Wednesday's Treasures

As usual, my Thursday reviews of Wednesdays comics.  And a fair amount of comics there were, too!

Aquaman #17

This deals with the fallout from the last issue and  the crossover with the Justice League.  Arthur is now King of Atlantis!  He doesn't really want to be...and the Atlanteans seem to be expressing a certain amount of reservations as well.  But hey, the Sea Devils show up!  And they have an attitude too! 

It turns out that Atlantean weaponry is littering the ocean floor, and certain enterprising individuals on dry land, are scooping them up and selling them to the highest bidder.  You would think that the Atlanteans would be a bit more careful with their goodies.  Arthur also apologizes to all the fish. 

And Amanda Waller shows up and talks to Arthur, and then tells "them" to go and get Mera.  And "They" do.  Precisely why she can't go hang out with Arthur is still a bit fuzzy. 

Not bad.  I still feel for poor Orm however.


Batman Inc. #8

Well, this is a fine howdy do. 

Damn.

I actually had come to like the little brat too. 

Double Damn.

Batman :Dark Knight #17

I hadn't been buying this book at all, until I realized that Ethan Van Sciver was doing the art, and dagnabit, I do loves me some Van Sciver.  His artwork just makes this SHINE!

Oh, and it has the Mad Hatter in it as well, and let's just say that Jervis is a bit...on edge in this.  As in Mad as a Hatter!  Haw!  To be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly sure what is going on, other than there is a Wonderland theme going on, and the Hatter is kidnapping people, and seems to be trying to stage some event, that may or may not have something to do with a girl he liked as a kid. 

Who knows?  But damn...the art is gorgeous.

Flash #17

Oh Grodd...will you never learn?  They are both in the Speed Force, and Barry manages to rock, and he also incidentally rescues Iris and the others who had been trapped there.  The Rogues have done a pretty decent job of actually helping people for a change, but they beat a strategic retreat, once Grodd's link to the other Apes is broken, and the Boys in Blue (and green) show up and start arresting Gorillas.  Solivar isn't dead, which is a good thing. 

It is all quite beautiful of course.  And seriously, who doesn' like talking gorillas?

Jonah Hex #17

I love Jonah, I really do...but for some reason, this whole haning out in Gotham withe Doctor Arkham is beginning to wear thin for me.  IN this issue, we have none other than Vandal Savage, showing up and kidnapping Mrs. Wayne, while Cholera rages in the poorer part of town.  Just like in modern times, whenever there is a problem in Gotham, they wall up part of the city, and leave the poor suckers to their own devices. 

Why the hell does ANYone live in Gotham City anyway?

I don't know.  I just want to seem Jonah go and shoot some owlhoots or something.

Justice League Dark #17

Well, they are all still trapped in the magicless world, but Timothy Hunter gets the pep talk from his "subjects" that seems to inspire him, and poor Xanadu, who is hanging on by a thread, tells John Constantine that he's going to cut and run.  But dang it, Frankenstein is pretty fabulous. 

This isn't the most fabulous book out there, but it's pretty solid, and the art is pretty, and it is a fairly interesting story, so there are worse things that you can read.

Now, let us turn to the Marvelous side of the Comic Book Aisle.

Hawkeye #8

God, how I love this book.  Fraction does an amazing job with the story and the dialogue, and Aja does an equally amazing job with the art.  I honestly never really cared all that much for Clint before this.  He was just that other guy with a bow who dressed in purple instead of green, and was kind of a pain in the ass.

But now...he's a LOVEABLE pain in the ass!  And as a Guy Gardner fan, you can see how that would appeal to me. 

This has the chick whose car he stole  or "borrowed" a while back,and she shot a guy, and he's more or less coerced into helping her, and yes, it still has those Russian gangsters who say "bro" all of the time.  Also there is apparently a clause in his Avengers Contract about moral turpitude or something.  Naturally, there is more behind all of the problems with the Russians than we had originally thought. 

Fabulous.

Journey Into Mystery #649

Well, Sif is still berserk, but she seems to have calmed down a bit, and is now in New York, with some of her Berserker buddies, and naturally Spider-Man shows up, but he sounds a whole lot more like the OLD Spider-Man, and not at all like the new Otto Spider-Man, but maybe that's just me.  There are a bunch of monsters, and this has to be the funniest issue of this book since the days when young Loki was running amuck.

Immonen is pretty good at this.

Young Avengers #2

Like Hawkeye, this is my other favorite Marvel book.  The art is simply MIND-BOGGLINGLY good.  And Gillen, is fast becoming one of my favorite writers.  Hey DC...steal him and make him write Green Lanterns for me! 

Billy had felt bad,and decided to bring Teddy's mother back, except...that's not exactly who he got.  Things are getting just a bit weird.  When Loki shows up to rescue you however, you should always take what he says with a couple of grains of salt.  Or perhaps an entire shaker full.  But  Loki is right about one thing.

Bacon is indeed amazing.

Oh, and Laufey shows up.  Yes, THAT Laufey.  Whodathunk?

Magnificent.

Not a bad week at all!

Green Lantern: New Guardians #17

And now it's Kyle's turn to go up against Volthoom.  Volthoom gets around, obviously! 

For some reason, Kyle is back on earth, and Volthoom is ready to play.  We have one of those two page pictures, similar to what Pasarin did with Guy, only this is by Aaron Kuder.    Again, the colors are very nice, and we see a simultaneous progression of Kyle from infancy to the present.  He does a decent grown-up Kyle, but that is the weirdest looking baby that I have ever seen. 

Next thing you know, Alex is alive!    And Kyle is happy.  Oh, so very happy.  Then things start to get weird, as Volthoom starts messing with the time line, and things  go bad very quickly, and even Guy shows up sans his eye again, and pissed as hell because Hal is dead, and Kyle is the one who supposedly let Sinestro loose. 

Volthoom of course is enjoying himself enormously, because he is a sick twisted lunatic, and he really likes that Kyle has so many delicious emotions.  Volthoom is going to be awfully surprised when he gets to Hal, if he ever does.  He does decide to give Kyle a choice of which past he would like to become reality, and Kyle leaps to the one where Alex lives.  And then, just to twist the knife, Volthoom says..."Surprise!"  Too bad,  he was just messing with him.

All of this means of course, that Soranik and Jade apparently never happened.  Or any of Kyle's OTHER dead girlfriends and aquaintances, and obviously no Donna.  Tony Bedard gave an interview, and in his opinion, Kyle has only been a Lantern for a year and a half or so, and most of his history is in...flux. 

Oh, is it ever. 

This didn't drive me into as big a tizzy as the one with Guy did, but still...I'm not particularly enthralled.  Kyle is supposed to be the inventive one, but he didn't do any more to fight back than Guy did, which I find infuriating.  Presumably they will all get their collective acts together in another couple of issues, but still. 

Green Lantern Corps #17

It took a while, but I am finally getting around to my reviews of the rest of the Green Lantern books.  At least...some of them.

This book has given me conflicting emotions.  On the one hand, I really loved the art by Fernando Pasarin, and I am going to miss him when he leaves, as I still miss Pat Gleason.  That giant splash page showing all the previous incarnations of Guy is simply gorgous. 

However, some of it doens't make a lot of sense, in the new Continuity (yes, I am flogging that dead horse again, with GREAT zeal!).  Some things I liked a lot.  Some things...well.

It makes perfect sense for Volthoom to be drawn to Guy because of his emotions.  Kalinara has always said that Guy is the most emotional, and I agree with her completely.  Volthoom starts digging through Guy's brain, dredging up past incidents, and twisting them around, since he apparently has the ability to mess with time and space, and other things. Exactly how or when he gained this power, hasn't been explained yet.  WHY he's messing with the Lanterns hasn't really been explained either, except it seems to be...because He Can.

We get Guy hesitating to save his brother and sister as children while playing ice hockey and their deaths.  It didn't happen, but since Guy apparently is bored with being a middle child, Volthoom says it could happen.  We also get the back story on why Guy was kicked off of the force, pursuing a terrorist through the airport, and having an impossible choice to make...his own little Kobayashi Maru moment.  Then Volthoom moves onto the most recent memory, when Guy went all Rage Lantern on everyone, only this time, he kills off everyone

There are a few problems that I have with this.  For one, Guy's mother is portrayed as  a...a normal person.  Anyone who ever read Beau Smith's version or even Chuck Dixon's version of Peggy Louise Gardner knows that she is a Force Of Nature...a virago of the finest order.  Here, she barely makes any impression at all.  I'm already a little annoyed with the portrayal of Rollie Gardner as a peevish retired Cop...he definitely lacks the utter nastiness and pathos of the REAL Roland. 

Having Guy as a middle child just doesn't really work that well either.  He had such a complex love/hate thing going with his big brother Mace, that is totally lacking here.  His siblings are nice enough certainly, but the rivalry that he has now is so...lukewarm. 

Finally, he just...gives up at the end of the issue.  He sees that Volthoom is changing things, and he just whines a bit and...gives up.  This is Guy Freaking Gardner!   His whole schtick is that he Never Gives Up. 

Well...we shall see.  If nothing else, this issue did provoke me, and now I'm all impatient to see how this all plays out, which is probably the whole point.

Obsessive?

Normally, I would be writing the review of Green Lantern Corps, but a comment in yesterday's reviews has given me food for thought.  I was doing my usual deeply moving review of my recent comic book purchases.  You may not personally agree with my remarks, which is perfectly fine.  Sometimes I'm thrilled, sometimes I am not...so thrilled.  But I love my books, and I try to say what it is that I do and do not like. 

Anonymous...and it is ALWAYS an Anonymous was pissy because apparently I had been moaning once again about the OLD Continuity, and how I miss it.

Have I really been doing that too much? 

Continuity is a tricky business.  I can certainly understand that it is both a blessing and a curse to the writers.  On the one hand, there is this enormously rich and convoluted history that makes up the background to your characters.  The groundwork has already been laid by the countless creators and writers before you, each one adding or subtracting, giving nuances, new events, new twists on old themes, and so on.  It can be comforting in a way.  But I can also see that for a bright new writer, all of that history can also be seen as an anchor.  An Albatross around the neck of wonderful new possibilities.  A new writer can want to come in and put THEIR stamp on this character...sweep away all that historical underbrush and start anew!

DC has a certain track record when it comes to dealing with their 70 plus years of history.  The original Infinite Crisis was an attempt to deal with all the convoluted things that had been added over the years.  To this day, people are divided over whether or not it worked as it should have.  And as always, I can say that in some ways yes..and in some ways no.

We comic book fans are an odd bunch.  And by that, I must include other fans of other genres.  Can you imagine the howl that would go up if they tried to completely wipe out the history of Star Trek for example?  The new series was a clever way to write new stories, and to update those stories for a new younger audience...but they didn't just take away all that had gone so boldly before.  They embraced it, and included it...and the story is better for it.  The same thing applies to Star Wars.  There are all kinds of new tales now, and a history that has been inserted into the backstory...sometimes deftly, and sometimes less so...but still, those first three movies are still the lodestone of the entire franchise.

So...impelled by the need to punch things up...to compete with Marvel, to attract a newer younger audience, or simply because they were bored....the Powers That Be at DC, decided to toss aside all those precious years and years of Continuity.  Oh, they kept bits here and there.  You can't toss ALL the babies with the Bathwater!  And I will freely admit that some of that old stuff is pretty ridiculous really.  Do we REALLY want to admit that Hal flew around with a baby space alien on his shoulder for a while?  Or that Hawkman has been five different people or something?  There are certainly a lot more examples.

And yet...and yet, I can't help but love my old Continuity.  I spent a LOT of money and a LOT of years learning that Continuity.  To this day, I freely admit that I don't know all of it, and I am constantly surprised by things...which is part of the fun, frankly.  Maybe it is because I was a History Major in collge.  But when the company comes along and says, thanks, but everything you knew is wrong, and never happened, and look, Superman is wearing a collar and no red pants now...it is hard to just meekly shut up and go along.

Oh, I'm still buying some of the books.  And I will also freely admit that some of the books have been pretty good.  But...no Lois and Clark?  Batman has gone through four Robins in four years?  They're not disposable Bruce!  Kyle and Soranik were never an item?  Kyle and Jade were never an item?  Guy didn't have a horrific childhood...just an average one, with vague feelings of discontent?  Did Parallax even happen?  No Justice Society, no Wally, no Donna, no Stephanie, no Cass, no Ralph and Sue, No Ted Kord.  J'onn J'onnz is scary now insead of endearing.  Wonder Woman is actually pretty fabulous, but her entire history is wrong and they killed Hippolyta AGAIN!  No Wildcat...and that's just wrong.  No boob window for Peej. 

God, there was probably no Kari Limbo. 

And everyone...EVERYONE is young and in their mid-twenties or something.  THERE IS NO MA HUNKEL!

And that's just wrong.

So...am I being obsessive, as Anonymous says...or am I merely being petulant?  You Choose!



Because without continuity, there probably wouldn't be stuff like this sort of thing going
on.  And that would be a shame.

Green Lantern #17

We are apparently heading into the final storyline, by Geoff Johns, and Peter Tomasi and Tony Bedard.  Although I have griped sometimes, I have to say that I have by in large, loved just about everything that these three have done in the past few years...and that I am going to miss them all terribly.  Same for the artists.

We are now into the story with the Wrath of the First Lantern, which is where the cliffhanger from LAST month's Fall of the Third Army, and The Guardians Get Their Asses Whipped theme. 

We open, with a blast from the past, on Maltus, showing Krona, and his fixation on witnessing the creation of the Universe.  I'd like to see that too, but I DO have other interests.  They must not have had television or comics on Maltus.   And once again, there is that big hand...which I've always considered to be quite a cool visual.  But this one is wearing what appears to be...A Green Lantern Ring! 

Whoa.

Then there is an explosion and  a modern-day figure in what appears to be a Nasa Space Suit shows up.  This is apparently Volthoom, but I can't help but think that he actually looks like Captain Shinypants, before he turned into Captain Atom!  And wouldn't THAT be a kick in the pants?  But I don't think that is really very likely.  He does have a crazed look in his eye however, but I suppose  travelling across Space and Time will do that to you.

Then we jump forward to Simon Baz, who is soliloquizing like mad.  He and Bd'g have managed to trap themselves in the original prison of the First Lantern, and are stuck with none other than Black Hand. They...don't like each other very much right from the start.  The adorable little Non-Guardians are freaking out a bit, because they know that somone is out there...but who could it be? 

The First Lantern is busy wreaking havoc.  He does manage to melt away the Third Army zombies, which I guess is a good thing.  And he has imprisoned the crazy Guardians, which they richly richly deserve.  He decides to go picking through Ganthet's brain, since he wasn't orginally as nutso as the others, and learns a few things, but Ganthet isn't much use to him, since the other Guardians destroyed his emotions.  So Volthoom seems to rewrite their past.  Volthoom can DO that sort of stuff I guess.

There is a lovely scene with Black Hand and Simon, that suddenly becomes William Hand and Abin Sur for just a few seconds...but it must have happened, because it leaves both Black Hand and Simon shaken.    Then Simon breaks down the wall separating him from the Maltusians just as Black Hand decides to send him off to join Hal and Sinestro.

The coloring on this final page is gorgeous.  All the other pages are saturated in beautiful color, in all the emotional spectrum, but where Hal and Sinestro and all the other dead people are, is always coldly in blacks and grays, and it's quite effective.  Naturally Simon is startled.  Naturally, Sinestro is sarcastic.  God, I love Sinestro. 

Interesting...very interesting.  This is setting up all sorts of things for the future of the Green Lantern Corps.

Babbling About My Books

Holy Pastafazool!  That was indeed, as I pointed out yesturday, one HELL of a haul for a Wednesday!  I had me a fine old afternoon, I can tell you that.

Action Comics #17

All kinds of things are going on with Grant Morrison, who seems to be trying to wind things up.  We still have that pesky little...er...pest from the fifth dimension, pulling all KINDS of shenanigans, and he's apparently been doing for quite some time...Clark just never noticed until now.  He's fighting "Doomsday", and there are all sorts of weird time jogs going on, and some of the Legion are trying to change the past, and Clark has a nice talk with Pa Kent.

There are several artists, all of whose styles vary, but they are nevertheless quite nice.  It's a very good read indeed.


Batwoman #17

I've heard rumors that J.D. Williams isn't going to be doing the art soon, which makes me sad.  But this was one heckuva swan song, if that is the case.  The major...and I mean MAJOR storyline that has been going on for so long, finally reaches its conclusion, and it is a doozy.  I have to say that I would never have thought to pair up Kate with Wonder Woman, but I'll be darned...it works! 

Flamebird is back, but she's Hawkbird now.  Medusa has succeeded in raising Ceto, the Mother of all Monsters, and everything and I do mean everything is going to hell in a handbasket.  Fortunately, our heroine manages to remember how to handle a gorgon.  And Ceto isn't really all that bad anyway. 

Lovely.  It's just lovely.


Birds of Prey #17

Dinah is having one nasty time of it with her sonic scream going kaflooey again.  The Talon isn't too impressed with her, but Barbara manages to talk her down.  Starling is actually working for Amanda Waller, which I suppose makes a certain amount of sense.  I have to admit that I rather like the new Condor...he seems a bit bemused by all that is going on around him, but is handling it with a fair amount of aplomb.    The art is nice, and it is a fairly decent story, so not bad. 

Not bad at all. 


Fables #126

While Bigby is off looking for his missing cubs, poor Snow White is stuck dealing with her former fiancee...who seems to have a really inflated opinion of himself, and none at all of Snow White or Bigby.  His arrogance just seems to be dripping and pooling on the floor...and that's a lot of arrogance. 

King Cole isn't happy, Sleeping Beauty isn't happy, and the former Mrs. Spratt probably isn't too happy either.  I will be very happy to see where this is all going to end. 


Green Lantern #17
Green Lantern Corps #17
Green Lantern: New Guardians #17

Egad!  All my bestest, most favorite books...ALL IN ONE WEEK!  More on these anon.


Justice League #17

This is the finale of the Aquaman/Justice League crossover, and I do have to say that things do end with a bang.  Those Atlanteans are a tough bunch, and throwing in the creatures from the Trench is just adding to the problem.  It turns out, from the big reveal last month, that none other than Vulko...Arthur's old buddy, is the one who arranged for the attack on Atlantis, and set up the whole kerfuffle.  His motives are apparently altruistic...he feels that Arthur would make the best King of Atlantis, but while his motives may be pure,his methods are just as awful as can be.  Arthur himself is fit to be tied. 

I have to feel a little bit of sympathy for Orm.  He loves his brother, but he doesn' t have the foggiest idea of what is going on, and is completely out of his depth.  Heh.  After a big fight with Arthur, he is beaten, and yields the throne to his big brother.  At this point the Justice League actually gets their act together as well, as the second stringers, but this is still mostly Arthur's story. 

At last, Vulko reveals what he did, Arthur gets the other trident, and finally manages to mind meld with the Trench and sends them all back home.  The Atlanteans go home too, and Orm is probably looking forward to slipping into a nice cold bath, when it is revealed, that he's no longer a King, and has no diplomatic immunity, and is now  just some run-of-the-mill terrorist, so off to Belle Reve he goes. 

This seems like a pretty terrible thing to do to your own brother.  Orm himself can't believe it, and I find it a bit hard to believe that something couldn't be done. But Amanda Waller is delighted.  Arthur has to go and be a King now, and Mera is upset, since she's not particularly welcome in Atlantis.  You would think that as King, Arthur could bring her with him, but that is probably a problem for another day. 

This...was pretty damned good!  It was nice to have things happen!  The Justice League doesn' t  actually DO a whole lot, but it does establish Arthur as King of the Seas again, and that can't be a bad thing.


Justice League America #1

Well, this is where the second stringers from the Justice League/Aquaman brouhaha come in.  We begin with some guy running through a forest for his life, and what appears to be another universe's version of Batman and Wonder Woman.  Oh, that wacky Multi-verse!

Then we have Steve Trevor argue about ethics and stuff with Amanda Waller. He will of course, never win that argument.  I STILL miss the REAL Amanda Waller, but this one, although younger and thinner, does seem to have some of that old machiavellian flair.  She's doing everything that she can, to convince Steve to head up a second team of heroes...ones that could, if necessary take down the original team.  The original Justice League is apparently just a tad too independent for her tastes.  She does dig up Hawkman, Katanna, Vibe, Stargirl, Catwoman and Martian Manhunter of all people.

I have to admit it.  This is an...interesting bunch.   And I cannot fully express my joy in seeing J'onn again.  Oh, and that guy running for his life?  Turns out to be none other than Green Arrow. 

Geoff Johns does a decent job setting things up here.  He's probably happy to be writing Courtney again.  Simon Baz will probably be showing up from the Green Lanterns, so it won't be a complete break for him.  I will be interested to see where he is going to be going with all of this.


Vibe #1

I wasn"t too sure about this at first, but then I figured that Scipio would WANT me to read this.  Not bad at all!  It's in Detroit!  Dale Gunn is in it!  Gypsy shows up!  Amanda Waller is skulking around! 

Vibe himself has rather different powers than he used to.  He didn't break dance even once.  But he was caught in an interdimensional rift or something back when Darkseid first invaded, and although he was rescued by his older brother, that brother was in fact the first person who was killed in the invasion.  This gives him a certain amount of motive when he's approached by Argus, and recruited. 

He can't be photographed or filmed, as he's always just a little bit out of synch.  It also looks rather interesting.  I'm wondering if  his powers will come into play when we finally get back to the OLD continuity"?  In the meantime...my attention has been caught.


Wonder Woman #17

Damn it I love this book. 

Diana, Lennox and Orion go back to her place, and find that Hera and Zola have flown the coop.  AFter a certain amount of sibling bickering, they figure out where they are.  In fact, something of a grand family reunion is going on at that bar!  Strife shows up, Ares is there, and Dionysus is floating around the outskirts.

Diana is a bit flummoxed when confronted with Ares, they didn't part on the best of terms, but I get the feeling that they still like each other.  Meanwhile, the First Born is still making his moves, and after dealing with Hades, now has a run-in with Posidon, that probably won't end particularly well.

Ares takes Diana upstairs, and pulls a sage plant out of a pot, and lo and behold, it shows a hidden passage that leads straight to Demeter and Zola's baby!  Diana is properly impressed by all of this, but Ares just shows his disdain for the magic in the world...it is all pretty much old hat to him afterall.   So off the two of them go...only to run into Hermes.

Wonderful! 


Saga #10

Gosh, this is a fabulous book! 

We get a bit more on when Marko met Alanna, and their rather peculiar...courtship.  Marko is still trying to find his babysitter, the planet is about to give birth, and his ex girlfriend is out for revenge, and oh crap...not Lying Cat! 

Fabulous!

Thor, God of Thunder #5

Old Thor finally meets up with present-day Thor...and he's not impressed, as they go after the God Killer.  We get some more history as to why he's going around murdering deities, and a lot more blood and guts, and dang it...this is beautiful to look at and  a great read. 

Whew!

Oh What A Wednesday!

As you have no doubt realized from my last couple of reviews, the first two months of February were fairly...paltry.  But THIS week!  Oh my God, what a week.  ALL of the Green Lantern books out together.  Both Justice League books, plus Vibe.  Wonder Woman and Batwoman.  Saga!  Some other stuff! 

I plan on settling down with a nice cup of tea, some nice music, and hiding from the kids and the dogs and simply reading for the rest of the afternoon. 

Oh Comics, I love you so.

Facebook?

Lately I have noticed that I have been receiving a whole lot of requests to "friend" me on Facebook, on my e-mail.  Most of these people I have never heard of.  Some of them I actually HAVE heard of, and frankly, I love your blogs.

However.

I don't have a Facebook page, or blog, or whosit   I don't even know how to get ON Facebook!  Apparently my children's lives are an open book to most people, but I don't know what is going on.  It is probably better that way, actually. 

Frankly, you people are lucky that I can figure out how to log on and off of this thing every day!  I'm old, and incompetent.  Thank God for teenagers! 

So...for the people who are wondering why I probably hate them...it isn't that at all.  And frankly, I'm a tiny bit flattered that people even WANT to be friends with me!  But you will just have to read all about my enthralling and probably slightly peculiar fixation with Green Lantern behinds right here.

Stuff I bought

Egad, but this week was certainly an improvement over LAST week!  There were certainly a lot of Bats however.

Batman #17

I honestly didn't have a clue how the heck Scott Snyder was going to end this.  I was quite enthralled by his Owls story, and I have been reading this one with the Joker with bated breath...and I don't even LIKE the Joker all that much.  I have to say that he...nailed it.

After all of the mind games, and shenanigans...albeit deadly shenanigans...the Joker finally has the whole Bat Clan tied up at the table, with Batman imprisoned on his throne...and the final act of the play bregins.  All of those various platters with the domed lids are sitting ominously on the table, and all of the Bat Buddies, are tied up with bags over their heads, and even worse, with bandages over their faces. 

And then, Alfred shows up.  But poor Alfred is seriously zonked out on Joker venom, and just stands there giggling in a terrifying manner, as he lifts the lids on the "treats" on the table.  Well, it isn't parts of Alfred like I had originally feared, but they ARE all of the masked faces of  Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl and the Red Hood!

Gah! 

Naturally, the Joker is quite delighted with his little display and keeps taunting Batman, who is seriously pissed off.  The li'l Bats are freaking out, Alfred keeps laughing, and I'm getting more creeped out by the minute.  Then the whole place catches fire...

...and finally Batman gets his groove on, escapes from his throne, and puts out the flames, which he can do, because they are actually in some of the caves under Wayne Manor!  As the Joker scampers off, Bats frees the rest of them, and it was all a trick, their faces are fine, and they urge Bruce to go after his quarry.  Too bad that the weird little two-headed cat thingie explodes with MORE Joker venom, and they all go nuts on each other.

Meanwhile Batman is chasing the Joker through the catacombs, while they exchange taunts and witty banter and so on and so forth.  And finally, Batman is able to defeat the Joker, not by brute force, but by telling him that he...knows his name.  This completely freaks the Joker out, Batman isn't playing the game, and the game is all that he is.  So he takes a header off the waterfall, although I'm pretty damned sure that he'll show up again eventually.  And his little black book?  Blank.

So, everyone gets rescued, Alfred is recuperating, and Bruce is ready to have them all get together and talk things over...but they are all so spooked by their ordeal, that they essentially blow him off...and as the Batcomputer analyses one final aspect of the venom, it spells out..."Ha!"

Man this was good.  Creepy as heck.  Gorgeous art, and a clever story...this is what comics can be, when they try.


Batgirl #17

This is the issue NOT written by Gail Simone.  In the aftermath of Death of the Family, Batgirl, is trying to help round up the various Joker goons left over, while still having to deal with the machinations of her lunatic brother.  She even uses her mad computer skills, which I find quite appealing.  Dang it, I miss Oracle. 

And then a new baddie named Firebug shows up. 

Not bad at all, but not in the same league as the main Bat book.  But that's a pretty high bar.


Batman & Robin #17

Tomasi and Gleason are two of my absolute favorite creators, and they hit it out of the park again, in this tale of how everyone is coping after that little affair with the Joker.  Batman and Robin come home after a hard night of gallantry, eat their sammitches, and wander off to bed.  And then they all have nightmares. 

Astonishingly fabulous nightmares actually.  Damian dreams and then wakes up, but he's still dreaming which is pretty scary actually.   Alfred dreams that the Joker is destroying his family and he goes down and...blows his head off.  He wakes up with a start, and then tries to go back to sleep...but there is an add little smile on his face, that I found fascinating.

Bruce dreams of course, and he ends up being saved by Robin.  He wakes, and goes into Damian's room and tucks him in a little tighter, which makes Damian smile.  Then they all go out and kick some more ass.

It is a lovely little interlude.  There isn't really all that much dialogue in it, but the art, by Pat Gleason just tells a beautiful story.

Fabulous!


Batman: The Dark Knight #16

I don't normally buy this book, but it had that cover by Ethan Van Sciver, and I really really love Ethan Van Sciver, so I picked it up.

People are being kidnapped all over the place, and sometimes their bodies are found,and sometimes they just disappear, and there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it all. At first Batman thinks that perhaps the Penguin is behind it all, but the Penguin denies it, and rather wryly points out that he's not the only villain with a "hat" theme.  You can practically see the bells go off in Batman's head.

This brings us to the actual villain,which is of course, the Mad Hatter.  And mad, he certainly is.  This is some gorgeous, if seriously demented artwork.  I just may have to keep up with this, and see how it is all going to end.

Surprisingly good!


Demon Knights #17

Well, poor Etrigan is still stuck in Hell, and Lucifer just can't stop himself from twisting the knife.  Meanwhile on earth, Jason Blood is being tortured by Vandal Savage.  He can't summon Etrigan, because of a particularly nasty spell.

The Horsewoman, Exoristos and Sir Ystin have all shown up, and are supposed to be getting Jason out and summoning Etrigan in their fight against Cain.  They do find Jason, but realize that Etrigan isn't going to be showing up any time soon.  They bust him out, as Exoristos beguiles Savage with a bit of arm-wrestling, which I found to be quite amusing.  Then when they are about to pursue our heroes, the Horsewoman convinces all of the OTHER horses, to just stay where they are.

I DO like this book a lot.


Threshold presents The Hunted #2

Boy howdy, but that is a cumbersome title!  I thought that the title was supposed to be Threshold, but if you didn't know any better, you would be convinced that it was actually The Hunted.

But I like Kieth Giffen, and although I am not particularly enthralled with the whole "Hunted" storyline which I first came upon in the abysmal Green Lantern; New Guardians Annual, it is actually handled slightly better in this book.  For one thing, we have Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, who has been kidnapped and is being used to hunt Jediah Caul, the obnoxious Green Lantern.  Some other people show up too.  Giffen was one of the original writers of Jaime when he was first introduced, so I'm hoping that we will actually get some of THAT Jaime, as opposed to the "new 52" version of Jaime, which I loathed.

Plus there is Larfleeze,and that's always good for a chuckle.

Not great, but not actually terrible either.

So...an interesting week certainly.

Plus, I am still flabberghasted that Geoff Johns is leaving Green Lantern, and apparently everyone ELSE is also leaving Green Lantern!  Gaaaaahhhhh!   I'm now terrified, that instead of the GOOD writers and artists, we'll end up with someone like...Winick.  Or  Lobdell, or god help us, Dan Didio.  I really want Peter Tomasi to take over, he's done an excellent job, and maybe he could put Kyle back with Guy.  Maybe Gail Simone would like to take a crack at it?  Greg Rucka?  Mark Waid?    Scott Snyder?

Who are YOUR picks?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lace and roses, and chocolate to you all.  Well, I can't have any chocolate because of the diet...lost 20 POUNDS by the way...but I DID get roses, so I'm feeling pretty darned special.  I hope that you all feel special too!

Hal feels special pretty much all of the time.  I know that for some reason I've been concentrating on Hal most of this week, but when it comes to wooing the lady's...Hal is the one.  Not that Kyle isn't adorable, and John swoon-worthy as well.  As for Guy...well...Guy has his charms certainly, but romance isn't probably the first thing that you think of.  Unless you are Ice of course.

Or...Kari Limbo.



Oh Kari.  you manipulative bitch. 

And Hal, seriously, how dumb can you be? 

So to everyone..thank your lucky stars that you aren't as crazy as THESE two, and hug your significant other today.

Yet More Romance

Counting down to the big day I guess.  Being an old married lady, I have to say that Valentine's Day just doesn't do much for me anymore.  Also, I'm on a diet, so I can't have chocolate or a fancy dinner.

Bummer

Anyhoo.  It appears that Hal strikes again.  Never a good idea to get clingy with Mister Jordan.



What happened to our love?  Well...commuting from Oa is a real bitch, for one thing.

Hal Breaks Another Heart

And Romance Comics week coninues! 

Weeping.  So very much weeping.  None of these heroines, with the possible exceptions of the Nurses, seem to have jobs, or DO anything except chase boys and cry a lot. 



Really, Hal, the cigarette is just a bit over the top, don't you think? 

I wish that Geoff Johns, would write Romance Comics.  There would be arms
and hands lopped off right and left, and all those sobbing Nurses would actually
have something to do! 

Speaking of Geoff Johns, I can't believe that he's going to be leaving Green Lantern. 
Whatever shall I do?  I admit that things have been dragging a bit lately, but he
brought back Hal, kept Kyle from dying, did a bang-up job with Guy, and even used
John once in a while.  Rebirth was fabulous, the Sinestro Corps War was sensational
and even Blackest Night was pretty thrilling.  I even liked the War of the Green
Lanterns, until the aftermath, and then the whole 52 Universe kicked in and things
have been going downhill ever since. 

One of the problems with the new 52, is that it is a whole new continuity, and Geoff
Johns is a past master at delving into the OLD Continuity of DC and unearthing
interesting nuggets of history and making beautiful stories.  I'm mixing my metaphors
something fierce here, but I hope you can all understand the gist of it. 

But I wish him well, and will of course continue to buy Aquaman and Justice League.
But it probably won't be quite the same.  I DO hope that the Powers That Be, decide
to put Peter Tomasi in charge of the Green Lantern books, because he has a firm
grasp of all of them. 

If they put Winick on the books, I'll just hang myself.

Romance!

Well, it is the week of Valentine's Day, and therefore, what could be a better time to run some of my favorite comics?  And by that, I mean those magnificently gawdawful Roooomance Comics from back in the day.  They were simply spectacular in their teary-eyed anti-feminism, bizarre courtship rituals, and weird fixation on the use of Hal Jordan as the hero.  Occasionally they used Guy.  Sometimes Kyle, but not as often as you would think.  There would even be a blond hero upon occasion, but for the most part, they used a blonde heroine instead.

But still...!



I don't know about you, but that seems a bit...forward.  At least take her out to dinner first!

Podcast!

I'm doing something a little bit unusual today,  I am going to be on a podcast with Shawn Engels, who very kindly asked if I would like to participate a while back.  I have never BEEN on a podcast before, and honestly don't have a clue as to what is going to happen. 

But if you want to enjoy...or just want to mock me, go to justoneoftheguys.libsyn.com for a looksee.  We are going to cover the infamous "Woman in a Refridgerator" issue with Kyle, and one of my favorites, issue #23 of Guy Gardner: Warrior, with the ineffable Beau Smith as the writer.

Just to be prepared, and because I hadn't read them in a while, I dug out all my Guy Gardner series, and had myself a FINE old time re-reading them.  They actually hold up pretty well!  And unlike so much stuff coming out nowadays...They WERE FUN!!!

I miss fun. 



Peachy!

Incredibly Tiny Reviews

Boy howdy, that was a small week!  The only book on my pull list, was Fairest.  Since I felt weird walking out of my beloved Comic Book Shoppe with only ONE book, I did pick up the "Young Romance" Valentine's Day Special by DC, not realizing until I reached the cash register that the frikkin' thing was $7.99!

Holy Crap! 

Fairest #12

Rapunzel seems to have figured out how to  control her long-lost Bezoars, although I do have to say that this is a bit on the disgusting side.  Tomoko is still cranky, Jack figures out how to escape, and that cool cat thingie, escapes with the head of that other guy, and things seem to be heading towards the finale, which is good, because although I like Rapunzel, this thing is dragging a bit. 

But it is always nice to see Frau Totenkinder and Bigby.

Young Romance: The New 52, Valentine's Day Special!

Urgh. 

I can't believe I spent eight bucks on this.    Six stories, none of which was particularly spectacular or even interesting. 

Catwoman, reminiscing about the first time that she met Batman, but it is the new continuity so it didn't make any sense.

Aquaman and Mera, battening down the hatches because of a storm, and finding some long lost letters from the comely daughter of the old lighthouse keeper, back in the early 1800's, so it is a romantic ghost story.  Not actually terrible.  Not scintillating, but not terrible.

Although why the heck Arthur would be worried about Mera being in the water in a storm makes No Sense At All. 

The Batgirl story has her hooking up with that guy who lost his foot a while back, while helping her.  Barbara had kissed him then for some reason or other, and he can't stop thinking about it, so they kiss again.  Again, not really that terrible.

Then there were a bunch of mini-valentines, with our DC heroes on them!  This was the best part of the book.  Who wouldn't want to get a tiny Valentine with  Damian, or Swamp Thing on it!  It was Hal, not Guy, but "A" for effort.  And a Jonah Hex Valentine!  Woohoo!

Then there is a story with Apollo and Midnighter that ends up in Seoul, Korea, and gets a litte weird.

Nightwing gets dumped, and ends up eating chinese takeout on a rooftop in the snow with some  woman named Ursa, who is a bodyguard or something.  Then they flirt for a bit, and decide to get pizza, although I think he gets stood up again.  Not quite sure. 

And finally, we have Clark and Diana.  This one really set my teeth on edge. 

Diana gets a tip from Eros about a swinging hot spot, so she and Clark end up having dinner there, and then the two of them proceed to whine about how hard their lives are.  Then two women show up as singers, and it turns out that they are actually Sirens, and put Clark under their spell.  Eros is under their spell too, and they apparently want Diana's bracelets and lasso for some reason.  Naturally, she isn't going to take this lying down, and lasso's Eros, which breaks the spell.  Then the Sirens have Superman zap Diana, but she lasso's him too, and he slug her, although he admits he doesn't want to.  So Eros shoots his love bullets at the Sirens who promptly fall in love with HIM, although he's quite cruel to them. 

But then he decides that he doesn't want Superman to be mean to Diana, so he shoots one of his love bullets at Clark.  Diana screams "Noooo" but it's ok, Clark is so utterly fabulous that even though the love bullets are MAGIC, and Diana has proved herself perfectly capable of blocking them in her own book, he manages to "catch" the bullet...simply because he is so incredibly awesome.

Yechh. 

Please, DC, you are not going to make me like Clark and Diana as a couple no matter HOW hard you try and force it down my throat. 

Skip this book, it isn't worth three dollars, much less eight. 

My Favorite King

Now is MY Winter of Discontent, made glorious Summer, by the Sun of York.  And that's about the last bit of Shakespeare that you will hear from me on this particular subject.

I am going off-topic a bit, in order to express my delight at the recent archeological discovery of the bones of one of my favorite English Kings...Richard III.  Actually Edward I is still my favorite, but Richard is a close second.  And Henry VII is my LEAST favorite.  In fact, my most loathed.

But anyway, as an avowed Anglophile and English History nut, this is right up my alley.  I DO have other interests besides Comics on occasion.  But he'll finally get a proper burial, although I do have to say that I would prefer to have him in York instead of Leicester, but hey...it beats a parking lot.  And perhaps people will be inspired to actually go back and look at the History books for a change.

I read "The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey, when I was 12 years old...and it changed my life.  I started reading everything that I could find about Medieval English history.  Thomas Costain's history of the Plantagenets, Sir Thomas Moore's nasty little opus, and an;ything else I could get my grubby hands on.  For some reason, a hell of a lot of people are still falling for the Tudor propaganda,  which is pretty silly really.  They can't chop of our heads for treason anymore. 

He didn't have a withered arm, he didn't have a hunchback, although he did have some fairly serious scoliosis.  He only ruled for two years, and managed to enact laws that are still in effect today, and was only 32 when he was killed at Bosworth.   The town of York, entered into their charter, that their "good King Richard was piteously slain this day, to the great heaviness of this city"...which took a fair amount of courage, in the days after Bosworth, when Henry Tudor had complete control of the Tower, and was busy executing, and confiscating estates and all.  It was a very iffy time.

But anyway.  Here's hoping that the truth comes out, and Richard is vindicated.

Woot!

Tired!

Well now...that was quite the game yesturday.  The half an hour we spent staring at a darkened stadium were riveting!  Some of the commercials were ok.  But somewhere, be it in the regular DC Universe or the new 52, or any of a hundred alternate Universes...Guy Gardner is smiling.

I on the other hand had to stay up past my bedtime.  I'm old dammit!



I'm with Hal.

Green Lantern Corps Annual

Oh Good Grief! 

I have been looking forward to this book, because I thought that it would...finally...all come to a head.  And by jove it does do that. 

We begin more or less where we left off in this months Green Lantern Corps book, with Guy, Bd'g and Simon Baz hanging out on the moon, trying to catch their breath and figure out what is going on.  Thanks to Simon's talkative ring, they know pretty much that the Guardians have Been Up To No Good.  On Oa, Kilowog has managed to gather together a small cadre of Lanterns who are also extremely suspicious of the Guardians.

The Guardians, in the meantime, have put the final phase of their nefarious plot into action...calling all the Green Lanterns, to come to Oa, to be "inoculated" against the threat of the Third Army.  Not to worry, come on home, and the sweet nice wonderful Guardians will sing you a song and make it all better! 

Or not.

Guy takes off that hideous orange jump suit, and Bd'g rings him up a suit of what appears to armor, in order to get him to Oa, where he plans on kicking some tiny blue butt.  Oh Guy, you're amazing.  Meanwhile, Simon and Bd'g will do their best to locate Hal and Sinestro, by leafing through the Book of the Black, as dangerous as that might be.  And dangerous it is, because the next blank page swallows them up, and spits them out in the Chamber of Shadows, where Black Hand is hanging out.  I'm sure this will turn out ok!

Mogo is also pulling himself/herself back together, which is indeed a wonderful wonderful thing.  John and Fatality/Yrra are helping out, when more of the Third Army shows up, and they are sucked into Mogo's reforming core!

Guy has arrived on Oa, and just in time, as his ring-generated suit is about to disappear.  He coincidentally lands right in front of the giant containment unit that is holding all of the rings that SHOULD have gone out to new Lanterns, and of course spots his own Precious through the glass.  Being somewhat impetuous, he tries to get it out and gets zapped by a Guardian-rigged booby trap.  Fortunately, Kilowog is there to pick him up and brush him off, and the two of them bring each other up to date on the whole situation.  Most of the other Lanterns have been answering the call of the Guardians, and are now trapped and helpless on Oa.  But Soranik, Iolande, Vath, Issamot and Hannu were smart enough to join up with Kilowog, although they are still concerned about the whereabouts of Salaak.  They put their noggins together and come up with a...plan.

A CUNNING plan!

Meanwhile...Mogo has reformed!  Mogo is alive, and back in one piece, and he/she just WIPES out the invading Third Army!  Wooooohoooooo!  I'm so glad that Mogo is back!  I LOVE Mogo.  Mogo also spits John and Yrra out on the shore, since he/she was saving them, because that's how Mogo rolls.   Having Mogo back however doesn't please the Guardians much.

As the Guardians are explaining the new modus operandi to their helpless Corps, and trying to justify their evil, who should show up, but Guy all dressed up in Krona's old gauntlet, that they found way back during the War of the Green Lanterns.  Guy is mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore.  He does his best to attack, but of course, he's just one Man against the power of the Guardians, and of course they grab him, destroy his old armor, and are about to pinch his head off, when Guy smirks, and says he's just a diversion.  

In a rather impressive moment, Kilowog is saying the Oath of the Green Lanterns, and manages to sever the Transmission Lock on the Battery!  Thus all the captive Corps are set free, and the word goes out that it is an ambush, and a trap, and that the Guardians have gone batshit crazy, and boy howdy, IT IS ON!

The Third Army shows up naturally, and they are just about to eat Guy...when Kyle appears, in a burst of white light, along with his color crew, and rescues his bestest buddy!  Frankly I loved this...Peter Tomasi shows that he hasn't forgotten that Guy and Kyle are close, and hey have some witty banter for a bit, as they are wont to do of course.And Guy gets his ring, and he's back in business! 

And then Atrocitus and the Manhunters show up, and they are busy chanting that "No Guardians escape the Manhunters!" 

Well crap in a hat!  The Guardians are actually starting to act a little tiny bit worried.  In order to deal with all of this, they start to draw more and more on the power of the First Lantern, and if they had ever bothered to read the recent "Shade" mini-series, they would know that was a foolish thing to do! 

Kyle is pissed!  The entire Green Lantern Corps is pissed!  Hell, even St. Walker is probably pissed.  Then the Guardians suck all of the First Lantern's power, except...of course... it backfires, and Volthoom is Free!

And then there is a cliff-hanger, and we will have to wait for the "Wrath of the First Lantern" to see how it all ends!

Arrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Sonofabitch!  I wanted to see their tiny wizened blue butts handed to them NOW!!!

But hey, Guy and Mogo are back.