A rare Sunday Post

Normally, I kick off my shoes and take Sunday's off, but since I am locked in battle with Dwayne over at Matching Dragoons, I dare not lower my guard. Therefore, I give you Hal...



...who certainly lowered his! This is from Green Lantern #3. Thank goodness for Showcase volumns I,II and III! This was the Leapyear story, where Carol tries to ask him to marry her, and to get out of it,he conjures up a monster to fight, although he does manage to get knocked out by a kid flying his model plane in the park. No one ever said that Hal was bright. Cute yes, bright no.

Green Lantern #41

Gah!

Oh that DIDN'T just happen, did it? If you haven't read the latest issue of Green Lantern, then I suggest that you go and do so immediately, because I am going to refer to some rather graphic details, and therefore there will be spoilers. Yea, verily!

Uhmmmmm...so anyway, the Guardians and Lanterns are off in the Vega system, fighting off manifestations of the Orange Ring,while Hal is battling Larfleeze directly. Hal is still alive, because he has something that Larfleeze wants...mainly the Blue Ring. Larfleeze is QUITE intrigued. He also spills his guts to Hal, giving him a bit of his history, which turns out to be...interesting. It's been a bit of a revelation to discover that perhaps the Guardians aren't quite the alphas that I've always been lead to believe.

Oh, and Fatality shows up to pull John's chestnuts out of the fire. Hoohah!

Then...then Larfleeze decides that he's not fooling around anymore, and takes the Blue Ring. Unfortunately for Hal, he doesn't take it off of his hand first. THAT'S going to hurt in the morning! Of course, an undead Kilowog already pulled this stunt on Guy, way back when, but it didn't seem to inconvenience him too much. Vuldarian genes will do that for a person. Too bad for Hal, that he's not Vuldarian, so I imagine that the remaining ring that he has, is going to be getting one heck of a workout.

The real question of course, is will Larfleeze be able to use the Blue Ring? I can't imagine that he is quite the sort of bearer that Ganthet and Sayd had in mind when they created it.

I did like the solution that the Guardians came up with in the first place, in regards to Larfleeze and the Orange Ring. It's so typical of them. They are definitely in the "Out-Of-Sight, Out-Of-Mind" School of Thought, when dealing with a crisis.



I do think that this more than qualifies Hal for the amount of damage being perpetrated upon his person by Larfleeze. At least Jonah Hex still has all of his appendages! If Dwayne has a scan of wolves gnawing Jonah's leg off, I'll simply throw in the towel right now.

Stuff I Bought

Now THAT'S a classy title, eh? Wednesday actually came on Thursday this week, but it being the end of the month, there were some very nice books coming out.

Firstly, there was more of the Great Fables Crossover, part 6 of 9, with The Literals, #2. I have to say that I'm enjoying this thoroughly. Last week, poor Bigby was turned into an adorable little girl. This week, Kevin Thorne still is wrestling with the problem of his twin brother Writer's Block, and thanks to Hansel, he comes up with a particularly...drastic method of dealing with it. And the Page sisters, set up one heck of a battle.

Final Crisis: Ink, #1. I am rather liking the new Tattooed Man, and his struggle to try and be one of the good guys is interesting. He's certainly a huge contrast to good old Mike, the Human Flame, who is a complete and utter degenerate. Nicely done, and I'm interested in where this is going.


Green Lantern #41. HOLY CRAP!!!!

The Incredible Hercules #129 just continues to be my favorite Marvel book. Who knew that the gateway to the afterworld is through a Casino? Greg Pak continues to entertain me.

The Justice League of America #33 is...actually, pretty good! It's nice when Dwayne McDuffie actually gets a chance to tell a story without editorial or crossover constraints. I continue to enjoy his take on John Stewart in particular.

The Justice Society of America #27. Obsidian shows up! Well...sort've. But at least he has some dialogue,which is a good thing. Too bad nobody believes him about the bad stuff that is going down.

Wonder Woman #32, continues to pile on the angst. Diana manages to fare pretty well against Genocide, although Ares manages to up the ante considerably, and frankly, I think that Zeus has completely lost his marbles. And Tom gets a rude awakening.

Trinity #52. We made it to the end! The world is being put back together, with a few small differences, and a few people alive who were formerlly dead, and some other stuff. Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman decided that being Gods was overrated, and Krona gets his. Morgaine Le Fay's fate is particularly choice. A decent series, not as spectacular as 52, but a heck of a lot better than Countdown.

Oh, and here's Hal.



Man...getting smacked around by Captain Atom is just embarrassing. This is from Action Comics Weekly,and the two of them went at it for several issues. Atom wasn't this rude to Guy, for Heaven's Sake! Guess Hal's famous charm didn't work on someone after all.

Plugging Away

So, what shall we do for Day Four? Dwayne has managed to match my scan of Batman pummelling Hal, with one of Batman pummelling Jonah Hex. Bats certainly manages to get around!

Too bad that Jonah has to rely upon OTHERS to do his damage for him. In Hal's case, he is able to perform the damage all on his own.



Yes...that happens to be Hal, who is busy trying to strangle HIMSELF! A little tidbit from Green Lantern/Green Arrow #101. This is a maneuver that Jonah has never managed to accomplish, in fact, I'm pretty certain that no one else BUT Hal has pulled off this particular feat.

It takes a certain insane amount of dedication...something that seems to run in the Green Lantern Corps. I can certainly see Kyle and Guy being able to pull off a stunt like this. John and Alan...not so much, they probably have too much dignity.

Now I'm reasonable sure that Jonah has been strangled a time or two, or even dragged by a lariat behind a horse through a field of cactus, but heck, that sort of thing can happen to ANYone.

Hal does things with style.

It Continues...Hal vs Jonah

And we are still at it, neither one of us ready to concede defeat as of yet. If you go over to Dwayne's at http://wwwjonahhex.blogspot.com/, you will find more mayhem. Jonah seems to invite mayhem. He also has a tendancy to be thumped by the common dregs of society, riffraff, owlhoots and assorted desperadoes. He doesn't PLAN this, but it must be said that Bounty Hunters don't keep the best of company.

Then we have Hal.



As we can see, Hal is being punched by none other than the Batman himself, the Dark Knight, and full-fledged member of the Justice League, the Outsiders, and the Gotham Kwiwanis. Hal feels quite priviledged to be on the receiving end of the Bat's Fists Of Fury.

Incidentally, this is from Green Lantern #9, in the most recent volumn of GL, where Hal and Bats end up fighting the new Tattooed Man, who is a heck of a lot more menacing and interesting than the OLD Tattooed Man.

Westerns ARE fun

Well, it's day two of the ongoing competition between Dwayne over at Matching Dragoons, and myself. So far, I would have to say that it's pretty much a draw. Get it? A "draw"? Jonah Hex LOVES to draw!

Haw!

Er...ahem.

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, it is my firm belief that it is practically manditory to hit Jonah over the head with a pistol butt, whenever you happen to run into him. Or whatever may be handy. However, I also believe that Hal manages to get pummelled with a much wider range of weapons. Has Jonah Hex ever been beaten by an "Oscar" statuette or a yellow ceiling tile? I think NOT!

However, in keeping with the "Western" theme, I give you this.



It's from Green Lantern/Green Arrow, #110. It's a slightly ridiculous tale, having both Ollie and Hal somehow get zapped into an alternate dimension, that has cowboys, and Ollie's genuine Indian bow and arrow, given to him, courtesy of Speedy. Uhmmm...naturally our boys end up fighting the bad guy, who happens to be a gunslinger with four arms, and hilarity ensues.

Hal should learn NOT to hide behind water troughs.

It's Gonna Be Hal versus Jonah

So my old pal Dwayne, over at Matching Dragoons has come up with a cunning plan...a wager, if you will. It is going to be Hal Jordan vs. Jonah Hex in a head-to-head battle...over which one of them actually gets hit in the cranium more often. The Contest will continue until one of us runs out of pictures or repeats.

Hah! Ordinarily I would say that Hal has this one in the bag, but there is a caveat. We can only put up pictures from books that we actually have. So...this may be a bit more even than I had originally thought! The Loser has to post for a week as if they were running the OTHER's Blog, if I lose, have to put up Pitchman-a-Go-Go and Pictures of Jonah Hex. If on the other hand, Dwayne loses, he'll have to make comments about Green Lantern's behinds and post pictures of Hal, Guy, Kyle, John and Alan.

The REAL winners of course, will be all of you...who get to look at lovely scans of both Hal and Jonah.

So let's start things off with a bang, shall we? Here's a little gem, from Green Lantern volumn II, #25



Booyah!

Now go over to Dwayne's blog at http://jonahhex.blogspot.com/ and see what goodies he has in store for all of us.

What's New?

Well, we survived another Prom night, with the back yard relatively intact, the bodies buried, and no surprise visits from the police. Some may think that this is boring,but at my age I LIKE boring. My youngest daughter Maggie went to her prom looking quite beautiful, if I do say so myself...she cleans up amazingly well, and I received my vintage pearl earrings and necklace back in one piece. Woohoo!

I've enjoyed talking about John all week, I have a tendancy to overlook him sometimes, but still...one can only keep one's ridiculous obsession at bay for so long.

So here's a little picture I drew of Guy's ass.



God, I need a cigarette. And I don't even smoke.

The End of John Stewart Week

And so, we draw to the close of our homage. I think that we can all pretty much agree that John is pretty awesome, albeit in a low-key sort of way. It's nice that they are actually using him more, since he has this habit of being criminally overlooked by some of the writers sometimes. It's a good thing that he's so reliable, and willing to jump into any storyline at any time.

And finally, let us not forget, that John does have this habit of being underestimated, a habit that he's managed to turn into an asset. Remember in Rebirth, when he manages to take out the ENTIRE JLA by himself? Including Superman? Granted, he was being influenced by Parallax at the time, but still! It was amazing!

He's also managed to exceed the willpower limits of his ring, in his continuous attempts to reassemble the lost planet of Xanshi. I don't think that's ever happened to any other Lantern. He was handpicked by the Guardians to become a Lantern, and he even achieved Guardian-like status of his own after Mosaic, although that part of his history seems to have been quietly brushed under the table.

It's funny, that the more I think about the various Lanterns, the more that I like them. I still think that it is one of the greatest concepts in comicbookdom...there is just so much that one can DO with the idea of Cops-In-Spaaaaaaaaace...armed with magic rings, limited only by their imaginations and their fabulous behinds.

John and Hal

You knew that somehow, Hal was going to wrangle some time, even in John's very own homage week. But there is no getting around the fact, that no matter how you may feel about him, or who your own personal favorite may be, Hal Jordan does cast a fairly long shadow, and like it or not, the other Earth Lanterns always end up being compared or contrasted to him.

And it's funny, that ALL of the Earth Lanterns have had something of a love/hate relationship with Hal, at least part of the time. Hal and Alan clashed upon occasion, as Alan basically regarded him as a smart-assed whippersnapper. Even Kyle probably got a little tired of hearing about how fabulous Hal was, and he had a LOT to live up to. Guy of course certainly has the whole love/hate thing going on, but his present feelings aside, so did John Stewart.

In the comments to yesturday's blog, Duskdog, Sea of Green and GL2814E all had some very perspicacious comments on John's relationship with Hal, that I'd like to expand upon.

Duskdog said:

"Hal has a bad habit of marginalizing his partners, be they John, or Ollie or Barry, and John seems to be ok with that...John is the perfect partner for Hal right now, which ireally funny considering that they started of on the wrong foot all those years ago."

Boy howdy, did they ever. Hal was certainly not particularly thrilled when John was chosen...chosen personally by the Guardians, by the way...to be a Green Lantern. When John was picked to be his successor, he was even less thrilled...even though quitting the Corps was his own idea. Eventually, they managed to get along, but a lot of that was just teaming up in self-defense against Guy' shenanigans.

Then John married Katma Tui, and Hal and Arisia ended up moving in and mooching off of them, which must have lead to a certain amount of tension, finally capped by the most unfortunate slaughter of Katma by Hal's ex-girlfriend Carol Ferris, who had become Star Sapphire and turned EVILLLLLLL!!! That's the sort of thing that can really put stress on a friendship.

Then came the whole Mosaic thing. The mad Guardian, Appa Ali Apsa, had gone around collecting various bits and pieces of planets throughout the Universe, and assembled them in one place to play with. After his death and defeat, the Guardians decided that they rather liked having them around...rather like a giant ant-farm, I suppose, and put John in charge of watching over them. In the Mosaic series, written by Gerard Jones, which only lasted 18 issues...18 FABULOUS issues, John's character really began to blossam. If you haven't read Mosaic, then you SHOULD! Just ask GL2814E.

Sea of Green also has an excellent point to make:

"...Guy and Kyle would be too busy trying to compete with Hal...but John is the one who really knows how to handle him".

That's for sure. Guy loves Hal like a brother, but he simply cannot resist trying to one-up him. Kyle admires and respects Hal, but he's young and frankly a little cocky himself. John doesn't need to compete, or show off,or bask in the applause. He puts his head down, and he does his job. Efficiently. Competently. Without making a fuss about it. I honestly don't think that Hal can pour himself a glass of milk without making a production out of it, but John just isn't wired that way. He may not experience the highs that Hal does, but on the other hand, he won't experience the lows either, and quite frankly, with this stable of prima donnas, you practically HAVE to have someone without an ego, who can cope with all the histrionics.


That's John Stewart. A breath of fresh air.

The Joy of John Stewart Week

Aaaaand, we're back with more about John Stewart, Green Lantern Extraordinaire. I've spent a bit of time talking about the things that John is not...maybe it's time to talk about the things that he IS.

He's smart for one thing. Being an architect is not a simple career choice, it takes a lot of hard work and talent. I love that whenever a new headquarters shows up, John has always had a hand in designing it, from the Justice Hall, to the JSA Brownstone to the new Warriors bar on Oa.

John knows what he likes, and he's not ashamed of what he likes. Yes, he likes Streisand, and Bobby Short, and he loves coffee and ABBA. For some reason I've always pictured him as having a nice bass singing voice. He plays piano. He likes baseball. He's well-spoken, but doesn't suffer fools gladly. He's definitely the calmest of the four Earth-based Lanterns.

He's a damn good team mate.



John will go to bat for you and give you the benefit of the doubt, something that has come in quite handy for Hal, Guy, Alan and Kyle over time. Unlike Hal, John wasn't much of a player, he fell in love with Katma Tui, and married her, with a great deal of joy and delight, and he mourned her totally untimely passing. He then had a thing with what's-her-name, Meryane or Merynne or whatever. He's currently unattached, because he's still pining for Katma, and he's brimming with hope that he'll see her again, which he probably will, just not the way that he's expecting.



Finally...I've been saying this all along, and I can finally prove it. John has a sense of humor, dammit. He'd HAVE to, to put up with this sort of thing.



John Stewart is not a man who is afraid to look foolish for a good cause.

"John Stewart is the Coolest Green Lantern on Earth Because...!

John's not the most flamboyant, nor the noisiest, nor the handsomest, nor even the cutest. He IS the Coolest however, primarily because...well...he actually KEEPS his cool! He's the one who is thinking, the one who remains calm and collected. The one who takes out the sniper, while those around him are losing their heads...in some cases, literally.



John is the Coolest, because right from the start, he never saw a need to wear a mask or hide who he was. He worked as hard at being a Green Lantern as he did at being an architect. Architecture has been described as "frozen Poetry", something that I thinks describes John very well.

John is the Coolest, because in spite of all the ridiculous things that the writers have done to him over the years in an largely unneccesary effort to make him more "interesting", he's gotten through all the tragedy and angst with his aplomb more or less intact.

And John is the Coolest, because...well...



I don't REALLY have to say more, do I?

Who else thinks that John is the Coolest?

What Should I Name THIS Week?

Ok, we've had Bat Bashing, and Hal Whacking, not to mention Guy Glorifying. Now, I've come to John Stewart, and I find myself in something of a pickle. What, oh what should I call a week that honors John? John is Cooler than you Think Week? John is the Smartest Week? Justify John's Existance Week? Does anyone have a better idea? I'd be glad to hear it!

Anyhoo...getting back to John. I have a tendancy to forget about John sometimes, it isn't because I don't like him, because I DO, it...it's just that he has this habit of blending into the background, at least in comparison with his cohorts. Hal, Guy and Kyle are all more histrionic, loud, and cuter. They tend to DEMAND your attention. John is more likely to lurk and do his job quietly and efficiently...which is wonderful, but competence doesn't always get you noticed.

He DOES have quite nice buttocks of course, but that's pretty much a given,considering that it is one of the first requirements to even becoming a Green Lantern. The Guardians have a certain...kink, when you stop and think about it. Not that I'm complaining of course.

But anyway, hereeeeeeeee's Johnny!



This is one of my favorite pictures of John. He does have this impish side to him that doesn't seem to come out very often, but it's there. I imagine that he cultivates a certain dry sense of humor...an asset when dealing with his fellow Earth Lanterns.

John rocks!

The Brave & the Bold!

Finally, they are showing new episodes of The Brave & the Bold on the Cartoon channel again! I was beginning to suffer from withdrawal symptoms there, for a bit.

Last night's episode was co-starring none other than...Booster Gold! And Skeets! Oh and old cranky Wildcat shows up for the first short adventure,along with Bane, whom I can only now see talking the way that Gail Simone has hims talking.

Booster! So adorable. So shallow. He's trying to get a toy line going and stuff, and finally comes to realize that he actually needs a bit of street cred, as the parlance goes, and decides to team up with Batman. As you can well imagine, Batman is less than thrilled by this prospect.

I loved the fact that to Bat's utter chagrin, Booster knows perfectly well where the Batcave is located, and that as a matter of fact,it becomes a popula tourist ride and attraction. So...so perfect.

They end up fighting an immortal caveman named Krul (?) I was expecting Vandal Savage, but this one is nice too. Skeet's battery is used for various nefarious purposes, and of course, Batman teaches Booster a lesson in humility...which I am pleased to report doesn't take.

You know what I would like? A JLI cartoon! Like THIS! With Batman and Martian Manhunter and Guy and Booster and Beetle and Fire and Ice, and Oberon and Mr. Miracle and Barda and MAX!!! It...it would be heaven on earth.

Green Lantern Corps #36

If you are looking for a calm, contemplative or uncharismatic comic book...then keep looking, because the latest issue of Green Lantern Corps is none of those things. The action is heart-pumping and non-stop.

The most contemplative part of the book is at the beginning, wherein Sinestro does indeed confirm his cliff-hanger of a statement that Soranik Natu is his daughter and that furthermore, he's been looking after her for a very long time. Needless to say, Soranik is less than thrilled to learn that dear old Dad is actually the most reviled character in Korugar's long and storied history. It is rather poignant, to watch Sinestro as loving father and husband...Pat Gleason draws a simply adorable infant and toddler version of Soranik. I suppose that we must also take into consideration that these events are told only from Sinestro's point of view, so they may be a little more than self-serving, but still...! Sinestro is good enough to warn Soranik about Atrocitus and the fact that he knows that Sinestro HAS a child,if not her identity, and that if she needs help, all she has to do is yell.

Meanwhile, back on Oa, the riot in the Sciencells still rages. Really, the Guardians should just install revolving doors on the Sciencells at this point, it would cut down considerably on the wear and tear, not to mention the paperwork. This is our only glimpse of Guy, Kyle, Kilowog and so many others as they fight valiantly to quell the disturbance,but it is quite visually exciting, and rather unnusually, instead of dialogue, there is narration by either the Central Power Battery, or by one of the Ring, which is interesting.

Voz, against all expectations is still hanging in there, alive and kicking, although quite a bit the worse for wear. There is a lovely shot of Brik vs. Lyssa Drak.

Finally, we end up on Daxam, where Sodam Yat and Arisa are still trying to save the natives from Mongul and his happy hordes. While Arisia clings and pleads, Sodam flies off to confront Mongul, who is busy having his sculptural likeness made. I was rather surprised by Arisia in this, she's usually got a lot more gumption. Sodam is running into something of a problem, Daxam has a red sun, so no enhanced powers, and he can't seem to access the ION power either, due to Scar's interferance, although he doesn't know that yet. But he's a Green Lantern after all, and he doesn't let little setbacks like this daunt him. He may not be quite in Guy's league when it comes to sheer stubbornness,but he's getting there.

So...! A lot of chaos, confusion and lovely lovely action, leading up to the Blackest Night. The story is perking along quite nicely. Scar can be proud of herself.

It's Review Time

Well fry me for a donut, this was a particularly lovely week. We had Booster Gold, Fables, Green Lantern Corps, and Secret Six, not to mention a few other nice books. It was definitely worth a trip to the store!

Booster Gold #20....This was a bit of a change of pace, with a done-in-one story with Keith Giffen as the writer. The Time Sphere has a technical problem, and Rip has to fix it, while Booster is busy doing the "Are we there yet?" routine every two minutes. Oh Booster. They exchange some snarky repartee, but it's mostly done in jest, and finally to get him out of his hair, Rip suggests that Booster go Time Diving. Booster, in an attempt to discover the Fonz, decides to go to the 1950's, but ends up with Cold War Paranoia instead of Rock and/or Roll. There's the Suicide Squad, Russian spies, and all kinds of fun things going on. A reasonable amount of fun.

The Great Fable Crossover; part 4 of 9...That's a rather long title,when you come right down to it. Jack shows up at the Farm, claiming to have been sent by Bigby and Snow, and manages to weasel his way into a position of authority. Rose Red is still out of it, Stinky the Badger thinks that Jack is the second coming of Blue Boy, and most of the Fables don't really have a clue about what is really going on. Still a heck of a good read, though.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape...I'm not exactly sure why I picked this up,but it has Nemesis in it, and all sorts of weird things are going on. It's a bit like an episode out of "The Prisoner". Various members of the Suicide Squads show up, and are having their heads seriously messed with. It looks intriguing.

Green Lantern Corps #36...as usual, I'll review this tomorrow...but for Heaven's Sake, BUY IT! You won't be sorry.

Oracle: The Cure #3.....Frankly, I thought this whole mini-series was a bit of a dud. The Calculator goes around and assembles parts of the Anti-Life Equation so that he can presumably save the life of Wendy, his comatose daughter, who was traumatized back in Teen Titans. He causes a whole lot of trouble and kills some people along the way. Oracle manages to thwart his plan, Wendy wakes up on her own, and Calculator is off to the Hoosegow, while Oracle informs him that she's fixed it so that it can never ever go on-line again. Yeah right. We'll see just how long THAT lasts. Wendy is awake, but in a cruel twist of fate, she can't move her legs. Oracle is still in a wheelchair, and it looks as though she'll be having company.

That's about it. At the end, Oracle practically waves a flag and shows Calculator who she is, which seemed odd to me. A whole lot of meh.

Secret Six #9.....This book on the other hand was simply spectacular. I confess to snickering throughout the whole thing, and occasionally bursting into a genuine boffo belly laugh. With Batman missing, all sorts of unsavory characters have been crawling out of the woodwork, and a gang of Kidnappers decides to take advantage of his absence. Bane, Catman and Ragdoll decide to go to Gotham,and do their best to foil the Kidnappers nefarious plans. Needless to say, hilarity and mayhem ensue.

Bane and Catman are each trying to convince the other, that they are trying to fill Batman's shoes, while being in a whole lot of denial. Ragdoll is wonderful as Robin.



Believe it or not, our heroes are actually doing a bang-up job in stopping the Kidnappers and winning the gratitude of the victims, although there is certainly a gratuitous amount of collateral damage along the way. Then Nightwing shows up and spoils their fun, getting all sanctimonious, and holier than thou. Frankly, Catman doesn't appreciate his attitude, and really, who can blame him?

Nicola Scott is back on art, and it is of course, beautiful. Gail Simone's dialogue, in particular, that of Ragdoll/Robin is hilarious. This is my favorite book this week.

Trinity #50...Wow! Stuff really happened! Man, Krona is a tool.

I also picked up Superman: World of New Krypton by Robinson and Rucka, because I forgot last week. It's pretty darned good. Still so strange to see Superman dealing with all those obnoxious Kryptonians. But hey, there are Green Lanterns at the end! Woohoo!

I hope that you all enjoyed your books this week! I know I did.

The Tried and True

I've been entirely too serious for the past couple of days. But it is a beautiful Spring day here in New England, and I am in a benevolent mood. Time, therefore, to reach into my old bag of tricks, and present you with such goodies as this.



Haw!

Exactly what IS it that makes this so inherently amusing? Is it because Hal is simply so good at taking a pratfall? If we for one second thought that he was going to be hurt, it wouldn't provoke laughter, it would provoke concern. But we know, in our heart of hearts that nothing serious is really going to happen to Hal. Therefore errant ceiling tile and treacherous bars of soap induce mirth rather than trepidation.



Of course, my theory may merely be the high-flown rantings of a madwoman. It's probably just because Hal looks so good falling down.

How Soon We Forget

I'm still wallowing in nostalgia, and it occured to me that DC has one HELL of a lot of underused characters. ALL characters posses an enormous amount of potential...with the possible exception of Geo-Force...and it would be nice to see more of them plucked from an undeserving anonymity.

I am of course, only referring to most of MY favorite underused characters. Your own mileage may vary. And there are SOME characters that I am not at ALL sorry to see fall into Comic Book Oblivion. The New Guardians from Millenium spring most readily to mind in this category, for example.

But it has been only a few months, and I already miss Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle, not to mention his amazing supporting cast of Milagro, Mr. & Mrs. Reyes, Paco and Brenda. I also sincerely hope that Peacemaker isn't going to simply ride into the sunset. Fortunately, we will soon be reading about Jaime as the new back-up feature in Booster Gold, and about Kate Spencer aka Manhunter in one of the Bat books.

Both Fire and Ice are being needlessly underused at the moment. Since Checkmate ended, we've hardly seen Fire, except occasionally as a cameo in a different book two, and it is the same thing with Ice. I'm eternally grateful that she was brought back from the dead, but let' USE her! I also miss Obsidian and Sandy. They may be members of the Justice Society, but let's face it, except for occasionally showing up in a group shot, they haven't had much to do or say in AGES. Neither has Doctor Mid-Nite, for that matter. I'd kill to see the Shade pop up somewhere, not to mention Detective Chimp and Infectious Lass. She's my favorite Legion member.

At least John Stewart is getting some exposure in both Green Lantern and the Justice League. Despite being an excellent character, and one of my favorites, for some reason, John has a tendancy to be overlooked, which is a shame. The cost for being competent instead of flamboyant, I suppose.

It has only been a short amount of time, but I already miss the charming ladies from Birds of Prey. At least Oracle has her mini-series, although that's coming to an end soon, and Black Canary and Huntress have things to do. But what about Misfit? Or Zinda? Surely there is a place in comics for a gorgeous, time-displaced, hard-drinking Blonde pilot? Introduce her to Hal...he'd dump Cowgirl in a New York minute.

Ollie and Dinah have their own book...but what about Mia? For that matter,what about Conner? He was shot, then in a coma, and then miraculously revived with new powers, and that's been the last we've seen of him for quite a while. I LIKE Conner. He's been pretty much invisible. So has Sin and Eddie Fyers for that matter. At least Roy will be in Titans, after his unceremonious departure from the Justice League.

Enough whining...I guess.

Are there any characters that YOU miss, or feel are being underused?

Beware What You Wish For

Back in the Good Old Days, there was the Justice League Interntional...and it was good. SO good. It consisted of a couple of veterans like J'onn J'onnz and Batman, and for a while, Black Canary, but the bulk of its membership was filled by second and third stringers, who nevertheless in some intangible fashion, made themselves the stuff of legends.



And yet, in the fashion of practically ALL of the various incarnations of the Justice League, its membership roster remained fairly fluid. Heroes came and went, or served temporarily. But for the most part, there was a fairly solid core membership, and with only a few exceptions, they managed to get along and work together.

You could usually count on Batman, if he wasn't there ALL the time, he was at least around. Martian Manhunter of course was THE mainstay of the group, and probably its heart. There was usually a Flash, some heavy hitters and some more individual talents. You could also pretty much bank on having a Green Lantern in residence. At this particular point in time, the Green Lantern just happened to be Guy Gardner.

Since this was at the height of his brain-damaged buffoonery, Guy was perceived to be something of a trial...a burden if you will...by his fellow Justice Leaguers. So, whenever Hal Jordan decided to drop by for a visit, they usually all fell over themselves in drooling over him.

But exactly WHY were they all so happy to see Hal show up? Granted, working with Guy could be something of a chore, but he always did come through in the end, and was remarkable reliable, once you got past the pissing and moaning. However, with the exceptions of J'onn and Batman, none of the others had really had any experience working with Hal. I find it rather significant, that it was almost always Blue Beetle or Fire that were the most enthusiastic about Hal.

Little did they know, that Hal Jordan was every bit as egotistical as Guy Gardner. Hal was just a whole lot better and exercising his considerable charm, the effects of which, could be quite insidious. It wasn't until later on, when the intoxication of being in his presence had worn off, that they would blink and realize they'd just been conned.

Certainly things didn't go that particularly smoothly once he had joined the European branch of the Justice League, he managed to piss off quite a number of members. After he had beaten Guy and taken his ring, he didn't stay around and join the regular League either, all he really accomplished was to deprive the League of one of their heavy hitters. Fortunately for them, Guy did managed to get a hold of Sinestro's yellow ring, and make his triumphant return. The League did not necessarily see this as a GOOD thing...but it was.

Now of course, Hal is going to run away with Ollie and form his own Justice League. And what an interesting bunch he has picked to work with! Batwoman, Supergirl, Mikaal and Congorilla just to name a few. Hal wants to be more "proactive" which is all well and good, but quite frankly, I think that this is just a way for he and Ollie to hang out together, and bust a few heads.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. But it is a little interesting to me that none of those eager young heroes who so wanted to have Hal in the club are included. Granted,a whole lot of them are dead, or have moved onto other occupations. But, still...

Be careful what you wish for.

Not Much of a Post

Nothing really comicbook related today. It was the Regional Meet for the Special Olympics today, for my son Christopher, and it is always a very LONG day. It also kept raining off and on, which put a crimp in the festivities. Poor Chris also managed to pull his groin muscle while running the 100 meters, although fortuntately not too badly. We iced him up, and made him sit down and take it easy, and he was able to come back and finish the 4x100 meters, although he's a bit sore and tired.

Three golds and a silver though. He's my hero.

The FLASH: Rebirth #2

I liked this. I liked the first one too.




For one thing, it is by Geoff Johns, and I have learned to trust Geoff Johns. He very rarely disappoints me. It is also drawn by Ethan Van Sciver, and I adore Ethan Van Sciver. So right off the bat, I know that it is at least going to have an interesting plot, decent dialogue and lovely artwork.

As we learned in the first issue, Barry Allen is somehow, back from the Speed Force. Barry himself seems rather bemused by this unexpected turn of events, but just about everyone else is beside themselves with joy. Hal in particular is delighted to have his old buddy back among the living, although he can't seem to get over the differences in the circumstances of their respective "deaths". Barry, Hal exclaims, died as a Saint, but he, possessed by Parallax, died as a sinner. As usual, Hal is exagerating to a certain degree, yes he was possessed by Parallax, and did some very very bad things when not in his right mind, but he had pretty much done his best to redeem himself before dying in order to restore the sun. But since Hal would rather wallow in guilt for a while, he fails to mention all of this. I get the feeling that Barry doesn't quite know WHAT to think, but that he wishes Hal would lighten up a little.

So...Barry is back. But something just isn't quite right, and he can't quite put his finger on the problem. We have some flashbacks, with his old job as a CSI, and his romance with Iris, which has been updated a bit in typical Johns fashion, but I was really interested in the problem of what is happening to all of the speedsters in the world. Barry teams up with Wally, which is nice, and they end up being attacked by Lady Savitar, who blames Barry for the death of Savitar, not to mention, they stumble across the charred corpse of the old Black Flash. Too bad for Barry, that he appears to have inherited the mantle of the Black Flash, much to his and Wally's horror.

Now THAT was unexpected...at least by me. I can't help thinking that this is all going to tie in somehow with the upcoming Blackest Night story, which should be very interesting to say the least.

There has been a certain amount of kvetching on the internet about the return of Barry...that it was disrespectful to Wally, that Barry was dull and boring, and didn't NEED to come back, that Geoff Johns is too ready with a retcon...but I have to say that I disagree. I like Barry. I've always liked Barry, but in a mild sort of way. I wasn't really that emotionally invested in him as a character, so it is no skin off my nose WHAT Geoff Johns wants to do with him. For that matter, Jay is my favorite Flash, although I'm quite fond of Wally too. But if it is going to be a good story, why NOT use Barry? If he is suddenly going to be the unwilling avatar of Death for Speedsters, I can see where that would put a serious crimp in Flash picnics. So far at least, I am intrigued...and I want to see where this is all going, and what is going to happen when we get there.

Reviews!

You know, for a week without a Green Lantern book, this was actually pretty good.

I did have to break down and get the Final Crisis: RUN! issue, with none other than old Mike the Human Flame on the cover. I place the blame firmly on Scipio's shoulders, since he is the one who taught me to appreciate the Human Flame in the first place. Gosh, that Mike is SUCH a scalawag! Too bad about his tank exploding.

I also had to pick up Fin Fang 4, Return! I wish...I desperately wish, that Marvel would make this into an ongoing book, because it is consistantly hilarious, with Googam, Son of Goom, Gorgilla, Elektro, and of course, the magnificent Fin Fang Foom himself. The Christmas Hydra fight is particularly insane...but only in a good way.

The Flash,Rebirth #2. Oh. Oh my. More on this tomorrow.

Jonah Hex was a mostly silent issue, all action and practically no dialogue for the first part of the book, and one heck of a dilemna for the second part of the book. Good good stuff. That is one heck of a reputation that ol' Jonah has working for him.

I was quite pleased to pick up Power Girl #1. It has the same writers as Jonah Hex, and Amanda Conner on the artwork! Woohoo! Things certainly start out with a bang. Peej is trying to put her past behind her and figure out who she really is, and who can blame her? She's starting up her old company again, and working with a secret identity, when peculiar things start to happen, courtesy of the Ultra-Humanite. The Ultra-Humanite is up to no good. Also, her Cat shows up. Her CAT! I LOVE Peej's Cat! This looks as though it is going to be fun.

Trinity #49. Well, only a few more issues to go. I thought that the big boys had Krona on the run, till Morgaine decided to bollux things up. Too bad about the world coming to an end. If only Hal had one of those handy dandy Hope Lanterns around to charge his ring!

I also picked up The Mighty, which is by Peter Tomasi, Keith Champagne and Peter Snejbjerg. It's just starting out,but it is a nice premise, beautiful art, and darn it, I like it.

Did you all like YOUR books?

I'm In A Drawing Kind of Mood

Every once in a while the mood strikes me, and I have these fits of productivity. Sometimes they involve cleaning. This is NOT one of those times. I've been pent up in my lair drawing lately, and I thought that I'd share the fruits of my labors with you. And while I REALLY like drawing Green Lanterns, I thought that I'd try my hand at a few other characters as well.




But that's ok, because Guy is in there. I can't stray TOO far away from the boys after all.

It's Wednesday! Go buy your comics!

Dead Girlfriends

Isn't THAT a lovely subject? For once, Hal isn't leading the pack, since most of his ex's have simply been dumped as opposed to actually ceasing to breathe. Kyle of course, is the Green Lantern who most readily springs to mind, when it comes to tallying up dead Girl Friends. I think that ALL of his have died, or at least died and then come back. Donna, in particular seems to have a "get out of jail" card when it comes to the old dirt nap. Heck, women who have simply kissed Kyle have died. It isn't quite so bad that they only have to be in the same room with him, but I'm still a bit worried about Soranik's chances.

Guy and John have each had candidates for the Death pool. Guy had Kari Limbo, while John had Katma Tui. Actually, Guy had Kari AND Tora both up and die on him, only Tora had the good sense and good luck to make it back. We're still waiting for Katma...as is John, apparently. At least he keeps bringing her up to Hal lately.

But Hal...well, I have to give it to Hal for once. He may go through women,like salts through a goose, but at least most of them survive the experience. Even Arisia was only dead for a little while, and she could also qualify as a fridging for Guy as well. Hal doesn't NEED to have girlfriends die to give him angst...that's what Guy is for. And Kyle. And John.

But I have to say, that this is one of the reasons that I'm looking forward with so much anticipation to Blackest Night. Are the dead Girlfriends going to rise from the grave and haunt our heroes? Will there be a catfight between Alex and Jade? Seriously...who wouldn't want to see Alex whup Jade? I know that I would. Heck, let's see ALL of them start punching Kari Limbo, when she starts swooning and carrying on.

What about other Green Lanterns? Will Kilowog's family show up? Heck, his entire planet bit the big one...that's a LOT of Bolovax Vikians that could show up. That's not even counting all of the dead Green Lanterns such as Tomar Re, Ch'p, Laira, Bzzd and so so many more. There are even some dead Guardians out there...THAT could potentially be terrifying.

I'm beginning to see why this is going to be so big. It NEEDS to be big.

Blackest Night #0

I hope that all of you were lucky enough to snabble one of these little baby's at the Free Comic Day giveaway. Written by Geoff Johns of course, and drawn by Ivan Reis, so you KNOW that the art is going to be gorgeous, and it is.



Pretty, eh?

We get a bit of backstory, Hal is mourning the apparent death of Batman, and when Barry shows up, he tells him that they may have had their differences, but that he still looked upon him as a friend. They go on to discuss the deaths of any number of their friends and collegues, and wonder at the miracle of their own resurrections. Barry is drawn always a little out of sync, with his body vibrating just a bit, and it is a very nice effect.

We see some different graves, and then Black Hand shows up, and for the first time recites his oath.

"The Blackest Night,
falls from the skies.
The darkness grows,
as all light dies.
We crave your hearts,
and your demise.
By my black hand...
the Dead shall rise!"

Creepy. Just like Black Hand. This is a nice little teaser, it gives some information,without spilling any major beans on the story, but I could see someone being interested enough to pick it up.

At the back of the book,are the lovely representations of each of the individual corps, as drawn by Doug Mahnke, and a little bit of pertinant information for each one.

If you are a Green Lantern fan, I would say to do anything possible to get this, you will love it! And if you are just dabbling...well, get it anyway. It's awfully pretty.

No behinds, but you can't have everything.

Happy Free Comics Day!

Woohoo!

Be sure and get the "Blackest Night" #0 book, by Geoff Johns, with Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke. You won't be sorry...it's GORGEOUS!!!

Now, I'm off to buy flags for the Fife and Drum Corps.

Green Lantern #40

Great Guardians, things are really starting to pick up on the road to the Blackest Night.
.
Our latest action-packed episode, picks up with Fatality, former Bounty Hunter, and now newly minted Star Sapphire, ruminating on her past and present, not to mention a possible future. I guess that the power of Love, has actually worked, she seems a whole lot calmer than the last time I saw her, and she's decided to make peace with John Stewart. And I can hardly wait to see HIS reaction!

Meanwhile, the Guardians are standing around, mulling over what to do about Larfleeze. As usual, Scar seems to be running things, even though there is just the tiniest bit of dissent by another random Guardian. I'm sure that she'll do her best to fix HIS little red wagon. They also decide to come up with yet another new law...that the Vega System is no longer outside of the Green Lanterns jurisdiction.

When you think about it, they are really stacking the deck in their favor. Anytime they want to do something, they just make a new law, and VOILA! Now they are completely justified in doing whatever they want! Pretty slick, when you think about it.

So, Salaak gets on the horn to Gretti, who is in charge of the Vega sector. Oddly enough, Gretti isn't that thrilled to get the news that he can go home, since he's a nomad, and hates being in the same place for more than a day or two. Sheesh...it's a pretty big sector, pal, I'm sure that you can still wander to your heart's content.

Apparently the Guardians are pretty bored, and want to go out and play with their new toy, so ALL of them...with the exception of Scar, decide to take a little jaunt over to the Vega System, and clean it up. Since a LOT of criminals have been hanging out here, there IS a lot for them to do. Scar stays behind, because she's...er...ill. (cough, wheeze) Suuuuuure, she is.

So the Guardians and a bunch of Lanterns show up, including Hal and John. JOHN! It's always nice to see John.

Poor Hal. The Hope ring just won't leave him alone.


Ok, now THAT just made me giggle. Oh Hal, even the ring knows that you're hopeless. Or at least interested in things other than "World Peace". Like GIRLS!

Taken aback by the Blue Ring's attitude, Hal manages to crash-land right in front of Gretti, who is a bit sarcastic about his entrance. But Gretti is soon surprised, when mere proximity to Hal charges his ring up to 123%. Woohoo! The Guardians show up and advise him to move AWAY from the Blue Lantern. We can't have any of you fellows getting hopeful now!

They do find Larfleeze's lair eventually, and are confronted by orange constructs of the Controllers, who had been soundly defeated last issue. They are also powerful as all heck, absorbing not only the Green constructs, but also those created by the Guardians themselves! They yell out to Torquemada for a little magic help, but it's no use. Then Gretti gets absorbed...heck of a homecoming for HIM, poor fellow

Hal is still battling, when Larfleeze shows up, and notices that Hal has a Blue Ring...and he WANTS ONE!

There is also a nice little back-up feature, with Glomulus, one of Larfleeze's eventual constructs, which is rather fun.

The artwork is by Philip Tan,and although I miss Ivan Reis, I do have to say that he does an exemplary job. And the colors just...glow.