Comics are Awesome III

A general discussion forum, plus hauls and silly games.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Dominic wrote:What do we make of the rumors about the 5G reboot? Specifically, if it fails (however that failure might be defined), DC will go to primarily or all-digital.

Thoughts?
I've been reading the rumors for some time now, but I don't know. The whole thing sounds like a disaster in the making to me. I can't imagine much of the readership is going to go along with a wholesale replacement for every single DC character, meaning failure is very likely. I doubt the print media side of the equation will end if it fails though. These characters are worth too much money.... someone will find a way to make a profit off of them.
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Shockwave
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Hasn't Marvel already been doing that with their characters? I read the whole arc for what I call "Lady Thor" and it was pretty good. And apparently it did well enough that the house of mouse has convinced Natalie Portman to reprise the role of Jane Foster which she'd said she would never do again. So.... yeah. I mean, that's the only frame of reference I have for anything like this, but I can't help feeling like there would be a similar reaction to DC trying. Success or failure is going to depend on the writing. Lady Thor probably worked pretty well because actual Thor was still there doing Thor stuff. If DC can do that, then it'll probably work out fine.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Shockwave wrote:Hasn't Marvel already been doing that with their characters? I read the whole arc for what I call "Lady Thor" and it was pretty good. And apparently it did well enough that the house of mouse has convinced Natalie Portman to reprise the role of Jane Foster which she'd said she would never do again. So.... yeah. I mean, that's the only frame of reference I have for anything like this, but I can't help feeling like there would be a similar reaction to DC trying. Success or failure is going to depend on the writing. Lady Thor probably worked pretty well because actual Thor was still there doing Thor stuff. If DC can do that, then it'll probably work out fine.
They've replaced characters before, but not all at once, en masse. Wally West replaced Barry Allen as Flash for a couple of decades, but that's the longest-lived attempt. Kyle Rayer replaced all the other Green Lanterns for about a decade, Connor Hawke replaced Oliver Queen as Green Arrow for a while. But there were a few years in between these attempts and eventually they did revert back for one reason or the other. But we've never seen DC's big three permanently replaced, or even replaced long-term. It's been done for a few months as a storyline, but that's about it. I can't imagine that long term, intended to be permanent replacements are going to go over well. I guess we'll see.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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The Flash #750 - The Flash is (as far as I know) the fourth DC title (Wonder Woman #750 was just a few months ago) to return to some sort of legacy numbering, arrived at by adding up all the Flash series since there have been several. With Action Comics #1000 and Detective Comics #1000 selling so well, I'm sure DC is on the lookout for other series they can sell as a big anniversary book. I'm wondering how long before we get Green Lantern and Justice League returning to high numbering. It would suit me if they did, I like books that aren't afraid to advertise that they've been around for a while.

In any case, Flash follows the format of the other books with various short stories by various writers and artists, with pin ups throughout the book. Most of this issue focuses on Barry Allen of course (my least favorite Flash), but we get a nicely drawn Jay Garrick story set in 1940 where he ponders on "the war in Europe" while fighting the Thinker, and then an epilogue to Flash Forward where Wally West, now with the knowledge of the Mobius Chair and the power of Dr. Manhattan, considers the contradictory nature of the DC timeline and decides that he's just the guy to fix it. I"m a much bigger fan of Jay and Wally than Barry, so it should be no surprise that those two segments are what sold the book to me.

Justice League #42 - part 3 gives all five characters from the League who are active in this storyline (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Barry Allen, John Stewart) something to do as the League races to stop the Daxamites and the Eradicator form wiping out the Earth's population. Madame Xanadu is crucial to the plan to stop them, though it's not quite clear how just yet. It's a solid story with some nice character moments, even if it feels almost pedestrian after Scott Snyder's crazy storytelling.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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The Green Lantern Season 2 #2 - The story is fairly straightforward, but the way it's told combined with the dialogue is Morrison at his most Morrison as everyone speaks in odd ways, something Hal's ring notes. The story reminded me of Doctor Who and the Silurians, where a race indigenous to Earth wakes up, finds that humans control the planet, and decide that they want it back. And Hal has another one-night stand with Eve Doremus, all the while wanting to finish his job and get back off of Earth as quick as he can. So I guess Carol Ferris is way out of the picture.

Hawkman #22 - I wish this "Infected" storyline would just end already. Without going through all the plot mechanics, let's just say that Hawkwoman becomes aware of her many past lives, and by the end of the issue we still have Sky Tyrant to deal with, and both he and Hawkwoman have vanished off of the Atom's ship. I still enjoy the book and the way characters like the Atom and Adam Strange are brought into the story through some logical connections with Hawkman, but I"d like to get the actual Hawkman back in his own book.

Detective Comics #38 facsimile edition - A reproduction, ads, other features, text stories and all, of Dick Grayson's debut issue. It's printed on some kind of flat paper to mimic the old newsprint rather than more glossy modern stock, and at 64 pages or more, it's a thick book. I've read the Robin debut story before of course, but none of the other stories. Except for the semi-superhero the Crimson Avenger, who is a lot like DC's Sandman in his methods, all the others are non-costumed detectives and adventurers. I haven't read them all yet, so I can't comment on the quality of the art and storytelling, but odds are that they're fairly typical early Golden Age crime fighting with lots of bank robbers and jewel thieves, and the occasional spy thrown into the mix. I can see why Batman was the most popular of the bunch.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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I found out my favorite comic book store has decided to shut down thanks to covid-19. The owners are keeping the business going online, but after 38 years, the physical store is no more.
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andersonh1
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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That's too bad. Makes me wonder how much of that kind of thing we're going to see. Both my local shops are closed at the moment, though both say they'll open back up as soon as they can.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Green Lantern Legacy


This is a nice standalone story aimed for younger audiences under the DC Kids graphic novel banner. It follows a 13 year old Vietnamese boy named Tai Pham, whose family owns a convenience store. Turns out, his grandma is a Green Lantern, and when she dies, her ring chooses him as her replacement. Meanwhile, the neighborhood is being terrorized by somebody throwing bricks through windows with "Go home" notes attached, and guy named Xander Griffin who is the head of a big company, Tression, wants to buy the neighborhood to build what he calls the "Gold Coast", a proposed innovative super-development. The people terrorizing the neighborhood turn out to just be some bullies that happen to go to the same school as Tai, and Xander seems to be actually be a decent guy that just wants to improve the neighborhood. At least until it's revealed his company name is an anagram of Sinestro and he's actually a Yellow Lantern. Most of the story revolves around Tai learning more about his grandmother, and the legacy she left behind as both a community leader and as a Green Lantern. This leads Tai to choose community and compassion, following in his grandmother's footsteps, over Xander's heartless super-development.

Overall the story is kept pretty simple given its aim towards younger audiences, but I have to say I thought it was pretty good. The Green Lantern lore is kept to a minimum, only really explaining the basics about the ring and how it works. The only thing I wish they'd done differently is how they handled Xander. I mean, other than being a Yellow Lantern, the story makes him out to be a good guy that genuinely just wants to help improve the neighborhood by making it a super development. It's an alright twist to make him the villain, but I think it'd have been better if he'd secretly hired those kids to terrorize the neighborhood as a means to motivation people to move out of the neighborhood so he could buy up all the property easier.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Nice to finally get some new comics this week, though I haven't had time to read them all over my lunch hour. Two issues of Justice League, Hawkman and Green Lantern, where someone finally remembered that Cowgirl hasn't been seen since around the mid-30s of Geoff Johns' original run on the title. It's good to see Grant Morrison revisiting 2000s GL and not just the 60s and 70s.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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DC Comics is leaving Diamond Comic Distributors.
A spokesperson from DC told The Hollywood Reporter, “After 25 years, DC and Diamond Comic Distributors are ending their long-standing relationship. Moving forward, comic book retailers can obtain their DC books from Penguin Random House, or their books and periodicals through Lunar or UCS comic book distributors. DC continues to be committed to providing the Direct Market with best in class service and the fans with the world’s greatest comic books.”
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