Before we start the column I just wanted to note the passing of Mike Wieringo. I first fell in love with his art on the pages of The Flash where he had a memorable run, co-creating Impulse. He had a style that crisp, fun and kinetic. He will be missed. We want to send our condolences to his family and friends.
Tim, explain your love for Red Robin, the restaurant chain, not the Kingdom Come character.
I’m not sure what needs to be explained here. The restaurant is incredible…I thought that was common knowledge. I mean, they have Onion Straws, for goodness sake!
If one was to choose to throw their diet out the window, they could reward themselves with the nigh sinful delights of a Whiskey River Burger (add bacon for extra delightfulness) and a Mountain High Mud Pie. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I won’t proclaim the best restaurant on earth (because, honestly, we know it isn’t true). But amongst the chains, it is king. I mean, it just kicks Appleby’s ass up and down the street, know what I mean.
Links
Our DCU Boards features talk about Final Crisis and yet another weekly book?
Linking anything Tim?
There’s a new online comic strip I’m starting to get into called Sinfest. Check it out, you might just enjoy it. And, speaking of webcomics, also give The Rack a shot. It’s a strip about people working in a comic store and features appearances by Nate, who must be seen to be believed. Fun stuff all around.
What I Read Last Week
The Un-Men #1 – Decent read. Not really enough to get me to sign on for next issue. It just didn’t hook me.
Crossing Midnight #9 – Man, those spirits are tricky. I was sorry to see Yamada go, but it looks like his story isn’t necessarily over. Great looking art.
X-Factor #22 – Wow! I’m so surprised that Layla got blindsided. And is Strong Guy the only one on the team not shagging a teammate?
Katana & Shazam – I honestly couldn’t read this book. I guess Barr joins Wolfman and Levitz as 80’s creators who bore in the aughts. This book really didn’t hook me in the least.
Detective Comics #835 – A fill in two parter? Eh, it’s almost interesting despite featuring Scarecrow. Dini, return to me.
See, and I found disinteresting despite the presence of Scarecrow. Different strokes, I suppose.
Stormwatch PHD #10 – Really good book. I loved Slaughterhouse Smith. I loved the trip to Tranquility with the New Romantic and his ironic ability. Gage is just a fountain of imagination. Oh and props for a cover scene that actually appears in the book.
Too bad the cover scene was so bland.
Otherwise though, another great issue. Goodness, I do love this book.
Green Lantern #22 – I still don’t see why Jack T. Chance had to die. The best moments were with Hank Henshaw and Superboy-Prime. Though I can’t wait for Lyssa Drak to cut loose.
I said it on the message boards, but I’ll say it here too. Jack T. Chance dying was disappointing to me because a.) it was a total “who cares†death (does anyone, really, know who Chance was?) and b.) it establishes Kyle as a murderer. Yes, he’s possessed. But so was Hal and Johns went to great lengths to show that, no, no, Hal’s no murderer. See everyone you thought he killed is really alive. Yay!
But Chance dies on panel and pretty clearly. So…why not the same respect for Kyle?
Black Adam #1 – I really liked this issue. It had such great build up, plus enough action. You’ve got to dig Teth Adam’s conviction.
Batman #667 – Fun issue. Solid set up. I absolutely loved J.H. Williams III’s art. And leave it to Grant Morrison to take a kooky Silver Age tale and make it work in the modern era.
Really liked this. From the first page on down, I don’t think it hit a bad note. It is not rewriting Batman for our century, but I’m just looking for good stories and this delivered.
Countdown #38 – Rogues and Oracle were good. Mary Marvel was ok. But Aztek’s return rocked!
You’re not funny. Not at all.
Soak1313 is all wet.
Who were the sea people that popped up in the newest issue of Countdown?
A little Kirby for you and yours. Cause he’s so excellent and he revolutionized comics and Stan Lee should give him more credit and blah blah blah.
Sorry…where were we?
Those sad souls were none other than the Deep Six. They’re New Gods from Apokolips. Think of them sort of as Darkseid’s aquatic hit squad.
The Deep Six were composed of Kurin, Trok, Slig, Shaligo, Jaffar and Gole. Get it, there are six of ’em. “Deep Six.” They battled Orion a few times and even tussled with Aquaman, back when Peter David wrote the book.
They’re the latest of the New Gods to die the Death of the New Gods. Personally I thought it was a rather toothless death. I mean a) no one really knows who the Deep Six are and b) those that do don’t care. No one has ever said “I love the Deep Six.” So their death just doesn’t pack any sort of wallop. Plus they’ve been killed before.
Tim, how do you feel about all of these New Gods dying and why isn’t anyone crying like those JLI lovin’ fanboys?
They aren’t crying because we are talking about the New Gods here. Why would anyone care?
As for me, it sort of wreaks of desperation. I imagine a meeting that went something like this:
DC Guy 1: Anyway to make the New Gods interesting?
DC Guy 2: Well Morrison had a cool idea in—
DC Guy 3: We could kill ‘em!
DC Guy 1: I’m listening.
DC Guy 3: We kill a bunch of them, make the “true fans†crazy, and people pay attention to them again. Just like the JLI.
DC Guy 2: Or we could just revitalize them with an interesting take that we’ve already introd—
DC Guy 1: Great! Kill the load of them. Whee!!!!!!
Or, you know, something to that effect.
That Bootleg Guy has been reading comics for decades. Decades! He’s ancient.
Decades ago, during the heyday of my collecting, I remember the JSA popping up in All-Star Squadron. After the events of Crisis, I don’t remember too many appearances of the JSA, but they’ve since been re-written as the precursor to the JLA. Do you know where the JSA was featured, primarily, in the immediate aftermath of Crisis?
Y’see the JSA was effectively MIA after the Crisis and for good reason; the Crisis really messed up the continuity of the JSA. The Crisis had plenty of effects; getting rid of Superboy, merging Earths. But it also got rid of “redundant” characters. While the Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern survived the Crisis, the Golden Age versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman never existed in the brand new DCU.
This caused a problem because those three characters were a huge part of the JSA. The Golden Age Superman was a member of the team as was his cousin Power Girl. Wonder Woman and her daughter Fury were both active heroes. And while that version of Batman was dead, his legacy was carried on by both his daughter, Huntress, and Robin, an adult Dick Grayson.
Thus, with the absence of those redundant characters and their kinfolk the JSA was a bit lacking. And DC really wanted to keep the team’s adventures relegated to the past for the sake of clarity. The Last Days of the JSA detailed the JSA’s last adventure and how they went off to Ragnarok to fight an endless battle.
And that’s where the JSA was immediately following the Crisis.
Gradually DC realized that reintroducing the JSA to the DCU wouldn’t be confusing and would actually be profitable. Thus the JSA was reintroduced and never left again.
Can you imagine a time when the JSAers weren’t in the DCU Tim?
Well, they weren’t really there when I started to read comics, so, yeah, it is not all that hard. But I’m glad they’re back. I like those crazy octogenarians. Always telling the young ‘uns what to do and talking about how, in their day, the price of milk was two bits. Hilarious, I tell you what.
R. Hardin looks beyond
What do you think of the so-called “Challengers from Beyond” book that appears to be on its way? I think it’s supposed to feature Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner, and Donna Troy as multiple-earths bouncing adventurers or something (which is what I thought the new Booster Gold series was).
Eh, I don’t know how I feel about this book. I mean I dig the individual players (except maybe Donna) and I even dig their exploits together at the moment. But I don’t know if I’m ready to fully commit to a book that features their adventures and nothing more.
And sure Booster Gold promises trips through the new multiverse, but the Challengers book seems to have an actual purpose. I mean aren’t they looking for Ray Palmer? And they’ll also be visiting the Wildstorm U, so that’s almost a secondary mission.
I think that the one of Booster Gold is going to be a bit lighter than Challengers will. It’ll also probably be more fun too.
Tim, do you think that DC is stepping on its own toes here?
They could run into that problem, but for now there’s enough difference in mission statement that things should be okay. As mentioned, the Challengers are all about saving Ray while Booster is about healing the ways that time/the multiverse is still broken. Although, issue #1 of Booster actually makes it seems more like he is going to fix or stop the things he doesn’t want to happen. Either way, different modus operandi.
The other thing is that Challengers is a finite endeavor (despite it popping up everywhere) while Booster is an ongoing series that will (in theory) run for a long time to come.
None of this necessarily excuses the need for Challengers, but it does explain why DC thought it could have both.
That Bootleg Guy has certain…curiosities.
In Countdown #47, there’s a very well-written sequence between Trickster and Piper. I knew that Piper was gay, but I’m curious as to how it’s been handled since he “came out”. Was it ever something that “The Flash” writers explored or was it just put out there and rarely/never mentioned again?
Wow. I never would have guessed. I mean you’re curious about homosexuality? I mean I’m totally cool with that. It’s not a big deal or anything, I just figured that since you were married and all…
Piper’s a pretty good example of how to address a characters sexual orientation. First and foremost it was never used to define the character. It wasn’t as though he came out and suddenly his homosexuality became his overwhelming trait. He was still a reformed Rogue, he just happened to like guys.
But it wasn’t like it was ignored or avoided by writers, it was a part of the character, but it didn’t make the character. It was like his eye color; it was always there, but no one really dwelled on it.
It wasn’t ever “explored” because Piper was just part of the supporting cast; he wasn’t really the star of the title.
Piper has had boyfriends and he’s been teased by other Rogues, just like Oliver Queen’s had girlfriends and been teased by fellow heroes.
I’ve always found Piper’s portrayal to be very well handled.
Tim, how do you think that DC’s handled the issue of sexual orientation as a whole?
You’re right that DC did well with Piper. By in large though, DC does not handle the issue of homosexuality. Recently, that trend has begun to change with characters like Obsidian, Grace, Thunder, Batwoman, Holly (Catwoman), and Renee coming out and being rather upfront about it. The percentage of gay characters to non-gay characters is still way off of course (it should be around one in ten, percentage speaking), but it is a start.
Are there nits to picked? Sure. For one, as mentioned, there is the sheer numbers issue. For another, it is pretty easy to see that gay women are being introduced or outted more often then men, which reflects a certain bias these days (that is lesbians=hot and gay men=icky). And of course, there is fan reaction to these gay characters (Either: “Another gay character? Who wrote this, Winick?†or “Sweet, a redhead lesbian in a bat costume. So hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) which can be a bit depressing at times. For that matter, so can the creator reactions (“What, [insert little used character name here] is gay now?! But that’s not what Roy Thomas intended!!!!!!†or “Gays in comics? Won’t someone think of the children?!!!!).
But, there appears to be some forward progress, even if some of it is for the wrong reasons (Batwoman) or it reminds us how far we still have to go at the same time (Batwoman’s series not coming to fruition not once but twice).
Brock worries about how Zoom is filling his spare time.
Let’s talk about Zoom. I mean “Lettttttt’s talkabout Zoooooooom!” Any ideas on how he spent the missing year of 52? No Wally to harass, Bart wasn’t the Flash yet…You think he got bored?
Well we see Zoom in The Flash #10 when Iris West tracks him down. She finds him in Rome 410 A.D. To me it seems that without a Flash to torment, Zoom decided to spend some traveling.
I mean isn’t that what lots of people do when they retire? The Society was proved about as effective as the Secret Six, so Zoom found himself with some time on his hands. And since Zoom’s powers are temporal in nature, he decided to do some sight seeing. But the prospect of a new Flash proved tempting so he got back in the game.
But that wasn’t all Zoom was up to in the missing year.
He started watching The Wire and got hooked, calling the show “a true testament to the potential of medium of television.”
Crazy or not, the man has taste.
He was romantically linked to Lindsay Lohan.
Wait…does that mean what she’s going through right now is just going to make her a better hero?
He tried to get into Lost but was completely turned off by Eko’s death.
Which is a shame because he missed a great last eight episodes.
He signed a petition to get Interscope to release Bilal’s Love for Sale.
Sigh…
He put together an Emo group composed of himself, Teth Adam, Deathstroke and Shang Chi, called “Society of Sensitive Villains.” Despite critical acclaim and a rabid following, tensions caused the group to splinter and eventually go their separate ways.
Such a good band! Too bad their egos got in the way.
He starred in a pilot which featured Zoom cast as a retired villain who finds out that he fathered the nations new heartthrob hero. It was described as a cross between Entourage and My Two Dads. It also starred the guy who played Paul in The Wonder Years. It didn’t get picked up.
There is no justice.
Tim, did you hear of Zoom doing anything else during the missing year?
Zoom, keeping busy.
He learned to crochet and gave everyone on his Christmas card list beautiful blankets for the holiday.
He tried that drinking a gallon of milk in an hour thing and the eat 6 saltines in 60 seconds thing and failed at both. No one is that fast!
He rediscovered the simple joy of flying a kite.
He started to attend an open mic night where he finally got up the courage to go onstage and present his favorite poem “The Emperor of Ice Cream†by Wallace Stevens. After he was done, he had to run right home because he just couldn’t stop crying, he was so happy.
I think he might have also killed someone. I mean, he’s still a supervillain, right?
The Shade believes in the importance of protein supplements
When did Despero look like his old self again last I saw he had serious roid rage
Despero: The Barry Bonds of Supervillains?
You’re referring to his appearance in Justice League of America #9, right?
Well, chances are this is just Despero’s “old self.” I mean the scene takes place in the future, so we’re already dealing with time travel. And even if it didn’t take place in the future, Per Degaton’s involved so time travel’s still a likely suspect.
And Per Degaton even says; “strength had to come from the past.” To me it appears that Per Degaton is manipulating this scheme and he wanted that version of Despero for whatever he’s got planned.
But for the record Despero has never used illegal evil enhancing drugs. While it’s possible that he may have bathed in the Flame of Py’tar, it was probably at a time when such action was not illegal.
Tim, how do you like your Despero; big and brawny or goofy and scrawny?
Like I like all my men. Big and goofy.
Neil
asks
asks
about
about
Okay, that’s not funny.
Okay, that’s not funny.
Seriously, knock it off.
Seriously, knock it off.
Alright fine. I’m a big idiot and no one likes me.
Oh, don’t say that. I mean, you’re not smart, but…
Arrgh, let’s just get to the damn question.
And what is the story behind Johnny Mimic?
Johnny Mimic is actually an established character and not just a one-off for JSA Classified #25. He first appeared in Comic Cavalcade #22. His shtick was that he recreated old crimes and committed them.
But since you’ve obviously read JSA Classified #25 you’ve got a much clearer picture of the character than he had prior to that appearance. Sadly that issue was his final one, as he’s dead. But what a cool issue, right?
Tim, which do you like more; dusting off forgotten villains or creating new ones?
That’s like asking me to choose who’s the better Golden Girl, Blanche or Dorothy. It can’t be done.
I see merit in both (the villains, not the Golden Girls. Although them too). Restoring a villain to past glory or giving a villain glory who never had it takes great skill and is a nice way to see that comic’s history is used to its advantage.
On the other hand, we run the risk of being too insular and stagnant, always looking back, never forward. In that way, new villains are a boon, swooping in to add freshness.
I suppose, in the end, like all things, it is all about balance.
Dan G. and acronyms. They go together like punch and cake after church
I’ve recently been getting into the Legion of Super Heroes and its ridiculously complicated publishing history. I’ve managed to sort out (kinda) how each volume of the Legion fits into the publishing history and why it was changed or rebooted over the years, but for the life of me I just can’t figure out what the deal with L.E.G.I.O.N. is. It’s too late to be a by-product of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, but it’s too early for the Zero Hour reboot, and it doesn’t seem to tie into any other Legion history. Can you help me out?
I would love to. Not just because that’s what this column is about, but also because I loved L.E.G.I.O.N.!
L.E.G.I.O.N. was many different things at the same time. Firstly, it was a byproduct of Invasion!, which is how most of the leads of that title came together in the first place.
It was also a way to explore the vastness of the DC Universe. Given that the core team was comprised of members from several alien races, the exploration was just natural.
But it was also sort of a byproduct of the COIE. Remember how earlier in the column I said that there were plenty of effects of COIE and how getting rid of Superboy was one of them? Well Superboy played a pivotal role in the founding of the Legion of Super-Heroes. They were his childhood friends and he was their inspiration.
Thus without a Superboy to inspire them the Legion in the (then) 30th Century had no real reason to exist. Yet they did.
So creators tried to fix the problem of a Superboy-free Legion many ways. First they had a “pocket universe” Superboy. But that wasn’t really a permanent solution. L.E.G.I.O.N. was an attempt at a more permanent solution.
There weren’t too many direct links between L.E.G.I.O.N. and Pre-Zero Hour Legion of Super-Heroes, but there were some. For instance;
When Vril Dox trapped the Computer Tyrants of Colu in a humanoid form it turns out that they become the villain Legion readers know as Pulsar Stargrave.
L.E.G.I.O.N. member Phase was actually time displaced Legionnaire Phantom Girl.
And it turned out that R.J. Brande the Legion’s financier was actually L.E.G.I.O.N.’s Durlan.
Those last two are actually linked and need some explaining.
Y’see in the 30th Century Ultra Boy ran afoul with Glorith, who possessed the abilities of the Time Trapper and specialized in time displacement. So rather than strike at Ultra Boy directly, she chose to bide her time and wait for the best time to strike.
She struck by sending the love of Ultra Boy’s life, Phantom Girl, to the past, making it look as though she’d been killed. However, the caveat of her moving someone through time was that she needed to bring someone from the 20th Century to the 30th in return to balance the scales. Thus the Durlan was sent to the early 30th Century and eventually took the identity of R.J. Brande.
The other links between L.E.G.I.O.N. and Legion were that some Legionaires obviously descended from member of L.E.G.I.O.N. And Strata lived long enough to meet Blok.
Ok, Tim, I get that you don’t dig Legion, but how about L.E.G.I.O.N.?
I don’t even know L.E.G.I.O.N. and from what I just read, I don’t want to.
Neil is in a chastising mood
You can’t go dropping a morsel like Norman the Doorman and not explain him.
Let me first say that Norman the Doorman is no Scoop Scanlon. I mean the guy’s an interesting character, but he’s only had one appearance.
That appearance was in Justice League Quarterly #8 That was like 15 years ago, so I wouldn’t hold my breath for him to return.
Basically the Conglomerate was holding tryouts and Norman showed up. He had the ability to open portals to different dimensions. When he opened a portal to Qward, Claire Montgomery who was running the Conglomerate at the time, saw what she thought were heroes and recruited them for her now Conglomerate.
This villainous version of the Conglomerate were defeated when the League manages to push them through Norman’s portal sending them home.
And Norman was never heard from again.
Tim, perhaps Norman could get a shot at Revamping someday?
HELL YEAH!
Brock is all for tough love
Who would you like to see Zoom slaughter…erm, I mean “make into a better hero.” (Me, I think he’da gone after Zatanna after finding out about that little “mindwipe” thing.)
Hmm? That’s a very interesting question. Which hero would I liked to see killed or made into a stronger character?
Geo-Force – What’s this guy doing in the JLA? Really? He either needs to be made interesting or killed off.
Damage – I’d really like to see a round three of this battle, with Zoom stopping Damage’s whining, permanently.
Guy Gardner – I’m sure he’s had pain and suffering in this life, but not nearly enough as far as I’m concerned.
Liberty Belle – If only there were some way to kill her yet have Jesse Quick survive. Oh well, I’ll have to do without both of them.
Teen Titans – This team needs to get better or get demolished.
Superman – I get that his supporting cast is iconic, but it could probably be thinned a bit.
Nightwing – Maybe having Zoom appear might make this book, um, interesting?
Tim, I know you’d like to see Zoom pay some folks a visit, right?
I sure do. In no particular order I’d like to see him face:
My Third Grade Teacher– Yeah, Mrs. Neiman, we’ll see how you like terrorizing eight year old once Zoom teaches you the true meaning of “heroâ€.
Booster Gold– History’s greatest hero and no one knows it? Whatever! Zoom’ll show him how not there yet he is.
Vin Diesel– Did you see The Pacifier? The man needs to be woken up. And Zoom’s just the speedster to do it.
Wicker Sue– Now is the time for her to realize her full potential.
Wally West’s kids– Surely, Zoom must have a family rate.
The Fast Talker Guy who Used to Be In Those Micro Machines Commercials– To truly become a fast talker, one must match wits with Zoom.
Dodge– The teleporter who “just wanted to be a hero†falls under the tutelage of maniac who truly believes he can make people into better heroes? I actually think, in all seriousness, this one could be quite cool.
Batman– Just kidding. Could you be anymore “true hero†than Batman? Plus, it would last like three seconds. He’s Batman for goodness sake.
The Shade wonders about our resolve
Has there ever been a point where your patience in comic collecting has been stretched so far that you have considered canceling all your comics and just quitting?
Never.
I’ve never once though about giving up the hobby. There have been times when I considered a budget, but I’ve never thought about walking away from comics.
Maybe it’s because I read so many titles, but in any given month I’m enjoying more books that I’m disliking. For every Nightwing there’s a Blue Beetle. For every Teen Titans there’s a JLA. For every Marvel’s handling of Squadron Supreme there’s DC’s handling of All-Star Superman. It’s a balance; there’s more stuff that blows me away than leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Plus the very nature of the medium is very conducive to optimism. I may be suffering though Wonder Woman right now, but I know that Gail Simone is coming on board soon. I may not have loved Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes #31 but I did love #32 and the optimist in me believes that I’ll love the next issue of every title that I’m not necessarily enjoying right now.
Now perhaps if DC does a company wide reboot like they did after COIE I’ll take it as my cue to exit the DCU. But that’s essentially what it would take get me out and that’s not even a guarantee.
I mean I loved Hal Jordan. He’s the character who first caught my attention as a child. So when he became Parallax, part of me shocked. But a different part of me loved it and thought it was great. I’m one of the few people who actually like Hal as Parallax.
And when Wally went MIA after Infinite Crisis, I didn’t give up on the medium, despite The Flash being the first comic that I collected from the first issue on. Even though I loved Human Target I didn’t swear off Vertigo when it was cancelled.
Every Wednesday I’m going to have something to read. That’s why I’m not going to complain about All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder or The Authority being late; I’m still going to have something to read on Wednesday. Are late books unprofessional, sure, but my happiness doesn’t depend on X title #Y being in my hands next week.
I will say that blogs like Occasional Superheroine and sites like Project Girl Wonder have caused me to ponder about my love for comics. Those reads haven’t made me want to give up the hobby but to notice some of the subtle things and be more aware about portrayals.
But, I’ve never thought about giving the hobby up.
Tim, have you?
Not really, no. My pull list grows and shrinks of course. I’ve gone through periods where I’d only be picking up a book or two per week or my purchasing of books from one of the Big Two publishing was only a few a month, who hasn’t. However, there are always bright spots. I see no reason to punish the books I like or the creators I respect because I don’t like a current trend.
Yes, I think DC (and, to a lesser extent, Marvel, at least in the books I read) has gotten its wires crossed as of late and confused character death with an inherent importance. So I write about and I avoid those titles that indulge in it too often (Countdown for instance). And so on. The fact is, I like comics. Yes, there are editorial decisions that bother me, trends that I question, and fan attitudes that make me cringe. When those things ruin my enjoyment of this medium, yeah, it’ll be time to walk away. But, for now, I can see those things and still realize that, despite them, there are good comics, comics that I enjoy, and I’m not going to let all that junk get in the way of my enjoyment.
Well that does it for yet another column. Be sure to return next week where we’ll answer more questions perhaps about unresolved storylines or good quips. Maybe even your question, but that only works if you send it my way.
Feel free to email me or post your queries on our thread!
Before I go here’s my question to you; was there every a time when you considered giving up on comics or (gasp) did?
“And when the sunshine don’t work, the good Lord being the rain in.”
