Justice League #7

It's finally here!  The title changes to Justice League INTERNATIONAL!   Now we're getting to the fun part...

I really enjoyed this extra-long special issue.  We start off in JL headquarters, with poor Guy recovering from his "interaction" with Batman.  Unfortunately, he whacks his head again when he is trying to find his ring, and ends up passed out under a counter.  Poor Guy!  

Meanwhile, back in Bedford Falls (opps, Stone Ridge), the rest of the League starts waking up from the Gray Man debacle to find that Fate has already taken care of the problem.  He could have handled it all along.  Thanks, Fate, really.

We finally get to see Barda (Scott Free's wife), in a way I am not used to at all.  Shorts and bunny slippers?  Gotta love it.  Poor Scott seems a little hen-pecked, though.  It would be a brave man who could be married to Barda.

Hal comes to JL headquarters to talk to Guy.  And they discover Guy's personality has been totally changed by the bonk on the head.  He's a nice, considerate Guy now, leaving everyone bewildered.  How long with this last?

Finally, there is another international (get it?) issue that requires the Justice League, which prompts the UN to approve their charter as an international group.  Except they have to accept two new members -- Rocket Red from the USSR and Captain Atom from the US.  Although why they need more US members is beyond me.. 

So there it is, Justice League International!

Justice League #6

I wonder how many people read (did before or do now) the letter columns?  I know some people must, since they write in.  Back before the Internet, that was the message board for comics.  Now, though, it seems that the letter column might be a bit redundant.  Letters are two months old before they appear, and the same things have been said on the boards the day after the issue came out.  But I do enjoy reading the older letter columns...

"...the verdict is in, and ...almost ALL our readers gave us a thumbs up to the new Justice League..."

Will we be seeing that in a month in the current JLA?  I don't expect so, but it does apply to THIS Justice League, as quoted from the letter column of Justice League #6, 1987.  

So, in this issue, we really start getting a lot of that interplay between the Leaguers that makes me like this run so much; Black Canary getting annoyed because all the men are trying to save or protect her, Batman almost making jokes, Blue Beetle being amazed at Batman.  

The team faces off against the Grey Man, and ends up being transported to ... somewhere ... by Dr. Fate.  Meantime, Guy is still passed out from Batman's punch, Captain Marvel is knocked out from Martian Manhunter's punch, and Max Lord is talking to Hal Jordan about the Justice League.  And what in the world is Hal Jordan wearing!?  I can't believe Hal would ever wear a sweater with the sleeves tied around his neck, even in 1987!  

I do really love this comic.  

Justice League #5

Finally, the Gray Man is back.  We saw him talking with Dr. Fate in an earlier issue, but I had no idea who he was.  Now we learn that he is some random guy who pursued knowledge too far and wound up a puppet of the gods (the Lords of Order, in this case).  This seems to be a common thing in DC.  I know recently we saw Krona, the evil guardian of War of the Green Lanterns, who turned evil after pursuing ultimate knowledge.  Didn't the same kind of thing cause the Crisis of Infinite Earths?  Is DC's message "Knowledge is Evil"?  Hmmmmm....

Anyway, the Gray Man seems to be holding Dr. Fate prisoner, and is doing something to steal the dream essences from mankind.  Jack Ryder finds out that something is going on with the League in this small town, so goes up for a look.  

In the meantime, Batman vs. Green Lantern!  Who would win in a fight?  Is that a real question?  Guy is still itching to take over leadership of the League, and challenges Batman to a one-on-one, no power rings involved.  Batman takes Guy out with one punch.  Of course!  Black Canary can't believed she missed it; Blue Beetle thinks Batman has been short of courtesy with the rest of the League; and Captain Marvel feels a little out-of-place with the more experienced and older heroes.

The heroes get a message from Dr. Fate that pulls them up to Vermont, where they discover the Creeper already on the scene.  Now, I happen to know that Jack Ryder and the Creeper are one and the same.  I am not sure if all the Leaguers know, though.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.

The first letter column of this series shows up.  Most of the writers really like the book.  And we learn that there is a special extra-long issue coming up where there will be CHANGES in the League.  Yippee!    

Not much Booster in this episode, and no Canary cries.

Justice League #4

Okay, now we're getting into the nuts-and-bolts of the Justice League.  Should Dr. Light and Booster be allowed to join?  What about Max Lord.  The League is sitting around their meeting table (not round, by the way) to discuss who Maxwell Lord is, and why he thinks he can recruit members.  I was a little disappointed that the chairs were just plain chairs, without little sigils or labels to show who should sit where.  And the meeting room must be very cold...Everyone seems to be wearing gloves with their costumes.  I don't really remember that from today's versions of their costumes.  

Meanwhile, Booster, Dr. Light and Max all wait in the library for decisions.  But Dr. Light isn't all that interested in the Justice League, or in Max.  She leaves before the rest of the League comes in.  Booster leaves shortly after the League starts questioning Max's secret plan.  But of course, there is mischief afoot, and Booster, while talking to the media outside of JL headquarters, sees the Royal Flush gang break in.  He fights most of them off, while the League watches.  But just as it seems the fight is over, the Ace of Spaces, a giant robot, attacks.  Ace manages to defeat most of the League, but Booster and Blue Beetle work together to stop him.  This cements Booster's place in the League, which Max announces to the press.  What?  Yes, Max is claiming to be the official press liaison for the new League!  Batman has something to say about that.  Which we'll hear about in the next exciting issue...

Some observations:  Booster's hair is the exact same yellow as his costume.  Dr. Light is not really a nice person, or she is very tired.  The Royal Flush gang was able to get into costume very quickly, especially considering all the white body paint needed.  There is still no letter column. 

Justice League #3

I'm still going strong with my "comic a day."  It's been easy this week, since there were only two new comics to read.  And mildly disappointing ones, at that.  So it was with great pleasure that I continued reading 1987's Justice League saga -- Rocket to Russia with the JUSTICE LEAGUE!

On the cover, the JLA appears to be surrounded by robots -- no, wait, it is the Rocket Red Brigade.  Apparently, the USSR's answer to superheroes is to build rocket suits giving Soviet Soldiers their own super edge against bad guys.  The Rocket Reds have apparently just had some sort of encounter with Green Lanterns (as seen in GL Corps -- I love the notes that refer you to the other issues), and they know Guy.  And to know Guy is to try to beat up Guy.  So the Rocket Reds and the JL are beating each other up, when really they both should be concerned about the anti-nuke aliens that are presently trying to destroy the Soviet weapons stockpiles.  Instead, those aliens accidently almost bring about a core meltdown in a nuclear power plant.  Eventually all is resolved, with one of the aliens stopping the meltdown, and then being taken into Soviet custody.  The JL is politely asked to leave the USSR, thank you very much.

There was, again, a great story here.  We got a lot of action; each JL member got to strut his or her stuff.  Canary got to sing, Kimiyo got to light up; really the only one who didn't "see action" was Blue Beetle.  But he was driving.  I do like Giffen's dialog.  He really seems to get the personalities of each different character, and I can almost hear them in my head.  Blue Beetle's slightly sarcastic Spock joke, and Batman's later Star Trek reference, almost on the sly, were perfect.  The Silver Sorcerous' speech to the Soviet soldiers begging them to help dismantle the bombs was plaintive and just right for her character.  I've mentioned before that the artist here seems to like drawing very expressive faces (almost as if the characters were posing in an exaggerated way to make a point), but that is also growing on me.  With such a big cast, not everyone can have "speaking parts" so that is one way to indicate how that character is feeling in a specific scene.

And we're finally, FINALLY, introduced to Booster Gold.  Max Lord shows up in the Justice League "secret" headquarters, and introduces himself and Booster -- as the newest JL member!

Justice League #2

After I read the first page of this comic, I looked on the cover for the Comics Code Authority seal.  Yep, that's why Dr. Light didn't finish calling Batman a "son of a ...."  What could she possibly have been going to say?  Like we we can't infer the swear word.  Which is why I also object to F**K and similar ways of disguising curses.  We all know what F**K means, so why not just say it?  I don't see any validity to using asterisks in place of UC; if it is simply to avoid censors, then there is no point to the censorship, as anyone who reads it knows what it is and, if they were going to be offended, should be offended anyway. End of rant.

So the Justice League is questioning Dr. Light about how she obtained the Justice League signaling device.  What, do they think she stole it?  She's a good guy.  Why should she do that?  I would have thought that they would have the Martian Manhunter try to read her subconscious to see if there were any details about the guy she didn't remember.  But no, instead, they practically threaten her.  Doesn't seem the smartest way to start off.  

It also seems like the artist is practicing various facial expressions.  Everyone has an exaggeratedness that is almost comical.  I wonder if that isn't why Batman was originally drawn with a half-mask -- so the artist wouldn't have to draw his face?  

So, what other future players in the comic are introduced in this issue?  We see Jack Ryder, "Mr. Gold" (Booster!  Booster!  But he's not actually ever seen), a mysterious gray man* who talks to Dr. Fate, and some alien superbeings who want to rid the world of nuclear weapons.  And Reagan is president.   

So the Justice League isn't able to go into Bialya to confront this team of aliens (who have taken refuge there with the creepy head of state, Colonel Rumaan Harjvati).  If this isn't a signal to add "International" to their name, I don't know what is.  

There really wasn't a lot of interplay between the JL members.  That's what I really like.  Hopefully, we'll get more of this intro stuff out of the way soon.  And get more Booster Gold.  

 * I didn't ask Mark about this guy.  I have decided I am going to try learning everything from the books themselves.  

Justice League #1

I am a little late posting today.  I actually had a job today!  But I still had time to read Justice League #1.  No, not that JLA #1.

This week, I read two different Justice League #1 comics.  The DCU New 52 version, which came out Wednesday, really was a reboot, no matter what DC says.  The comic introduces the reader to a DCU where Batman and Superman have not yet met; where anything "alien" is immediately suspicious, and anyone smacking of "superhero" is feared.  Comparing this issue to the 1987 Justice League #1 is comparing Christian Slater to Adam West.  

Which did I prefer?  Maybe I have turned into a fan girl, but I really liked the "historical" issue more.  The comic starts with Guy Gardner, sitting alone, practicing in his head the speech he intends to give to take control of the Justice League.  Black Canary is the first to arrive, and what an '80's look she sports!  A headband!  Shoulder pads!  A jump suit!  It's hard to tell, but it looks like she is wearing big, furry boots?  Given a lineup, I never would have picked her out as Black Canary.  Okay, I've had my complaints about skimpy costumes, but this is the burqa of superheroine costumes.  Black Canary is followed by Scott Free (Mr. Miracle) and Oberon (I am not familiar with Oberon, other than from the JLA Retroactive), Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Batman and Dr. Fate.  

Everyone reacts pretty much as a constant reader would expect them too...  Batman is calm but in charge.  Guy flies off the handle.  Dr. Fate is mysterious.  Blue Beetle feels underutilized.  

We meet Max Lord, who at this time appears to be a mysterious figure behind the scenes, pulling strings and setting up the Justice League for something, be it good or bad.  And we meet Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi) who received a mysterious invitation to join the Justice League, and is at the UN to give a speech.  Terrorists attack the UN, the newly-formed Justice League is called in by Kimiyo, and they save the day.  

This very nicely sets up the series.  We get an intro to ALL of the members of the new Justice League; we get a (seemingly) one-and-done bad guy; And lots and lots of story.  Compared to the New 52 JLA, we got a novel!

Granted, the art work in the newer story is much better; in general, given the tools and technology one would expect the art to be much better in the newer version.  I really disliked the faces, especially the women, in the older comic.  But I felt that the newer JLA lacked a little heart.  I didn't much care for any of the "heroes" introduced (Batman, Green Lantern, Superman).  I am curious what they are going to do with Vic (Cyborg).  I also wonder how this ties into the end of Flashpoint.  Since Barry and Bruce obviously knew one another, JLA must be happening much earlier in the continuity than the end of Flashpoint.   

And, once again, I was just as fascinated by the ads in the older comic.  Suicide Squad, The Young All-Stars, and the New Flash were all coming out soon.  And if you subscribed to Superman, Adventures of Superman or Wonder Woman, you would get a cloisonne Superman pin!  Subscribe to Wonder Woman and get a copy of Wonder Woman #1, autographed by George Perez!  And the subscription price was $9.00 a year!  Ah, those were the days.  

I am looking forward to continuing this run of the Justice League!  Tomorrow, more on Max Lord.  And maybe, Booster Gold?

Wonder Woman 72

Wonder Woman is back home, and is trying to figure out what happened while she was gone.  Julia has rented her room out!  But this gives an excuse to give Diana's origin story again.  This stuck pretty closely to the origin I am familiar with, only adding the Diana Trevor factor.  (I really only know the TV version, with Steve crash landing on the island.  All my Wonder Woman knowledge was formed by Lynda Carter and Lionel Waggoner.) Diana Trevor saves Paradise Island from the hordes of Tantalus by crashing her plane into the mountain, and she dies. That is what leads to Diana's formation from clay, etc.  

So after Diana tells this story to Quinn, Julia tells her that Hippolyta has closed down the Themyscrian Embassy, and disappeared.  No one has been able to get in touch with her.  This amazes Diana, who proceeds to check with the Meyer Agency (this sounds vaguely familiar -- was that Myndi Mayer? Is this another editing issue...I think the MEYER in this issue is supposed to be MAYER, opps) and the bank.  No traces!  So off to check in with Etta and Steve.  She foils a robbery at the airport, and proceeds on to find Steve and Paradise Island.  She finds Steve, but the island is gone!  

I think I am ready to move on.  Tomorrow, Justice League Number 1 (1987).  

Wonder Woman 71

Okay, final issue of Diana IN SPACE!  All the Sangtee slaves are freed, and the prison planets un-prisoned.  Diana's ragtag crew is starting to break up.  Then Julia, the Daxamite, goes a little crazy and tries to kill one of the Sangtee.  This is when Diana realizes that Julia is speaking English!  It has been so long since Diana heard English that she didn't recognize it at first.  There's no explanation for why Julia knows English, but she does.  And she apparently also knows where Earth is, and is able to give that information to the scientist working on the transporter, so that Diana and Natasha can be sent home -- very Star Trek!  But before she goes, the girls all give her a big going-away thank you.  Party for Diana!  

Interspersed with all of this, we also see Julia Kapatelis writing a letter saying goodbye to Diana.  After months and months of Wonder Woman being missing, she has finally given up on her "second daughter" and accepted that she is dead.  Then, she answers the door and there is Diana!  Happy tears ensue. 

I would guess the next issues will deal with Diana trying to find out why Asquith Randolph tried to get rid of her.  It is implied in this issue that he took her place as a hero, so that may be reason enough, but will Diana have her revenge?  Maybe I'll read a few more issues and find out.

We're only getting two new comics this week, so I will probably continue to read a Wonder Woman or two, before moving on to JLI.  Mark has talked me into reading the first three years of that, so there's a month of posts!  Hmmmm.  Justice League #1, 1987 and JLA #1 2011, both in the same week for me.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors 13

Now, a brief break from Wonder Woman...

If you listen to our podcast, you may know that my favorite Green Lantern is Guy Gardner.  But not the Guy Gardner usually seen in Emerald Warriors.  That guy is a serious GL, on Oa, working with a bunch of GL's of other worlds, protecting the universe or the Guardians.  I think Guy is at his best when he is interacting with non-Green Lantern heroes.  This issue of Emerald Warriors FINALLY brings guy back to Earth from Oa, and teams him with his "frenemy" Batman to solve a murder on the ISS.  

Guy, of course, is NOT the World's Greatest Detective.  But he tries.  He questions the other astronauts aboard the space station while Batman goes and does detecting.  Guy is guy, and tries to find various motives (jealousy, mostly) for the murder.  Of course, though, Batman figures out what happened, but that gives Guy his time to shine by catching the bad guy and saving the space station and Opal City from certain death.  Go Guy!  

Maybe I am a bit of a xenophobe, but I really prefer stories set on Earth.  I am looking forward to the New 53 version of JLI, including Guy, and hope to see some "interaction" with him and Ice.  Please, give me witty badinage!  

Well, tomorrow's the big day?  Are you going to the comic shop at midnight?  (Or maybe noon, when our LCS actually opens?)

Wonder Woman 70

So, in this issue, Diana confronts the Sangtee Emperor, finds out he is really a she, and  -- presto -- the now-Empress will release the slaves and start the Sangtee people on the road to integration of the sexes. 

Wait a minute, who are the Sangtee?  In the first issue of their captivity, Diana and Natasha learn that the race of people who make up the empire that runs the prison planet is the Kreel.  Now, though they are being referred to as the Sangtee.   I am so confused.   No wonder continuity becomes an issue, when an editing error like that can slip through.  

At any rate, Diana gets her costume and accessories back,  as her captors did keep them.  So now, I expect the next issue will deal with Diana getting home.  I would say this came to rather an abrupt end; and no real Wonder Woman fighting action at all.  We did see the Daxamite wrecking a few things, but all Diana did was catch an advisor with her lasso.  

I am glad that I have only a couple more issues of this Wonder Woman sequence.  I am looking forward to pulling out the old JLI issues on Kooey Kooey Kooey!

Wonder Woman 69

My first impression, looking at this cover, was that Diana had cut her hair short.  But then I saw the pony-tail holder.  Not sure Dina should have a pony-tail.  But that is more practical to fight with than loose hair that would fly in your face.  But I really think she should have cut it short, like Natasha's.

Exposition, exposition, exposition.  I am not sure the purpose of telling the first part of this in an expositive flashback by a Kreel official.  Why not just tell the story?  I guess it's a convenient way to skip through six months.  So, we learn that Diana and her band of former slaves are now acting as pirates, catching the Kreel ships and adding their cargos - more women - to the fighting force.  They are training and waiting for the right time to focus an attack on the Emperor.  Natasha continues to entertain with magic tricks, while Diana lounges around on a big bean-bag chair and looks like Harry Mudd with breasts.  I am not very fond of the  overcoat they've put her in...and I think she looks much better on the cover than inside the book.  

And Diana has her team of scientists (amazing what you get with a load of slaves and an asteroid) working on a new lasso, which answers one of my questions from earlier.  They haven't quite got it yet, though.

And now we've reached the climax of the story.  Diana has gotten the Daxamite, now called Julia, to team up with their pirate band, and Diana takes the fight to the Emperor, appearing as a giant head to challenge him. Go to it, great and powerful Diana!

Wonder Woman 68

A Comic a Day continues...

Wonder Woman is now a "PRISONER OF A SAVAGE PLANET!"  Poor Diana, with only rags held together by rope to wear. (I like the cover with her still wearing her tiara.  I guess she has to wear it on the cover, to show who she is...inside she only has the grey sweatband of prisonerhood.) 

Our story starts off with Natasha narrating.  It has been three long months of slavery.  Diana is a beacon of hope in the otherwise despairing camp.  She protects the weak, and does more than her share of work.  She and Natasha gradually learn the camp pidgin language, and determine that their captors are the Kreel, an alien race that only has one sex; then every century they change sexes.  This explains why they are only keeping women in the slave camp; they hate women when they are men.  Huh?  That didn't make a lot of sense to me.  And it seems like a lot of work to run a whole planet prison camp just because you hate women.  Maybe it makes sense to the Kreel.  We also learn that there is a Daxamite being held in special captivity on the planet.  How convenient!

So, through a series of serendipitious events, Diana and a small group are able to commandeer a ship, rescue the Daxamite and make their way off planet.  Diana now plans to take down the Kreel empire.  She has four issues to do so!  We'll see how that works out.

There was one thought I had as I was reading this story (related to Diana's tiara, see how I am tying this in...).  Diana's lasso, and presumably the other accoutrements of her Wonder Woman persona like the bracelets, were with her in the original spaceship.  How will she get them back?  Did the Kreel realize their importance and take them?  Or are they still floating around in the first ship?  I want to know!

And...  an ad for DOOMSDAY!  So maybe that's why Superman can't come help Diana now?  

Wonder Woman 67!

The continuing saga of Diana and Natasha in SPACE!

The girls are passing time in space with magic tricks and super-exercising.  There's lots of "I am sure we are going to die." and "No, we're going to make it." exchanges.  Diana makes a space walk to boost their distress signal.  It's been two weeks and they have another week of air and food.  BORING!  No, it's about what you'd expect to see if someone were on a really long space flight.  

But eventually their ship is captured by some sort of an alien vessel, and our girls are captured to be used as slave labor on an unknown planet with slaves of many worlds.  Poor Diana is beaten badly, and the two are forced to work the mines and fight their fellow inmates for food.  At the end, our Amazon princess comments that their captors made one mistake..."They let me live."

Now, all through reading this book, I thought to myself, why did they even bother with this ship floating in space for two (relatively) weak women.  It seems to me that would be more trouble than they were worth.  But maybe we'll find out differently in the next exciting installment.

The thing I found more interesting in reading this book were the ads!  This book is from 1992, which in the general scheme of things is not that long ago.  But you realize how quickly the video game industry progressed when you see the ads for Sega Genesis games (Super High Impact! Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing!).  The screen shots included with these ads just seem cute now, but how cutting edge where they then?  

Then, oh, the joy.  Those little ads for "Build your own personal jet-pack" and "Muscles? in 7 days."  It really made me want to send in my $19.95 for plans to build the jet-pack.  I thought these ads were gone with the Silver Age.  

Wonder Woman 66

Day 4!  

Today I read the original printing of the story from the recent Wonder Woman Retroactive, 1990's.  (By the way, the links I use to comics all point to specific issue on comixology.com.   Mark uses that site to set up his pull-list with our LCS, Packrat Comics.)  I wanted to know what happened to Wonder Woman after she is marooned in space with the cosmonaut Natasha Terranova -- although with a name like Terranova, one almost suspects that we will see her marooned on another planet, trying to start an Earth colony, no?  

This story is near the start of the William Messner-Loebs run on Wonder Woman.  I only know that because the letter columns writers refer to the change of creative team.  Diana is apparently more confident and sure of herself in the "man's world."  I won't comment on this, since I didn't read the previous issues, but Diana sure seems confident, although this book starts with a scene I don't think we'd see in a Wonder Woman comic today...Diana getting her hair done!

So Diana has to go into space to save this cosmonaut, who is running out of air.  Why can't Superman, or one of the other space-capable superheroes go?  (I thought Diana was space-capable.  Not this one, I guess.)  Because they are all off somewhere else, conveniently.  While trying to get back into the atmosphere, a mysterious explosion sends them off into the universe.  They don't know where they are or how they got there.  What will happen?  Tune in for the next issue...

I did like this story.  I love when writers can make the normal, everyday interactions of superheroes seem normal and everyday!  The hairdresser scene was fun.  Watching Diana and Natasha bond over magic was fun.  There was some superhero stuff, and the golden lasso got some play, but Diana was basically a regular person interacting with other regular people.  She just happens to be superstrong and can fly.

I'll move to Wonder Woman 67 tomorrow.  I am sure Diana and Natasha won't be stranded in the spaceship very long!

A Comic a Day -- Supergirl 67

Day 3

I <3 Supergirl!  

Sometimes I am just a romantic at heart.  I loved this conclusion to Supergirl.  Fights, robots, m.o.n.q.i.s. and kissing at the end.  I loved her "team" of the Silk Pajama Society.  I think that would be a great comic.  Can we bring them back for the New 52?  

A Comic a Day -- Titans 38

Day Two

Today I read "Titans 38."  I can't help but compare this to the conclusion of "Secret Six," since both books were really about teams of bad guys, for want of a better characterization.  In the case of "Secret Six," we had a wonderfully consistent story, good characterization, chemistry between the team members, witty repartee and serious interactions...in other words, a great story.  In the "Titans," we have a train wreck.  I still don't get that Lian's death would drive Roy to hang out with Deathstroke.  I can't really understand why any of these characters would have trusted Deathstroke, even if he promised them their deepest wishes fulfilled.  And I have to admit, I never really liked anyone here.  

When Roy decided he was suddenly accepting of Lian's death, it came from no where.  Was there a transcendent moment  I missed?  Maybe.  I quit paying much attention to this book issue ago!  I would have liked this better if it had turned out that Roy was, all along, undercover somehow.  If it wasn't for Mark, I would have abandoned this title three issues into the whole Deathstroke story line.  

This is one comic I am glad will be out of continuity after the reboot.  I wonder if Roy will be just back from his first round of addiction?  Based on the Batman and Superman timelines we're seeing, it doesn't seem at all like he would have had time to have paired up with Green Arrow, had a drug addition, recovered, and raised a daughter to toddlerhood.  Maybe Lian will never have been...  

Tomorrow I'll finish up last Wednesday's comics with Supergirl or Retroactive Flash, and after that, I'm starting on Wonder Woman 66, December 1992.  Wonder Woman in Space...

A Comic a Day

I am going to read and post about a comic every day for a year.  Isn't that the current "in" thing?  Doing something every day for a year? I figure reading a comic is pretty easy (easier than cooking French cuisine).  Right now, I am finishing up the comics released last Wednesday, some of which Mark and I already discussed on this week's "How I Got My Wife To Read Comics."  But I still have a few I can comment on here.  

Today's comic is Green Lantern Corps 63.  I really don't like the Green Lanterns very much.  I like Hal Jordan.  I like John Stewart.  I love Guy Gardner (he's my favorite Green Lantern).  But I really dislike the Green Lanterns as a group, and this book really highlights why.  The chapers seem disjointed, and touch on the Alpha Lanterns, Lantern/Guardian mistrust, and species tension within the Guardians.  But in spite of all this, the Lanterns can pull together?  I dont buy it.  

I really disliked the concept of the Alpha Lanterns from the time DC introduced them.  They are like Internal Affairs on any cop show that's ever been on.  They made these Alpha Lanterns out of some really good characters, essentially removing all the things about them that were interesting or different.  And now we have these roboticized Lanterns that are going to try to fit back in?  Meh.

And I am not sure why the Guardians even have to be there for the Green Lanterns to exist.  Now that the Crayola Lanterns have appeared, and they don't have short, primary color Guardians to lead them, why do the Green Lanterns need the Guardians.  Throw them over, I say!  

Then there is the infighting between the Green Lanterns.  All of these guys are supposed to be without fear, but it seems to me that all this species/planet/racial hatred is really about fear.  Fear of the other...and in this issue, fear of the human Lanterns taking over the Corps.  And none of them really give us any reason to understand why they dislike/hate/fear the human Lanterns.  It is a very superficial conflict, and as the reader, I don't understand why it is happening.  If they want me to be interested, let me get to know why Palaqua and Turytt and why they object to Kyle.  And don't always make the "haters" the huge, hulking stereotypical racists.  

There are going to be four Green Lantern books once the New 52 hits, and the Green Lantern Corps is supposed to focus on Guy and John, so I will give it a try.  But if it is going to continue on with these conflicts between the Green Lanterns, I'd like it to be more meaningful, and less superficial, by having it involve real characters rather than the odd alien they decide to throw in.  Maybe Gail Simone should write this for a while...

Help!

Our website just started getting a heck of a lot of traffic.  We like it, but we wonder why?  If you are just stopping by, please let post a comment and let us know how you found us.  

Graphic Novels

Kate and I just recorded a REALLY great podcast where she talked about her summer reading list...assigned by me.  We chatted about Love and Capes, Nightmare World, Sandman, Strangers in Paradise, Doom Patrol and some others.  I was really excited to share with everyone...Kate even played "Guess Who's on the Cover of EW"!  And then something happened in Garageband and I lost the podcast.  See, I really need Mark along when recording.  I am going to try to recover it so I can share, but I don't know if it will come out or not.  In the meantime, listen to this week's podcast, wherein Mark and I talk about the shenanigans going on at DC.

Abby, Blue Lantern, and special podcast guest Kate