Red Lanterns #32

Man, I am falling further and further behind, but in my defense, I had an insanely busy weekend.  Nevertheless, I find that as usual, I must gush about Red Lanterns and Guy.

Gosh, this is a good book.  But things seem to be hitting the fan, and I find that I am fearful of what is going to be happening to some of my new favorite characters. 

So Guy and Atrocitus met up last issue, and each issued some threats, and the new Lantern Judge ended up joining Guy and his adorable bunch.  And they decide...finally...to go and rescue poor Rankorr, much to Bleez's relief. 

But something isn't quite right.  They find Rankorr, but he's not exactly the way that they left him, Atrocitus has him chained up in a hut, and has regressed him to a bestial state, which is rather depressing for his buddies.  Guy is feeling guilty, and Bleez is just outraged, and lets him loose, which may not be the smartest thing to do, since he naturally starts attacking them.

Meanwhile, Atrocitus and Dex-Starr and his new Reds have gone to Ysmault where they are less than impressed with all of those nice statues.  They wreck everything, and then Atrocitus destroys the blood lake, and presumably its magical powers.  He pothesized that Guy would bring Rankorr back and try to dunk him in the lake to get his wits back...but it looks as though that's not going to happen. 

Back with Rankorr, things aren't going very well, but Bleez tells Zox to hit the two of them with a 60% blast from their ship, and more or less sacrifices herself in order to subdue Rankorr.  So they grab what they came for and hi-tail it back to Ysmault...only to find the lake destroyed and their Battery as well.  All the statues are wrecked with the exception of Ratchet's.

This...is depressing for all of them.

Guy has Skallox and Zox trying to find ways to help Bleez and Rankorr, while the Judge is more or less just observing.  Then he takes Kara aside, and tells her that she needs to get the hell out of Dodge, that things are going downhill very rapidly, and he doesn't want anything to happen to her, telling her to go to Mogo and see Hal.  She wants to stay naturally, Kara is no quitter, and I get the impression she rather likes this ragtag bunch, but Guy is adamant.  I'm getting the feeling that he knows that they may not make it out of this fight with Atrocitus alive, and he wants to get the innocents out of the way.

Dang!

Things are looking very very serious.  I'm on the edge of my seat, because I really don't know how Guy is going to pull this off, or any of the Red Lanterns are going to walk away from this.  It is amazing how self-aware they have all become, working with Guy, they aren't just furious all of the time, they have developed other feelings and emotions and grown as people as well.  They aren't just cardboard characters anymore, and Charles Soule has been doing a lovely job of writing  this saga.

Just Fabulous.

Slightly Delayed Reviews

Sorry about that.  I have been hellaciously busy this week, and simply forgot.  Which is ridiculous, because it was a pretty darned good week!  The end of the month is always the biggest week for me anyway.

Onward!

Aquaman #32

Not bad.  That...thing that the mad scientists have been working on in their underwater lab has turned out...badly, as perhaps we could all have guessed.  Arthur is having  a heck of a time trying to communicate with his finny friends, who suddenly aren't listening to him, but instead to the new critter who is apparently known as Chimera.  This puts Arthur in a bit of a pickle.

Meanwhile, Mera, is kicking Atlantean butt rather nicely.  She more or less beats up the whole gang of rebels with a little bit of help, and then threatens to feed them to Topo, which certainly makes them sing like a pod of whales.  Nice art, and really nice coloring.


Batman #32

Getting to the finale of Zero Year, and I have to say that it has been a superb ride so far.  The Riddler is still in control of Gotham, although Batman and Gordon and Lucius are doing their darndest to figure things out.  They track his broadcasts to the center of the city and think that they have finally outsmarted him...but the Riddler is no fool, and remains one step ahead of everyone...including Batman.

Bruce also comes to his senses and sends a message of regret and love to Alfred...as well he should.  Seriously, you can't fail with Alfred on your side. 

Eventually Batman figures things out, and Nigma is suitable impressed.  But not impressed enough, as once again, he catches Batman more or less flat-footed. 

Gosh, the art and the story and the colors...all fabulous.  I'm on the edge of my seat with this one.


Batman '66, #12

God, I do love this book. 

This time out we have Marcia, Queen of Diamonds, who has a Witch on her side this time.  A real Witch, with a cauldron and pointy hat, and a broomstick for all that I know.  She wants the Biggest Diamond in the World, and figures out how to break into the Batcave to steal the Bat-Diamond!    She also has this underground boring machine that she probably got second hand from the Mole-Man.

She and her goons are quite impressed with the Bat-Cave and she even considers climbing up the Bat-Poles to find out what is above, but is dissuaded by the idea that it might come out in the middle of Police Headquarters. 

Heh.

Batman figures this all out eventually, and gets back, and does his thing, but naturally they escape so he sends a Bat-Drone after them. The Dynamic Duo trails the Baddies to their lair, and fight a bit and release some chemicals that makes everyone work in slow motion,which goes back to the first scene, and it all ends happily.  Well, happily for Batman.

The scene where Robin is chomping on a burger in the Bat-Cave also made me smile.

So...fun.  I like fun.

All-Star Western #32

Dagnabit...I'm going to miss this book when it ends. 

Jonah and Tallulah take in their quarry, once Blackthorne, and end up in a town, where they are drugged by the saloon-keeper, who promptly tie them to their horses, and run them out of town, while taking charge of their bounty.  They eventually wake up. madder than hell,and Tallulah is particularly peeved at the loss of her lucky Shotgun, so we have a nice flashback about that tale. 

A preacher and his wife in a wagon come upon them, but rather than help them, gets snarky about sin and drinking and drive off.  Too bad for them, because some bandits find them, and beat them up.  Hex and Tallulah ride up at this point, and get shot at, and it is all just pretty great. 


Justice League #31

At this point Forever Evil is finally finished.  Thank God!  So Lex decides to go to Wayne Manor and tell Bruce Wayne that he KNOWS he is Batman, which naturally Bruce denies, and there is a bit of  back and forth, and Lex pulls a gun on Bruce, and Alfred pulls a gun on Lex and there is more fighting, and lo...the door to the Bat-cave is exposed!

Perhaps Bruce should have shown Lex into one of the fifty rooms in the house that DOESN'T house a secret passage?  Maybe Alfred is behind on the cleaning or something? 

Meanwhile in their fabulous new headquarters, Cyborg and Shazam are on monitor duty, and naturally Billy is bored.  He wants to play and Cyborg is all business, and wants to know if Billy can use his magic to find the location of Power Ring's Ring.  So Billy tries, and ends up getting a ping pong table.  Which apparently is what he really wanted.  It's silly, but it is the only light moment in the issue, so I liked it.

Also, Captain Cold has arrived at Lexcorp, and is being given the VIP treatment, which surprises him considerably.  The guards, once they realize who he is, all want to have their picture taken with him.  Len is impressed despite himself and is therefore, more or less putty in Lex's hands, or to be precise, his assistants hands, and they take poor Len off to do some...tests. This probably won't end well.  I hope Len is all right, because he is one of my favorite villains. 

Oh, and the evil Green Lantern ring finds this woman named Jessica Cruz who had something horrible happen to her, and has been holed up in her house for years. Knowing Comics, I am pretty sure that she was raped, and her family was raped, and probably her cat was raped for good measure.  She doesn't want the ring, but the ring is pretty obnoxious, and she gets it anyway.   And yes, that is the most gawdawful costume that I have seen in a very long time.  Doug Mahnke is the artist, and I love Doug Mahnke so this rather surprises me.  There is something that looks like a giant shamrock on her chest and on her right eye, so she looks a bit like a giant leprechan. 

And then the Doom Patrol shows up.

This is not a particularly good book, but there is a fascinating Crash-On-The-Side-Of-The-Highway aura about it.  You don't want to look...but somehow you do.  So I guess I'll be reading this for a bit anyway.


Red Lanterns #32

Oh Guy.

God, I love this book. 


Ms Marvel #5

I also love this book,and I completely understand what all of the hoopla was about.  Amala is definitely in over her head, but she is also smart enough to realize this.  She realizes that she can shrink as well as grow, and manages to beat feet and get home, where she is ravenous.  All that stuff she has been doing makes her incredibly hungry and she raids to fridge

Oh boy does she raid the fridge.  Her mom...ain't happy.  Being a mom, I completely understand this.  Her dad comes down and tells her to sit down and tells her why they called her Kamal, which means Perfection.  They didn't think they could have another child, and were thrilled when she showed up.  They have a hug and a lovely moment...and he tells her that she is still grounded. 

So...she thinks and thinks, and decides to get a costume that doens't shred, so Bruno manages to come up with something, and then she starts training and practicing and figuring out what exactly it is that she can do, which is a smart thing to do. And then, and only then, does she go back and beat up the Bad Guy and get Bruno's brother Vick out of the Evil Lair. And everything ends happily.

Of course...there are repercussions.

A wonderful book


Saga #20

And speaking of wonderful books! 

Prince  IV is on Sextillion doing what he loves to do best.   Alana is off working on her television show, in order to feed her family and succumbs to the lure of drugs, which rather surprised me.  Marco is taking care of Hazel and getting friendly with her Day Care provider.

And Prince IV's wife and new baby are interrupted by a lowly janitor, who has a story to tell, and some revenge to reap.

A lovely lovely week.

Fear and Loathing

Well, it's Monday and as usual, I don't have a single thought in my head.  And it occured to me...there are so many many comic book characters that I love.  What about the ones that I simply cannot stand? 

There are quite a number of those too.

Snapper Carr for example.  I don't really know quite what it is about Snapper Carr that really sets my teeth on edge, but on edge they are. 

I don't like Tony Stark very much anymore, but that is mainly because of Civil War, which still ranks as my most loathed Cross Over...although the recent Forever Evil Cross Over runs a close second.  But the first was simply horrible, while the second was mostly just...boring.

You know who I simply cannot stand?



Geoforce, that's who. 

Not exactly sure why even, other than the fact that I find him to be on the prissy side.  And a tad sanctimonious, and snotty and incompetent, and a bit of a bore...!

Well, I guess I DO know why! 

What characters do YOU all loathe for some reason or another?  Or even for no reason at all?

What the...?

Sometimes...sometimes I really think that as crazy as they were...OLD comics made more sense. 

Such as this.



For one thing, this just cracks me up.  It's not the first time that I've posted this, and it probably won't be the last, because it is just so...so perfect in its description of Hal.

If these two had followed this procedure a while back, we wouldn't have had to go through that whole incredibly painful storyline with Sue Dibny getting murdered, and the secrets exposed that broke up the Justice League and all of that hoohah.

The Silver Age had it right.  Life was...simpler then. 

And Hal was still something of a mental lightweight.  Adorable...but stupid.  And strangely enough he is STILL that way!

Stuff I Bought

That is such a classier title than "reviews" don't you think?  Not a bad week...not a bad week at all.  Although I have noticed that my list is continuing to shrink.


Adventures of Superman #13

Dammit, I can't believe they are going to cancel this book.  It's the only one with the REAL Superman!   We have a perfectly charming story by B.Clay Moore, and Gabriel Rodriguez, that begins with Superman fighting...and beating Metallo.  In all of the melee, a lone rogue reporter has been watching Superman, Lois, Jimmy and...Clark, and comes to a startling conclusion!  Is Superman really all that altruistic?  What is REALLY going on at the Daily Planet?

The reporter for a low-brow gossip rag, goes to interview various Superman incarcerated villains, and naturally, a prison break takes place, and Metallo grabs him as a hostage.  Superman is right on top of things, and I have to say that the prison at Stryker's is a whole better than Arkham!   Superman also frees the reporter Hobson, and defeats Metallo...again.

And Hobson's conclusion?  That Superman is working for the Daily Planet, and is a creation to sell more newspapers!  Superman's little chat with him after he saves his life changes his mind, and he writes the article of his life, and it all ends happily.  Just as a comic book should.

This was practically a perfect Superman story. He is kind, and heroic, and not a jerk.  I loved it.


Batman and Ra's Al Ghul #32

Well, Batman and Frankenstein have tracked old Ra's to where Nanda Parbat USED to be, and lo and behold, there is another Lazarus pit.  In fact it is the UBER Lazarus pit!  Ra's as usual spends a whole lot of time monologuing, until Batman has had enough,and the gloves are off!  He does manage to run off with Damian's body, and is eventually joined by Frankenstein... who isn't in the best of shape.  Then they fight soe more, and Batman is really really cranky.

The there is a flash...and Glorious Godfrey of Apokolips shows up? 

I did not see that coming.

I almost always enjoy the team of Tomasi and Gleason, and this is no exception.


Batwoman #32

There was a lot of smaller things going on in this issue.  Maggie is off fighting with her ex over custody, and Kate is stuck in Gotham.  Then she runs into her old flame from the Academy.  Kate had to resign because of her proclivities, but her old flame Sophie stayed in the closet and is now a colonel! Kate is torn between resentment and maybe a little bit of desire.  She's not sure. 

Meanwhile there is a Black Widow type who is roaming around, and she may actually be a real vampire.  Is this Nocturna?  Her former stepdaugher resents her enormously and she hires a goon to take her out.  He shows up on the last page rocking a new suit and calling himself "Killshot"...which is actually a little ridiculous. 

I mean, Deadshot works for some reason, but Killshot? 

Not sure.

Not a bad book.  A lot of new ideas are introduced, so it is a bit of a low action book, but perfectly fine.

Fables #141

This is the last arc of  Fables, as it is drawing to a close soon.  That will be a shame, because I have really enjoyed it. There were a few misses, but for the most part, it has been a lot of fun. 

There seems to be a conflict brewing between Snow White and Rose Red. Rose, is recreating Camelot, which at first glance seems like a fine thing to do.  Except that you can never apparently escape the original tropes that defined Camelot, and if Rose is King Arthur, then Snow is supposed to be... the villain?  Except that neither one of them really wants to go up against each other.  But there is a lot of things swirling beneath the surface, and plots and plans by the 13th floor. 

Gepetto  is up to his old tricks, magical beings have been taken, and power struggles are going on all over the place.  Oh, and Bigby might be back.

Good stuff indeed.


Wonder Woman #32

Well things are really starting to hit the fan. Hephaestus shows up with all the boy children of the Amazons, while Artemis and Eros are sent into Hell to see what the heck is going on.  Meanwhile Eris is sucking up to First Born in an attempt to actually survive all of this. 

Having taken care of Death, First Born decides to go after life, which is apparently Demeter.  There is a lot of fighting of course, and finally Diana shows up to hold the line against First Born,who seems to actually have a bit of grudging respect for her. 

So they fight, but she is taken, while the rest of them make their escape.  They are all pretty depressed, when who should show up but Orion! 

I have to say that I love this version of Orion to death.  He and Diana make such a better couple than Diana and Superman! 

Fabulous as usual.


Daredevil #4

God, I love this book. 

Last issue, Matt had managed to gain access to the Owl's lair, with a face subpoena, while the Shroud also snuck in.  The Owl pushed one of those buttons that opened up a firepit, which is certainly something that every well-prepared villain should have  in their lair.  I 'd like one myself, actually.  It looks like Matt is about to be barbecued,when the Shroud tosses him his cane, and the lights go out,and the two of them make short work of the Owl's goons.  Except that the Owl is taken hostage by the Shroud, while Matt makes his escape.

Matt is shown telling all of this to Kirsten.  It is in an outdoor cafe, and people keep coming up and taking selfies with Matt, and making faces and stuff.  I found this to be oddly amusing. But on to the rest of the plot.

The Owl cons the Shroud into taking him to the lone holdout of the Silicon Valley start-ups that he hasn't been able to acquire, because they've come up with some sort of fabulous break-through in fiber optics or something.  In return for access to this lovely new technology, the Owl will give the Shroud the location of his missing girlfriend Julia.  Naturally, this is all a con by the Owl, but the Shroud is blinded by his desperation.

Daredevil figures this all out, and shows up and there is a fight naturally, and while he and the Shroud are battling it out, the Owl sneaks into get the  technology which naturally backfires, and oh, it is just lovely. 
The Shroud as a Batman analogy is a wonderful thing, and Matt manages to get through to him, using his own past problems, and that suicide by SuperVillain is a terrible thing to do.

So...wonderful.


Thor: God of Thunder #23

We continue with present day Thor fighting Roxxon, and basically destroying poor old Broxton, and in the future, fighting with Galactus, over the broken destroyed remains of the Earth.  Thor does the ultimate and dives into a black hole or something to retrieve the terrible black sword that was originally used by Gorr the Godkiller.  Remember him?  He becomes  the NecroThor...Eater of World Eaters.  He tells Galactus to "open wide!"

Heh.

Meanwhile whatshisname, the head of Roxxon, has brought in Ulik and his Trolls to continue to lay waste to Broxton, while he has transformed into a Minotaur.  Thor is really really pissed, and he can finally let loose, so there is some rather profound violence.  Meanwhile  Roz, that nice SHIELD agent, has been shooting Trolls right and left, and she's not particularly happy about it.  But many many hammer blows later, the feds and the Asgardians show up, and Thor looks out over poor razed Broxton and...weeps.  And where he weeps, nothing ever grows again.

Back on Future earth, old crazy King Thor defeats Galactus and he bleeds on the broken remains of the Earth...and...it blooms!

Earth is back! 

So...so cool.


A heck of a good week!

Hey, It's Father's Day!

Well, this sort of snuck up on me.  I have sent the appropriate cards, and am grilling steaks, although I'll probably make my Sweet Baboo do the actual grilling part.  Barbecues and I don't get along.  Flames always seem to come out the knobs or something. 

Father's Day always seems to be a rather traumatic faux holiday for the various Comic Book Characters, probably because they all seem to have Father issues one way or another.  Of course, since DC has managed to do away with all of the heroes who actually ARE fathers, such as Alan Scott, and Roy Harper and Wally West and so on and so forth, things have been much simplified.

Batman is probably holed up in the Cave crying.  Hal is probably there with him.  Guy is probably NOT crying. 

So anyway...Happy Father's Day!

Tiny Reviews

Sorry, didn't do reviews yesterday, because quite frankly, I was just too busy.  Not a whole lot of them anyway.  A small week just like last week.  It occurs to me, that I seem to be getting a lot fewer books than I used to.  Possibly because I have...finally...reached that point where if it isn't interesting anymore, I am a lot quicker to jettison it.  In the old days, I would hang on FOREVER...waiting and hoping for one of my favorite books to get better.  And sometimes it would get better!  But usually...not.  So I've been dumping books right and left, and it feels rather refreshing!

But here are the books that I am still hanging onto.

Green Lantern Corp #32

I say this every month it seems, but after a very slow start, the Green Lantern books have been picking up.  The Durlan/Khund war is actually interesting, and even makes a certain amount of sense, which is something that certainly couldn't be said for the whole "Relic" storyline.  I love Geoff Johns, but that was one fugly story.

So...The Durlans have backstabbed their allies, and are off to Daxam in order to assume the forms of Sodam Yat's people.  The Daxamites are similar to the Kryptonians, in that when exposed to a yellow sun, they get ginormous powers.  Of course there is still that whole Lead thing to worry about.  So, John and company show up on Daxam and of course, the Daxamites are all hostile and nasty, and such,because that's the way that they are.  But Sodam Yat is there, and his miserable old father is actually...glad to see him!

Hmmm.

Meanwhile back on Mogo...and gosh, I just  love being able to type that...Von Daggle is talking to Salaak, and brings up a rather interesting nugget of information about the Durlans.  Nobody is quite sure if they can trust Von Daggle, and probably with good reason, but he overpowers Salaak and goes into the Ring Chamber, looking for his own ring...where he does some Durlan hocus pocus, which enables all of the Green Lanern rings to be able to recognize Durlans!  That's actually a good thing!

Back on Daxam, all of the rings suddenly start chirping that all the Daxamites are actually...Durlans!  The Corps is too late!  They are planning of flying off to find yellow suns, and to absorb enormous amounts of radiation so that they can Rule The Universe! Bwhahahahahahaha!

It's...actually a good plan!  A bunch of the Durlans landed on Zezzen, which is the home planet of  Lantern Gorin-Sunn so that they can absorb all their fire-iness.  And lo...there are some space ships showing up!

I'm actually on the edge of my seat for this.  Can Hal and John and all the Green Lanterns stop the evil evil Durlans?  Will the rest of the Universe realize that the Durlans are all evil and stuff?  Will the Green Lanterns actually be able to go out and patrol their sectors for a change? 

Stay Tuned!

Justice Leabue United #2

This is apparently the Canadian version of the Justice League,and I have to say it...it is a lot more interesting than the regular Justice League. You have Green Arrow and Animal being snarky at each other.  You have Star Girl and J'onn J'onnz, and I love those two characters.  And Adam Strange!  And Hawkman fighting Lobo!  And Rannians!  And..and stuff! 

It's a little odd here and there, but by god, it is a real comic book, and it is kinda fun, so I am sticking with it.

Mighty Avengers #11

I came a little bit late to this book, and have been prowling around looking for the back issues, but seriously, it is fun too.  I love these quirky books that Marvel has been putting out lately.  We have Luke Cage, and Jessica, and their baby and Blade, and Falcon and White Tiger, and some guy called the Blue Marvel, whom I am not particularly familiar with, but I like anyway.

Luke talks to his dad, there is a sorcerer who is possibly trying to help, and there are were-chickens. 

I like this book.

She-Hulk #5

I also like this book. 

Jen discovers that she has been sued by some Blue File, but has no memory of it.  Neither does anyone else who got sued.  She goes and talks to the Shocker about it, and they bond over Chinese food.  Also Patsy ends up talking to Tigra, and is suddenly attacked when she mentions the aforesaid Blue File...so something is obviously afoot.  And super Paralegal Angie and her monkey go to  North Dakota to do a little investigating and actually...find something! 

Fabulous.

So, all in all...a small but pretty darned good week!

No Reason

Well, it's Tuesday, and Tuesday, being the most deadly day of the week, needs something special.

So...



Here's Starman.

By Albaquerque, one of  my favorite artists, he did such a lovely  lovely job when he was drawing Blue Beetle.

Damn it,  I miss Jack.

Green Lantern #32

Well, there is a certain amount of dissension in the ranks, as the Durlans, the Khunds and the Clanns are squabbling over the fact that the Green Lanterns have managed to destroy their always tenuous alliance.  Nol Anj wants to take her cut and go, the Khunds are pissed, and the Durlans are ready to backstab everyone, which is probably something that could have been predicted. 

So, when the Khunds get cranky, the Durlans start blowing up their ships. 

Yeesh!

You just can't trust Durlans.

Nol Anj, who isn't stupid gets the heck out of there, and the Khunds are not only being blown up by their erstwhile allies, but also being attacked by Hal and the rest of the Lanterns.  There are a LOT of explosions.  The Lanterns have won for the time being, but Kilowog is a bit suspicious, and they are trying to sort things out, when Nol Anj and the Clanns decide that siding with the Lanterns is a lot safer than being with the Durlans. So, it is back into the Sciencells that they go!  Nol Anj, who is probably a whole lot smarter than Hal, decides that she's got some information to bargain with, and lets Hal in on the fact that the Durlans require a whole lot of radiation to power their transformations.  They are already headed to Sodam Yat's planet, so that they can assume their forms, but where would they get the energy? 

Well, that nice new Lantern who is basically a lava-creature, named  Gorin-Sunn?  He's rather adorable, actually.  The Durlans are off to HIS planet, to absorb all that lava-ness...which will more or less make them unstoppable.

Whew!

I wasn't particularly impressed when this whole story started...but it has been picking up nicely in the more recent issues, and this was pretty good.  Although it is more about setting things up, since the Lanterns themselves don't do anything really amazing, we do get to see the machinations of the Durlans and what happens to their allies.  So...not bad.  Not bad at all.

Reviews!

Beginning of the month always means a fairly small week.  Some rather interesting choices this time around, I do have to say.


AQUAMAN and the others #3

That title really cracks me up.  AQUAMAN!!!!  And some other people.  Would YOU like to be known as "other"?  This continues, with the rather nebulous villains trying to get their gold back, which is now being used as the weapons and stuff for the "others" not to mention Arthur's trident, that his own ancestor stole eons ago.  So in a way, the villains have a legitimate beef.  But since they go around kidnapping and killing people and stuff, they aren't going to get much sympathy.

I'm not really sure why I am still getting this.  I like Aquaman, I always have, but this bunch just doesn't do it for me really.  I keep getting them all mixed up, and can't remember their names, much less their powers, and frankly, I just don't care. 

It was...ok.  Maybe some people will like it.


Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet #1

Now this was fun.  It has Ty Templeton on art, and I adore Ty Templeton.  It has a villain named General Gumm, who accidentally glued up his own face trying to create the ultimate adhesive.  Shades of Baron Zemo!  It has Kato throwing darts and karate chops.  It has young Robin on a date!  It has a train glued to the tracks, full of incredibly valuable fossils!  It has Robin calling the General...who is clad all in pink...a "pasty-faced pillager!"

And it's only part one of two! 

So...much...fun!


Green Lantern #32

Hey...Not Bad!


Tiny Titans #1

Woohoo!  Art Baltazar and Franko are back, with my favorite version of the Titans!  This is SOOOOOOO
much better than the regular book! 

The Braniacs are trying to earn their merit badges, and decide to shrink down the Titans Treehouse, and put it in a jar.  This upsets the Titans, because...where are they going to hang out?  Plus, some of them were IN the treehouse when it was shrunk!  So Supergirl and Superboy go and find Robin, who is hanging out in the Batcave, feeding Ace, a lot of rabbits, some penguins and of course, the bats.  They take Ace and Krypto to do their tracking and go in search of their missing treehouse.

Along the way they accidentally grab Swamp Thing, Grundy, and Metamorpho all of which is delightful.  They do eventually find the Braniacs who are reluctant to surrender their prize.  In the meantime, Raven gets the Titans out of the jar, and is about to enlarge their treehouse, when the Braniac ship shows up, and that's that. 

No more Treehouse.

Fortunately, Alfred shows up and he has made them a new one.  A BAT treehouse!  Unfortunately, it is too full of bunnies, penguins and of course...bats to let any of the Titans in it.

I loved it. 


Loki: Agent of Asgard #5

Well now!  Loki is a bit upset that the All-Mother is acting so strangely, and decides to do something about it.  So he gets Lorelei, Thor and Verity together to pull a jail break, and bust out Sigurd, whom he turned over to Asgard last issue.  So he and Lorelei are falling off of a plane over Broxton, and getting in a lovely little homage to William Shatner at the same time.  In order to get in undetected, they distract Heimdall, by sending Thor up to space to fight the Technocracy!  Which he does, and Heimdall is indeed distracted.

They end up in a big room full of deadly traps, and are relying in Verity who is off-site, but hooked up to their smart phones, doing her very best Oracle impression, and telling them which of the dangers are real and which are illusory.

And then they find Sigurd, it turns out, quite easily. Turns out that when he and Loki were fighting last issue, they planned the whole thing, with Sigurd acting as Loki's inside man.  Oh, that clever little scamp!  At this point, Sigurd and Lorelei decide that their part in the scheme is finished and go off together, and presumably have a lovely evening. 

Loki is fine with this, since the whole plan has been to find out what was really in the most secure prison of Asgard.  Turns out to be...Loki.

Old Loki.  Old evil Loki.  The Loki that the All-Mother let out of the Jar. 

Young Loki is a bit shocked, but does his best to cover this up.  And he's really doing his very best to handle this rather stunning revelation, but he's just too young and outclassed by his older self.  Old Loki tells him how he saw the effect, and created the origin, and that he can't lie, and that...horror of horrors...he IS what young Loki will become.

And then the All-Mother comes in and it turns out that they WANT this to happen!  Because it makes a stable future for Asgard, one that isn't going to be tied to Ragnarok any more.  And that old Loki is the TRUE Agent of Asgard!

I...I did not see this coming!    And for all of his skills and schemes, neither did young Loki.  Who incidentally is royally pissed. 

And frankly, if I were the All-Mother I wouldn't really want a royally pissed young Loki running around.

Damn, I love this book.

So, not a bad haul at all!

No Reason

Here is a little something, that I am putting up for no real reason at all.  Other of course, than it just makes me...happy.




So...so happy.

Yes, they had Ted Kord appear with Lex Luthor in the finale to the interminable Forever Evil...after Lex more or less murdered his father.  But still...it's not the same.  Booster is still out there in the REAL Universe somewhere.  Along with Rip, Wally, Donna, and all of the other wonderful  characters that I can't read about anymore.  But I digress.

Here's to happier days.

Red Lanterns #31

Sorry to be so late with this.  We went camping again this past weekend for a Fife and Drum Muster in the incredibly exquisite little hamlet of Kinderhook in upstate New York, and had us a fine old time.  But I am back now, and in fine fettle.

Fine fettle indeed!

And this was...as usual...a whole lot of fun.

On the planet Primeen, the former judge, who had been betrayed and shot by her own people, ends up with one of the Red Rings that Atrocitus sent out prior to Guy's arrival.  She's quite the menace, since she is filled with a truly righteous anger, and she's "judging" people, with the ring right and left.  Naturally Atrocitus and Dex-Starr are right there, trying to get her to join them.  She's a lot more powerful than they are used to, and even without being bathed in the blood of the mystical lake from Ysmault, she seems to be a bit more in control of herself than the usual recruit.  She soon realizes that Atrocitus is a monster, but since he is completely convinced of the purity of his motives...she doesn't kill him.

Meanwhile, Guy and the rest of his motley crew, including Kara, show up.  Bleez and Kara are actually bonding a little bit.  But not too much seems to be working, and Kara decides to fly up to the Kaalvar and drop the blood from the lake upon the Judge, hoping that it will do the job.  What seemed like a good idea backfires however, since the blood from the lake belongs to...Atrocitus.

Oops.

This of course really pisses off Kara, and things tend to escalate from there.  Guy is all for a strategic withdrawal, and even Bleez hauls off and gives Kara one of those smacks in the face to calm her down.  Then they decide to all work...together, and somehow...somehow, they manage to get control of all of the magical blood again.

However, in the end it did have the desired result of knocking some sense into the Judge.  The two teams have a bit of a faceoff, and make a lot of threats, but Atrocitus ends up convincing the Judge to join him, while vowing revenge and all of that.  Guy is getting tired of his threats, and decides that they are going to take the fight to him, and incidentally get Rankorr back. 

This is seriously the best Lantern book out there at the moment.