Or - “Repercussions And Resolutions.”

Walker.  Deena.  Excrement.  Rotating blades. 

This shan’t be pretty.

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Though not surprising in the slightest, I was pleasantly happy to see Two-Face Year One in this week’s pull lists. I was however surprised that it was only a two parter, but then I found that it was 48 pages long, and … needless to say, as a big Harvey Dent fan, I’ll be looking forward to buying this in TPB.

But for the moment, we’ve got 48 pages worth of Harvey Dent to review, and I was once again pleasantly surprised with how this turned out.

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Or - “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be…”

Ever since the beginning of the Season Eight storyline, comic fans have been awaiting the appearance of Joss Whedon’s OTHER comic book Slayer, Melaka Fray.  Those of you who are in the know may recall that the Scythe (which isn’t a Scythe) that Buffy carried in the last season or so of BtVS actually made it’s first chronological appearance in the Fray miniseries that Dark Horse put out, chronicleing the adventures of the Slayer of the somewhat far future.  The cover promises that Miss Summers and Miss Fray are about to finally come Slayerface to Slayerface…  What happens now?  I’m voting: tea party!

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Maybe something that people have forgotten since Wally West returned as The Flash, is that part of what made the Flash such a great character and series is his Rogue’s gallery. Not as dire or maniacal as Batman’s, the Flash’s rogues started out campy, and got progressively darker, while keeping that campy edge that only a cold gun can bring.

So when I finished Rogues’ Revenge, I was struck by how similar this book was to the good Flash days, even though Jay, Barry, Wally nor Bart made an appearance.

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Or - “The Best Justice League Story You’ve Never Read…”

I had such plans for this week…  I had lined up a review for each day, broken it all down, done the legwork and created my images, I was READY.  Then came Friday…  A group of coworkers and I were chosen to take a trip to Kansas City to celebrate our performance at work, and I thought, “Hey, free food!”  They didn’t tell me about the open bar…  Suffice to say that I enjoyed Cirque Du Soleil, but I’m not used to drinking like that anymore.  Friday night was a bust, Saturday morning was a bit of a hangover, Saturday afternoon I went to the pool and soaked in chlorine, and Sunday?  Sunday dawned, and… um… stuff.  Best laid plans, and all that.  Anyway, here we are on Sunday evening, and The Boys is up and ready to mess with your head.  Haven’t you ever wondered WHY The Butcher hates the super-dupes?  Read on, MacDuff, but be aware…  Adult themes and language await you after the fold.

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Or - “An Army Of Superheroes And A Giant Guy With Goat Horns.  Win/Win!”

So, a giant, helpful, kind, trustworthy, loyal and all-powerful gawd is walkin’ the Earth, giving people their greatest desire.  Why, then, do the JSA look like they’re about to void their respective bowels of some heavy masonry?  After all, there’s no way that this could all go horribly awry, right?

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Or - “Because I’ve Fallen Further Behind Than Ever Before…”

I have to tell you, two weeks of being unable to type without crying like a little girl really makes your work pile up.  The last couple of weeks of comics have been a tumultuous ride, with a whole lot of minor things happening that made me happy.  An old favorite disappoints, while a surprise contender impresses the heck out of me.  British vampires, time-lost Arcturans, underground civilizations, the chupacabra, and a fifty-foot stalk of marijuana await you, beyond the fold!

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Or - “The Green Man Has Gone Away…”

J’onn J’onzz of Ma’aleca’andra, aka John Jones, aka Marco Xavier.  The character who, arguably, really represents the beginning of the Silver Age at DC.  Invisible, super-strong, super-speed, telepathic, intangible, shape-shifting hero with laser vision.  The heart and soul of the Justice League in many of it’s incarnations, a cornerstone of the DC Universe…  The Martian Manhunter is dead.  Long live the Martian Manhunter!

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Or - “Swan Song, Anyone?”

So. I’m back.  Those of you who listen to the podcast may have heard my oblique references to having a swollen arm and generally whining about something or other.  The clinical diagnosis is “tendonitis,” which means that my left arm swells, and throbs, and basically makes life miserable, and fine motor work (like, say, typing?) has a tendency to cause agony.  I’m mostly over this bout, thanks for asking, just in time to go on a bravado run of reviewing unmatched by any man, woman, or energy being in a tiny scale model spaceship in recent memory.  Provided, of course, that I manage my pain.  In any case, my return to active duty coincides (in a general sense) with the end of Brubaker, Fraction and Aja’s run on Immortal Iron Fist.  Danny Rand has been through the fire over the last year and a half, and now he’s ready to change his life for the better.  The problem is fate, as always, has a surprise or two up her sleeve for our Daniel Rand-Kai…

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Or - “That’s Right…  Sandy Makes The Cut, Atmos Doesn’t.  My Rules, I Make ‘Em Up.”

When making my final, official, multi-reality, complete roster of the Legion of Super Heroes, I ran afoul of a few conundrums.   Should I count one-issue plot devices like Command Kid or Dynamo Boy as LSHers?  Should I treat the post-reboot Umbra, Leviathan, Alchemist, et al as separate entities from the pre-Crisis Shadow Lass, Colossal Boy, and Element Lad? Could I give the likes of Chemical King or Monstress, with their short tenures, the same kind of gravitas that I hope to impart to Mon-El and Cosmic Boy??  (Your mileage may vary, but I’m trying, Ringo.  I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd…)  And what about Legionnaires whose tenures have gone undocumented, like those during the 5 Year Gap era of the team?  Do they count?  The main thrust of my decisions came down to one important question:  Does the character in question feel like a Legionnaire?  Did he she or it embody that which edifies, elevates, and enlightens?  Could Character X honestly stand alongside Bouncing Boy, Matter-Eater Lad and Tyroc, much less Brainiac 5 or WIldfire?  I’ve been very open from the beginning about the fact that there will be no history of Atmos or Nemesis Kid (at least as Legionnaires…)  I just can’t bring myself to take a character who manipulated his way onto the team and into Nura’s bed by using his “super-roofie” powers, and brought nothing to the Legion save invisible armpits.  Same goes for Val’s murderer.  You may argue that each has his moments, and I agree, but so do many supporting Legion characters (Flynt Brojj, Karate Kid’s sensei, R.J. Brande, etc.) who don’t qualify. Call it “personal continuity,” if you need a name.  And in that vein, today’s Hero History entrant is an unusual case.  She served alongside the team without ever really seeming to belong, and her unpleasantness and snark weren’t the attitude you expected from a member of the LSH.  Yet, somehow, she proved herself to the team, and to me, and was allowed to wear the much-vaunted Legion crest and flight ring.  This then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of the girl who might be Sandy Anderson of Earth…  Inferno!

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Or - “Finally, We Find Out What The Deal Is With “That Little Spaceship Guy!”

The Legion of Super-Heroes, throughout the decades, has taken influence from a lot of sources, and often those influences have had as much in common with Star Trek and it’s ilk as it has had with the Justice League or the Avengers.  Certainly the 30th century setting of the team has allowed the Legion to have had more non-human members (Blok, Tellus, Gates, even Dawnstar and Wildfire are quite obviously NOT your average super-goober) than any other super-team, and today’s entrant is one of the most inhuman of all.  Gates may not have been a humanoid, but at least he’s a SOLID.  Of all the Legionnaires, he/she/it brought a truly alien viewpoint to the team, along with an awesome sense of fun and a genuine humor seldom seen since Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad left the team so many years ago.  Though short in tenure, and small in stature, today’s Legionnaire entrant nonetheless made a mark on the team (and a marked change in one of the most tenured LSHers) that could not be ignored…  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of  of Teall…  Quislet!

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Or - “This Just In: Former Captain America Steve Rogers Is Still Dead…”

“…even though all appearances point to the contrary.”  I was having a discussion with Tom Grice (Who is still WRONG, sir!  WRONG! ) recently, regarding changes to our comic book purchasing habits, during which we both realized that we were slowly dropping a lot of titles that were “just plain superhero books.”  I gave up on both New Warriors and Thunderbolts in recent months, and Tom had found himself culling hero books, but keeping titles like Scalped, Hellblazer, and other stories off the beaten path.  When talk turned to Brubaker’s work on Captain America, we both agreed that “The Death of Captain America” has been less superhero book than spy thriller with elements of classical romance and soap opera, and that precise fact is what makes the book so enjoyable.

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One of the best comics going around at the moment is Wolverine First Class. It is a telling of how the close relationship that Kitty and Logan have evolved, from Kitty’s first days at the Xavier School. It’s funny, it’s cute, and above all, it gives you the insight in to their relationship it promises.

However the sales are not justifying its quality, with only 22,000 sold for issue 3. It’s a pity, because it is a book I want to continue reading.

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One of the best comic series of the past decade or more is, undoubtedly, Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and penciled by John Cassaday. Together they created one of the most comprehensive, cohesive and controlled pieces of comic literature we’ve seen in a long time. Whedon’s story was breathtaking, and Cassiday’s art was better.

So let’s see how long it takes before it all comes crashing down. Why? Because Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi are now on the book and they aren’t no Whedon and Cassaday.

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Or - “Haven’t We Seen This Before?”

When Brad Meltzer relaunched the Justice League just a couple of years ago, he was brimming with ideas, from returning an all-star multi-era Justice League, to the return of Despero, to the Red Arrow (ugh) and Hawkgirl relationship, to Red Tornado ending up in a human body, there were a ton of fascinating story hooks to that first dozen issues of JLA.  Sadly, Brad didn’t end up hanging very much ON those hooks, but the basics were there.  After a long and drawn out crossover with Salvation Run that didn’t make a whole lot of narrative sense, we’ve returned to Earth, and the plight of John Smith, the “man” called Red Tornado.  But is this just Red Tornado II: Electric Boogaloo? (more…)