Blackest Night #6

Someone get a fan and pass me the smelling salts, because I'm feeling faint. Faint...with AWESOMENESS! This was a heck of a book this week, with some amazing plot twists and insanely gorgeous artwork by Ivan Reis once again.

When last we left Hal and his cohorts, all of the previously dead, but then came back to life heroes such as Ollie and Superman and so on, had been given Black Rings by Nekron. To top it all off, two Black Rings were observed going after both Hal and Barry. Needless to say, Hal and Barry aren't taking this lying down.

BN Superman is trying to beat Hal up, and BN Ollie is trash-talking as only Ollie can do. There is a small panel that shows Barry running, while BN Ice tries to blow up Fire, which isn't very nice of her. Sinestro is having a hissy fit because Hal is trying to be gentle with his friends, while BN Bart is being cranky. Fortunately, Barry is smart, so he gets Hal to grab on, and they outrace the Black Rings, by running two seconds into the future. To their relief, it works, but then Hal wonders if they manage to stop Nekron, will Superman and Wonder Woman die? Will he and Barry die?

Whoa.

Meanwhile, Mera and the Atom are inside the Black Ring, being hassled by Jean Loring. Deadman shows up and jumps inside of Jean, but he's only able to stay briefly, so Mera rips her tongue out. Mera gets ALL the fun. The two of them manage to escape by jumping out of Wonder Woman's black ring, just as John Stewart shows up being chased by Every Other Black Lantern out there, including the entire planet of Xanshi.

Well crappity crap crap.

Despite combining their powers, things aren't going so well for the various Corps members, so Ganthet makes a duplicate of Hal's ring and inducts HIMSELF as a Green Lantern! I'm not convinced that he has the backside for it, but fortunately for us, he doesn't change his costume much. He then reveals that ALL of the various Corps rings have Oan technology and that they can temporarily make duplicates of themselves.

So...in a really spectacular moment, the various colors of the rings go out and search for an appropriate member amongst the people of Earth. Hope choses Barry, Greed choses Lex Luthor, and appropriately, Scarecrow gets a yellow ring. Ray Palmer gets Indigo, Mera is Red, and finally, Wonder Woman becomes a Star Sapphire.

It...it's just too cool for words.

A (Mostly) Comicless Wednesday

Here it is, boys and girls. The Wednesday between Christmas and New Year's, where the only book coming out is Blackest Night. I am quite pleased to HAVE Blackest Night of course. I also hear that there is possibly some Hulkery or something from Marvel. It would have been nice to have OTHER books as well, because I'm in greedy mode, but what can you do?

So...please enjoy your Wednesday, which seems to have opened up. Who KNOWS what exciting things we can all do, when we aren't spending our time reading new comics? Why I could do something constructive...like laundry or bill-paying or painting my kitchen cabinets.

Or maybe...

I'll just go and re-read old comics.

There's this Meme Thing going Around

So, I've been tagged by Saranga for this Meme thingie. I need to have three categories, and explain who I think should win that category. This, as you can see, is pretty open to just about anything.

In the "What the Hell Were They Thinking?" Category, I nominate both Marvel and Dc, for their refusal to ship any comics during the week between Christmas and New Year's. Or maybe it is Diamond for the Shipping. There will apparently be ONE comic, which actually came out last week, and the various retailers had to promise to save it, and that was Blackest Night #6.

Naturally, I WILL be in to pick it up, but I feel very sorry for the poor Comic Book store owners, who are forced to try and come up with some sort of gimmick to get people in on what is normally their busiest day of the week. They have to eat too! So I'm not sure if this move was brilliant or idiotic. Probably the latter.

In the category of comic book FanFiction, I would like to nominate Duskdog. She's been pretty quiet lately, but I still visit "Towards Twilight" which is her site for thumpingly good stories about Green Lanterns and a few other characters. But mostly Green Lanterns. I visited it last night, and much to my delight there was a new story! Woohoo! So Duskdog gets a gold star.

Finally, the category for Best Asses in Comicbookdom. Really, did you think that I'd come up with anything else? I must have behinds on the brain, because my computer at work blew up yesturday, and my boss had to crawl under my desk to undo it, so naturally Michelle and I had to stand there and admire his booty. He whimpered and said it made him feel as though we only liked him for his body, but we laughed cruelly, and made him dance on the desktops for our wanton pleasure.

Wait...that didn't happen at all. I have GOT to stop reading those stupid bodice-rippers! And get back to the point.









and



I rest my case.

Oh, and if anyone else would like to participate, I'd like to nominate Sea of Green,Shelly, Kalinara, Dwayne and Diamondrock.

Heh heh.

What Happens AFTER Blackest Night?

We're heading into the home stretch now. Blackest Night #6 will be coming out this Wednesday, followed by a short absence in January, presumably so that everyone can catch their breath, and then finishes up in February and March. So THEN what happens?

As we all know, Blackest Night more or less began this way...



And a clever plan it was, involving Nekron, Black Lanterns, death, destruction and the War Of Light, all more or less brought on by the stupidity of the Guardians.

Since then, Hal has become a Red Lantern, albeit briefly, and a Blue Lantern...sort of, and an Orange Lantern...greedily. He's teamed up with all of the other Corps, and is having the time of his life. John is being stoic and manly over on Xanshi, Kyle died...albeit briefly, and Guy is really REALLY pissed off. A lot of perfectly nice heroes have had their hearts ripped out, and all the formerly dead, but came-back-to-life heroes are working for Nekron now.

It's time for something BIG to happen. Mogo's arrival at Oa is pretty big. All of the various Corps working together is pretty big. But what's going to happen AFTER all the big stuff?

I Want Ted Kord back! And Ralph and Sue, and Max and Dmitri, and Garth and Aquaman and J'onn and the Hawkpeople and all the other good and wonderful characters with histories and more stories to tell that were offed for no good reason, other than shock value.

Oh, and Hal will probably quit the Green Lantern Corps again.



He does this sort of thing every once and a while, either when he's feeling unappreciated, or when the Guardians screw things up. Lately, I imagine that he's feeling both.

What do YOU all think?

Green Lantern #49

Well, I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas, or Chanukah or Kwaanza or whatever it is that you celebrate for the Winter Solstice. My son was telling me about Festivus, which sounds enchanting.

I'm still full of wassail, eggnog and turkey, not to mention copious amounts of fudge and cookies, and just about anything else that may still by lying around. But NOT too full to do a Green Lantern review!

This is the issue that takes a bit of a break by spotlighting John Stewart, who is on a reassembled Xanshi. In light (snicker) of what is happening throughout the Universe, this is probably not the best or safest place to be.

John finds a power battery that ends up belonging to...Driq? Who it turns out, is sort've half GL and half Black Lantern. But that's not all, all of Xanshi's people have come back as Black Lanterns, and they're pretty pissed.

Alas, the artwork is by Ed Benes instead of Doug Mahnke or Ivan Reis, and I really can't stand Benes, but at least there aren't a lot of ridiculous ass shots. I know, I know, in light of my blog title, I should be cheering for butt shots, but Benes only does female butt shots, and those don't really get me excited. Sorry guys. So the art is adequate.

John's continues his version of John as a former Marine, with some interesting flashbacks. I did rather like his description of John as being stoic, which may be less flashy, but comes as a bit of a relief after all the antics of his fellow Musketeers. SOMEONE has to be an adult once in a while, and it usually falls upon John Stewart to step up to the plate and be the mature one. He certainly figures out relatively easily that he's being manipulated into feeling emotion, and is able to counter it.

Katma Tui shows up, but is relativley mild in her taunting, compared to some of the stuff the other Black Lanterns have come up with. She doesn't even try to pull his heart out of his chest, possibly because John isn't giving her much to work with, he's consistanly portrayed as only showing Willpower, and therefore is only green. The Black Lanterns don't really like green much.

John finally beats feet out of there, only to discover that apparently Xanshi has the ability to move around, because it's awfully close to Earth. I thought that Mogo was the only planet that could do stuff like that, and he's over next to Oa. Incidentally, the sudden intrusion of an entire planet into Earth's orbit should be doing all KINDS of terrible things to our tides and gravity things.

Oh well.

This is quite a bit slower paced than the most recent Blackest Night offerings, but it IS nice to see John, who has been conspicuously absent for most of the series. Hopefully, he'll be around for the final showdown that seems to be a'brewing.

Meanwhile there is an additional tale at the end of the book, with Mera and the Atom, both of whom were hi-jacked by Jean Loring, and taken inside a Black Ring. They learn all sorts of interesting things about Nekron, while Jean presents the case as the lawyer that she used to be. Oh, and Deadman shows up which is going to be loads of fun.

It's Christmas Eve Already?

It seemed as though it was a whole lot further away, and then all of a sudden it is here. I'm actually pretty well set, the gifts are all wrapped and under the tree, and I'm in the middle of the last of my baking and stuff. Eggnog is made and chilling in the fridge along with the fudge.

I DID have to work today, which was a bummer. On the other hand, I'm happy to say that I Didn't Work Very Hard! Brunch, and early closing are very happy happy things.

I hope that you ALL have a very merry and joyful and SAFE Christmas. Especially for anyone who is being buried under all the snow in the midwest!
Sheesh!



Black Cat strikes again!

And the Clock is Ticking Down

My shopping is all done, and my baking is mostly done, and I'm binging out on eggnog. HomeMADE eggnog. And fudge. Lots and lots of fudge. Gosharootie, I love this time of year. There's just enough snow to look festive, without impeding driving, which is nice.

Went to the Comic Book store and found a nice new John Stewart, in the new wave of Blackest Night figures. I'm absolutely dying for an Arisia, but I haven't found her yet. John in nice though, I only have him in his older costume. He's a bit pigeon-toed however, which is slightly...odd.

Oh well.

So here's a little more Christmas cheer.



I found this on Scans Daily yesturday, and it absolutely cracks me up. I just love Sergio Aragones.

Baby, it's COLD Outside!

Oh New England...you always manage to even things out. We had relatively balmy weather throughout November, which was on the odd side, but we are definitely making up it, with BLOODY COLD WEATHER! On the other hand, the snow does look all pretty and Christmasy.

I'm actually getting into the Christmas spirit. We also have Wednesday to look forward to, with Green Lantern, and although there won't be much on the week between Christmas and New Year's, there WILL be Blackest Night to look forward to.

And so, to continue the theme...



...they're red and green together,which is sort've Christmasy. And we have Barry's rear end, which is ALWAYS nice. And Hal's NOT hitting his head,which is cause for celebration.

Is it Just Me?

I'm not quite sure why there are all of these "greatest and worst of the Decade" lists going around. Isn't there another whole year to go? When I count to ten, I don't start with zero and end with nine, I start with one, and end with ten.

Oh well. My sweet Baboo assures me that I'm being a pedant. He's probably right.

And apropos of nothing...



This is by Black Cat who does such a hilarious job with her "Batman & Sons" cartoons. It's from last year, but it still cracks me up. And it's SO appropriate.

And So We Come to the End of "Butts" Week

And what a week it was! I apologize for skipping yesturday, but had to finish up some Christmas and grocery shopping, and we got hit...eventually...with that big ol' snow storm, and I helped move some display cabinets for my Sweet Baboo...and so on and so forth.

But here I am, and here we have a rather unexpected behind.



Hah! You were probably all expecting Nightwing. I will admit that Nightwing has a simply FABULOUS derrier. But really, I prefer Ted. Black Lantern or not, he's just too cute.

Green Lantern Corps #43

I can't remember the last time I was this stoked to read a comic book. The last time, was probably in the thick of the Sinestro Corps War. Anyway, in the last issue, Kyle managed to kill off a whole ton of Black Lanterns, and probably saved the Battery of Oa in the process. Too bad that the effort was apparently fatal.



Understandably enough, both Soranik and Guy are horrified and in denial about Kyle's fate. Soranik, being a doctor, immediately starts to attempt to revive Kyle by a variety of different means, while Guy refuses to let Kyle's ring go.



Poor Kyle. Poor Soranik. Poor Guy. Although I do have to admit that that is one heck of a stylish red ring.

Guy finally has to accept that Kyle is gone, and he reacts...badly.



But again, quite stylishly. That is one hellaciously good-looking outfit. And do my eyes deceive me, or are there markings that look remarkably "Warrior-like" on his Red Lantern suit? I'd be thrilled right down to my toes if somehow Guy's former Vuldarianness was somehow a part of being Red.

Being Guy, he manages to go to town on the hapless Black Lanterns. If it was possible to feel sorry for them, I think that I would, because Guy is just wiping them out. And with STYLE! He's using his green ring AND the red ring in conjunction, and making cool constructs and being ruthlessly efficient.

I'm so...so proud.

Soranik in the meantime is trying desperately to bring Kyle back, because there are those pesky Black Rings trying to move in on his freshly-minted (but still awfully good-looking) corpse. The Blue Lantern helps out, but they are about to be overwhelmed when Kilowog, Arisia, Vath and Isamot all show up to help out. And help also comes from a rather unexpected source.

Remember Miri, the adorable little Star Sapphire going off with Kryp a while back? Well, they've ended up on Oa, where Kryb has discovered that her kidnapped babies are now all undead babies, intent upon devouring Will. Kryb is beside herself, and naturally takes it out on Miri. Miri doesn't have time to put up with Kryb's treachery, she knows that True Love is in Peril. I have to say that I simply love the art-deco-ish curliques of light that are Miri's aura, that Pat Gleason creates. His artwork on this issue is simply superb.

While Miri rushes off to save True Love, Guy is going to town on the babies, which gets Kryb's knickers in a twist. Guy, promptly rips off one of her arms, and shoves it DOWN HER THROAT! Heh. Guy is rather creative in his mayhem. It beats a boxing glove, that's for sure.

Then Miri does some violet hocus-pocus, and voila! Kyle's heart and Soranik's heart beat for each other, and he's alive again! His ring, which was on its way to Mogo, quickly turns around and heads back, and in a lovely moment, we have the ring chosing Kyle, with a hearty "Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps!"

So now, Kyle's alive again, and all they have to do is...um...stop Guy. But seriously, do they really WANT to stop Guy? He's doing an awfully good job of taking out Black Lanterns all on his own. Just then, some additional help shows up. They've already got a Star Sapphire, a Red Lantern, and a Blue Lantern. And now, they've got the biggest baddest Green Lantern of them all!

Yes...Mogo DOES seem to want to socialize!

This is SO good, that I can hardly stand it.

Oh, and just to keep this week's theme going...!



Yup. That's Guy. A very young Gymteacher Guy.

Rowrrrr!

Butts Or Reviews?

Or how about both?

Not a LOT of books at the comic book store, but fortunately for my nerves, the one that I'd been thirsting for did come in.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7

Wow. The first story was both chilling and heartbreaking. Pretty powerful, and well done. Manhunter is always fun of course, but poor Dylan!

The Brave & the Bold #30

This was a team-up of Hal Jordan and the Kent Nelson version of Doctor Fate. Somehow, Dr. Fate had put a bit of himself in Hal's Lantern after the Justice League had defeated the Grey Man, way back when. Then when Hal gets himself in trouble on an alien planet, his essence reappears and they have a long and slightly tedious philosophical discussion. It's all very heroic I suppose, but a bit pointless.
It is embarrassing that the first thing I noticed was that it showed Hal wearing the black shoulders on his costume when he first catches up with Dr. Fate, but he hadn't worn that particular version in quite some time, even if it was a flashback. I'm SUCH a pedant sometimes. This was nice if you are a Hal Jordan fan, but not the most spectacular issue ever.

Fables #91

Woohoo! Things are actually happening! Bufkin, aided by his friends in the office manages to make short work of Babi Yaga...much to her surprise. And Gepetto is up to his old tricks. This was awfully good. And it has naked tree people, which is always fun.

Green Lantern Corps #43

Oh My God! Guy! Kyle!

Justice League of America #40

The Justice League women continue to fight against the reanimated dead members of the Detroit League, not to mention Zatarra and the evil rapey Dr. Light. Insults are flying, and self-confidence is low, but fortunately they get their various acts together and prevail. Nothing mind-boggling, but a perfectly good story.

The Outsiders #25

More of the same, the various members are beleagered by evil Black Lanterns, and finally figure out that blinding white light is a good weapon. So basically the same plot as JLA. But boy howdy, is Terra evil or what?

Power Girl #7

God, I love this book. The art and the dialogue are a hoot. A hoot and a half! Power Girl is being pursued by Vartox of Valeron, so that she and he can repopulate his planet. Yes, he wants her for her genes. Too bad he's such a tool. This is really really good.

And speaking of Doctor Fate...!



I just couldn't resist.

Still MORE Perversion

For some reason, this particular subject matter seems to be mildly...popular. I'm just so PROUD of all of you.

And here's a side of J'onn that is seldom seen.



It's always fun to take those all-concealing capes away for a change. Granted J'onn runs around with his chest out all the time, but for the most part, he's pretty well covered up. Martians are HOT!

Who knew?

Oh...Ollie!

Holy Pastafazoola!

Ollie, I didn't know you had it in you. No WONDER Black Canary keeps coming back to you.



That's one fine Gluteus Maximus.

A Salute!

It has to be no surprise that I simply adore a fine taut Green Lantern behind. But it has recently dawned on me, that there are OTHER fine backsides, just lurking out there in the DC Universe. I daresay that even Marvel may harbor a few really spectacular asses.

Wait...that didn't come out quite right.

Anyway, I think that I may devote an entire week to the celebration of some really fine tushes.

For example:



I give you Wildcat!

He may be old, he may be rough, tough and a little cranky, but by crackey, I just love Ted "Wildcat" Grant. He's a man so secure with himself that he actually wears toe socks. But that's one fabulous rear end.

Romance Comics for Every Occasion!

I admit it...I adore those incredibly cheesy old Romance Comics. They're just so terribly, horribly hilariously BAD! Plus all the "heroes" look like Hal Jordan anyway, and I get to entertain myself in imagining different names and situations for the characters.

In light of our recent snow storms, I thought THIS one was appropriate.



You see dear, you turn INTO the skid. That keeps you out of the guardrails.

I'm just so Happy!

Thanks to the mad computer skills of my oldest daughter, my Blog has been restored to its original condition. The margins are wider now, so the scans that I've posted can actually be viewed in all of their glory...instead of only a smidgeon of them.

Huzzah!

I know that there were directions on how to accomplish this noble feat, but when it comes to computer code, it is about the same as reading ancient Greek to me. TOTALLY incomprehensible. I still have to finish restoring all of the scans that I managed to obliterate in my misguided attempt to organize my photobucket a few months back, but I'm getting there...little by little. Some of them I'm afraid have disappeared forever, which is a DARNED shame, but what can you do? I've learned not to mess around with Blog formats, that's what I've learned!

Old people CAN be taught!

Now...if I could just figure out how to use a cellphone and a digital camera.

Reviews!

No GLC. *sob*

However, there were some other good books.

Adventure Comics #5

This continues the misadventures of Superboy Prime. Heehee! In his usual misguided fashion, Superbrat ends up invading the offices of DC, trashes a comic book shop, and blames everyone else for his problems. He does end up seeing the light, and there is a sort of a happy ending. Still a lot of fun.

Booster Gold #27

Oh, evil Ted shows up as a Black Lantern. Rip is snarky, Daniel is actually heroic, Rose hows Willpower, and Skeets is invisible to the Black Lanterns. Poor Booster, having to deal with evil Ted is a lo of fun. He even teams up with Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes, which is also fun. The way that they all manage to...deal with Black Lantern Ted is actually rather magnificent. A heck of a good time.

Doom Patrol #5

Not bad, not bad, more shenanigans with the Black Lanterns. I still am getting more of a kick out the back-up feature with the Metal Men, but that's just me.

DC Universe Holiday Special '09

I just adore Holiday Specials. I dont even care if they are any good or not, it's usually just a bit of fun. We have some really good writers and artists here, such as Amy Wolfram, Fred Van Lente and Beau Smith, just to name a few. Some of the stories are a bit hit or miss, some of them are definitely worth while.

Secret Six #16

Oh God, it's Black Alice. I'm glad to see Gail Simone writing again, but I really can't stand Black Alice for some reason. She decides that she's going to join the Secret Six whether they want her or not. Deadshot is back with the crew, and Scandal is still hanging out, but I'm really rather hoping that Black Alice doesn't last too long. Heck, I'd rather have Harley . Still, it's well written, and has some good moments.

So Blackest Night is still roaring right along. Now we hopefully have GLC to look forward to NEXT week. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

The Poor UPS Man

Well, it's snowing, and raining, and sleeting all at once. It is one HELL of a sloppy mess in the lovely Northeast section of the country, and it is just in time for the comics to be delivered. I'm awfully glad that I'm not a UPS Man today! I drove to work,and there were no less than five cars spining, or in the bushes or the guard rails.

Winter has actually arrived.

But good books are supposed to be coming in, which is always nice, although Green Lantern Corps did NOT arrive. And I really really wanted it! I'll just have to put up with Secret Six and Booster Gold in the meantime. Something to look forward to for NEXT week.

Gadzooks!

My God, it was a mob scene at work today. I work at a tire store, and since we've been having eerily warm weather, we haven't been selling snow tires. But there is an actual snowstorm forcast for this evening and tomorrow, so all the procastinators suddenly woke up and realized that yes, this IS New England and it Will Snow Eventually. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, people!

Sheesh!

It should be interesting making it to the Comic Book store tomorrow, I can tell you that. I am also in something of a tizzy,because I went to The Savage Critics site, where they are always so good about posting the books coming out...and although there were quite a number of excellent books, there WASN'T Green Lantern Corps!

ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I need something to take my mind off of Guy's going bonkers over Kyle's heroic death. I thought that this would do nicely. Also, Saranga and Liss will probably like it.



I know that I do.

Guy and Bea

Yeah, yeah, I love Guy and Tora together, and I'm pleased as punch that she's alive(sort've) again, and so on and so forth. And yet...I do have a sneaking fondness for Guy and Bea, and their short-lived, and apparently ill-fated liason.

I've always maintained that Bea had a kind of love/hate thing going on with Guy. Guy was relatively clueless of course, but he DID admire her gorgeous behind. Too bad she set him on fire the first time he pointed that out.

Oh well.

The thing is...they actually did, and still do, have a lot in common. Other than their mutual love for Tora, they are both dominant personalities, loud, self-assured, and even a touch arrogant. Both are surprisingly good friends TO their friends. And they just fell into one another's arms at that notorious Christmas party at Warriors. John Constantine spiking the punch may have had something to do with that, but I think that it was just time.

The aftermath of course, was quite amusing.



Not a whole lot happened after that for a while. They kept meeting up, and making goo goo eyes at each other, but both of them danced around the subject for quite a while,until Bea finally got fed up.



Guy, believe it or not, was acting a bit...I suppose shy is the word. Which seems like a very odd way for Guy to behave, but for all of his leering and comments, I've noticed that he's actually a bit innocent when it comes to women. Certainly more so than Hal. And when he DOES form an attachment, it's pretty strong and solid. None of this giving them the brushoff after a few dates.

And that may actually have been part of the problem with his relationship with Beatriz. I've given up ever getting a story out of DC concerning their dating after Tora was gone...it seems to have been swept pretty much under the rug. Still...it WAS interesting, and I'd love for it to come up now and again. I'm pretty sure that Bea was the one who broke it off, and that may have been why he was so snarky during the whole Omac mini-series. I couldn't understand at first why he was being such a jerk, until it dawned on me that they obviously weren't together anymore.

What did strike me just recently however, is that their breakup SEEMS to have coincided with Guy's return to being a Green Lantern. They seemed to be fairly happy when he was Warrior, but once he was in the Corps again, and wearing the old green and black, she seems to have cooled off. I wonder if it was because as Warrior, he was separate from the old Guy...the Guy that had loved Tora, and been in the JLI all that time. He had his brains back, due to drinking the Warrior Waters, and wasn't that same juvenile lunatic that she had been used to.

Then suddenly he's back in the old suit. Fortunately, not with the same old haircut, but still...it had to be a bit different. He looked like Tora's boyfriend again, even though Tora wasn't there anymore. I don't know if Bea even realized it herself, but I'm wondering if that was one or her motivations. Guy of course, wouldn't necessarily understand how Bea was feeling, so I can see him being bitter and angry about being dumped. But Bea may have unconciously thought she was being unfaithful to Tora, with Guy as a Green Lantern.

I'm a bit muddled in my thinking, but I guess that's just my supposition. Does anyone have a good theory?

A Little Beefcake

Can't talk...decorating for Christmas.

So here's a nice picture of Kyle in a towel.



Rowrr!

Reviews: A Day Late...

...but hopefully not a dollar short. Did a little bit of Christmas shopping on the way home, and saw aNOTHer rainbow. It's December! What's with the rainbows? A little difficult to get into the Holiday mood when it is 60 degrees outside. This is SO weird.

But Onto The Reviews.

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #2

I'm enjoying the heck out of this. I think that turning Cinderella into the World's greatest spy was a brilliant move by Willingham, and here, Chris Roberson is continuing the saga of skullduggery. Shawn mcManus does the art, and the coloring is very similar to Fables, so it all looks to be continuous, which is nice.

Cinderella ends up in Dubai, and after a brief...misunderstanding...teams up with noneother than Aladdin to look for whatever the heck it is that she's looking for. And her assistant back at the shoe store makes a fateful deal with some elves. Darned good stuff.

Blackest Night: The Flash #1

Not absolutely necessary to your enjoyment of Blackest Night, but a nice little tale nevertheless, which fills in some details about the speedsters. Also, it has the Rogues in it, and I LOVE the Rogues! Even Dead Rogues. Also Thawne's corpse is reanimated as a Black Lantern...while he's running around in his living form as well. Time travel gives me a headache. But still fun.

Jack of Fables #40

Yet another fabulous Brian Bolland cover. Gosh, I love these. That's quite a handsome dragon. The dragon, if you've been reading, is actually Jack. He's got Gary buying him a cow a day, and a Happy Meal. Jack eats the entire cow, while Gary chows down on a hamburger and reads all the books that Jack stole from Golden Boughs. Jack is getting even MORE unpleasant, if that is possible.

Meanwhile, his son, Jack Frost is running about the Homeland with his magical wooden owl, learning to be heroic, and doing a darned fine job of it. Jack the dragon however, is getting pissier and pissier. Gary is trying to find a cure for him in all of the books, but it would apparently require him to learn to love others MORE than he loves his gold and himself. Since THAT will never happen, Jack is doomed to remain a stupid old dragon until the very end of time.

Wow! That's an ending you don't see every day1

Jonah Hex #50

Let me just say two words. Darwyn Cooke.

This is fabulous. Jonah is carousing around with Tallulah Black, when she suddenly takes off. He's a bit disgruntled, but not enough to go and actually look for her. Instead, he's approached by a man who wants him to hunt no less than 50 bounties. Even Hex thinks that's a lot, but what the hell. It's not like he really has anything better to do. The various silent scenes of the various and ingenious ways that he fulfills his obligations are hilarious.

Talullah in the meantime has settled down in a little town, and become friends with the nice sheriff. Oh, and one other thing, turns out she's pregnant. Oops. Believe it or not, they DID have condoms back in the old West, they were called "French Envelopes", but they weren't exactly common. Too bad that the remaining guys that Hex is hunting decide to move to her little town and set a trap for Hex. The sheriff is killed, and Talullah's baby is ripped away by the crazed bible-quoting midwife, and...well, interesting things ensue.

Read this. Now.

JSA: All Stars #1

I was of two minds about this. I love the JSA, but I really REALLY loathe Magog. I think he's a tool of the first water. And I really do prefer Jay, Alan and Ted as my JSAer's of choice. And the art wasn't really that great.

But it wasn't a bad story. We do find out who is behind all of the shenanigans, and HOOboy, are they in trouble. Also Sandy shows up, which is ALWAYS a good thing. And we learn why Courtney has been treated with kid gloves. So, actually not bad.

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #1

Greg Rucka is back on Wonder Woman! I LIKE Greg Rucka. And Nicola Scott is doing the art, so you know it is gorgeous.

Turns out that good ol' Max Lord is a Black Lantern, and is HE up to no good! Wonder Woman of course goes after him, and isn't the least bit intimidated. He pulls out all of the stops when it comes to nasty things to do to her however, and she's getting pretty pissed. Again, not absolutely necessary to read in order to figure out what is going on in Blackest Night, but as a nice little side story, it's not bad at all.

So...a pretty darned good week, all things considered.

At Last!

Oh joy, the comics are going to come in today. I knew it was going to be a good day, on the drive into work. It had been raining, but the sun was coming out, and there was a huge bank of clouds all backlit like a Maxfield Parrish painting, AND a double Rainbow! It's a wonder I didn't drive off of the road.

And since I'm the "artistic" one at work, I got to spend half of the day putting up Christmas decorations and making paper snowflakes. Some of those kindergarten skills are still useful!

To the Comical Book Store!

No Comics Today

I'm so sad. I LIVE for Wednesdays. But those pesky UPS men felt the need to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families, thereby denying me my drug of choice.

I suppose that I can live with it. It's only one day, after all, and then the wait until NEXT week, is also shorter by a day, and I am pretty sure that Green Lantern Corps is coming in next week.

The tough one, is going to be the week after Christmas, when for some bizarre reason, they are postponing the books until after New Years, with the exception of Green Lantern...I think. It's all too bizarre.

God, I'm pathetic.

All Romance Heroes look like Hal...Still!

I know that I've used this idea before, but it is still valid, and there's nothing I like better than flogging a dead horse. Or Hal, as the case may be.

I absolutely adore all of those old Romance Comics. Frankly,they are HILARIOUS! All, the moaning, and sighing, and misogyny just tickles my funnybone. But what I really get a kick out of, is pretending that the characters are ACTUALLY from the Superhero aisle of the comics. It's even funnier that way.



Now here, poor Carol has a haircut, but that's definitely Hal. He just can't stop himself from ogling another woman across a crowded room, even when he's with someone else. Especially, when he's with someone else.

Oh Hal.