An Interesting Pairing

So...speaking of John Stewart...I don't believe that I have ever seen him paired up with Green Arrow. That's right, our own left-wing, knee-jerk liberal, Olliver Queen. Perhaps there has been some interaction that I am not aware of, but I've always thought that these two would make for an...interesting combination.

What on earth, would Ollie do? John's black, and something of a crusader himself, so Ollie can't yell at him for keeping the man down. I don't really think that Ollie can call him a Nazi either. I am actually rather fond of Ollie, even though I think that he can be an idiot, but then I feel the same way about Hal. I can't see John putting up with Olliver's shenanigans the way that Hal does however. I do see John as being bemused however.

Due to his experience in Mosaic, John's had experiences in dealing with disparate groups that Olliver can only dream about. And being fairly monogamous by nature, I can't see John thinking too much of Ollie's serial infidelity. Has any of this ever been addressed? I think that it would take a VERY good writer to be able to pull off the feat of putting these two together. But on the other hand, I do take a delight in putting strange combinations of people together...which is probably why I like the old JLI so much.

Maybe they would actually get along and like each other, which is also possible.

A little love for John Stewart

I don't post nearly as often as I should about John for some reason. I like John, and I think that Mosaic was one of the best comics made and should never have been cancelled. I guess that it is just that in comparison to Hal, Guy and Kyle, he's not as flashy. He's probably the smartest, he's definitely the most dependable, and he has all these wonderful personality traits that I enjoy. Quiet competence isn't as compelling I suppose.

However, in the most recent issue of Justice, with Alex Ross, finally, John gets some credit.



Yes, John Stewart gets to do something. Oh nothin' much, just SAVE THE WORLD! Hoohah! Yup, he uses his ring to burn the nannites out of the air, courtesy of Brainiac, which releases the other villains from their mind control, not to mention the good guys as well. Go John!

Later he also manages to save Hal Jordan from going splat all over the sidewalk, which is also a good thing. John, as usual, does things with efficiency, if not neccesarily huge dramatics. I have rather missed John lately, so I hope that he finally gets to start showing up in Green Lantern and such. It is to be hoped that he'll have a big part in the upcoming Sinestro Corps arc in a couple of months.

Waaay back when, in the Justice League...

Come with me, boys and girls, to those hallowed days of old, when Second Stringers ruled the Justice League. Yes, it is again, Giffen and DeMatteis, my absolute favorite incarnation of the League. I mean, I enjoy it now of course, but still...!

I'm pawing through my boxes, and came across #24 of the old JLI. It has one of those lovely Maguire covers, with a sneering Guy Gardner in the middle foreground (and when isn't Guy sneering?) flanked by Fire, and Wally as the Flash. There are also Blue Beetle, Animal Man, Metamorpho, Capt. Atom, Power Girl, Ice, Wonder Woman, Batman, Mr. Miracle, Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold, Elongated Man and Rocket Red. Whew!

This was actually a super-sized issue, consisting of three short stories. The first one concerns mainly Max Lord, who is having a crises of concious, and how Beetle and Fire end up saving him from a cave-in, which is nice. Then there is an amusing story with Max getting kidnapped, and the kidnappers having to deal with Booster and Beetle. It ends with the kidnapers PAYING to have them take Max back, so Beetle and Booster buy a wide-screen television, which seems exactly the sort of thing that Beetle and Booster would do.

The third story however, is quite my favorite. It's called "Across a Crowded Room" and boy howdy is THAT an accurate title! Max and Oberon are trying to drum up some additional members, so they have EVERYBODY at a party at the JLI headquarters, and the interaction and dialogue, as you might have expected is a hoot and a half.

Hawkman is being just impossible, he's rude and keeps unfavorably comparing the present League with the OLD League, and just won't shut up about it.

Everyone is fawning over Hal Jordan...the REAL Green Lantern, to Guy's displeasure. They also keep making wisecracks about the REAL Flash, to poor Wally's chagrin.

Animal Man hasn't got a clue why he's even there, Batman is being grumpy, and Barda is trying to ditch G'nort. Beetle is REALLY trying to pick up Wonder Woman, who is doing her best to let him down gently, but it isn't sinking in.

Meanwhile, J'onn is hanging out upstairs with Oberon and Max, and trying NOT to get involved. Oberon does eventually go downstairs, and is helped out in the kitchen by Ice, getting more refreshments. As they leave, however, you hear strange sounds coming from a pair of Roach Motels. Cue the ominous music.

Upstairs, is Fire, who is stuck in bed, and having a tantrum because she wants to go down and party. And downstairs, Oberon is circulating through the guests, trying to get them to answer the questions on his entry form. Needless to say, some of the questions don't go over particularly well...such as "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" It turns out that Dmitri thought that was a good one. The Creeper isn't sure if he's actually been convicted of a crime, Firestorm wants to know what his sexual orientation has to do with anything, Major Force is upset that he needs references, and Wally bursts into hysterical laughter at the thought of providing an annual yearly income.

Carter has finally had enough, and tells Beetle to stop slobbering over Wonder Woman. Ted responds of course, telling Carter to wake up and smell the coffee...this isn't the old League anymore.

Sooo....back in the kitchen, the Roach Motels fall on the floor, there is a Rriipppp...and a flash of light! Khunds! Khunds that have been shrunken and imprisoned since a couple of issues before! Now they are free and ready to wreak their vengeance! They bust down the kitchen door...!

...And there is an entire room FULL of Super Heroes giving them the eye. It really is a very funny panel, nobody seems particularly surprised, and they certainly don't feel threatened, there is a feeling of mild surprise. The Khunds give a gulp, and try to back out inconspicuously...apologizing for having bothered them...

...when out from behind Batman, Guy pops up yelling "Heyyy...Those are Khunds!"

Of course all hell immediately breaks loose. Max is mildy concerned with the mayhem going on downstairs, but J'onn refuses to get involved. All the heroes are trying to get into the kitchen to kick some Khund butt, but they get stuck in the bottleneck caused by the narrow door. Power Girl does get to throw the refridgerator at them, which busts another hole in the wall, through which the Khunds make their escape to the teleporter tubes. The rest of the heroes thunder after them in hot pursuit, but are juuuuust too late to prevent their escape. It is at this precise moment that Carter goes up to J'onn, saying he has an announcement to make...HE QUITS! J'onn just sighs.

The rest of the guys are all pretty mad that the Khunds got away, until Mr. Miracle points out that the setting on the tubes hadn't been changed since the Aliens first came through from the Australian Embassy...which doesn't exist anymore, so the Khunds have, unfortunately for them, "transformed themselves into a mass of quickly-scattering atoms".

And THIS is how they came up with the membership for the Justice League, Europe! It's a very silly romp, but the art is so expressive, and the dialogue is so funny. I miss stuff like this.

Nothin' special, just foolin' around

I already slacked off yesturday, so I really do need to put up a post. Well, I don't NEED to, but for my own self-respect, I feel that I should put the old shoulder to the grindstone, pull up my bootstraps and so on and so on.

I just finished reading a whole lot of other blogs, all of which were clever and inciteful and such. I must admit that I do NOT find the sight of Citizen Steel's johnson to be shocking. I just found it to be pleasant. In addition, there is a lovely shot of Hal Jordan's boys in Justice #11 while he's kicking Sinestro in the face. I'm all for it. Speaking of which...Hal was actually rather clever AND dashing, which is always nice.

People seem to be shocked by the bloodletting in Amazons Attack. Well...they're Amazons...and they're Attacking! That's what they do. You have a bunch of immortal Greco/Roman Warriors, they aren't going to be too concerned about taking prisoners and such. Plus Hyppolita is back, which is nice. Of course she's being mind-controlled by Circe, but I am sure that it will all work out in the end somehow. I really want her to join up with the old Justice Society gang anyway. I am assumming that Everyman is up to his old tricks as well.

I went on Ragnell's site and found the link to Pat Gleason's blog, which I didn't know even existed up to that point. I am SO delighted. I even went and swiped this drawing he did of Guy Gardner...because it is just SO perfect.



All of Guy's attitude in one head shot. That's being an ARTIST!

Blue Beetle #14

This is one fabulous cover:



C'mon, it's got Guy Gardner on the cover! You KNOW that I'm going to review it. Actually as usual, Kalinar beat me to it, her essay is excellent as usual.

So, things open rather quietly, Jaime is just sitting there doing some work, musing about some of the stuff that has been happening lately, when his favorite Green Lantern shows up. Jaime...understandably after the first time that they met...reacts by blasting him and changing into his armor.

Which leads to this.



Hee hee! The look on Guy's face is just priceless. The look of abject terror on Jaime's face is even better.

Meanwhile back at Jaime's house, his family is in the back yard grilling dinner and hanging out with Paco and Brenda. There is the usual amusing exchange of dialogue, when Jaime shows up in a panic. Then in walks a very calm Guy, with Jaime's mother, holding out his hand in friendship...when he gets blasted by Jaime AGAIN! At this point, Guy is getting just a leetle bit fed up:



Jaime's mother is just amazing. Like Kyle's late mom (sniff) she could even hold her own against the thundrous force that is Guy's mother.

Anyway, Guy retrieves the grill, opens himself a cold one, and proceeds to explain who he is, what he does, and why he needs to talk to the new Beetle. Heck, he even...kind of...apologizes for beating up Jaime the first time that they met. It is a typical Gardner type of apology, but hey, he's trying.

So...off they fly to the South Pole, while Guy explains the enmity between the Scarabs and the Green Lanterns a bit more. Turns out that the Guardians were having a throw-down with the Reach (who control the Scarab) about forty or fifty thousand years ago, which ended in a draw. As Guy points out, that MEANS something. The Guardians are certainly no pushovers. Anyway, they signed a treaty basically stating that if the Reach behave themselves and stop trying to take over worlds, the Guardians will more or less leave them alone. Except of course, that is EXACTLY what they are trying to do.

They land in Tierra Del Fuego, or almost, because Jaime has to have a bathroom break, and end up in a bar. Jaime's scarab is sensing power levels at the South Pole, so that's what they are investigating. Guy orders a beer (or so I assume) and ends up smacking the hot waitress on the butt, which was NOT a politically correct thing to do. She points him out to the great big enraged guy...

...and they jump to Antarctica, after the Really Cool Bar Fight! Arrgghhh! I wanted to SEE the Really Cool Bar Fight! However, in retrospect it is probably just as well, because one's own imagination is always FAR more graphic. Guy's not too sure this is the right place, but Jaime's powers let him see the Reach's installation, which is dimension-shifted, so it is intangible. Guy's not too sure,but he takes Jaime's word for it...and then they are attacked by Evil Flying Killer Penguins!

You heard me.

Guy whips up a shield while Jaime screams..."flightless and harmless? These are FLIGHTFUL! And HARMFUL! Full of Harm!" Oh Jaime, you get cuter by the minute.

Next, they are attacked by the Ultra-Humanite! Jaime requests a short version of who the heck this baddie is, and Guy replies with ..."Mind-hoppin' super-evolved genius with telepathic powers who gets his kicks bein' in the body of a giant white ape. Sometimes he's a chick."

The Ultra Humanite attacks obviously, and Guy does his best to shield their minds, but the Ultra-Humanite is actually working FOR the Reach, and is prepared for them, by invading their bodies, not necessarily their minds, and making them blind by hacking their central nervous sytems. So he mops the floor with them. Unfortunately for him, he forgot that there were "three" of them. The Ultra-Humanite threatens to kill Jaime, who quite calmly says to go ahead, but he'll be sorry, because he's the only thing that is able to control the scarab, and stopping it from..."turning you...into a fine red mist and a !@#$% shag rug!"

This breaks his concentration, and Guy proceeds to show us why he is indeed the DCU's resident Ass-Kicker, as he delivers a very nice beat-down on the bad guy.

Then the creepy guy from the Reach shows up. Boy is he smarmy! Guy of course just wants to punch his lights out, but of course the little weasel talks his way out of it, plus all the proof seems to disappear...which is very convenient. Guy is beginning to understand why the Guardians REALLY don't like the Reach.

Anyway, they head back to Jaime's house, and are sitting outside at the picnic table, when Guy hauls out a book that he had brought earlier, and left with Jaime's mom. He hands Jaime, "Strategy" by Liddell-Hart. Turns out it is one of the books that Ted Kord gave to Guy way back when.

"Ted gave it to me. There's a list of more books he wanted me to read, wirtten in the back cover. Tactics, Military Intelligence, Data Analysis. Stuff like that."

Jaime takes the book almost reverently, while Guy continues to reminisce about Ted.

"He was always trying to get me to think like him, but a man's gotta know his SWING, Jaime. I HIT things, and I'm GOOD at thinking about hitting things. Ted Kord had NO POWERS, kid. He was always 'overpowered.' But he always won. I saw him mop the floor with guys who ate STARS. Because he was smarter. He was smarter than Bats, although nobody ever noticed. You can BEAT these punks, but you gotta stop thinkin' like some scared kid with fancy power armor...and start thinkin' like the Blue Beetle."

*sniff, sniff* I'm starting to choke up here, feeling the love for Ted. Yeah, he and Guy used to bicker back in the old JLI. That's back in Guy's brain-dead thug stage, and Ted and Booster never knew when to quit, and always had to go and humiliate Guy. Humiliation being the one thing that Guy couldn't handle, Beetle usually took things just a bit too far. And then they had that boxing match arranged by General Glory. It started out with Guy teasing Ted, but Ted wasn't in the mood, and as usual things escalated, for which I blame Glory. Guy sucker-punched Ted, and really hurt him, but he was sorry immediately afterwards.

There were also times when they got along perfectly well togther. There was one scene in JLI, I don't remember which issue,but Ted and Guy are sitting up on the roof of the headquarters enjoying a drink and the sunset, no Booster in sight. Of course they got attacked, but it was a nice moment. Plus, Guy always went to Beetle when he had a problem, heck Ted even gave him his suit of armor when he lost the yellow ring. And there was that lovely moment when they all bonded after J'onn had filled Batmans' utility belt with the mashed potatoes.

*sigh*

This is a REALLY good book.

Aawwwwwww!

Isn't this the cutest thing ever?



Ramsey has little Green Lantern pajamas! I want some! He's actually portrayed as a child too, which is always nice. I hate it when artists draw kids as if they were just short adults.

I admit it, I was a latecome to Manhunter. However, I have been converted to the light, and am busy tracking down the back issues, and or trades. Needless to say, I'm awfully glad that they have decided NOT to cancel this book. It has an interesting cast of characters, and I'm pretty well convinced that Andreyko is an excellent writer. This is also the only place that I can get a decent portrayal of Wonder Woman...at least until Gail Simone takes over.

But his portrayal of Wonder Woman just...shines. She refused to let Kate use the audio from the video of her snapping Max's neck, because it might hurt Superman. THAT'S my girl! She's genuinely heartbroken about Ted Kord, and seriously pissed off at Everyman. Again, this is nice, because it must be said that she was one of the few people to take Ted seriously during Countdown to Infinite Crises. I STILL say that if Bats had just shut up and listened for once, Ted would still be alive. And I love the fact that she's driving the hummer. Although, in her own book, she apparently wouldn't know how to put gas in it.

There is also the scene of Mark fighting off the St. Dumas whacko in his shower. He's not a Green Lantern, but he'll do in a pinch!

But I loved...LOVED the fact that Todd showed up, mocking his recent doings at the Justice Society. Wallpaper indeed! Considering what a whining, messed up, angsty trainwreck that Obsidian USED to be, it is so nice to see him normal and happy.

Heck, they are ALL happy! I'm such a sap, that I believe that even fictional superheroes and heroines deserve a break once in a while and a little happiness. I understand the conflict, misunderstandings and angst drive the stories, but they really don't deserve to be miserable ALL of the time. Which is why I'm glad...GLAD to see that they are bringing back Tora Olafsdottir, that Booster Gold is getting his own book...(maybe Ted will show up!) and why I'm loving Blue Beetle and the Brave and the Bold.

Booyah!

It's Ragnell's Birthday!

Happy happy birthday to you. In honor of your modest request, I've been digging in my Photobucket archives. Enjoy!

<

I believe in starting things with a bang. Seriously, that is one magnificent behind.



And then there is Kyle. I've run this before, but boy, that never gets to be tired! You can bounce a quarter off of those glutes!

<

Another oldie, but a goodie!


Hal falling down is always fun. Hitting his head AND showing off his buns!





Aaaaand, we close with a triple shot of Guy being cheeky.

Enjoy!

I Concede

Yes, I know when I've been beaten, and I have to quit. Kalinara has worn me out, with her "Snapper Carr is the Ginchiest" posts. I've run out of snarky pictures, and that would mean that I would actually have to break down and start READING Snapper Carr stories, and there are some things that I cannot stoop to.

"Shudder"

So, in defeat, I am crawling back, bloodied, but unbroken, to the warm comfort of the Green Lantern Corps. They have the coolest concept, they wear really fabulous costumes, they all fight and bicker amongst themselves, but come through in a crises, they get to fly around in space and do neat stuff...and they don't SNAP THEIR FINGERS!

Therefore, I give you:



Haw!

Snapper Carr has evolved...

...into a Jerk! Haw! Kalinara has been trying to convince me that Snapper is actually just misunderstood, and has grown and evolved into a kind and wise mentor, friend and humanitarian.

Oh REALLY?



He's like one of those people at dinner parties that just won't quit. Have some dessert! I made it especially for you! Aw, c'mon a taste won't hurt you!

He probably goes up to Vegans and tries to shove pork past their lips.

Now I completely agree with Kalinara, when she says that Guy Gardner has grown into a much more complex human being. But then I haven't really read too much about Snapper, and it is very possible, that I'm just being stubborn and unreasonable.

But man, that finger snapping thing is just really really annoying!



See?

Snapper Carr is still an Idiot

While young Mr. Carr may...and I say that with great reservations...MAY have improved in later depictions, I can only state my first impression of the Justice League's mascot. He is really a dim bulb. Seriously, who can even understand what he is saying?



I haven't a clue what it is that he is even talking about, and I would bet you serious money that Superman doesn't either.



Slick chick? SLICK CHICK?? Oh Snapper...you must be a very lonely boy.



WTF?? Come on Diana, it would be soooo easy to slip the noose of your golden lariat around his neck, and just tighten it...tighten it a little. And he's STILL snapping his bloody fingers!



If this panel doesn't prove my original impression, then nothing will!

I Hate Snapper Carr!

Oh, it is on! Yesturday, on her site, Kalinara stated that she has an irrational hatred of Nightwing. Can't say that Nightwing does too much for me, but she asked if anybody had a deep and abiding loathing for any other characters. http://kalinara.blogspot.com/ Naturally I said that I simply can't stand Snapper Carr.

I don't really exactly know why, except it is one of those completely inexplainable reactions. He just irritates me immensely. I also find Rick Jones to be pretty much useless over at Marvel, but at least he served SOME sort of purpose, as Hulk's reason for existance for example. Snapper on the other hand, just seems to hang around the Justice League, screwing up the security system and mooching.




This is the Justice League for cryin' out loud! What the heck is ol' Snapper doing there, taking up much needed space? He's right IN THE FRONT! I'd rather be looking at Hal, or even Aquaman!

Here he is again!



Now he's pretending to actually have a brain! I think not!



And another demonstration of his weird attachment to Hal Jordan...and his beautiful feet. Granted, I am sure that Hal has very nice feet, but still...that's just not right!

Summoning up demons with ketchup in a diner, which is Kalinara's example of how awesome Snapper is, is all well and good. Mainly because later, Snapper can go home and annoy the Justice League some more, but the poor guy who owns the diner is probably stuck with that demon for ALL ETERNITY!

Ahhhh...Wednseday

Wednesday, sweet Wednesday. The 5oth issue of 52, plus ALL four of the World War III books all out at once. And some other goodies as well.

That's all I've really got for today. But if you still want to bask in the chocolatey goodness of Martian Manhunter, I have this for you.



It would be more fun if he were clutching a bag of chocos, but I'll take what I can get.

One of the Greatest JLI Stories Ever Told!

Finally...finally the time has come, to awe and amaze you with one of the best JLI stories ever put to pen. And it wasn't even done by Keith Giffen. No, instead, you had to go to Martian Manhunter #24, written by John Ostrander, and drawn by Doug Mahnke. And look, it was inked by none other than Pat Gleason. I am beside myself with joy.

First off, feast your eyes on the cover.




That's one fantastic cover! And it tells you everything that you want to know about the issue iteself.

As we begin our story, J'onn J'onzz is narrating his story.

"And then there was the time during the Justice Legue International era, when I lost my cookies"

Tell me that's not one of the best introductory sentences you've ever read. As J'onn wanders through the JLI headquarters in search of his beloved "chocos", Fire, Ice and Guy Gardner come across the diabolical duo of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. The latter are busy cackling in joy over their nefarious plot. Yea, they have stolen J'onn's cookies.

Guy expresses skepticism, so the pair expound upon their perfidy. Having deduced that poor J'onn is indeed addicted to chocos, they have not only stolen his stash, but bought up ALL the chocos within a mile radius of the building! BWHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Hearing him coming, Booster and Beetle scamper off, giggling like schoolgirls all the way. J'onn looks posively demonic in a lovely splash page, as he asks the all-important questions..."WHO took my COOKIES?!"



Heh heh. Followed by:



His optimism is misplaced but endearing.

Beetle and Booster in the meantime have been watching J'onn in his futile attempt to find his precious chocos. They are able to do this because they have tied the monitoring system of the JLI headquarters into all the local grocery stores and delis. Oh Beetle. If only you could have used your incredible powers for GOOD!

Enraged by his inablity to find chocos, J'onn...er...HULKS OUT! Oh yes he does. At this point, with massive property damage being imminent, Booster and Beetle rather sheepishly come wandering up to J'onn, in an attempt to calm him down. Unfortunately, this leads to Beetle admitting that they were the ones who swiped all the cookies in the first place. J'onn hulks out some MORE, and Beetle and Booster decide that flight is the best policy.

Meanwhile, Max Lord is meeting with the U.N. The Powers that Be at the U.N. are a little unhappy with some aspects of Max's stewardship, so Max is using his little mind-whammy powers on them, with the resultant nose bleed. There follows an absolutely fabulous scene, with Max sitting in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows at the U.N., as Booster and Beetle fly by, shortly followed by a completely out-of-control Martian screaming "COO-KIE!" at the top of his lungs, with a massive THOOM...and all the glass breaking. In the meantime not a muscle has twitched among the U.N. and Max's nose bleed intensifies with a hysterical little "Sploot!"

Beetle and Booster have lead J'onn to the warehouse, where they have concealed their ill-gotten booty.


Shortly thereafter, Max and a Swat team show up, with a chastened Booster and Beetle, and a VERY relaxed J'onn calmly munching in the middle of a huge pile of chocos.

Which leads to the finest Intervention scene ever created...!



Haw!

J'onn is finally forced to admit to himself that he may have a small problem. As a shapeshifter, he has an awareness of his own body down to a cellular level, and is therefore able to cast OUT the actuall addiction, which assumes physical form as a ravenous black goopy thing, which unfortunately for the rest of the Justice League, latches onto the nearest members...



And...


Fortunately, before things get even more embarrassing, J'onn is able to assert control over the addiction, and ends its "pseudo-existence". Ice is left sobbing in Fire's arms, insisting that she hasn't had a single baby seal since she arrived, while Guy just wants to hit something. True to their characters, Booster and Beetle have been paying close attention for blackmail purposes, and when J'onn goes to thank them for helping him kick the addiction, they act like it was their plan from the beginning.

Bad bad Booster and Beetle. However, knowing J'onn I'm sure that he got even eventually.

The story finally ends, in that it is a morality tale being told by J'onn to Kyle, who of course completely misses the point.

But while this is one of the funniest books I've ever read, it still manages to have violence, a great villain, and bang-on characterization. Find it, and read it. You won't be sorry.

Sinestro

I don't think that I've really talked about Sinestro before, and I believe that the time has certainly come. Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, and Dave Gibbons are all planning some REALLY diabolical things in a few short months, and it looks as though all the Green Lanterns are going to be put through the wringer once again.

I must admit that as a villain, I rather like Sinestro. He's mad, bad and dangerous to know. I love the idea that, like the best villains, he feels completely justified in his villainy...he doesn't think he's being evil, heck he's just trying to bring some order out of chaos. And he would have done it, if it weren't for those meddling GL's.

His ego is stupendous, which again, is how it should be. Naming his band of followers the "Sinestro Corps" is perfectly in character for him. I'm also impressed that he seems to be trying so hard to recreate the Green Lantern Corps, except in his own image. They have their own planet now, they have their own history of sorts, their own book of legends, probably their own sectors. They use a ring, they have a stylized emblem, heck they will probably be coming up with their own oath. This is what Sinestro knows, so this is what he uses. I get the feeling that with his obsession with order, Sinestro isn't particularly that imaginative however, and
imagination is what is needed in order to be a good Green Lantern. Not that he'd see it that way of course.

But he's really starting to look and feel like a major league bad guy, which is certainly a step up from the old Silver Age portrayal.


Now THAT'S scary.

Back from the Trade Show...with Booty!

Swag. Loot. Really cool stuff. If you were thinking of the other kind of booty, then shame on you!

Yes, this weekend, I took off for Mohegan Sun, here in lovely, cold, wet and raining Connecticut for the NETSA Trade Show. My sweet Baboo, is on the Board of Directors, so we got cool name tags, and folders and stuff. I ate FAR more than I should have, schmoozed with tons of people, and wandered around the booths, picking up cool and not so cool trinkets.

I guess it was kind of like a Comic Book convention, without crazy people. Nobody dressed up in strange costumes, although there were a coupe of Pirelli Girls wandering around. In case nobody knows what NETSA stands for, it is the New England Tire something something. Basically a lot of Tire people. Tire people are fun. Actually more than you would imagine.

There were little bobble-headed Michelin men statues, tiny squishy rubbery tires, lots of pens and things, and a little can from Continental that had paperclips shaped like tires. Cool!

I will say that the food was fabulous, and there is the casino and restaurants and shopping and all that stuff. But no comic books. *sigh* Fortunately, I brought some along, and when my feet started to hurt, I snuck out into the hall, found some soda and a nice chair, and sat and read old JLI's. Got a few weird looks, but I'm old enough, secure enough, and heck, rich enough not to care anymore.

But I am a little "Tired" out. Haw!

Hal Jordan: Dominant or just Flamboyant?

Well, I haven't made fun of Hal in some time lately, so I guess that he's due. He has to be enjoying himself lately, over in Green Lantern #18, he has not one but TWO hawt ladies fighting over him.



Don't tell ME that he's not getting a thrill out of all of this. Then of course, Jillian, aka Cowgirl gets into the act and smacks poor Carol/Sapphire with a chair. I'm rather surprised that he doesn't take them outside, and start hosing them off and get them mud-wrestling. Oh wait...that's probably the plot for the next issue!

Anyway, Hal's just irrisistable to the ladies. And that's not all!



Maybe I have a dirty mind, but that is looking a tad on the kinky side. On the other hand, you can hardly blame Hal, because Kyle is SO adorable. And according to Ragnell, he DOES look a lot like Carol.

This one on the other hand...



That's just wrong. And SOOOO suggestive. But gosh it makes me laugh. And I'm not even going to go into what he and Ollie were up to, when they were out "finding themselves".

I'm probably being very unfair to poor Hal. But it is interesting that the doesn't get into these situations with Alan or John for some reason.

Green Lantern Corps #11

Oh my. OH MY!! All those little things that have been hinted at since the beginning by Mr. Gibbons are starting to reveal themselves. The subtle clues, the sinister glowing lights, Mogo...it's all starting to make sense now!

The art by Patrick Gleason is of course beautifully done. Sensational opening page, with Guy Gardner struggling to help the inhabitants of Clustral. He had been sent to help out two other Lanterns, namely Tanakata Z and Quond, who unfortunately have been acting in a most strange and reprehensible manner. That is, they cut and run, leaving Guy holding the bag, and he's not particularly happy about it. It is a very strange thing for them to do anyway, since these are the same two lanterns who were so nice and helpful to Vath Sarn quite a number of issues ago.

Soranik Natu and Iolande have their own problems, they've been sent to deal with the Children of the White Lobe. Iolande seems to be a tiny bit full of herself, probably not too uncharacteristic, considering that she IS a Princess after all, but Soranik seems to be fully cabable of cutting her down to size.

Meanwhile...Stel and Green Man are in Sector 3009, and Stel is as confused as a tin man can be. Green Man is acting...strange, and then turns on poor Stel. Things don't go well.

Then, on Mogo, Kilowog is having a delightful reunion with what seems to be the entire population of Bolovax Vix, his home planet that was destroyed. Al Kilowog has to do, is destroy the Guardians the the Lanterns, and then he can be with his family and friends for ever and ever. And look...more glowing thingies all around Mogo.

Meanwhile...Vath is in a seedy bar in Ranagar City, trying to pick up a girl. He's getting a bit of static from some of the bar flies, who don't much appreciate a stranger hitting on their women, but he handles it pretty well. They all seem to think that he's some kind of ex-military, when he transforms and yells that he's in the "Green Lantern Corps!" I just had a shiver of delight. Go Vath!

Unfortunately, Isamot walks in at this point, and the girl who a second ago was all set to run off with Vath, suddenly starts yelling that he's a "Lizard Lover". Well, that seems to be a wee bit harsh! Isamot and Vath fly off together, with Isamot grumbling, "Women, eh?" which I found rather amusing considering his recent past experience. Vath seems to take it surprisingly well, just replying, "Hmmmph. Maybe I need another trip to Mogo."

Don't do it Vath! Mogo is crazy at the moment!

Then we have the Guardians getting all weepy over Salakk, who is probably feeling remarkably uncomfortable. The Guardians are recalling some of the prophecies of the Empire of Tears, the Children of the White Lobe, and Rannx. There is some other information as well, apparently Abin Sur made a boo boo concerning the Empire, which lead to his own death. See? Hal Jordan isn't the only GL to make mistakes! There is also some talk about a Daxamite named Sodam Yat, which I found to be a bit confusing, but I'm sure it will all make sense eventually.

After pouring their little hearts out to Salakk, the Guardians tell him to leave, and to keep all of this to himself. Great. Just what he wants to hear.

There is a rather charming little moment in the cafeteria, with Brik, Boodika, Ke'haan and Arisia sitting around gossiping. Arisisa tries to get Kilowog, just back from Mogo to join them, but he ignores them completely, so the girls get a little snippy. It did make me smile. Unfortunately, Arisia is still wearing the much too small outfit that Guy and Hal rescued her in, which is a shame.

Finally, we end with Guy again, flying to Sector House 268, so that he can find the two renegade Lanterns, and lay down a much deserved whuppin'. Unfortunately, somebody beat him to it...and it's pretty nasty.

This issue just zipped right along, with great action, and all kinds of various threads of plot coming together. Obviously, something very very horrible is about to hit the fan, and my guess is that it is all leading up to the Sinestro Corps somehow.

Great...just Great!

A Wee Bit of Fun

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to come across the trade for the No Grownups story with Young Justice. All the Teens are turned into grown ups, and the adults are changed into children. It is all good silly fun of course. A minature J'onn J'onnz and Alan Scott just crack me up for some reason.

The one thing that I really really liked, was that Kyle changed his costume, in Every Single Panel that he was in.



Adorable isn't he?


Still cute as a button.


This is my absolute favorite. Proof that Guy's costume looks good on EVERYONE!

And if you want some good old Hal Jordan goodness, for heaven's sake, go and visit Rachelle over at Living Between Wednesdays. I'd link it, but I don't know how. You people are computer-savvy...figure it out!

Pat Gleason is a Darned Good Artist

As I had already explained in my earlier post, I've been going back and re-reading all of my Green Lantern Corps books in one fell swoop. And I'm noticing things that I hadn't noticed before.

Have I mentioned that I really really like Pat Gleason's artwork? At first, I wasn't too sure...it seemed a little bit too exaggerated and cartoony to me. But the more that I have seen of it, the better I like it. Especially in the last couple of issues, where his artwork has been combined with that of Dave Gibbons. I have the greatest of respect for Mr. Gibbons, really I do, but their two styles of drawing are just SO different...too different to successfully co-exist in the same book.

Mr. Gleason has a certain fluidity to his linework, that really appeals to me, his action sequences just flow so nicely. He's also capable of depicting a wonderful variety of body types, with both men and women, which is unnusual for comic books anyway. And he draws Aliens, like nobody's business! Wonderful, aliens, who don't look anything like a white American male figure.

What really gets to me, is the way that he shows how Guy's ring is always sparking. This was originally established back in Green Lantern: Rebirth, when Geoff Johns was explaining how all the various Lanterns had very personal quirks when using their rings. Kilowog's ring makes sound, Kyle's is endlessly changing, John's show the underlying structure...and Guy's is like a leaky garden hose, always sparking and spraying. And by God, he shows it in so many panels,
Guy may just be standing there, but that ring has a cascade of glowing green sparks. It is a really cool effect, and one that I'm glad they didn't just forget about.



Tell, me, that's not one cool Guy Gardner.

There is Method to Dave Gibbon's Madness

Last night, after being stuffed full of ham and pie and various other delicacies, I decided to go back and re-read ALL of Green Lantern Corps, starting with the Recharge series, and then progressing right into the regular book. I must say, that it works very well, reading it all in one clip. I don't have the patience to wait for the trade, but it is easy to forget details from last months issue.

Mr. Gibbons is up to no good. I didn't even notice when I first read the books, but NOW, I'm finally beginning to pick up on his sly and cunning clues.

In GLC #10, it has pretty much been established that something strange is going on with Mogo, and there is the lovely scene of Kilowog flying through the tiny glowing cloud of what may be the Despotillis virus. HOWEVER...as far back as GLC #2, there is the scene where an increasingly angry and erratic Vath Sarn, is sitting on a rock, telling his woes to a sympathetic Mogo. The art in these scenes is quite lovely, as portrayed by the inimitable Mr. Gleason, and shows Vath surrounded by tiny yellow glowing lights. I originally took these to be fireflies, or something of that nature, in one closeup, the little glowing light does look like a bug. But as Vath leaves, for Oa, there are still shots of the tiny lights, and a gorgeous 3-panel view of Mogo from space, with just a few of those glowing lights.

Now that is a very very strange place to find fireflies!

Next, in GLC #3, a rather desperate Vath is trying to save a planet from flooding all by himself because Isamot is having hormone issues. Fortunately, Quond and Tanakata, two other GL's show up and give him a hand. They both seem like a nice pair of guys.

In GLC #5, apart from the main story with Guy, Soranik Natu ends up going to see Mogo and get over a bit of angst. She's feeling rather anxious and Mogo gives her reassurance, which is all well and good...except all of a sudden the woods are filled with...tiny glowing lights. Soranik hears a hissing in the woods, and startled, she uses her ring to illuminate...Tanakata Z. You remember him, that nice fellow teamed up with Quond. He's on Mogo for a bit of therapy too, but there are still all these little yellow glowing thingies all around...!

In GLC #6, Kilowog is noticed to be unnusually tense, by a surprising mellow Salakk.

GLC #'s 7,8, & 9 were the issues with Keith Champagne, and were primarily a Guy story, so no Mogo. But he comes roaring back with a vengeance in GLC #10. Things are beginning to get very intense for everyone. Salakk is back to being something of a dick, Kilowog is looking stressed beyond belief, and oddly enough, when Guy flies out to give a hand to Tanakata and Quond, they are quite amazingly rude and obnoxious to him. And really, they had no reason to be, since Guy was pretty noncommital when he first flies up and asks if they need a hand. The two of them just go out of their way to be pains, particularly Tanakata.

Then Vath practically forces Isamot into going to see Mogo himself. Isamot's girlfriend couldn't wait to be with him, he had to fly off and save Thanagar or something, and she had to satisfy her little lizard urges RIGHT THEN AND THERE! Isamot is a bit mopey, but for the most part, seems to be taking it fairly well. Vath on the other hand, can't understand why he isn't seething with rage.

"Really, I feel fine now. The Hormone Storm is over. The urge to mate is gone" says Isamot.

"Megge. But the way she CHEATED on you...ANY warm-blooded male's gotta be carryin' a load of anger." is Vath's reply.

"Thing is, buddy, I AIN'T warm-blooded. I'm a reptile."

"Anyway, warm OR cold, Mogo'll help you. Helped ME with all the anger I was holding" says Vath.

And off poor Isamot goes, into the dark spooky woods. The oddly SPARKLING woods! And there in the gloom, Isamot is startled by none other than Green Man, last seen in Recharge. He's standing there, all aloof and slightly creepy, surrounded by the little yellow glowing lights, telling Isamot how...CALM he's feeling.

Isamot is getting seriously spooked by now, and departs hastily.

Meanwhile Tanakata and Quond, decide to just leave, and take off without telling Guy, who is getting seriously pissed himself. Soranik and her new partner Iolande are snipping at each other, and Kilowog finally loses his patience and just lights into the two of them.

And off he flies to go and see Mogo. Again, we have an exquisite shot of Mogo from space, only now it is pretty much surrounded by those odd little lights, a close-up of which, in the last panel is seriously disturbing.

I believe that this is all leading up to the Sinestro story in June. Something is obviously going on with Mogo, and we've heard about the Despotillis virus in the "Tales of the Sinestro Corps" in the back of the latest Green Lantern book. There is one question on my mind however. The Despotillis virus in the short "Tales" story was very deadly, and very immediate in its results. This is either a different form of the virus, or a mutated version or something else again. As each Lantern is infected, they seem to be suffering from enhanced rage and anxiety. Can fear be far behind?

No Time!

Urrggghh...the holiday is upon us. I really have no time to do this, but like an addict and her drug, I can't stay away. I'm running around vacumning and putting away laundry and other really fun stuff. The entire family is coming to my house for Easter, so I have a ham to cook eventually, strawberry pies to make, etc. etc.

I swear that it is colder than it was at Christmas! It's a good thing I have a huge dining room, because I'm feeding 13 people. Two tables and a fire in the fireplace for ambiance. I also have do make about two dozen hard-boiled eggs and dye them on Saturday with the kids. The "Easter Bunny" always hides jelly beans around the house for the kids to find on Easter. I suggested that since they are all teenagers, with one graduating from college this year, that perhaps we could give a pass on the baskets and jelly beans. You would have thought that I was trying to stab their eyes out with a fork! So guess who will be hiding jelly beans! Actually I suppose that it is rather endearing in a way.

Of course, with my kids being the smarty pants that they are, they refer to the Easter Bunny as the Easter Buzzard...which makes more sense considering the whole egg thing.

So everybody have a nice Easter or Passover or whatever you wish to celebrate.

Justice League of America, #7

Well, the cover is nice. BOTH covers are nice, but there is no way that I'm going to spring for two, so sorry DC. I got the one with Hal on the front of course. And look, up in the back, is Guy, Ted and Booster! And Kyle!

I...I actually rather enjoyed this. It took an awfully long time to get here, but finally...finally, they are finished playing with the pictures and have actually formed a team. Built a new headquarters and everything! Designed by Wonder Woman and John Stewart! He also designed the headquarters for the Justice Society, so he's been getting some steady work lately, which is nice. And the Danger Room...OOPS! I mean the Training Room, is located on the old satellite. Makes sense I suppose, less chance of massive property damage. They've actually nicknamed it the "Kitchen". Lightning wonders why the heck they would call it that, and Diana says, "if you can't stand the heat..." Hardy har har.

Anyway, I'm a sucker for stories with the new headquarters and such. Heck, they could have just published the blueprints and I would have stared at it for hours. Apparently they are even going to give tours and such. They have a trophy room and everything! Can't you just see Batman trying to dodge the groups of sixth graders?

Ahem. Anyway, the book opens with Black Lightning handing an invite to Batman, who wonders why they didn't send Hal. Lightning smirks and says it was because they wanted him to say yes. Actually, I think Batman was a little disappointed...after all, he and Hal have been getting along pretty well lately. And Hal is just SO pretty.

Then we move to Vixen and Hawkgirl saying yes to their invites. And Roy starts practically blubbering when he gets his. I'm surprised he doesn't wet his pants. He then has a Kodak moment with Hal and Dinah, which I actually found to be rather sweet.

Then Geo-Force gets a little angsty. Meh. Red Tornado is in...well duh. Superman shows Lightning all over the new headquarters and they all reminisce for a bit.

For some reason Will Magnus shows up with the Metal Men. Glad he makes it out of 52. And Professor Ivo gets chased by Starro. Ooooh....scary!

Then things get a little bit strange. Red Arrow, formerly known as Arsenal comes in wearing his new outfit, and feeling a little self-concious. He trades bon mots with Hawkgirl, which is actually rather amusing. She asks him why no hat, and he replies that he thought a hat was kind of dorkish. She thinks the shoelaces up the front is dorkish, but she likes his boots. Then Roy confesses to Hal that he's sort of got the hots for Kendra, and Hal starts to warn him about what Ollie would say...

...And suddenly we are onto another scene with Ollie and Hal. Turns out that Ollie was the one to give Roy the new red outfit, and he confesses that he screwed up dealing with Roy when he had that little drug problem way back when...

...And we're back to finishing Hal's sentence from when he was talking to Roy. Is it supposed to be like this? I really was jarred by the juxtaposition...did they put the pages in out of order, or is this just some sort of really weird scene changing? All of a sudden, we are back with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman fries all the remaining photographs for some reason, and then they are all together taking a group shot...

...Aaaannndd...there is a really quite fabulous three-page wide fold-out, showing all the new members, complete with pictures on the wall behind them, showing older incarnations of the Justice League. *sniff* Brought a tear to my eye, it did. Boy Vixen is REALLY doing her best to fall out of her costume.

...And suddenly we are back to the scene with Hal and Ollie. Again, this really threw me. Ollie is snivelling about how much he misses the League, but he loves Roy more, or words to that affect. Hal and Ollie are strolling into the beautiful sunset, when you turn the page...

...and bam! Black Lightning and Batman are standing over some alien body, and Bats grimaces and says that "He's from the 31st Century."

Huh?

So, the art was nice, and there were some very nice moments with Roy and Hal and Dinah, and I liked the unveiling of the new Headquarters, and the fold out was beautiful, but the last pages just jumped around from scene to scene, and it was all very difficult to follow. Was it just my copy? Am I too old, and just not "with it"?

Beware Their Power

In going through my books, I came upon this little gem, The Adventures of Superman, #473, from 1990, written by Dan Jurgens, and drawn by Art Thibert. I can honestly say that the only reason I even picked it up,was because there is an unshaven Hal Jordan, a grimacing Superman and a maniacally grinning Guy Gardner on the cover.

The action begins with Lois showing Jimmy Olsen her engagement ring. She and Clark are going to get married! Woohoo! Except that Clark still hasn't let her in on his little...secret. But anyway, what's that up in the sky? It is a green glowing Superman signal! Clark runs off to change clothes, while Lex Luthor also sees the sign, and figures that Superman is just taunting him now.

Meanwhile, Guy Gardner has a little peeping Tom action going with the ring, when who should show up hovering in midair outside his apartment? I'll give you one guess. Superman wants to know why Guy sent for him, while Guy makes it VERY clear that he did not send for Superman, and furthermore, wouldn't send for Superman if his face were on fire... or words to that effect.

Uninvited, Superman hops through the window, and says that if Guy didn't call him, it must have been the REAL Green Lantern! Oops. This of course annoys Guy to no end, and he reaches out and grabs Superman's cape...



Oops again. Even Guy realizes that this perhaps wasn't the smartest thing that he could do. He even tells Supes that it's a nice cape. When Superman asks if Hal might be in trouble, Guy mentions that he's off "finding himself" again, but that he can trace him through his ring. Superman is all set to fly off and find Hal by his lonesome, but Guy insists on accompanying him, because even though Hal probably deserves whatever trouble that he's in, Guy is just too nice a guy to let him get hurt.

See, Guy really does care, he just can't let anybody know.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch.... It turns out that Hal Jordan has been captured by some giant Alien Roboty thingie, who is using his Lantern to recharge himself, after having been in suspended animation for thousands of years. In other words, a typical day for Hal Jordan. He's busy draining Hal's ring, but he managed to send out the help signal with his last bit of energy. This is pre-Parallax Hal, by the way, but still mildly influenced by Parallax Hal, since he has the white temples, and hasn't shaved in about a week.

Not only is the alien Robot a bad guy,but he's brainwashed an Airforce General and post into doing his evil biding. So, when Superman and Guy show up, they are immediately attacked by fighter jets.

One thing that I do absolutely love, the two of them are just idlely talking on the flight and Guy lets slip Hal's name. And Superman asks if "Jordan" is his first or last name. Guy is quite astonished, he thought they were such big buddies and all, and Superman gets a little huffy, and starts talking about professional courtesy and all. Guy doesn't buy it of course...but then they are attacked by the missles from the fighter jets.

Guy of course thinks that it's Commies. Oh Guy! He has a lovely time destroying the fighter jets, one with a giant green screw, and the other with a giant dragon/snake/monster thing. Fortunately the pilots manage to eject safely, but Superman is fight to be tied. The General, who is under the influence of the big bad alien orders the soldiers to kill Superman, but at this point, they all figure he's lost his mind, and they surrender. Guy has located Hal's location underneath the airforce base, and down they go...

...where they apparently discover two old acquaintances of Superman's, named Dreadnaught and Psi-Phon. This part is actually pretty funny, you can just SEE Superman sighing and rolling his eyes. When Superman wonders aloud why nobody has put them out of his misery by now, Guy gets an evil grin, creates a green chainsaw and ACTUALLY goes "Bwahahaha! His feelings are quite hurt, when Superman stops him and says he wasn't being serious.

The further down they go, trying to locate Hal, the more strange alien technology they find. The mind-possessed General keeps showing up trying to stop them, but Guy just grabs him with a construct, and calls him Colonel Sanders. They do eventually discover Hal, who is happy to see Superman, but less than thrilled to see Guy. They are trying to figure out a strategy, when Hal's Power Battery attacks both Superman and Guy. They are in pretty desperate straits, but Hal manages to climb up the giant robot and grab his battery, and recharge his ring.

The Alien robot guy is trying to use the siphoned power to blast off and go home, but they can't let him do that, since he'd probably take out most of Wyoming in the process. He's too strong for any one of them, but if they all put their power...TOGETHER, then they can fight him!

"Get Together! Focus your minds and reclaiming the energy! Combined, we can OVERCOME him!" exclaims Hal.

"I'm NEW at this, but I'll give it a shot!" says Superman, grabbing Hal's and Guy's arms.

"Geez, I hate this touchy, feely stuff". Guess who that is?

Of course they win. The poor alien is all depressed now, all he wanted to do was go home. Superman tells him that they'd be glad to help him, they just didn't want him to wreck the place in the process. But he has to take Dreadnaught and Psi-Phon with him, because Superman never wants to see either of them again. Heh.

The Green Lanterns use their rings to haul the Alien's ship from underground. Hal uses a hook, while Guy uses a giant spoon. Guy just seems to have so much more FUN with his constructs than Hal. Guy also points out that he just hauled Hal's keister out of the fire, but Hal is pretty rude about acknowledging that.

Once out of the hole, Superman throws the Alien's ship into the atmosphere, and prays that he'll find peace and love and all of that.

This was really a pretty fun little book. Superman is pompous, Hal is arrogant as usual, and Guy is just enjoying himself throughout. I think that it drives Superman a little crazy to realize that Guy just doesn't hold him in that...reverance...that he is unconciously accustomed to receiving. And Hal is just embarrased by having to be rescued by Guy.

Good Stuff.

A Veritable Treasure Trove

So...after four years of college and pending graduation, I have decided to dismantle the hallowed altar of my daughter's old bedroom, and actually USE it for something. Naturally she is not pleased, but geez, she's got a job and a car and an apartment of her own for heaven's sake. It's not like I'm setting fire to her old stuffed animals or anything.

Anyway, we did a major swap of bedrooms, and moved all the rest of the kids around, with the end result that I ended up with my son's old bedroom for my own little Fortress of Solitude. My drawing table, pencils, marker and TONS of comic books can move from the old small room into a nice big room, with space for my toys and stuff! Woohoo!

In the act of moving all the tons and tons of comic book boxes, I naturally had to stop and reorganize everything...and then start READING everything. Boy howdy, I have found some stuff that I haven't seen in YEARS! Yes, my housekeeping skills were put on hold. Reading Preacher is much more important that doing the dishes. I've got all these nice built-in shelves and stuff!

So, it is probably going to be nostalgia time for a while here, as I keep unearthing all kinds of strange things. I just found all my Jonah Hex's, next to Swamp Thing, which was piled cheek and jowl with Shade, the Changing Man, and Resurrection Man. Boy, I do seem to have a lot of old Vertigo stuff.

But you'll all be pleased to know that ALL the Green Lanterns are in numerical order, along with the annuals, Green Lantern Quarterly, Green Lantern Corps, and Guy Gardner: Warrior. Then there are the JLI's, Justice League Quarterly, Justice League: Europe, JSA, JLA, JSA:Classified, JLA:Classified and so forth.

Man, I'm glad there are a lot of shelves.

Hitman vs Green Lantern

So I was going through my books the other day, and unearthed a vertiable treasure trove, none other than my run of Hitman, by Garth Ennis and John MacCrea. It broke my heart when it ended, although it WAS an awesome ending, because it was so completely insanely over the top, and hilarious to boot.

So, I'm sifting through the books, and there it was.



Tommy Monaghan, and Kyle Rayner on the same cover.

Kyle shows up on a rooftop in complete hissy fit mode, he's been convinced by a presumed Government Agent, that Tommy has a hit out on him, and needless to say, he is NOT amused. Tommy on the other hand IS. It is something of a given, that Garth Ennis is not too enamoured of superheroes, so his version of Kyle is VERY uncharacteristic, which, as a Kyle fan should probably enrage me. However...it is just so damned hysterical, that I find I don't even care. Kyle is written as a complete idiot of course. This is when he was pretty new at the job, and Tommy is definitely the one in charge here.

They are both being manipulated by another nasty little Government agent, who likes to keep a low profile, named Truman. He has a favorite goon named Feekle. (heh heh) Truman is convinced that superheroes are a potential menace, and he wants to rope in Tommy to be his MetaHuman Hitman. (Hmmm, maybe he's the one who warped Max Lord!)

Tommy of course wants nothing to do with this little creep, and he manages to convince Kyle to team up with him. Which Kyle does, but with MAJOR reservations.

Hah! I love the look on Kyle's face. They do a bit of fighting and massive property damage of course. Ordinarily Kyle should be able to wipe the floor with Tommy,but Tommy of course doesn't fight fair.

"I'm a psycho? You threw a hand grenade at me!" screams Kyle.

"Aw, I knew you wouldn't let it hurt you! Just like I'll know if you even THINK of usin' that ring you got...KYLE." replies Tommy.

For those of you who don't know, Tommy can read minds, and I believe has x-ray vision too and maybe some other stuff. And he really is a Hitman.

So Tommy and Kyle go back to Noonan's, which is Tommy's favorite bar, run by his old buddy Sean. They are all just thrilled to see a Green Lantern...ok, maybe not so much, as their comments run from "Green Who?" to "Shorter'n you'd think, ain't he?" They belly up to the bar and have a couple of beers, when who should walk in, but SIXPACK!

I LOVE Sixpack! He starts giving Kyle a hard time about how they won't let him into the Justice Club. He doesn't even recognize Kyle of course, and when Kyle says that he's the NEW Green Lantern, Sixpack just shrugs, and says sorry, they only take originals, while Tommy is busy sniggering at the bar.

There is some more wonderful exposition, Kyle realizes he's been played, and finds out that Tommy really IS a Hitman, which just boggles his poor innocent mind. Then Tommy tells him to get a round, and Kyle has to admit that he doesn't actually have any pockets, and therefore no cash. The rest of the barflies take this pretty hard, and call him a green tightwad...no wonder the Justice Club wouldnt' have him.

There is a whole lot more of course. Truman sends his goons to rought up Sean in the bar, which of course backfires, since Sean just pulls out a machine gun and takes out all of the goons. Tommy hangs out with suspended cop Tiegel on the rooftop eating cookies, while Kyle is champing at the bit. She sets Tommy up with a wire, and he strolls across the street to have a little chat with Truman. This is where Truman expounds upon his philosophy...that MetaHumans are a bad idea, and they should be under his and the Government's control.

"you will become the ultimate Hatchet Man You will have access to killing technologyy on a level you have never imagined. You will add the technique and skills we teach you to your own metahuman abilities. And then you will rid this world the its superhuman plague...If I tell you to firebomb the Batmobile, you do it. If I tell you to execute an Amazon Princess, you do it. If you find yourself looking down a telescopic sight at Superman and I say kill? You will pin him in the crosshairs and send a nuclear bullet directly through his skull."

And Tommy says no.

Of course it all hits the fan from there, and there is a whole lot of running and dodging and shooting and mayhem. Kyle flies into the fray in a giant green flying saucer and scares the heck out of the goons. Feekle is still chasing Tommy, who won't quite making fun of his name, and they shoot a WHOLE lot of bullets at each other.

Of course Tommy and Kyle win. And Kyle just can't accept it really. Tommy finally wanders off, after Kyle is still soliloquizing on the rooftop, which is absolutely hilarious. Truman is out of business, because his whole metahuman murder speech is on tape, and it's just another night in Gotham for Tommy Monaghan.

Again, Kyle is portrayed as a utter nincompoop, but I can't believe that Hal Jordan would have been portrayed any better. Strangely enough, I'm sure that Tommy and Guy would have gotten along just fine. Too bad Tommy's dead and all that.

Ooh, Pretty!

I don't have anything important to say today either, except Happy April Fool's day! However, Derek was kind and clever enough to make this lovely new banner. Isn't it purty?

I did my taxes today. I am not in a good mood. And that's no joke.



Ted's butt isn't quite as good as Guy's, but gosh, he does have pretty eyes.