Comics are Awesome II

[Sparky Prime]

Red Lanterns #21
Atrocitus discovers a listening device inside one of his Red Lanterns and kills him. He proclaims the death of this Red Lantern will be a new direction for their Corps as they will no longer fight others battles and instead will focus on their own enemy. Meanwhile, Hal goes to Guy telling him they lost contact with the listening device the Guardians had implanted in a Red Lantern and wants Guy to become an undercover Red Lantern. He doesn't make this an order though, knowing what the red ring would do to Guy. Guy says he'll think about it. Atrocitus begins recruitment again and says they will need better training, including how to make constructs, to which he wants Rankorr to share his blood to pass that ability to the other Red Lanterns, but he refuses knowing it wouldn't be used for the good of them all. Guy arrives asking to join but Atrocitus doesn't buy it and a fight ensues with Guy eventually coming out the victor. Taking Atrocitus' ring, Guy becomes a Red Lantern, while Dex Starr flees with Atrocitus.

Nice to finally see something happening in this title. I really like the idea of Guy as a Red Lantern, he seems more suited for it to me. Not sure where this concept that Rankorr is the only Red Lantern that can create constructs came from, or that he has to share his blood for others to get the ability. Atrocitus was shown after Blackest Night having learned how to make constructs as well. Why can't other Red Lanterns simply be trained to focus their Rage to make constructs as well since Atrocitus is saying they need to be better trained to begin with? And why is Atrocitus saying the Green Lanterns are their one true enemy now? Before he only fought with them because the Guardians where in charge. With them out of the picture, he really shouldn't have any issues with the Green Lanterns. Hopefully with Guy in charge, he can help focus the Red Lanterns and give them a sense of direction.

Green Lantern #22
Saint Walker and a Star Sapphire arrive to help fight against Larfleeze, but in the middle of the battle all of their rings shut off. Confused, no one knows why they have no power, but as suddenly as they shut off, they reignite and the Orange constructs kills the Star Sapphire, which recruits a prisoner on Oa. Hal has Kilowog launch all their confiscated starships and leads Larfleeze to believe the treasures of Oa has been loaded on them. With Larfleeze confused to stay on Oa or go after the ships, the Green Lanterns are able to repel the constructs.

I'm guessing Larfleeze went after the ships? The story isn't clear what he does once the GL's defeat his constructs.

Green Lantern Corps #22
The Star Sapphire's are in the process of charging a ring, but it fails and the light of their battery fades. Meanwhile, John returns to Oa after Larfleeze's attack and reports his ring's failure only to find out the same thing happened on Oa. He's trying to take some leave, but an emergency forces him to take some of the new recruits. The rings malfunction yet again, and John has to improvise as they come under attack but they are eventually captured. Meanwhile, the Predator, entity of Love stalks two lovers when the White Entity arrives saying even if it feeds on their love it will not give it strength. The Predator asks why and the Entity says they are dying, and must gather the others and find the White Lantern.

Surprised to see the White Entity. It claimed it was dying back in Brightest Day, which is why it needed to name Swamp Thing the new protector of Earth. Apparently whatever is effecting the Corps powers is also effecting the Entities, suggesting the problem is effecting the Spectrum itself.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #22
With Relic now awakened, he is curious about the new universe he finds himself in. He's surprised to see the alien Kyle was battling in the last issue using "the light", knowing there must be a "lightsmith" nearby. He claims he cannot allow them to burn down another universe, having gotten a second chance. Using the surrounding starships, he forms a ship for himself and captures Kyle, learning about this new universe from him. Meanwhile, the New Guardians summon Carol to them to help Kyle. Carol is able to contact Kyle and helps him break free. Relic is shocked to see him using White light, claiming that's impossible. Kyle rejoins the others, and Relic leaves. Kyle explains Relic hates the rings and wants to destroy them all and he doesn't know if they can stop him...

So Relic is the survivor from a previous universe, having somehow survived its destruction and formation of a new one. Apparently he blames the destruction of his universe on the use of the Emotional Spectrum and plans on destroying it. I'm guessing that means he's responsible for the power outages the rings have been experiencing.

[andersonh1]

I only read the main GL book, but I flipped through New Guardians last issue and this, and the idea of Relic (appropriate name) being a survivor from a previous universe is an interesting one and an intriguing sci-fi concept. It's very appropriate for the GL books, and it looks like there's still some mileage to be had from the emotional spectrum concept, especially if that factors into Relic's motivations.

[Onslaught Six]

Reminds me of something 86 and I did with Black Ox years ago--he was a survivor of a destroyed universe, too, and because of that, he rendered all other universes as "fictional" and thus it was totally fine to kill everyone in them and suck up their energy to try and reform his own universe.

[andersonh1]

Daredevil Dark Nights #1 + 2
It seems odd that this is a planned as an eight issue mini-series, but it’s going to feature rotating writers and artists and storylines. Most mini-series I’ve ever read tell a single, self-contained story, so this is a bit different. Dom recommended it, but I had already been thinking about reading it since I’m buying the main series, so it wasn’t a hard sell.

Daredevil is, in some ways, a more realistically-written Batman in that they’re both human, with only the strength, speed and fighting skill that condition allows. But while Batman is often written as so well-prepared and skilled that suspension of disbelief becomes difficult, Daredevil so far seems far more human and down to earth in the stories that I’ve read. Despite his radar-sense and other greatly enhanced senses, he’s a lot more vulnerable than Batman is generally portrayed, depending on the writer of course. Dark Nights is a story I could have pictured Alan Grant or Jim Starlin writing for Batman back in the day, back when Batman spent more time fighting ordinary crime and less time on his gallery of villains or showing up the rest of the Justice League. It’s the type of comic that makes a great palate-cleanser when a bunch of guys in tights punching each other out gets old. And it suits Daredevil perfectly. His obstacles are the blizzard, a limited amount of time to accomplish his goal, and his own injuries due to being mugged and beaten. A little girl needs a heart transplant, and the helicopter carrying the heart has gone down near the river. Matt Murdock, already in the hospital being treated for his injuries, nevertheless decides that someone has to go after the heart, so he suits up and heads out into the blizzard, which messes with his senses and complicates the situation. In a nice touch, along the way to the river he hears various crimes or potential crimes taking place, but he’s forced to choose between saving the little girl’s life or stopping to help. He can’t do everything. And he has no endless array of gadgets, or vehicles, or super strength and endurance to help him out. He’s just a guy in a costume, head down against the wind and snow, struggling to get to where he needs to go. And I love the Bible verses placed throughout the first issue. There’s something very noble about the kind of self-sacrificial behavior that Matt displays, and the verses just emphasize that nobility. But it’s not just Matt who displays heroism and determination, it’s also the two helicopter pilots who are determined to race the storm to get the heart to New York, at the risk of their own lives. And one man loses that race, dying in the helicopter crash, even though Daredevil rescues the other and retrieves the heart. And it’s also the two orderlies who helped Matt and who discover who he is, who take steps to protect his secret identity.

This is really strong storytelling, with plenty of genuine heroism, both from the guy in the costume and the people who don’t wear one.

Indestructible Hulk #9
I haven’t bought a Hulk comic since the early 90s, back when Peter David was writing the book. Up until the last few years, that series was the only Marvel book I had ever collected, and I bought it because I always enjoyed the old tv series with Bill Bixby, and because the Hulk was the grey version at the time, living and working in Las Vegas. I was curious about why that was the case, since I thought the Hulk was big and green. And of course he still was and is, sometimes.

Anyway, I’m still sampling various Marvel books to see what they have to offer, so I decided to read Mark Waid’s “Indestructible Hulk” and see what the character was up to these days. Like “Dark Nights”, it was an easy sell since I’m already enjoying Mark Waid’s writing over on Daredevil, and DD himself appears in this issue. The concept of the series appears to be that Banner has gone to work for SHIELD, and he now works for them, both as himself and as the Hulk. But it’s not a very smooth and trusting relationship since he puts in a call once a week to his lawyer just so his lawyer will know he’s alive and well. Of course, Matt Murdock is his lawyer, and he gets involved in this story since it’s near his neighbourhood. The actual plot of the issue involves weapons smugglers that the Hulk helps SHIELD shut down, though one man escapes with a sonic gun that is at “Thor levels” of destructive capability, and both DD and Bruce Banner go track the man down, leading to a cliffhanger ending featuring Baron Zemo, who I think is a Captain America villain.

The plot is serviceable, and it’s mainly the character interactions that make this comic enjoyable. Bruce seems to enjoy needling Maria Hill, while the Hulk responds far better to Daredevil than he does to Hill. And the story seems to focus far more on Banner than it does on the Hulk, which is a change from Peter David’s run when the Hulk seemed to get all the page time, with Banner barely making an appearance some issues.

Superior Spider-Man #14
After the fairly small-scale storytelling of the last three issues, issue 14 goes all big and explosive as Spider-Ock brings his army of minions and giant robots into Hell’s Kitchen to take out the Kingpin and his army of Hand ninjas. THAT’s a comic book plot. And it’s non-stop action from start to finish, as Ock is determined to kill the Kingpin and destroy his stronghold right in the middle of the city. When Jameson calls to demand an explanation, Ock berates him for knowing about the criminal stronghold in the middle of New York but doing nothing about it. Ock deploys his army both to fight the enemy and to protect the innocents in the neighbourhood. Apart from his willingness to kill and his continuing blackmail of Jameson (which is admittedly hilarious), Ock’s actions are otherwise squarely in the heroic category in this issue. Even so, his ego is clearly driving him just as much as any moral impulse, as he makes sure the people of the neighborhood know just who it was who saved them from the Kingpin.

Spider-Ock continues to be just a fun character to read about, with his mixture of doing the right thing, doing the wrong thing, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, and his general egotistical attitude and his super-villain approach to super-heroics. And I note that he’s got his mechanical arms back as part of his new Spider-costume, even though they’re more “spidery” rather than looking like his old Doc Ock arms. Not to mention, he has a nice villainous laugh, which creeps Hobgoblin out. Too funny.

Some points of interest from this issue:
- Kingpin quickly figures out that something is not quite right. “The voice is the same, but that’s not the Spider-Man I know.” Add Kingpin to the list of people who know that something is wrong, even if they don’t know exactly what. I'm willing to bet he won't let it go either.
- “Hobgoblin Protocol”? What is going on there?
- By the same note, the spider-bots ignore some drug-dealing as well. My guess is that there’s something about the Hobgoblin turning up that makes Ock decide to ignore small fry in favour of something bigger that the Hobgoblin apparently represents. I don’t know enough about the character to make a guess though.

[BWprowl]

- “Hobgoblin Protocol”? What is going on there?
- By the same note, the spider-bots ignore some drug-dealing as well. My guess is that there’s something about the Hobgoblin turning up that makes Ock decide to ignore small fry in favour of something bigger that the Hobgoblin apparently represents. I don’t know enough about the character to make a guess though.

It was actually ‘Goblin Protocol’. Dang, this is where coming in late is going to hurt you. A few issues ago, the Green Goblin showed that he had figured out how to hack Otto’s Spider-Bots, and get them to ignore things on their patrols. Here, it seems he’s installed some sort of protocol that causes the bots to completely ignore things with a Goblin-esque face, obviously for his own protection (and for his drug dealers, who sport a Goblin-face tattoo to let them utilize the protocol), but it apparently works for the similarly-costumed Hobgoblin as well. They were setting up for this a few issues ago and it’s coming to fruition: Otto’s big-picture focusing and over-reliance on his Spider-Bots has left him completely vulnerable to the methods of the Green Goblin. Shit is about to go down.

But man, can we just talk about what a ride this issue was? In terms of sheer scope and scale, this was one of the wildest comic books I’ve read all year. In just one issue, Otto rides in with giant robots and DEFIES the all-too-common ‘Big Bad has a stronghold right in the middle of the city’ schtick endemic to the medium, and he does it with the style we’ve come to know too well with him. Not only is he explicitly going in and doing what previous heroes had shied away from, but the people of the city are genuinely grateful to him for it, and it’s implied that, underground Goblin uprising aside, his momentary backyard war was a GOOD decision that WILL make everything better for everyone in the long run. And it’s just an amazing, explosive sequence to watch. Even Humberto Ramos’s unfortunate art (ye gods the way the guy draws Spidey’s legs and lower torso is horrifying) can’t really hold back the breathtaking scale of what we’re watching here. Even the baddies themselves are dumbstruck as it happens, this being unlike anything that’s happened in a superhero comic before. It’s nuts, watching both the Kingpin and Jameson tell Spidey “You can’t DO this!” and him just going “Watch me”.

I wonder if something as big as Shadowland being taken down will get noted in other books, like Avengers or Daredevil.

Anyway, yeah, this one’s another winner. I can’t wait to see what Slott’s setting Superior Spider-Man up for next.

Scarlet Spider #19
The Wolverine/Assassin’s guild plot wraps up here, and Yost is as comfortably on-form as usual. Funny that Kingpin took over the Guild here presumably just before Otto ousted him over in Superior Spider-Man, wonder if that’ll be acknowledged at all. Kaine continues with his ‘Do what I have to’ philosophy, understanding that being a monster and doing some Bad Things is necessary for someone like him to keep him and his friends alive. There’s the very clear point here that Kaine understands his limitations as a hero, that he can’t be perfect and protect everything without crossing lines, and knowing where those lines are and how to exploit them is a particular skill of his. Other heroes like Wolverine may hate him for it, but Kaine isn’t concerned with being ‘liked’ in the hero community or even staying out of the way of the villain community, he’s just trying to get all his shit straightened out so he and his circle back in Houston can live with minimal uproar. Of course, we’ve all been in situations where trying to simplify or fix a situation just made it worse, and we already know that things are conspiring to do so to Kaine. This book is just so goddamn *solid*, focused solely on exploring Kaine’s actions, why he does them, what he wants out of them, and the far-reaching and long-term implications of them. Yes, I think it’s still my favorite thing on the shelf, even with as good as Superior Spider-Man has been getting (and if Kaine sticks around New York, those two might even be meeting soon…).

[Dominic]

What he said:

Dom recommended it, but I had already been thinking about reading it since I’m buying the main series, so it wasn’t a hard sell.

What he meant?

Dom recommended it, but I am reading it anyway.

Dark Nights is a story I could have pictured Alan Grant or Jim Starlin writing for Batman back in the day, back when Batman spent more time fighting ordinary crime and less time on his gallery of villains or showing up the rest of the Justice League.

Weeks used to work on "Daredevil" and this sort of book, whick likely explains the retro feel.

And, the conclusion cannot be assumed. The kid might actually die. Daredevil is "allowed" to fail.


And, I flipped through "Hunger" this week.

Apparently, Sparky and I were both right. The fleet of ships (Ultimates Gah Lak Tus) is planning to attack and consume 616 Galactus. But, he ends up consuming them....and popping them back out as heralds.

Either way, it is an event driven 616/Ultimate cross-over, which is the thing Marvel said they were not going to do and the thing that nobody really wanted. I might flip through this book. But, I will not be buying it.


-Dom....

[Sparky Prime]

And, I flipped through "Hunger" this week.

Apparently, Sparky and I were both right. The fleet of ships (Ultimates Gah Lak Tus) is planning to attack and consume 616 Galactus. But, he ends up consuming them....and popping them back out as heralds.

Either way, it is an event driven 616/Ultimate cross-over, which is the thing Marvel said they were not going to do and the thing that nobody really wanted. I might flip through this book. But, I will not be buying it.

Well... that's not quite what I expected. Galactus ate the Gah Lak Tus swarm? Still, I figured they'd end up working together.

Speaking of flipping through comics... I looked at the first issue of Larfleeze while I was at the comic book store last week, forgot to mention it when I posted about the other Lantern books. I gather it picks up from the backup story in Threshold, but basically all this issue does is rehash Larfleeze's origins. I guess it works for new readers who wouldn't be familiar with the character, but if you read the GL Agent Orange arc, not really worth it IMO.

[andersonh1]

It was actually ‘Goblin Protocol’. Dang, this is where coming in late is going to hurt you. A few issues ago, the Green Goblin showed that he had figured out how to hack Otto’s Spider-Bots, and get them to ignore things on their patrols. Here, it seems he’s installed some sort of protocol that causes the bots to completely ignore things with a Goblin-esque face, obviously for his own protection (and for his drug dealers, who sport a Goblin-face tattoo to let them utilize the protocol), but it apparently works for the similarly-costumed Hobgoblin as well.

Okay, that makes sense then, and explains a lot. I could go back and pick up issues 6-10 since they're still on the shelf, but at this point I'm pretty much waiting on the trade.

Even Humberto Ramos’s unfortunate art (ye gods the way the guy draws Spidey’s legs and lower torso is horrifying) can’t really hold back the breathtaking scale of what we’re watching here.

I didn't mind the art so much, but I will say that I'm glad Ramos wasn't drawing the last story arc. That storyline was a bit more serious with Jameson grieving for his dead wife and out for revenge, and I think the more straightforward style of the last artist suited it better than the more cartoony art of Ramos would have.

What he said:

Dom recommended it, but I had already been thinking about reading it since I’m buying the main series, so it wasn’t a hard sell.

What he meant?

Dom recommended it, but I am reading it anyway.

Hey, give yourself more credit! I was thinking of reading it, and your recommendation was a factor in favor of the story. Not the only one, but a factor.

And, the conclusion cannot be assumed. The kid might actually die. Daredevil is "allowed" to fail.

Good point. I'm certainly wondering how he's going to get back to the hospital at this point, when I should be wondering IF he's going to make it back.

[Shockwave]

New Avengers: Search for the Sorcerer Supreme. This came from Dom in a package filled with some left over Kreo sets. I was reading NA when it started, but stopped just before or after "Secret Invasion". I'm guess just before as it's implied in this book that Dr. Strange did something to save the Avenger's asses during that event, even though it was somehow an abuse of power. One that caused him to lose his status as "Sorcerer Supreme of Earth". While I like Dr. Strange, I always thought this was a title he had bestowed upon himself, when really, it's up to the Eye of Agamato. Most of the book consists of various characters fighting and/or racing each other for the McGuffin, that being the afformentioned Eye. Dr. Strange has it until it teleports to it's new owner and apparently the rightful heir of it, a character named Brother Voodoo. For a while, Strange was concerned that the Eye would choose Dr. Doom since apparently any heavy magic user on the planet could potentially qualify for the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Brother Voodoo accepts his new mission and Dr. Strange begins his training. I enjoyed reading this story even though it was fairly simple and straightforward. Maybe that's what I liked about it. It didn't really push the boundaries of comic books, but it didn't need to, nor did it try to. There were some subthemes there about the heroes having difficulty balancing what's right with what's legal. It seems the Avengers are on the wrong side of the law at the moment (at least in this book) and it also does show how various team members deal with that. Overall I'd say its a good book and worth reading. The art was good and it was easy to follow what was happening. At no point did I ever ask myself "What just happened in that panel?", something that Transformers comics can't boast.

[andersonh1]

Nice article about Superman in the 80s and 90s, post-Crisis. THIS is the Superman I enjoyed reading so much, and it's great to see so many of the writers and artists talk about that time. I'd love to have been able to go and sit in on that panel.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=47001