Night, they didn't CARE!

Except...at one point, I snuck out of the exhibit hall, and collapsed onto an extremely comfortable chair, and pulled out a nice TPB, with the JLA and the JSA teaming up, because I was starting to get the shakes, and a handsome young Marine, in his dress uniform walked by, spotted the book I was reading and gave me a BLINDING smile and a thumbs up.

My faith in humanity was thus restored, and I was able to face the wine and cheese party with equanimity.



Hoohah! Oh Hal, I needed some of your buffoonery. Self-induced lobotomys are ALWAYS the answer!

Reviews AND Silliness

Or Silly Reviews,if you wish.

While for the sake of my pocketbook, I suppose it is a good thing that I am buying fewer comics, it really isn't completely through choice, that I have been having such small weeks lately. No, that is thanks to the publishers, for cancelling half of my pull list!

Bah!

But still, there was some decent books this week.

Fables was excellent as usual, with the first hints of the Great Fables Crossover being hinted at. Due to the new villain taking over Fabletown, Bigby and Beast find it difficult to control their brutish natures, and have a rather spectacular throw-down. Beauty and Snow White literally throw themselves between the boys, and send them both home with their tails between their legs. And Stinky the Badger seems to have created a huge new worship of the previously deceased Blue Boy.

Green Arrow and Black Canary just keeps plodding along. I'm getting quite close to dumping this. I like both characters, but I do have this funny little quirk, in that I prefer them to be written IN character! Here, they have both been portrayed as being pretty damned incompetent, and it's starting to get ridiculous. SO ridiculous, that I am actually looking back at Winick' writing with nostalgia! How insane is THAT?!

Green Lantern Corps is simply SO magnificent, that I will, as usual give it its own post. But seriously, the only thing wrong with this book is that it ended...and I want more. MORE!

Trinity keeps plugging along. Only a few more issues to go. I did end up wondering if Superman ever eats his mother's cookies though.

And finally, to keep the whole theme of the week going, I found this.



I...I don't have a CLUE about what is really going on, but the whole "bouncing" thing just makes me giggle.

And "Out of Context" Week continues by Popular Demand!

Ok, I'm stretching the truth just a tad, with that "Popular Demand" statement, but really, without hyperbole, I am nothing. Nothing!

So here's and interesting little tidbit.


<

Well...she's paralyzed with something anyway. I don't know about surprise.

What is it about Batman that makes him so bloody perfect for Out of Context panels? You would think that the king of this sort of thing might be Hal, but atually, he's usually too busy hitting himself in the head and flying into large yellow signs. Guy never bothers with Out of Context remarks, he's too busy yelling out whatever happens to be on his mind, which is usually, what the reader is also secretly thinking. John is far too sensible...strange things don't seem to happen to him that often. Kyle, I will admit, has his moments. But Batman you would think would be the LAST person to be unintentionally hilarious.

Maybe that's WHY it's so funny.

Ok, Now It's Official

Aaaaand, we are into the second day of "Out of Context" week. Some people make their entire blogs about nothing BUT out of context panels, and provided you have a steady supply of Silver Age comics, you are set for life!

But here's something of a doozy.




Holy Autoerotic Strangulation,Batman!

I do hope you all notice Robin's firm and taut buttocks. I'm a Green Lantern fan right down to my toes, but that doesn't mean that I cannot appreciate Robin's...er...assets as well.

I'm not really sure exactly what is going on here, but I can guarantee that Alfred is going to be stuck cleaning up the bathroom...again.

Oh...Hal!

I can't quite remember where I stole this particular image from...it may have possibly been Sea of Green's...but it just cracks me up.




There...there is just so MUCH wrong with that picture, up to and including Hal talking about "pointers" and Air Wave's misplaced enthusiasm. So, perhaps we should declare this to be "Out of Context" week. Possibly because I'm fresh out of ideas, and makeing snarky comments is about the only remaining talent that I have. It will also help get my mind off the fact that I have to file my taxes.

Dying Eggs

Nothing too spectaclar today, I'm busy dying Easter Eggs with the kids. OLD kids, but my kids nevertheless. Also making Pan Dulce, potato salad and cleaning the bathrooms, since I'm the one hosting the big family get-together. And once again, it's chilly and rainy.

My daughter, meanwhile is busy eyeing the "Peeps" that she insisted I get. I prefer jelly beans, you may as well just eat giant spoonfulls of pure sugar, when it comes to Peeps, but she's a teenager. She assures me that she eats giant spoonfulls of sugar ALL the time.

Anyway, Happy Easter, and Passover and stuff.



Courtesy of Black Cat, who always has the appropriate picture for the occasion.

Green Lantern #39

The pace is certainly beginning to pick up, in the slow and steady march towards the Blackest Night. We don't have Ivan Reis anymore (sob!) but I have to say that Philip Tan does a dandy job with this issue, that introduces the Orange Lantern and his...unique attitude towards the Guardians. The artwork is moody and detailed.

We begin, with Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern expressing some displeasure at the intrusion of several Controllers into his lair. I'd be displeased if someone invaded MY lair too. Lairs are nice. The Controllers are a bit full of themselves, and are looking for the source of the Orange Power, no doubt, with the intention of taking it for themselves. Larfleeze has the Controllers motives pegged right from the start. He may be the personification of Greed, but he's not stupid.

Turns out that the Controllers bit off just a bit more than they can chew. There is a lovely spread, with all manner of hideous and terrifying constructs pouring out of the Lantern, and dealing with the Controllers in a very viceral and permanent fashion.

We then jump to the planet of Odym, where Ganthet, Sayd and the Blue Hope Lanterns are hanging out. It is a lovely juxtapositioning of the colors, going from the dark and fiery colors of orange and red, to the soft, cool soothing colors of blue and green, and all those pretty pink flying fishy looking things. Pretty.

Hal's in a bit of a snit,because the Blue Ring that he got back when he was fighting Sinestro and Atrocitus doesn't want to come off. Hal is in MORE than a snit, he's getting downright pissy. Warth and St. Walker are trying to explain how the power of Hope works,but Hal doesn't really give a rat's ass, he just wants the ring to get OFF, because, being the consumate Man Of Action, he's just not really into the whole idea of Hope anyway.

Ganthet and Sayd do show up and explain things a little further. Turns out that the Hope Lanterns were a bit confused themselves, Ganthet doesn't mean for Hal to BECOME a Blue Lantern, simply to provide them with the necessary power. Hal gets a bit huffy here, declaring that he's not a battery.



Well THAT'S an interesting little tidbit of information! But Hal still flies off so that he can sulk some more. In his defense, he's been hit with a LOT of conflicting information, not to mention becoming both a Red Lantern AND a Blue Lantern in a very short time. Still...he could be a little more polite to Ganthet.

Meanwhile, Stel, is chasing a renegade Yellow Lantern into the Vega system. The Fear Lantern knows perfectly well that Stel isn't allowed to follow him,and makes the mistake of taunting him about it. Stel isn't putting up with THAT sort of thing, and actually begins to pursue him, in a rather abrupt departure from his point of view way back in Recharge. Still, times have changed, and Stel is a good Lantern.

But it's ok, because the most hideous,gawdawful, scary-looking thing shows up and SWALLOWS the Yellow Lantern whole. Even Stel, who is pretty phlegmatic on the whole, is startled by this development, and calls for backup.

The Guardians in the meantime have discovered that Hal has been flirting with the Blue Lanterns, and They Are Displeased. Speaking of being Greedy! They want Hal all to themselves! They are trying to get the Blue Ring off of Hal, but it doesn't want to budge, and Hal is getting just a bit uncomfortable, when, fortunately for him, John shows up. The Guardians are QUITE annoyed that another one of those uppity Earth Lanterns are spoiling their fun, but John is accompanied by Salaak and the body of Stel. Out of Stel's chest, bursts a manifestation of Larfleeze, which certainly startles the Guardians. The Guardians start to stammer and make excuses, but Larfleeze is having none of it, and makes a few demands himself.

Scar of course steps up and starts to make more trouble, and they proclaim the Fourth New Law...The Vega System is no longer outside of the Green Lantern's Jurisdiction.

Oh, things are going straight to Hell in a Handbasket now.

And Oh, what a Lovely Wednesday it Was

Small but choice, were the books that came out this week.

As you all know, I'm not too much of a Batman fan, but I've been reading the story in Batman Confidential,which is the one with the Riddler and King Tut, and it's a keeper. The plot and the dialogue both sparkle, and the artwork is crisp and clean, and very very good. I can't help but fall a little for Eddie here, he is just perfect teamed up with old Bats. The villain is of course,completely off his rocker, but in that old-fashioned Bat sort of way that is so insidiously charming.

Booster Gold #19 came out, and it continues its team-up of Booster and Booster. Rip makes a welcome appearance, and believe it or not, is both surprised and relieved when Booster manages to save the day. Too bad that Michelle gets all weepy and hysterical and goes nuts on poor Skeets. And look! Another blackboard full of fun clues!

Green Lantern #39. Oh God, yes.

Secret Six #8 was the catch of the day, even topping Green Lantern for me. Deadshot is going out on a date with Jeanette, albeit reluctantly, and ends up being on a double date with Scandal and...someone interesting out of her recent past. Since Floyd and Scandal make a pact NOT to kill anyone on their evening out, hi-jinks and hilarity ensues! Gail Simone is at her witty best, and the art by Carlos Rodriguez is very nice, although not quite up to par with Nicole Scott. Still, it's a whole lot of fun.

The added bonus is an additional story at the back, also written by Gail,and drawn by Amanda Gould in the style of the Tiny Titans. Ragdoll is dreaming, and his vision of the world is simply too precious for words.


It...it's so CUTE! The six show up, along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Amanda Waller, the Titans and Mr. Miracle, not to mention Green Lanterns. It's Guy, G'Nort and Kilowog! Guy shows off his bum! I'm in tiny adorable sugar-induced heaven.

Oh,and Trinity was good too. Things are beginning to seriously hit the fan.

It was a remarkably FUN week, all things considered. Well...there's a lot of death and gore in Green Lantern, but for ME that's fun. I'll get to that tomorrow.

Huzzah!

Yes! Third perfect season, and sixth Championship for the UConn Women's Basketball team! My old Alma Mater! Of course when I went to UConn, I don't think we even HAD a woman's Basketball team, and it only cost $4,000 a year, and gasoline was .35 a gallon. Yes, I'm old.

Needless to say, I'm in an awfully good mood. Unlike Hal, who obviously was betting on Louisville.



Oh, Hal, you old fuddyduddy. Women don't belong in the kitchen, they belong on a Basketball court.

Just Hanging Around

My laziness knows no bounds. I feel very much like the Justice Society at this particular moment in time.



Just hanging around, chillin' and watching it rain. I DO hope that all you youngsters noted my use of the word "chillin'". I'm so groovy it hurts! I am hep to your modern-day lingo!

Now...get off of my lawn.

NOW what?

Now that Guy week is over, I actually have to come up with some real topics again, and let me tell you, on a bleak and rainy Monday morning, that isn't as easy as it sounds. And, although the UConn Women won in the Final Four,the UConn Men lost.

Huzzah and Bummer, all at the same time.

I suppose that I could "Salute Sinestro". But I certainly don't feel like doing that for a whole week. Besides, I don't have enough pictures. Sinestro is also a tough character to salute, since he's spent so much of his time being a top-notch Villain and all. But hero OR villain, you have admit that Sinestro approaches everything he does with a certain amount of professionalism. And efficiency. In this respect, he reminds me a little bit of John. Sinestro is willing to take the long view, he's willing to set things in motion and wait for them to happen, as witness his machinations with the Parallax creature way back when, in the Central Battery. He's also pretty good at misdirection,and then of course there is his fascination with Hal.

We can't really blame him for that, practically EVERYONE is fascinate by Hal at least some of the time. I am wondering how Sinestro is going to fare, after the whole Blackest Night storyline is over. Will he be redeemed? Will he still be a villain? Will he even be around at all? I have to say that they've killed off Sinestro several times by now, and it never seems to take, so I'm not TOO worried about his possible demise.

It is interesting that he's been portrayed in a rather more sympathetic light lately, however. In the whole Origin story that we just finished up with Hal, you can believe that Abin Sur really was his friend. You can even believe that he'd be intrigued by Hal and his attitude, since they were both a little fed up with the Guardians and their dictates. It's rather nice to see things from Sinestro's perspective, he thinks that HE'S the hero still, and that sooner or later, the rest of the Universe is going to come around to his way of thinking. He's wrong of course, but it is still an interesting take on his character, and keeps him from being just another run-of-the-mill bad guy.

So now,he's off to Korugar, to look for his daughter. I wonder whatever happened to her mother? For that matter, whatever happened to his father and sister? And HIS mother? I'd love to know more about his family.

At least Green Lantern is finally coming out this coming Wednesday, so maybe we will be able to learn some more about Sinestro and all that other stuff that is going on. I'm sure that it will be worth the wait.

Winding to a Close

And so, we draw to the close of Glorify Guy Week. It's been a delight, but all good things must end of course. So I'm going to finish things up, by simply posting some of my favorite "Guy" moments.

There are a LOT.



I've always thought the little "expletives...and lots of 'em" tag was hilarious. It allowed us to fill in the blanks with our own feelthy imaginations.



Shirtless Guy is always appreciated. It doesn't really happen that often, prior to the whole Warrior period.


I've always liked this one. Kalinara is right, Guy IS surprisingly hot.


And he's smokin' in sunglasses.



An interesting moment with Booster. Guy was played for laughs so often,that it was always a surprise when he was shown being heroic.


Guy displays his talent as an artist, while playing with Kilowog.


Hanging out with Kyle...and looking almost as pretty.


Just hanging out with Ted drinking beer.


Hanging out with Jaime. I see a trend here. Guy is fun to hang out with.


This one still makes me tear up. *sniff*


Still showing his moxie.


Oh yeah.

And finally, what you've all really been waiting for...


Yes. That IS Guy's ass. Eat your heart out, Hal!

The One you've been waiting for...Guy vs Hal

Here we are, still deep in the throes of "Glorify Guy Week", and I still hadn't gotten to Hal. Because there is no way to tell the story of Guy Gardner without Hal. Hal was in so many many ways, the catalyst to so much of Guy's story, his friend, his enemy, his brother, his antagonist and secret crush.



Yeah, that's Guy, mooning away in the bus, and hoping to meet up with Hal again. Then of course, there is the earthquake, getting hit by the bus, falling off the cliff and being rescued by Hal.



Kalinara has theorized rather brilliantly, that in the beginning, Guy was created mainly to be rescued by Hal. He even got fridged a short time later, being blown up by Hal's own battery, and getting tortured by Sinestro and going into that coma. Hal did have the decency to be upset for a while, before running off with Guy's fiance. He even dumped Kari after they realized that Guy wasn't actually...you know...dead.

Then the Guardians had the brilliant idea of waking Guy up,and using him to fight the Anti-Monitor. And Hal went from being Guy's bestest buddy, to being his archrival. Heck, Guy even tried to half-heartedly off Hal a couple of times, before settling into being his annoying, needling, persistantly bratty little brother.



Giving credit where credit is due, Guy did manage to annoy John as well. But Hal was always his favorite target. Hal didn't handle things too well either. Guy had the excuse of being brain-damaged for acting like an eight-year old boy, but Hal didn't have that excuse. Nevertheless, Hal's behavior was occasionally just as immature. In his defense, it must be said that Guy was incredibly obnoxious.

So, as you might expect there have been a LOT of occasions with Hal and Guy beating each other up.






But there was NOTHING like the donnybrook that was in Green Lantern #25. It was THE classic clash of titans, with Hal coming back to Earth, bound and determined that HE was going to take over as GL, and that Guy would just have to lump it. Guy of course had other ideas, and told Hal to take a hike. This worked out about as well as you would think, and naturally, things began to...escalate. It was Guy of course who took things to the next level, by challenging Hal to a winner-take-all tussle, which in retrospect may not have been the smartest thing for him to do, but heck, his pride was hurt. Besides, Hal was monumentally arrogant in his demands.

Things started out fairly slow, but goshdarned if Guy wasn't getting inventive.





Heh. I've heard the term "crotch rocket" I just didn't know that Guy invented it. At this point John makes them give up their rings before they end up levelling the city, and Hal manages to knock Guy down.





Woohoo! Git 'em Guy!

As you have no doubt discerned, my sympathy is completely with Guy in this encounter. Hal had no right to come waltzing in and telling Guy that he was taking over, and the only thing that keeps me from slapping Hal right in his pretty face, is that he was being influenced by Parallax at this point.

Guy is giving Hal everything that he's got, but Hal is playing "rope-a-dope" and cons poor Guy into wearing himself out. And finally, when the only thing that is keeping Guy on his feet is sheer stubbornness, Hal let's him have it.



And man, that was all she wrote.

Not content with simply beating Guy half to death, Hal then decides to give the knife a particularly vicious twist.



Does Guy renege? Does he cry or whine or beg? Not Guy Gardner.



Contrast that to the times that Hal pissed and moaned to the Guardians about wanting to do something, and then pissed and moaned some more when he got it. Bruised, battered and brain-dead, Guy Gardner is STILL the better man.

Fortunately, they brought back Hal in Rebirth, and they are friends again. But there is ONE punch that Hal threw that had Guy's complete and utter approval.



Oh yeah.

Let Us Glorify Guy Some More

Today, I want to talk about Guy's...Romantic Side. Yes, he has one. A rather surprisingly well-developed mushy side to him as a matter of fact, certainly in comparison with Hal Jordon. Now Guy may TALK a good game, he'll read porn unabashedly and in public, he'll leer at any good-looking woman and ogle his own teammates, but actually he's pretty tame when it comes right down to the nitty-gritty. As far as I know, he's only really fallen for Kari Limbo, Ice, and that short-lived fling with Fire, which was still mainly about Ice. Of course that didn't stop him from making suggestive comments to Black Canary,Dr. Light (the GOOD one, get your minds out of the gutter!) Wonder Woman, Huntress, Power Girl, Katma Tui, Arisia, Soranik Natu, Mary Marvel, R'amey Holl, and any OTHER female he just happens to be standing next to.

But what is really interesting, is that there is so much romantic interest DIRECTED at Guy. And from some rather surprising characters.



I mean, I can understand Bea hauling off and kissing him,



We all know that G'nort has had a SERIOUS crush on Guy for YEARS! What is rather surprising, is that Guy is actually not punching him for a change.



Then there is Kilowog. After a rather...explosive beginning, they became the best of friends. Look at those puppy-dog eyes! Kilowog just can't help himself.



Heck, even Hal can't help himself. Some of the time anyway. Of course that leads to scenes like THIS...



...and I'm not even going to go there.

Or this.



Oh Dmitri...always a lover. I miss you.

But enough of that, let's get to the good stuff.

You know. Guy and Ice. DC's most romantic couple.



Awwwww...after their rather...peculiar first date, wherein Guy takes her to a porn theatre, coincidentally run by Black Hand, here he is showing his softer side.
Their off-beat relationship continues to blossum with the truly classic issue where he takes her to the Ice Capades, and even, in the face of Blue Beetle's outrageous pranking manages to keep control of his temper. He does eventually lose it, but at least Ice give him credit for trying. Then of course, in Justice League Quarterly, it all comes to a head.



Double Awwwww...!

Things were rather sweet for a while, but of course, the path of true love does not run smoothly. There were fights, misunderstandings, that whole pash on Superman, the loss of his ring, and so on, but still, Guy was in there trying. Then of course, Tora gets killed on a stupid mission that he isn't even on, and then they "forget" to tell him about it, and he manages to get past that, and he and Bea patch things up, but still it's just not the same without Tora.

And then she comes back from the dead, and he's just beside himself.



TRIPLE Awwww...!!

Too bad she turns him down. At which point, he panics and runs off to Oa, but with one last look.




*sniff*

When our intrepid couple was last seen, she had come to Oa,and seemed to be in a reconciling sort of mood...which Guy promptly burst by asking her to move in and then by being bratty about Bea. At this point I don't know WHAT is in store for our star-crossed lovers, but I certainly can't see them getting married and settling down anytime soon. Which is good. I want lots and lots more stories told first.

As they should be.