With a name like "Devourer of Souls," you know what you're getting.

Dark Horse Comics, the current holder of the Conan the Barbarian license for comics, has been reprinting trade collections of the classic Marvel stories. Per Amazon's listing for the Chronicles of Conan, volume 22 is due December 2011, and that would bring the reprint total to 175 out of 275 issues. I don't know if the Chronicles have reprinted any annuals, but I don't think they would be up to this one yet. Which is just as well, since it's a very Marvel story: Conan the Barbarian Annual #12, "Legion of the Dead" Written by Janes Owsley (a.k.a Priest) with a plot assist by Val Semeiks, pencils by Vince Giarrano, inks by Ernie Chan.

How Marvel is it? Well, this storyline had been running for over a year, since around #187. Conan also had a bigger supporting cast in these issues than his entire run to date; and guest-stars Red Sonja and Kull! (Kull in a flashback, since he was from an earlier age.) And the stakes are definitely raised: instead of his usual foes, Conan was up against the Devourer of Souls, an extradimensional demon who was gearing up for the end of the world.

By this point, the Devourer has captured a little girl and her cat; which is a bigger deal than it sounds: the girl is an immensely powerful "child of the Elder Gods," and the cat is her battery, and may be over 10,000 years old. Needing some backstory, the Devourer makes a visit to Arallu, or Hell, to see Kull's long time villain, Thulsa Doom: the Devourer correctly surmises if the cat had been around back then, Thulsa would've known about it. Having little else to do, since he'd been chained to a wall since his death, Thulsa tells him about it.

Back in Kull's day, a young shepherd named Sedrick saved a knight from savages. Grateful, the knight made Sedrick his squire; and while they were close, the other squires were resentful of the peasant in their midst. Thulsa Doom used Sedrick's resentment, in a plot against Kull. The plot failed, at the cost of the knight's life; and in revenge Thulsa turned Sedrick into a cat. An immortal cat. Thulsa does that rather off-the-cuff: maybe he should've tried that on Kull. He also didn't know the Elder Gods would use the cat to store their power.

In gratitude, the Devourer blasts Thulsa's chains, giving him "freedom to roam the underworld." Then, it's time to get back to work destroying the universe...

Meanwhile, Conan and his band are discussing the recent appearance of a sword, received from the Elder Gods. They come under attack by scavengers, but Conan's group is on top of their game...save one.

Red Sonja's skill with a sword was a gift from a goddess, and she believed it was conditional on her remaining "untouched." Attacked and violated in a previous issue, she was now acting like the scared peasant girl she used to be. A surly Conan is not very sympathetic here (although I'm positive Conan killed the hell out of Sonja's attacker) and is similiarly dismissive of the Elder Gods' sword as having the wrong weight and no balance. Taking his old sword instead, Conan heads out to get answers from the Footslave of the Elder Gods...where the Devourer already is.

Instead of the Footslave, Conan finds a gateway to Arallu, which he has little choice but to take. There, Thulsa Doom is waiting for him, since he knows the Devourer would even destroy Arallu. Meanwhile, Conan's band set out to follow him, leaving Mad Simeon to watch the helpless Sonja. Attacked by the dead, Conan's regretting not bringing the Elder God's sword, while Simeon's playing with it when the scavengers attack again. Simeon is killed with arrows, enraging Sonja, who regains her fighting spirit...but she knows it was too late.

Joined by his team, Conan fights through the legion of the dead, but the Devourer gains the Elder Gods' power. This would be concluded in Conan #200, which we may dig up some other time, as there was a twist or two there. This was Conan's last annual at Marvel; and while I liked it, I can see how this might not be to the taste of all of Conan's fans.


Read more!

OK, this week's comics:

While I love Mike Mignola's books like Hellboy and B.P.R.D. (I don't think they use 'Mignolaverse' yet...) sometimes they read better collected, or all at once; than they do issue by issue. Even if an issue ends with something dramatic, when you know it's part three of five...that said, I really enjoyed Baltimore: the Curse Bells #2 by itself. While the hero is sticking to his quest for vengeance, he knows there's going to be "side quests," because there's so much horribleness going on that he can't let slide. Baltimore is also being followed by a writer, who's in over his head; and an inquisitor, who seems more concerned about Baltimore being "tainted" by evil than by evil itself. (The inquisitor is chasing the vampire hunter, not the vampires, which seems willfully stupid...but believably so, like he needs someone to blame more than he needs to deal with the problem.)


From the DC relaunch, we have the first issues of Demon Knights and Grifter. Grifter? Wasn't I mocking him earlier? Well, the Comic Book Shop has Jason Gorder in for a signing, so I gave it a try! And...there may be potential, there. This first issue is mostly set up, as we see Grifter do a little grifting (which I don't know if we ever saw him do in the Wildstorm books, anyone?) before being abducted and experimented on by the invisible Daemonites. The experiment is apparently interrupted, and he escapes, but now Grifter can mentally hear the hidden monsters in our midst, which leads to a brutal fight on a plane, and a daring escape that I'm virtually positive wouldn't work, at all.

CBR's Hannibal Tabu sometimes uses the faintly damning expression "TV good" to describe a book that "would have been fine to flip through late at night on some of the high channels of your dial, but to spend specific money on it? That doesn't seem right." That's kind of where Grifter is now, but that's OK, this was the set-up issue, and there's room for improvement. Moreover, it's pretty easy to see this as a TV show with a relatively moderate effects budget. (The escape I mentioned might need reworking, but that might help it.) Of course, Tabu hated this ish; so, mileage will vary.



Demon Knights #1 is likewise set up; starting with Merlin and the Demon at the fall of Camelot, then skipping to 400 years later. For some reason, not knowing the year really bugged me; but it's the middle of the Dark Ages, and historical records would be spotty at best, which would explain why a colossal moving fortress is new to me...

So far, there are three immortals here: the Demon, who I like, but is frankly different with every writer. Some like him full-on, eat-a-baby Evil, others as Cranky Good; it's not sure where Cornell will put him yet. Then there's Madame Xanadu; whom I know nothing about. But, there is an interesting moment that if not her origin, is certainly a turning point for her; and her...relationship with Jason and/or the Demon will raise eyebrows. And then there's Vandal Savage, who is not yet the immortal villain we've seen in Flash and Justice League comics; here he's an immortal, immoral lout. We get a laugh or two from him, but we also know he goes on (and on, if he survives in the reboot to the present) to be a total dick. I wonder if it undermines anything to know those three are going to make it; but I'm onboard for at least the first storyline here.

After three Fear Itself issues, and this being the first of a two-part Spider Island tie-in, most of Herc has been more devoted to crossovers than his own storylines. Which is or isn't a bad thing, depending on if you've been enjoying the depowered Hercules stint in Brooklyn. This month, which opens with a brief skirmish with the X-Men that will conclude next month, Herc gets bit by a bedbug and gets spider-powers. Including spider-angst. While entertaining, it doesn't look like Herc is ever going to be hitting on all cylinders, since #10 will be the last issue, pending another go-around. Here's hoping.

Scans from Baltimore: the Curse Bells #2, written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, art by Ben Stenbeck; Grifter #1, written by Nathan Edmondson, pencils by Cafu, and inks by Jason Gorder; Demon Knights #1, written by Paul Cornell, pencils by Diogenes Neves, inks by Oclain Albert; and Herc #7, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, pencils by June Brigman, and inks by Roy Richardson.
Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: Gotham Freezes Over!

During the Comic Book Shop's 23rd anniversary sale, I picked up a nice pile of 80-pagers on the cheap, so we'll take this next month or so to look one every Thursday.

It was over eighty degrees today (when I wrote this) but now we look at Gotham City in the midst of it's worst blizzard in memory...or, at least it is in some of the stories. The opening story sets that up, with the city losing basic services and in worse shape than it was in No Man's Land, according to Dick. In tales with Catwoman and Poison Ivy, it does look like a cold day in Gotham. But, it seems to be doing alright in some of the other stories.


In one, Alfred helps out a prostitute; while there are newer vigilantes in town, the Saint and the Veil. (The Veil looks quite a bit like Dark Horse's Ghost, to me.) Catwoman helps an old scientist and faces an old rival, and while I liked the art in that one, I think my favorite story was Commissioner Gordon versus Mr. Freeze.

While Gordon is freezing his ass off, Freeze is making the most of the weather, since he can roam around in it without his suit. Or his gun, although he still kills a few guys without it: Freeze wacks a couple of Black Mask's men, to make the case to Gordon that he should be allowed out of prison for a few "snow days." Gordon almost seems to be considering it...

Tons of credits in this one, but we've got scans from "Fire & Ice" Written by Kevin Grevioux, pencils by Grey, inks by Nelson X. Asencio; "No Two Alike" written by Ivory Madison, art by Kat Rocka and Josh Finney; and "What Falls Below" written by Kevin Shinick, art and colors by Rafa Garres.
Read more!

Thundercats?

It kills me that I don't have a decent Catwoman figure.
Read more!

Feeling burned by Schism, but not that way...

Over at Blog@Newsarama, there was some commentary from Graeme McMillan on the Wolverine/Cyclops fight in X-Men: Schism #5. How do you show Logan and Scott have finally had it with each other, this time for really reals? Um, by optic-blasting Wolverine's face off, I guess.

Now, I would figure that's a little too far for Cyclops to take things, no matter how mad he is at Wolvie...but then again, Cyke may well know even that's not going to kill him. It doubtless hurts like all hell, but Wolvie's probably trying just as hard to stab Cyke in the face, and is all sorts of a dick anyway. Plus, as some of the commenters point out, this is an X-Men comic, did you really want them to sit down and talk things out calmly and rationally?

But my first thought is super, super geeky: where did the flames come from? Cyclops' optic blast isn't hot, it's concussive. It's the first line of his powers in Marvel's own wiki for Cyclops: "Cyclops possesses the mutant ability to project a beam of heatless ruby-colored concussive force from his eyes..." And don't take their word for it, take mine! And, um, John Byrne's:

From Fantastic Four #250, "X-Factor" Storyteller, John Byrne! The Thing recognizes "Cyclops" there as a fake because the blast burns him! (That's a super great issue, and the first FF comic I remember buying myself.)

Mind you, I had the idea that years and yeeeeearrrs later, Byrne would have to have Cyclops zap the Thing one in X-Men: the Hidden Years to justify that one, but no! After some research, I found Fantastic Four #28, a Lee/Kirby classic: "We Have to Fight the X-Men!" (Not their most imaginative title...) Cyclops zaps the Thing more than a couple in that one, without setting him on fire. (No scans of that, since I looked in up in Essential Fantastic Four Volume 2.)

Now, if I was trying for a No-Prize, I'd tell you the force of Cyke's beam on the adamantium was enough to spark Wolvie's head and mask and hair aflame. Or, you could well argue the rule of cool applies to Wolverine's flaming skull. Maybe. I don't know if it's that cool. I feel like a lot of writers at Marvel are trying to invoke said rule of cool, without having earned it. Breaking Cap's shield or sending Spider-Man home crying in Fear Itself would be likewise unearned. Now, if say, Warren Ellis wrote a scene where Emma Frost telepathically turns Scott into a twelve-year-old, who then goes on a crying jag with his optic blasts, setting the drapes on fire...I'd buy that.

(P.S. All this bitching, but I'll almost positively buy the new Uncanny X-Force with the Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler! And Deadpool and Psylocke! And Fantomex, who I absolutely can't stand already.)
Read more!

Reading some unread John Carter, Warlord of Mars today:

I've mentioned John Carter, Warlord of Mars here before, but up until recently, I had only ever read comic versions from Marvel. I know Dynamite has been doing a pile of new books, and Marvel's doing a new version; but oddly, the new Marvel version looks somewhat similiar to this one, from DC and 1973.

From Weird Worlds #6, "Beneath the Omean Sea!" Written by Marv Wolfman, art by Sal Amendola, adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs The Gods of Mars. From the cover, I thought the book's full title was "Tarzan Presents Edgar Rice Burroughs Weird Worlds," and was picturing Tarzan in a den with a leopard smoking jacket while he's MC'ing the stories. Ah, but it says "Weird Worlds," right? Plural?

So, a second feature: Pellucidar. (Written by Denny O'Neil, art by Dan Green.) A hollow earth concept, which Mike Grell would use years later for Skartaris in the Warlord, and I think Tarzan was among the visitors there. This story, however, features David Innes, who is about to take a drilling vehicle back to earth's surface for some supplies, accompanied by his girlfriend, Dian. Hooja, David's former rival for Dian, helps Dian onboard the drill, and David and Dian head for daylight...

I don't know if Dian usually wore a huge robe everywhere; but if your rival for a girl is able to replace her with a pterodactyl and you don't notice pretty quickly, your rival probably deserves her. Just a thought.
Read more!

"Obliquely Mocking Ares' Costume."

I picked up the first issue of OMAC the other day, and enjoyed it; but I'm not sure where it's going. It's very Kirby-esque, but I think OMAC's deal was spelled out in the classic version's first issue; here it's not clear. I may give that one a little more rope, see where it goes...for some reason, I had the line "OMAC died...so that man might live!" stuck in my head, but I know that's not right.


The title of the first issue is "Office Management Amidst Chaos," and I kind of hope subsequent issues continue that trick. "Origami Mutants Argue Constantly." "Outside Messages Aren't Complimentary." "Ongoing Mistakes Against Continuity." I should stop, they may need some of those...(Story and art by Dan Didio and Keith Giffen, inks by Scott Koblish.)


Also got Static Shock #1, "Recharged" Story by John Rozum, story and pencils by Scott McDaniel, inks by Jonathan Glapion and LeBeau Underwood. Guest-starring Hardware, which is a good sign for a bit of Milestone making its way to the DCU or DCNu or whatever. (Icon probably should've gone to Stormwatch instead of J'onn...) I'm hoping to see Hardware in action at some point, since right now he appears to be in tech-support mode ala Microchip or Oracle.

Mighty God King has a pretty good breakdown of DC's new #1's so far, and a fair criticism of Static Shock reading not as a new #1, but as a continuation of the previous series. Yeah, but OK. I think a lot of that book's sales are going to be either fans of his previous series, or fans of the animated series, neither of whom are going to need a ton of recap. Besides, compared to some of the other 52, this will read like a book where things happen, I do believe.

In other books, I picked up Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human #2, making sure to get the Simonson cover. (GCD hasn't had scans of them all yet, since I think there's been 6+covers for 2 issues.) It's unfair to compare it to the Miller/Simonson version, which I loved to death; so while it's not as good as that, it's not bad...interesting, at least. We'll see where it goes.

And I missed Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X #1, so I finally broke and added it to my pull list. Previously, I picked it up here and there, but I think it's time to go all in. Hopefully, they can back order it for me.
Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: The Century War!

During the Comic Book Shop's 23rd anniversary sale, I picked up a nice pile of 80-pagers on the cheap, so we'll take this next month or so to look one every Thursday. Today, we've got one I'd been looking forward to for a while: JLA 80-Page Giant #3, "The Century War II" Written by D. Curtis Johnson, art by Dale Eaglesham and Andrew Hennessy, Christopher Jones and Ande Parks, and Steve Scott and Mark Propst.

I had seen this around a few times, and was excited for an 80-page JLA adventure with the big guns incarnation of the team, plus Steel and the Atom. The cover also features Pariah and Harbinger, from Crisis on Infinite Earths, which seems to make this adventure a big deal. Maybe.

The moon is spiralling into the earth, the tidal effects are being felt worldwide, asylums are crammed full to bursting, and there's time-space distortions. All in all, a relatively typical day for the JLA, but J'onn and Arthur are both having half-remembered dreams of a mysterious girl that seems to be a forgotten teammate. Investigating an anomaly, the team heads to Barstow, CA; and meets astronaut Hugh Klein, of Apollo XXV. Hugh's been waiting for them, since he knows the older JLA members: his daughter was a member.
On the final manned moon landing, Hugh discovers a mysterious cave. Investigating, he finds a holographic message from the Hundred, Roman alchemists and philosophers who used their advanced science to flee the corruption of Rome. Eventually, they died out, but they left the "Praemonstra Supra, 'she who will point the way.'" A baby.

Hugh brings her back to America, where the Apollo program is out of money. (You might think they'd find something in the budget for this, but it was probably the seventies...) With the government's approval, Hugh and his wife Jenny raise Laura as their own. She proves to be both a genius and a gifted athlete, then develops super-powers at 16, and Hugh has to tell Laura her secret origin.

Laura decides she needs to know what the Hundred expected of her. Borrowing the lunar excursion module and some spacesuits from the Smithsonian, she flies herself and Hugh to the moon; where the Hundred have left her a costume, some equipment, and a warning of a foe they created themselves. Laura takes the name Laurel, the Moon Maiden, and becomes a super-heroine and apparently part of the Justice League.

The Leaguers are understandably skeptical, since they don't remember any of this. Investigating the moon, however, the Hundred's cave is right where it should be. Hugh then tells of Laurel's foe, the Centurian: the Hundred had planned to give a young poet immortality and other powers to spread their message of peace. Unfortunately, he was stabbed in the back by a rival named Valkus, the very moment the power-beam was sent. Valkus became the Centurian, measuring his life in centuries, and developing a number of powers like "hypnotic influence, uncanny perception, and worst of all, his ghost army." Before the JLA can ask about that one, they meet them: the reanimated souls of all the soldiers that died under the Centurian's command.

Flash remembers fighting the ghost army before, and that Laurel told him the ghosts have to keep fighting to stay coherent. Retreating, the ghosts fade; but back at the Watchtower, some old friends are waiting for them:

Pariah makes it sound like the end of everything every time he shows up, but Harbinger admits it might not be Crisis-level bad. They had been working on "a self-generating map of the universe," but there were paradoxes, holes in space-time that were returning to continuity. Using their map, they restore the heroes memory of the first Century War.

The Centurian, whose symbol looks like a C and a fist in an upside-down Superman logo; was on the verge of bringing world peace. By taking over. The remaining heroes still opposed him, but the Centurian's secret weapon has given him the edge: he can wipe his targets from history, wiping them from existence and memory. Already, Superman, John Stewart, and the Centurian's ally Lex Luthor have been removed from the board.

As the remaining heroes fight through the Centurian's forces, the ripple effects of his weapon are made known: Raven had been erased from history, which meant the Teen Titans never formed. Nightwing turns back into Robin, but since he never quit, Jason Todd never became Robin and disappears from the fight. Alan Scott got erased a couple days ago, "but the universe is just now getting around to the matter of his two children." Jade and Obsidian disappear, without Alan ever existing, he never had kids. Which points out a serious flaw in the weapon, as Laurel explains once they take it away from the Centurian: if you take Superman out of history, what about the numerous times he saved earth? (I had the same problem with Dr. Who, a few times: if the Doctor never existed, the universe would have been destroyed by the Daleks alone, fifty times over.)

Centurian realizes he's made a mistake, but the weapon won't target him. Laurel sacrifices herself, cracking its casing and wiping them both from continuity. As Hugh explains, afterwards he found himself in his old Apollo module: a museum piece in the Smithsonian, never used. In the new history, he never made the astronaut corps, never met his wife, never went to the moon to find Laurel. But with the overwritten continuity snapping back, the Centurian strikes first, gathering alien armies into his new Ghost Army, with his 'daughter' Laurel by his side.

Even though the retroactively-inserted teammate has been done before in JLA (Triumph, anyone? I thought not.) this isn't a bad one-shot. Guest-spots from Power Girl, Deathstroke, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Blue Beetle, and Adam Strange as well. Major Hugh is a neat character as well, predating a recent resurgence of sci-fi involving Apollo missions. Still, the last chapter seems a bit rushed, with Centurian and his forces defeated in relatively short order. And while Moon Maiden's origin is told in the pages of her comic, the art style of the comic-within-a-comic doesn't really differentiate it from the rest of the book: if it had been done in a proper sixties (or even nineties) style, that could've brought this one up a notch.

Read more!

Hal's not in this one, because DCUC hasn't made a civilian/homeless version...

The Collect-and-Connect Stel is a great figure, but there were two figures in that series with interchangeable heads: the Green Lanterns Naut Kei Loi and Medphyll, and the Red Lanterns Skallox and Nite-Lik. Many collectors bought multiples, so they could display both heads; or even more to substitute in others. Which means, there are multiple Stel legs floating around out there. I myself ended up with an extra left arm and left leg...not quite enough to justify trying to build another Stel. Yet.

I have only the vaguest idea what is in DC continuity now, and what's going to be after the reboot; but hasn't Sinestro committed a lot of murders? When Kilowog restored the people of his planet to life, Sinestro killed them all. Sixteen billion dead. It's not even mentioned on Sinestro's page in the DC Wiki; but I don't see how Kilowog doesn't snap Sinestro's spine every time he sees him.

Read more!

(Mostly) a review! Bandai's ThunderCats Classic Lion-O!

Often, I don't consider myself qualified for proper action figure reviews, because I usually buy figures based on the characters involved. But today, we have a character I have surprisingly no nostalgic attachment to: Lion-O, of the ThunderCats! Never watched the cartoon as a kid (I would've been a bit too old for it) and I can't recall if I've ever seen in person an old LJN figure. I have caught the first few episodes of the new cartoon, though, and been pretty impressed. (I was prepared to hate "Song of the Petalars," the first episode I saw, and it won me over. Written by longtime comic writer J.M. DeMatteis, too.)

Rather than the new cartoon, the Classic line is based on the old series and the old figures. The old figures especially, I think. Lion-O's sculpt and paint aren't soft, but they're both very cartoony, with not a lot of extra, hard-to-animate detail. Which is fine: was anyone clamoring for a photo-realistic ThunderCats? Maybe? I don't know...

While I don't usually give the packaging a lot of thought, this one could maybe, theoretically be reusable; if that's your thing. Except, instead of twisties or rubber bands, Lion-O is held in with little plastic bits like I find holding new socks together. And of course, I hacked the whole enterprise to bits because I didn't want the Sword of Omens to get bent up. (It's slightly warped, which should be correctable.)

Even with only a passing familiarity to the old cartoon, I can tell Lion-O looks dead-on-model. The ThunderCats logo on the Sword of Omens and the belt, and Lion-O's eyes are all very well applied--I want to see all three are tampos, but I'm not positive. Mine had a couple gloppy parts on the face, that show up on the macro pictures, but he looks fine in hand. Even if I've never been sure about Lion-O's Fred Flintstone five o'clock shadow.

The packaging proclaims "18 points of articulation!" so let's do a quick count: two neck points, two shoulders, two elbows, two wrists, chest, waist, two hips, two mid-thigh, double points on the knees, and both ankles. Sounds about right, and it's all pretty stout. Lion-O's colossal hair may hamper the top neck joint a smidge, but still not bad. The wrist articulation is pretty good, but does show the orange skin-tone paint there; it probably should've been painted the same color as his gloves. Ditto the orange showing through at the ankles.

Although there are four- and six-inch scale figures in the new cartoon line, Classics Lion-O is about eight inches tall. That makes him taller than DCUC, Marvel Legends, or Masters of the Universe Classics figures; but I don't know how tall Lion-0 the character is supposed to be--he could well be taller than a normal person.

So, overall? This Lion-O feels like an updated, upgraded version of his older toy; and I think I've already seen other reviews say he feels very much like a toy, not a statue or a little representation of a character, he's a toy. But a pretty darn good toy. Good articulation, nice paint, and a good heft to him. Grab him if you can: you might consider picking up a poor Tygra as well, since I saw three of those left when I got the last Lion-O!





Read more!

Reading list: Skullkickers, Empowered!

Like most Americans, I'm on vacation today, and I picked up a couple books (and the new They Might Be Giants CD) that I'm probably reading right now!

Skullkickers I've heard good things about, and it's cheap! But Empowered I've wanted to read for some time, so this was a good opportunity to try it. Borders loss is my gain, and by my count there's probably less than a week left before most, if not all, their locations are closed. So grab something if you can!


Read more!

And you thought the seat between the baby and the fat guy was the worst:

The trouble with nattering on about old Manhunter comics is that eventually I'm going to run out of them.

This issue, after bringing in Flash Rogue Dr. Alchemy (through his personal Kryptonite, "redheads with balconies you could play Shakespeare from") Manhunter Mark Shaw checks out the other bounties up at the police station. Kobra? Seems labor-intensive, not to mention overly dangerous. Count Vertigo? He's a manic-depressive and a former Green Arrow bad guy. Sounds easy enough...


I wanted a straight-shot of that mask. After some legwork, including working out insertion into Vlatava via dropping off a landing jet, Manhunter tracks down the Count, who's in the middle of a truly epic depressive spiral--he was massively emo before that was the term. Vlatavan separatists had planned to use Vertigo as a figurehead, but between his past conditioning and his depression, he can't really see the point in it. Shaw tries to break Vertigo back, but he doesn't see the point in that, either. So, Shaw slaps him around a bit, and Vertigo's royal blood rises; turning him against Shaw and the 'peasant' separatists.
Manhunter has his work cut out for him, but manages to beat the Count; which would lead to him appearing in Suicide Squad, also written by Ostrander. At the time, I think I had Count Vertigo pegged as fodder for the Squad's grinder, but he's survived more than a couple times there. Good for him.

From Manhunter #7, "Prelude to Havoc" Written by Kim Yale and John Ostrander, pencils by Doug Rice, inks by Pablo Marcos.

We probably won't have much on Monday, so have a good weekend! I'm hoping to be out in the sun; hope you are too.

Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: Batman 80-Page Giant!

During the Comic Book Shop's 23rd anniversary sale, I picked up a nice pile of 80-pagers on the cheap, so we'll take this next month or so to look one every Thursday. Today, it's Batman 80-Page Giant 2010! Instead of one big story, or a unifying theme or event, this one is seven unrelated tales.

First, in Arkham, a popular psychologist tries to determine if the Joker is sane enough to stand trial...and fry for his crimes on pay-per-view. The Joker almost straight-out tells the doctor what's going to happen to him; so it's not that surprising. He does seem to be going for fourth-wall breaking ala Deadpool, but isn't quite there. Next, the Riddler faces blackmail over his old crimes, and is forced to try and steal a statue...that he had stolen once before. Going relatively straight may have taken him out of practice, though.

Next, back in Arkham again, Calendar Man explains how "Every Day Counts." And a reality TV crew goes searching for an urban legend under the sewers of Gotham in "The Crocodile Hunter." Again, you can kinda guess how that's gonna turn out. In "Threshold," the Scarecrow tries to get to the heart of Batman's fear, creating a nightmare scenario where Bruce Wayne gets the electric chair for murdering his parents.

Batman writers: you probably shouldn't call a story "Two-Face" without having Two-Face in it. But, Two-Face shows up in the next one, along with the Joker again, and Humpty-Dumpty of all people. In "Within the Walls of Dis," the Joker brings Humpty a little birthday present: a bound-up Two-Face, to finish up the job on his face. One way or the other. But, as Harvey Dent, he had been the D.A. in Humpty's trial for his abusive grandmother's murder. Two-Face talks Humpty into releasing him, but that was the Joker's plan: he did it without consulting his coin, which proves to the Joker that Harvey's been in charge of his crimes all along. Storywise, I liked the last one the best.

Read more!

Well, I wasn't going to, and then the Comic Book Shop was sold out, but I did manage to find a copy at Hastings of that new fangled Justice League book everyone's on about.

Bwah-ha-ha, indeed.
Read more!

"Last Call."

Click to enlarge!


Tomorrow, the new DC continuity gets rolling with Justice League #1. I haven't decided if I'll pick it up or not--I kinda figure it'll be available, and will probably be reprinted here, there, and everywhere, like Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was. Which makes me wonder if Ultimate Spider-Man brought in a lot of new readers, since that's what DC's hoping to do here.

I think that may be the thing for me: DC wants to bring in new readers, ones that haven't read a ton of comics already. Warren Ellis said, "The New DC comics stuff looks so much like stuff I would never read that it oddly fills me with hope that they are targeting the core audience they want." And that's OK, and even if most of it isn't to my taste, I hope it does well for DC; because if they can create new comics readers, that should help make new comics creators in the future. (That said, I can't remember ever reading an interview with an artist that said they were inspired to draw comics by New Mutants #87.)

I will confess to being curious how this League gets together, since I don't think Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are going to use the Appellaxian invasion again--the team turning into trees, while a charming image, is probably a little dated for what they're hoping to do with the relaunch. And it would be just as well if they did something different, since I've seen that invasion three or four times already.

And with that...I think I'll take tomorrow off, here!
Read more!

A thousand years ago or last week, let it go already.

There are problems with being an immortal god that probably wouldn't occur to you right away. For one thing, if you find yourself in a rut, it's doubtless even worse than it would be for a mortal, even if your rut is fighting, drinking, and wenching. For another, if you hold onto a grudge, it can make the next several centuries unpleasant...

In the Trial of Thor (which I haven't read) Thor is accused of a series of murders. Although later exonerated, Thor is still a little pissed that everyone turned against him mighty quickly. Although he can usually put it out of his mind while fighting, as in a series of battles with Surtur; Thor is getting less and less able to put up with Odin. Finally, Thor leaves Asgard for Midgard, Earth.

In medieval-like times, as 'Tor,' he settles in a farming village; occasionally taking up his hammer to defend it from raiders. (He does fight as a man, though; not unleashing his full power.) Thor has a woman, Atali, and is as a father to her son; while in Asgard Odin and Balder don't fare as well against Surtur as Odin had with his son. Badly injured, Odin goes into the Odinsleep, and sends Balder to Midgard to fetch Thor. Unwilling to leave, Thor eventually has to go home, promising to return.

In Asgard, Odin is thrilled his son has "been man enough to forget our differences," and gets his drink on in celebration. Still pissed, Thor leaves the next day to take on Surtur himself, without his hungover dad or Balder, who is guilt-ridden for bringing Thor back from a happy life. Although it takes some time to track him down, Thor turns his rage on Surtur, driving him away again.

Returning as a hero to Asgard, the citizens no longer seem afraid of Thor; but the rage persists. Loki offers to fix Thor up with some Asgardian women, rather than his human "grudge," earning him a punch in the face. Balder tries to tell Thor that Loki never changes, and Thor angrily replies Asgard never changes. "It all seems old. Very old." He leaves for Midgard, Balder wisely not trying to stop him.

Thor returns to the village, too late: the black death has already taken most of the people, his adopted son, and he barely has time to say goodbye to Atali. Even more depressing, her last words are for 'Tor' to find her sister, in the next village over, and make her as happy as he made Atali. And the sister had already died of the plague. In a serious case of bad timing, a band of raiders attack: attacking a plague-ridden village, during a funeral, while Thor is there and seething with fury. Unleashing his full rage, they don't last long...

With nowhere else to go, Thor returns to Asgard. Odin apologizes to Thor for accusing him, and then for making light of it...but while the rage may subside for now, it is still there.

An interesting story, if a bit tough to fit into Thor's history. Usually, he had been portrayed as arrogant and headstrong, but he seems less so here. Also, I don't know how often we've seen Thor so bored with Asgard; although it doesn't seem to have the Kirby-level of grandeur here, either. Still, if Thor can hold a grudge for a single incident for so long; it's hard to believe he would be so forgiving of Odin, Loki, or anyone else later in life.

From the Rage of Thor #1, written by Peter Milligan, art by Mico Suayan. Tomorrow, new homemade strip: "Last Call!"
Read more!

No blog today!...except this bit here, I guess.

Took the afternoon off to finish reading Norman Spinrad's A World Between. Found a coverless copy at a yard sale, and quite enjoyed it. Published in 1979, but Spinrad seems to foresee the ubiquitous Internet media, and the progressively shrill and loud and hateful nature of political campaigning. Not a bad read, so if you see a copy, grab it.

I was also on a Stephen King kick lately, so I finished Duma Key. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I've been a fan of King's since Pet Sematary. While some of his work stands out more clearly than others, I think the only major book of his I haven't read is Hearts in Atlantis.

Anyway, might try and hit up the used bookstores today, and I did want to get to the comic book shop to get the last issue of Xombi, since I suspect the shop could get swamped next week with Justice League #1. Ugh, I don't think Xombi sold a tenth of what Justice League will, but I guarantee you it's a better book. And you know it. Find a copy if you can and salve your conscience.
Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: Superman, "I, Witness"

During the Comic Book Shop's 23rd anniversary sale, I picked up a nice pile of 80-pagers on the cheap, so we'll take this next month or so to look one every Thursday. Today, Superman 80-Page Giant #3 from 2000: "I, Witness." Written by Jay Faerber, with art by Yvel Guichet and Walden Wong, Ron Lim and Joe Rubinstein, Paul Ryan and Joe Rubinstein, Justiniano and Chris Ivy, Sunny Lee and Walden Wong, Mark Bagley and Scott Hanna, and Carlos Barberi and Keith Champagne. (A couple inkers did more than one chapter.) With a nice Kevin Nowlan cover.

Like the recent Question Quarterly issue we looked at, this is a Rashomon Style story--or so it seems. Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Lex Luthor are among the attendees of a museum gala that is crashed by something. After a security guard discovers the thing is bulletproof, Superman arrives to fight the monster and try to protect the bystanders. At one point, Superman is knocked outside and lands on Luthor's car, then the thing escapes while Supes keeps a wall from collapsing.


However, none of the accounts they give the police agree on much else: the monster is noticeably different in each version. Superman and Perry both see lizard-like giants, but their descriptions don't match. Jimmy sees a Gundam-style robot, and Lois sees "an Amazon or something. You know the type--all musclebound and ugly." Do you suppose that says something about how Lois sees Wonder Woman?

After Lex's account, where the thing is basically a big alien bunny rabbit innocently trying to escape from the big bully Superman, even taking into account everyone's personal bias, it's obvious they all saw something different. Interestingly, while both Clark and Lois tell their versions like Clark was with the bystanders (when he was Superman at the time) Jimmy and Lex both have Clark in the background in their stories, where they would assume he would be. (Being a more astute observer, Perry at least noticed Clark saying he was going for help early on.)

Lois and Jimmy do a little detective work, and find the villain of the piece; which I don't want to spoil, even if this issue's GCD entry does! Look, he was on Thursday's Who's Who at Mighty God King's, so click away if you wanna know. The reveal almost works...but not quite. For one, just based on that Who's Who entry, the character doesn't have the juice for this (he's described as only being able to affect eight people at once, for example) and it's not like it's anyone you would've guessed, either. (It's kinda like the Mysterio reveal in Kevin Smith's Daredevil: it makes sense on all the 'how' points, but not the 'why.')

Still, the villain reveal notwithstanding, this is mostly an excuse for different artists to do some Superman, and it works on that front.

Read more!

"Doom Lantern."

Click to enlarge!

Even when Hal's making an honest effort, that's not working out. What is working out, is Stel! I had no intention of coughing up full price for Green Lantern/DCUC series 2, but a combination of mark-downs, some eBay'd parts, and great reviews at It's All True and OAFE.net sold me on the big GL robot.

I keep losing it in the tidal waves of DC Relaunch stuff, but Robotman will return in My Greatest Adventure #1 (per iFanboy) but with a different design, which makes me wonder if that's Cliff Steele...I guess we'll see.

Read more!