Back To Normal

Well!  That was certainly exciting!  We were actually very very lucky, certainly in comparison to the poor people on the shoreline, or in New Jersey or New York which were hit VERY hard indeed.  That was one weird storm.  We were fortunate to more or less sail through it unscathed, although we have a whole lot of tree limbs down.  I hope that everyone else who were hit by this storm came through ok.

And the books DID come in!  Oh UPS.  You guys really came through. 

And Happy Halloween and all that jazz.  I wore a pair of black pants, a black turtleneck, and my Green Lantern T-shirt to work today, along with my adorable little Green Lantern mask, that my son got at McDonald's in a Happy Meal, and gave my Office Manager a real laugh.  I was also popular at the Comic Book Store.  Easiest Halloween Costume...ever!

I hope that everyone else also has a safe and Happy Halloween.  If it is still on.  Some places it is being postponed.  Weather really doesn't seem to like Halloween very much.

Double Pooh!

Welp, just got home from work on this fine Monday morning...here in Connecticut they have evacuated the shore and are closing down the interstates  shortly after noon.  Wind is picking up and it looks as though it is going to be...interesting.  We have made our preparations of course, but naturally I can't help wondering about the comic book delivery on Wednesday.  Then I remembered that it is a fifth week anyway, so no big deal.

How pathetic is that? 

Wherever you all are, and if you are going to be impacted by this nice little storm, please be sure to hunker down and be careful and be safe.

Well Pooh

Dammit, another Halloween Storm is getting ready to strike New England!  The one last year wasn't actually a hurricane, just a very early, very nasty and very heavy snowstorm that hit with all the leaves still on the trees, and knocked our power out for almost a week.  Some people didn't get their power back for TWO weeks.  But the Power Company says that Not This Time!  Even though they haven't ratified the Line Worker's contracts, and there are actually fewer linemen than there were last year.  Hello Ohio!  Did you guys ever get paid for the last time?

So...I'm feeling just a tad grumpy.  It was ok for a few days, but after three or four, it was getting seriously old.  And cold.  And dark.  And just a little smelly.  Gosh, we are such wusses.  So I've been making sure that I have plenty of candles and firewood, and putting the patio furniture away and NOT buying milk, because if the power goes, it will just go bad.  And looking for the Scrabble board and the playing cards. 

Interestingly, is there any natural storms of this kind in the Comic book world?  It always seems as though it is always the fault of Storm or the Weather Wizard or something. 

Review hoo hoo's.

Another interesting week!  And not a Green Lantern in the bunch...but I actually don't mind.


Fables #122

This seems to be starting a whole new story, and I wasn't completely sure that we were finished with the slightly interminable previous storyline.  Nevertheless I liked it.  It is actually one of the cubs in the future writing...possibly Ambrose, although that is just my opinion, and it is a tale of Bigby back when he really was the Biggest and Baddest Wolf of them all. 

It looks interesting.  It was good, and the art was nice, and I am ready for the next issue.


The Flash #13

Barry really has a complicated life.  He's in the middle of fighting the Rogues, when all of a sudden Central City is being attacked by Grodd and his Gorillas no less.  This is back when this sort of thing was still unusual.  Fortunately, the Rogues are crazy and or nice enough (?) to actually help him out.  Of course, they don't really have much choice in the matter. 

Beautifully drawn as usual, and dadgummit...you just can't beat giant talking gorillas!


All-Star Western #13

Something is wrong in Gotham City.  Which is the same as saying that the sky is blue.  A circus has come to town, and suddenly all the nice Circus folk have run amok, and are busy killing people, and letting tigers lose, and other nefarious things.  Obviously, this has something to do with the Snake Oil Salesman who just sighned on, but fortunately, Jonah and Tallulah and Dr. Arkham are there to help.  Oh, and I guess that the Chinese lady isn't Mei Ling after all, for which I am deeply deeply thankful.

There was also a backup story with Tomahawk that was rather fun.  A bit like the Leatherstocking Tales in Comic book form.


Justice League Dark #13

Well, this months events seem to be spinning out of the totally unnecessary new origin for John Constantine and Zatanna, as the goup has to deal with Mists' betrayal, and the fact that Nick Necro also pops up again,when they thought that he was safely planted in Hell.  Black Orchid does some cool stuff, as does Deadman, and the art is awfully pretty, while Xanadu tries to help Tim Hunter, but I can't help thinking that not a whole heck of a lot actually happened in this issue.


I absolutely refused to purchase ANY of the recent Avengers vs X-Men books.  It was bad enough reading about it.  but I simply could not resist picking up the A-Babies vs X-Babies, by Skottie Young, because it was simpl adorable.  And I'm a sucker apparently.  Now if the whole thing had been like THIS, it would have been a Huge Hit! 

Cute.  So...so cute.


Hawkeye #3

It took me a week, but I finally remembered to pick up the third issue of the new Hawkeye book from Marvel, and gosh, it is fabulous.  The art is lovely, Kate is fabulous, Clint is fabulous, and wow, that 1970 Dodge Challenger is insanely fabulous. 

Clint is having something of a weird day.  He's trying to label all of his trick arrows, which actually threw me a bit since I thought that Ollie was the one with all the trick arrows, and he's not getting a whole lot of cooperation from Kate.  So he goes out to get some tape or something, runs into a beautiful young woman with the 1970 Dodge Challenger, and when he starts drooling over the car, she offers to sell it to him.  Naturally this leads to the two of them doing the horizontal mambo, until some thugs with this really irritating habit of calling everyone "bro" show up and kidnap the young lady AND the car.  I don't know which enrages Hawkeye more. 

So Kate comes puffing along in her Volkswagon Beetle, and a wonderful car chase with Minis also ensues.  It really isn't all that often that you get to see a bitchin' car chase in a comic book for some reason, and he manages to use practically ALL of the trick arrows, and a wonderful time is had by all.

Seriously, this book is a hoot.

And finally,


Journey Into Mystery #645

Oh.

Oh  my. 

I make no point of hiding the fact that I have been loving young Loki, and in this issue, well, everything finally comes crashing down.  Last week in Thor, we came to the end of Everything Burns, with the defeat of Surtur, but there were...complications.  That crown of dreams that Loki made a while back has come back to bite him in the butt, when Mephisto waltzes in and grabs it, and then Loki has to find the essence of OLD Loki, who informs him that he can defeat Mephisto, by dissolving the crown...and himself, which will somehow let the original Loki come back. 

dang it.

Little Loki goes around and tries to make sense of what is going to happen, he sends Leah away, it is for her own good, but he can't tell her that.  I think that Hela knows something of what is happening.  He also tries to warn Thor, and to get him to swear to kill him if he becomes evil again, but of course Thor can't do that.  Then he goes back to confront Old Loki again, who naturally tries to tell him that everything will be fine, and dandy.  Loki may be young, but he's not stupid.  Yet he claims that he is the one who wins, and kills the Magpie, and apparently...eats it. 

I...I am not exactly sure what all of this means.  Did evil Loki come back in young sweet Loki's body, or are they one and the same now, or what, but it looks....ominous.  And I am feeling just a little heartbroken.  Damn, this was a fabulous book. 

It is still going to continue as Journey into Mystery, but will be focusing on Sif now.  That's fine,  I like Sif too, and lord knows that Marvel could certainly pay some attention to its female characters, but I was upset about Loki, except that he's going to be showing up in Young Avengers starting in January, and also being written by Gillen, so that is something to be happy for. 

But..but I really wanted a happy ending.  Oh Comics.

Oh Wednesday

Sweet sweet Wednesday.  You do make the middle of the week so...bearable. 

Am I alone in my love for this particular day of the Week?  It's something to look forward to, an oasis between the agony of Monday morning and the bliss of Friday afternoon.  Comics!  Comics, my friends, in all of  their four-color glory.  Well it's actually all digital nowadays, but you know what I mean.  Do you all have a routine on Wednesdays?

I slither out of work, more or less promptly at 2:00 and immediately race down to my beloved local Comic Book Shoppe, where they have already pulled my books and have them waiting.  Then of course I have to go and peruse the NEW books since I might have missed something.  For example I completely forgot that Hawkeye was coming out last week and had to wait until this week to get it.  And you never know what is going to catch your eye.

Then I wander over to the desk, and engage in witty conversation, or at least discuss who is writing what, and check out the spoils from the latest convention and stuff.  As much as I enjoy exploring the internet, it is awfully fun to actually interact with people once a week about comics.  I'm even more or less accepted, since I've been coming here for years, and they are used to me...plus I'm OLD, and I've been collecting since before some of these g;uys were born!  So there. 

Then I hop in my silver chariot and buzz on home, make a snack, put on some music, and sack out in my big leather chair, and it is utter bliss for the rest of the afternoon.  I usually

 DON'T make a fancy dinner on Wednesdays, I can tell you that! 

So...what do YOU all do?

Back In The Saddle!

Well, I'm back...from a truly spectacular 3-day weekend, and the final Fife and Drum Muster of the year, the amazing Thunder in the Valley, in Moodus, Ct.  We stayed at an astoundingly quaint country Bed & Breakfast, we marched in a nice short parade, we ate, we drank, we played and we made utter fools of ourselves for three glorious days, in equally glorious brilliant New England weather. 

I'm exhausted.  But happy. 

At least until I had to go back to work this morning, which rather took the edge off of all that happiness.  But I hope that everyone ELSE had a lovely Fall weekend as well.  Did anything exciting happen in the world of Comics? 

I did notice...eventually that I managed to completely forget to pick up Hawkeye from Marvel last Wednesday, so I have to hope that there are a few copies left over this coming Wednesday, because that is actually a heckuva good book.  And I also missed the Miss America book or whatever, that has Loki in it, and gosh, I simply love Loki.  I'm so glad that they are keeping him as a teen and that Gillen is going to continue to write him in the new Young Avengers book, which looks to be pretty amazing.

I also hear that they are going to be dropping the newest Blue Beetle book at DC, along with Frankenstein and maybe a couple more.  I loved Blue Beetle when Giffen and Rogers were writing it, and later Rogers alone, but this latest incarnation just didn't grab me.  It completely lost all of its charm and wit, not to mention it messed with some of my absolute favorite supporting characters, so I'm not that sorry to see it go.  I do apologize if it turns out to be someone's favorite. 

I'm still sad that JLI was dumped.  It didn't really seem to have such bad sales to justify cancelling it.  Now I don't have Booster anymore.  Although I WAS intrigued to have Time-Travelling Booster show up and thrilled to pieces that they mentioned Rip Hunter.   So something still exists from the REAL DC Universe.  Alternate realities are fine for a little while, and apparently we are keeping this one around until all of the writers get those Elseworlds storylines out of their systems and we can go back to telling REAL stories again.

Sorry, I seem to be flogging a dead horse with this topic, but if you have been reading me for any length of time, you know by now that I can really hold a grudge. 

Only two more weeks....and it will all be over.  The incessant phone calls, the non-stop television ads, the mind-numbing debates, the asonishing tons of junk mail...all, all over.  I can hardly wait. 

And...apropos of nothing, but because the sheer insanity of it all just pleases me...


I give you Bruce Wayne from Neal Adams Odyssey, wearing a Green Lantern T-shirt.  This had to be the most bizarre and insane series that I have ever read.  And I loved it.  I don't understand ANY of it...but I loved it.

Thursday's Reviews of Wednesday's Comics

A good week.  An interesting week.

Batwoman #13

Good gosh, but this is a pretty pretty book.  And I'm enjoying the team-up between Kate and Diana.  It just seems so...slightly bizarre, a fact that Kate herself points out, having a Gothamite Crime-Fighter teamed up with a demi-goddess, going up against Godlike beings.  And Godlike they are!    Thank goodness for Kate's utility belt!

Very nice indeed.


Birds of Prey #13

I didn't know quite what to make of all of this.  The Birds are still recovering from the effects of Ivy's little present, when Katanna is attacked and robbed of her sword.  Someone whom I can only assume is this new DC Universe's version of the Black Condor ends up with it.  And then she is attacked by the standard bunch of nasty ninjas and assorted assassins, but fortunately the rest of the Birds show up to help out. 

Although, as much as Starling may enjoy a spot of torture, from the way that the guy on the last page is smiling, I'm pretty sure that he has something up his proverbial sleeve/
Green Lantern: New Guardians #13

Well, now that they have discovered that Kyle seems to be able to access all of the various Ring Emotions, they've gone to work to try and prepare him for it, so Atrocitus is trying to get him really really angry.  It takes a good long while, but he finally does succeed at getting poor Kyle monumentally pissed off.  Unfortunately for Carol, he's staying pissed off, as he prepares to go and get some help from Arkillo in how to install some fear, which will probably be next issue's plot.

Meanwhile the Third Army is spreading all over the place.  Space Zombies are so hard to get rid of. 

Not a bad issue, at least some things happened.  I can't help but think that the whole "Third Army" storyline is spinning its wheels just a tad.


Justice League #13

Well, Diana and Clark are still smooching as we begin this issue.  And then she stalks off in a huff.  Oh those Amazons.  So moody. 

Then she goes and fights Cheetah, who is actually her good friend Barbara, who was accidentally turned into the Cheetah, but she likes it better this way, and they yell at each other and scratch a lot for a while.  Cheetah has also acquired a tail, and I'm not actually sure if she is wearing a costume or just running around in her pelt.

Then Batman and Aquaman go and visit poor Steve in his hospital room and want some information, while up in the Satellite of Love, Superman and Wonder Woman confront each other, after sending Barry and Cyborg out of the room.  The latter two find this a little weird, especially since Cyborg can hear everything that they are saying anyway. Still, he and Barry have a nice bonding moment.


After a few token protests, the whole gang decides to go along and help Wonder Woman, so they end up in a nasty old jungle and naturally get attacked, and Cheetah bites Superman and turns HIM into a Super-Cheetah!  Exactly how she is able to do this,since I would assume that his skin is still unbitable, is not explained.

Also in the backup feature, Steve is being ridiculed on television for being dumped by Wondie...again, and Amanda Waller looking far too svelte comes and strokes his ego for a bit.  Also Ollie shows up, being something of a jackass, but hey...that's Ollie.  I'm actually more interested in what Steve and Ollie are going to be doing than the League.

Wonder Woman #13

Now this I enjoyed.  Diana is far more self-possessed and competent than she is over in the Justice League. 

Apollo has called some of his siblings together, at least ones that have been sired by Zeus, although Hermes is nowhere to be found,and Athena declines to make an appearance.  Meanwhile, at Diana's place, Zola and Hera aren't gettting along at all, which is hardly to be expected.  Lennox on the other hand, is healing nicely.    He is also the one who tells Diana about yet another sibling, by name of Siracca, The Wind.  For a reason that I don't fully understand, Diana decides to go look her up.

She ends up in Libya where she manages to take out a cadre of rebels without breaking a sweat, and then finds a little girl, whom she swears to protect and help.  The kid leads her to an underground palace of a sort, but they are attacked and the little girl is hurt and then turns to dust in Diana's arms.  Well wouldn't you know that she was actually Siracca, and she's all cranky and stuff. 

I do want to see what is going to happen next.  The art isn't Cliff Chiang this month, but Tony Akins does a pretty good job filling in.


And my absolute Favorite Book of the Week...

The Mighty Thor #21

We finally come to the finale of "Everything Burns".  And boy howdy, does it. 

Loki has managed to find Leah, but the two of them are seconds away from being roasted by Surtur, and Loki is just about to get his first liplock, when Thor and his Handy Horde of the Dead show up.  This includes, Bill, born of Bills, and his rifle.  Gosh, I love Bill.

Loki is confused, but never completely out of tricks, and he and Leah manage to try one last desperate gambit.  They manage to make their way to Otherworld, and Wilson, and the Manchester Gods, whom he helped against King Arthur and that lot.  It turns out that the Manchester gods, are unwittingly helping supply Surtur with power, and Loki manages to convince them that they need to cut the connection.  It also means that they are committing suicide, but hey, they are actually pretty good g;uys and they do it.  They die with Loki's name on their lips,and Surtur is deprived of a lot of his power. 

Naturally he doesn't let this stop him, and he's about  to stomp on Thor, when Loki and Leah show up.  Thor is still thor...sorry, SORE at the way that Loki tricked him into basically dying and all, but Loki manages to show him the shadow blade, which is somehow drawn to Mjollnir...and Thor comes up with a trick of his own.

So, with Leah sitting on Loki's shoulders, disguised as Freyja, they call Odin away from his sulking.  Odin isn't too happy about it, but what the heck.  And then Thor defeats Surtur, and all that nasty energy that Surtur was storing  is taken care of by Odin, so the Nine Worlds are saved, and all they have to worry about now, is how pissed Odin is.

And there is a happy happy ending. 

Except that Daimon Hellstrom, who naturally is still shirtless shows up in Leah's cave, and is babbling that Mephisto has managed to get his paws on that little old crown that Loki made to fool the Elder Gods, and boy, things are not going to be good after all. 

Dammit,  I love this book.  Best thing that Marvel is putting out, in my humble opinion. 

And there you have it!  I hope you all had a good week too!

Black Lantern Hal?

I suppose that it was inevitable, that Hal would become a Black Lantern.  And not just ANY Black Lantern, but the GREATEST of the Black Lanterns.  He's been just about everything else, after all, with the exception of  a Star Sapphire ring, because Hal just doesn't do pink. 

Actually, I do believe that he WAS a Black Lantern for about a minute or two while fighting the Spectre back during the whole Nekron kerfuffle.  And I have to admit, that it was a thrill to see Hal and Sinestro...somewhere in that little scene in Green Lantern an issue or so ago. 

Simon Baz as the new Green Lantern leaves me rather cold, at least at the moment.  Presumably he'll start doing something interesting soon, possibly with the Justice League, which is coming out tomorrow.  But I was really really enjoying the Hal and Sinestro show, and would greatly appreciate seeing MORE of it. 

I am getting a bit tired of the Evil Guardians however.  This has been building up for so long now, and they just keep getting more and more nasty, and apparently all of the Green Lanterns are completely clueless, despite all of the completely rotten things that the Guardians have been doing.  I guess they have been able to get away with it so far, because they are sneaky little bastards, and because....well because the Green Lanterns just aren't expecting to be betrayed by their revered Mentors.  They are so used to thinking of the Guardians as annoying but still omnipotent GOOD guys, that it is going to be very difficult for them to realize just the depths of their betrayal.   I've been clinging to the idea that they are being influenced by an outside force, perhaps Parallax, perhaps someone or something else, but they've been getting meaner and meaner for so LONG now.  And I would like to see poor Ganthet freed. 

I am thinking that perhaps Kyle is going to be the Hero in all of this, because he seems to be the one who can manifest the various Emotional entities almost at will.  It sounds as though Guy is going to be having a very tough time of it.  I'd like John to do something other than kill more of his friends, and I would dance up and down on the tables if it turned out that Mogo could come back...not to mention all of the OTHER dead Green Lanterns.  As Guy pointed out to John a while ago, there are an awful lot of them lately. 

I also assume that Simon will be having some effect on all of the upcoming War, and he may be the key to the whole thing, mainly because the Guardians don't have a clue that he even exists, thanks to Hal and Sinestro's funky ring.  I would presume that the First Lantern will be doing...things, and maybe even those nice Maltusians who have been in voluntary exile for so many millenia.

Wouldn't it be nice to have wise and benevolent Guardians, and the Green Lantern Corps back to policing the Universe and fighting menaces OTHER than their own bosses for a change? 

Green Lantern Corps #13

And the Guardians nefarious plans continue to escalate, as nefarious plans have a way of doing.



But gosh, that is a nice cover by Ivan Reis of Guy and John. 

I'm not quite as impressed by the art on the interior, which  is by Cafu...an artist I am unfamiliar with.  Needless to say, I prefer Pasarin's pencilings, but this is adequate. 

More of the Third Army are attacking, now they are multiplying throughout space as well as on earth, and presumably in other places as well.  Oh, and remember that Big Bad Meanie that Guy fought against as a rookie last month?  Well, he shows up again, as he is released from his imprisonment in the Sciencells, and told to go forth and do...more Bad Things.

Meanwhile, in front of the Corps on Oa, the Guardians are having a nice ceremony, wherein they proclaim to all that Guy is being promoted to the position of Lantern Sentinel!  Because he's just the ginchiest!  Actually, he IS, but the Guardians aren't doing this because they actually give a goddamn about Guy, they are setting him up.  There is a bit of grumbling going on in the ranks, with a few Lanterns mumbling that Guy wouldn't be in this position if Hal Jordan were still around, by cracky!  John tells them to shut up, ably assisted by Kilowog, who naturally has Guy's back.  Guy takes it all fairly calmly all things considered. 

Then of course, he has to fly off on an important mission.  And the Guardians decide to send John out to look for more Mogo pieces.  Guy and his group are supposed to be guarding some squabbling ambassadors, when he gets word that The Big Bad Meanie from the Sciencells is lose and heading to earth to take out his family !  Whatever will he do?  Naturally, Guy elects to go and save his family and tells his bunch of Lanterns to watch out for the Ambassadors, while the Guardians are chortling with joy over their nasty little plan...since THEY were the ones who let the Big Bad Meanie out in the first place! 

I really don't like the Guardians.  They are gloating over how predictable Guy is, while telling Xar, the Big Bad Meanie, to be sure and kill all of the Ambassadors, just for fun as far as I can tell.  And then Guy and his Lanterns are attacked by more of the Third Army Zombies, who take over  poor Vandor, which is rather disgusting.

Things are not looking good at the moment. 

All I really want, is for the Third Army to go to Oa, and eat the Guardians at this point, which will magically restore everyone else, and things will be back to normal and we can actually have some Green Lantern stories again.

Some More Reviews

Not a really large week again for me, but there did seem to be a plethora of Bat Books.

Amecom Girls #1

Normally I wouldn't be touching this with a 10 foot pole, but heck, it IS Wonder Woman, and it IS Amanda Conner, and heck, it's Palmiotti too.  And you know what?  It was good silly fun.  Well, actually not THAT silly, but still fun.  The fight with the Minotaurs was adorable.  Steve Trevor is also adorable. 

Not the greatest Wonder Woman story ever told, but it certainly isn't the worst.


Batman #13

Holy Crap!  This...is genuinely disturbing, a little scary and rather beautifully done.  Lovely art as always by Capullo, and Snyder is fast becoming one of my favorite writers, no small feat considering that I don't even really LIKE Batman all that much. 

The Joker is back, and he's even more terrifying that usual.  He has an agenda, and he's got all of the Bat Family running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  Also, the second story at the back with Harley Quinn was spooky as all get out.

This was good.  Really really good.


Batman & Robin #13

This was also very good.  Bats and Damian have a rather nice heart-to-heart talk as Bruce takes his baby boy up to the Satellite during an eclipse...just to show him how to take care of things...in case.  And showing him the eclipse from this point of view was pretty cool too. 

And there are zombies.  I'm a bit puzzled by this.  Could the zombies be tied into what is going on in the Green Lantern books, with Black Hand and the Third Army, or is this a seperate Zombie event?  Hard to tell in comic books sometimes. 

But again, very good.


Demon Knights #13

Etrigan has managed to seperate himself from Jason Blood, and all of the gang are in Hell, being tortured in various ways.  Good thing that Sir Ytsin has drunk from the Grail.  Also, Etrigan isn't quite sure that he likes Xanadu being his brainless mindless puppet...if that is indeed what she is.

Lucifer is hanging around, as he would certainly be doing.  Vandal Savage doesn't give two hoots about being tortured.  Merlin's body isn't decaying so something is still going on, in Etrigan's quest to get Avalon.  Or whatever he actually has up his demon sleeve.

I do like this book.  It's always beautifully drawn, and a heck of a good read.


Green Lantern Corps #13

Why those little Blue Bastards!

A Glimmer of Hope

On Monday, I was writhing in the throes of despair over how dark and depressing Comics can be, and how things are apparently going to get even Darker and Grimmer. 

Enough!

But fortunately, some good news has broken like the sun through the clouds, and there is a slight glimmer of hope on the horizon. 

I have been enjoying the HECK out of Thor and young Loki.  It has been incredibly fun, well written, beautifully drawn, and the characterization has been amazing.  But I was always slightly morbid about the idea that usually when I really really like a book...it is the Kiss of Death.  And indeed, after the latest storyline of Everything Burns, Journey into Mystery was going to be about Sif, and not about Loki.

That's not a terrible thing.  I rather like Sif.  Nice to have Marvel actually have another book about a woman.  But I was very depressed about what was going to be happening to Loki, until I saw that Gillen, the writer who has been doing such wonderful wonderful things is going to be going to the new Young Avengers book.

And Loki is going to be on the team. 

Oh  my!  Calloo, callay!  I am chortling with joy. 

See Marvel?  You CAN get me to come back.  But only if you do things right.  Needless to say I won't be picking up that Grim and Gritty crap.

Marvel Continues On its Dark and Gritty Path

Although I am now more or less (actually more) of a DC type of fan, it wasn't always that way, with my first comic book love being Thor, followed by the X-Men.  I loved things like Damage Control, Nextwave, The Incredible Hercules, the Thor, The Mighty Avenger by Landridge and Samnee, and I'm continuing to simply adore what they've done with Thor and Loki lately/

But if you are paying attention, I think you would notice that most of these books, at least the later ones, are the ones that are more lighthearted.  Ones that are written with a wink and a nod, with wit and cleverness and a sense of humor.  Have great plots and writing and art certainly didn't hurt either. 

With that said, some of my favorite DC books are also the ones with a lighter and gentler point of view.  I adore Silver Age silliness with a deep passion.  I loved Giffen and DeMatteis's JLI, Roger's Blue Beetle, anything wtih Green Lanterns and Robinson's Starman, just to mention a few.    I'm one of those apparently odd people who likes a bit of funny in my funny books.

So I had to sigh when I read that once again Marvel is going to be going Dark and Apocalyptic for its new Avengers book, which is going to be by Hickman, starring what appears to be the Illuminati again.  Although for obvious reasons, Xavier won't be in it.  For less obvious reasons, Namor will.  This...confuses me. 

Civil War was the final nail in my Marvel coffin, and all of the VERY numerous cross-overs since then, have only added to my distaste.  Remember Villains?  I guess that Marvel doesn't because I can't remember the last time, with the exception of what is going on in Thor and Journey Into Mystery, that a Marvel Hero actually fought someone other than another Hero.  It's getting tiresome. 

I realize that back in the Good Old Days, that was one of the things that made Marvel different and exciting from stodgy old DC.  In the DC universe (the REAL DC universe) all the heroes were bestest friends, and everyone loved them and they had their own goddamned museums for God's sake, whereas Marvel Heroes, always had to beat each other up for a few pages before they would team up.  And Marvel Heroes had so much more angst and stuff.  Fighting for a world that hated and feared them, fighting for a world that even gave NON-Mutant Heroes a funny look, it was a tough job.  Not to mention that New York was so full of Heroes that you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting one.  At least DC had other places for their Heroes to hang out in. 

But with the current state of affairs...with the whole Avengers VS X-Men debacle, where they killed Professor Xavier (again) and have turned Cyclops into a Villain, and where some of the X-Men are on the run again, and blah blah blah...do we really need to make it even darker and grittier?  Where is it ever going to end? 

Namor tried to wipe out Wakanda, and is on the run, along with Emma Frost and the Rasputins, while Scott is imprisoned, and being taunted by Captain America of all people.  How in the world can Namor be an Illuminati...working side by side with the Black Panther?  Who dumped his wife in a snit. 

I feel no compulsion whatsoever to read any of this.  When they start to write books where the Heroes actually go out and fight the Villains again...then maybe I'll give Marvel a try again.  And it might be nice to actually write some books that have things going on in their OWN plots as opposed to one more horrific, drawn-out Cross-Over.  I am So Sick Of Cross-overs!

I'm not saying that I am that happy with DC either, I really do miss my REAL continuity, and am counting the months until it eventually returns.  But in the meantime, there are some books that aren't bad at all, and I can enjoy the stories if I keep telling myself that it is all an Elseworlds...and that maybe someday all of my favorite dead characters will come back. 

And so endeth, the Rant of the Day.

Slightly Delayed Reviews

The first week of the month is always a bit small, but there were some interesting choices out there this week.


Action Comics #13

This book had a whole lot of fabulousness going on.  Crazed evil Kryptonian Scientists!  Smug Kyrptonian judges!  The Phantom Zone!  A Boy and his Dog.  Yes, Krypto is once more introduced into the DC Universe, and it has been a sad and cold place without him. 

Superman has a bit of a kerfuffle over at the Fortress of Solitude, when a Mad Scientist imprisoned by Jor El manages to show up and cause all kinds of trouble.  Jor El sure liked to lock people up in the Phantom Zone, that place has scads  of people in it!  Including the Phantom Stranger and Krypto, who helps Superman escape.  But Superman doesn't leave his doggy trapped, he manages to figure out a way to go back and get him.

Huzzah!

It turns out that apparently Krypto was with him the whole time, but he couldn't see or hear or feel him. 

*sniff*

Krypto is a good dog.


Animal Man #13

I got this because I've been reading Swamp Thing, and the two of them are still trapped in the Rot, and time has gone on without them, while apparently the whole world has succumbed to Arcane's machinations.

This is a little bit too gruesome for me actually.  I can contemplate a Green Lantern wreaking havoc, but somehow its less icky.


Fairest #8

And in this issue we have none other than Rapunzel.  It seems to take place some time ago, since Snow White is still running the office of Fabletown, and she's not with Bigby yet.  Rapunzel thinks that there is a gateway open and she's looking for her children.  I wasn't aware that she HAD children, but she ends up in Japan of all places, and it seem to be pretty interesting.

Apparently Frau Totenkinder is also her mother.  I wasn't aware of that either.


Green Lantern #13

I have to admit that not a whole lot goes on in this issue.  We learn more about Simon, the new Green Lantern, and the recipient of Sinestro and Hal's combined ring.  We see some of his family and the trauma and bias that they have to face, partly because of some of his actions.  He doesn't seem like a bad fellow, but he's made some pretty bad decisions, that's for sure. 

Also the Third Army seems to increasing, which is probably not a good thing.  The President and Amanda Waller are discussing the ramifications of another Green Lantern ring out there, they know Hal's identity, and Guy's of course, and John's as well.  They seem to feel that as an honorably discharged Marine, that John is the only one they can really count on.  It's a good thing they don't know about his record of blowing up planets!  They don't actually know who Kyle is, which has me slightly confused, since Kyle always had this unfortunate habit of answering to his name...while in costume.  But that was in the REAL DC Universe.

It was interesting that the Ring was telling Simon what to do, and giving conflicting advice from both Hal and Sinestro.  But what they did agree on, was "Don't Trust the Guardians!"

Good advice indeed. 

Oh, and at the end, the Justice League shows up.  This probably won't end particularly well.


Swamp Thing #13

In combination with Animal Man.  Alec finds the Parliament of Trees, and hangs out with Deadman and Poison Ivy.  Time has passed differently for him than for the rest of the world, and while the evil Teen Titans are attacking Buddy, he has to deal with the fact that Abby is apparently dead too. 

I was HIGHLY depressed to not find a new Mighty Thor of Journey Into Mystery this week.  They can't leave me hanging like this!  Gaaah!


Boy I was happy to see Krypto.

Wherein I Find Myself Guilty

So, it is Wednesday, Glorious Wednesday, and I am at my beloved Comic Book Shoppe.  My regular books have all been pulled for me of course, and I am also prowling the new books in search of whatever else may catch my wandering eye.  I really do love going to my store, they all pretty much know me, they know what I like, and it is possible to have deep and involved conversations about all kinds of deeply deeply interesting things. 

As I was having my purchases rung up, a gaggle of customers entered the store.  This particular gaggle was composed of Magic fans.  I believe that this is some sort of card game.  Well, the UPS man, was late with this weeks delivery apparently, and they were all simmering in a gentle stew of anxiety and anticipation. 

Naturally, as a COMIC book fan...I curled my lip.  These people were...Nerds!  They had the audacity to prefer a different kind of entertainment/obsession from the one that I liked!  How pitiful.  Hovering there, waiting....waiting for their weekly fix.

And then I caught myself, and gave myself a metaphorical slap in the face.  I had no business judging these perfectly nice young men and women.   I can remember when the books would be shipped on Wednesday, and sometimes they came on time and sometimes they came late, and sometimes they didn't come until the NEXT day, and I can also remember stamping my dainty feet and whining. A lot.  So these Magic fans, were actually behaving themselves quite well, all things considered.  And I felt ashamed of myself. 

What IS it about people?  No matter what hobby we all chose, we are all guilty to some degree of sneering at the tastes of others.  And yet, we don't really WANT all of those other people to like the stuff that we like, because it is too wonderful, too esoteric for their feeble senses to appreciate.  Or something like that, I guess.  There seems to be a part of a lot of people that likes being in a clique...witness the rage of any variety of geeks and nerds who are enraged that women are trying to storm the bastions of their particular fandom.  As a Stormer of Bastions myself, I should have more sympathy for people in the same boat.  I don't want to be one of THOSE people. 

So one of these days, perhaps I'll even  buy a package of Magic cards and see what all the excitement is about. 

Tedious Tuesday

Once again, my least favorite day of the Week.  And it is pouring down rain, just to make it all so very much more special.  Not. 

Therefore, there is only one thing to do.



Ha!  You all thought I was going for a picture of HAL tripping.  But sometimes even Hal making an ass of himself just won't do.  For those times, I go for the gusto.  I have a picture of Guy falling and making an ass of himself. 

And he spilled his beer into the bargain.  Oh the pain.

One Heckuva Weekend!

Ah, Monday.  I did not want to go to work today, but that may be because I had a REALLY nice weekend.  Even though it was gloomy and chilly.  My sweet Baboo managed to score tickets to Limerock for the Rolex Championships this past Friday and Saturday, and it was lovely.  Nothing like watching sports cars spin out on the esses in the rain, while chomping on hors d' ovres and drinking Microbrews in the Clubhouse. 

And then, they had the first episode of the new Green Lantern Animated series on the Cartoon Chanel this past Saturday, and it was...GREAT!  It had Guy Gardner in it!  Oh frabjous Day!  Diedrich Baeder, who did the voice of Batman in the Brave and the Bold (God, I miss that show) did a simply superb job of voicing Guy.  It was also funny as all heck. 

Hal shows up back on earth after saving the Universe from the Red Lanterns and is in a bit of a snit because the world kept turning without him, and nobody KNOWS that he saved the Universe.  He meets with Carol, who is both happy and confused about what to do with their relationship, and files off to save a giant construction crane from plummeting, and just as he is about to save the day, another green glowing fist shows up! 

What the? 

Well, while he was off in space, doing his thing with Kilowog, Razer and Aia, somebody had to patrol his sector, so the Guardians picked Guy, who has been doing a bang up job!  Hal is not a happy about this as you might expect.  The really hilarious part, is when he calls up Oa to complain, and the Guardians are snotty to him, but just pleased as punch to see Guy.  Same thing with Salaak later on. 

None of this is actually canon of course, but I can put aside my passion for continuity, because it was just so much fun.  Guy and Hal fight some Manhunters, when they aren't fighting with each other, and then Hal misses his date with Carol...naturally, and finally goes off to Oa, where to his surprise, he is created as an Honor Guard. 

Which did surprise me, since Hal was the only one of Earth's Lanterns who WASN'T an Honor Guard.  But after a bit of gobbling and gasping, I realized that for the purposes of the cartoon...it works. 

But damn...Guy looks and sounds fabulous. 

Young Justice wasn't terrible either.  It had Jaime and Bart in it!  And the real Roy, who is now Arsenal, and gosh, but Ollie is a jerk. 

I hope that you all had a lovely lovely weekend.