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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Sparky Prime wrote:So apparently DC has decided to stop calling Dick Grayson "Dick". Which... Why? I mean, besides the obvious puns on the name. But, when the character has been known as Dick for around 70 years... Seems a little late to be trying to get people to call him Richard or Rich instead.
They tried this early in the New 52, with Barbara Gordon calling him "Richard". It didn't stick then, so we'll see if it sticks this time or not.
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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I'd have to doubt it'll stick. If there is one Robin casual fans can name, if they even know that there has been more than one Robin, it'd be Dick Grayson.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Do we really want to see full frontal nudity on Bruce Wayne? DC seems to think we do. I've seen the art on Twitter and yes, everything is on full display, for no apparent reason, as Bruce strips off the batsuit and walks through the batcave. So, as usual, "mature" actually means "sex and violence". When do we get naked Wonder Woman, I wonder?

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/09/19 ... -damned-1/
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Sparky Prime
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Yeah, this looks to be completely unnecessary. There's no significance for it in the story as far as I can tell, and seems odd for Bruce to just be strolling through the cave naked. The art doesn't appear to be even the least bit subtle about it either, we're clearly meant to be looking at his nether regions. So, why?
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Dominic
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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DC is out of ideas.


I can buy in for the idea that Batman might be nude in the Bat-cave. Hey, it is his house. But, I also assume that Batman poops, and do not think that adds much to the story either.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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One of my favorite Batman artists has died. Norm Breyfogle, dead at only 58 years old.

https://www.thewrap.com/norm-breyfogle-batman-dies-58/
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Action Comics #1003
This book was a scene dragged out to the length of an issue. While it was certainly entertaining, it does feel like padding. At the beginning of the issue, the newest Daily Planet reporter gets a shard of Kryptonite from the gang of criminals we've seen over the past few issues, which she puts in her purse as "insurance". The bulk of the issue is Clark at his desk at work being affected by it, while everyone tries to figure out what's wrong. When the reporter is sent to call EMS (with her purse), Clark recovers. He contacts Batman who confronts the girl and takes the Kryptonite away from her. All I can say is I hope he's smart enough not to believe her story, which he appears to take at face value. The issue ends with Lex Luthor tracking Lois down where she's hiding in an apartment. It's a very decompressed issue, without much forward plot movement at all. Enjoyable but unsatisfying all at the same time.

Doomsday Clock #7
This is only the 3rd issue of this series that I've bought, and it addresses exactly what happened to the JSA, or at least to Alan Scott. Dr. Manhattan prevented him from living through the train crash depicted in his origin story by moving the green lantern six inches away. Alan died in the crash because he was not holding the lantern, and there was no Justice Society, though whether that means Manhattan took all the players off the board or whether that happened as a result of Alan dying is not spelled out.

Dr. Manhattan finally makes a full appearance (in more ways than one, much to the Joker's chagrin), and a lot is revealed about what he's been up to. He arrived in the DC universe in 1985 and at first thought he could join the superhero population. But he's been (deliberately?) experimenting with the timestream, changing the past and the nature of the DC universe. And he's fascinated by Superman. And apparently, beyond a certain point where Manhattan sees Superman flying toward him, angry and about to attack, he can no longer see the future. I'm sure that would be more significant if I'd read Watchmen.

There are other plot details. Ozymandias does not have cancer, Rorshach beats the Joker up, Saturn Girl is suddenly not quite so sure about what the future will be, and Johnny Thunder still can't contact his genie. Marionette is pregnant. Manhattan refuses to go back and save the Watchmen universe because "he's in the middle of something". It's the most interesting issue of the series, or at least of the ones I've read. Most of Doomsday Clock has been skippable, honestly.

And I think DC failed to strike while the iron was hot, honestly. Rebirth is over, and this series is still crawling along. I think a lot of readers who were interested in the storyline three years ago probably aren't all that invested in it any more. I think DC has taken too long to wrap everything up.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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andersonh1 wrote:he can no longer see the future. I'm sure that would be more significant if I'd read Watchmen.
Sort of... In Watchmen, Adrian Veidt had created a tachyon generator that limited Manhattan's ability to see the future, so that he could carry out his plans without Manhattan knowing about it in advance. Although, throughout the years, Manhattan had become largely indifferent to events on Earth anyway, making himself more and more isolated from humanity, often not doing anything to prevent certain events. In this case, I think they're just trying to take his ability to see the future off the table altogether so that even he doesn't know how things will play out.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Transformers vs. Star Trek #1

The Enterprise arrives at the Cygnus Seven, a dilithium mine, responding to a distress call. The crew believes it to be the Klingons given the planet's proximity to Klingon space, and increasing hostilities with them. Interference prevents them from them from contacting the mine however. Spock doesn't detect any starships in the area, but is unable to scan the surface due to the interference. So an away team beams down, going in completely blind. They find the mine under attack from Earth vehicles from the 20th century, but notice they have no pilots. A big red truck drives out of a cave, and defends the Enterprise away team from laser fire. Kirk thinks the Klingons must be controlling them remotely, and fires on Optimus, who transforms. Kirk still thinks someone is controlling him, asking for answers, but Optimus only responds he must protect the humans and keep them from being involved in their war again. The Decepticons decide to take advantage of Prime's weakened condition and transform. Soundwave fires a sonic blast at the Enterprise crew, which also disrupts the interference around the mine allowing Kirk to contact the Enterprise and has them fire a photon torpedo on the Decepticons. The Decepticons retreat, and head to a nearby moon after Soundwave detects a Decepticon signal.

Optimus is unconscious, but Spock detects electrical activity throughout his body. He suggest they might be able to repair him. Kirk agrees and has Scotty and McCoy join them. Meanwhile, Spock detects energy signatures like the robot in the mine, which they decide to investigate. Meanwhile, the Decepticons discover the source of the Decepticon signal is from Trypticon, which has also been discovered by a nearby crashed Klingon ship. Insulted by being called humans by the Decepticons, Commander Kuri explains they attacked the mine, but the mine's defenses damaged their ship, forcing them to crash on the moon. Megatron says that if the Klingons hate humans then they have something in common and suggests it might benefit them both to work together.

McCoy and Scotty are impressed by Prime's circuitry, comparing it to the complexities of the human brain but still can't figure out a way to wake him up. Inside the mines, the away team discovers a huge metal wall, made of an alloy they don't recognize, with an Autobot symbol on it. The wall suddenly explodes, revealed Windblade, Ratchet, Jazz, Bumblebee and Arcee, who demand to know what the humans have done with Optimus Prime.

--
I have to praise the comic for going with the Animated Star Trek and the 80's Transformers cartoon aesthetics. I feel the two design styles really work well together here. Although the scale of Optimus Prime really feels off once he transforms to robot mode. He's gigantic compared to the humans, with the Enterprise crew members only about as big as one of his fingers. There is a Decepticon character I'm pretty sure is supposed to be Airachnid. Not sure why they decided to include her in this of all characters given she was only in Transformers Prime, so they've had to redesign her somewhat. There's also no explanation as to why the Decepticons were attacking the mine, or how any of the Transformers ended up on this planet. I'm sure that'll be covered in future issues, but it would have been nice to get more of a hint here.
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Re: Comics are Awesome III

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Green Lantern: Earth One

Much to Hal's dismay, the company he works for just lost the race for a mining contract in space. Seems Hal has no interest going back to Earth, feeling burned by certain events when he worked for NASA (which no longer exists), and his wanting to be able to explore space. Before getting recalled to Earth however, he discovers a crashed alien ship, with the body of Abin Sur... and a Manhunter. Of course, Hal ends up wearing the ring, and fighting the Manhunter, and then suddenly find himself on an alien world where he meets Kilowog. Kilowog is almost as much in the dark about the Green Lanterns as Hal is through. Kilowog only has a ring because it was passed down through his family over generations. He knows of some stories about the Corps, and explains the Manhunters had wiped out the Corps.

Kilowog shows Hal what he knows about the ring, but shortly after, his world is attacked by the Manhunters. They end up up searching out other Lanterns to help defend his world, but none are willing to leave their own problems behind, and one even explaining the Manhunters were built to end the Corps. They also find that the rings are not working to their full abilities, supposedly because the Central Battery was destroyed. Hal is eventually captured by Manhunters while waiting to be able to recharge his ring, and taken to Oa, where the Manhunters are using people they've captured for slave labor in mines. Eventually Hal manages to find the Central Battery under a containment dome, when he is contacted by the last surviving Guardian. He tells him to call the Lanterns to Oa to create a feedback loop to destroy the planet as it's the only way to wipe out the Manhunters.

Hal fills in the other Lanterns on the Guardians plan, but also tells them of the innocent people in the mines. Another Lantern suggests they don't need to destroy the planet, with the rings to channel the energy, they can direct it where they need it to go. And so, with the Manhunters destroyed, and their rings back to full power with the containment dome destroyed, the Lanterns decide to return to their homeworld's and keep in touch if they ever need help. Meanwhile, the Guardian is not pleased the Lanterns didn't follow his plan, having hoped they would have solved all his problems by taking out the Manhunters and themselves by destroying the planet. But he is not deterred, as he has designed new Yellow powered rings...

--
Overall, I have to say I really enjoyed this story. It's interesting to see some parallels to recent Green Lantern stories. The Manhunters work sort of like the Third Army in this story, with the Guardians apparently having grown fearful of the power and willfulness of the Corps, and so they apparently decided to replace them with a force they could control. Or at least, the one remaining Guardian did. I assume that Guardian is Krona. He never mentions his name, it fits what we know of the character in other stories. There are some interesting points brought up about the rings in this story as well. Hal literally gives a ring of a fallen Lantern to one of the random people they freed from the mines, prompting Kilowog to ask how he knows she's worthy of it. This is also brought up earlier in the story between the two, over concerns the rings may have fallen into the wrong hands over time. The rings don't make choices of who is worthy of them in this story, they can be passed on and used by anyone. So they mention that they might just have to deal with someone that uses the ring to cause problems. It all ties into Hal's own demons in this story, with people coming together to help each other out, trusting each other, and in the end, doing the right thing.

One negative I have, the pacing of this story feels somewhat off in a few places. Throughout the story, we see Hal go from clean shaven to having a full grown beard. The implication being that his adventures in space took place at least a month or two. Yet, it feels like it might only be a couple of days in terms of the pacing. Like when Hal and Kilowog return to his planet, the Manhunters are still attacking. For a force so powerful that they could wipe out the Lantern Corps, it seems hard to believe they'd be held at bay by Kilowog's people for that long. Or when Hal returns to Earth, it seems like his crew had just returned to Earth (which given they were in the asteroid belt, might be accurate), but it's not really given the weight that Hal has been gone for so long, and would have been presumed dead. Let alone that they had discovered an alien craft that they apparently didn't follow up on. Possibly something for a future volume to explore.
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