Comics are Awesome II

[Onslaught Six]

Comics John Stewart sucks. Give me the dude from the Justice League cartoon. He was always level headed and awesome.

[Sparky Prime]

Green Lantern: New Guardians #12
Bit of an abrupt end to the Invictus storyline, and it doesn't exactly answer all of the questions brought up in the arc. Like, who opened the portal that allowed Invictus to bring his Orrery through? Seems likely the Guardians did it as a means to destroy Larfleeze, but it's never stated in the story itself. They did the same thing in the Red Lanterns book with whoever brought Abysmus back and gave him the ability to destroy the Red Central Battery. Again, likely the Guardians trying to destroy each of the Corps but it's never stated in the story itself. Anyway, one of the things we do find out in this issue is that Sayd explains Kyle wasn't originally chosen to be a GL for his Willpower, but because Ganthet saw the potential in him to wield all of the colors of the Emotional Spectrum. Bit surprised Ganthet would have selected Kyle for that reason so long before the rise of the other Corps, but who knows what Ganthet had in mind for the future. The New Guardians also disband which sets up for Kyle to reform the group with issue 0, as there will be a couple different members. Pretty good issue, but I would have liked a little more of a resolution with Invictus. But then they can always use him in a future story this way. Looking forward to seeing Kyle train with all of the rings to master them.

Green Lantern Annual #1
So begins the rise of the Third Army. Strange to see the Chamber of Shadow's is sealed with Green energy and a Green Lantern symbol when the Guardians sealed inside have been there since before the Manhunters, for them not to know the Manhunters failed. We really don't learn much of anything with this First Lantern. I'm assuming his powers incorporate the entire spectrum given his scream to be free is heard through all of the rings. It's an interesting concept as it would seem to suggest the Guardians tried to create a Lantern with all of the powers even before the Manhunters, but his powers were too much for him to contain or channel, hence why he was sealed away.

As I've observed before, the Guardians don't see their actions here as evil. Rather they see this as the cold logical way to ensure a peaceful universe free of chaos. Given the introduction of another group of Guardians that have been hidden away all this time, it makes me wonder if perhaps they can bring about a re-balance in other Guardians outlook towards the universe with the conclusion of this story. It'll also be interesting to see what role Black Hand will play if they intend on using his powers for something.

Found it strange Sinestro said that his ring would find someone like himself. The rings are supposed to search out those those that can overcome their fears, not the personality type of it's previous wearer. Suppose that might be an effect of Mogo not being around to guide the rings to a new GL anymore. Anyway, given the error the ring reports after it re-merges with the ring Sinestro created for Hal, looks like that's how it'll come to find Baz when he is introduced in issue 0 of GL who could have qualities of both Hal and Sinestro as a result.

Overall, I really enjoyed this issue. Looking forward to seeing what happens with this Third Army storyline.

Hear hear.

Says a guy that reads a lot of comics.

O6 has a point. Cloning, time travel and alternate universes are generally red flags for "bad comics", even when they are not used to reconcile sloppy or indecisive editing.

I have seen good time travel stories. I have seen good clone stories. But, those are the exception.

I disagree. There are some notoriously bad stories involving time travel or cloning or alternate universes (or even some mixture of those elements) but that doesn't mean the good ones are the exception.

If it were just Liefeld, it would be easy to dismiss. But, Perez's comments are to credible to ignore, even after his lack-luster showing on "Superman".

No one is denying Perez's credibility, but these are only two creator's we are talking about here who have raised an issue about DC's editorial staff changing their minds at the last minute. If the problem was wide spread across the company, you'd think more creators would have spoken out about it by now or we'd be seeing a lot more promo art changing for the final product. Instead, the few other creators who have quit or moved onto other projects have claimed it's for different reasons altogether.

Johns and Lee should have planned this out more beyond "what Johns wrote is generally going to stick" and "Lee wants to redesign characters".

Do you know how much planning Johns and other creators did for Infinite Crisis? They wanted to make sure they didn't repeat those mistakes from CoIE by mapping out everything. It doesn't make sense they wouldn't put that much planning into the New 52 reboot. More than likely, all the decisions were not entirely in their hands. After all, it would take more than just two guys to do all of that work and they aren't the only two at the top of the company.

DC keeps telling the same story. We've seen the Guardians taken out of the picture twice, and now they're going bad. We've seen the Green Lantern Corps depowered twice, and now a third attempt is being made, though I don't anticpate seeing them entirely removed from the picture this time.

How is this the same story? I don't see that the Guardians will be taken out of the picture here. After all we've seen the Indigo Tribe will be attempting to give them rings to force them to be more compassionate. And again, it's not so much that they're evil here, they've just lost perspective in trying to logically eradicate chaos in the universe. Then there is the group of Guardians that were sealed in the Chamber of Shadows. I'm sure they'll come into play as this storyline progresses. I doubt the Green Lanterns will be depowered here either. Certainly they will come under attack, but there is no way they will be loosing this.

[Dominic]

Yup, this is going to be a long post.

You know how I tend to fall behind reading comics, usually between Halloween and Thanksgiving, often not getting caught up until the end of the year? Guess what? It is happening early this year. Last week was a big week. This week has also been a pretty big week. Besides the fact that I still have a comic from last week that I have not read, I also left a good sized pile of comics behind earlier today. (And, the only reason I even got to the comic shop to begin with was because I had a doctor's appointment and could not go to work.) After buying a set of text books for this semester I wanted to go easy on my wallet, so I left behind as much, if not more, than I bought today. And, it is just as well, given that I would not have been able to read them all this week.


Comics:
-Worlds's Finest #0:
I really want to like this series. If nothing else, it prominently features the Huntress, a character that I always preferred the pre-CoIE version of. And, Perez on art makes just about any book worth a look. And....Perez is off the book this issue and the series as a whole has failed to wow me these past few months. The story shows the first meeting of Helena and Kara (as Robin and Supergirl). There is no mention of Hakkou or any indication of why he will be important. Maybe Levitz was only writing a self-contained origin story. Maybe it is a symptom of the over-all lack of planning that seems to plague the New 52. Either way, the book is just kind of aimless. It is not bad. But, there is nothing to recommend it.
Grade: C

-Earth 2 #0:
Apparently, the war with Apokolips on E2 went on for at least a few years. Robinson shows an early battle and a failed attempt to stop Apokolips' armies. Robinson ties this issue in with Mister Miracle being shunted over to E2, which shows that he at least has a plan for the series.
Grade: B

Flash Annual #1:
The post "Flash Point" Rogues' origin is detailed here. As much as I can accept DC changing so many of their characters, I really cannot help but feel that something was lost by making the Rogues actual super-humans, rather than keeping them "a bunch of guys who lucked in to their gear". Heat Wave looks like a refugee from the 90s. But, the other Rogues look acceptably modern. (Captain Cold benefits the most from the new look.) The New 52 Trickster looks to be a bastardization of the two pre-"Flash Point" Tricksters. (From what I hear, the new Phantom Lady and Dollman are similarly bastardized, so this is not a unique type of revision in the New 52.) And, despite Heat Wave's flame-throwers and Cold's ice gun encasing targets in ice, the Rogues are not killers by virtue of a "word of god" narration box. (This makes only slightly more sense than Marvel's "word of god" about the Hulk never killing.) Objectively, the biggest real problem with this annual is that it is "to be continued" in to an arc that has little to do with the Rogues. But, I cannot help but really put this issue under a microscope.
Grade: B/C

Superman Annual #1:
Something has consistently bothered me about New 52 Superman. And, this story put it in perspective. Superman is too young. If DC plans to keep Superman as a peer of Batman, Superman needs to be older. (De-aging Batman will not work because of DC's insistence on keeping multiple former Robins in play, which makes Batman at least 30 years old in context.) Clark Kent is presented as being more similar to Peter Parker than any previous iteration of Clark Kent. Kent is not as much a whiny bitch as Parker. But, this annual (and I would imagine the main "Superman" book) reads far more like a Marvel book than one of DC's flagship titles should. "Young Clark in the city" works for Morrison's "set a few years ago" book, but not here. At a more objective level, there are other problems with this issue. Neither the writer, the artist nor the editor seem to think that explosive decompression is anything more than a somewhat urgent problem (comparable to a small fire in a trash bin). And, there are a couple of exceptionally badly drawn panels, including one that assumes Clark Kent is about 7 feet tall.

Green Lantern Annual #1:
Gonna review this one by response.

Even Crisis had a better respect for the history of the characters than the New 52 has displayed.

DC is not trying to load up on nostalgia right after the book reboot/reset/restart. They really seem to want the New 52 to be something new. I also miss things about pre-"Flash Point" DC. Hell, there were pre-CoIE things that I was sorry to have missed altogether. But, that is just how DC does business.

Hal's stint as a black lantern is all part of the story and will be corrected once the tale is told. Or else all of Geoff John's work in rebuilding the Corps and Jordan from the ground up will have been for nothing.

Uh, Johns is setting the new direction. And, maybe he wants to take the book some place new. Why does Hal absolutely have to come back?

Found it strange Sinestro said that his ring would find someone like himself. The rings are supposed to search out those those that can overcome their fears, not the personality type of it's previous wearer.

I put that down to Sinestro having a big ego. (Of course his ring would find somebody just like him. Why would it settle for anything less? Yeesh man.)

Given the introduction of another group of Guardians that have been hidden away all this time,

I assumed that those were "pre-Guardian" Oans based on their style of dress and the presence of females. (Or, maybe it implies that the female Guardians have always been there, rather than assuming the original females became Zamarons and the later females were created by Kyle.)

Overall, I really enjoyed this issue. Looking forward to seeing what happens with this Third Army storyline.

So do I.

(Yeah. I know. Weird huh?)

Grade: B (I feel like I need to shower.)


Age of Apocalypse #7:
The writing has definitely gotten easier to follow. But, the art is still too murky. The main characters (the Reavers and Grey) head off to Europe in search of Reed Richards' old journals, and predictably run in to trouble and Doom. Worth picking up if you are interested in alternate universe stories. I am supporting this series as much on principle than for being a fan of it. (At least it does not have any of those obnoxious "AR" panels that are cropping up in other Marvel books.)
Grade: C

No one is denying Perez's credibility, but these are only two creator's we are talking about here who have raised an issue about DC's editorial staff changing their minds at the last minute. If the problem was wide spread across the company, you'd think more creators would have spoken out about it by now or we'd be seeing a lot more promo art changing for the final product. Instead, the few other creators who have quit or moved onto other projects have claimed it's for different reasons altogether.

Perez is also a "name" and may have a bit more freedom on this sort of thing.

They wanted to make sure they didn't repeat those mistakes from CoIE by mapping out everything. It doesn't make sense they wouldn't put that much planning into the New 52 reboot. More than likely, all the decisions were not entirely in their hands. After all, it would take more than just two guys to do all of that work and they aren't the only two at the top of the company.

At the very least, certain ground rules should have been established. Somebody should have told Perez when his book and Morrison's book were set as well as other basics about the settings.


Dom
-actually agreed with Sparky....and is a little scared by that.

[andersonh1]

DC keeps telling the same story. We've seen the Guardians taken out of the picture twice, and now they're going bad. We've seen the Green Lantern Corps depowered twice, and now a third attempt is being made, though I don't anticpate seeing them entirely removed from the picture this time.

How is this the same story? I don't see that the Guardians will be taken out of the picture here. After all we've seen the Indigo Tribe will be attempting to give them rings to force them to be more compassionate. And again, it's not so much that they're evil here, they've just lost perspective in trying to logically eradicate chaos in the universe. Then there is the group of Guardians that were sealed in the Chamber of Shadows. I'm sure they'll come into play as this storyline progresses. I doubt the Green Lanterns will be depowered here either. Certainly they will come under attack, but there is no way they will be loosing this.

As I said, I don't anticipate the Corps being completely dismantled a third time. The indigo tribe rehabilitating the Guardians is certainly a possibility, but it's also possible that they'll all be killed off yet again, leaving either a self-governing Green Lantern Corps (which we've seen before) or a combined color corps with Kyle and his group in charge. It's by no means a given that the Guardians will be restored.

Why does Hal absolutely have to come back?

He doesn't, and he may not. It would just seem odd to me to write him out yet again after so much effort was made to rehabilitate the character from his time as Parallax. Johns has gotten a lot of mileage out of that retcon and ensuing storylines related to it. Would he really throw all of that out? Possibly, considering that all his work on the Wally West Flash series and his decade of writing the Justice Society are out the window. But it would seem like such a waste of effort if he did.

[Sparky Prime]

I put that down to Sinestro having a big ego. (Of course his ring would find somebody just like him. Why would it settle for anything less? Yeesh man.)

Katma Tui and Soranik Natu are nothing like Sinestro, and they were chosen by his ring after he was kicked out of the GL Corps. And that should mean Guy and John are like Hal since they were originally selected as backups for Hal, but again, totally different personalities. The rings have never selected anyone based on personality before. There is no reason Sinestro would believe this one would.

I assumed that those were "pre-Guardian" Oans based on their style of dress and the presence of females. (Or, maybe it implies that the female Guardians have always been there, rather than assuming the original females became Zamarons and the later females were created by Kyle.)

It's pretty much been retconned that females have always been part of the Guardians of the Universe group. And again, those Guardians knew about the Manhunters as a means of protecting the Universe. They would have been the Guardians of the Universe by that point.

Perez is also a "name" and may have a bit more freedom on this sort of thing.

I don't see what his "name" has to do with anything here. He is still only one of two creators that have brought up this particular issue. And only two guys is hardly indicative of what's going on at the company as a whole.

At the very least, certain ground rules should have been established. Somebody should have told Perez when his book and Morrison's book were set as well as other basics about the settings.

Certainly there should have been some better communication and coordination going on there.

As I said, I don't anticipate the Corps being completely dismantled a third time. The indigo tribe rehabilitating the Guardians is certainly a possibility, but it's also possible that they'll all be killed off yet again, leaving either a self-governing Green Lantern Corps (which we've seen before) or a combined color corps with Kyle and his group in charge. It's by no means a given that the Guardians will be restored.

Kyle's group of New Guardians is not ready for anything like replacing the Guardians. They can barley work together as a group as it is, much less figure out how to work together to protect the entire universe. And I can't see them killing off the Guardians, especially when the plan is to use the Indigo rings to force them to be compassionate. And then there is the whole new group that was introduced guarding the Chamber of Shadows to consider. Certainly we can expect changes, but I think the Guardians will still be around.

[Dominic]

Detectice Comics Annual #1:
So, anybody else weirded out by all of these low numbers for books that have been around for longer than our parents have been around? Joking aside, this is not a bad comics. Apparently, "some stuff happened" before this, during the "Court of Owls". I dunno. It feels like the writer (whose name escapes me at the moment) was really trying to blend the Modern and Silver age of comics here. It was not a bad effort, though probably not enough to get me to read the book on a regular basis.
Grade: B/C

Johns has gotten a lot of mileage out of that retcon and ensuing storylines related to it. Would he really throw all of that out? Possibly, considering that all his work on the Wally West Flash series and his decade of writing the Justice Society are out the window.

Johns wrote that stuff, and he has moved on.

Think of it this way, Johns could keep a few runs on other books intact....or he could be the guy who complete resets and redefines everything. This is the biggest thing since the original CoIE. I could see somebody throwing out some old runs on a book in order to pull this off.

I have not been Johns' biggest fan over the years. But, if this New 52 deal sticks, I will have to admit to being impressed.

And that should mean Guy and John are like Hal since they were originally selected as backups for Hal, but again, totally different personalities. The rings have never selected anyone based on personality before. There is no reason Sinestro would believe this one would.

Yeah, but Sinestro is not going to see it that way. Sinestro is going to be thinking, "I am awesome, and the ring is only going to choose somebody as awesome as me." Because, ya know, Sinestro is an egomaniac.

By the way, did somebody say Hal was a Black Lantern again?

It's pretty much been retconned that females have always been part of the Guardians of the Universe group. And again, those Guardians knew about the Manhunters as a means of protecting the Universe. They would have been the Guardians of the Universe by that point.

For the first year or so after a reboot/reset/whatever, it is generally safe to assume that apparent mistakes or points of confusion are just part of the assumed changes.

I don't see what his "name" has to do with anything here. He is still only one of two creators that have brought up this particular issue. And only two guys is hardly indicative of what's going on at the company as a whole.

Perez is a big enough name that he might be able to speak more freely. (His name sells books. Newer/other guys will not have Perez's pull.)



Dom
-has not been this excited about comics in some time.

[Sparky Prime]

Yeah, but Sinestro is not going to see it that way. Sinestro is going to be thinking, "I am awesome, and the ring is only going to choose somebody as awesome as me." Because, ya know, Sinestro is an egomaniac.

Sinestro probably knows how the rings work better than anyone, aside from the Guardians and the Qward Weaponers. He knows they don't seek out people with similar personalities to the previous wearer. Egomaniac or not, there is no reason for him to believe it would.

By the way, did somebody say Hal was a Black Lantern again?

He hasn't appeared as a Black Lantern yet. But the Book of Black said he would be the greatest Black Lantern.

For the first year or so after a reboot/reset/whatever, it is generally safe to assume that apparent mistakes or points of confusion are just part of the assumed changes.

Other recent Green Lantern media has shown female Guardians to be present from the beginning of the story line, such as the current Animated Series and the live action movie. And the comics would suggest they've always been.

Perez is a big enough name that he might be able to speak more freely. (His name sells books. Newer/other guys will not have Perez's pull.)

There have been a few people who left DC altogether who would be free to say whatever they like, and they didn't say they left for those reasons. Not to mention Perez isn't the only "big name" at DC. If it was a wide spread thing going on at the company, more than just two guys would have complained about it.

[andersonh1]

I've probably put way too much thought into this, but here goes:

Green Lantern #0

Where to start? I did decide to buy this issue after all and to give it a fair chance, even though DC’s marketing of it has annoyed me to no end. “Look, it’s our new Arab-American minority Green Lantern! He’s an Arab-American and he’s new and important! Buy our books! Did we mention he’s Arab-American? Did we? He is! We’re so diverse!”

I guess that’s all that counts to DC, whereas I hold the view that, to quote MLK, “the content of one’s character” is what matters, not skin color. I could care less what ANY given character’s ethnicity is, and I’ve never bought a comic book series because the lead character “looked like me”, but on that point seems I’m in the minority. DC’s marketing approach would make it appear that I am, or at least that they’re not marketing comics to someone like me. Did I mention Simon Baz is an Arab-American? And that DC is all about diversity?

What we have with new Green Lantern Simon Baz is an attempt to be topical and controversial while diversifying by introducing an all new Arab-American character (just in case the DC promotion of the character hadn’t made it clear yet that he’s a minority). And if you’re annoyed with me for repeating that five times in three paragraphs, you’ll understand how DC’s hype machine has made ME feel. Diversity in and of itself is not a selling point for a comic book character or series, and yet ethnicity is the main thing DC has been trumpeting ad nauseum while promoting the new character. And if you read comics for escapism you won’t accomplish that by reading this issue, since Geoff Johns drags the War on Terror and all of the thorny issues associated with that conflict front and center. It’s impossible to discuss Green Lantern #0 without referring to politics and racial stereotypes. You’ve been warned.

This isn’t a bad origin issue. It does what it sets out to do, and that is to show us various vignettes from the life of Simon Baz. We see who he was, and who he now is, though his journey from child to adult car thief has some gaps in it. We’re given a broad overview of his life that gets the basics across. However, the bulk of the book then lurches politically to the left and paints the man as a victim of society and an unlucky car thief who just happened to steal a van with a bomb in it, and who is then pegged as a terrorist. You’ve got to hate it when that happens. Baz is taken to Gitmo (not named outright, but implied), and we get to watch as the unreasonable agent overrules the nice sensible agent who just wants to talk. Said unreasonable agent decides to waterboard Baz, who is then saved by the appearance of the malfunctioning combined ring of Hal Jordan and Sinestro.

Geoff Johns goes out of his way to insert multiple mitigating circumstances into Baz’s life in an attempt to both use real world events and attitudes to create the character while at the same time insulating himself from criticism that he’s playing to stereotype. If you read reactions to this issue on DC’s Facebook page or on various messageboards, it’s clear that the approach isn’t working with some readers, but then it was never going to. There’s no way to write about such a politically-charged issue without attracting some criticism. But generating controversy seems to be DC’s main way to sell comics these days, so I’m sure it was a calculated risk. And a book that provokes a reaction is better than one that bores readers or induces apathy, so on that level, this issue qualifies as a success. Whether that translates to sales remains to be seen.

On a certain level, I do understand the approach. I have to give Geoff Johns and DC some credit for having the courage to portray Baz as a criminal and for daring to bring in a terrorist connection (even though it’s made clear that Baz is not actually a terrorist but a victim of circumstance, albeit circumstances that wouldn’t exist if he wasn’t a car thief). There is such a major effort in our society to avoid stereotyping all Muslims as terrorists that sometimes people criticize the association of ANY Muslim with terrorist acts, just as Geoff Johns is being criticized now. I find that laughable since the issue goes so far out of the way to make absolutely certain we know that Baz isn’t a terrorist or a bad man at heart. He’s a victim of the economy and is out of a job. He’s a victim of bad luck (maybe) since the van he stole had a bomb in it. He’s a victim of an uncaring and harsh US government who’s ready to waterboard him. The only thing he’s guilty of is stealing a car, darn it! Where’s my violin?

So, apart from curiosity about the new character, what led me to make the decision to buy the issue when I’d wondered if last week’s annual would be the last? I decided to buy it because the character I actually want to read about appears on the last page, which picks up where the annual left off and which features Sinestro and Hal Jordan somewhere dark and not at all sure where they are. It’s obviously something to do with the Black Lantern energy, but that’s all we know at this point. If Hal is still a part of the storyline, I’m interested in it. Though the character profile for Hal Jordan on the last page will tell you everything you need to know about how desperate DC is to jettison the past. According to the profile, Hal Jordan’s first appearance was Justice League #1, August 2011. Screw you, John Broome, Gil Kane, and everyone else who helped write, draw and read about the character for decades before the New 52. You don’t count any more. Way to respect your long-time creators and customers, DC. What’s next, listing Geoff Johns and Jim Lee as the character’s creators? It would certainly follow logically.

The verdict: the issue was honestly fairly enjoyable, despite the fact that it’s impossible for me to read it without forming all sorts of conclusions about the politics of the writer, which sucks me right out of the story more often than not. Baz is certainly far more down to earth than Hal as a test pilot or John Stewart as an ex-marine architect, though I’m unconvinced that giving him the background he has will help sales. I’m a graphic designer, but the fact that Kyle Rayner is also a graphic artist has never made me want to buy the character’s books. Still, I’d recommend this issue. If you can stomach the thinly-veiled propaganda, the character of Simon Baz and his plight is actually interesting. I’m curious to see how he’ll view being thrust into the larger world of the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps.

[Sparky Prime]

Though the character profile for Hal Jordan on the last page will tell you everything you need to know about how desperate DC is to jettison the past. According to the profile, Hal Jordan’s first appearance was Justice League #1, August 2011. Screw you, John Broome, Gil Kane, and everyone else who helped write, draw and read about the character for decades before the New 52. You don’t count any more. Way to respect your long-time creators and customers, DC. What’s next, listing Geoff Johns and Jim Lee as the character’s creators? It would certainly follow logically.

You are overreacting. Sure, it's a bit odd they're listing the first appearance by the New 52 reboot, but that's not to say DC is jettisoning the past or disrespecting any of the previous creators with that. Anyone who's been reading any of the Green Lantern titles since the reboot will see stories from before the reboot still counts. Heck, Green Lantern is one of the least effected titles by the reboot. All DC means is that since the reboot, his first appearance was in JL#1. That's all. I don't know where you're getting all this from.

[andersonh1]

I just read what they publish. That's where I get what I'm getting. The amount of DC history that has any applicability to the current publishing output is tiny, to the point they're actively ignoring everything prior to August 2011 apart from a bit of Green Lantern and Batman.