Hey Tim; what’s the difference between DC and Marvel? DC’s “big” event is weekly, while Marvel’s is monthly…sometimes.
Oh snap! Sick burn!
Links
(IP) Music has some big things on the horizon.
(IP) Movies discusses Snakes on a Plane.
(IP) Games is always a great spot to check out.
(IP) Figures rocks!.
(IP) TV should have some Fall Season thoughts shortly.
(IP) Sports isn’t just about Madden ’07.
Moodspins is on hiatus but it’s return is right around the corner.
IP Culture always impresses.
Our DC Forum has discussions about the new JLA line up and 52?
Also My Favorite Blog has news about a Kyle Baker, Dwayne McDuffie and Ho Che Anderson collaboration.
Tim, what have you got for the readers to check out this week?
That’s a really good question. Such a good question, in fact, that I’m not sure I have an answer for it. Perhaps you will settle for the Comics Should be Good blog grading November’s solicitations based on covers alone?
What I Read Last Week
100 Bullets #75 – Wow, what a great issue. Lono showed some depth of character. We got an issue that was self contained, marked an anniversary, yet remained a crucial read. Amazing read.
Hellblazer #223 – My enthusiasm with Denise Mina has petered out. I’m really not digging her Constantine anymore. But I did kind of enjoy Cucina’s art in this issue.
Jonah Hex #10 – I finally read this issue and I enjoyed it. Hex is such a complex character. I like how he’s got his own code and can really read people well. Noto’s art (and cover) was certainly easy on the eye.
Deadman #1 – Color me intrigued. I would say that I picked this up solely for Watkiss’ art, but I didn’t hate Jones’ Omac so he wasn’t the liability he usually is. But the set up for this title is very interesting. I’m curious about what the brother was planning and why he sucked so much. He really sucked as a brother. Really.
Robin #153 – Gleason really does phenomenal cover work. It’s like amazing. I dug how Tim holds a grudge, even though he admits they make a good team. I like how Boomer Jr. isn’t really interested in making friends, just trying to smooth things out. They make an excellent odd couple.
Gleason does do incredible cover work. Much better than his cover work for Aquaman (which I still liked) or Green Lantern Corps.
Shadowpact #4 – Boo. The antagonists were boring. The story had no weight. Boo.
That nicely summarizes my feelings on this title in general which is why I don’t buy it anymore.
Ion #5 – Y’know Tim, I’m going to echo your remarks about the lack of meat in the battle. It was rather tame. But I don’t know if Nero was supposed to be a “threat”, he was really just smearing Kyle’s name. But the “take all of my power” was pretty cliché. I however really dug the art.
Manhunter #25 – I too didn’t know how to read this issue. The part with Kate becoming a celebrity seemed very “last issue”, but clearly plenty was left dangling. I do love Pina and Blanco as an art team.
Me, too. I don’t tend to give them enough credit when I review the title, but they really have proven themselves worthy heirs of their studiomate Jesus Saiz.
Checkmate #5 – I liked the “one off” aspect of the issue. I enjoyed the art. But the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that Rucka wanted to use Arsenal, couldn’t and substituted Mr. Terrific in his place.
I saw you mention that on the message boards and I’d be curious to hear why you’d think that. It would make some sense given Arsenal’s past history with Checkmate in its yellow exo-suited days. However, I don’t get the Arsenal vibe in any other way.
Green Lantern Corps #3 – Wow, let me apologize for bashing the storyline for having a predictable reveal. Yes, it was obvious who the real enemy was, but the weight of the issue was the reveal of the character of Salakk and the character of Natu. Natu had some particularly power scenes. I dug the reptile relations storyline, but I’m wondering why Gleason didn’t do the art for the last two pages. Were Gibbons splash pages late minute additions?
Catwoman #58 – I love how Pfeifer is still giving us flashbacks to what lead up to the missing year. I love how Pfeifer elaborates on how Zee does her magical erasing. I loved how Selina reacted when Zee was about to use her magic on Helena. Actually there’s nothing to dislike about this title.
On the other hand…
Nightwing #123 – Boo. I way dug Teranishi’s art. I actually loved it. The book was solid to look at but torture to read.
Green Arrow #65 – My shop got this issue hours late, so I got it a week late, but I loved it. I really liked how Ollie explained why he’s taking such extreme political actions. I liked how Hal offered to take The Wall down, but Ollie declined. I liked Speedy returning to the fray. Really good issue.
52 Week Fifteen – I dug the escape in Khandaq. I liked Booster and Supernova beefing. I really dug Shawn Moll’s art. This title has really had a nice run of quality issues.
Vampiro69 placed the lyric at the end of last week’s column. Congrats.
And congratulations on your witty screen name as well. Good stuff.
Vampiro69 is calling for alternate timeline grief
In a recent interview Dan Dido mentioned that he wanted to kill Nightwing in Infinite Crisis. Now he listed some valid reasons for this and it made sense. What would your reaction have been if Nightwing bit the big one during IC?
It really would have affected me. I can’t say that I was a fan of the character when he actually became “Nightwing” but every kid reading comics had immediate plans of being Robin; he’s just like Batman, only he’s a kid just like you!
But had he died I would have been shaken. I mean he’s very much an icon and very much a character I would have thought was “safe.” Very few people alive can remember a time before Dick Grayson was in the DCU.
Likewise, I didn’t really feel much when Superboy died. I not only remember a time before he was around, but I remember the original incarnation of the character. So while I felt bad for Superman, Wonder Girl and (the current) Robin, his death had like no impact with me.
I think that it also would have worked very well structurally. Wonder Woman lost her island, Superman lost Superboy and Batman lost, um nothing? Batman’s current treatment of Tim would have made more sense if Dick was dead.
Good god man, how much more does Batman have to lose to make you happy?
And Nightwing’s character arc would have made sense too. He didn’t save Blockbuster and dove into a self-loathing phase, but he finally snapped out of it to make a difference in IC. His character could have come to an end on a high note.
This man’s boss wants him dead and he’s still smiling. Carefree daredevil or hopelessly oblivious? You decide.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I dig his character (when not being written by Bruce Jones), but I think that in nearly every regard Nightwing dying would have made much more sense.
Tim, how would you have reacted if Nightwing had died?
Well, first of all, I don’t think Nightwing, had he died when Alex shot him in IC, would have gone out on top. Beyond donning his old gold and blue suit to get to the North Pole (or wherever they were), he really did not do all that much. He was first on the scene, I guess, but he wasn’t exactly instrumental or impressive in combat. Did he even take down an OMAC?
Anyway, be that as it may, this is a topic that was covered quite well by Deon Sanders over at Seven Hells. His piece isn’t as strong as Mathan’s above because Mathan is better than everyone, but it is still good.
As for me, I find it hard to weigh in on this issue. I’m biased, I’ll admit it. I’ve liked Nightwing for just about as long as I’ve been in comics and I LOVED Dixon’s take on him during his first few years on the title. I know, I know, I’ve heard it before: “Dixon just wrote him as Batman lite”, “Bludhaven was stupid”, and so on. Whatever, I dug it.
Because of this bias, I have hard time seeing the “why” of killing Nightwing. For one thing, as mentioned, if the entire point of OYL (from the Batman perspective) is to make him a nicer hero (but still awesome) then killing his first and favorite “son” is wildly counterintuitive.
We’d also have to consider the return of Jason Todd. Bringing him back and then killing Dick is like an admission that Batman does need a dead Robin, but it doesn’t so much matter which one it is.
Finally, as pointed out above, Batman has lost, at last count, his parents, Harold, Spoiler/Robin, a couple of ex-loves (to death and brain damage), Dr. Leslie Thompkins (to homicidal madness), two Batgirls (one to paralysis, one to homicidal madness), and so many batmobiles (dude’s a total gearhead) I’m not sure it can be represented by a real number. Temporarily, he also lost Jason, the use of his body due to paralysis, his mantle, his butler/confidante (a few times), and his city due to government shut down. The man’s suffered enough, I think.
So, I just don’t see the need for a dead Dick, and thus, I have a hard time imagining how I’d react. But I expect it would be like this. At first, sort of upset/disappointed. Then, about 20 minutes later, I’d shrug and say, “eh, he’ll probably be back anyway.” In other words, I wouldn’t love it, but I’d find a way, somehow, to make my piece.
Aaron needs cheese. Big Cheese.
Has Shazam/Captain Marvel ever had an ongoing series? Dude seems like the king of the miniseries and I don’t mean that in an Alex Haley/Roots kind of way. Seems like an interesting enough character and the dichotomy with Billy Batson has always been fun. Is there just no reader interest in getting this guy a monthly gig?
Yes Aaron, Captain Marvel has had his very own title. It was called Power of Shazam it ran from 1995 to 1999. It was written by Jerry Ordway and it even crossed over into the amazingly great Starman for a tale.
Personally I think that one of the problems that Captain Marvel has is that he’s very much a character that was originally geared toward kids. Sadly now comics are read mostly by adults. Part of the appeal of Captain Marvel is that every kid wishes they could say a magic word and become a super powered adult. That’s the basic hook of the character. Well that doesn’t really appeal to adults.
It’s like the saddest day of my life; it was when I was watching Big and pondered what I would do if I was an adult. And then I realized I was an adult.
Wow…that is incredibly depressing. Man, you so just brought me down.
So that sense of wish fulfillment just doesn’t really translate well.
There’s also the idea that Captain Marvel doesn’t work in modern settings. Fawcett City, where Cap calls home is a very idyllic place. Many writers try to place Captain Marvel in settings similar to where his original stories were set, and thus there is another layer of distance between the reader and the work.
But Judd Winick appears intent on dragging Captain Marvel into the modern era. Whether that will rub fans the wrong way or prove successful has yet to be seen. But I’ll probably be down for the first issue at least.
If it is a Winick project, I can only assume that it will rile many a purist feather. See also: Green Arrow.
Tim, can you explain why Captain Marvel isn’t more successful?
Maybe because he’s making this expression most of the time.
“Why yes, my teeth are gorgeous.”
Seriously, that’s one part creepy, one part nerdy. That’s a hard hero to get behind.
In all seriousness though, I think part of the problem is that Captain Marvel’s a bit redundant. Much like J’onn, he’s hampered by the fact that he is a guy who’s really strong and flies in a universe where the marquee hero of the entire universe does that (and does it better) AND has super breath, heat vision, x-ray vision, a cool job, an attractive wife, and is the symbol of all that is good in the world. Even when Marvel is written as being the most important hero for the mission (see: Underworld Unleashed) the stories are largely ignored or overlooked a few weeks later. It’s hard to improve your standing when you are always living in the shadow of the Universe’s ultimate, most revered hero.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing what Winick does to differentiate the hero known colloquially as the Big Cheese.
James L does not just want to be showcased. He needs to be showcased.
With the amount of characters and history in the DC universe, why haven’t the powers that be brought back a comic like Showcase that would allow characters that don’t have a regular series or part of a team book a chance to shine?
I’m guessing that you mean “brought back from the 90’s” as opposed to “brought back from the original series.” Because DC tried to bring Showcase back in the 90’s and it was a moderate success.
Some characters got the spotlight and some creators got their breaks in the series. But as with most anthologies, the lack of consistency kept it from really connecting with the fans and from being a success.
And I’d imagine that that’s what’s keeping DC from relaunching the title. However DC is probably reconsidering it right about now, considering how 52 has been pretty successful, without a singular “lead” and featuring some lesser known characters.
In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if when 52 ends we do get a book that’s a bit “less than traditional” in it’s terms of format.
Don’t you think that 52 is causing the folks at DC to think outside the box, Tim?
I hope so, but the cancellation of Solo leaves me a touch dubious.
However, continuing with this hypothetical, I hope it is a better mix than the 90’s Showcase was. In the 90’s, we got issues focusing on Oracle, Robin, Azrael, etc., fine heroes to be sure, but ones with plenty of exposure already. So I’d hope to see lead stories being headed up by obscure but interesting heroes (or villains) and back ups featuring very obscure heroes, villains, more pulpy leads (like a Slam Bradley detective story), and brand new characters (perhaps a new hero called The Smacker of Evil [to choose a random name] debuts one issue and has an ongoing 6 pager for the next few months). If they do it, they should make it worth their while, you know what I mean.
Mr. Pete loves brand new music
Since Batman has already graced us with his unforgettable rendition of “Am I Blue” on JLU, I think it’s high time The Dark Knight release his first full length CD. My question is, what would be some be some of the tunes that you’d like to hear The Caped Crusader to wrap his formidable vocal cords around? Should it be a pop album? Alternative?? Standards??? R&B???? Should he feature guest rappers? What do you think?
“Yo! Put the mic in my hands.
This is one of those deceptively difficult questions to answer. I can’t even pretend that I’m giving the definitive answer, because my taste in music goes through phases. For instance, like six months ago I was all about Death Cab for Cutie. I bought all their albums (and even the Postal Service and All Time Quarterback) and that’s pretty much all I listened to for a month.
But last week I was all about The Roots. And just this past Sunday and Monday I couldn’t get enough Bjork. So basically the answer that I’m giving you is based on what I’m loving right now.
I don’t see Bats doing Pop, Alternative or even R&B. Standards is almost enticing, but I don’t see him going anywhere near rap.
Batman is a loner who’s notorious for his research and well thought out plans. So who’s a solo artist who’s known for research and concept albums? Sufjan Stevens.
For those not in the know Sufjan Stevens is an indie rocker with pinch of folk and had the best-reviewed album of 2005, the nearly universally praised Illinois. He’s also responsible for 2003’s Michigan.
So imagine Batman putting together an album about Gotham? Or about the DCU? I’d love to hear Batman recount tales about Opal or Vanity or other DCU specific places. And since he’s not really going to be concerned with sales he’s going to be able to try new things. Like imagine Batman’s album about Apokolips. I mean that’s an album that I’ve got to hear.
Basically I see Batman putting together detailed well researched narratives with a indie rock ethic yet folk tone.
Tim, how do you see Batman’s album taking shape?
Since Batman is something of a jack of all trades, almost master of many, I’d see him as being very eclectic. Thus, I’m not sure you can nail him down to a genre. I think he’s like David Bowie meets U2 meets Outkast.
“Yeah, that’s better.
Now tell me you wouldn’t buy that album.
See, you can’t. Unless you like being a liar. In which case, go ahead, lie away. Jerk.
Anyway, Batman’s album would be big in the United States despite the lack of a run away single. However, in Europe? MASSIVE! Batman fever would sweep the continent. It would be like Beatle-mania in reverse! Girls screaming and passing out in the streets! Ed Sullivan back from the dead to MC the Bat’s English debut! And, oh, the groupies!
And the salad days…they would never end.
Coren is inspecting the lineup
So, Mathan, help me out. In the pic above, who’s the Karate Kid looking guy in the back?
And if this is the group of people who can possibly be JLA members, what does this imply for current ongoing books, particularly those covering events of the past?
Do I see Manhattan Guardian there?
That Karate Kid looking dude is indeed the Karate Kid. But since he’s from the 31st Century I can’t explain what he’s doing at an open call for the Justice League. But then again we’ve also got a new, yet familiar Starman set to appear in the relaunched Justice Society of America so perhaps there’s a connection.
But I don’t think that piece of art really “means” anything. I mean, the first time I saw it, it was in Wizard and I thought that it held clues. But the more I think about it, the more it appears to be just a piece of promotional art that grew into something else.
And yes, that does appear to be the Manhattan Guardian.
Tim, how much faith do you put in this piece of art?
As predictor, not much. There’s really no reason to have faith in it. I can almost guarantee that every member of the team is in the crowd, but that’s only because damn near every DC hero is in that crowd. I don’t think its purpose was to be pored over for clues, it was just a cool crowd shot to represent the idea that “anyone” had a chance. Of course, we all know that that is not true, but its cool to at least set it up that way.
Hallsy steals Coren’s act
Top row, third from the left — Is that Arsenal?
And who’s the chick in black and white next to Dr. Midnite (2nd from the right in the top row)?
That gent on the top row is Arsenal and he appears to be sporting his look from Outsiders.
The woman in question is Doctor Light II (or IV depending on how you keep count), the heroic version. She was a major player in the original Crisis.
In fact we’ve covered her before
During Crisis on Infinite Earths Doctor Kimiyo Hoshi was looking at the stars, when she was empowered with light abilities, taking the name Doctor Light (IV). She was a member of the JLI, but has decided to put the hero biz on the backburner in order to spend more time with her family. She is a single mother after all.
Doctor Light IV could absorb light. She could then expel that light in different forms from lasers to bright flashes. She could also create illusions and fly. She did lack the “aura” that most flying heroes have, which meant wind resistance could affect her.
And yeah, that’s who she is.
Tim, are you happy that Arsenal finally got “the call.”
Umm…I guess so. Actually, I don’t seem to have any reaction at all. I like Arsenal (in theory) so I’m all for him getting good things. On the other hand, I’ve never got that Justice League feel from him. But would I get a JLA feel from, let’s say, Orion if it wasn’t for Grant Morrison’s run? Probably not. So that alone is not a good reason to reject him.
So color me happy for him but, currently, largely unplussed.
Coren steals his act back
In the back of DC comics out this week (the 16th), they had a version of this picture but cropped. In it, Question was replaced by Martian Manhunter, and Ollie took Ralph’s spot (and a Flash is in Red Tornado’s) Any ideas why? Are the 52 leads not supposed to be seen alive until OYL?
You are correct; the leads of 52 aren’t supposed to be referenced or seen until the book wraps. I mean if you knew that, say Booster Gold was still around OYL wouldn’t it kind of underscore his death last week? Because I really almost believe that Booster is dead.
As for the Red Tornado/Flash switcheroo I think that it’s there to give Flash fans hope and cause some to consider that Red Tornado isn’t being considered. Because I mean, has he been put back together again in 52 yet? Isn’t he still in shambles?
Tim, why do you think that they’re playing tricks with the art?
That actually represents one of the three covers to Justice League of America #1. The second cover completes the image and makes it clear why it is edited. Seven players from the team represented by the third cover (if it is to be believed) makes up the front row of the two covers when they are combined. So where Flash was in the original image, Red Tornado is now. Similarly, John Stewart and Ollie Queen are no longer in the front row.
Other changes with the image include Firestorm’s newest costume, a different costume for Arsenal, Black Lightning, Kyle Rayner, the exclusion of Aquaman, Tempest, and Adam Strange, and the inclusion of Nightwing, Batwoman, Mr. Terrific, Big Barda, and Hourman.
So it also was meant to cover costume changes, deaths, and 52 developments.
Soak1313 fears our fierce condemnation
I think I might have asked this not too long ago but my memory isn’t that great so I will either pose this new question or you can link the bio from before. Other than the JLU cartoon I don’t know that much about Vixen. Can I get some background? Feel free to make fun if I just asked this like a month ago.
We don’t make fun of people here Soak, we only answer their questions in a precise, insightful manner. Well, I mean unless you’re Bruce Jones, whose run on Nightwing could possibly have been worse than the final arcs of The Flash, JSA and JLA combined, with a pinch of the current JSA: Classified arc for good measure.
Damn…that’s pretty bad. Accurate though, I expect.
But apart from that we’re like 73.9378905218096% seriousness.
As for the rundown on Vixen, I’d be happy to share with you.
Vixen began as the first Black female character to have her own DC title. It was a momentous honor and made her a pioneer. However the DC Implosion happened and the issue never came out, thus she was just another character. She did finally debut in Cancelled Comic Calvacade #2 but good luck finding a copy of that.
Vixen was born in Africa and was a descendant of the African hero Tantu who happened to be a pretty big hero in his time. Tantu possessed a totem that allowed him to tap into the M-Field (or the Red as some folks call it.) Mari Jiwe McCabe’s parents told her about the totem, but they didn’t give it to her. Sadly her mom was killed by poachers and her father was killed by his brother who really wanted to possess the totem and the power it held.
Naturally being on orphan she was adopted by Angelina Jolie. I’m kidding, that’s too far fetched. Instead she made her way to the United States and became a famous model. This granted her the finances necessary to return home and reclaim her birthright; the Tantu totem.
She did and she became Vixen. She used her powers for doing the hero thing. She linked up with the much-maligned Justice League Detroit. From there she joined the Suicide Squad, Checkmate, Justice League Task Force and eventually the Ultramarines. Oh and of course she’s been called upon by the Birds of Prey.
She and Bronze Tiger had a fling while members of the Suicide Squad, but it ended badly.
Her nifty totem allows her to tap into the Morphogenetic Field, and allows her to draw the abilities of any animal that she can think of and posses those abilities. It’s very rare but she’s also been able to transform into animals on occasion. She’s also got nifty claws, which are pretty durable and can pierce plenty of stuff.
Wow, so that’s DC’s first two Black heroes; Black Lightning and Vixen, who are now members of the Justice League of America. I’m “really happy.”
Tim, with Vixen getting such a high profile gig, aren’t you kind of worried for Animal Man’s well being?
Well I wasn’t…until now.
Jim H. questions the “truth” in truth serum
Is Cassandra (Batgirl) the child of Lady Shiva? If she is, why in “A Death in the Family” does she (Shiva) say after being injected with Sodium Pentothal (truth serum) by Batman that she has never had children. {This was when Jason Todd was looking for his real mother}.
Yes Cassandra Cain is the daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain.
Yet Shiva clearly stated, under the influence of Sodium Pentothal, that she’s not had any kids.
So how do we reconcile the two? Eh, I’m willing to pretend that Batman asked if she had any sons or if she was Jason’s mother back in A Death in the Family. Let’s pretend it’s one of Superboy’s punches. It’s a minor glitch.
Or maybe she’s not only really resistant to Sodium Pentathol but she’s also an actress good enough to fool Batman into believing her words.
I don’t really know how to handle this. Shiva is Cassandra’s mom, there’s not disputing that. But I wouldn’t let one minor continuity glitch ruin A Death in the Family. I mean it’s not like it never happened.
Oh, that’s right; Jason Todd isn’t dead anymore.
Well I wouldn’t let two recent occurrences prevent you from digging the story.
Tim don’t you think he should still enjoy the tale?
Yes, he should. Also he should bear in mind that Batman has beaten Sodium Pentothal before (see Sword of Azrael, amongst others) and it is not inconceivable that an individual as disciplined as Shiva could do the same. After Sodium Pentothal is not a “truth serum” so much as a barbiturate. When taken, it lowers your brain function. Thus, lying, which is arguably requires more brain power than telling the truth, becomes difficult. So, in theory, the truth will out itself. However, one can resist by either a.) not responding to the question at all, either through ignoring the interrogator or speaking nonsense (as Bruce did in Sword) or b.) answering in short, non-descriptive sentences (as Shiva does in Family, I believe).
People injected with it do not become like Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar, as most media would suggest. They are not “compelled” to tell the truth, but rather have a hard time forming lies to say.
Jim H. asks us to do his math homework
How much time (comic wise) has passed since the events of “A Death in the Family”? If Shiva wasn’t lying under the effects of the serum how old would that make Cass?
Dude, I’ve got a degree in English, I’m no good with numbers. However I’ve got that nifty Batman Secret Origins and Files #1 which states that Jason Todd was killed in “Year Seven” of Batman’s adventures. The time line ends at Year Ten with the Legacy storyline.
So let’s say, being conservative, that Batman had reached Year Thirteen by the time that Infinite Crisis hit. That would mean that we skipped Year Fourteen and are now in Year Fifteen.
If we carry the “1”, divide by 2 and factor in the radius we come up with seven years having passed from when Shiva made the statement. That means that if she was telling the truth that Cassandra could only be seven years old, at most. And that doesn’t quite work out with what we’ve seen.
Tim, how long do you think Batman has been active in Gotham?
I want to say that DC was still pretty hung up on that 10 year plan last I heard so now we’d be in year 11. But, please don’t hold me to that.
Jim H. has some unique ideas about diplomacy
Is it ever referenced again that the Joker was the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations? (Shown in “A Death in the Family”)
Nah, I’m pretty sure that DC wants to forget that that particular part of the story ever happened. Sure it was a reflection of tensions at the time, but it kind of crosses a line. I mean the idea that any political leader would offer the Joker ambassadorship it kind of “out there.”
Tim, where do you stand on real life political figures appearing in comic books?
In theory, I’m okay with it. It does present the difficulty of grounding the comic in a particular time or era though and thus making it less universal for future readers. On the other hand, story technique, art, dialogue, etc. do the same, so I suppose it is not a matter of overwhelming performance.
I would, however, suggest that they remain largely background players, flitting by for brief cameos.
Aaron dares to question Pieface’s skills
I read the following somewhere: “Oa was reconstructed by Tom Kalamaku”. Hahahahha…seriously, who really rebuilt that entire planet?
Tom did indeed do it. Y’see when Hal went to restart the sun he sent part of his power to find Tom. It showed up as kid named Marty who claimed to be Hal’s kid. The kid bears a message from Hal; “fix it.” Tom spends most of Legacy: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan trying to figure out what he’s supposed to be fixing. Through the course of the tale Tom fixes his life and eventually uses the power, which manifests itself as a ring, into a rebuilt Oa, complete with a monument honoring Hal Jordan.
It’s a pretty good tale with some great art. I’d certainly recommend picking up the trade.
Tim, did you ever check that tale out?
Oddly enough, I did not. I remember thinking at the time that it was a lot like the Life Story of Flash book, which I enjoyed, so I should pick up this one too. However, it was released in hardcover at a time when my disposable income was even smaller than it is today. So I’ve never snagged it. I still would like to.
Although the idea of Tom fixing all of Oa by his lonesome does strike me as a touch silly. Still, the guy did have to deal with years of unfortunate characterization and a terrible nickname so it’s nice that he has one thing he can lord over Hal. “Hey, remember that planet you blew up? I put it back together.”
Oh wait…Hal’s got a comeback now, “Actually, that wasn’t really my fault. See I was possessed by this yellow demon thingy so, you can’t really blame me. Plus, all those Lanterns I killed? Yeah, they didn’t really die…somehow.”
Poor Tom, even when he rebuilds a planet, he still can’t win.
Do you think the Guardians are ever embarrassed that it took this guy to bring back their planet?
Jake might just have an aneurysm. Which would be a shame.
I recently was reading the first trade of the Batman/Superman series and a character showed up I’m not familiar with. When the world thinks Bats and Supes are captured some of the ‘family’ of each try to break them out. Within the Superman ‘family’ there is a black hair woman, a Supergirl. But I thought Supergirl didn’t show until later in the series? And she doesn’t look like any Supergirl I know of, which really isn’t saying much. Hope you can help me out, I’ve gotten a headache trying to track her down. Thanks.
Let’s get serious for a minute. I know that we here at WWITDCU like to poke fun at lots of things, but if there’s one thing that’s not a laughing matter it’s headaches.
Everyday millions of people suffer from headaches. For some it’s because they drank too much. For others it’s because they drank something too cold too fast. For still others it’s the result of a tragic anvil dropping. Regardless we here at WWITDCU are committed to doing our part to stamp out headaches, worldwide.
So we find it an honor to answer your question Jake. We’d love to help you get rid of that headache.
Fortunately we’ve covered this one before;
Ah Cir El, likely to be forgotten in the annals of history, but I seem to recall that many believed she was partially to blame for the demise of Peter David’s amazing Supergirl title.
Anyway Cir El was originally introduced as Superman’s daughter and she had the DNA to prove it! She appeared in the Superman books and caused a bit of tension between Lois and Kal because of the whole DNA thing. She was also supposed to be from the future.
“Wha…” equals my thoughts exactly.
In the end it turned out that Cir El was a pawn of the Futuresmiths. They had grabbed Kal’s DNA in the Superman 10 Cent Adventure and used it in an experiment with a human girl which resulted in Cir El. It was part of a long convoluted plot that involved Brainiac. How bad was it? So bad that it’s yet to be mentioned again.
And that’s the tale of Cir El. May she never return.
Tim, Harbinger dying? Kar Zor El? Save his last issue, did anything redeeming come from Loeb’s run on Superman/Batman?
The lack of goodness from that series is disturbingly true. Not as disturbing as this image that I found while looking for Cir El pics though.
Who, exactly, thought that this was acceptable?
And that does it for yet another column.
But be sure to return next week and see the answers to your questions (provided you send them) as well others including some background on Vandal Savage. Feel free to email me your questions or post them on Our Amazing Thread.
Before we go, here’s my question to you; How do you feel about Civil War being delayed?
“Let’s unite tonight. We shouldn’t fight. Embrace you tight.”
