Blackest Night #5

Nekron Rises!



Does he ever!

I hope that you were all good boys and girls, and read Green Lantern #48 first. It isn't THAT necessary, but it does explain how they all ended up together. And that is one HELL of a splash page, as drawn by Ivan Reis. He's really outdoing himself on the artwork.

So...all seven representatives of the various Corps end up on Ryut, in Sector 666, looking for the Black Battery. They all get to recite their various oaths, which secretly thrills me down to my toes. Well...all except Larfleeze, who doesn't have one. Larfleeze continues to delight me.
Oh, and Ganthet and Sayd have tagged along just for fun.

So while our heroes and heroines are standing around looking heroic, back on Earth, Barry is confronting none other than Nekron himself...who is Up To No Good. Black Hand is oozing around, throwing double entendres and generally being squicky. Things aren't going well, until Wally shows up with the rest of the still living Good Guys.

As an interesting aside, in New York, the Atom and Mera are fighting a Black Lantern version of Jean Loring. And you thought she was a wackydoodle BEFORE! Jean grabs the two of them, and they ALL shrink down and end up inside of the Black Rings. I have a feeling that this is going to be important later on.

Back at the BIG fight, they've discovered that Dove somehow has the power to disrupt the Black Lanterns. Oh, and Barry tells Bart not to call him "Grandpa". It makes him feel too old. Of course to Bart, anyone over twenty is ancient. And who should show up, but Scar, the Mad Guardian. Before she can get her nasty hooks into Barry, the seven Corps members...who you remember were standing around...all make a spectacular entrance! 'Cuz that's just how they roll. In a rather surprising turn of events, they all handle her rather...well...handily.

They finally do come face to face with the Black Lantern's Battery, and all of them are pouring it on. Carol remarks that she could swear she once saw this on a Saturday morning cartoon, to which Hal replies, "Me too." That did crack me up. Oh Geoff Johns, you sly dog, you.

Unfortunately, all of this outpouring of energy from the various rings isn't doing a damn thing, much to Hal's consternation. Black Hand on the other hand is quite jubilant. It is at about this moment that things REALLY go to hell in a handbasket, as Nekron tells "Bruce Wayne of Earth...RISE"

Oh crap. Crappity crap crap, to be precise. That oddly enough is just about the reaction of everyone there. And, as they are reeling from the appearance of a zombified Batman, Nekron pulls out his other secret weapon. All of those heroes who died and later came back? Well...turns out that they only did that because he LET them. And now their time is up.

Buddy Baker of Earth, Tora Olafsdottir, Diana Prince, Kal-El of Krypton, Conner Kent, Bart Allen, and Oliver Queen of Earth...DIE!

Then Nekron says something rather strange. "You have served your purpose'Bruce Wayne'. Back to rest." And Batman disintegrates. I thought the "Bruce Wayne" in parentheses was interesting. I suspect shenanigans somewhow.

But still, all of the formerly dead, then alive and now dead again heroes have blanked out eyes, snarls on their lips, and really really cool outfits.

Oh, and black rings are also chasing Barry and Hal.

Now THAT'S one heck of a cliffhanger!

Blackest Night may have started just a little bit slowly, but it is certainly gaining momentum now! I can't WAIT to see next months issue!

Nothing Comical Today

Took the day off, and marched in our very last fife and drum corp parade of the season. Man, it was chilly AND windy. But then we all went to the Brewmaster Tavern in Williamsburg, Mass, and in exchange for playing for the customers, we got a tour of the brewery, not to mention goodies AND beer!

BEER!

To make it even better, we met up with a bunch of bagpipers, who were ALSO in the parade, and we all went out on the front porch and played for an hour or so, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, so we had a very very good time.

Also, beer.

So, I'll get to my review of Blackest Night, when my feet stop hurting, and after I take a nap, because...well, you know.

Beer. Really frikkin' good beer.

Green Lantern #48

Prepare for your mind to be officially boggled. Also, be sure to read Green Lantern BEFORE you read Blackest Night #5. Nothing too earth-shattering will happen if you happen to read it the other way around, but it will make a bit more sense.

Blackest Night is turning into one HELL of an event, and the latest issue of Green Lantern continues to build on the story. In order to defeat Nekron, the various Light Corps need to put aside their differences and team up...a feat easier said than done.

We begin with Atrocitus and Larfleeze, with Larfleeze doing the narrating, and quite frankly, I DO hope that Larfleeze makes it out of Blackest Night in one piece,because he's hilarious. I'm not going into too much detail on their interaction, because then I'd just have to repeat all of the dialogue, so go and read it for yourselves!

Then we have the other members of the different Corps show up. Saint Walker has joined Hal, Carol, Sinestro and Indigo-One, and it's a good thing for Larfleeze that he's so forgiving. It's even more fun when you have alpha males like Hal Sinestro and Atrocitus trying to work together. And we finally learn something about Atrocitus that makes me understand what Geoff Johns was talking about when he said that the more extreme Corps aren't necessarily all bad...or all good.

Sinestro makes Larfleeze an offer he can't refuse, we learn that the crimes of the Guardians are dire indeed, and Sayd is trying to get a little redemption on her own...much to Ganthet's dismay

Doug Mahnke knocks it out of the park as usual, on the artwork. Geoff Johns does a similar stellar job with the story and the dialogue. There are some real fun moments sprinkled amongst the drama and pathos...I loved Hal and Carol casually discussing exactly WHICH muppet Larfleeze reminds them the most of, in the middle of all the mayhem.

This is good. So very very good. Be sure and get it and READ it.

Onto Blackest Night tomorrow.

It's Turkey Day!

Woohoo, it's Thanksgiving! Probably my favorite holiday of the year! It's over the river and through the woods, to my sister's log cabin for a feast that can't be beat. We'll visit with family, eat everything in site, drink wine and cider and talk for HOURS.

I love it.

I hope that you all have an equally magnificent Thanksgiving.



And a tip of my pilgrim hat to little Black Cat who does the Batman and Sons series which are both hilarious AND amazing. Frankly, DC should be snapping her up.

Where's a Superhero when you Need one?

So. I go traipsing off to my beloved Comical Book store as usual, and much to my dismay, am greeted by the news that it was ROBBED last night! The effrontery of it! The sheer audacity! The outrage! They broke in through a small obscure window in the back, and unfortunately, in doing so, knocked over a tall bookcase, which fell against another bookcase, and in a domino effect, a bunch of them were broken to pieces. They took the small amount of cash in the drawer, and some games, and that was it, apart from accidentally wrecking the place, so I guess it could have been a whole lot worse. They didn't take any books, nor action figures, or even some of the very expensive statues and things lying around. Did make a mess though.

The window is now gone, bricked up with cinderblocks. The bookcases are rebuilt, and things look pretty much back to normal, but Matt is still shook up a bit. Hell, I'M shook up a bit! I LOVE my comic book store!

I'm making Matt cookies.

Oh Good Grief...

...it's Tuesday again, isn't it? I don't quite know what it is about Tuesdays, but I always have a terrible time coming up with something to write about. So I guess I'll just have to go spelunking in my photobucket and see what bobs to the surface. And isn't THAT a strange melange of phrases!

Well, here's something nice...



Always nice to see Alan. Being AWESOME!

And look, there's Obsidian being awesome as well, just a little bit less awsome than his father, because quite frankly, just about EVERYONE is a little bit less awesome than Alan Scott. Even Batman.

I...I feel so refreshed just talking about him!

More Ruminations on Green Arrow

Yeah, you heard me. Green ARROW! I have been contemplating Ollie's wankery lately...and quite frankly, his ego even puts Hal's to shame. But Hal still has more willpower, sexiness and nicer hair...so there.

I will admit however, that I did absolutely adore Kevin Smith's version of Oliver, when he returned from the dead, and started hanging out with the Justice League again.



For some reason, this just cracked me up. It was a very realistic...and funny take on Ollie's resurrection. In fact, when Aquaman finds him and hauls him up to the satellite, EVERYone is just flabberghasted...as well they should be. I mean, it's quite possible that after Blackest Night is all over and done with, people coming back from the dead, will be considered just another Tuesday, for the Justice League, but at this point, it was still somewhat of an occasion.

Ollie not only returned from the dead, he came back as ASShole Ollie. Seriously, you think that Guy Gardner was bad in the old days in the JLI? Well, he was NUTHIN' on Oliver Queen. Ollie's ultra left-wing rantings were just as obnoxious as Guy's ultra right-wing ravings, and it is a shame...a DARNED shame that I don't think they ever had the two of them actually go at it.

Of course, Ollie had Hawkman to fill that role,and I have always enjoyed their battles.

The Brave & the Bold

Woohoo! They actually showed a NEW episode of the Brave & the Bold on the Cartoon Channel! Not only that, but it had GUY in it! Doing Guyish sorts of things.

It also had Mongul as the bad guy, Bat of course, Guy, Green Arrow, Huntress and Plastic Man as WELL as Woozy Winks, not to mention the Joker, Catwoman, Black Manta and Gentleman Ghost. They were all on an alien planet having a DEATH RACE, to decide whether or not Mongul will destroy the Earth!

God, I love this show.

Batman is being more dickish and driven (haw!) than usual, but fear not, for he has a cunning plan. Anyone who goofs up, gets zapped up to Mongul's War Moon. Naturally, Batman is the only one left, fighting agains Mongul's champion, Steppenwolf. But on War Moon, Ollie, Plas and Guy ALSO have a cunning plan.



Zowie!

And utterly magnificent.

Let's All Pick on Ollie

I'm in something of a contrary mood. Normally, I like to abuse Hal. But I've been reading those old Denny O'Neil Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories lately, and just for a change of pace, I feel like abusing Ollie instead. Because compared to Mister Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan comes off as a model of decorum and restraint. Which is probably NOT the reaction that Denny O'Neil was shooting for...but as I've said...I'm feeling contrary.

Ollie has good intentions obviously, but the sheer magnitude of his self-righteousness is staggering. Stopping pollution, helping the poor, fighting racism are all highly commedable pursuits,it's just as usual, Ollie goes overboard.

Of course, Oliver has a habit of going overboard. Remember that deserted island that wasn't so deserted? Hah! I kill myself sometimes.



Ollie's reaction to poor Roy's little substance abuse problem was really the pinnacle of his douchebaggery. I have to admit to giving a cheer when Roy, having kicked the habit cold-turkey, with a little bit of help from Dinah and Hal, goes and gives his Mentor, a huge punch right in the face.

Does anyone else have any really good moments of Ollie wankery?

A Public Service Announcement

People, just because the word "Butts" is in the title of this blog, please do not make assumptions. Yes, I may enjoy the sight of a taut Green Lantern behind, but that's MY particular fetish, that is shared by a small number of highly discerning friends. It is not carte blanche to use my site as an advertisement for scantily clad young ladies.

So knock it off.



Unless you have of course, come to ogle something like this.

Thank you.

It's Review Time

Not a bad week, all things considered. No Blackest Night, nor any Green Lanterns, but I managed...I managed.

BN: Adventure Comics #4

Ok, this is the one with Superboy Prime on the cover, and quite frankly, I wasn't quite sure WHAT to expect. I certainly didn't expect to laugh my ass off, that's for sure.

Seriously, this is hilarious. Back on his own world, Dear little Clark is still obsesively cruising the internet and reading comic books while simulatenously terrorizing his own parents. And who should come calling, but Black Lantern Alex Luthor. It's just so...so perfect. I absolutely LOATHE Superboy Prime, and yet even I found myself feeling just a tiny bit sorry for him. But only a tiny tiny bitl

Batman Confidential #37

I don't usually pick this up, but it had Lady Blackhawk on the cover, and how am I supposed to resist that? I LOVE Zinda! Someone has dug up Blackhawk's corpse, and is stealing weaponry, and stuff, so Zinda and Batman go off to Blackhawk Island, where Batman skulks around, and Zinda behaves in a particularly brainless and wimpy fashion.

*sigh*

Streets of Gotham #6. This continues the story with Manbat and Huntress, with a bit of a twist at the end, which was pretty good all things considered. And it is always nice to see Manhunter. Oh, and Dick Grayson shows up, the Paris Hilton of Gotham.

Heh.

The Brave & the Bold #29

Batman and Brother Power the Geek? I...I did NOT see that coming. Talk about obscure characters! It was ok, I guess.

The Flash: Rebirth #5

Woohoo! Go Barry! And Wally, and Max and Jesse Quick and Bart and Impulse. Yeah, you heard me.

Frankly, I've been enjoying the piss out of this. I like Barry, and I'm glad, GLAD that he's alive, and I'm glad that Max is alive, and Wally and everyone else. And I'm hoping that Zoom gets his. I can't say that I actually understand how the Speed Force can create costumes, but if that's Wally's explanation for it, then who am I to quibble? Besides, I adore Comic Book Science. And Ethan Van Sciver's art is so pretty.

Yes, it's been late, and that has been annoying, but I'm so caught up in Blackest Night, that I haven't really noticed its lateness that much, so it is a happy surprise when it does show up.

Justice Society of America 80-Page Giant.

Frankly, I love 80-Page Giants and I am so happy that they are bringing them back. I have to say that I don't fully understand how all of these weird things are happening at the Brownstone, but hey, it's the Justice Society, and Doctor Fate is involved, so it's all good. Basically it is seven different stories, that touch on things in the past and how they relate to the present, and it's a bit convoluted, but what the heck. I liked it.

The Outsiders #24

I actually am enjoying the Outsiders, and that is due entirely to Peter Tomasi. This is another tie-in to Blackest Night, and it has Terra coming back to "life" as a Black Lantern. She's gone to poor stupid trusting Brion and is busy telling him that she can't get the ring off her finger, and she just wants to rest...she really doesn't want to eat his big stupid trusting delicious heart, oh no.

And Katanna's family all show up, and she's buffaloed for a little while, until they try to eat Halo, or whatever, and then Katanna realizes her mistake. It's pretty decent really.

And you get rings!

Wednesday Bonanza

Well, I'm just flabberghasted. Here it is, Wednesday, and I go dancing into my beloved local Comic Book store, intent upon gobbling up whatever four-color delights are awaiting me. And there are some excellent delights, but I'll get to those anon. What did startle me, was a four foot tall stack of hardbound books by the front counter. Well, actually two four foot tall stacks of hardbound books. Volumes One and Two of the Photo-Journal: Guide to Comic Books, by Ernst and Mary Gerber.

I blinked. That was a helluva lot of books. Matt just sighed, when I asked him about them...turns out there was a...mix-up of sorts. A STRANGE mix-up. I'm not sure of all the details, but the end result was that I received two VERY large and heavy and beautiful books, originally priced at $75 apiece, for...free.

I KNEW baking all those cookies for Matt over the years would payoff...and it HAS! Oh, and I also mangaged to snag the blue Hope ring and the violet Star Sapphire ring. Woohoo!

Anyhoo...I never realized that John Wayne and Gabby Hayes had their own comic books. Or that there were quite so many Jungle Queens. Seriously, there were a LOT of Jungle Queens!

Ugh...It's Tuesday

What IS it about Tuesday anyway? It's the most depressing day of the week, that's what it is. Monday isn't really too thrilling either, but you do have the "excitement" of getting going again after the weekend. Wednesday of course, is what I call "Church" day...because going to the Comic Book Store is somewhat of a religious experience for me. Thursday, is getting towards the end of the week, and besides, we can all talk about the comics that we bought on Wednesday. Friday of course, needs no explanation, everyone loves Fridays. And then the Weekend.

But Tuesday stands alone. Not much to look forward to, and it's the day BEFORE the comics.

Bleh.

So...in order to brighten up YOUR Tuesday, please feast your eyes upon THIS!



Because seriously...how can anyone not love G'Nort Esplanade G'Neesmacher? I know that I do. And it would REALLY be fabulous if he turns out to be the savior of the Green Lantern Corps in Blackest Night.

Guy Gardner: Warrior

It's been an awfully long tinme since I had a little bit of Beau Smith Appreciation, and I feel that he is due. As you ALL know, Beau Smith was the definitive writer of Guy Gardner, when he took over his solo title way back when. This was after Hal had gone bonkers and Parallaxed his way through the Green Lantern Corps, and beat the crap out of Guy (again) and took his ring (again) and even his eye and left him in a coma (again!)

Hmmmm...I'm seeing something of a pattern here.

Anyhoo, Not being someone who just lays around, Guy decides to go off and get some powers. He's a bit on the desperate side at the moment, so apparently ANY kind of powers will do...he's not particularly picky.



Cool, eh?

I understand that originally, Mr. Smith wanted Guy to not have any special powers, just run around being heroic all on his own. But the Powers That Be weren't down with that idea, and powers were what he got. But all things considered, they were interesting powers.

Mr. Smith also introduced a whole new cast of supporting characters, such as Buck Wargo and the Monster Hunters.




I rather miss Buck, Joey, Rita and Desmond. Not to mention Veronna, and Lady Blackhawk, and Arisia and Fire, and Wildcat, and just about everyone else who was hanging around at the Warriors bar. They were a fun bunch. They were an INTERESTING bunch. I rather miss them. On the other hand, perhaps their obscurity has been a blessing in disguise. If nobody remembers them, then they can't be DIS-membered.

If you haven't read Guy Gardner:Warrior, then do, by all means, go out and get the books. They aren't too hard to find, and they aren't too expensive. It's rather a shame that they haven't been collected, but I don't imagine that they will be in any forseeable future. And the artwork is VERY 90's and over the top. Still...they are a hell of a lotta fun.

And fun is good.

Halfway through Blackest Night

So. Here we all are, about halfway through Blackest Night, and the tension is ramping up to almost unendurable levels. I remember going through this with Rebirth and the Sinestro Corps War. Say what you will, but Geoff Johns is a master at creating and maintaining threat levels! And, it always ends with a bang, instead of a whimper. This time, he's got Peter Tomasi working with him, and between the two of them, they've got me in an almost constant state of emotion. I DESERVE those plastic rings, believe me!

And all of this from a comic book.

So let me recap. The Dead have risen, the Anti-Monitor is the Black Lantern battery, the Scarred Guardian is a traitor, the Guardians are out of the picture due mainly to their own rampant stupidity, and Nekron is behind everything. We think that Nekron is behind everything. There are a lot of other unresolved clues that are still swirling around after all.

On the Villain side, a number of bad guys have been given new dimension and are suddenly interesting. Black Hand was always something of a joke to me, spouting aphorisms, and waving that silly little gun around. Hal or Guy used to beat him up on a regular basis. Well...he's not a joke anymore, is he? Black Hand has become a genuine menace, and a frightening menace at that.

Sinestro is quite simply fabulous lately. He's always been a good villain, mainly because he never considered himself to be the bad guy. Why would he? He's just trying to save the universe by creating order, which really isn't that much different from what the little blue munchkins are trying to do. Sinestro just doesn't have as good a press agent as the Guardians. But lately, with all the revelations about his past, and his motivations, and his own panache...I'm really liking Sinestro. In a villainy sort of way, of course.

Do I include the Guardians in the villain category? Or are they simply misguided? They have certainly been the unwitting cause of a hell of a lot of chaos, and I'm not completely sure about that "unwitting" part. They've gone ahead and done some really really stupid things, and never were held accountable. Being immortal can be a handicap, if you keep making the same sort of mistakes over and over. The Manhunters were a BAD idea, the destruction of sector 666 was the cause of all of this, and then the Guardians go ahead and create the Alpha Lanterns, which is an even dumber idea than the creation of the Manhunters. They've been running scared, and letting their fears rule them, and you'd think that they would be beyond that sort of thing by now. Not to mention the whole hatred of emotions thing. If one thing happens at the end of Blackest Night, I hope that the Guardians FINALLY get what is coming to them, and at least understand that they have been monumental screw-ups.

Frankly, Salaak should have been running things all along.

On the hero side, well...a whole lot of heroes are now dead and bad guys. this is not a good thing for the REST of the good guys. Not to mention that they are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off, because although it has been months for us, I think that all of this has only been happening in comic book time, in a mere matter of days, if that. And since the Indigos came in and took their main weapon away...Hal...they have REALLY been screwed. So part of the fun is seeing them try and cope on their own. Being Earth's greatest Heroes, I am positive that they'll rise to the occasion.

I'm getting a tad long-winded here, so I suppose I'll wrap this up. What I am trying to say, is that in spite of all the trepidation preceeding it, and the bellyaching of various fanboys and message boards...Blackest Night has been JUST as good as Rebirth and the Sinestro Corps War, and I think that the finale is going to knock all of our colletive socks off. I also think that it is occasionally good to be positive instead of negative.

And I really want to see what Guy does as a Red Lantern.

Green Lantern Corps #42

I purposely like to wait an extra day, whenever Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps or Blackest Night comes in, to be able to absorb everything, and to give everyone a chance to read it, without spoiling the ending. With that being said...OH MY GOD!!!!!

I...I did not see that coming. I mean, I realized it was a possiblity, and this particular death would CERTAINLY be sufficient to send Guy over the edge into red blood-vomiting rage...but I had read that Geoff Johns was assuring people at the various conventions that Kyle would make it out of Blackest Night alive. So I was more worried about OTHER people, like Kilowog, or Ice or even Salaak.

Not Kyle. NOT KYLE!

Anyway, a we open, the battle between the fast fading remnants of the Green Lantern Corps and the ever burgeoning numbers of Black Lanterns still rages on Oa. Vath Sarn and Isamot are in a particularly tight spot, surrounded by dead GL parents and their very hungry offspring, presumably the babies stolen by Kryb. They all want to feast on living hearts and are putting up quite a fuss about it, as children are wont to do. Fortunately, Munk, the Indigo #2 guy is there, and lending a hand.

Kilowog is still battling against his former mentor, now a Black Lantern, and writhing in agony, as his heart is being pulled out, when suddenly, ALL the Black Lanterns get the eerie message; 100% Power Level Exceeded. Devour Will. Well...THAT can't be good! And they all fly off, leaving the bewildered Green Lanterns. I'm VERY glad that Kilowog isn't dead, but he's still a bit broken, which is sad.

When last we left Soranik Natu, she had just shoved her entire fist inside BL Jade's mouth. It's still there, and Soranik is quite proud of herself. And so is Kyle. He's almost as bad as Hal when it comes to women fighting over him...I think he's getting a secret thrill out of it all. Then Jade gets the message that all the other Black Lanterns are getting and zooms away, dragging Soranik with her, so Kyle has to go and blow her head off, so that Soranik can have her hand back. That's True Love right there.

Well, it turns out that the command to Devour Will, means that they are all around the Green Lantern central power Battery, and are going to destroy it, the way that they destroyed the one on Zamaron. Guy decides that this seems to be the best place for their last stand. The Indigo Lantern can help a bit, but not enough, when Kyle comes up with a cunning plan. He and Guy fly off, and decide to free Vice, the EXTREMELY nasty Red Lantern from his prison, hoping that he'll take care of some of the Black Lanterns. They do, and he does. Oh boy does he.

Then, Alpha Lantern Chaselon, gets his officious knickers in a twist. He decided to blow up Vice, which is incredibly stupid, since he is actually unwittingly HELPING them, but then again, Alpha Lanterns were probably one of the stupidest ideas that the Guardians ever came up with. And they've come up with some doozies. Too bad for Alpha Lantern Chaselon, that the charming little dead children decide that he's a fun shiny ball...and rip him open.

This is bad. An Alpha Lantern battery is a heck of a lot more powerful than a regular battery, it consists of a whole crapload of rings, if I remember correctly, and it isn't going to be pretty when it blows up. Kyle realizes this, from Salaak, and hatches another cunning plan. He grabs Chaselon's battery, and gets a whole passel of Black Lanterns in close, before sealing off the area with a green dome construct.



Then...he says he loves Soranik and Guy.

And...and BLOWS UP EVERYTHING!

But he saves the power battery and the lives of his fellow Lanterns, while taking a whole lot of Black Lanterns with him.



Oh...Kyle!

Say what you will, but that's one hell of an exit. I'm pretty sure that in the end of all of this, Kyle will probably be back somehow, along with any number of heroes who have also been killed, like Hawkman, and Tempest and Firestorm and Ted (hopefully) I also don't think that they'll be able to turn Kyle INTO a Black Lantern. Don't really know why, but he's pretty much at peace with what he's doing.

But I can certainly understand why Guy is going to go nutso in the next issue, because Kyle was his baby and his friend, and he doesn't take this sort of thing too well. God, we have to wait for a whole month!

Reviews

Boy Howdy, that was one HELL of a comicbook week! Especially...well, never mind, I'll get to it.

Batman & Robin #6

Gotta love those Frank Quitely covers. Inside, Jason is up to his old tricks...or maybe just some new tricks. He's got Dick and Damian stripped down to their underwear, tied up in front of a webcam, and sends out the message, that one million calls will activate the picture, and that you too, can see Batman and Robin unmasked and nekkid!

Needless to say, the calls start pouring in.

Heh.

While all of this is going on, the Flamingo, who is a rather flamboyant and utterly merciless hitman for the mob, is busy beating the crap out of the Red Hood and poor Scarlet. And a mere rope and knot isn't going to keep Batman and his loyal sidekick out of action for long, and naturally, they bust loose in fairly short order. Then THEY go and fight the Flamingo. He promptly throws Dick off the roof and nonchalantly shoots Damian in the back several times, before Jason appears to crush him with a back hoe. Then the cops show up and take Jason into custody, while Damian can't feel his legs. This can't be good. Scarlet takes off into the night, and removes the skin mask, so hopefully, she ends up with a happy ending. Not so much for everyone else though. Damn good stuff.

Booster Gold #26

Booster has disappeared, and everyone is getting a little worried about his whereabouts. Rip has another chalkboard with cryptic messages. I LOVE Rip's chalkboard. Skeets and Jaime team up. Booster in the meantime, has actually gone back in time to revisit Ted's funeral, where he witnesses his own breakdown. It's quite sad really.

Rose is trying to get Daniel to take her out to a cat show, and he just wants to stay home and play video games. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) something large lands on their house, destroying it. Turns out to be the Bug. And who is that emerging from the inside?

Oh crappity crap crap, Ted's a Black Lantern. But by God, he's a cheerful Black Lantern. Too bad he's trying to rip Daniel's heart out.

Fables #90

Ozma is staging something of a coup, trying to take over, now that Totenkinder has disappeared. The good Frau has gone to another world to try and destroy the Dark Guy. She did send a single gold coin in a pouch to King Cole, along with some pretty interesting instructions. Now we'll just have to see if Cole's greed can be reined in. And Gepetto is up to no good, as could probably have been expected.


The Flash #4

I'm not sure if this came out this week, or if I just forgot to get it, but it's darned good! Zoom is the negative Speed Force, while Barry is the postive Speed Force. And Wally does some nice amazing things, and so does Max, who isn't dead after all, and...and it's ALL good! I just love Johns and Van Sciver working together.

Green Arrow/Black Canary #26

I had pretty much given up on this, but it looked like an interesting cover, with Ollie fighting himself, so I actually bought it, and I'll be dipped, if it wasn't pretty good too. Ollie's having a weird dream, facing himself back on that desert island, and decides to go home, and runs into himself...literally. Guess who else is back? I am not exactly sure how Everyman could have survived being dissected from Batman and Doctor Midnite's EXTREMELY exhaustive autopsy, but he's apparently awfully hard to kill.

Green Lantern Corps #42

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More tomorrow. In detail. Grisly detail.
I'm STILL having palpitations.

JSA vs Kobra #6

Well. Not bad. The ending leaves things hanging a bit, but it's still nice to see them all working together so nicely. Now that they've split up the team, this may be the last time we see them all together. And look, there's Sandy! No dialogue, but what the hey.

R.E.B.E.L.s.#10

I don't normally get this, but it did have a Blackest Night label, and I wanted the ring, so what the hell. Actually, it wasn't bad. Not bad at all! I barely know who these people are, but still, that was quite a twist at the end! Yellow suits Vril.

Titans #19

Again, I don't read Titans, but I can't resist the sight of Lian's little Mary Jane's on the cover. And again, this was pretty good. A nice quiet look at Roy's life as a single father, and I have always liked Roy. I was a bit perplexed at his battle with Lady Vic however. In the first panels she is wearing long pants. Tight pants, but pants nevertheless. Then suddenly she switches to the standard thong for a few panels, and by the end of the fight, she's back in long pants. I can only assume that the Flash showed up, and was feeling mischevious...or something.

Well! Hell of a week! Now I've got to go and read Green Lantern Corps again! I honestly did not see that coming!

Eureka!

Hopefully, this is going to be my LAST blog about computer problems. I took my fancy schmancy HP into work, and had one of my super computer savy co-workers take a peek,and we ended up taking it to PC Warehouse in Springfield, where they do all of the computer fixin' stuff for where I work. It was going to cost about $100 to replace the power unit thingie, OR, for about $200 he could BUILD ME A WHOLE NEW COMPUTER! With easy-to-replace components! I'd been browsing at Costco and Best Buy, and they were all pretty expensive, so naturally, I jumped on this like a tick on a dog!

And here it is! All working, and...and STUFF! Had to reload the virus protection, and music, but for the most part, he was able to save a ton of my stuff, and I'm just so happy, I could plotz.

Oh, and the new books came out today, even though it was Veteran's day. So read your books, and kiss a Veteran!

Woohooooooo!!!

Oh Oliver!

No, this is not about the musical Oliver. Which also had an exclamation point at the end, if my memory serves me. This is about the one and only Oliver Queen, aka the Green Arrow.

I haven't really talked that much about Ollie here, usually, I'm slobbering over Hal. But for the past couple of evenings, I've been reading the two Green Lantern/Green Arrow compilations so lovingly gathered by DC, with Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. The art is mindbogglingly gorgeous of course. The writing was considered to be quite the thing at the time, with all of Denny O'Neil's over-the-top dialogue and the touching upon topics that were considered taboo at the time, such as drug use, and so on.

But...really, Ollie is pretty much a douchebag. And I LIKE Ollie! Most of the time.

Seriously, why Hal didn't just haul off and punch him right in the nose, I'll never know. Of course, there was a fair amount of fisticuffs between the two of them, but in practically every case, it is initiated by Oliver, not Hal.

My God, he's so...so full of himself! Ollie, not Hal. Although Hal does have a very healthy ego, at least he's not running around spouting off a bunch of half-baked lingo and gibberish. And poor Black Canary...stuck with the two of them!

Guy at his very WORST, when he was a brain-dead lout wasn't as bad as Ollie, when he had all of his brains, but apparently couldn't control himself. I consider myself reasonably liberal and moderate in my political leanings, but Geez Louise! Fatcats, Nazis,the downtrodden poor, hippies and evil cops...it's a bit much. But it's pretty hilarious, if you are in the proper frame of mind.

Ollie seems to have calmed down a bit as he matured. I will say, that Barry never did HALF of the stuff to Hal, that Ollie did. I can probably say with confidence, that Barry never once has called Hal a Nazi. Ollie used to do it with every other breath, or so it seemed.

Good Grief, it's Monday

Ulp. Now I have to think of something. I will say, that it is November in New England, and currently about 70 degrees outside, which has put ALL of us crusty Yankees in a fairly good mood. Naturally, we used this gift from Nature, to rake leaves.

I'm also in a good mood, because it's the second week of the month, which means that Green Lantern Corps should be coming out this Wednesday...and I can hardly wait. And Booster Gold maybe. Woohoo!

The World Series is over, so I'll finally be able to watch "House" tonight. It's been two weeks, and I've missed it. I get CRANKY when I can't watch my favorite shows or read my favorite comics.

Ragnell has been writing a whole lot of good stuff lately over at Written World, which also puts me into a good mood. I love reading Ragnell's writing. She's got nice bits about Kyle and Soranik Natu, so I'm doubly happy.

I wonder what color ring they are going to have at the Comic Book Store this Wednesday? I've got the Black Ring, a Yellow Sinestro Corps ring from last week, and a Green one from quite some time ago. I'd love to get them all. I want a Star Sapphire ring!

And finally,



I don't even remember where I found this, but that HAS to be Sergio Aragones. And look...Catwoman in her Balent outfit, and Joe Gardner, Guy's evil clone! Always nice to see Joe.

How DO You Fight In High Heels?

So...last evening, my Sweet Baboo and I, along with our son and his girlfriend attended the fiftieth anniversary Ball, for the Connecticut Valley Porsche Club. This was one heck of an affair, black tie, prime rib, open bar and live band...the whole nine yards. And a lovely time was had by all. There were a lot of really gorgeous dresses on display, I myself, was tastefully attired in a long black dress with sparkly things. Sometimes I just can't resist sequins.

In general, the crowd was on the older and decidedly affluent side. These are Porsches after all. And mixed in with the gray hair,was a small but quite vocal bunch of trophy wives. I think that they must breed them somewhere, as they all had the exact same shade of blonde hair and fake boobs. We did wonder if the right ones went home with the right men, as they all had a tendancy to look and dress alike.

And what does all this have to do with comics you may ask? I'm getting to that, but please indulge my cattiness. Because, in addition to the really gorgeous gowns, there were some really...outrageous outfits, and some of them seemed to have been designed with comicbook heroines in mind. There was one woman for example, who was wearing a short backless and almost frontless dress. Power Girl immediately sprang to mind. There was another young lady in black fishnets and a mini-skirt. Black Canary! And high high heels.

What Caryn (my son's adorable girlfriend) and I couldn't understand, was that at the end of the evening, our feet were killing us, since we were both wearing nice high-heeled shoes. As were a lot of OTHER ladies, whose feet were also killing them. How in the HELL do Super Heroines run around kicking people in the face, without breaking their ankles, or falling out of their incredibly low-cut costumes? Seeing some of this stuff for REAL, on real women, made me realize how utterly impractical it all is. If you can't make it to the other side of the dance floor without twisting your ankles, then how the heck are you going to chase bad guys? And one ill-advised twist of your torso, and unless you are using industrial strength duct tape, your bosoms are going to put somebody's eye out.

Of course, it could just be the hangover and the lack of sleep that is making me so cranky. And the fact that my eye-candy days are probably behind me. But I'm beginning to think that all Peej would really have to do in the REAL world is just show up and...breathe. And all the villains would simply surrender.

Oh Hal

It occurs to me, that I haven't mocked Hal in quite a while. Days at least! I adore Hal of course, he rather tends to expect to be adored, but I do have to admit that it is awfully fun to make merry with him



For Heaven's Sake Hal, even Superman is embarrassed.

Reviews

Well, it was a pretty small week, but I can't complain too much, there were some pretty good books out.

Firstly, we have the new miniseries...or is it an ongoing? Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, by Chris Roberson and drawn by Shawn McManus. I've loved the idea of Cinderella as a superspy, so I'm quite pleased with this so far. The story is interesting, and the art is nice. I'll be glad to continue seeing how this unfolds.

Doom Patrol #4. Things are actually picking up a bit, or else I'm beginning to get more invested in the characters, because this has been my favorite issue yet. Nice to see that Niles Caulder shows up oranged to the Black Lanterns, with his greed unchecked. Greed is an emotion that I haven't seen yet, although all of the other colors have shown up. The back-up feature with the Metal Men, was a hoot as usual.

Jonah Hex #49, was the conclusion to the Six-Gun War story. On the one hand, there was some excitement, with Jonah and his allies showing up and inciting a revolt by the slaves in the mine against Turnbull and his cohorts. On the other hand, Turnbull gets away, and it all ends a little flat...at least for me. I really thought the old goat was going to get it this time, which may have been naivete' on my part.

Secret Six #15, was a bit of a change from the usual, with the illustrious Mr. Ostrander taking over for the writing chores, in a tale about Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot.

Frankly, I loved it. Deadshot's been feeling a bit skittish lately, he's been having homicidal urges, and he retains enough human emotions to feel that perhaps he should do something about it before he snaps completely. Enter a former friend and confidant from the old days, and a bit of a history lesson, not to mention casting some interesting light on Floyd's relationship with the Bat. Good Stuff. DARNED good stuff.

I also picked up the J'onn J'onnz, Martian Manhunter action figure, that is part of the old Justice League International release. I'm trying to recreate Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire's League, and I'm almost there. I've got Guy of course, Ice, Fire, Booster, Blue Beetle, and now J'onn. It took me a little while to notice it, after I removed him from his plastic clamshell prison, but in his left hand, he is holding a...Choco.

It's so adorable, I can hardly stand it.

Friend or Foe?

A week or so back, I was focusing on friends and foes of Guy Gardner. Then I started having computer troubles, and the whole thing went out of my mind. But never fear...it's back! In my mind, that is. And I started thinking.

Exactly where does Salaak fall, when it comes to being a fan of, or against Guy? In the beginning, he of course couldn't STAND Guy! Nobody could! And really, he was pretty horrible to everyone back then. Then Kilowog came around, and then Hal beat Guy up and stole his ring, and then Hal went all Parallax on everyone's ass, and it was possibly about this time, that Salaak realized that perhaps he had been mad at the wrong Earth Lantern.

Oh...and there was the fact that as Warrior, Guy came along and saved Salaak from Space Slavery, along with a whole passel of other ex-Lanterns.
And eventually, Guy was reinstated as a Lantern along with Hal, and the Corps came back, and everything was lovely.

Anyhoo.

Although (like Guy) I'm sure that he'd rather DIE than admit it...I think that ol' Salaak actually has a soft spot for Mr. Gardner. And vice versa for that matter. Yeah, they bicker a whole lot, but in a strange sort of way, I think that they actually enjoy themselves.

Remember when Guy was on vacation and lost his ring for a little while? It could only have been a matter of hours, but Salaak was right THERE, checking to see if he was alright. Hal on the other hand, took of HIS ring, and was a POW for a couple of months, and Salaak never said boo.

He also let Guy and Kyle open up their bar on Oa, which I would have thought would have been the very LAST thing that he'd want around. They do seem to have this peculiar habit of yelling at each other, but I think that it's almost...affectionate. At least as far as a Slyggian is capable of being affectionate.

So, while I'm terrified that it might be Kilowog's death that sends Guy over the edge into Red Lanternism, there is also the possiblity that it might be the death of Salaak that gets him wound up. Salaak hasn't been around a whole lot lately, after he handed the Alpha Lanterns their defeat, so it would be interesting to see what he's up to.

And heck. I just like Salaak. Now they just need to bring Ch'p back. He's already back as a Black Lantern, and looking pretty damned terrifying.



Salaak shouldn't have to deal with...that!

Who Is Shining in Blackest Night?

A number of characters have risen to the challenge posed by all the mayhem in Blackest Night, with Barry, Mera and Ray Palmer amongst them on Earth. On Korugar, Sinestro has decided that he will actually have to work with Hal, Carol and the Indigo Lantern. On Oa, Guy, Soranik, Iolande and Arisia are all handling things with a degree of aplomb, not to mention Kyle and Kilowog. Oh and Salaak. I can't forget to mention Salaak, he would hate to be forgotten.

But what about the former good guys, now heartless and wearing Black Rings?

I have to admit that I didn't get this cover...but I sure wish that I had.



*sigh*

So gorgeous. I am really really hoping that there are going to be some major resurrections following Blackest Night, led by Martian Manhunter and Aquaman...'cause I miss Arthur, dammit! I also miss Ralph, Sue, Ted, Max Lord (the REAL Max) and Dmitri and the original Doctor Polaris and James Jesse. I like villains with character.

Whom do YOU wish to see make a triumphant comeback to the world of the living?

Barry And Ollie

So...Hal's bestest buddy, Barry Allen is back from the dead. I consider this to be a good thing. In Blackest Night, Barry has been performing rather brilliantly.

However, Oliver Queen ALSO consideres himself to be Hal's bestest buddy. Hal of course enjoys being fought over.



As much as I am enjoying Blackest Night (and I AM)...I am also looking forward to seeing if anyone is going to address this little threesome. Hal of course, is USED to people being crazy about him...in fact he has a tendancy to expect people to be crazy about him. That's just part of Hal's weird charm. Ollie is pretty pushy, and a fairly dominant personality, while Barry was usually fairly self-effacing...at least in the old days.

Lately however, he's been doing all kinds of amazing things, and I don't think he's going to be that shy young CSI anymore. And really, when you think about it, a CSI in the DC Universe is a rather cool thing to be...especially since Batman isn't around to do it all anymore.

I just don't want Wally to be eclipsed, or Bart, or Jay or Max, and if they can do such a good job with all the Green Lanterns, and all the Bats, there is no reason why they can't do an equally good job at spotlighting all the Flashes.



Here's Hal and Barry. Doing what Hal usually does. Except that he usually does it with Ollie.



Oh Hal...you minx.