Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8

Now normally, the day after Wednesday, I would be giving you all a quick rundown of the various books that I purchased, saving the inevitable Green Lantern book until Friday. But I Can Not Wait!



By Odin's Raven! This was fabulous!

It ties right into the War of the Green Lanterns of course, which have ALSO been quit fabulous.

Zardor, Yat and Bleez are on their way to Oa, and Guy, Kilowog and Arisia are hot on their heels. Arisia is still giving Guy a bit of static about his whole pact with Ganthet, and exactly how he's planning on explaining the whole thing to the Guardians, but Guy's not TOO worried about it. She's also a bit snarky because Guy was prepared to kill Sodam if he had to, and she's concerned that he might feel that she or Kilowog are also...expendable. Guy blusters a little bit, but quite frankly, I don' think that Arisia has to worry. Guy cares quite a bit about the two of them, and frankly he hardly even KNOWS Sodam Yat.

But anyway, in the middle of their flight, they all get hit with a yellow glow, with Guy and Kilowog seeing a vision of Parallax. Arisia is immediately being controlled, and Guy and Kilowog are a bit surprised to find themselves relatively unscathed. Too bad that nobody else is, because there is one HUGE passel of Lanterns out to get them. Basically, Kilowog sacrifices himself to get Guy out of there, so that he can go and rustle up some UNpossessed Lanterns...telling Guy to get to the "Green House".



Guy's NOT happy about it, but he does have the smarts to realize that he can't go off half-cocked with this much at stake. I absolutely love the way that he skids to a halt mid-flight, with the green glow of his aura sparking around him. It's a rather cool visual effect. He calls for Salaak, Ganthet, then Kyle, then John and finally, completely frustrated he manages to raise Hal.

Considering his visions of he and Hal battling, Hal is probably the LAST person that he wants to see, but he really doesn't have any choice, so off to the Green House he goes. It's...not particularly green, and in typical Guy fashion he's grumbling about it. Hal does manage to show up, and the two of them begin to exchange information, not to mention some verbal jabs. Jabs that begin to escalate. Hal is pissed because he didn't know about Guy's mission or the mind-control or power drain, and Guy points out rather snippily that Hal isn't necessarily in the loop about EVERY GL mission. After all, Guy is an Honor Lantern, and Hal...isn't.

Then Guy spills the beans about his and Ganthet's pact with Atrocitus and Hal really hits the ceiling. Guy points out that Hal has been perfectly happy to hang out with not only Atrocitus, but Larfleeze and Sinestro, so he doesn't see where Hal has any moral high ground. Things start to go downhill from there, with the two of them getting angrier and angrier with each other.

Hal of course is the first one to throw a punch. And from then on, it is one heck of an emerald donnybrook! It's almost a continuation of their epic tussle back in Green Lantern #25, except that this time, Guy is a heck of a lot smarter, and he's giving every bit as good as he gets. Hal of course is busy telling Guy that he's irresponsible, and a troublemaker and has a problem with his temper, and he's not nearly as fabulous as Hal is. Guy points out that he never tried to destroy the universe, not to mention all of the Corps. He...has a point.

And there is a simply fabulous panel, where Guy says that being picked first doesn't necessarily mean being the best, and he hits Hal, with all of his past incarnations as a hero! There is Newbie Green Lantern Guy, Crazy JLI Guy, Yellow Ringed Guy and even Warrior Guy!

Heh.

It's wonderful. It is a bit reminiscent of the same trick that John pulled when HE was fighting with Hal back in Mosaic. Anyway, Guy's pretty much got Hal on the ropes, when Hal finally manages to realize that the two of them are being influenced by Parallax, and that they had better STOP fighting. Guy isn't so crazed that he doesn't also realize what is happening, and through Pure Willpower, they manage to disengage themselves mentally and physically from the Rings. Their costumes fade, just like what happened to John and Kyle, except that they still have their physical rings. It's rather amusing that even after they've shaken off the influence of the rings, they can't resist getting in a few more whacks at each other, before they finally call it off.

So...it's just the two of them, as powerless humans against Krona, Zardor, Yat and the entire Green Lantern Corps. Or, as Guy rather dryly points out..."Oh. Is that all?"

This is so good that I can hardly stand it. It's an interesting look at Guy and Hal's relationship, that's for sure. I guess that Guy actually DID have a few things that he wanted to get off of his chest about the way he feels about Hal. Not to worry though, when you're dealing with Hal, it's all water off a duck's back. There is a rather telling moment at the end, when they've both broken Krona and Parallax's influence and are in civies, trying to catch their breath, and Hal says that Krona can't play off their rivalry through the rings anymore. Guy gives a snicker and asks if THAT is what they have between them...he always just thought they had a difference of opinion.

Buy this book and READ IT! You won't be sorry.

Thank You Anonymous!

A very VERY nice person commented on my blog yesturday, and gave me the address for THIS!



Thank you. Thank you so very very much. I don't know who came up with the oath, or I would attribute it, but it is just so...perfect.

Personal Progress

I have now accomplished TWO things that have dragged me...kicking and screaming into the 21st century...which incidentally is eleven years old already.

Upon my epic plane ride back from Maui, I actually patronized a STARBUCKS coffee emporium at the L.A. Airport. I have never ever had a Starbucks coffee before. It was ok. Nothing great, nothing terrible. Good bagel though.

And today, at work, for some reason, they got sushi. I have never tasted sushi before either. So I had a round thingie that had rice and crab meat in it, and it was pretty good, and I had some salmon, also with rice, and it wasn't bad either. Not amazing or anything...but not bad. Went through me like salts through a goose however.

I also finished my taxes, but I can't figure out how to do it on-line, so I'm doing it the old-fashioned way and sending it in by snail-mail. There are just SOME standards that I refuse to give up.

None of this has anything whatsoever to do with comics. But it is Tuesday, the deadliest day of the week, and I have to babble about SOMEthing. Besides, Green Lantern:Emerald Warriors is coming out tomorrow and I'm breathless with anticipation. The whole War of the Green Lanterns is off to an excellent start.

And for you people who are hip and with it. Is this a normal reaction to Sushi?

Green Lantern Corps #58

It all worked out quite neatly, with the Green Lantern Corps issue coming out the same week as Green Lantern, to be followed this week, by GL: Emerald Warrior, all kicking off the War of the Green Lanterns. And by Cracky, this is yet another dandy of a book.

They've managed to beat off Sinestro and the Weaponeer on Qward, and are preparing to head back to Oa, while Kyle does a little solioquizing in his head, not to mention his opinion of John as being tough and competent. But he can't muse for long because Ganthet is in a swivet over Krona. And rightly so, it turns out, because the minute they arrive back near Oa, they see the bodies of any number of Green Lanterns just floating in space, including Boodikka and the rest of the Alphas. They aren't dead, but they are certainly out of commission. And just to top it all off, who should show up but a flash of yellow, as Krona restores Parallax to the battery. This sets off all kinds of interesting reactions, as ALL the rest of the Lanterns fall prey to Krona...with the exceptions of Ganthet, Kyle and John.

As the possessed Lanterns fall towards Oa, Kyle naturally enough goes after them. John stops him however, claiming that it's a trap, and he's probably right, but of course Kyle isn't thinking with his head, but with his heart. Not to mention that he's probably being subtlely influenced by Parallax as well, so he attacks John. Not to be outdone, John fights him right back. It's probably not a good thing that Kyle brought up Katma Tui. Then Ganthet starts yelling at them, and realizes that he too is being influenced and realizes that they are being reached through the rings...just like way back when, in Rebirth.

So, he separates the two of them, and tries to take their rings. Naturally, they are fighting back, but Ganthet is no pushover, and he...with a great deal of effort...manages to get their rings. Too bad that they blow up in his hand! Poor Ganthet. He'll never play the violin again. What is it with everybody losing their hands lately anyway?

Kyle and John fall to the ground of Oa with a palpable thud, and John immediately rushes over to Ganthet and puts on a tourniquet and bandage. Kyle is shaken, and tries to apologize, but while John is regretful, its pretty obvious that the two of them aren't happy. What is a really neat touch here, is that without their rings, their uniforms start to fade, leaving them in their regular clothes.

Ganthet realizes that Krona has taken over the battery and most probably the Guardians, not to mention all the other Lanterns. He, John and Kyle are more resistant to it, because they had all been possessed by Parallax before, and Ganthet realizes that Hal, Guy and Kilowog are also probably immune...or at least will have a fighting chance.

Just then the rest of the Corps shows up, ready to capture them, and Ganthet shoves John and Kyle away, telling them to get to cover, and he'll hold off the Corps. He can't hide like the two of them, because he has residual power from being a Guardian within him, so he's basically going to be Horatio at the Bridge.

And then he says something interesting. Kyle had been a bit concerned before, about his fitness to be a Lantern. He says that Ganthet is much more important than they are, and Ganthet replies:
"Kyle Rayner, I was NEVER more important than you. Did you think it an accident I granted YOU the last Power Ring? You were our BEST HOPE then, and you still are today."

Best Hope, eh? THAT sounds interesting. And possibly ominous.

This was awfully good, and tied in quite nicely with Green Lantern, showing how things are coming to a head. I wasn't that enthusiastic at first, but these two books have completely changed my mind about the War of the Green Lanterns. It looks as though it is going to be...epic.

Green Lantern #64

Although I have been enjoying all of the Green Lantern books, it has seemed as though things were n a bit of a holding period, after the end of Blackest Night. But things certainly get going with a bang in this issue!



It's the beginning of the War of the Green Lanterns,and once again, I think that we can safely assume that the Guardians have brought this on themselves.

We begin with a bit of history, Abin Sur and the induction of Hal Jordan into the Corps, and how the Guardians were a bit hesitant, but that he SEEMED to be doing ok, but now he's running around with those hoodlum emotional friends of his, and Someone has to rein him in! It turns out to be Salaak of all people, being sent by the Guardians to arrest Hal and bring him back to Oa. Salaak...does not sound like himself.

The various Emotional Corps in the meantime have stumbled upon the Book of the Black, which has all the juicy stories that they left out of the Book of Oa. Sinestro in paricular seems quite intrigued. They have learned that Krona was the one behind the massacre of Sector 666, which doesn't actually seem to be that much of a surprise to Atrocitus. He and Hal are having a bit of a difference of opinion, before Carol is smart enough to wonder why Krona left the book there for them to find in the first place.

And who should pop up out of the book but Lyssa Drak, now known as the Story Vampire, which is an awfully cool concept. Black chains start to draw everyone into the book, but Hal and Sinestro manage to put their rings together and cause an explosion. Hal ends up being the only one who manages to escape. Oh, and he also ends up with all of their rings.

Back on Oa, the remaining Guardians are sitting around in a snit. There is a very large and very colorful explosion, and who should show up, but Krona himself, with ALL the various Emotional Entities. And he's in a REALLY good mood. The Guardians predictably, start to whine a bit, but Krona isn't taking any of their crap, and before you know it, ALL the Guardians have been possessed by ALL the Entities!

Back at the Book of the Black, Hal as the only one on the loose, has just picked up everyone's rings, when Salaak and company show up and tell him that he's under arrest. Hal is naturally, rather startled by this, but rather unnusually...for Hal at least...he tries to reason with them. This works for a couple of minutes. Then Krona, puts Parallax BACK INTO THE CENTRAL BATTERY! And the proverbial shit hits the proverbial fan.

Suddenly all the Green Lanterns are under Krona's influence, through the power of Parallax...with the exception of Hal. Hal has been possessed by Parallax so many times, that he's pretty much built up an immunity. Too bad nobody else has it. So Hal high-tails it out of there, on his way back to Oa...where Krona and the rest of the Guardian/Entities await.

I thought this was fabulous. Mahnke does his usual masterful job with the artwork. The Guardian/Entities are scary as heck. I NEVER would have thought of having the Entities possess the Guardians, but heck, it makes sense. They forsook all emotion over the eons...well, they're sure getting some emotion now! And with Parallax back in the battery, the yellow impurity is back in the rings! And all the Lanterns are being controlled by Krona.

Or...are they? Salaak and his crew certainly didn't seem to be acting normally when they were sent out by the Guardians, which makes me suspect that they were actually under the influence of Zardor, who is on HIS way to Oa from the uncharted sectors, as covered in Green Lantern:Emerald Warriors.

Dang it, this is a heck of a way to start a new story!

Reveiws

An interesting week, that's for sure. So let us get to it.

Fables #103

This...was ok. Not a whole heck of a lot happens, it seems to be mostly set up for the great confrontation, but we get to see some of my favorite characters, so that's ok. But Geez Louise, is Ozma ever a pill! Frau Totenkinder may not have suffered fools gladly, but she was never petulant. Ozma is VERY petulant. And rude. Gepetto is up to his old tricks, while the North Wind is feeling conflicted. Oh, and Bigby and Snow manage to have themselves a fine old time.

Good. Not great, but good.

Green Lantern 64. Well! I honestly did not see that coming. Geoff Johns always manages to surprise me.

Green Lantern Corps #58. Just as Good! More, anon.

Justice League: Generation Lost #22

Oh great. Wonder Woman finally makes her appearance, since her murder is apparently what Max has been planning all along. And he used the JLI to get a hold of Checkmate again. Fortunately Tora isn't swearing in the issue. And Jaime is all right, and they are all happy about it,which is nice. But on the other hand, the GODDAMNED Batman shows up as the Deus Ex Machina, so that he can save them all from themselves. I'm NOT particularly happy about Batman coming into save the day for all of them, in fact I find it a bit infuriating. I would love it if J'onn or Guy showed up, since they were actually IN this incarnation of the League. I know that Batman was too, but he was always acting like a disapproving parent.

Oh, and Wonder Woman doesn't know who anybody is.

*sigh*

Justice League of America #55

Quite frankly, I can hardly tell WHAT is going on in this book. I really detest the artwork, it is a muddle mess. In this book, Supergirl is still flying about in her "evil" black suit, but I just saw her in her own book in her regular happy colors. Jade is annoying. Alan is sick or something, Eclipso is skulking around, and for some reason, Doomsday shows up and starts tossing people around. I swear to God, on the very last page when the Cyborg Superman shows up, it took a couple of readings before I realized that he wasn't an Ad of some kind, but was actually rising up out of Boodika's chest plate.

Oh good grief. This was kind of a mess.

Ruse #1

I think that this actually came out last week and I forgot to pick it up. I collected all of the original books and quite enjoyed them, and this is fun as well. Poor Emma. She still never gets the credit. But this was well done, and I plan to continue with it.

Supergirl #62

I usually never pick this book up, and the only reason that I did, was because both Jaime an Damian were on the cover. Alas, they really don't have much to do, and since I seem to be coming into the middle of a story here, I am at something of a loss as to what is going on. Didn't like the art at ALL. So...meh.

But boy oh boy, I sure did love me some Green Lanterns.

Tuesday Musings

Oh God, it's Tuesday again. My bete noir. My weekly nemesis. My LEAST favorite day of the week. And to top it all off, my Sweet Babboo is somewhere in deepest darkest Iowa, attending yet another Bridgestone/Bandag conference...thing.

Dagnabit!

So instead, I'm going to worry about the Guardians again. It's like a toothache, nagging and irritating, and I just can't leave it alone. What on earth is going to become of the Guardians after the whole "War of the Green Lanterns" kerfuffle? How can they possibly just pick up and go on as they always have? They keep getting rescued...by Hal, by John and Guy and Kyle and Kilowog and Salaak and all the rest of the Lanterns...and they Never Seem To Learn A Thing from the experience. I'm not even sure if they even bothered to say thank you after the LAST time that the Lanterns pulled their tiny blue butts out of the fire.

The problem with the Guardians is that they are immortal...and that they have been at the job of Guarding the Universe for a Very Very long time. The problem with age is that you have a tendency to grow to rigid, and too set in your ways. It really IS hard to teach an old dog new tricks. The Guardians keep making mistake after mistake, and they NEVER seem to learn a thing from the experience, with the exception of Ganthet, and possibly Sayd. Heck, even Scar, evil though she was, was willing to do something different.

Geoff Johns latest riff on the Green Lantern Legend, seems to be bringing in Krona as a somewhat sympathetic creature. In the past he's always been portrayed as being an utter villain...although I can't really see that being curious and wanting to know the origin of the Universe is THAT big of a sin. We're always trying to learn those very same questions, it seems. And the Guardians have their own peccadillos that they are trying to cover up, and each crisis seems to let more light into their forbidden closet full of dark and dangerous secrets.

Now it turns out that Krona was inadvertently responsible for the Manhunters wiping out Sector 666...but hey, at least he was sorry about it, which apparently is more than the Guardians felt. He's also the one who discovered all those nifty Green Lanterny sort of things...not that he's ever been given any credit for it.

I went back last night and re-read all of my new Green Lantern:Emerald Warrior books, and it's repeated a couple of times, that Guy is highly suspicious over the fact that the Guardians let him go gallivanting out in the uncharted sectors without any sort of resistance, other than sending Arisia and Kilowog with him. Are they up to something? Do they have a different agenda? Is the fact that there are fewer and fewer of them after each Crossover ever going to sink in?

Or will they finally be replaced with the New New New Guardians? New Guardians have been presented before...in fact several times, and it's never really stuck. However, if they are going to idiots then SOMEbody has to pick up the slack. I'm sure that Sinestro is more than willing to volunteer to run things.

Which is why I'm so glad that Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps are coming out tomorrow. And why I'm so pissed that Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors is NOT.

Dammit, I love comics.

Happy Birthday Ralph

Yes, March 21st is Ralph Dibny's birthday. Apparently yesturday was Dick Grayson's.
Why I know things like this, is one of the mysteries of the Universe.

But still...I MISS Ralph and Sue. Dammit. So here they are in all their stretchy glory, as penciled by Chris Samnee, who is fabulous.



Aren't they just adorable?

Bat Butts

Not something that you see much of for some reason. Same thing with Superman. Man, I just HATE capes! Now Alan Scott wears a cape, and yet he STILL manages to show off his buttocks! Shows them off proudly!

But that's mainly because he's a Green Lantern and he just can't help himself.

But I'm not here to show off Alan's manly behind. Instead you get this.



Pathetic isn't it? That's about as close as I can come to Bruce's hindquarters. He just seems to hide in that damned cape. Probably self-concious about his ass. Yes, THAT'S it. It's hard to scare the criminals no matter HOW cowardly and superstitious they may be if you have a saggy butt.

You Can Tell It's A Full Moon...Almost

All kinds of interesting things are going on! People are playing Basketball for one thing, and my beloved UConn Huskies have advanced over poor old Bucknell. And all the crazy drivers are driving MORE crazily!

And speaking of athletes...there don't seem to be a whole lot of Superheroes who are professional athletes. This occured to me from out of the blue, while watching Tiger Woods on Jimmy Fallon the other night. Oh sure, you have Guy and Booster playing football, not to mention Steel, but that was in college. And I think that Northstar was a skier or something. Not a lot of golfers however. Fallon was making quite a few zingers at Tiger's expense, and did thank him for being such a great target..."balls, shafts, holes, foursomes...!" It writes itself!

And because my mind is strange and twisted, all I could think of for some reason, was Hal Jordan. Because being a test/figher pilot does lend itself to the same sort of innuendos. There's that whole "You've never flown with ME!" stuff for one thing. And his call sign is High Ball. And there are joy sticks, and cockpits, and ejaculator...er...ejector buttons. And so on and so forth.

Oh Hal.



So naturally I have to show off Hal's incredible ass.

And speaking of moons...tomorrow night is supposed to be quite the spectacular show. The moon is at the perigee of its orbit, and it's closer to the earth than it has been in about 20 years or so, so the full moon should be QUITE fabulous.

Butts and Reviews

That's...and odd combination. But anyway, it was a tiny tiny week for me. I WAS expecting Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, but no such luck. Maybe next week. So all that I picked up was Brightest Day, the final issue of DC: Legacies and Power Girl.

Brightest Day #22 was pretty darned good. It does continue to confirm my belief that the Life Entity is a bit of a jerk however. Ronnie and Jason are off confronting the Anti-Monitor no less! And putting up with the smart-alecky remarks from Deathstorm. There is a lot of angst, and Firestorm is split into his component parts with the death of one of them. Dagnabit. And the Anti-Monitor thought that he was controlling the White Lantern, when it turns out to be the opposite. I guess you could say that the Anti-Monitor was...punked. Things are rushing right along, with the climax in only a couple more issues.

Legacies #10. This has been a rather odd little mini-series. We began with the narrator being a child back in the day, and the earliest heroes such as the Mystery Men. Then we move in time to Superman and Batman and the Justice League and so on, and the narrator ages, and then ages extremely rapidly while everyone else remains the same. We end up with the death of Sue Dibny, echoed by the death of his wife from Cancer, and the Omacs and stuff, and then we find out that he's some old guy in a nursing home and it was...all in his mind? Seriously?

The second feature is all about Blue Beetle, with Dan Garrett,and then Ted Kord taking over. On the one hand, I'm delighted to see Ted. I LOVE Ted. But then you realize that it is all leading up to his death, and I got depressed.

Finally, Power Girl #22. This wasn't terrible. I haven't really been reading Power Girl since Amanda Conner left, just picking up the individual issues that tied into JLI: Generation Lost...but I'm a sucker for a dinosaur on the cover. There are lots and lots of dinosaurs. Superman and Power Girl are battling the dinosaurs when it begins to dawn on them that they are having a whole heckuva lot harder time in dealing with them than they should be. And it's because they aren't really dinosaurs at all! Magic! Who knew? Again, not bad. Not great, but not bad.

And now onto the main show.



Kyle is crouched down there a bit, but you can still see his fabulous hind-quarters. And Alan Scott shows up too,which is always gravy.

GL Butts are the Best

Now here we have a two-fer.



Oh Kilowog. You may not be actually wearing your Green Lantern uniform, but you still have a surprisingly sexy tushie. And, while this is more of a side view of Guy's ass, it is STILL quite spectacular.

They haven't actually done this sort of thing in a long time...having a violent romp just for fun. A shame really.

Gadzooks!

It's Tuesday. The most deadly day of the week. Therefore, I stand in need of something extra spectacular to cheer me up. And I give you something rather spectacular at that.



Heh. Not only do we have Hal's magnificent behind, but we have him shirtless as well. Be still my heart.

Things Have Been Too Serious

I think that I need to take a break from all of the earnest essays, ranting about Winick, and reviews and stuff, and get back to basics. And for me, that means behinds. Round, taut beautiful behinds. And not JUST Green Lantern behinds.

And so I give to you...



Blue and Gold behinds. Damn, I miss Ted.

All Romance Comic Covers Feature Hal

It really is uncanny just HOW many of those hunks on the Romance Comic covers look just like Hal. Uncanny, I sez!

Here is a rather unnusual one. Unnusual in the fact that it seems to be hinting at a problem not USUALLY experienced by Hal.



So that's what you call it, eh Hal?

Green Lantern #63

This is not the most action-packed issue of Green Lantern that I have ever read, and God knows that I sorely missed Doug Mahnke's stellar artwork, but still, there was a fair amount of interesting information in this particular book.

We get to find out a heck of a lot more about Krona, that's for sure. And true to type, the Guardians did a heckuva job screwing him over. Krona has never before been presented as a particularly sympathetic character, but you have to feel a bit sorry for the fellow after the Guardians get done with him. He apparently was the one who came up with most of the cool stuff about the Green Lanterns, but that wasn't cutting any ice with the little blue meanies.

The Guardians may have been around for untold millenia, but they certainly don't seem to have learned a thing in all of their long years. In spite of all that has happened...in spite of having their tiny blue butts saved over and over again, they are STILL messing around with their faithful cohorts. Now they are being obnoxious to Salaak of all people...which isn't the brightest move on their part. Seriously, I'm beginning to think that Ganthet and Said are the only Guardians still alive that have half a brain.

Meanwhile, Hal is still hanging out with his new buddies...having given his OLD buddies the cold shoulder. They're on their way to Zamaron to pick up the last entity, but they're too late...Krona has already gotten to the Predator, and dumps poor Carol Ferris in their laps as well. Sinestro shows up as well, and he's a bit peeved that they managed to screw things up while he was gone. So off they go to Ryut, and discover to their shock, the Book of the Black...which has all the deleted chapters of the Book of Oa. Oh THIS should make for some interesting reading!

The Guardians in their infinite wisdom have decided that despite the fact that Hal Jordan busted his ass to save theirs a few weeks ago, that since he's been hiding out on earth with Atrocitus and the rest, that he should be hauled back to Oa and put on trial for TREASON! Salaak thinks that they are over-reacting...just a little, and they tell him to shut up or else.

Back on Ryut the Book has opened, and they finally get to see exactly what it was that happened to Atrocitus's sector. It was Krona, who, after the Guardians sent the Manhunters after him, changed their programming. Oops. At least he has the decency to feel bad about it, which is more than the Guardians did. Just a little more collateral damage to the little blue munchkins.

We end of course, with a rather intriguing teaser with four Earth Lanterns striving for only three rings. Which ties in of course to that equally intriquing cover picture of a blacked out silhouette being greeted by Sinestro and company. SOMEbody is going to get a different ring, or perhaps will become a Guardian or...or something.

All of this is leading up to the War of the Green Lanterns of course. I can hardly wait. I can hardly wait for those miserable blue monsters to get what's coming to them!

Lots of Reviews

Egad, but that was a long drought between comic book purchases! But here I have two weeks worth of reviews, although I would imagine that you've all read LAST weeks already. Still...I am compulsive about these things.

I picked up Batman;The Brave & the Bold #5 mainly because it had Guy Gardner on the cover, and also because I just miss it SO much. It has Guy and Bats fighting Manhunters, which was a whole lot of fun. Lobo shows up. It's delightful.

Batman $ Robin #21. Well I liked this. I liked it a lot. It turns out that someone is going after the relatives of the various inhabitants of Arkham, fitting them out with beautiful angel wings, and sending them to their eternal reward. Whether they want to go or not, courtesy of the White Knight. There is some detective work, some snarkiness by Damian, some dry wit by Alfred, Gordon, some spookiness and what has to be one of the BEST pictures of Batman and Robin...ever. Pat Gleason shows them swooping across the skies of Gotham, with the Bat-signal illuminating the sky behind them. Gave me shivers, it did. I am liking this a whole lot too.

Birds of Prey #10. Rest easy, Oracle isn't dead. But we all pretty much knew that. However, that doesn't mean that the rest of the Birds are particularly happy, and they do their very very best to piss off the Calculator and his cronies. And of course, they do a particularly good job of it. Hawk shows up, and there is even a non-appearance by Batman that made me smile. The end result is that with Oracle "dead" she can go back to working in the shadows. The only people who know that she's still alive are the Birda,and a bunch of Bat-people. But not Cass, because she has enough on her plate. Or something. Still, pretty darned good.

Booster Gold#42. Well! Booster is in prison, and gets a cell-mate known as the Perforated Man. The Perforated Man seems a bit...odd, and they keep making time jumps all over the place. It turns out to no one's particular surprise, that the Perforated Man is actually Booster! Who'da thunk? He's been infected by whatever it was that Doctor Nishtikeit injected him with. Oh those Nazis! So Booster has Chronal Lebrosy, which sounds and looks most unpleasant.

This...was ok. Not great, not terrible, but man, I'll be glad to have Jurgens back again.

Brightest Day #21

Well THAT was exciting! This issue mostly covers J'onn and his continuing battle with D'Kay on Mars. While back on earth, a whole lot of other heroes are dealing with the aftermath of the Aquawar, and are beginning to realize that something is wrong. Seriously wrong.

J'onn continues to hold off D'Kay, who just won't give up. I have to say that once again Pat Gleason does a phenomenal job with the art. D'Kay is just so...terribly alien that it's fabulous. She's pulling out every trick in the book including trying to convince J'onn that he's gotten her pregnant. He's not falling for it however, and finally pulls the ultimate whammy himself. She's a telepath who hates to listen, but he gives her the thoughts of everyone on Earth. It's a lot, but not quite enough, so he grabs her and flies...into the sun.

And THAT was the Fire that he was supposed to set! The Life Entity is pleased and brings him back and gives him a choice between Mars or Earth. J'onn finally choses Earth, and flies to Star City, where he immediately tries to save people from the conflagration going on around the mystic foresst. Naturally, that's when poor Deadman shows up. He tries to warn J'onn, but J'onn knows what is going to happen, and goes gracefully.

Things are really moving along now, and I can hardly wait to see what is going to happen! Very very good.

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #2.

Cinderella is up against Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz! There are Russian Fables, and smaller splinter groups and treachery and all kinds of good things. Delightful.

Green Lantern #63 Man, the Guardians are Douchebags.

Jonah Hex #65

I liked this a whole lot more than last month's issue. Jonah gets caught in a blizzard, and is rescued by a nice guy, who is stuck up on the mountains, trying to get his cattle to market. They end up fighting some wolves, and some extremely nasty bad guys, and each time, he nurses Jonah back to health. He also tells him a little about his old life, and how he made some mistakes but just wants to atone for it.

Naturally Jonah takes out all the bad guys and rides out, and we discover that he had originally come out to get the bounty on the man who saved him...but he lets him go. Nice. Very nice.

Justice League: Generation Lost #21

Now this was a perfectly nice issue. No idiotic unneccesary retcons or origins. I'll just fill you in right now, that Blue Beetle ISN'T dead. But they did their best to fake us out right up to the last page.

But anyway, poor Booster is having a bit of a crisis of conscious. He was the one who kept pushing them all to go after Max, and now all these people are dead, he thinks because of him. He wants to quit, but of course the rest of them won't let him. Captain Shinypants is also having a bit of a fit of the guilts, and Ice manages to calm him down...and she doesn't utter a single swear word. Really, it was quite refreshing.

Gavril is sad because Jaime was so young to die, and he's doing his best to make sure that his armor is up and functioning correctly, while Bea wanders in and talks to him. Then she goes and lays a big smooch on him, which both surprises and delights him. Finally! These two have been making googoo eyes at each other for a while now. And quite frankly, Bea deserves to have a boyfriend. And Gavril is a nice guy.

So anyway, Booster is having a tantrum about how he should quit, and how once, just once he'd actually like to get the better of Max, when Jaime stands up behind him and points out that he knows what Max's plans are, and a cheer goes up from the crowd! Jaime's not dead! The characters that I love are actually written...in character! See, it CAN be done!

Secret Six #31

Oh my goodness1 Remember that little old plot device left over from the mess with Ragdoll's crazy sister, and the "Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free" card? Well, Scandal decides that the time has come to use it, to get Knockout out of Hell, and goes to retrieve it, only to find out that it's missing. She immediately pegs Ragdoll as the thief, and goes and tries to beat him up. And, in a really spectacular fight scene, we discover that as funny and adorable as Ragdoll is usually portrayed...he's certainly NO pushover, and he's a whole lot more dangerous than he's usually portrayed as being. Scandal loses it and guts him, and then things really go to hell.

Literally. Black Alice finds them the entrance to Hell, which is actually a shopping mall that is hilarious and terrifying all at the same time. Alice is genuinely terrified, and she stays behind, so the rest of them, including Killer Shark go to Hell, and manage to meet up with Etrigan...not to mention Ragdoll. And Ragdoll has brought friends. Oh, it's going to be good bloody fun.

Not a clunker in the bunch. I love it when I only get GOOD comics!

Thank God It's Wednesday!

I missed last week's comics. Sure, it was for a good cause, but I've been itching to get to the comic book store ever since. But since it feels just...wrong...to go to the comic book store when it isn't a Wednesday, I've waited until today. So I'll get a double dose of delight!

I know that some people only go once a month or so, and frankly I don't know how you do it!

I've been scrupulously trying to NOT read the spoilers and such, so I'll finally find out what happened in Green Lantern, not to mention Brightest Day, and a few other goodies. Oh, and Justice League: Generation Lost is coming out today as well, and so we'll all get to find out if Winick has really offed Jaime, or if it is just a fake-out. I'm calling fake out, but I guess we'll have to wait and find out.

Gosh, I just love Wednesdays.

Your Least Favorite Lantern?

Your LEAST favorite Green Lantern seems like a loaded question, but that is the one that was asked of readers over at CBR, or "Comics Should Be Good". The results have finally been tallied, and John Stewart wins with 30% of the vote. Or actually, he loses, depending upon how you are looking at it. Poor John. Apparently quiet competence doesn't quite cut it.

Hal was next with 26%, followed by Kyle with 23% and finally Guy with 22% Which means that Guy Wins! He's the least least favorite Lantern! I find myself rather stunned by this. I mean I like him, and certain other of my cohorts like him too. But really, for a while there he was awfully obnoxious. He certainly can STILL be obnoxious. But he pairs it with...charisma. Or something.

So I'm snickering to myself...and applauding your good taste.



Booyah!

Paradise Lost

And...we're back! Gosh, but I missed you. Actually, I did pretty well all things considered. My blogging hand didn't start shaking until about Thursday! Needless to say...but I'm gonna say it anyway...we had a perfectly SPLENDID time in Maui. It was about 81 degrees every day, we had a room with an ocean view and were Right On The Beach, everyone was so nice, we ate everything that didn't move, say whales in the channel, had a day at the Spa, went swimming, went to a luau, ate some MORE, went to Front Street, on a boat and drank lots and lots of tall and frothy drinks with tiny umbrellas.

Of course it was a fifteen hour plane ride each way...with a couple of extra hours spent sitting in airports. My spine may never be the same. At least I have a day to readjust to the five hour time difference. But still...it was a heck of a vacation. In fact it really was Paradise. Gas was expensive though. But I do have to admit that it was Paradise to actually get home and sleep in my own bed. I don't even mind doing all the laundry...too much.

So...did anything exciting happen in the REAL world while I was gone? And by real, I mean of course the DC Universe. It would be awfully nice to discover that Lian's death was a fake-out, and Roy is off the drugs, Winick admitted that Ice's new origin was "just a joke" and Max Lord is actually an android. Oh, and Ted is coming back any day now.

Well...a girl can dream, can't she?