Green Lantern #50

Well, it's here. Fifty issues with the same writer...a feat that is practically unheard of nowadays. And really only a handful of artists as well, which is equally unheard of. So a huge round of applause for Geoff Johns.

There was some whining on the Message Boards (shocking!) that this was a "dull" issue. Those people are entitled to their opinions I suppose...but I certainly wouldn't want one of them marrying my daughter. Because this is...GREAT!

So things are really beginning to come to a head. The entire dead population of Coast City has arisen, and are out making mischief. We have the seven members of the various Corps, and their newly designated deputies. Help is possibly on the way, since Indigo sent out an SOS, but for the moment it is just a handful of people, plus whatever Earth heroes are still out there fighting. Those are SOME odds!

Doug Mahnke rises as usual the occasion with his beautiful artwork. We have some very nice scenes showing the various Lanterns discovering and quickly mastering their new abilities. Wonder Woman and Carol Ferris are zipping around encasing people in pinky-purple cocoons, Mera is letting loose with considerable zest...frying Aquababy in the process. At least she impresses the heck out of Atrocitus,who is probably wondering where she has been all of his life.



Barry and St. Walker are hoping with all of their might. Scarecrow is scared to death...and LOVING it! Larfleeze is NOT happy about having to share with Lex.



And then the Spectre shows up.

And this day just got a whole lot worse,if that's possible.

The Spectre wants Hal Jordan...really really bad. He tries turning Hal into a Black Lantern in a particularly disgusting and magnificent pair of panels, but Ganthet and Sayd jump in and save his frying bacon. They are then promptly swallowed by the Spectre, so Hal jumps in and returns the favor.



Then ALL the various Lanterns start pouring it on, trying to take down the Spectre, but rather to their surprise, nothing much is happening, which has to be disconcerting. In fact, the Spectre is mopping the floor with all of them. Even the Guardians are nonplussed, and Atrocitus starts getting snarky. He points out that the Spirit of Vengeance is ABSOLUTE Rage, fused with Death...and boy he wants it.

Meanwhile, Hal has an idea. Yes, it does happen. He has Ganthet summon his battery, along with John's, Kyle's and Guy's. Uh oh. It has dawned on Hal, that perhaps the only thing that the Spectre was afraid of, was Parallax. Sinestro is quite surprised...and possibly a little impressed...to learn that Parallax was imprisoned in the four batteries. He also realizes what Hal is up to,and thinks that HE should be the one who is possessed by Parallax, since he feels he can control it. In all fairness to Sinestro, it is possible that he has a point. Hal however doesn't want Sinestro anywhere NEAR Parallax, so they start squabbling.

Carol shows up and asks Hal not to do this, that she doesn't want to lose him again. Hal tells her that she can free him when the job is done and they grab a quick smooch. Oh Hal. Then Hal jumps in, grabs Parallax, thinks of his Dad, and before you can say "ARRGGHH", he's possessed.

Boy is he EVER! I don't remember Hal having quite that many teeth.

This is gonna be good.

Thundersnow!

We had a bit of some rather peculiar weather, here in our little corner of New England last night and today. What was forecast as snow flurries or squalls, turned into a six-hour snow storm. It still didn't accumulate that much however, and about 2:00 in the afternoon, it had mostly stopped and the sun came out. I only work from 8:00 till 2:00 so this worked out quite neatly for my commute. Too bad about 4:30, when the sky turned black and there was a white-out. Literally. There was even thunder. I can't really remember the last time that we had a snowstorm with thunder. It took one of my co-workers two hours to get home from what is normally a 15 minute commute.

So now it's windy as hell. The lamp posts are waving like tall grass, which is certainly a sight to behold. I understand that the midwest, Oklahoma and Texas got whomped too. The Weather Wizard is obviously fighting the Black Lanterns,and the effects have spilled into our Universe. That's some serious fightin'!

I don't know if you have all read Johanna Carlson's blog at "Comics Worth Reading", where she spills the beans about Bluewater Productions habit of not paying their artists, but it was an interesting and certainly eye-opening article. They are the comic book company that does all those biographies. So lo and behold, in this morning's newspaper, there is a large article about East Hartford, Ct. resident Cesar Feliciano, who is going to be the artist for Bluewater's biography of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. It's a very nice article, and the artist is obviously just brimming with hope and enthusiasm. He's trying to break into comics, and still has a day job working for Lowe's. In light of the things revealed in the article, I REALLY hope that he got paid up front.

I will get to my review of Green Lantern #50, but probably not until tomorrow. But boy howdy, it was fabulous.

A LOT to Review This Week

That was some week! And not a real clunker in the bunch.

We are finishing up with the one-shot Blackest Night issues, and first off we have The Atom & Hawkman. Written by Geoff Johns, and drawn by Ryan Sook.
I liked this. I liked it a lot. The artwork was awfully pretty, as might be expected from Sook, and the story made sense, and tied in neatly with the major Blackest Night story already in progress. And it's always nice to get a little background information on the Atom. I like Ray, but he's a little off of my radar most of the time. I certainly like him a whole lot when he's being written by Geoff Johns.

It's up to Ray to hold down the fort, while Indigo One is calling all of the other color corps home planets for help. She's fairly helpless when she's doing this, so Ray needs to step up to the plate. Too bad that Black Lantern Jean Loring throws a monkey wrench into the works, as is her wont. Man, Jean is relly a piece of work. We have a nice little romp through Ray's head, and Jean gets what is coming to her...and the Atom saves the Universe! But what he really wants to save are Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Batman & Robin #7. Not bad, not bad, although it did jump from Dick cradling Bruce's dead body to a bunch of action in London awfully quickly. It took me a second reading to figure things out, but I guess that's just Grant Morrison being Grant Morrison. The whole domino motif comes up again, Batman is running around London with Knight and Squire, and Batwoman shows up along with an old Lazarus Pit. And guess what...Dick is making Bat Soup!

Detective Comics # 861. We also see Batwoman in her own book. It isn't Williams on the art, but you know what? It's not bad. Not bad at all. There's a maniac going around kidnapping college girls and harvesting their various body parts. Kate manages to save one girl, and gets knifed in the process, and meets up with her cousin, who may or may not be on the killer's list. And the Question backup has Huntress, which is nice.

Green Lantern #50. Oh Hal. Will you never learn?

Gotham City Sirens #8. This book is growing on me. Which is appropriate I suppose for this months issue, which spotlights Poison Ivy. Two men are murdered in the park, apparently by Ivy, but she didn't do it...although as she points out, she wouldn't have minded doing it, since the two were pretty loathsome specimens in her book. Catwoman and Harley are doing their best to help, especially when Ivy disappears, but there's a nice twist at the end. Pretty darned good, I do have to say.

Jack of Fables#42. Oh Jack, you may be pretty and heroic, but gosh, you're very very naive. Jack saves the day, and goes off to be feted by the King, and can't understand why the King's Guards are trying to kill him. Good stuff as usual.

Justice League of America #41. Let's start a NEW Justice League...AGAIN! Sheesh. I've got stuff in the fridge that is older than this bunch working together. A crapload of Titans show up, to show how things are done. Donna is about to fall out of her costume, but so is Kory,so I guess it doesn't matter. People come and go, and apparently we find out the twist ending to Cry for Justice. Funny thing, that.

Blackest Night: JSA. This is number two out of three, and I fell for the idea that these particular Black Lanterns were actually GOOD! I'm as dumb as the rest of them apparently. This was wicked, and I liked it.

Justice Society of America #35. Dagnabit, I LIKED this! And I didn't really expect to. It didn't have Magog in it for one thing, and that's always a plus in my book. They are all fighting Mordru, who has shunted them off to box universes, where they each have to face a different peril, while he takes on Alan Scott at his leisure. Poor newbie Doctor Fate, manages to pull himself together, and sans helmet, save the day. The art was nice, and darn it, it was a good story!

Superman: Secret Origin #4. I am loving this book. I know that we all know Superman's origin, but I don't care. As long as I get Gary Franks drawing it, and Geoff Johns writing it, I'm gonna buy it and ENJOY it!

Lex is up to no good. Really, no good at all. And a love for donuts goes horribly awry.

Wonder Woman #40. I've been so wrapped up in Wonder Woman flying around as a Star Sapphire that it was a little jarring to have her as normal in her own book. Weird things are happening. A perfectly nice Snake God goes bonkers and swallows a subway car. She talks him into coughing it up, and off he goes. Some rather sinister-looking little English Schoolboys however are wandering around talking perfectly nice people and entities into doing perfectly awful things. But Etta Candy shows up! WooWoo! And we're going to get a Power Girl/Wonder Woman battle, which should be LOADS of fun.

That's it for this week. I am replete.

Wonderful Wednesday

There's nothing like the end of the month, when there seems to be a veritable tsunami of books coming out. Including Green Lantern #50, which I am looking forward to with great anticipation.

But in the meantime, I've got my photobucket stuff working again. Actually, I didn't do anything, it just all magically reappeared, as suddenly as it had formerly disappeared.

But I do like this.



I can't remember the exact title of the book, but it was a one-shot,about some young reporter type who managed to stow away on the JLA Satellite, and was taking pictures and hiding out, and provided an amusing look at our favorite heroes when they were just lounging around and not necessarily saving the world. The party was one that Plastic Man and a few others decided to hold, and it's a lot of fun trying to pick everyone out.

I'm not too sure about Guy in the black sleeveless tanktop, but the sun glasses are to die for.

Oh, Just Great

So, I went to my Photobucket thingie, so look for a nice picture, and everything was...blank! All the titles and such were there, but no pictures. I'm trying not to panic, since I think this has happened to me before, and after a while, they'll reappear. They better damn WELL reappear!

Computers just confuse the heck out of me.

So, no silly pictures today. You can continue to bask in the magnificence of Bruce's behind from yesturday if you so wish.

Holy Batbuns!

Gah. It's Monday, and it is raining buckets. On the other hand, it COULD be snowing. On the other hand, the rain is coming down...sideways. Sheesh! I am feeling marginally better however, and since it IS a gloomy old Monday in the month of January, I wondered what I could come up with that would lift all of your spirits.

I think that I have lucked onto the perfect picture, which I believe was filched from over at Scans Daily.



I...I feel faint.

Feeling a Little Low

Not much of a post today, I am afraid. I don't know what I've got, but I'm not feeling particularly well today. Chills alternating with fever and headache and a few other symptoms that I will not describe to those of you who may be faint of heart.

Bleh.

But never let it be said that I don't try to deliver. So here is a picture of John Stewart's behind.



Ahhh...that makes me feel better.

Green Lantern Corps #44

Well, the $%#@ has well and truly hit the fan.



The Black Lanterns are still running amuck on Oa, trying to devour the Battery. On the bright side, Kyle has been restored by the efforts of Soranik and Miri. Oh, and Mogo has shown up, to the mingled awe and consternation of all. Even Salaak. Especially Salaak. He doesn't know why Mogo is there, and I get the impression that he HATES not knowing.

And there is still that little problem with Guy...



Boy Howdy!

With both the Green and Red rings, Guy is cutting quite the swath through the assembled Black Lanterns. Kyle is all hot to trot to go and rescue his buddy, but Vath, true to his pragmatic nature, points out that Guy is taking out more bad guys all by himself than the rest of them put together,and that perhaps getting rid of the Red ring isn't the brightest thing to do. There is also the possibility that removing it could kill Guy, but Kyle doesn't know that.

Nevertheless, Kyle feels that he has to try, and he goes and shows Guy that yes indeedy, he's alive and well, and that there is therefore NO reason to go all crazy. Too bad that the Red ring doesn't want to let go. For a minute or so, Kyle does manage to get through to the real Guy, buried under all the rage, but the moment is fleeting. Guy thinks that Kyle is just a Black Lantern trick and is doing his very best to kill Kyle for REAL this time.

In the meantime, Salaak is talking to Mogo, who it turns out, has this nifty little secret plan that the Guardians gave to him eons ago. Too bad they didn't bother to tell Salaak. Gosh, the Guardians were just FULL of secrets. Anyhoo...Mog is there to "purge".

That sounds bad. Not to mention drastic.

And drastic it is. Due to some gravitational mumbo-jumbo, Mogo manages to pull EVERYONE, Green Lantern, Red Lantern and Black Lantern, from the surface of Oa.



Off they all go, fighting the whole way. Iolande is still on Mogo with all of the wounded, but he assures her that they are all safe. Then, just before impact, all of the Green Lanterns suddenly stop falling. The Black Lanterns all land in a beautiful grassy meadow...and are inexorably pulled beneath the surface. Mogo is sucking them in, down and down, where they will be "...torn asunder and diffused. Sifted into Atoms. Until all that is left of them...will be drawn to the center of my core...where they will forever be superheated adn prevented from re-forming..."

Wow. Hardcore, Mogo.

Mogo is definitely someone that you want on YOUR side in a conflict. So...things seem to be fairly under control for the first time since the whole kerfuffle started. Well...not quite. There's still Guy and that Red ring of his.

This book continues to boggle my mind. Pat Gleason continues to enthrall and Peter Tomasi continues to come up with brilliant concepts. This is SO good. Twelve Thumbs Up!

What a Wonderful Week!

The first two Wednesdays of the month may have been on the thin side, but THIS Wednesday was...bountiful!

There were a whole lot of the Blackest Night One-shots, which weren't bad at all,all things considered. I liked Blackest Night: the Flash, because I'm a sucker for the Rogues. And seeing Barry being hopeful was nice. Man, I DO hope they don't kill off Captain Cold or Weather Wizard, because they're my favorites. The kid who took over for James Jesse on the other hand, is more than welcome to become toast.

Blackest Night: The Phantom Stranger was decent. It did bring up some interesting things with the Spectre, that I'm sure will become QUITE important sooner or later. I was a bit surprised to see Blue Devil, I thought he'd snuffed it.

Blackest Night: Starman was the Bee's Knees! Shade is doing IT with Hope O'Dare! I'm simply giggling in delight. I'm glad that the BN Starman was David and not Ted. I don't think I could handle Ted. Although isn't he in the JSA Blackest Night thingie? I'm starting to lose track. And although it would have been nice to see Jack, I am completely happy with the Shade instead.

Fables was nice. A little bit of a breather and a less angsty story for a change.

Green Lantern Corps made me weep with joy. As usual.

The Incredible Hercules. Wow. Too bad about Hera. Well...not really, because she was pretty rotten, but still! Glad to see that Delphyne had a change of heart. Just consistantly good.

Batman: Streets of Gotham was spooky and all. I really did like the Manhunter backup feature. Kate's playing with the Big Dogs now! But that Judge was something else!

The Brave & the Bold teams up the Atom with the Joker. THe Joker has a brain problem, and some nice doctors decide that Ray is the best person to deliver the medicine. Unlike the way that he's portrayed in Blackest Night, Ray is NOT overflowing with compassion here. It was an interesting take on the Joker, but the inconsistancy in Ray's portrayal is beginning to annoy me.

The Outsiders was a bit on the bizarre side. Brion has always been a bit of a bore, but now he's displaying symptoms of megalomania. Dan Didio wrote this, and seemed to be channeling Doctor Doom a bit in his portrayal of Geoforce. And Katanna is a bit unhinged as well. Kind of weird.

Power Girl was sensational. I laughed like a loon throughout the entire book. I thought that Gail Simone had snuck in and taken over the writing there for a minute, but it's still Gray and Palmiotti. They've REALLY found their comfort zone in their version of Peej lately, and of course the art is simply wonderful.

Power Girl is reluctantly teamed up with Vartox, in order to defeat the IX Negaspike horde that Vartox unwittingly unleashed on Earth in the last issue. Kara actually uses her brains, and they figure out a way to defeat the monsters...and then it's Miller Time! He actually convinces her to come aboard his floating head-ship, and plans to...celebrate.



This...this is wicked. That is a painfully common sexy shot of your average woman in comics...but this time it is of a rather hairy guy with a mustache. I laughed till I was almost sick.

Vartox is growing on me. He's growing on Peej too, as he is a lot easier to like when he's not being a jerk. He does manage to burn dinner, so they go out for pizza, and he decides that pepperoni is the greatest thing that he's ever tasted. He does manage to convince her to help him out with the little problem of his planet's sterility...and it's off to the Fertility Room!

No, no, nothing like that. They don't do that yucky physical stuff anymore, much to Kara's relief, but it does involve a Pregno Ray.

Oh, and there was a subplot with Satanna, and her head mad scientist who happens to be a talking Badger.

I can't help but think that Messers. Gray and Palmiotti, not to mention Amanda Conner had the time of their lives coming up with the concepts in this storyline. It is WONDERFUL!!

Heh. Pregno Ray.

I Sense a Trend Here

Still MORE Romance comics!



Uh oh. Looks like someone got a little too clingy. Hal hates clingy.



Hey, that's being just a bit TOO brutal! Usually, he just promises to call and then "conveniently" gets called away to Oa.

Just once I would like to to see Hal get completely and thoroughly dumped. It would do him a world of good.

Hal is SOOOO Romantic

I'm STILL astonished at the number of Romance Comicbook heroes that look like Hal. Astonished and stunned.

Here's another.



Sure...you say that NOW, Hal, but we all know that you're never ever satisfied.



That's it, Carol. Make him WORK for it!

All Romance Heroes Still Look Like Hal

Oh Hal. Is it your brown wavy locks, or your limpid brown eyes? Whatever it is, you've got it, baby.



Nevertheless, I would suggest that you actually pay attention to the girl you HAVE in the car with you, as opposed to staring so intently at the breasts of the waitress. That's just going to get you in trouble sooner or later.

Now That I Think About It...

...There are some additional benefits to having Birds of Prey back. Other than the pleasure of Gail Simone writing them, at least. I mentioned the other day, that I was going to be so happy to see Oracle, Black Canary and Lady Blackhawk again, while failing to mention Huntress.

This was an oops on my part. I like Huntress. I'd prefer her in a sensible costume instead of that abomination that Benes draws her in, but I suppose you can't have everything.

*sigh*

But still, if Helena is back, then perhaps we can see her interacting with Thomas Blake, aka Catman again. Because I admit it...I'm a girly girl sometimes, and they were ADORABLE!



Hey if Batman can have the hots for Catwoman, Huntress can lust after Catman...and vice versa.

If DC does the SENSIBLE thing, and also brings back Ted Kord, he can help supply logistics and...and stuff for Oracle. That would be nice. I've always liked Ted and Barbara together. Much more so than Babs and Dick actually. At least Ted is a grown-up. Well...sometimes he's a grown-up.

Of course I still want to see Fire and Ice in the Birds. Because that would mean that Guy could show up.



The possibilities for clashing and hilarity are endless. Besides, Guy and Zinda are old buddies. It would be great. And because obviously, it is all about what I want.

Who would you all like to see in the Birds of Prey?

It Was a BIt of a Small Week

In all of the excitment, and all the wonderful news coming out of DC, I rather forgot to do my reviews. Or at least say what it was that I liked in my books this past Wednesday.

Booster Gold was fun as always. I AM going to miss Dan Jurgens...he draws SUCH a pretty Booster. The Royal Flush Gang showed up, which is always nice, and Booster trounced them, as he always does. There were more time shenanigans, and it has finally dawned on Michelle that she's right in the middle of Coast City, and that bad things are about to happen.

In the backup feature with Blue Beetle, we finally get to find out why the scarab has been so bloodthirsty lately. Apparently, the scarab had been damaged, and that was why it and Jaime were able to bond so nicely. But now that it has "rebooted" it's back to its original nefarious purpose...and apparently now, so is Jaime! Cliffhanger!

I've only been picking up Adventure comics on a sporadic basis, but I simply can't resist Krypto and a dinosaur on the cover. Man...Lex Luthor is a real jerk.

I liked the Blackest Night:Catwoman issue. I simply can't resist Selina when Adam Hughes draws her looking like Audrey Hepburn. The Black Mask shows up as a Black Lantern and tries to do some rather reprehensible things, first to Selina, and then to her sister Maggie. Maggie, unfortunately is not wrapped too tightly. But Harley and Ivy are cool. Ivy in particular comes up with a great solution to the problem of Black Lantern regeneration. A nasty solution, but cool nevertheless.

I also liked Blackest Night: The Power of Shazam. It's nice that you don't have to buy all of the tie-ins, but if you do, they fill in a little of the background, without having that much real impact on the main story. You don't have something eathshattering happen in some obscure side book, so that the main story won't make any sense without it.

My sentence structure is getting convoluted. I'll just move on. Basically, Osiris comes back to life as a Black Lantern, and so does Sobek. Oddly enough however, Osiris seems to retain actual feelings of regret and heroism...unlike the rest of the Black Lanterns. Not a bad little story at all.

Secret Six continues the crossover with the Suicide Squad. It turns out that the House of Secrets has some backup security that nobody DREAMED of!
Waller is fabulous as always. It finally dawns on the Six and the Squad that perhaps there is something worse out there, and that they have to cooperate instead of trying to kill each other. And Count Vertigo shows up,which always pleases me. I like Count Vertigo. He's...suave.

Catman and Bronze Tiger chew on each other for a while. Jeanette and Ragdoll are in big trouble. Dead people show up. I love this book.

I hope that you all loved YOUR books.

Gadzooks!

Gosh, but all kinds of things are going on lately.

For one thing, today is National Pastrami Day. Please celebrate the deli of your choice. Mmmmmmmm...pastrami.

Secondly, DC is up to all KINDS of interesting things lately. In addition to bringing back a version of the old JLI, they are also putting the team of Giffen and DeMatteis on Booster Gold.

I find that I am a little torn about this. On the one hand, I simply adore Giffen and DeMatteis, their work together is always a hoot. On the other hand, I've been perfectly happy with Dan Jurgens on Booster Gold, and I would hope that he would at least stay on as the artist, because I REALLY like his work. I guess we shall have to wait and see.

And thirdly, they are bringing back Birds of Prey! WITH GAIL SIMONE as the writer! Be still my heart. Ed Benes is going to be the artist which doesn't excite me quite so much, but he's ok, I guess. I'd love to have Nicola Soott, but I imagine that she's still on Secret Six. If Geoff Johns can write just about every book for DC, I would think that Gail can bang out Secret Six, Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey. DC is going to get a whole lot more of my hard-earned dollars.

I think I'll go have a pastrami sandwich to celebrate.

The Return of...The Justice League?

Well! There is a certain amount of scuttlebutt going around, that DC is actually going to resurrect the concept of the old JLI. Keith Giffen is going to be one of the writers, which fills me with great joy. Judd Winick is supposed to be the other writer...which filles me with great trepidation. But at least according to the interview over at Newsarama, the two of them were joking and kidding around, and in general having a helluva good time, which I find to be encouraging. It's not DeMatteis, but there's hope.

Incidentally, I do believe that Giffen and DeMatteis might be teaming up on Booster Gold?

Wow!

I don't know who they are going to have do the artwork, but I suppose that Kevin Maguire is too much to hope for. It sure would be purty though.

So...anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, it is going to be the old gang, with Booster, Fire, Ice, Dmitri and so on. It's going to be bi-weekly, and run in conjunction with the new "Brightest Day" series, which is also going to be bi-weekly. Presumably, they will come out in alternating weeks, so that there will always be a new book on the stands.

Let me just say, that I actually love weekly comics. 52 was fabulous, and I liked Trinity and loved Wednesday Comics. Countdown was pretty much a bust, but even it had a few good issues. But I do love going in every week, and picking up something new. AND, I LOVE the JLI.

So it sounds as though some of the dead heroes may actually, be coming back to life. I've been hoping of course, but trying not to get TOO emotionally invested...just in case it is all a bust in the end. I hear that there is going to be a Blue Beetle, but which Blue Beetle? I would be delirious with joy to have Ted back, but I do like Jaime too. And I want J'onn of course.

And Guy. There hasn't been any mention of a Green Lantern, but EVERY Justice League has to have a Green Lantern, and how can you have the JLI without Guy? Granted, he's a bit busy at the moment, but I'm sure that he could zip in for visits.



Oh, won't it be luverly?

Good Clean Fun

Shower scenes! There's nothing like shower scenes!



I don't know what this is from, but I love it. It looks like the locker room of the Justice League. As I said, just good clean fun.

It occurs to me, that I have quite the collection of beefcake pictures. I can't IMAGINE how.

It's Monday Again

It's Monday, and that means that my mind is a complete blank. Totally and completely and absolutely. Blank, blanker, blankest. Not a thing on my mind...

...well, you get the idea.

So, I'm falling back on good old Photobucket for inspiration.



Oh Justice League, I miss you so. The thing that really makes me giggle is that Guy is drawing a mustache and devil beard on a portrait of Hal. It...it's just such a GUY thing to do, at least back then. I think that this is from the issue where he convinces Kilowog to join the Justice League, after basically demolishing the old Green Lantern compound in a friendly tussle. They're just so adorable together. You can be that HAL never demolished anything rough-housing with Kilowog. Hal had...other interests...such as Arisia.

Casual Nudity is SO much Fun!

As you can see by my subject matter for today, I'm in a remarkably frisky mood.



Here's Buddy in a much happier moment than he's been experiencing lately,what with being a Black Lantern and all.

Homecoming!

Well, my Sweet Baboo is coming home from the frozen wastes of Des Moines, Iowa, where he has been attending a Seminar on Farm Tires at the Bridgestone plant. I personally think that it is cruel and unnusual punishment making managers travel to Des Moines in January. I would hate to see where they send the BAD managers! The other day, the snow was blowing...sideways. Most of the flights were cancelled or delayed, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.



Frankly, I've missed him.

Reviews!

It's Thursday, and I've had a chance to read and enjoy all of my books. So now of course, I feel the urge to share that experience with you.

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #3

Gosh,I'm loving this book to death. Cinderella is teamed up with Aladdin, and they're actually doing pretty well together. Skullduggery is everywhere of course, and something rather peculiar is happening back in Fabletown at the shoe store, but I'm sure that it will all be coming together soon. Very very good.

Doom Patrol #6

Actually...this wasn't bad. Rather an indepth look at life from the point of view of Larry Trainer. I've never read that much about the Doom Patrol before, so it was nice to get some of their history. The real appeal for me however, still remains the back-up feature of the Metal Men, which is hilarious as usual. Gosh, I just love Kevin Maguire.

Jonah Hex #51

Sheesh, for a minute there, I thought this was a continuation of last month's incredible story, but no, the woman at that gravesite is actually a different woman. Rather an interesting story however. It involves dowsing, a scam, lust, and people who actually think they can use Jonah for their own ends. Oh, silly silly people.

JSA-All Stars #2

I'm torn. The story is ok, Courtney ends up kidnapped by none other than Johnny Sorrow, a seriously disturbing villain. She's waiting for someone to rescue her, but manages to rescue herself quite nicely. Magog is busy making an ass of himself as usual.

I do have to say however, that the art is just horrendous. HIDEOUSLY horrendous.

Blackest Night: Suicide Squad

Oh joy. Dead villains, Amanda Waller, Gail Simone and the Secret Six. What could possibly be more perfect? Oh, and Deadshot shoots people.

Blackest Night: Weird Western Tales

Ok, I did enjoy this as well. A descendant of none other than Quentin Turnbull is running a lab of sorts in what is apparently the Mother of all Burial Grounds. They've managed to get their hands ona Black Ring, and are busy trying to analyze it. The person behind all of this, is none other than Simon Stagg. I LOVE Simon Stagg! He's just so rotten. The Ray is involved, using his light powers, but the dead have all risen, and there are a CRAPLOAD of them, including Bat Lash, Scalphunter and even Super Chief! Man, I haven't seen him since 52. Old Turnbull shows up too, and finally of course, none other htan Jonah Hex himself. And in this case, it turns out that blood isn't thicker than water.

"...and in the end all that was left was death...and the acrid smell of gunsmoke."

I LOVE that line!

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2

Oh yes indeedy. Greg Rucka is writting it, and Nicola Scott is drawing it, and I'm a happy woman. This covers the battle with Mera that was touched upon in Blackest Night #6, but fleshes things out more. It also shows Diana's thoughts as she's doing her very best to break free from the influence of the ring, but isn't having the best of luck. She also destroys Cassie, Donna AND Hippolyta! This did have me freaked out a little bit, but it turns out to be a ploy of Aphrodite, so that Diana could work out her...uh..."issues" in safety. Then of course, the Violet Ring comes along and bye bye Black Ring.

Lot's fun, and the art is fabulous.

So, not a bad week all in all.

Wednesdays are Back To Normal!

Woohoo! Comics are once again coming into the Comic Book Store, as Nature intended. I am a creature of habit, and one of my habits is going eery week to my version of Church, wherein I worship at the altar of DC. Or something.

But before I can blog about my books, I have to READ them first. So while I'm doing that, here is a nice scan of Hal and Ollie beating each other up.
Or at least posturing.



Gosh, they're so GOOD at posturing.

But you know who is better?



Yeah, that's right. Dinah can school BOTH of your asses!

How the Rings Choose

There has been a bit of a furor over some of the ways that the various colors of rings make their choices over on the message boards and such. A LOT of people don't think that Guy should necessarily have gotten a Red Ring, and that he and Kyle weren't that close to make it all possible.

To which I say...phooey.

Guy and Kyle are friends. They've been friends for a very long time. Guy took Kyle under his wing practically from the start, when Kyle was a VERY green young rookie. Unlike his relationship with Hal, Guy has never felt intimidated or threatened by Kyle. And really, how can anyone dislike KYLE of all people. He's such a nice boy.

I think that they've grown even closer lately, at least since they've been partnered up on Oa. I still think that perhaps Kilowog is Guy's closest friend, but Kyle is right up there. He may also be in a slightly different category from Kilowog. Guy and Kyle's relationship seems to be on the brotherly side, which I've always considered to be a healthy relationship for the both of them. Lord knows Guy's REAL brother was a tool, and I imagine that as Kyle was an only child, he would have liked to have had a sibling.

So anyway, it makes sense for Guy to be a wee bit cranky that Kyle is dead. What I DO find rather fascinating about the Red Rings however, is that there seems to be an extra bit of emotion necessary. I would imagine that there were a heck of a lot of pissed-off Lanterns on Oa, but Vice's ring didn't chose any of them. In combination with his anger, Guy also seemed to be suffering from a vast amount of grief.

Grief seems to be a key ingredient in the formation of a Red Lantern. Laira was consumed by grief over the death of Ke'haan and his family as well as by anger. Even Atrocitus, in his back-story seems to have an enormous amount of grief in addition to his rage. When Hal was briefly transformed, he was shaken by Laira's death, so grief came into that equation as well.

Proximity also seems to be a key factor. Vice's ring was right there, when Guy was in the proper frame of mind, and latched right onto him. I'm not sure that he would have been transformed if there hadn't been a red ring quite so handy. Same thing for Mera. She's been having quite a trying time lately, and it finally all bubbled up to the surface, and a red ring was conveniently there.

Some people have also been expressing dismay that Superman wasn't chosen for a Blue ring. I'm sure that Superman would have been a fine and logical choice for a Hope ring, but he just happens to be a Black Lantern at the moment. Barry was right there, and an equally qualified candidate, and he's NOT a Black Lantern. Wonder Woman was also a Black Lantern, and I think that the only reason she was able to become a Star Sappire, was that her Black ring was malfunctioning, which was mentioned when Mera and the Atom were trying to find a way back. So, unlike Superman, Wonder Woman was able to overcome her programming.

Well...and because she's just apparently so darned loveable.

This is just my opinion, and probably a lot of other people have equally valid ones. But it does give me a chance to show this picture.



Cool, eh?

It's 2010...Now What?

Well, that's it for the Holidays. They took down the Christmas decorations at the office, and it all looks so...so bare now. I've got to put away all of my decorations as well, but don't really feel quite up to it, plus you're suposed to leave them up until Epiphany anyways, so that means I can procrastinate for a couple more days yet.

Did everyone have a nice New Year's? I assume that the Justice League had a FINE old time.



Of course they're all crying with hangovers now, but what the heck.

What depresses the heck out of me, is going through some of my old scans and realizing that half of the people represented are dead, or were dead. That's why I'm REALLY hoping that Blackest Night will finally...FINALLY get things straightened out. I mean, Lightray may not be my favorite chararcter, but what the heck. He was a nice guy. I'd like for ALL the New Gods to be alive and hanging out dancing together. Heck, I don't even mind if Darkseid and his cohorts dance too. In fact, I would encourage it.

Happy New Year!

This is a slight change in tradition. Ordinarily I'd have a Green Lantern butt up there, but what the heck. I found this over at ScansDaily, and was impressed by both the topic and the fact that I can actually see Bruce's behind.

And a fine behind it is.