Posts Tagged ‘ JLA ’

I managed to get through about half the books I picked up last night – and here’s some thoughts…

Geo-Force don’t go down like no punk!

But…but…she’s the real Terra. Kinda. Sorta. Stop looking at her like that – she’s your sister!!! Kinda.

C) Or his new, Terra-honoring brown, boring and close to his original crappy look uniform of recent JLA and WWIII issues?

He dressed in the dark and put the wrong uniform on. It’s the only explanation.

I mean, honestly? Which is best?

Okay, I’m irked.

I had an idea for a series of entries that would deal with characters I liked that had been out of the limelight for a while. In some cases, like Geo-Force, they would recently have been thrust back in to the limelight.

And then I clicked over to Kalinara’s blog this morning and found her post yesterday about Geo-Force.

Arg.

I know that its only natural that given his recent appearance in JLA but I was hoping that I wouldn’t be beaten to the punch quite so quickly.

This means that I need to think of someone else to post about today.

Er…be back later.

::shakes fist at sky::

On other news I would like to extend the hand of linkage to a couple of places that have both unexpectedly and kindly linked through to me the last few days;

Hip Flask – in their list of review comments for Elephantmen #8 – posted this little nugget:

“If you’re not reading ELEPHANTMEN #8 then… well, you’re a big dummy.”
— Chris Partin, comicbycomic

Chris left a comment in this post and gets linked to. I spend half my life blogging and what do I get? Nothing, I tell you, NOTHING!!! Ahem. Perhaps if I picked up Elephantmen…I mean, my own blog recommends it so why not?

Largehearted Boy also sent a link – and a decent crowd – my way yesterday with this little comment in a linkage-type post:

ComicByComic is a comics blog worth checking out.

Simple, to the point and oh-so correct – not to mention appreciated. I spent some time yesterday trolling through the site – its very impressive. Downloads, blog, album lists and – a personal fave – authors putting soundtracks to their books. A great site – but how did the Boy come here? Inquiring minds want to know!

It’s just struck me that this is the first time I can recall that most of comics’ big teams have all been led by female characters.

ity in comics – and in real life – but is this a step too far? Or is it just evening up for the times those silly females got themselves captured back in the sixties (sorry, I’ve been reading a lot of Essentials recently and sometimes the language rubs off…)

In any case, I think that there’s a lot of promise in the women in comics right now – but it needs to be natural, not forced. In most of these cases, I think it is.

Let’s keep it that way.

Joe Quesada recently revisited the idea of Marvel Apes in his weekly Newsarama column.

Now that’s a series I’ll buy without waiting for the trade.

In fact, I’d be happy if the entire DC and Marvel universes went Ape for a fifth week event. I mean, yes we had the JLApe annuals some time ago, but there are so many possibilities that the mind boggles…

Note to self: Apes/monkeys make everything cool.

Even Aquaman.

In 1978, DC cancelled 31 -yes, 31 – titles. Following as it did the much-advertised ‘DC Explosion’ starting in 1975, this ended up being referred to as the DC Implosion. There’s a detailed title-by-title analysis here and a wiki entry here and it’s worth a quick look if you have a moment.

But that – and my much-dwindling DC pull list – got me thinking about the state of DC at the moment. For me, OYL and the months that followed ended up being a bit of a watershed for me, resulting in me dropping titles that I’d collected loyally for years.

Catwoman‘s insistence on building Film Freak – a third rate villain if ever there was one – pushed me away from the title.

Green Arrow‘s change of direction provided me with an excuse to drop a book which had been floundering for a while.

Hawkgirl was an early casualty too, despite my fondness of the character and the fact that Simonson and Chaykin are both top notch creators. Something just didn’t gel on the book.

Outsiders‘ opening OYL storyline left me with a bad taste in my mouth and was the straw that broke the camel’s back with that book.

Superman/Batman finally got kicked to the kerb after I realised that I hadn’t really enjoyed it in a year and that it had very little impact on any other books.

I dropped the JLA and JSA Classified titles for pretty much the same reason.

Nightwing‘s scrambling to make sense of something that didn’t make any sense drove me away. I returned for the initial Wolfman arc and despite enjoying the first issue I found the remaining three to be dull and frankly a bit of a mess.

Batman and Detective started off strong with Robinson’s Face the Face but even this ended with a whimper instead of a bang and for the first time in ten years, I find myself skipping issues which are done by fill in teams – even ones I like, such as Ostrander and Mandrake.

Similarly, I haven’t picked up many of DC’s recent launches. I’ve heard good things about Green Lantern Corps and may get the trade but something about the title doesn’t appeal to me. It may be the alien designs. Irrational but true. Shadowpact held little interest after the lacklustre Day of Vengeance. Despite my liking for Kyle Rayner, the first issue of Ion fell short of being engaging enough for me to pick up #2. I tried Blue Beetle but the first issue didn’t impress. I picked up the first Checkmate arc off ebay and found myself not caring much that I couldn’t work out who everyone was.

The Superman and Batman Confidential books don’t really interest me either. I may pick up the occasional trade based on the creative team but that’s it.

Not one of the Brave New World titles floated my boat – including the Atom, much to my surprise given the opening creative team. Similarly, I’ve avoided Omega Men, Mystery in Space, Tales of the Unexpected, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters and Trials of Shazam!. I didn’t even pick up Connor Hawke, and like the character a lot.

Of recent launches that I have picked up, Flash has been a well-documented disappointment that I kept buying out of blind loyalty to the concept under Mark Waid and Geoff Johns, and Justice League of America is proving to be duller than I ever thought possible. Wonder Woman has been fun but so infrequent that it’s in danger of needing another relaunch. Only Justice Society of America has so far lived up to expectations, and that’s only two issues old.

So where does that leave me? The only books that I have picked up constistently through OYL to now are Action, Superman, Robin, Legion of Super-Heroes, Teen Titans, Green Lantern and – much to my chagrin – Supergirl. I dropped over half my DC pulls – and I’ve been a rock solid buyer of some of those titles for over 10 years.

And while I may go back on ebay or pick up some trades to cover some of those books, I won’t do it for all. I’ve suffered my own personal DC Implosion. I never thought it possible, but crossover-itis appears to have infected me to the extent that I just got burnt out on a lot of these characters. If it happened to me, I suspect that it happened to a lot of people.

Crossovers may prove good for short term sales bumps but in the long term, readers stay for characters. I can’t but help feel that DC may have let that slip – and I think I may suffer a Marvel Implosion following the conclusion of Civil War.

I guess we’ll see.

Happy New Year, everybody!

I hope everyone – like me – had a great Christmas and New Year and are now over the inevitable illnesses and hangovers.

Just a few random thoughts:

Namor looks to be getting his own series – something I’ve been advocating for a while now.

Black Panther hasn’t been as bad as I feared over the last few issues – I too was a little put out by the way Goliath was buried and I’m glad it’s a point that showed up here although I’m a little mystified by the grave still being open. That whole Panther-having-Black Knight’s Ebony Sword-thing is beyond annoying, though.

Teen Titans tied nicely into 52 with the story of how Kid Devil got his new powers. I also enjoyed the nods back to Underworld Unleashed – wow, was that really 10 years ago? Also nice to see former Starman artist Peter Snejberg again.

I’m still buying Supergirl, though I really don’t know why.

The first trailer for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has hit and I like it a lot. Nay-sayers be damned! Click here to watch!

Walking Dead Vol 5 shows that Robert Kirkman is one sick puppy. Maybe there aren’t many women reading it and that’s why I didn’t notice a huge outcry about what happens to one of the main characters here, but…well, let’s just say it’s really not for the faint of heart. And I’m not even talking about what happens to Rick…pretty gutsy move, Aquaman-ing the lead in a book like this. Roll on Vol 6.

Indiana Jones IV goes into production in June this year!

Pride of Baghdad is beautiful and touching but – and I know I’m sailing against the tide here – I’m not entirely sure that it deserves all the praise heaped on it. It’s a pretty simple tale and there’s such a thing as too much message. I’m a pretty sharp guy and I don’t need to be hit over the head with a brick to get what the writer is getting at.

Same goes for Happy Feet – perhaps the scariest film I’ve seen in a long, long time. Seriously.

I am beyond happy that Veronica Mars was Herc’s number one scripted drama in 2006 over on AICN. And let’s use this as an excuse to have a picture of our eponymous heroine cheerfully cribbed from EOnline:

I switched to trades for an X-book, picking up the most recent volume of New X-Men. It read well and cost me less than the regular titles would and the world did not end. This may not be the last book I do this for…

Ed Benes’ fantastic art will only cover up the cracks in Brad Meltzer’s JLA for so long.

I fear for Mary Jane…

Over at his blog, Paladin has posted a couple of old Justice League covers from the Giffen-DeMatteis era; it reminded me of one of my favorite covers of all time, and certainly my favorite permutation of this shot:

And that cover is this one:

Happy days…

You may – or may not – have noticed that I haven’t posted those little week in review things I do for my comic purchases for a while. This hasn’t been for lack of purchases – although I have been getting a bit later in the week with them – but more for lack of stuff to say.

I’ve been enjoying a lot of the books that I’ve picked up (which is always a good sign) but I find that I’ve been tearing through a lot of them with very little to say after them.

So I’m remedying that now by just listing some thoughts down…not necessarily in order…and not a Civil War comment in the bunch!

1. Supergirl has improved exponentially with the latest issue to hit stands, #9. Now granted that’s not difficult as, let’s be honest, this has been a turd of a book for some time. Now free of Greg Rucka’s Candor arc (with a C not a K), this ish was a treat, looking at how Kara’s finding her way in the world. Guesting a load of characters who don’t steal the limelight from the lost maid of steel (with the possible exception of potential love interest Boomerang), this is a solid read. Looks like I’ve finally stopped wavering.
2. Robin – this is a good read – and once again, Boomerang guest stars. I really like the guy, despite not reading Outsiders anymore. Robin himself, though, has been best-affected by the OYL overhaul if you ask me, and for the first time in a long time (geez…since Chuck Dixon left, I guess) I’m actually looking forward to the next issue instead of being ‘meh’.
3. JLA – yes it has a longer name but I’m damned if I’m typing it. Solid first issue, with nice dynamics from the big 3 as they vote on a team – even though one’s forming without them. Although I’m really not sold on Batman calling Red Tornado ‘Reddy’.
4. X-Men – Astonishing, Uncanny and Adjectiveless have all turned in great recent issues – the creative switches on the latter two are really paying off, and Whedon and Cassaday are firing on all cylinders on the former. So….what the hell is going on? Is it all in Emma’s head or what? Oh, and I’m not convinced that Colossus is getting out of the 24 issues alive.
5. 52- for a title that I was on the verge of dropping this has been a huge turn around. It’s now the top of my pile every week. I’m not sure what happened about six weeks ago, but it’s like everything is just clicking now. Impressive stuff.
6. Star Wars KOTOR – I’m liking all of the SW relaunches, but this one takes the cake so far – really good fun even if it’s in an era that I’m completely unfamiliar with. Solid book.
7. Hunter Killer – wow. I thought they’d given up on this, then #6 rolled out a few weeks back – and it was very very good, deserving of a second immediate read which hardly ever happens. I’d recommend this to anyone, anyone at all.
8. The Escapists – surprise of the summer for me! A 6 issue limited series from Dark Horse penned by Brian K Vaughan framed with the same kind of conceits as the book on which the character is based, this is working on all kinds of levels for me. Highly, highly recommended.
9. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – PAD seems to be bringing back the classic Mysterio – about time this got cleared up as by last count there were 3 of them running around, including the dead one.
10. Sensational Spider-Man – meanwhile, over here Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is bringing back a lot of classic villains – Chameleon, Molten Man, Electro…after his first arc brought in Puma, Lizard, Stegron and the Black Cat amongst others, I’m a little concerned that he’s blowing through the classic rogues too quickly, but I’m having fun while he does.
11. Heroes for Hire – okay, kind of CW related, but this was a great first ish this week – and hey, Shang Chi and the Daughters of the Dragon in one book can’t be beat. Fun book with a good premise – I’ll be interested to see where it goes after the war is over.
12. Superman – fun fun fun. Both Superman books are in great hands right now, but the Busiek-Pacheco Superman gets the vote from me. Best it’s been in quite a while.
13. Thunderbolts – long time readers of mine will know that this is one of my fave books. And that hasn’t changed. The last issue, basically a set piece between Zemo and Cap’n A scored highly with me by referencing my all-time fave Avengers storyline, Under Siege. A change is coming to this title soon – and I’m curious as to what it will be. I think a new team will be rising following the Grandmaster arc…
14. Wonder Woman – it’s good but I think a lot of it has been spoiled by other books. I mean, we all know Diana is taking the crown back thanks to JLA. Not only that, but the fact that Dr Psycho is running around after getting his ass kicked in Manhunter is also irking me (although maybe that arc is set after this arc which would make sense given how Manhunter #25 ended…). Great art though.

Agree? Disagree?