Sunday, August 06, 2006

Me, Todd, and the Justice Society

What's that, Todd? You want me to talk to the people about the roster of Justice Society? Yes, Todd; yes, I will talk to the people about the roster of the Justice Society.

Yes, Todd, I see you standing behind Wildcat; you look very handsome. I am surprised how many people have not noticed you.

The redhead? Yes, Devon told me that was the new original Red Tornado. He recognized the symbol on her chest. I assume she's a granddaughter of Ma Hunkel.

Yes, I saw Atom-Smasher/Nuklon/Dictator-Squisher's new radiation symbol. Hmph; I wish you wouldn't pay so much attention to him, Todd.

I love the Sandman's spooky costume; that's Sanderson in that get-up, right?

Todd, can you talk to Jakeem about his outfit? Or rather, the fact that he doesn't have one? Devon agrees with me that the whole "hoodie with backwards hat thing" is a bit much. I know he's "street" but I'm sure he doesn't need to wearing Capt. Marvel's leftover shirts. What's that? Take him to Blockade Boy for a fashion makeover? Yes, Todd; yes, I will take Jakeem Thunder to Blockade Boy for a fashion makeover.

Speaking of a bit too much, did Power Girl have surgery to reduce the stress on her back? Good for her.

Is that the Starman of 1952 beside her? How nice. Is he from a future that no longer exists? Is he someone new entirely? Does he understand DRAMA?!

Oh, I'm glad Hawkman's there, too. Silly kids who think he should be in the JLA! That was a different person entirely, an alien fellow, a policeman with curly black hair. This is archeologist Carter Hall, back with his friends where he belongs.

Glad your dad ditched the eyepatch; his costume is busy enough. Speaking of your dad, I think it's funny how every artist and writer always remembers that he's left-handed, but almost none of the readers do.

Isn't Liberty Belle dead? Oh, I guess that's her daughter, the Tramp Formerly Known As Jesse Quick. Glad to see she's donned a less salacious outfit than the one with the

Commander Steel! There's a surprise. Amusing to see a JSAer whose "legacy" comes from a nonexisting retconned WWII character who only exists due to Gerry Conway's Captain America fixation and tachyon shoehorn. I wonder who it is? Does this mean Dale Gunn will be hanging with the JSA? Well! That means we will get to see Courtney become a woman (probably on panel) and witness catfights between Power Girl and Liberty Belle. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Hey, Todd -- Since Vixen and Gypsy are in Birds of Prey, shouldn't Commander Steel be joined in the JSA by someone else ...?

Oh, Todd, don't be silly! You know there's no one but you...

47 comments:

  1. Actually I think the dude in the gimp mask may be Damage, not Atom Smasher. They showed off his new costume in Wizard a few months ago.

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  2. Yeah, I think the fellow in the Atom's old costume is meant to be Damage as well. Funny, I don't remember damage being eight feet tall. Or quite so filled out.

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  3. I was worried about the JSA reboot, but the team hasn't changed too much. I can look forward to it now.

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  4. Please tell me the new original Red Tornado's hair isn't going to be swirling artfully up towards the stratosphere all the time. Otherwise I might have to fetch Night Girl from the 30th century to come back here and kick her ass.

    There can be only one!

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  5. You of course forgot Hourman.

    Happily I'm pretty sure it's Rick. The gauntlets are his and he used to where his dads old outfit anyway.

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  6. Hm. When would Libby Chambers have died? She was still alive as recently as JSA #54, when she attended the JSA/JLA Thanksgiving celebration with Jesse Quick.

    I'm not sure I approve of that outfit the new Red Tornado is wearing. I'll reserve judgement until I see it more clearly, but speaking as a old fuddy-duddy in training, I'm getting a little tired of seeing young female DC Universe heroes wearing such revealing outfits. On the other hand, I am generally in favor of cute redheads...

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  7. Well, I thot I would clarify one thing..the 'atom smasher' outfit..doesn't have a nuclear symbol on it. That's the BIOHAZARD warning sign. I don't get that? So, he's going to have the proportional powers of biomedical or biological waste? Hurm.

    I don't think Liberty Belle is dead. She was sort of roughed up in that issue of JSA with the Alex Ross cover of stargirl, but I don't think she died recently, did she? Anyway, no guarantee that's the same young woman in the costume.
    Dr.M

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  8. I didn't forget Hourman; there's just nothing to say about him.

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  9. Why does everyone always ignore Dr. Mid-Nite?

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  10. Wasn't Starman of 195? David Knight? The one just before Jack?

    That's the StarBoyMan suit, used in issues of Starman by Star Boy Thom Kallor when he came to the 21st century as Danny Blaine. Do people not remember this? And IIRC there is no discrepency with Kingdom Come either since that Starman was not named it could've easily been Danny Blaine/Thom Kallor.

    Robinson left it open when Starboy came to the 21st Century, we do know he goes back a scarred middle aged(?) man, an old soldier, if you will. It was pretty sad when he revealed he was so scarred and going back 'home' to retire. He did this after dropping Jack off on Earth after the whole Stars My Destination story.

    I was always intrigued by the Danny Blaine concept, guy coming to the very distant past from the future. Kind of like Astro City's Samaratin on a smaller scale, not so much Superman as Spider-Man, y'know just a guy who wants to live in a time that isn't so pristine but isn't the dark ages.

    I dig Dr. Mid-Nite. I think it's just he's been around long enough that people aren't worried he's someone new ro something.

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  11. New original. Got it. She's certainly cute, anyway. >>v

    Oooooh, awesome, a legacy hero from a possible future that no longer exists, possibly.

    And I'm wondering *which* Commander Steel that is. The Steel that was inferior to Vibe is dead, and the other one... isn't he crippled or something? So it must be a new one... but why would anybody make a *new* one?

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  12. Liberty Belle isn't dead, but I'm wondering if it's Jesse Quick, her daughter as the new Belle. Especially because she's sitting next to Hourman, who's her boyfriend. Sort of.

    This looks like an interesting direction for the team--more like the All-Star Squadron or even the LoSH, with a huge team separated into smaller teams for missions. Sounds good to me.

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  13. The new Atom Smasher costumne reminded me at first of Cyclotron, the old All-Star Squadron villain (who is related in some way to Al, isn't he?). Then again, Al Pratt took Cyclotron's costume and made it his won (in an amazing/brain-hurting example of retroactive continuity, considering Al had been running around in his new duds at least 20 years before Cyclotron ever saw the printed page).

    Looking forward to the first issue, meeting the new original Red Tornado, and finding out why Jesse's taken on her mom's persona and who the heck is in that Steel costume.

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  14. I'm drawing onto my inner Big Monkey and going out on a limb to say that this 'new' Steel is the last Steel, John Henry Irons. Just saying.
    And I'm coming out in support of this new Red Tornado. We need more Irish teen superheroines. For sake of her modesty, I hope she's wearing her ladythings.

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  15. That's absolutely Danny Blaine/Thom Kallor, but he dropped Jack off after 1951, not Stars My Destination. The Starman of '51 was both Doctor Mid-Nite and a time-traveling David Knight, both of whom wore a far more awesome costume than that one.

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  16. Pretty sure that's gotta be Damage, not Atom-Smasher. When I showed the pic to the bf (who has absorbed just enough of my comic geekness to be dangerous), he asked "Why are there 3 Flashes?" The first thing he noticed were three different heroes with yellow lightning bolts in a red background....

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  17. Actually, that's not PG, that's Bruce McCulluogh, which explains her reduced bosom...

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  18. "The new Atom Smasher costumne reminded me at first of Cyclotron, the old All-Star Squadron villain (who is related in some way to Al, isn't he?). Then again, Al Pratt took Cyclotron's costume and made it his won (in an amazing/brain-hurting example of retroactive continuity, considering Al had been running around in his new duds at least 20 years before Cyclotron ever saw the printed page)."

    Actually the battle with Cyclotron is how The Atom got his power of atomic strength. Also Cyclotron ended up having been manipulated into the fight in the first place and so Atom helped raise cyclotron's son, who we now know as Nuklon/Atom-Smasher. So says Infinity Inc. so I don't know if thats still in continuity.

    "I didn't forget Hourman; there's just nothing to say about him."

    So thats how you wanna play it huh?

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  19. "Mallet" skipped a generation. Nuklon/Atom-Smasher is Cyclotron's grandson, not son. The Golden Age Atom helped raise his mother.

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  20. three different heroes with yellow lightning bolts in a red background....

    3? I count Flash (of course), JJ Thunder... and...

    Holy Moly, how did I not notice that the "crack" in the liberty bell is a lighting bolt? That pretty much settles it, doesn't it? It's Jesse Quick.

    Oh, and "the new original Red Tornado" reminds me a lot of Red Tornado III from Kingdom Come. At least she and Courtney decided to smile for the photo.

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  21. Ma Hunkel's Granddaughter?

    Oh, I am so buying this...

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  22. ""Mallet" skipped a generation. Nuklon/Atom-Smasher is Cyclotron's grandson, not son. The Golden Age Atom helped raise his mother. "

    You try reading the first 13 issues of Infinity Inc in one sitting and come away flawless:P

    I'm surrprised I still knew what water was by the end of it.

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  23. Pretty sure that's gotta be Damage, not Atom-Smasher.

    I confess I don't know why you think so. Atom-Smasher is a very large man, as is the man in the picture. Damage is a short man, like the original Atom, and has no size-altering powers.

    Damage will probably be in the new Infinity Inc.

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  24. Wow, the Sandman's new costume IS spooky...notice the skeletal detail on his gloves? And his mask has a distorted, skull-like appearance to go with it's old-bone color and texture.

    That's definately a biohazard symbol on Damage-Smasher.

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  25. Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that Al Rothstein is going to take the "name" of Damage to avoid the stigma from being Atom-Smasher.

    I mean, "Atom-Smasher" is kind of a lame superhero name, doncha think?

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  26. Particularly when your godfather was named "the Atom".

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  27. Red Tornado's hair isn't going to be swirling artfully up towards the stratosphere

    I think, BB, you've been deceived by the artist's idiosyncratic perspective. Her hair is caught in midswirl behind her, not above her.

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  28. I mean, "Atom-Smasher" is kind of a lame superhero name, doncha think?

    I do. What was wrong with 'Nuklon'?

    Verification word: mmikyxiv, which is the thirteenth sequel to a movie about postapocalyptic Life cereal.

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  29. I think if you have to ask what's wrong with the name "Nuklon" ... !

    What part of "Nuklon" works? The mispelling? The non-existent word it seems to be groping for as a source? The atomic reference that has nothing to do with the character's theme or abilities?

    "Nuklon" is an appropriate name of a Evil Alien Dictator With An Armada Of Spaceships, not the inheritor of the mantle of a Golden Age DC heroc.

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  30. Scipio said...

    Pretty sure that's gotta be Damage, not Atom-Smasher.

    "I confess I don't know why you think so. Atom-Smasher is a very large man, as is the man in the picture. Damage is a short man, like the original Atom, and has no size-altering powers"

    Mostly 'cause I've read in various con reports that Johns has confirmed Damage is a member. And isn't Damage somehow related to the Golden Age Atom? So the costume makes sense. How badly was D. hurt in the Freedom Fighter's battle in IC? Perhaps he has developed new or tweeked powers as a result of that trauma?

    Or not. It very well could be Nuklon/Atom-Smasher (who desperately does need a new name!).

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  31. Ah. This may help, then...

    Johns confirmed yesterday at the WW Chicago Con that there are JSA members who are NOT on the cover.

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  32. There's no way the guy in the Sandman costume is the Sandman?

    Uh... okay. If you say so.

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  33. I normally wouldn't call you on a typo, but I'm genuinely curious.

    Which Jesse Quick or Liberty Belle costume was particularly salacious?

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  34. The one with the "Q" circling her breast.

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  35. Apparently the newriginal Red Tornado is named "Maxine Hunkel", so.

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  36. On seeing the picture I thought how quickly Courtney has become the heart of the JSA, sort of everybody's kid sister on the team.
    Anybody else think that?

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  37. ...Courtney has become the heart of the JSA, sort of everybody's kid sister on the team. -- Anonymous

    Considering that she is modeled/a tribute to Johns' own (deceased) sister, I think that's pretty appropriate.

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  38. Jakeem Thunder is starting to look a little like Beetlejuice from The Howard Stern Show.

    The new Sandman looks like he's designed as both an overall nod to Wesley Dodds and with the skeletal elements of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Morpheus' helmet was supposedly the skeletal remains of some creature.

    I think StarBoyMan should definitely be the name of that character at the bottom! StarBoyMan. I love this name! It just sounds so comicbookish!

    I'm curious if this ends up being the revised Thom Kallor from the new LSH. He's not exactly the same as the previous one that appeared in Starman.

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  39. "StarBoyMan"

    Star Male.

    Or He-Star.

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  40. "He-Star"

    Bwhahahahahahhahahaha.

    I think I once met a guy in a seedy club that called himself that.

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  41. What part of "Nuklon" works? The mispelling? The non-existent word it seems to be groping for as a source? The atomic reference that has nothing to do with the character's theme or abilities?

    "Nuklon" is an appropriate name of a Evil Alien Dictator With An Armada Of Spaceships, not the inheritor of the mantle of a Golden Age DC heroc.


    So I'll put you down for a 'no' on Nuklon, then.

    And I doubt that Starman is going to turn out to be Thom Kallor. I just can't see them going that way. They addressed this, sort of, a little, in one of the letter-column features (hosted by Light Lass and Star Boy himself!) many issues ago, and I don't think they feel any pressure to fit their continuity into that Starman story.

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  42. ...but WHY A BIOHAZARD SYMBOL?

    Is he contagious?

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  43. I don't think Johns, at least, would use that specific costume without it being at least somewhat related.

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  44. ."but WHY A BIOHAZARD SYMBOL?

    Is he contagious?"

    Well, he had an "atomic" symbol on his previous costume even though he wasn't nuclear...

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  45. Since it doesn't seem to be settled, I just thought I would point out that according to Geoff Johns, it's Damage.

    http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=79802

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  46. "Which Jesse Quick or Liberty Belle costume was particularly salacious?"
    "The one with the "Q" circling her breast."

    Oddly, when that costume first appeared (scroll down about half-way), the Q wasn't circling her breast. It was a full-torso Q centered on her right side. Later artists shrank it down until it started, um, highlighting anatomy.

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