Sunday, July 29, 2007

Things That Made Me Happy...

in my comics this week.

  • Blue Beetle outwitting an enemy in classic comic book style.
  • Blue Beetle outwitting a different enemy with very out of the box thinking, inspired by Ted Kord.
  • The continuance use of and development of Blue Beetle's supporting cast, particular that hunky kid who drives what appears to be television's Batmobile and Jaime's dad, who made me cry (and will make you cry, too).
  • The tenderness of Darkseid, and its results (Countdown).
  • FINALLY, gods that act like gods instead of middle school guidance counselors (WW).
  • I don't know which was more beautiful in Justice Society Classified: the artist's skillful balance of detailed background with more abstract foreground or the writer's skillful conveying a simple overall message with detailed character moments.
  • Zatanna does cruise ships? Of course, she does (Countdown).
  • Sinestro's ingeniously evil method of "defeating" his successor on Korugar (GLC).
  • Hey, Green Arrow's becoming a hero in Green Arrow: Year One. Who knew? He turned a huge corner for me when he found dead bodies in a well and his first thought wasn't, "Damn! Corpses in my water!" but rather, "Who did this to these people?"
  • Superman still knows how to make an entrance (Teen Titans).
  • The things that made me happy in IDW's first issue of Star Trek: Year Four are enough to merit a separate post.
  • Wonder Woman straddling a nuclear missile in flight (WW); nothing says "more fun comics" than Wonder Woman straddling a nuclear missile in flight.

19 comments:

  1. Yeah, Blue Beetle really is the best thing on the shelves, isn't it?

    And I too liked the art for JSA: Classified except for one aspect that kept taking me out of the story.

    Alan Scott should not look like Super Saiyan Gohan in a domino mask.

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  2. Well, I have no new-earthly idea who "Gohan" is, but I really liked how the artist portrayed Alan Scott.

    Why? Because in my memory it's the first time Alan Scott has ever looked creepy, the first time I ever said, "Yes, I can see this man as belonging in Gotham City."

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  3. Yeah, I loved that Alan Scott! And I do know who Gohan is, but it didn't occur to me. I prefer creepy-ass versions of Alan Scott, as his adventures in archive make him look like a pretty disturbing figure.

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  4. Gohan is just a reference from my wayward youth.

    See, I didn't know Alan was supposed to be (or was ever) a disturbing figure. Or that he spent time in Gotham. I only know him as the Green Lantern of the JSA. My loss, I suppose...

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  5. i kinda hearted how damien's cat is named alfred in batman

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  6. Currently continuity is that Alan Scott was the hero of Gotham. There is a statue of him in Gotham's Green Lantern Park.

    People make fun of Alan's costume because it is so garish. But when he creates it, he specifically states that it is his intention to strike a bizarre figure so as to disturb people.

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  7. Alan's costume IS garish, but somehow...being Alan...he manages to pull it off. Seriously, can you see Hal Jordan managing that? And I LIKE Hal.

    But a darned good story.

    And Blue Beetle just keeps getting better and better. He has such a fabulous supporting cast too.

    And yes, Sinestro is pretty diabolical. As he should be.

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  8. How about BB's phone conversation with a super-hero alter ego? Pure genius

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  9. Too bad she wasn't actually acting like Athena. She was more like Aries, the real god, not DCs helmeted doom god.

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  10. Thanks I Didn't Like:

    The Discovery that Love is Not Eternal After All

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  11. " Arynne said...

    Thanks I Didn't Like:

    The Discovery that Love is Not Eternal After All "

    Yeah, I went to my high school reunion this week, too...

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  12. Blue Beetle was really really good. However, I'm not sure what Wayne meant by his learning to lie? What was he lying about? Beetle doesn't know who Bruce Wayne is does he?

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  13. I was a little disappointed in issue one of STAR TREK, so I will be interested in reading your post.

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  14. Bryan:

    Typhoon never indicated that he planned on destroying Wayne's oil rigs, but Jaime suggested otherwise in order to motivate the billionaire to take care of the refugees. That he would do so also clearly proves he has no idea Wayne is Batman.

    And as an aside, I have to say that I'm surprised that BB is getting the love here at the notoriously anti-Whedon Absorbascon, since it is the book's essential Buffy-ness that I personally find so appealing. But then I suppose my saying that will only inspire someone else to comment that BB is nothing like Buffy and that I am insane to even suggest it.

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  15. I agree on all points, except for the Star Trek one... well, not completely, at least.

    The story is much better than what Tischman did in TNG: The Space Between (which was a trainwreck of a mini, in all senses), but the art is subpar... though not as bad as the art in the aforementioned TNG mini.

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  16. My take on the Bruce Wayne/Blue Beetle/lying thing was that Jaime said he was going to protect the oil rigs, but Bruce figured out that Jaime was really going to use them to defeat Typhoon. Which us readers didn't know about yet!

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  17. Re: Non-Eternal Love

    Actually, I was thinking of a certain comic that contained the words, "We'll always have Paris".

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  18. Zatanna has always played cruise ships. I remember her doing so in a back-up story (I think it may been in Adventure Comics [or Supergirl]) when she fought a restaurant critic who had gained sonic powers and was eventually defeated by falling video camera lights. And, no, I'm not making this up.

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  19. The Zatanna story was called "The Song the Shrieker Sang" and the only reason I know that is because I just bought the run of World's Finest $1.00 comics that featured it.

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