Comics are Awesome III

[Sparky Prime]

Green Lanterns #36
Turns out Bolphunga's "lawyer", Singularity Jain, actually is a singularity inside, allowing her to literally swallow anything. The Green Lanterns take Bolphunga and his father deeper into the woods while they fight her, but they cannot do anything against her. She only stops when Bolphunga kills his father (to his father's own insistence), and thus ends the contract he has with her. Jain leaves Earth while the Lanterns return Bolphunga to prison on Mogo. Kind of a strange end with the bad guy winning and getting away with the Lanterns unable to do anything to stop her...

Hal Jordan and the GLC #34
With Kyle's help, Somar-Le is able to show the human Lanterns what the villains who took Ganthet and Sayd looked like, which as we know were the Controllers. They split up looking for any information as to their whereabouts, and along the way find out the Controllers have gotten some advanced genetic equipment. Eventually Kellic explains to Ganthet that as a species they lack the genetic diversity to sustain their race and are now nearly extinct. So they kidnapped the Guardians to drain them of their fluids, killing the Templar Guardian Yekop in demonstration, in order to make a new Controller.
Not sure how exactly they think using the Guardians to make new Controllers is preserving their race, when there are only I believe 9 Guardians left. With the 4 Controllers, 13 isn't going to be enough genetic diversity to sustain their race. And why is there no mention of the Zamarons here, who are also originally Maltusian like the Guardians and Controllers? Also find it hard to believe Hal, Guy and Kyle were able to find information about the Controllers plans at some random bars across the universe. I mean, how exactly does the average riffraff they find there know anything about the Controllers?

[andersonh1]

I enjoyed HJaTGLC, but I have to admit I had the same questions you did, both about how the information about the Controllers was obtained and about the Zamarons. I'm still glad to see the Templar Guardians have finally reappeared, and I'm still hoping for explanations that are long overdue. I thought Ganthet accounted well for himself, and hopefully at least some of the Guardians will survive the Controller's plot.

[andersonh1]

Metal #4 - finally hit the shelves, and it continues to be a trip through DC continuity that few authors can manage: it takes everything that came before and manages to add and expand on it without really invalidating anything. And it continues the trend of putting the main characters into a nightmare scenario, giving them a little hope and a moment where things are looking up... and then dropping the hammer yet again as things go from bad to worse, and worse to apocalyptic.

Still in the nightmare realm, Batman is released by some nightmare Supermen to be taken someplace worse than where he's been tortured for (he claims) 30 years now. Bruce looks old and withered, but he has some spark in him thanks to the appearance of Superman, who fell into the trap Barbatos set for him. Bruce grabs a Kryptonite gauntlet and threatens the Supermen as he tries to free his Superman, but it's ultimately the Sandman (the Neil Gaiman one) that spirits them away to a place of safety, a library of untold stories. There he lays out some of the plot for them, and if I understand it all correctly, Barbatos killed his creator, the third member of the group that includes the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor. That third individual had destroyed the bad universes in the dark multiverse as they appeared, but with his death, this region got worse and worse. It's crazy comic book sci-fi, but it's as good an explanation for the nightmare realm as any, and it links it to DC's cosmology going all the way back to Crisis. This story could not have been told in the New 52, so once again, good riddance to it. Continuity as a springboard for good storytelling is a positive thing.

There are other side quests as Wonder Woman, Dr. Fate and Sheira Saunders go to the Rock of Eternity; Aquaman and Deathstroke head to the tomb of Atlan in Atlantis (and in another repudiation of the New 52, Aquaman talks to fish again); and Green Lantern and Mr. Terrific go to Thanagar. All three groups hit major difficulties.

The Sandman sends Batman and Superman to the Forge. If it's burning, there's hope to turn things around and stop Barbatos. If it's dead, there is no hope. And of course, given the pattern of this series, the Forge is out when Batman and Superman arrive. Not only that, but they finally find Carter Hall, and he's a massive, Barbatos-serving Hawk monster rather than the Hawkman we're all familiar with. Things are looking bleak.

[Sparky Prime]

Spider-Men II #5
Peter and Miles return to the warehouse where Taskmaster had the dimensional portal, and Peter apologizes for telling Miles he had no business being Spider-Man. Then Taskmaster shows up to attack them. Meanwhile, 616 Miles takes the device and opens a portal when Ult. Miles confronts him. 616 Miles just shoots him in the shoulder and walks through the portal, which then explodes and collapses the warehouse. The two Spider-Men dig themselves out of the rubble and leave as the police arrive. 616 Miles arrives in... I'm going to call it the NuUltimate Universe, where he meets this universes version of his wife. Their meeting is interrupted when the wall of the restaurant is destroyed by a battle between Green Goblin and Spider-Man (Peter, who apparently is part of the Ultimates in this universe). He offers to help her clean up. Back in the 616 Universe, Miles is still hung up on Peter having told him he shouldn't be Spider-Man, and decides it's time to see what else he can be. The End.
Very unsatisfying mini-series if you ask me. The whole point of this mini-series was to introduce us to 616 Miles, but Bendis never really answers any questions about him. There's several times he brings up that we don't always get closure or things don't live up to our expectations, but what's the point of telling a story if you're not going to do anything with it at all? So 616 Miles is just some former mob thug that used to work for Kingpin that had his identity covered up? And now he apparently gets to live happily ever after in another world? What about if he's actually the 616 counter part to Ult. Miles? The book suggests the name could just be a coincidence, which would make this story all the more pointless. It is good to see the Ultimate Universe is apparently back albeit with a few alterations from the original Ultimate Universe, but it's very little payoff.

Hal Jordan and the GLC #35
The Controller's convert teo more of the Guardians into more Controllers, and mention when they're done with them they'll be going after the Zamarons. Nice to see they haven't forgotten about them. They try to force Ganthet to choose who will be next, but when he refuses to choose any but himself, they pick Sayd. Meanwhile, John, Hal, Kyle and Guy take on the army protecting the Controller's stronghold, finally breaking into the chamber where they have the Guardians at the end of the issue.

[andersonh1]

I was glad to see the Zamarons get a mention as well. Weapons that shake up the Lanterns so they have trouble focusing enough to use their rings was also a good idea from the issue. The four human Lanterns acting as a team, each knowing the other well and working well together was a high point of the story, I thought.

Action Comics #994 - "Booster Shot" hasn't been as good as I'd hoped, largely because the Krypton Superman visits is an alternate timeline that exists briefly as a "what might have been" before becoming once again non-existent when Superman and Booster leave, so the consequences for the visit seem non-existent. I'm sure it all ties into Dr. Manhattan changing the timeline, as seen a few issues ago, and of course Superman watching all the people on Krypton survive its destruction, only to watch it all vanish again, is a sad thing, but not as effective as it could have been. What should be a heavy, emotional storyline for Superman has been oddly lightweight and disposable.

Hawkman: Found - Metal has already revealed that Carter Hall went exploring the multiverse while researching Nth metal, and the cliffhanger to issue 4 reveals that he's been transformed into some giant hawk creature guarding the Forge that creates universes. This one-shot depicts Carter Hall in an endless dream where he falls to his death, he fights the man-hawks, he breaks into their ship and fights an evil version of himself, ultimately winning the fight and taking the wings and flight harness of Hawkman and soaring... only for the whole cycle to start again. The indications are that all of this is going on in Carter Hall's mind and he doesn't realize that he's become the monster that Batman and Superman encountered at the Forge. I do think this is a reintroduction of the character, yet again, after the "savage Hawkman" from the New 52 was killed off in the Death of Hawkman mini-series. As the guy at the comic book shop said today, DC can never quite figure out what to do with Hawkman, so they keep having to go back and try something else. Maybe this approach will stick.

[Sparky Prime]

Hal Jordan and the GLC #36
Hal, John, Guy and Kyle fight the Controllers and eventually blast the machines holding the Guardians captive, setting them free. With their plans foiled, the Controllers retreat where they plan on (re)building their own army of Darkstars. Reunited, the Templar Guardians express it's good to see Kyle in Green (since he was still a White Lantern last time they saw him), while he explains he's surprised they've been held captive this whole time and that everyone thought they were just on another "Space Walkabout"... Seriously? The ENTIRE Corps is transported to a dying universe at the same time the Guardians go missing and everyone just thought they were out for a stroll? The entire Corps cannot be that naive. Also a bit disappointed this story doesn't actually confirm if it was the Controllers whom transported the Corps to the previous dying universe in order to kidnap the Guardians in the first place. At any rate, being dissatisfied with what the Guardians of the Universe's legacy has become, Ganthet creates new Guardian robes from himself and the remaining 5 Guardians, retaking their place to council the Corps once again and change their legacy.

[andersonh1]

I'm pretty much on the same page when it comes to the Guardians vs. Controllers story. It's good to finally learn what happened to the Templar Guardians and resolve that plotline, but we still don't know for sure who sent the Corps into the other universe, and this would have been a good issue to resolve that.

I still wonder if the Templar Guardians had anything to do with it? I wondered that at the time. I went back and dug out GL #39-41, where we got hints that the Templar Guardians were up to something in response to the threat of planets turning to stone. Issue 39 makes it look like their plan is merely to get Hal, as the face of the Corps, to help it regain it's good name (and there's a link with this issue of Hal and the GLC and the Guardians' legacy), but issue 40 hints at something else.

Zalla: Threat atop threat. The universe becomes untenable, Paalko. Yet we are its Guardians. Do we play our final gambit?
Yekop: Too soon, Zalla! Too soon! Proper preparations have not been made!
Paalko: The universe is a living body, Yekop. Regrettably, it does not adhere to timetables. I do not see any other choice.
Zalla:... I agree.
Guardian: So it is decided. The time for delays has passed. Now, we act.

Then at the end of the issue:
Guardian: Nevertheless, our own matters must be seen to.

So they were planning something, something drastic. The "final gambit". But we have yet to learn what that was. Maybe with the Guardians back in the book, it will be addressed.

My other books for the week:

Superman #38
Super Sons of Tomorrow hasn't really kept my attention all that well, probably in part because I'm not following the crossover issues that aren't a part of series that I already buy regularly. Future Tim Drake is trying to kill Superboy, or maybe he isn't, or something. There's a lot of pointless fighting with the Teen Titans, and in a nice touch, Connor Kent (Superman), Cassandra Sandsmark (Wonder Woman) and Bart Allen (The Flash) arrive from the same future where Tim Drake was Batman. These guys aren't quite who they were pre-New 52, but it's still nice to see them again. But this isn't a very solid standalone issue, and doesn't make a ton of sense on its own, so I'm going to call it a less than successful crossover chapter.

Titans #19
The Titans are essentially disbanded for the time being by the Justice League because of what happened with Troia. There's some hero v. former sidekick verbal sparring, and Batman is a jerk, as modern Batman always is (why?). As Bumblebee says, super heroing used to be fun, but it's not what it used to be. With the team not operating, Roy Harper strikes out on his own, so we get to see some solo Arsenal crime fighting, which is nice since I'm currently reading his very first Golden Age adventures. Wally West is alive, having been revived by the younger Wally last issue, and at least he and Barry disagree agreeably. As the original sidekicks, I think this group of Titans is my favorite, and it's always good to see them interact with their mentors.

Action Comics #995
"Booster Shot" continues, with what turns out to be more of a Booster-centric issue than a Superman-centric one, as both time travelers end up in Booster's time. Booster is arrested and Superman has to rescue him, but not before Booster has a run in with his absent, abusive father and gets to spend some time with his mom before the time sphere leaves the era. But we haven't quite left that alternate Krypton timeline behind, as the last page reveals....

[Sparky Prime]

I still wonder if the Templar Guardians had anything to do with it? I wondered that at the time. I went back and dug out GL #39-41, where we got hints that the Templar Guardians were up to something in response to the threat of planets turning to stone. Issue 39 makes it look like their plan is merely to get Hal, as the face of the Corps, to help it regain it's good name (and there's a link with this issue of Hal and the GLC and the Guardians' legacy), but issue 40 hints at something else.

Zalla: Threat atop threat. The universe becomes untenable, Paalko. Yet we are its Guardians. Do we play our final gambit?
Yekop: Too soon, Zalla! Too soon! Proper preparations have not been made!
Paalko: The universe is a living body, Yekop. Regrettably, it does not adhere to timetables. I do not see any other choice.
Zalla:... I agree.
Guardian: So it is decided. The time for delays has passed. Now, we act.

Then at the end of the issue:
Guardian: Nevertheless, our own matters must be seen to.

So they were planning something, something drastic. The "final gambit". But we have yet to learn what that was. Maybe with the Guardians back in the book, it will be addressed.

Yeah, I was wondering about this as well. Which seems especially odd to me given these issues were written by the same writer, Robert Venditti. Did he forget his own plot line?

[andersonh1]

Superman #39
This is one of those great issues where the bad guys (in this case, the hapless Demolition Team) are curb stomped by Superman in about three pages. The rest of the story is Superman and Hal Jordan taking a bunch of kids from the cancer ward up to the Justice League satellite, and then to the moon, where they get to meet the League, go on a scavenger hunt (one of the things they have to find is a picture of Batman smiling) and just generally have a blast with Superman, Hal, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash and Batman. Every now and then it's nice to just have a feelgood issue like this. And it's drawn by Barry Kitson, who used to draw Superman way back in the 90s. Haven't seen his art in ages.

Aquaman #32
The plot to overthrow King Rath (both literally and in-story) drags... on.... and.... on.... but maybe it's finally coming to a head as we get some major answers. Mera was injured when she broke through the Crown of Thorns, taking away her ability to breathe water. Aquaman takes her to the widowhood, who are able to help heal her, but she must return to the surface for the cure to take permanent effect, and everyone is trapped inside Atlantis, meaning the situation has become very urgent. Aquaman fails to recruit King Shark, but he can't wait any more. It's time to call up what allies he can and the sea creatures and overthrow Rath. The widowhood want Mera to be queen, feeling that Arthur was too progressive as a king, but that Mera would be far better. There's a good conversation between Mera and Arthur about duty and sacrificing personal wishes for the greater good. I have to wonder if these chapters were written for the books original biweekly schedule, in which case they would have passed more quickl y and not seemed so slow.

[andersonh1]

YES!! Finally.... let's hope it's for more than one issue.

http://ew.com/books/2018/01/19/action-c ... ed-trunks/

Action Comics #1 boasts probably the most iconic comic cover of all time: That shot of Superman smashing a car on the street and normal people running in terror from his power. To live up to that legacy, legendary artist Jim Lee illustrated the cover image for Action Comics #1000, which can be seen exclusively above. One thing that will immediately jump out to fans is the return of the red trunks to Superman’s costume. Originally derived from the look of circus strongmen, the red underwear-over-tights look had become an object of derision over the years and was erased from Superman’s outfit as part of DC’s 2011 New 52 reboot. The no-trunks look stayed throughout the more recent reboot of DC Rebirth, only to now make its triumphant return for the big Action Comics anniversary.