"Supergirl," Had a BAD First Weekend at the Box Office...

"Supergirl," is the second big film in James Gunn and Peter Safran's new take on the DC cinematic Universe. "Superman," did quite well, and the second season of, "Peacemaker," which altered its continuity to take place in the same universe, was a hoot as well. "Supergirl," earned raves for Milly Alcock's performance, muted praise for Jason Momoa's Lobo, and was otherwise given a critical, "Meh," by many outlets. It proceeded to land roughly in theaters.  I mean, it made less than, "Morbius," did in its opening weekend. "Supergirl," isn't the worst cinematic bomb ever despite dramatic headlines, but the indifference of reviewers and theatergoers is evident.

Some people have begun discussing whether a general toxicity in fandom is to blame. Other's have said it is proof female superheroes don't sell/Hollywood keeps failing them. Every superhero movie that struggles results in discussion of, "Superhero movie fatigue," and plenty of folks have already begun writing this off as, "Not a big deal." The argument already is going, "Supergirl was never a big thing, the real test is how that Green Lanterns show, and Clayface movie do!" which feels like a big example of, "Moving the goalposts," but whatever.

I do want to check out the new, "Supergirl," movie. That said,  just I didn't see the latest, "Superman," until it had been out a couple of weeks, and I had the chance to view it, that'll probably be the case with, "Supergirl," for me too. At least if I go in with average-to-low expectations, I may very well conclude that it is better than people have been saying. Sure sounds like I will have much of the theater to myself when I do make it over there.

The Early Days of March Bring News and Links

The phrase often goes that March is, "In like a lion, out like a lamb," with that holding true in our region, at least, as the debut of March brought ample rain. While we sit inside trying to remain dry, how about examining some interesting news and links?

The, "Lanterns," show has a snazzy new trailer. It seems relatively low-key and contemplative compared to something like, "Peacemaker," but could be quite fun and will (hopefully) have plenty of cool Green Lantern powers shown off when the show launches this August.

A number of random comics have been quite hot in the market. Many are random indie publishers or technically-indie with Image.  Javier Perez explores this latest trend/bubble over at Comicsbeat.

Also at Comicsbeat is a discussion of how the founder of Dark Horse Comics, Mike Richardson, is out after 40 years there. It was officially acquired by Embracer in 2022, shifted around in 2024, but mostly left to its own devices by the megacompany. Not any longer, as--kind polite phrasing aside--he was basically fired. What does the future hold for Dark Horse? We'll see!

You might have heard that the United States entered a war with Iran because Donald Trump just kind of felt like it. He didn't desire to get approval from Congress, either. Little effort has been made to even retroactively complain or try to limit Trump's ability to make a mess because the idea of actual checks and balances in our Government has become a joke during his second term.

Back in the day, if children or teenagers wanted to learn about investing, they could pretend to do the stock market via different worksheets/games/etc. Now, it seems companies want kiddos to invest real money and put it in absurdities such as cryptocurrency. One big proponent of this? That man with the big weird smile and nothing behind it but a black hole (he seriously lacks any discernible personality), Mr. Beast. Yes, thanks to Jimmy Donaldson, your teen can lose a bunch of money via an upcoming app that will possibly be full of pump-and-dump schemes. Yah?

Last off, Corey Plante at Polygon has an interesting piece about how the continued rise of Pokémon and its cards essentially resulted in it occurring where, "Pikachu defeated Michael Jordan in the trading card grading boom." I remember when only 151 Pokémon existed. Now we've got over 1,000. I feel old.

The Latest Spector Club Show Was a Hoot!

Today I spent the morning in Shrewsbury enjoying a really fun comic show! Put on by the Spector Club, I have posted previously about the times I've had a table selling stuff. I was not a vendor today, but I enjoyed being a patron and getting some stellar comics to add to my collection. I kicked-off my time chatting with Jack Thomas of Fortress Comics. His area was full to the gills with Silver and Golden age comics. It was some impressive stuff! Then, I said hello to Spike of Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles and we talked about how busy life had been! I talked with the stellar fellows of Tatetot Comics and Collectibles and picked up this, "Green Lantern," ratio variant comic from them:

I had a chance to talk with John Chaffee from Bigfoot Comics and Collectibles and then saw my good friend Bruce Reynolds  as well as the lovely Tom of Alliance Comics, Toys, and Games. It was fun catching up with them as well as Vince from VK Toys who was kind enough to trade some stuff with me so that I could grab this X-Men comic:

As I was digging in the boxes of various vendors I had fun conversing with my fellow comic fans and it was apparent everyone was having a great time! I also talked with Dave from All-American Collectibles as well as David from Calisto Comics! I bought two snazzy Spawn Comics from Eric and Tricia of STL Comics. Check them out:

I had such a fantastic time at the Spector Club's event today and look forward to the next one on May 12th! If you're in the region around then I'd encourage you to go too!

Flashback Friday: "Final Crisis," Was Great, Even if it Was a Mess

D. Emerson Eddy has a new post on Comicsbeat in which they discuss how, "Final Crisis is a bit of a mess. It’s also one of the greatest events that DC has ever published." I honestly could not agree more. "Final Crisis," was a mixture of its own self-contained weirdness thanks to writer Grant Morrison, something that had been led into via other DC series by different writers, and the climax of a bunch of Morrison's own other DC that was seemingly unrelated to, "Final Crisis," but arguably more important than official tie-ins or lead-up series. You can both read it by itself and be confused, or read it with everything that relates to it and...still be pretty flabbergasted, but still in a good way.

As Eddy says, "It's a spectacular mess." The art is great, even as fill-in talents were needed due to delays, the story is at its most basic about ultimate evil (Darkseid) versus ultimate good (Superman and other versions of Superman from various realities too). However, that is extremely reductive to say as all kinds of other random stuff gets thrown into the story too, from sentient computers (OMAC) kids from the future (Kamandi), other random New Gods, there is intrigue from outer space via Green Lanterns, the, "Batman R.I.P.," storyline Morrison was doing heavily overlaps with everything, Martian Manhunter dies, Barry Allen comes back to life, Monitor-related characters return, an Obama-inspired Presidential Superman appears, and more, and more, and more, damn it! People have talked about how, "Crisis on Infinite Earths," or, "Infinite Crisis," felt a bit like DC was taking everything and the kitchen sink and combining it into an event. Well, "Final Crisis," does that and shatters the sink into a bunch of random asides and concepts that don't quite glue back together perfectly but still manage to make something functional and cool.

I was not very familiar with the DC Universe when I read, "Final Crisis." The only DC series I had been following closely at that point were, "Green Lantern," and, "Batman." I was incredibly overwhelmed, confused, and unsure of what the Hell was happening in the event. I still had a great time reading it, though. If that isn't the definition of a mess that is also somehow amazingly great, I am unable to say what is.

"Dawn of DC," Kicks off This January 2023

DC has announced a big new slate of titles that will start releasing in January 2023. It is called, "Dawn of DC." I'm pleased that it isn't really an event and the Universe is staying the same so we can avoid having to use the words, "Reboot," or, "Reset," for now. A lot of the comics don't even involve Batman, which is amazing considering how much of DC's output has been Batman-centric lately.

There will be new, "Doom Patrol," "Cyborg," "Green Arrow," "Shazam!" a Green Lantern comic focused on John Stewart, and yes, some titles relating to Batman and his foes such as, "Penguin," and, "Batman: The Brave and the Bold." Still, there will be a chunk of variety and the creative teams that have been revealed are solid. Not every comic sounds interesting, but I'm intrigued by a number of them--"Steelworks," focuses on Steel and his family so that sounds cool, to give one example. It all starts with the new year and continues through 2023, so here's hoping it is good fun.

DC Comics is Looking Pretty Tone-Deaf in Its Effort to Promote Hispanic Heritage Month

 

UPDATE: DC is going to use the original cover that Jorge Molina did. Thank goodness for that, at least.

Oh, DC Comics, you really stepped in it. In an effort to promote the upcoming Hispanic Heritage Month, DC is doing some themed covers. This is perfectly normal as we've had themed variants for plenty of notable months. However, the actual execution this time has resulted in some problematic optics.

Almost every single cover involves food. The characters eating it, or it being a part of the image. It's a little odd. One really cool cover that was done Jorge Molina did not involve food. As Bleedingcool tells it, "Only the variant for, 'Titans United,' featuring Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, appeared to feature something other than a food theme, homaging La Patria, a painting by famous Mexican mural artist Jorge González Camarena." The original image Molina did is this one:

That's not what DC chose to publish. Some changes were made (Molina has politely expressed he is not a fan), and now the image features Kyle Rayner holding a bag of tamales. Yes, seriously. Have a look:

I mean, what the Hell? A big part of many cultures would be food. It doesn't have to be the only thing though. As Samantha King of Screenrant observes, "Culture and heritage is about far more than food. Though it is one of the most effective ways to bring people together and to begin building bridges, it shouldn't be the sole focus of covers that aim to celebrate so many different cultures." It is reductive. This would be like reducing my Jewish heritage to a bunch of comic covers featuring matzah ball soup. I eagerly await to see what DC does in response to how awkward a look this is.

Rant-Reviews: Checking in with the Mainstream Publishers

It Has Been a Bit
Hey, I haven't done some rant-reviews for a bit, and I ought to discuss some of those more mainstream titles out there, right? Let's do this.

Reading and Writing (My Thoughts)
Captain America #7
Ta-Nehisi Coates has been giving us a bit of a slow-burn comic with some solid artwork by Leinil Yu but things are starting to finally get a bit more to a boiling point, if I may mix my metaphors. Steve Rogers has been accused of murdering General, "Thunderbolt" Ross because he realizes some nefarious force is looking to slander the name of Captain America--in the end it is about the shield and what it stands for no matter what America is going through. Coates is building-up a fascinating political conspiracy full of twists and turns, even if the pace is a bit slow.
4 out of 5 stars.

Oliver #1
Apparently there have been a number of new takes on the classic Dicken's tale, "Oliver Twist," but this one is just downright weird and only vaguely reminiscent of that classic story. That is probably also why I quite liked it. Image has been putting out a ton of #1 issues lately, probably because enough end-up becoming big hits that a smattering of failures is acceptable. I hope that this book gets a lot of good buzz however, because we have a splendidly odd comic here. It is the future, a bunch of mutant-soldiers live isolated from society, but a young boy named Oliver they adopted once his mother came to the nuclear wasteland and gave birth to him before she died (and he strangely survived) goes around causing mischief. Clearly Oliver is special and will be journeying to parts of the world not destroyed yet, and I am curious to see how the old book will be riffed upon and also quite clearly differ. Another solid debut from Image.
4 out of 5 stars.

Deathstroke #40
Christopher Priest's masterful magnum-opus run on, "Deathstroke," hits issue #40 here, featuring his usual mixture of pathos, purposely-disjointed pacing and time-jumps, and a solid dose of humor. Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke breaks out of Arkham Asylum finally in this issue but learns some of the hallucinations he suffered from Hugo Strange (who took over the Asylum and let the inmates make a mess within it) may have been all too real (killing his therapist) and others quite fake (thinking he killed Two-Face). Oh, and he fights some space aliens because why not? Just an amazing series, and one I hope isn't impacted by DC's recent announcement of cost-cutting measures which will include reducing their comic-line.
5 out of 5 stars.

Immortal Hulk #13
Speaking of amazing series, albeit one a lot earlier in its run than, "Deathstroke," but no less impressive, here is, "Immortal Hulk." Al Ewing has been making amazing comics for some time now but seemed to not get much recognition. Well, his horror-themed Hulk comic which has now literally taken the character to a form of Hell is getting a whole lot of love thanks to his phenomenal scripting and (usual) artist Joe Bennet's disgusting-yet-incredible illustrations. In this issue the Hulk finally breaks out of the strange Hell but still has a whole lot of questions about the nature of just who/what he is to address. This is arguably the best Marvel comic on stands latley, and the best Hulk comic possibly ever--although Peter David's run a good deal of years ago was extremely solid, and I liked Planet Hulk a good deal too. Still, this is just off-the-charts incredible stuff.
5 out of 5 stars.

Savage Dragon #242
Just thought I'd dip my toe into the long-running and surreal weirdness that is Erik Larsen's comic, "The Savage Dragon." This issue just came out yesterday and it still is a bizarre mixture of heroics, sexy-stuff, politics, and general strangeness, Larsen is doing what he likes all these issues later. That it is delightfully entertaining decades into the series is admirable.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Green Lantern #4
I previously had a big review of the first issue of this Grant Morrison-written and Liam Sharp-illustrated comic. We are now four issues in and the weirdness expressed via the story and artwork has continued without relenting in the slightest. One of my favorite comics ever was written by Morrison and was a very off-the-wall science-fiction mini-series known as, "The Filth," so I clearly like when Morrison ventures into sci-fi stories. That perhaps is why I'm so far really digging his, "Green Lantern," run with its weird mixture of wacky aliens, space-law, and a dash of super-heroics from Hal Jordan and his fellow Lanterns. Morrison and Sharp fill these pages with a lot--a whole bunch of story and mind-bending artwork--but it hasn't been overwhelming yet so much as enthralling in its strangeness. I'm not sure where exactly this book is heading with its countless strange creatures and plots, but I'm eager to see where it eventually ends-up.
4 out of 5 stars.

Check-In Complete
Well, that was a productive post discussing what is going on with some assorted bigger-name publishers. Clearly even if I often am discussing the difficulties and complexities going on Marvel and DC (Image usually ain't having much drama) they still can publish some stellar work when not dealing with big fiascoes or controversies.

The Weather Was Cold but the Toyman Deals were Hot!

Yesterday was extremely snowy, but thankfully thanks to the hard work of snowplow trucks and things getting a bit warmer the roads were just a bit wet (not even that slick). Therefore, I was able to shovel our drive-way and make my way to today's Toyman Show. I was eager to trade some comics of my own I brought (and I had a little bit of cash) to acquire some cool reads for a good price. Sometimes when I go to the show I'm looking for Funko Pops or other toys, but today I had comics on my mind, and I had immense success finding some cool stuff!

I found a really old comic featuring Archie and his friends as well as an old issue of, "DC Showcase #40," with an early appearance of the Metal Men. The comics are far from near-mint condition but that allowed me to get them for reasonable trades/prices!

I talked with one vendor at a table named Dan, who was at the show with some wares from his store, Comic Service, located in Springfield (Illinois). I traded some comics of my own for these cool digest-sized reads about Green Lantern and UFOs.

These rad issues of, "Master of Kung Fu," were on sale for just a buck each and I couldn't say no to some vintage adventures of Shang-Chi.

Lastly, in the upstairs section of the show I bought some assorted ashcans, underground stuff, and this really cool read featuring The Thing (of Fantastic Four-fame) fighting a Spider-Man foe I feel is underrated, the Rhino.

Today's Toyman show was (as always) a delight. This time I was after awesome comics and I succeeded at finding them. There was a wide array of toys for sale too--obviously--including everything form old action figures, to hot wheels, lego, and so much good stuff. The next show is March 10th, and I hope to be there without a doubt (regular admission starts at 9AM for $5 with 16-and-under free, early bird entry is 8AM and $12). I'll see everyone there!

"The Green Lantern," #1 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp is A Solid Start

I am a big fan of Grant Morrison, having loved a lot of his works (and admittedly hated a handful too). His latest work is writing, "The Green Lantern," ongoing comic with artist Liam Sharp that I believe takes place in the current DC Universe/continuity but seems in other ways somewhat removed and almost had me wondering if it was set in the past if not for some more-recent references (I'm not alone in this either, as this cool annotation of the comic talks about). This issue follows some Green Lanterns investigating a crime that it turns out released some kind of horrific and dangerous force that results in Hal Jordan being called-upon by the Guardians (who run the Green Lantern Corps) to investigate what could be going on. It all may sound straightforward, but Morrison works in all kinds of weirdness from a virus that serves as a member of the Corps to a, "Fleshmen," alien with a hive mind plus all kinds of weird little callbacks to past comics that hardcore readers as well as those only a little familiar with the assorted Lanterns (such as myself) can both enjoy regardless of how extensive or limited their knowledge is.

The first issue of, "The Green Lantern," with Morrison at scripting-helm is well-written and fun if not immediately awe-inspiring, but Liam Sharp's artwork picks-up any slack in what Morrison presents us. Sharp's illustrations of alien worlds and creatures are lush, detailed in their surreal abstract nature, and otherwise had me staring at pages long after I'd read any plot-points or dialogue just to absorb the mixture of his beautiful and hideous drawings (some aliens are incredibly ugly in an impressive way). He assembles the panels on the pages in a way that the story flows perfectly and his art-style contributes to the retro-futuristic vibe I got from the comic.

Liam Sharp provides some amazing artwork.

This first issue of "The Green Lantern," is a mixture of solid writing from Grant Morrison and superb artwork from Liam Sharp. It contains plenty of action, sets up a mystery, and otherwise is a solid start to what will hopefully be a hum-dinger of a run. I eagerly look forward to more.
4 out of 5 stars.

Is DC's Latest Event-Teasing Comic Any Good? A Review of, "Dark Days: The Forge #1"

I love doing my rant-reviews/capsule reviews but sometimes you just wanna do a deeper-dive into a single comic because there is a variety to discuss. This book was interesting because it was strange, and while I wasn't amazed, I did overall at least like this comic. First off, the artwork is solid throughout as various talents pop-up to provide their talents (Jim Lee, Andy Kubert, and John Romita Jr.), but Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV really have maybe a bit too much going on within the span of this single comic for much to make any sense.

"The Forge," leads into the upcoming DC event, "Metal," which seems to be about how a mystical metal provides many famous artifacts in the DC Universe with power. This isn't just about that though, it involves other worlds, past Universes such as the New 52 one, and the denizens of that universe such as Plastic Man, plus we have one of the, "Three Jokers," a version of, "The Outsiders," so-called, "Immortal Men," the possibility of a dystopia ruled by Batman, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl play a role too. Also, Green Lantern is involved too because something is up with his ring that relates to all this. Yes, there is a lot going on here and it can be a bit much.

Oh, I didn't even mention the dimensional tuning-fork

To the credit of all these competing stories, enough stuff is interesting that I'm considering giving, "Metal," some attention. While I could take-or-leave the idea of various powerful items in the DC Universe all sharing some mystical metal, I'm a fan of stories that involve alternate universes as well as tales where those dimensions meet-up. This book isn't exactly friendly to casual readers of the DC Universe however (like myself) who just dip our toes into various books. No, this is the kind of thing that rewards folk with extensive knowledge of DC and I had to look-up a lot of reviews and break-downs to make sense of some things.

"Dark Days: The Forge," is a comic so loaded with teasers for a variety of story-elements that it hampers the overall flow of the plot a bit with an unclear focus. Is this a tale of magical metals, alternate universes, dark futures ruled over by Batman, or a multitude of other things? Thankfully a variety of these ideas are compelling and--as I said--the book looks quite good, so I overall liked this comic and am curious what comes next--which was arguably its whole intent, to get us intrigued in future stories.
3 out of 5 stars.

Reviews of Some DC Collections I Read Thanks to the Library

I Really do Love the Library

I've read some DC Comic Collections lately thanks to my library system carrying all the books I've heard are interesting but which I don't want to buy because my collection is getting too big for stuff that I might enjoy (plus I only have so much funds). I quit reading a lot of the DC books monthly before the latest, "Rebirth," re-launch but wanted to check some of the books out that I had either followed before dropping them (like, "Batman,") or which good things were being said about. With that established, here are some DC collections of comics I've read!

Justice League Volume 7: Darkseid War Part 1, Justice League Volume 8: Darkseid War Part 2, and Justice League: The Darkseid War: Power of the Gods

Yes, that last book's title  has a colon within a colon. It is odd, I know. Anyways, I mostly quit following the, "Justice League," comic after, "Forever Evil," and Lex Luthor figuring out how Bruce Wayne was Batman (not that impressive considering a kid, Tim Drake, has done it too, but whatever, I'll give Luthor the win). I guess that resulted in Luthor being allowed by Batman/blackmailing Batman onto the Justice League because here he is fighting against Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor AKA the secret bad-guy behind the villains of, "Forever Evil," fleeing their ruined home-world. Other heroes and villains pop-up such as Mister Miracle and a lady named Grail who is Wonder Woman's evil Amazon counterpart due to being born the same day (or something), but things don't actually get all that interesting until toward the end of Volume 7/Part 1 when a bunch of the Justice League members gain incredible powers in the process of killing Darkseid.

To name some changes: Batman finds his way onto the chair of Metron and gains near-infinite knowledge, the Flash gets the power of death (or something) and Superman seems to be basically the same in strength but now fully black-and-white in coloration and really pissed-off all the time. These alterations to our heroes is explored further in the double-colon, "Justice League: Darkseid War: Power of the Gods," which collects some one-shots that came out during the even chronicling what our heroes got up to during their time gifted with immense power although I only found the, "Batman," one particularly interesting with its focus on Batman causing a headache for the legal system due to his now capturing perpetrators because they can actually commit a crime. The Superman one wasn't too bad either with it hinting how even when vaguely-corrupted by the powers of Darkseid a hero like Superman has bits of humanity in him still.

Once Volume 8/Part 2 kicks in since the climax of Darkseid's violent defeat the story gets moving a lot more as the Anti-Monitor tries to destroy Earth and Justice League has to team-up with the Crime Syndicate (the evil heroes from that, "Forever Evil," event) and release them from prison in order to fight the Anti-Monitor whilst fighting their own new powers that are making them act weird. Wonder Woman is one of the few heroes not corrupted so a lot of Volume 8 involves her viewpoint and thinking about how she's possibly the only person staying sane as the whole team falls apart--a nice touch as outside of her solo-comics we don't see much of Wonder Woman's viewpoint in regards to when she is in a team-book.

It was a little odd seeing the Anti-Monitor--a being who can destroy all of reality--just slowly destroying Earth considering his immense powers, but it is addressed how he is a bit weaker from his fight with Darkseid and in some ways likes having the more, "Personal," touch of evaporating a single planet as opposed to doing damage on a massive scale--a weak explanation, but an explanation nonetheless. Plus, compared to how weird and confusing things start to get toward the end of Volume 8/Part 2 that's nothing. You see, the Superwoman of the Crime Syndicate is pregnant, and gives birth to a baby, that somehow is morphed into a full-grown Darkseid who is controlled by Wonder Woman's aforementioned evil fellow Amazon, Grail. So we've got the Justice League dealing with corrupted powers, the Crime Syndicate reappearing, as well as extra villains and heroes from various planets resulting in the last few chapters of this volume being a bit of a jumble of a ton of characters struggling to get, "Screen-time." The Justice League of course overcomes evil and saves the day, but it is really messy considering how many characters and plot-lines are fighting for attention. Still, overall this was decently-entertaining even if it was heavily flawed, so I would rate it as....
3 out of 5 stars.

Batman Volume 9: Bloom

The conclusion of Scott Snyder's immense run on, "Batman," and I think the only Nu52 book that kept the same writer from beginning to when it ended for, "Rebirth," starting-up. A whole bunch of things happened over Snyder's run from the introduction of the Court of Owls, to repeated appearances by the Joker, the late-series introduction of this, "Bloom," baddie, and towards the end Bruce Wayne was, "Cured," of the trauma of being Batman and quit doing it long enough for Jim Gordon to step-in and tackle the job for a bit. Don't worry though, before that could stick for too long Snyder essentially resets almost everything as Bruce Wayne becomes Batman again and the only meaningful alteration is how a young man named Duke Thomas joins-up to become a new bird-themed sidekick (Lark).

Also, we never learn the true identity of who this, "Bloom," person is because I guess the concept is how anyone could be a terrifying monster or a hero? I dunno. At least some of the time we get awesome art by Greg Capullo who also was with this run from the start but had the occasional fill-in artist. Snyder and Capullo gave us a, "Batman," comic that was at times ingenious, at other times terrible, but overall was a pretty good time, kind of like this concluding book. Not too bad of stuff.
3.5 out of 5 stars.


The Omega Men: The End is Here

This book won all sorts of critical awards and through the sheer protest of fans alone was kept from being cancelled early when the creators had said it was planned as a 12-issue epic and DC threatened to truncate that. Happily it kept going and then once collected shot-up the New York Times best-seller list, so hooray for critical reception turning into commercial success for once too!

"Omega Men," takes place in the DC Universe but in many ways works to be its own removed entity, focusing on a solar-system that has purposely kept itself removed from the affairs of the Universe--even the galaxies-spanning Green Lantern Corps. However, lantern Kyle Rayner comes to try and negotiate peace between warring groups and then things just get really depressing. Essentially this is a comic about how sometimes no matter how hard we want there to be a happy medium or a positive solution, sometimes shit just ends up being awful. It is a message I'm not sure I fully agree with, but kudos to writer Tom King for giving us a comic that eerily-mirrors much of the drama befalling nations today with our whole, "War on terror," except the twist in this case is that the terrorists are actually the good guys, maybe?

You see, even with the right-or-wrong ideas the comics covers, a whole lot of gray still exists and you as the reader are never sure exactly who to cheer for---the morality of everything is extremely murky. It is a really good read and one I would recommend you check-out via your library/borrowing from a friend/buying at a store or online. It's a fantastically good read.
5 out of  5 stars.

Thanks Again to the Library!

Thanks once more to my local county libraries! As a resident of Saint Louis County I actually can acquire a library card for the City libraries too (Saint Louis City counts as its own County), and have done so--some of the stuff I read for my post about manga was actually from the city. I plan to read more books via those libraries too and in the future bet I will be thanking both the County and City profusely as I keep making posts about the stuff I've read!

I'm at a Wedding this Weekend and it has Me Thinking about Super-Hero Marriages.

A cousin of mine is getting married this weekend (later today, actually!) and it has me thinking about super-hero marriages and relationships. Often they don't end well.

The murder of  Green Lantern Kyle Rayner's girlfriend inspired the term "fridging".

A fair amount of times it seems the girlfriends of male super-heroes don't have the best time, often being killed (or "fridged" as the term goes thanks to the above comic image) by a villain to make the male super-hero angry. Super-hero marriages seem to work out a bit better with at least some relatively happy couplings, but even those have had issues.
For every Reed Richards and Sue Storm couple that is well-functioning and even has kids, you have two sad occurrences such as Matt Murdock/Daredevil with his former-wife being driven insane, or Peter Parker/Spider-Man with his marriage to Mary Jane finding itself undone via a deal with the devil (yes, it was a very stupid story). You have Buddy Baker who generally seems to have a good thing going with his wife, but then there is Clark Kent/Superman having his marriage basically written out of continuity by DC when they re-booted their universe, or Storm and T'Challa/The Black Panther having their marriage annulled.

I know marriage can be hard, but why does it seem so often super-hero relationships or marriages seem to be impossible and end either A. horribly or B. through a silly continuity-alteration that has the flimsiest of stories to explain it(I'm looking at you, Peter Parker and Clark Kent)?

One of the few super-hero marriages that are still going strong.

Perhaps it is because a lot of comic readers are young folk--especially young males--and having super-heroes be older and married with children makes them more difficult to relate to than a young and single crime-fighter. It could be writers find it is easier to tell stories about dating and romance with various characters as opposed to coming up with perhaps less-exciting tales of happy matrimony, after all, stories thrive on conflict and when a hero is content in their relationship we are lacking a little in drama. I don't know why super-hero marriages and general relationships often face troubles, it just seems they just do.

All of this goes without saying we are just talking so far about heterosexual relationships if for no other reason than that there are so few gay characters, and even less in relationships. True, the more independent comics have had gay characters with relationships and marriages for some time, but one of first "mainstream" super-hero weddings just occurred within the last few years when Northstar married his boyfriend Kyle in the pages of "Astonishing X-Men". There are other gay characters who are dating, but only time will tell if their loved ones will also be "fridged" in an attempt to give said characters motivation to fight crime or save the world. You may think I'm joking, but it is kind of already happening! In the comic "Earth 2" we find Alan Scott (this version of the long-lived character is gay) proposing to his boyfriend before Scott nearly dies in a train crash and his boyfriend does sadly pass--thereby inspiring Allen to become a Green Lantern (it seems Green Lanterns have a really bad track-record when it comes to romance).

I hope Northstar and Kyle are able to stay happily married.
We don't need another super-hero love ended!

Both straight and gay super-heroes are finding their loved ones are not safe from the pens of writers who need to introduce conflict to stories, and it is kind of sad, because even if many marriages in the real world do end tragically due to accidents or divorce, there are still a good amount that last a long time and are full of love and happiness. I myself would like to see more Reed Richard and Sue Storm-styled couples in comics, where they may face conflicts with their marriage from both within themselves and outside forces, but in the end their love helps them conquer challenges. It would result in some fresh and innovative stories and make these characters more appealing to readers who have a loved one they are dating or married to.

I guess we will see if as time goes on our heroes are allowed to mature at least a little bit and have relationships or marriages that are joyous instead tragic. I would like that, because if anyone deserves to finally have some happiness and love in their lives it's Bruce Wayne/Batman...

Someday you'll settle down, Bruce, someday.

The Super-Hero as an Aryan Ideal, Jewish Power-Fantasy, and the Question of the Lack of Muslim Super-Heroes

The super-hero seems too often be written about as the Aryan ideal--you know, the Ubermensch AKA Super-Man. He is the epitome of all that is good, white, and Christian. However, I've read in some literature another theory I can agree with, namely that the super-hero often has been a Jewish power-fantasy.

Back in the late 1930s and through much of the following decades, as super-heroes grew in popularity Jews were making these characters (Siegel and Shuster were sons of Jewish immigrants, Stan Lee was originally named Stanely Martin Lieber, the list goes on). Back in those times a Jewish person couldn't get much work because people wouldn't hire them (or the Irish, Chinese, Black folk, or basically anyone who wasn't White and Protestant). Therefore, you got Jews in the few fields they could work in with one being writing and drawing comic books. Characters were imagined who in their "normal" identity were taken advantage of or mocked, but these characters could change. Change into something super.

These fictional beings could become a super-hero everyone looked up to. They transformed from their weak civilian identity into the "mainstream" ideal so that they could be accepted, even worshiped in a way. They had to keep their true-self secret, however. Then there were Jews who would change their name, act a certain way, and hope to be accepted by Christian society, all while hiding their "secret identity" of being a Jew. The common theme is apparent. Imagine being a Jew back in 1938. You would be insulted, spit on, and called names--but if you could simply duck into a phone-booth and become the uber-gentile it would be a power that the greatest effort would be expended on keeping a secret.

A quick change of identity and suddenly you're accepted and loved.

Nowadays within America Jews are more accepted (for the most part), but the Muslim population of our nation sure isn't. Simply being Muslim has you eyed with suspicion or threatened with attack in much of America. People don't really understand Islam well in the US other than from limited exposure to the culture in the media--and most of that coverage is quite negative. The US hasn't had a ton of a Muslim population until the more recent decades, so just as other groups were persecuted or feared when they first came to America such treatment is now being given to Muslims. With the way Muslims in the US are being treated I've known some followers of Islam who keep it quite secret. This raises the idea that the Jewish power fantasy of a super-hero could just as easily be thought up by Muslims. Therefore, where are the Islam-inspired super-heroes?

Is it the general lack of Muslim writers and artists in comics that contributes of the dearth of Muslim characters? Yes within DC we have the new Green Lantern Simon Baz and Bilal Asselah AKA "Nightrunner" whom was introduced in "Batman Inc.", plus Marvel has Dr. Faiza Hussain to name one Islamic hero, but all of these characters have been introduced somewhat recently, and if we look back in time there are Muslim characters in comic books but they aren't always portrayed in the best light (it is sad but not shocking to see Muslim villains outnumber Muslim heroes on a database that tracks the religion of various super-heroes). Publishers who aren't necessarily big-names have made super-heroes too--just look to "The 99" for an example of this--but when it comes to the popular US comics full of character and continuity that people love the sad truth is you won't see much of any Muslim representation. Besides the general lack of Muslim writers and artists what else is a potential issue?

Could it be that the idea of how the Jewish superhero wanted to pose as a gentile makes the idea of a super-hero being openly Muslim counter-intuitive? Openly-Jewish super-heroes such as Kitty Pride or Ben Grimm often have faced discrimination, Magneto himself suffered through the Holocaust due to his Jewish and Roma background. Wouldn't the troubles Jewish characters face in a world that is supposedly more accepting of them make it even more likely a Muslim hero want to keep their beliefs under wraps, one would wonder? For some time readers were never told Ben Grimm (of the Fantastic Four) was Jewish, he kept it secret more or less. How many other heroes could be secretly Muslim but not reveal it (for example sometimes-member of the X-Men, "Monet," pointed out she is Muslim much to the surprise of the current team she is with, X-Factor. Are there heroes just waiting for the right writer to discuss that yes, this character is Muslim--or introduce a new Muslim character?

Ben Grimm on the left, Monet on the right, "coming out" about their religions.

Part of the reason we may not have writers doing this is they don't understand Islam. This leads to the thought of how if popular culture helped Jews gain acceptance through mediums as varied as television, movies, and comic books, comics could be used as such a tool to introduce Islam to people in way that makes it less scary and more normal in the eyes of the "mainstream" American, but due to a lack of knowledge from the writers it just isn't being done. Comics could show that just as while there are some crazy Christians but most are fine, the majority of Muslims are as pleasant as your Jewish or Protestant neighbor.

The debut of Baz in "Green Lantern" was arguably such a big deal because while there have been some Muslim heroes, being a Green Lantern means you are "known" super-hero to popular culture instead of just being another small-time comic character only dedicated fans of DC, Marvel etc. know about. To be a Green Lantern means you possess great will and the ability to face fear, and when it feels like you are more likely to see a Muslim portrayed as terrible monster in popular culture, having a character who fights against fear is in some ways a big step forward against the scare-tactics our media and politicians have generated within the US about Islam.

Simon Baz

In some ways it is apparent how writer Geoff Johns was aware of the cultural views of Islam, as within the first issue of Green Lantern where we meet Baz he accused of being a terrorist due to being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the "wrong" religion for America. It also makes sense that once Baz gains the Green Lantern ring it causes a panic among America's security forces, because it reflects how in real-life if someone who followed Islam gained powers much of American society would probably have a fear of him or her wreaking havoc and trying to force Sharia Law on everyone (whereas if a white person in our country gained powers everyone's biggest concern would probably be what color spandex he or she should have for their new hero-costume).

The lack of Muslim super-heroes in US culture is not necessarily indicative of xenophobia or an anti-Islam sentiment  but it sure doesn't help counter the negative perception of Muslims that often seems to be pervasive within America. If a hero whom is Muslim can be as accepted as our Christian heroes, Jewish heroes, or heroes of any other religion that may be a sign of progress.  Just as Jews over time were able to take their "secret identity" public, perhaps before too long Muslims in America will be able to do so also without fear of persecution. Maybe with some more characters like Simon Baz things can be better in America for those who follow Islam. After all, if comics both influence and reflect popular culture, having a hero whom is Muslim make people as excited as one whom is any other religion is a positive thing.

 Perhaps it'll just take time, but wouldn't it be nice if instead of decades as it took the Jews to gain acceptance in America, those who were Muslim could feel welcome in the US in a matter of years? Those of us who want happiness and love for all can dream...

Side-Note: Thanks to Farah Wardani of the Indonesian Visual Art Archive for feedback on this big essay of an article. She can be found on twitter at @farahwardani.

News, Commentary, And Link-Madness

Let's Do Some Thoughts On The News and Links

• Whatever minimal respect I had for J. Michael Straczynski has completely evaporated with his comments about why its okay for him to do Before Watchmen and how he owes Alan Moore no courtesy because contracts have always been bad for creators. Alan Moore is a comic-book God worthy of at least some respect, JMS did some good stuff with Supreme Power and then pretty much anything else he's done has sucked and/or he has quit work on in the middle of. The last thing by JMS I'm buying is the last issue of, "The Twelve," and that is more because its gotten pretty bad too and I sort of just want to mock it.

• Speaking of Before Watchmen, David Brother's said it all wonderfully.

• Living in the Northeast is pretty unpleasant this week.

• Let's get this out of the way...when young and traveling in a foreign country President Obama ate dog meat.GOP candidate Mitt Romeny (we can say he's the candidate now, right? No more of this primaries nonsense?) in the past stuck his pet in a carrier and drove on the highway with it strapped to the roof. I think regardless of your feelings about how much this matters in regards to their ability to be President we can all agree despite owning dogs both men maybe would be better served by having a cat.

• Yeah, DC's continuity in the new universe is a bit of a mess due to keeping some stories the same such as with Batman and Green Lantern.

• The huge company Wal-Mart known for not always being the most ethical may have been bribing people? How non-shocking!

• I'm not linking to E3, the big video-game expo (once bigger, but that's another story) so much for what is there as what isn't there that people keep going on about to my annoyance: The supposed next-generation of consoles. Sony says they aren't going to reveal a PS4, Microsoft says there isn't going to be a Xbox 720 (or whatever) but the rumors won't die. If there is in fact a big surprise reveal I'll be annoyed all the rumor-mongers were right.

• It is confirmed that the newest Dark Knight Rises trailer will run with the premiere of the Avengers movie in the USA. I'm extremely pumped for both so that's just good news upon good news.

• Also Avengers: Star-villain Tom Hiddleston who appears as Loki actually wrote an article about superhero movies and why they shouldn't be dismissed. Nice! 

• This Captain America figure for the movie just looks creepy though. Too realistic= uncanny valley.

• Chris Roberson said he was concerned with the way DC Comics was acting ethically, but he was going to finish his work on iZombie and then do the arc of Fairest he agreed to before quitting the company. DC didn't appreciate his words and gave him a head start on quitting by firing him off the arc of Fairest ahead of time. On one hand he did publicly bad-mouth a company he was working for and said he was leaving them soon, so what could have been expected to happen? On the other hand, when you call a company immoral and its first response is to fire you for expressing an independent thought about its practices...yikes, that doesn't make said company look too good.

• Jeez, it seems like I'm just bashing DC today, so here's something positive about them, they've updated the quality of their huge omnibus books. Those things can be physically hard to read so that's good news. 

There we go, a whole lot of things to think over.

Rant-Reviews--An Avalanche Of Comics Part 2

Even more comics to become buried in.

Batman #1
David Brother's of the 4thletter recently had a post in which he pointed out how he thought Scott Snyder had a "tick" in the sense of always having characters talk about how, "once my dad told me such an such." At the time I thought maybe Brothers was being too hard on Snyder, it wasn't like he did all the time. Then, I open up this issue of Batman #1 and am enjoying it when suddenly I come to a scene where Bruce Wayne is delivering a speech and just has to mention how, "Once my father told me..." At this point all I can do is admit that David Brothers pretty much is always right. Other than that its a good comic, but seriously? I mean, Snyder does this in both the first issue of Swamp Thing and Batman? Scott Snyder must really hate his mother or love his poppa considering how little his comic characters ever talk about the former and how much they do about the latter.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Green Lantern #1
This is odd, the issue says its the first but it pretty much is directly continuing the story from the old Green Lantern comics with the exact same creative team. I suppose I don't mind as it was a decent comic and all, but anyone who actually goes into this comic expecting a fresh start like some of the DC first-issue floppies is going to be sorely confused. I suppose Geoff Johns just wields enough power at DC they give him whatever he wants, even if it is a bath of blood made from puppies. That's right, Geoff Johns bathes in puppy blood, how else do you think he writes comics that sell so many copies?
3 out of 5 stars.

Captain Atom #1
Dear God, J.T. Krul wrote a comic I actually enjoyed. True, it was kind of silly and pointless pap that I can't even remember the plot of, but the fact I didn't hate it or find it mediocre is a step up for ol' Krully. That is what I call him now, by the way. To his face. When I camp outside his house and throw rotten eggs at him for writing  that Arsenal mini-series.
3 out of 5 stars.

Secret Avengers #17
Warren Ellis writes some cool sci-fi concepts, Kev Walker illustrates them well, there's a bit of a downer twist-ending and this all is resolved in one issue instead of being stretched out for some ungodly arc. Yeah, I actually don't mind that Marvel charged me $3.99 for this.
4 out of 5 stars.

Moon Knight #6
Alright, this I kind of mind Marvel bending me over a barrel and charging me $3.99 for. True, I will buy a Moon Knight comic no matter what because I love Moon Knight, but this issue was pretty much just Marc Spector and some folk chatting, and a mysterious villain with the oddest fashion sense talking and then doing...something, I guess. I had a fun time, I suppose. It was sort of like going to carnival and eating so many funnel cakes you throw up. You have fun in the process, but in the end just feel empty.
3 out of 5 stars.

Grifter #1
Am I the only one who inexplicably kind of got a "LOST" feeling from this? No, I don't mean lost as in confused, I mean like the television show. It has a blonde and smarmy con man, it has weird mysteries, it jumps back in time, and there is mayhem with a plane. There are creepy space-aliens too and even though I'm not completely sold on this series it took awhile for LOST to get going so why not give this a chance too?
3 out of 5 stars.

Deadpool #44
That was a pretty anti-climatic way to end the story-line about the lady who was obsessed with Deadpool. It was like taking a girl home, getting all excited, and kissing on her, and then she suddenly announces she needs to leave, picks up her coat and takes off. Hell, story of my life, except it isn't so much that they "suddenly" do it as they "always" do once they realize I'm not actually an heir to the Quaker Oats fortune like I claimed to get them to at least come to my place. What? Don't act like you're better then me, you'd do it to if you had thought of it first.
2 out of 5 stars.

Supreme Power #4
Kyle Higgins seems to cram 3 issues worth of material into one issue here, but he does a good job taking a series that was all but dead after Straczynski suddenly left it and trying to give us some form of closure with at least at least a couple of the characters. It was quite good even if it had to be rushed worse than a car full of pregnant women going to the hospital. Pregnant women with bombs attached to the unborn fetus so it has to be born before midnight or everyone dies. Yeah, that sounds stupid, but you know a writer like Mark Millar would love that idea.
4 out of 5 stars.


There we go, more comics than you can shake a stick at. Why you would be shaking a stick at a pile of comics I have no clue, you're the obviously delusional one.

What I Did Today And a Review Of A Bad Green Lantern "Aftermath" Comic

War Of The Green Lanterns Aftermath #1
I was sick and slept most of today. When I wasn't sleeping I was doing my usual commenting on other comic website posts like The Savage Critics or reading The Factual Opinion which had an awesome comic's review bit a couple of days ago that was possibly the best one ever. I say all this because the only other thing I did was read a pretty miserable Green Lantern comic that seemed to accomplish little other than have everyone standing around whining.

Rant Reviews--2 Mentally Unstable Heroes, Venom, Supreme Power, and Green Lantern Corps Kills Time

In this reviews batch I've got Moon Knight #3 and Irredeemable #27 for heroes who either aren't quite "all there" or are just completely psychotic,Venom #4, the re-launched Supreme Power #2, and  Green Lantern Corps #61 accomplishing nothing in particular.

I Did Not Expect That--Green Lantern #67

Green Lantern #67
I'm going to spoil everything, so don't read this review if you want to be free of that--although DC's solicitations for the Green Lantern books in October has kind of ruined things too.

New Thoughts On The DC 52 In September--No, Just No

There are the DC books that scream, "We really needed 52 books to fill this month," and these are those. Be they bad ideas, bad creative teams, or just plain...bad, this are the books I would avoid like a dog that had just rolled in dead animal.

New Thoughts On The DC 52 In September--Not Interested

There are those DC books coming out this September that aren't necessarily bad, I just have no interest in reading them for some reason or another. Let's look at that big and odd assortment.