Hal Pictures Green Lantern Butt's FOREVER!: Bouquets and Brickbats

Green Lantern Butt's FOREVER!

Now with Guy Gardner's Seal of Approval!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Bouquets and Brickbats

Ok, let's try something new for a change. What comics were worthy of a bouquet this week, and what comics...were not.

Obviously I loved Secret Six, Jonah Hex, and Prince of Power, with Thor and Amadeus Cho. But the two that seemed to strike the biggest chord with me this week, were Booster Gold and Justice League: Generation Lost. But Booster is getting the bouquet, and JL:GL is getting the brickbat.

Interestingly enough, they both cover the same thing to a certain extent. And Keith Giffen is involved with both of them.

In Booster Gold, Booster comes up with the brilliant idea of searching for Max Lord in the past, hoping that he hasn't thought to cover ALL of his tracks. Rip is skeptical, but goes along. Little Rani, the child that Booster brought back from Daxam last issue is adorable, scrawling ponies and butterflies on Rip's blackboard. Naturally, this makes me fear greatly for her life.

But before Booster can go time diving, he's fighting a menace in the present, by the name of Brigadoom. He's large, Scots, and has a kilt and an enormous...moustache. He's a bit of a twit and just keeps yelling threats in a Scottish brogue, and referring to himself in the third person in proper villainish fashion. Naturally, Booster makes mincemeat out of him, although he's a little more snarky than usual because he hasn't had his morning coffee yet. Then Cyborg from the Titans shows up and makes a pest of himself, sneering at Booster and the old JLI. Booster has had just about enough of everyone's attitudes, and let's him have it...with both barrels.

FINALLY!!

The JLI weren't screw-ups! They were simply...lighthearted. And J'onn J'onnz AND Batman were a part of that group, which everyone seems to gloss over.

*ahem*

As I said, Rip is skeptical, but he does hand Booster his old suit with the collar, and off he goes. And...and there's Ted, yawning over monitor duty, and there's J'onn, and there's Booster trying to blend in...only to get nabbed by J'onn, who is highly confused. Booster IS Booster, but his thought waves are different...oh, and his hair may be thinning in the back, which cracked me up. Present Booster decides to make himself scarce, just as old Booster shows up. Booster then goes skulking through the embassy, and indulges in a little bit of heartfelt nostalgia, before he has to hide from Black Canary, who is pissed as hell, since she just found out that old Booster had been plied with booze by some lowlife reporters, and made up some story about the two of them. He's ashamed of course, but she takes it a whole lot better than I thought she would.

Then he runs into Max, and is bemused to realize that he still looks upon Max as a...friend. Makes sense to me, because back then, Max may have been morally ambiguous some of the time, but he WAS a good guy. He tries to swipe a video tape with Max on it, but of course it doens't make the jump back to the future. Booster is beside himself, and Rip is still a bit skeptical, but it seems to me that he's coming around, since he indulges in a bit of cryptic advice.

This was funny and sweet, and all of the characters were IN character!

And then there was JL:GL.

I want to like this. I do. It is an interesting set up, and so far Booster has been portrayed the best of all the reunited JLIers. Plus Jaime and his family show up, and it showcases some of my absolute favorite characters in the world.

But...is it too much to ask for them to be portrayed IN character? Bea and Captain Atom aren't TOO bad, and Booster so far is coming off as the smartest of the bunch. But I don't even recognize Tora. I can't help but wonder if Mr. Winick has even READ any old JLI's. Perhaps this is my fangirl privilege showing through. Every writer of course has their own interpretation of the different characters given to them...but Winick's Tora is so completely alien, that I'm repulsed. The OLD Tora was simply the sweetest, nicest person on the planet. Who was incidentally possessed of a very strong inner core of steel, that she didn't have to use very often, but sometimes did...much to the regret of people who underestimated her. She is also the daughter of a King, and was brought up to do her duty.

What she WOULDN'T do, is moan and whine, and keep trying to run away. I don't know WHO this Tora is, but she's not particularly heroic...or even very nice. And when they are all getting sucked into the vortex left by the departing Omacs, which had been attacking Jaime's family, Booster decides that they are coming along for the ride...and Tora, TORA says "...the Hell we are! Get me OUT of this!!"

Yes. Mr. Winick made Tora Olafsdottir swear.

And also, when the Reyes were being attacked, all they did was cower in a corner. Shouldn't Mr. Reyes have been smacking them with his cane at least? The Reyes are one of the most awesome families in DC history, they may not be superpowered, but they aren't cowards.

I...I have to go and lie down now.

7 Comments:

At 10:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's not you. I think that's a Durlan Manhunter clone of a Tora OMAC from Earth-3 or something. That'd make more sense.

-- Jack of Spades

 
At 12:46 AM, Blogger Erin S. said...

Wasn't too fond of this issue of BG. Some of the humor was just jarring for me. And yeah, the bathroom jokes really irked me. Poor Rani, if she' not going to die then her name might be a hint of things to come. I think Rips' faking and he's letting Booster figure out what to do with Max. He's being far more supportive than most of the mindwiped people.

Tora: What I find interesting is that outside Beas' insistence in #1 that she comes along Bea hasn't said a word to get her to stay. Booster has, by asking her nicely to putting his foot down in this issue. Since she's being separated from Guy and Bea maybe she's frustrated that she doesn't have the same support she usually does. Usually she has to put up with a lot from people and sometimes Bea babies her. Maybe she wants that to change.

I'm not saying the old Tora is weak--far from it--but I think she's currently trying too hard to be heard. I could see Winick/Giffin trying to have her be more of her own character without being part of a duo.

The Reyes family cowering: Artist interperation? At least Mr. Reyes got a smack in.

It's funny but Captain Atom is getting all the best lines and I find myself liking him better. And hey, he actually admitted that Booster had good ideas.

 
At 4:14 AM, Blogger SallyP said...

Yes, Capt. Atom hasn't been NEARLY as annoying as he used to be...and it is slightly disconcerting. Didn't he used to be a villain a little while back? What happened to that? If they can forgive Monarch and Extant, then why are they still so mad at Max?

I'm...beginning to wonder about Max myself. Something just doesn't add up.

 
At 8:21 AM, Blogger CalvinPitt said...

Cyborg gave Booster grief?! Did the Titans ever actually win any battles that weren't against faceless cannon fodder? And didn't they just get their team name swiped by freaking Deathstroke?!

I'm not sure the Titans have the track record to run their mouths at anybody other than the Inferior Five. Maybe.

Oh, and since everyone thinks Ted Kord killed himself (that's a pretty cheap shot Max), does that mean Jaime no longer looks at Ted as a role model? He was always using Ted's journals for inspiration, or wondering what Ted would do, it'd be a bummer if that's gone, and Jaime feels the name's a curse because his predecessor shot himself.

 
At 3:14 PM, Blogger MetFanMac said...

It's like Giffen has not only continued writing the Blue Beetle character from where he left off (and let John Rogers take over), he's also ignoring all the character developmnts that occurred since then...

 
At 1:41 PM, Blogger SallyP said...

To be fair, there are still twenty some-odd issues to go, so I shouldn't be judging it so harshly. And honestly, it IS an interesting story. I just can't stand the way that Tora is being presented.

 
At 11:02 PM, Blogger LissBirds said...

Booster Gold was pure win this month, from the male pattern baldness jokes to Booster (and maybe the writers) sticking up for the JLI. THAT'S how JL:GL should be written, and if Generation Lost doesn't shape up soon, I'm dropping it.

 

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