Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Things that made me happy today

Batman saying, "Orca" about 15 times, and the fact that I've already figured out who muscled in on the Penguin.

Finally understanding the Joker's perfect role in Infinite Crisis, and seeing him spend time with an old friend.

The return of the Fastest Man Alive.

Batwoman's outfit with its fabulous red boots; I don't care who she is, I love her immediately.

Superman's understated speech on what it means to be Superman.

Superboy Prime's power of super-scenery-chewing.

The less-than-grandiose ending of Alex Luthor.

Bye bye, Emily! I won't miss you at all.

A Batman moment I didn't think I'd ever see.

How to handle Amazo.

Seeing the real Aquaman in action ... if even it's not in his own book.

Giganta and Rita Farr in a hair-pulling match.

The sound that Deathstroke's head makes when Batman steps on it.

Clark Kent reading a comic book at a Monster Truck Rally.

Robin straddling a naked Ravager in his bed while snapping the batcuffs on her.

Ollie's reply to Roy's question, particularly since I didn't immediately recognize it.

Clark's suggestion to Diana, which would surely meet Linda Carter's approval.


And you....?

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

All the new, exciting members of the Marvel Family we have to look forward to!

Mister Zsasz wearing a domino mask over and otherwise naked body.

The prominent placement of Manhunter and the Seven Soldiers.

Sivana's creepy delight.

"It's good to fight with the Justice Society again."

The shot of several heroes obeying J'Onn's command -- "Take to the skies."

Mogo!

Superman-2 and his Lois together in the stars.

The Tangent Green Lantern! Woo-hoo!

"You didn't let the Joker play."

What an obsessively geeky list.

Anonymous said...

I count SIX of the SEVEN SOLDIERS on the splash page at the end of IC7. I guess we know who's gonna die . . .

Anonymous said...

I personally loved Joker killing Alex Luthor. It was a great ending for a terrible character. Shame DC didn't have the balls to off Superboy Prime too.

Kid Devil walking in the naked bat-bondage was a definite highlight. Johns hasn't been writing Titans this well since... ever.

Seriously, though, Kid Devil has pin-ups of Blue Devil? Pin-ups of his muscular, sexually-ambiguous blue mentor? Over his *bed*? Something is royally screwed there.

Anonymous said...

Clark Kent was reading the novel "Jennifer Government," not a comic book.

Speaking of which, when is Clark going to write another book? His last one was a hit, as I remember. You'd think his agent would be hounding him.

Scotus said...

The return of Wild Dog for no particular reason.

The Joker finally hitting someone with the acid flower. It seems like people--and by "people," I mainly mean Batman--always find a way to duck under the stream.

The editor's box in Detective, advising people to check out the back-up story in order to understand what was going on. If he'd just addressed us as "Dear Readers" it would have been the 70s all over again.

Bruce, Dick and Tim going on a cruise together. Let the jokes begin.

Anonymous said...

"Speaking of which, when is Clark going to write another book? His last one was a hit, as I remember. You'd think his agent would be hounding him."

If I remember correctly, good ol' Gail Simone had him write another book in her woefully short Action Comics run.

Anonymous said...

I believe she had him start another book -- I don't think he finished.

Good call, though. Gail Simone really knocked one out of the park. Funniest Lois Lane, maybe ever.

Steven said...

I really liked Warren Ellis's Lois Lane from his JLA:Classified run. Smart, playful, tough.

Oh, what did I enjoy today? Well, a lot of the things Scipio already covered, especially the giant-sized catfight. If they did a fifth IC Special that was just "GIANT-SIZED CATFIGHT," I'd buy it.

Lex Luthor: in IC, in Action, and in the Superman trailer. Not like I wasn't going to see it before, but now I want a time machine so I can watch it right now.

Counting Seven Soldiers, including Shining Knight WALLOPING the Riddler.

Dr. Light and the Ray frying Dr. Light while Canary and Martian Manhunter wait their turn to kick his ass.

The panel for panel recreation and invertion of the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, with a young man hopping off a stretcher to change out of a Flash costume.

Thing that made me sad?

Where's Dr. Psycho?

Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with anything, BTW, but I realized.

Odysseus isn't the ancient Greek Batman, he's the ancient Greek Captain America.

Goes off, is a big hero in the war, then disappears and comes back a generation later.

Anonymous said...

Ravager lighting a cigerate with kid devils mouth.

Aquamans prominent spot in the first splash page.

The fact that when superman says "Like hell" The only person behind him who looks beat up is Aquaman.

Freeze Breath in outer space.

Zoom fighting Stripes, E-2 Superman, Wildcat, and powergirl at the same time.

Over at Marvel...

Captain America stealing a plane landing it safely and taking the pilot out for coffee.

The Watcher!

Hank Pym is suddenly important again.

Marvels three super-smart guys (Stark, Richards, Pym) on one team.

Sleestak said...

I'm with Scipio on Savanna. The little freak didn't do anything. Just stood there getting off on the carnage. Awesome. It's like Gargunza is back.

joncormier said...

Guy Freakin' Gardner.

Joker.

Fearing for the life of Animal Man because he was randomly put on a page of "dead and missing."

Superman taking my advice and getting thematically aligned with the title of his comic -"It's about action."

Mouse Guard.

Superman Returns Movie Trailer.

Scipio said...

"Mister Zsasz wearing a domino mask over and otherwise naked body."

Actually, those are his trademark pointy sunglasses.

"Freeze Breath in outer space."
Yeah, I had to grit my teeth pretty hard at that one.... .

"Seriously, though, Kid Devil has pin-ups of Blue Devil? Pin-ups of his muscular, sexually-ambiguous blue mentor? Over his *bed*? Something is royally screwed there."

That makes me really hot; sad, huh?

"The Joker finally hitting someone with the acid flower. It seems like people--and by "people," I mainly mean Batman--always find a way to duck under the stream."

That's the kind of trick that only works if you aren't expecting it, which, with the Joker, everyone is.

"The only person behind him who looks beat up is Aquaman."
That WAS nice; the real Aquaman's not afraid of getting dirty.

Brian Hinshaw said...

Scipio --

I'm happy that you seem always to spotlight what's fun and exciting about comics (unlike most of the blogosphere). It's not an easy thing to explain what's good about something, whether its a person or an idea or a linguo-graphic entertainment medium, but you seem to do it day after day.

Anonymous said...

Something I noticed from the final splash page...

Starmann VIII aka Danny Blaine aka Thom Kallor aka Starboy!

Yay James Robinson continuity!!!

Anonymous said...

Batman of Earth-2 making a brief return in JSA...

and teaming up with the original Mr. Terrific...

and Thunderbolt calling them both 'chums'.

Hell yeah.

Scipio said...

Thank you, Town. It's gratifying to know that my approach is appreciated.

Steven said...

Fearing for the life of Animal Man because he was randomly put on a page of "dead and missing."

I'm not worried. In IC#6 he disappeared along with Hawkgirl and Firestorm , and they are both alive and well OYL and starring in their own books. I think Supergirl was with them too, and she's starring in TWO books!

"Mister Zsasz wearing a domino mask over and otherwise naked body."
Actually, those are his trademark pointy sunglasses.


I'm not sure either of those are correct. I think it was just how Norm Breyfogle drew his face in his first appearence, so that's what his face looks like now.

Oh, and the reason I enjoyed the Shining Knight panel was it meant Hawkgirl had a somebody with whom to go shopping for maces, helmet wax, and feather shampoo.

Anonymous said...

Man, did we even read the same book?

I do appreciate your approach of highlighting the things you like, but I thought this series was not real successful in re-energizing or retooling DC at all.

There were some neat "moments", but as to the final result: I think it's a bit ambiguous. Most of the creative lineups on the OYL books are impressive, but have that "FINALLY-WHAT YOU DEMANDED TEN YEARS AGO!" vibe. Kurt Busiek on Superman would have been nice in '94 or '95 after he finished MARVELS, likewise Grant Morrison would have been a no-brainer after his "GOTHIC" storyline in LoDK, but ten or fifteen years after the fact it smells a little stale.

Anonymous said...

1. Tom Welling

2. Tom Welling

3. Tom Welling

4. The Superman Returns trailer

5. Tom Welling

Scipio said...

"FINALLY-WHAT YOU DEMANDED TEN YEARS AGO!"

Well, yes. That's the point, I think. This is what SHOULD have happened 20 years. That it did not happen THEN doesn't diminish my appreciation that it is happening NOW. Why should it?

If I had a Time Bubble I would send all of those who are not currently enjoying DC back to, oh, 1974-1976, when I started reading comics. Then I think they would appreciate the current environment as much as I do!

David C said...

You do realize who the new Batwoman is, don't you? A redhead, but with reasonable confidence based on her still being Oracle in Birds of Prey, we can assume it's not Barbara Gordon.

Who else could it be? Not a whole lot of other redheads in the DCU at the moment, and most of them would provoke "Eh, who cares?" reactions. DC wants a *reaction* when her identity is revealed!

Therefore, logically, the new Batwoman could only be one person. Yes, the new Batwoman is none other than...

Jimmy Olsen!!!

These are my words!

Anonymous said...

I didn't get the impression that Alex Luthor died at the end of IC#7, it looked to me like the creation of a new Two Face.

Can someone remind me what the symbolisim behind ollie's line to roy is?

Anonymous said...

The backup story of Detective #819--the part of this storyline I've enjoyed the most so far--not only does a wonderful job of humanizing Orca but makes it clear beyond all doubt that James Robinson reads the Absorbascon. (Orca has a lot of gay friends, huh?)

Scipio said...

ha, I won't believe Robinson reads this blog until he de-lurks!

And of course Orca had lots of gay friends; how fabulous SHE would be to have at your party! "Orca, dear! Have a shrimp cocktail?"

Now Mr. Orca needs to become a revenge driven supervillain.

"Can someone remind me what the symbolisim behind ollie's line to roy is?"

The phrase 'Look--up in the sky!' is the beginning of the introduction to the original Superman radio and tv shows.

Anonymous said...

Of course, a custom clix of the classic Batwoman is still available.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DC-Custom-Heroclix-Batwoman_W0QQitemZ8777738921QQcategoryZ44002QQcmdZViewItem

Anonymous said...

Wait -- Scipio -- you DON'T have a legion time bubble?

mando said...

i think goldilocks saying that the brain was right about robin being cute did it for me. heh.

Anonymous said...

Curse you, Garling!

I need a legend to tell me in what comics all those events happen. I don't even read comics. I'm the guy who hears great things about a series and waits for it to go to the trades.

But your enthusiasm is infectious. Last week, I found myself driving a half hour out of my way to pick up the new Batman and Villains United. I let loose a high-pitched, girlish "Heeeee!" when I saw Odd Man and followed that with a heatfelt groan when I realized I got the wrong Batman.

And I know I'm going to go through all of it again this week, if I can find out what comics those are from.

All this means one thing: as both a blogger and a comic store owner, you sir are very good at your job.

P.S. Your post about Peter Dinklage playing Dr. Psycho? I had no idea how dead-on you were. It look like they modled the character after him.

Scipio said...

"Curse you, Garling!"

Shake your fist when you say that, son! Those moments are in Infinite Crisis #7, this week's Tec, and Titans.

"I don't even read comics. I'm the guy who hears great things about a series and waits for it to go to the trades."

Now, don't fool yourself, my friend! You do read comics; you're just reading them late. Glad to hear you're now joining the rest of us in the present, LOL!

"Your post about Peter Dinklage playing Dr. Psycho? I had no idea how dead-on you were. It look like they modled the character after him."

Astonishing, isn't it? And that dork Whedon has just announced he's not going to use anyone from WW's rogues gallery. Dork.

Scipio said...

"Wait -- Scipio -- you DON'T have a legion time bubble?"

Blockade Boy stole it. I'll get you, Blockade Boy!!!

Marc Burkhardt said...

Whew, let's take a break from the thread above. Best moment of the week: Jason Bard thinking of Orca's husband as ... well... "Mr. Orca."

Anonymous said...

That's a pretty good run-down of IC #7, at any rate. A bunch of "moments", without frills like a story.