Four-Color Coverage

Saturday – 03 September 2016
Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 has come to an end.

This was, quite possibly, my most fun time at the con to date. I had a great time seeing friends, reacquainting with others, meeting new people and being a panelist for the first time! (Hopefully, I’ll get to do it again next year!) There were some things and people that I did not have the opportunity to see, but I really can’t complain about this year’s con experience.

This morning, Sara and I took Team DiVa to the Con (ahem… “the costume party”), so that they could see people in costumes. We found “a few” Captains Marvel, to Diana’s glee, but we had a hard time finding a Ms. Marvel for Vanessa. I was hoping to see the young lady (also pictured below) that I saw on Friday; she was nowhere to be found today. Sara managed to find both a Captain AND a Ms. Marvel – at the same time – who were both happy to take pictures with the girls. This happened while I was having a brief meet-and-greet with Phill LaMarr (Pulp Fiction, Mad TV, the voice of Green Lantern John Stewart on Justice League). WHEW!

We left Comic Con, so the girls could have lunch and some down time. I realized that I needed some recovery time, as well.

I returned to the Con a little after 5 PM… to find that the main floor was closing at 7 PM. Fortunately, I had managed to check off most of the boxes on my “To Do” list during the earlier visit. I visited with the Dr. Volt’s crew and managed to get more than three pictures of cosplayers today. I wrapped up the evening attending a panel with three-fourths of the lovely ladies from the Hello Sweetie Podcast, and three other panelists.

I think that Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 was fantastic convention and hope that it was a great success for all involved. I’d also like to thank and congratulate the staff and crew of Salt Lake Comic Con for putting on a great event… and for letting me be a part of it this year! I look forward to what SLCC 2017 brings.

And here are the pictures…

Tuesday – 12 April 2016 Monday – 18 April 2016 Monday – 27 April 2016
I finally saw Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier this last week two weeks ago. I’ve been trying to write this summation of my thoughts since then. More or less. At times, it just felt like too much drudgery to finish. But, here it is.

I managed to avoid most spoilers, either in conversation or in the media, before seeing the movie. There was one nominally big one that slipped through the cracks, but I thought it might have been a misinterpretation. (It wasn’t.) I will most likely pick up that thread later in this post.

Like my Man of Steel review, this is going to be a two-part review:
The first part will be more of a synopsis and spoiler-free.
The second part will be more in-depth.
Consider yourselves duly warned.

Part One: Synopsis
I mostly enjoyed this movie.

It appeared to draw from the following sources, among others:

• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• The Doomsday storyline and Superman: The Death of Superman
• JLA: Tower of Babel
• Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
• Man of Steel #3 and Man of Steel #4
• Superman: The Animated Series
• SUPERMAN: Earth One

Some would contend that there were too many moving pieces in this film and that never works. I’d counter with a look at X2: X-Men United. That story took four storylines from over 20 years of X-Men lore and wove them into a compelling story. This, however, threw a lot at the audience in its two-and-a-half hour runtime and there’s still (at least) thirty minutes of footage that will be seen on the DVD/Blu-Ray release.

And, seventy-five years after her introduction, we finally got Wonder Woman on the big screen. She was introduced with an air of mystery that I hope will be expanded upon in her feature film, due out next year. For the in-costume screen time that she did have, I was pleased with how she was presented: She was a warrior and one, it seemed, who enjoyed a good fight.

I give this movie five SuperBats… possibly six:

   ( )

Part Two: In-Depth Observations
Now that the niceties are out of the way, let’s get to the heart of the matter.

This was a dark movie. Granted, Batman is in it, but I expected a Superman with a much lighter tone to juxtapose against the Dark Knight’s… darkness. That was not what audiences got.

This Superman was still rather aloof and somewhat removed from the people. Yes, there have been stories around that concept, but for the most part, Superman has seemed to enjoy not only being a role model, but also just being with and around people. Well, more people than just Lois Lane and Martha Kent. There was talk of – and a little lip-service towards – him being a symbol of hope for people… but it seemed more like they were just trying to convince the audience of that than anything else.

The Batman we saw could have been lifted directly out of The Dark Knight Returns: Older, world-weary, hardened. He perceived Superman as a threat to be negated and he also gave action to the growing sentiment of wariness and fear… even if he was pushed into this action through Lex Luthor’s machinations. That point, I’ll come back to in a few paragraphs. While I can understand Bruce’s rage-filled dream about Superman taking over the world, what I cannot fathom is why he would have any notion of parademons, the firepits of Apokolips, or Darkseid at this stage of the game. Hell, he shouldn’t even really have an inkling until Lex started ranting at the end of the movie… if even then.

Lex Luthor. There are many ways to get him wrong. Richard Donner didn’t do it. Bryan Singer didn’t do it. Hell, even the writers on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman didn’t do it. But, this Lex… I don’t know. The genius was there, but there was something missing. Perhaps it was in the way that he came off as a bit manic in some/many scenes. Perhaps it was an attempt to show the smartest man in the room, whose mouth literally couldn’t keep up with all of the lines of thought going on in his mind. I don’t know. I think that he did morph a bit from a less manic Lex and more of the cold, calculating Luthor that I was used to seeing in scene on top of the LexCorp tower with Superman.

Once again, I found that I enjoyed Amy Adams’ Lois Lane. She was tenacious and willing to fight for the stories that she felt needed to be told. You could see that she truly cared for Clark, with his best interests at heart, but also saw the dangers in the shadows that he didn’t – or wasn’t willing to – see.

The brightest spot, in terms of characterization, was Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. To be honest, I was worried about what we would get. This, they got right. We didn’t get a lot of backstory – that’s being left to next year’s movie. While I would have liked to have known a little more about what she does for a living – she’s an antiquities expert/dealer, a fact I discovered from the packaging of a Wonder Woman figure for the movie – I was happy that Snyder got the “warrior princess” part right. And that was done very well. I loved the fact that, once she got into the thick of the fight, you could see that she was enjoying it, almost reveling in the ability to cut loose.

A friend pointed out something that I hadn’t considered: Snyder used Diana to effectively stop the plot (or at least put it on “Pause) while she “…watched trailers for the next movies.”  True. For those who aren’t following: After Bruce Wayne decrypted Luthor’s file on metahumans and sent it to her, the story got derailed to show clips of the three unknown metas.

I mentioned Bruce Wayne’s buttons getting pushed by Lex Luthor above. Here’s where I come back to that point. I’ll grant you that Lex is traditionally considered one of the most intelligent characters in the DCU. What I would love to know is how did he figure out the identities of two of the most guarded figures in the DCEU?! Granted, if you watch Lois Lane’s movements enough, pick up on the fact that “where goes Lois, so too goes Superman.” Put that together with the fact that she started dating a guy – roughly Superman’s size and build – about the same time he showed up on the scene and it’s arguable that you could deduce that Clark is Superman, given enough time. In fact, Lex figured that out in comics in the second issue of Superman (1987), but rationalized it away, thinking that no one with Superman’s powers would waste his time pretending to be… just human. But, figuring out that Bruce Wayne is Batman? Nope. Can’t see it. And, being able to lead “the world’s greatest detective” on a snipe hunt for a man who not only doesn’t exist, but there’s a ship in the harbor that he’s been staking out with the exact same name and he can’t figure it out?! Nah, man. You lost me there.

Then there’s Zod Doomsday. I’m amazed at how quickly Lex not only wrapped his not-yet-bald head xenotechnology and took control of the ark/Fortress of Solitude, but let’s also give him a hand for mastering xenobiology in about 10 minutes. “Lex E. Coyote, super genius…”

And the death of Clark Kent was handled even more ham-fistedly than in the comics. And that’s saying something.

I was struck by something that Christopher Tapley wrote in his review of the movie for Variety:

“… given that Snyder is obsessed with iconography, a visualist more than a storyteller. “

That phrase triggered something for me. After reading it, I considered some of the movies that Snyder has directed: 300, Man of Steel, Sucker Punch, and Watchmen. While I enjoyed all of those films – and even purchased three of the four – I realized that Mr. Tapley was right. Snyder has a keen ability to make something look visually stunning… but, unless he is (more or less) directly adapting something – 300 or Watchmen, for example – the story is kind of thin. And this movie was no exception to that rule.

As much as I enjoyed Man of Steel for the things that it did differently with the character, I just couldn’t muster that same satisfaction out of this movie. Wonder Woman pulled a lot of this movie’s fat out of the fire for me. I am not disappointed that I paid to see it (in IMAX, even) for the spectacle, but I’m on the fence whether I’ll be putting down money to buy the DVD/Blu-ray… unless the extra footage seriously helps the story. And that’s a pretty strong statement, coming from the guy who saw Green Lantern in the theatre twice(!) and bought the movie on Blu-ray.

Monday – 28 March 2016
Fans Supergirl and The Flash have been hoping for some kind of team-up between the heroes since Variety ran an article with Greg Berlanti – along with this picture, featuring Supergirl‘s Melissa Benoist and The Flash‘s Grant Gustin – last October.

Picture (c) Variety

But, there were a number of obstacles:

• Supergirl had not been given a full season order,
• The Flash had already scheduled their Season 2 episodes,
• The shows, were on different networks¹.

Then, something happened: Supergirl got picked up for a full season. Fans’ hopes got a little higher. But, The Powers That Be said that there was no time and that it couldn’t happen this season. Maybe something could be worked out next season.

On February 3rd, an announcement came out of CBS:

Supergirl’s world just keeps getting bigger—and more exciting.

CBS and The CW Network announced Tuesday that two of their respective shows will collide this spring. The Flash will appear in an upcoming episode of Supergirl, combining the two superheroes into one action-packed hour.

Fan reaction, not unexpectedly, was ecstatic. And then, the fan speculation started. Slowly, CBS released a few details: The episode title. Villains. The circumstances of Barry meeting Kara. And there were social media pushes, not just from the shows’ official sites, but also from the stars of the shows.

Just a couple of superheroes in the park… no big deal.

The episode aired tonight and it was fun. It was also reflective of the tone of both shows: Heroes doing the best they can, in both their heroic and civilian lives. It was also refreshing to see a hero team-up that didn’t involve the stereotypical trope of: heroes meet – heroes fight – heroes make up and resolve to fight bad guys trope.  It was just heroes helping heroes.

Oh, the episode had villains helping villains, too; I shouldn’t forget that part.

Livewire and Silver Banshee — Picture (c) CBS

Something that added to the fun of the episode was being able to watch it with – and explain it to – my daughters. To say that they are “big fans of superheroes” would be something of an understatement. (One daughter may or may not have been named for Wonder Woman…) They know a fair number of the DC heroes, with Supergirl being pretty high on their list. I’ve wanted to let them watch Supergirl, but it’s a bit mature for them – they’re four-and-a-half. They came down to the family and started watching with me… so I decided to see how they dealt with it. They had a lot of questions:

• When is The Flash going to run fast? (They started watching after Barry had changed into civilian clothes.)
• Why is Supergirl not wearing her costume? (Civvies, again)
• Who’s that and why is she being mean to Supergirl? (Cat Grant)
• Is [person] a good friend or a bad friend?
• Did that bad friend break out of jail? (When Livewire escaped DEO confinement)
• Why does Supergirl have blood on her fingers? (After being shrieked at by Silver Banshee)
• Are they going to race?
• Why can James not hear Supergirl? (Near the end of the episode)
• Can all those people not hear either?

…but they took the episode in stride – it was easy enough for them to follow (mostly) and came down to a heroes putting the villains in jail, a concept they understand. As an added bonus for me, I got to watch them as they watched a show featuring heroes they know.

Thank you, CBS and The CW for giving viewers a fun show that didn’t feel too weighted down by the story arcs of either character’s respective show. It was enough of a one-and-done that someone who didn’t watch “the other show” regularly could enjoy for the sake of what was presented.

Now, how about renewing Supergirl for Season Two and getting Kara onto either The Flash, Arrow, or Legends of Tomorrow²?

¹ – Okay, yes, CBS does have 50% interest in The CW, but they are still different networks.

² – Legends of Tomorrow would provide an easy (re-)introduction of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Just putting that out there.

03 August 2015
Let’s look at comics and comics-related things!

Let’s get a few random items out of the way first.

• 25 Greatest Animated Comic Book Covers
• Badass Women to Read if Kelly Sue DeConnick Is Your Hero
  
• Has anyone else tried reading comics with those old red-blue 3D glasses? No? You should give it a shot.
• DC Comics Bombshells Creates World Where Women Were Heroes of World War II
  • Buy This Book: ‘DC Bombshells’ #1 Knocks It Out of the Park
• Nostalgia Overload: ‘Star Wars’ Movies Get Little Golden Books Adaptations
• Ant-Man. If, for some reason, you still haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on Marvel Studios’ take on a comedy heist movie.

Okay with those out of the way, let’s talk comic books…

For me, one of the bright spots in comics is the writing and art of Thom Zahler. He first came to my attention for Love and Capes, which billed itself as “The heroically super situation comedy.” And that’s exactly what it was. But, while serving up romance in a world where costumed heroes exist is nothing new, Love and Capes made the romance the focus of the book, rather than superheroics. This doesn’t mean that readers never saw heroic feats; but the real story followed the growth of the relationship between Abby Tennyson, owner of a small bookstore, and Mark Spencer, accountant by day/superhero by… well… night and day, really. The dialog was crisp and the situations in which Mark, Abby, and their friends found themselves felt believable. And, the comedic timing – after all, it did call itself a ‘situation comedy’ – worked in a way that didn’t feel forced. Check out the website, linked above, or pick up issues or trade paperbacks from IDW Publishing.

Mr. Zahler’s latest offering is the four-issue mini-series, Long Distance:

Long Distance #1 by Thom Zahler

The description for this series:

From the creator of Love and Capes, Thom Zahler! While stranded in an airport, Carter and Lee meet and hit it off immediately. Problem is, he lives in Columbus and she lives in Chicago. Can they manage to have a relationship separated by three hundred miles, a time zone, and the entire state of Indiana?

As someone who has been in a couple of long-distance relationships, the dialog and the situations feel realistic. Zahler manages to find the proper balance of the giddiness that accompanies a new romance along with the added tensions of distance, work, commentary from friends, and time. Because of the care that he puts into all of that, Carter and Lee go from being “just characters in a comic book” to a couple of people to whom you can relate.

Issue #3 of Long Distance hits stands this Wednesday. I highly recommend picking it up – along with Issues #1 and 2 – as part of your comics haul.

Monday – 07 July 2014
A few days ago, there was a notification on Facebook that people could attend a screening for Guardians of the Galaxy:

#GuardiansOfTheGalaxy

Anyone who’s known me for more than eleven minutes knows that I’m a comic book fan. It’s something of a given. And I am also a fan of well-done comic book movies. And maybe a few not-quite-as-well-done ones, too. As this movie is squarely rooted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’ve been looking forward to it for “a while now.” So I clicked the link and decided to roll the bones (Ha! I worked a Rush reference! Go, me!) and see if I could get to a theatre in time to catch it.

What I neglected to pick up on, thanks in equal parts to not reading the notification past “YOU CAN SEE THIS ON MONDAY!!!!!!!!” and what I’ll attribute to some clever marketing/writing on the part of the company who sent out the invitations, was one key piece:

It was only 17 minutes of the movie.

Yep, didn’t suss this out until I reached the theatre. *sigh* But, I was there. I will admit that the whole “Bag it, I’m going home” thing did cross my mind. More than once…

I decided to stick it out and see what they had to offer. I’m glad that I did. The seventeen minutes that they showed were fun, witty, well-written and definitely well-cast. This last part might give people more ammunition to say that Vin Diesel is a “wooden actor.” I don’t have beef with the man’s chops, after all: He’s the one on-screen and I’m in the seat watching. It was nice to see a little more of what’s going on with some of the characters and how they interact.

There’s been a lot of talk that Bradley Cooper’s Rocket is going to steal the show. That speculation might not be too far off base. He might also have some competition from Diesel’s Groot.

It was good to hear Dave Bautista’s Drax have some dialogue – even if it differs quite a bit from his speech patterns in comics. His origin seems to be different, as well, but that’s something we can just set aside for now.

Zoe Saldana’s Gamora was also given a bit of screen time and showed herself to be a formidable woman. That’s a “good thing” since she’s known as “the most dangerous woman in the universe.”

And there’s Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. He’s already been the “face” of trailers and other media, so it didn’t feel like he was given quite as much time as the other Guardians, although tonight’s  footage did expand on the headphones scene in the prison. It plays out even more amusingly than it does in the trailer.

So, what did I think of what I saw? I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t get to see the full movie. On the other hand, it was great fun – the seventeen minutes went by far too quickly. If the rest of the movie is as tight as what we got to see this evening, Marvel/Disney has another hit on their hands and has added a fantastic new area for expansion and exploration to their growing Cinematic Universe.

Now all I have to do is wait for another three weeks…

#GuardiansOfTheGalaxy

Tuesday – 10 September 2013
This past weekend, Salt Lake City hosted its first Comic Con, the aptly named Salt Lake Comic Con:

The event was originally scheduled to take place at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. When the organizers realized that tickets for the event were selling faster than they anticipated, they expanded to another hall in the Expo Center. When sales continued to exceed expectations, the venue changed from Sandy to the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City. I haven’t seen official final numbers, but I have heard that over 70,000 tickets were sold for the event:

This places Salt Lake Comic Con in the top five cons of 2012-2013* in its inaugural year.

After a good deal of deliberation, schedule planning and adjustment, I decided to attend the convention. It would be the first Comic Con – or any other non-train or car show, for that matter – that I attended. I went for two of the convention’s three days: Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, I left work early and spent a little more than three hours at Comic Con. The hall was full of attendees, guests and vendors, all of whom were there to share in their common love of comics, science fiction and… just plain fun. The crowds weren’t bad Thursday evening. There were a lot of people in costume, which is to be expected at a convention catering to a comic-centric crowd. This young lady was quite possibly my favorite cosplayer of the day:

She was passing by in a wheelchair, when I noticed her. I asked her if she’d mind if I took a picture of her and her costume. She gave a quick look at her father, who was pushing her chair. He gave her a smiling nod of approval. She gave a quick smile, stood up and posed… sans smile, just as you’d expect from Raven, especially from the Teen Titans and/or Teen Titans Go! cartoons.

After talking with the guys from Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection for a while, I walked around and looked at various exhibitors’ booths and displays, including a great The Hobbit-themed booth from WETA:

Friday, I was only able to attend for a few hours, but I decided to go in costume, in my Nick Fury outfit:

Attending in costume was a slightly different experience than going in street clothes. I was approached by people – including a number of young children (or their parents, in the case of shy kids) – asking if they could take my picture. When I was trying to decide whether or not to go in costume, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that. After the fact, I can say: It was actually quite a bit of fun, especially when I saw the kids’ faces light up when I said that I’d take a picture with them.  And let’s face it, when a trio of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and Captain America ask if they can get a picture with you, you say “Yes.”

I wasn’t able to attend on Saturday, but heard about the chaos of the day from a few people. It seems that the bulk of the con attendees came on Saturday. This wasn’t surprising, as it was the only day that surprise guest Stan Lee was going to be at the Con. The number of people attempting to enter the convention center was so great that the Salt Lake Fire Marshall came and limited the number of people able to enter at one time. As people left, they had to get back into the growing line if they wished to get back in.

There were a few points of contention, from what I’ve learned. Most of the complaints seem to stem from a lack of communication and dissemination of information between staff members on Thursday. This led to some confusion about things like where panels were being held and who would be available for guest signings at what time. I also heard that the lines of communication were greatly improved on Friday and Saturday. I’d chalk most of the issues up to “first year growing pains.”

All told, I had a fun – though abbreviated – time at the first Salt Lake Comic Con. As my time was limited, I didn’t attend any panel discussions or stand in line for any autographs/photographs from the celebrity guests. With a bit more advance planning, perhaps I’ll do those things next year. From the attendee point of view, I thought that Salt Lake Comic Con was a good event. If the bumps and scrapes from this year are addressed and corrected for next year’s Comic Con, I expect that it will be even better.

The gallery of pictures I took can be seen here. I wasn’t able to get many pictures on Friday, due to both time constraints and being stopped by people wanting to take my picture. Hopefully, next year, I’ll be able to get more.

* – As of 08 September 2013

I decided to pick up all fifty-two of DC Comics’ new #1’s, so that I could attempt to get a better feel for what they were doing with the DCU DCnU. I was not planning on continuing to read all 52 of the new books, but I figured that I’d give them a shot and see if there were any new/different titles that I might want to add to my subscription at my local comic shop. There were a number of hits, some misses and a fair bit of “that was a decent read, but I don’t think that I’ll be adding that title” along the way. In this post – and the three to follow – I will point out what I feel were some of the highlights of the past four weeks of DC’s releases.

• Action Comics #1 – This was the book that started it all for superheroes and for DC, sorry… “National Comics,” back in 1938. With this reboot/reimagining, Grant Morrison brings us a Superman who’s a little less… well, “super.” Faster than a speeding bullet? More or less. More powerful than a locomotive? Well, he’s at least as strong as a tank. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Depends on the building. This Superman is still new to the game and, from first appearances, operating well outside the auspices of the law. But he still seems to be the Superman that we all grew up with at heart. We are also (re-)introduced to familiar faces such as Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, General Sam Lane and, of course, Lex Luthor. All in all, it was a fun read and I’m curious to see what Mr. Morrison does with this version of the Man of Steel.
  
• Animal Man #1 – I started reading this book in its last incarnation, when… surprise, surprise… Grant Morrison was writing it. And it was a very good read. This time, it’s Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Superboy) at the helm. And his take on Buddy Baker seems to be that of a man who’s at peace with who he is and who he was — as a man, a hero and an activist. He also appears to be a man who’s willing to put the costume back on when there’s someone in need. Again. What’s different about this version is that Lemire seems to be introducing more of a horror bent to the story. While it’s a little too early for me to make a “Keep” or “Trash” call on this series, I’m intrigued enough to stick around for a few more issues to see where it’s going..
  
• Batgirl #1 – It’s not Cassandra Cain under the cowl. Nor is it Stephanie Brown. It’s Barbara Gordon. The original Batgirl is back. We do know that it takes place after The Killing Joke. We don’t know how Babs got the use of her legs again. That, I guess is a mystery for another time.
  
• Detective Comics #1 – Wow. This one hit the ground running. At a full sprint. And it didn’t slow down. It appears to take place early-ish in Batman’s career and among his early encounters with The Joker, an adversary whose motives have long eluded the Dark Knight… and it seems that The Joker has plans in the works. Big ones.
  
• Justice League International #1 – The United Nations looks to assemble a multi-national superhuman team… and have it led by… Booster Gold?! YeahbuhWHAT?! Are they serious!?  (And I’m a Booster Gold fan.) There seems to be much more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. And Batman. Always Batman.
  
• Static Shock #1 – Static is back… but this ain’t Dakota. The teen hero has moved to the Big Apple. And, he appears to have gotten a few new toys, courtesy of Hardware. And he’s already caught the attention of some people whom it seems have something to hide. I never read Static back when he had his Milestone series, but I am appreciating the way that Scott McDaniel is writing him — as an intelligent young man… who… happens to have superpowers. I’ll be sticking with this for a few issues, at least.
  

…and that “while” was a lot longer than I had planned to go without some kind of a post.

There have been many good things that have come out in the past few months. I’m going to take a 10,000-foot view of most titles or groups of titles, with spotlights/highlights from a select few. And with that said, let’s get to it:

• Young Justice/Teen Titans/Tiny Titans
  • Because I missed writing about it before, we’ll start, out of alphabetical order, with the animated Young Justice feature that aired a couple of weeks ago.

    

    It was the premiere for the new YJ series that will air on Cartoon Network, starting in January. In the opening, we meet Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Speedy, sidekicks to Justice League members, who are about to begin their first step to full membership in the League…. or so they think. After a disagreement with the senior Leaguers, Speedy quits and the remaining three undertake a mission – correction: an unsanctioned mission – to investigate a government-run facility. By the episode/feature’s end, the kids have formed a new team, sanctioned by the League, with new rules and a new mission. All-in-all, this was a good take on the Teen Titans… I would say even better than the Teen Titans ‘toon from a few years ago. If you have the opportunity to catch an encore presentation, do so.  It’s good. Very good.

  • Teen Titans #89 – I picked this up because of the introduction of Robin (Damian Wayne) to the team. I wasn’t disappointed… not because it’s natural to have a Robin on the Titans. In fact, quite the opposite: Damian isn’t really a team player, which doesn’t sit well with the other Titans. I may give this a few issues and see if it is worthy of becoming a regular addition to my subscription.
  • Tiny Titans and Tiny Titans/Little Archie and His Pals – This book/these books are still just plain “fun,” and I must admit the TT/LA crossover came off much more smoothly – and more entertaining – that I had thought.
• Action Comics – With Superman going on walkabout in America, Lex Luthor has taken over as the protagonist in this title.  And the story – following Lex’ quest for a power ring – has been good. Including his brush with (Neil Gaiman’s version of) Death.
  

  

• Batman/Batman and Robin/Batgirl/Batwoman/Red Robin
  • Batman titles – Bruce Wayne is back from his trip through the timestream… and he’s broadening his view on his war on crime: He’s going global and recruiting others to his cause.
  • Batman and Robin: Dick Grayson still wears the cowl in Gotham City, while Damian Wayne maintains his role as Robin
  • Batgirl – College student by day; crimefighter by night, Stephanie Brown patrols Gotham City as Batgirl, with the assistance of Oracle and Oracle’s new protege: Proxy.
  • Batwoman – We’ve only seen the zero issue, but I’m liking this take on Kate Kane.
• Birds of Prey #6 – When Black Canary leaves the team to train under the mysterious newcomer who calls herself “White Canary,” Huntress and Zinda travel to southeast Asia to find out what’s really going on. This, in turn, leads to a spectacular fight between Huntress and Lady Shiva, one of the world’s most accomplished – and deadly – martial artists.
• Captain America – With his past as Winter Soldier exposed, James “Bucky” Buchanan – the current Captain America – is now preparing to stand trial for his crimes.



• Fantastic Four #584 – Ben Grimm, after taking a formula created by Reed’s new Future Foundation, takes a formula that allows him to be human again… for a week. Jonathan Hickman writes a good story about Ben and Johnny, two regular guys out on the town. Oh, and Galactus pays Reed a visit, too.
• Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps/Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors
  • Green Lantern – The quest for the Avatars continues.
  • Green Lantern Corps – Ever wonder just who it was that fashioned Sinestro’s first yellow ring? That question is answered. And, we learn he’s not all that happy with Mr. Sinestro, either.
  • Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors – Exactly what is the Lanterns’ mission in the Unknown Sectors… and how do Atrocitus and Bleez fit into the picture?
• Legion of Super-Heroes/Adventure Comics
  • Legion of Super-Heroes – The Legion and Science Police team up to take on a group of Durlan assassins, out to “avenge” the death of R.J. Brande. And, in a bit of a surprising twist, Earth-Man hooks up with [SPOILER DELETED].
  • Adventure Comics – Paul Levitz has done a fantastic job of recounting early Legion stories and returning a young Clark Kent – as Superboy – into the Legion mythos, including a story where Brainiac 5 leads the young LSH on a mission to the past to take on [SPOILER DELETED]. Also, the new Green Lantern 2814 is named.
• New Avengers #6 – In the aftermath of the fight with Agomotto, the New Avengers try to chart their new direction. For Jessica Jones-Cage, that means finding a new nanny for Danielle. The line-up of applicants is impressive (and a little scary), but the winning dialogue of the story comes from Squirrel Girl. (Yes, I said “Squirrel Girl.”) And it’s not just one item, but three. In one issue. Read it.
• Spider-Girl #1 – This re-kickoff issue of an Arana/Spider-Girl series was fun. Teenaged superhero – with a little angst-laden fun. (Besides, how many titles have captions/asides in the form of Twitter posts?) I am really looking forward to seeing where the series goes; I just hope that it holds up to the high bar set by this issue.



• Superman/Supergirl/Superboy
  • Superman – The Man of Tomorrow has been continuing his very human journey across America. I’ve been quite happy with J.M. Straczynski’s storyline and will be interested to see I, Zombie writer, Chris Roberson’s, take on it when he assumes writing duties with Issue #707.
  • Supergirl – I’m going to jump to Supergirl Annual #2 here. Why?  Because it features the LSH. The classic Legion, that is; not the 247-Legion where she spent the “1 Year Later” timeframe. As an added bonus, this issue also served to not only return (or would it be “insert”) the modern incarnation of Supergirl into her classic role with the Legion, but also respark her classic semi-relationship with Brainiac 5.
  • Superboy – To paraphrase the old Oldsmobile commercial: “This is not your father’s Superboy.” But, in some ways, it is. This time it’s Conner Kent, not Clark… but Jeff Lemire and company are establishing his friends and rogues gallery, all while keeping Conner rooted in Smallville.
• Wonder Woman – I’ve liked the direction that the altered time line has taken. In many ways, it’s giving readers a sort of origin story on the new Wonder Woman, showing what forged her into from “princess in exile” to “warrior princess.” (And, yes, I still like the new costume.) There are signs that characters have noticed the changes to the timeline, but the question becomes: “How can they repair it?”

Well, now that WordBook seems to be working (and now that I have some time to spare again), let’s see what kind of mayhem we can kick up here…

Wonder Woman
Let’s just get this one out of the way right off the bat…

I like the new costume.  Period.

No, it’s not the old star-spangled costume that people are familiar with.
It’s something different.
Like nothing we’ve seen before.
Ever.

(c) Lil Formers, by Matt Moylan

…or maybe we have seen something like it before, after all.

Either way, it’s a costume change to go along with Diana’s continuity change. She didn’t grow up a princess on Themyscira. She grew up somewhere in America. In hiding. Being taught by the Amazons who secreted her away from her island home before it was destroyed.

By the way, for those of you who are going on about “Oh, this is just a riff on Superman’s origin!”  Get over it. The island may have been destroyed but Diana is not “The Last Kryptonian Amazon.” There are others. And they know that “something” happened. And they are going to try and set the timeline back to something approaching what we (as readers) consider “normal.”

It’s not like Diana’s costume hasn’t changed before. It’s gone from a skirt to an almost-biker pants style to bikini shorts to a take-off on Emma Peel’s catsuit… and back… to the “non-Wonder Woman” costume of the 90s (when Diana had been stripped of the title and Artemis was WW)… and back again.

So, just sit back, deal with the change in costume, see where the story goes… and rest assured that the costume will be back in its iconic form (or something close to it) in a few months.

Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes
I know that I’m seriously biased when it comes to the Legion, but reading these books has been like catching up with old friends after a too-long absence.

And, even better, we get two looks at the team: We get to see the young Legion – and Superboy (Clark Kent) – in Adventure, while LSH serves up the adult version of the team, dealing with the “current” problems of the not-so-United Planets.

Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps
I’m liking the stories that these books are giving readers: Green Lantern is serving up aftermath of Blackest Night and paralleling the Brightest Day storyline, while GLC is showing some internal problems within the Corps (not that readers couldn’t foresee “something” coming from this group months ago)… and the apparent return of a villain last seen at the end of The Sinestro Corps War.

Batman and Batman and Robin
Dick Grayson has truly come into his own as “The (not-quite-as) Dark Knight” and Damian Wayne makes an interesting Robin. The tension between Damian and other members of the Bat-family has been interesting to read, as he’s trying to prove himself – to himself as well as everyone else – as a worthy successor to Bruce’s legacy.

Red Robin
Tim Drake, prodigal son of the Wayne Family, has returned to Gotham City.  But, the Gotham that he returns to isn’t quite the same as the one he left. How will he fit in with his friends and family after spending months away, forging a new identity for himself?

Fantastic Four
This has been a solid read for a year or more.

Marvel’s “First Family” actually reads like a family. (What a concept!) The stories have been good – and even “fun” to read, from the “Marquis of Death” storyline to Ben Grimm’s courtship and near-marriage to the recent return of other branches of The Inhumans. I’d gladly recommend this book to new readers.

Power Girl
Yes, Power Girl.  The “other ” Supergirl. I know that there were a lot of rumblings about the book possibly going to Hell in a handbasket when Palmiotti and Conner announced that they were leaving and Winick was named as the new writer, but you know what…?  I liked his first issue on the title. I’m willing to give the man a few issues to see how he handles it.

Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men and related titles
I’ve been enjoying the X-books of late. I’ve skipped most of the “Necrosha” and “Second Coming” stories, though. I’ve picked up what I can/needed to from the Uncanny and Astonishing titles… and New Mutants, for a while.

I was surprised that the decided to kill Nightcrawler – didn’t see that one coming at all. Although, given the “revolving door of Death” that the X-Men seem to have, I’m not sure that this will be a permanent state. (After all, they just brought Cypher back.) My biggest reason to smile from the X-books comes from seeing a Scott Summers who acts like someone who’s spent half his life getting groomed to be “The Guy.” Not taking crap from anyone. Making the tough calls. And basically telling anyone who disagrees with him to get bent.

Justice League of America and Justice Society of America
I’ve been disappointed with these books. Seriously disappointed. I don’t think that it’s because “The Big Three” aren’t around (in JLA); I’ve read the series without them being in the picture and enjoyed them. And JSA?  I’m not sure where the wheels fell off of this one, but I think that it was around the time that the “Who’s the traitor?” storyline kicked in. Maybe a little before. *shrug* I’ve been in a “If the story looks interesting, I might pick it up” mode with both books… which has me buying them now, because of the Alan Scott/Starheart story that’s weaving through both titles. We’ll see if I continue to pick up either or both book(s) after this story plays out.

Justice League: Generation Lost
“Who is Max Lord?” This is the question at the heart of this book. The man who assembled the Justice League International, rose to become the top of the food chain at Checkmate and hijacked Batman’s metahuman-monitoring OMAC program has returned, in the wake of The Blackest Night. And no one remembers him.

No one… except certain members of the JLI. Being a master manipulator, Max has seen to it that his former team is discredited among the metahuman community and backed against the wall in their quest to find and bring him down. All without leaving any tracks that anyone – even Batman – can follow.

I, Zombie
This book is odd. It’s more like a mystery or thriller, with horror elements thrown in. It’s only three issues in, but I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit.

Superman and Action Comics
J. Michael Straczynski’s “Grounded” storyline has just kicked off in Superman. And I like it. JMS is playing up the “man” in “Superman” and I like the way it’s been reading. I also appreciate the way that he portrays the people that Superman meets along his trek and the way that they (occasionally) interact with each other. I’m interested to see where this takes the characters… and the readers.

Over in Action, it seems as though Metropolis’ other “favorite son” is getting the spotlight. Following his encounter as a “Deputy Lantern” of Agent Orange, Lex Luthor is on a quest for power. And, as we know, Lex doesn’t believe in half measures. This should be a good read.

Supergirl
The Girl of Steel has been through a lot in the past… year-and-a-half… if my math is right. Some things were out of her control. Some things come out of the “Hell of Your Own Making” category. But, she’s survived.

The Gates/Igle creative team has promised us a new direction for Kara, as she finds her place in the DCU. (Again.) I’ve liked the team’s work on this title, so I’ll stick around for a while to see where they – and the powers-that-be at DC – feel that Kara belongs.

The Avengers, Avengers Academy, Secret Avengers
I find myself enjoying the post-Civil/Secret/Sieve Avengers titles.

Seriously. The stories have been, by and large, good. Readable. They don’t make me want to stab my eyes out. I just hope that this is not a fluke and is indicative of a return-to-readability for more Marvel titles than X-Men and Fantastic Four.  (But, I’m still not a fan of John Romita, Jr.’s artwork…)

And with that… I’ll call it “good,” for now.

What with all the house-prep, I’ve fallen behind again with reviews.  But, it’s been worth it — the house is coming together nicely. But, I digress. We’re gathered here to talk comics and whatnot. So, let’s get to it!

Batgirl #9

Batgirl stops a subway hijacking, has a one-on-one chat with Commissioner Gordon and (re-)meets Barbara Gordon’s new assistant. Not bad for a day’s work. But, when people start speaking in binary and showing signs of infections with [SPOILER DELETED] tech and then dying, it’s time for Oracle and Batgirl to step up their game, because [SPOILER DELETED] has returned to Gotham City… and has plans. Big plans.

Batman #698

Edward Nigma and Batman follow the clues left behind at crime scenes that indicate that some of Gotham’s worst villains are on a spree. And who’s the mysterious gentleman in the top hat? And why is The Riddler laughing?

Batman and Robin #11

Dick Grayson continues to follow the clues in and around Wayne Manor… clues that might lead to the whereabouts and/or “when-abouts” of Bruce Wayne. Robin (Damian Wayne) and Oberon Sexton take on the 99 Fiends. Unfortunately, Talia Al-Ghul has chosen the middle of the fight as the perfect time to play with Damian’s “fly-by-wire” system again.

Black Widow #1

Someone from Natasha Romanova’s past wants something from her and comes calling for it. When Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes and Logan find out about it… well, let’s just say that I don’t think that it would be healthy to be the person they’re looking for. As a back-up feature, readers are treated to a condensed timeline of the Black Widow’s history, complete with bibliographic references.

Brightest Day #0

What happens when a Deadman comes back to life? What connection does he have to the eleven other figures who returned to live in the wake of the Blackest Night? How are the others dealing with their second leases on life? This issue poses many questions, but looks like it’s setting up for a good run, full of a few surprises.

Buck Rogers #10

This issue continues a great ride through the 25th Century. Buck makes a couple of anachronistic references that are lost on his companions, but will make readers chuckle, if not outright laugh. And something smells fishy in… oh, wait, it’s just Buck.

The Flash: Secret Files and Origins 2010 #1

This issue gives readers a look at the people and places that are… *ahem*… central to The Flash. The story “Running to the Past” gives a one-minute look at what drives Barry Allen. As far as “real time” storytelling goes, this ranked up there with a good episode with 24.

The New Avengers: Luke Cage #1 (of 3)

Luke Cage goes to Philadelphia to check in on a young man from the old neighborhood… and runs into a little more trouble than he expected. But, do you think he backed down from it? Sweet Christmas, no. He’s Luke Cage. Power Man. And running from a fight has never been his style.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this book. Even more to the point, I never planned to pick it up, especially after seeing the artwork — I wasn’t impressed. Despite that, I found that this was a decent story. I might even stick around for the remaining issues.

Red Robin #11

Following a fight with The Seven Men of Death, assassins at Ra’s Al Ghul’s command, the Brothers Wayne – Dick, Tim and Damian – have a confab… until Robin recognizes someone else as being an assassin in his grandfather’s employ.  And, just to keep things balanced, Vicki Vale, Tam Fox and Batgirl (Stephanie Brown) have a litte chat amongst themselves.

Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton

• Action Comics #888
  
  Flamebird and… where’s Nightwing?… anyway, Flamebird’s taking on Jax-Ur’s demi-Rao. Fortunately, she’s not alone — The JSA and Wonder Woman show up to lend a hand.
• Adventure Comics #10
  
  The battle against Brainiac continues. At stake, the re-bottled city of Kandor. Mon-El dreams of space once more. And General Zod – and his “Brainiac Revenge Squad” – prepares to “…ruin Brainiac’s day.” The back-up feature sees the conclusion of Car-Vex/Officer Romundi’s infiltration of Project: 7734.
• Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton #2 (of 3)
  
  Supergirl, Superboy, and the Legion attempt an assault on Brainiac’s ship… with a little help from another visitor from the 31st Century. A visitor who has something of a “vested interest” in the fight. Superman and Mon-El face off against Brainiac and his drones. And, Kandor… bottled, once more.

Superman: Secret Origin #5 (of 6)

Geoff Johns puts an interesting spin on this retelling/reintroduction of Superman’s early years. In it, readers are (re-)introduced to John Corben – the man who would become Metallo – and his link to Lois Lane. Readers also learn of the common XXX that Lex Luthor and General Sam Lane have in seeing as a threat and menace… and the lengths they would go to in order to prove it.

Uncanny X-Men #523

Cable and Hope come home. Too bad that everyone’s packed up and moved to San Francisco. (And no one even left a forwarding address!) And, on the other side of the country, Cyclops’ dirty little secret – X-Force – has finally been brought out into the light. And not everyone is happy about it. But, to his credit, Scott not only cops to forming X-Force AND says that he would do it again, if deemed necessary, but defies Nightcrawler to challenge his leadership while the team is in the field. (Well done, Mr. Fraction. Thank you for bringing us a Scott Summers who not only acts like the leader of a minority – a dying one, at that – but one who is willing to make the tough calls when necessary.) And, once again, Wolverine gets all the good lines.