Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Things That Made Me Happy...

in my comics this week.

  • Okay, if you'd told me Jonah Hex was going to be about a gay lynching, I wouldn't have believed you. Thank you, Palmiotti and Gray, from reminding readers that gay people weren't invented in the 1970s, and that they are just as human as anyone else. I could say more, but I think I'll hold my tongue instead.
  • Also, hats off to Palmiotti and Gray for keeping Jonah Hex the morally ambiguous Two-Face of the West, who is at once completely non-judgmental about some things and utterly judgmental about others.
  • An actual, honest to god Editor's Note in Teen Titans Year One.
  • Speaking of which, Aquaman's and Flash's dismissal of their sidekicks were perfectly and efficiently calculated to prey on the insecurities of each boy.
  • Darkseid playing Heroclix (and using the new Crisis set, it seems).
  • As of this week, I subscribe to Nightwing, which seems to have gone overnight from one of DC's worst books to one of its best.
  • I've often wanted the body of Black Condor, but it never occurred to me to steal it!
  • Ryan's dog's butt to the rescue!
  • Aqualad versus the squirrel. I really want a poster of that.
  • Hippolyta versus Granny Goodness.
  • Jonah Hex versus a ten-dollar whore with a heart of gold.
  • Black Lightning surprises us with another daughter ex nihilo! Jeff sure knows how to keep busy. So, um, does he have, you know, like, a wife, or does he just zap the ground Zeus-wise and grown daughters spring up fully armored?
  • Okay, was that Hawkman saying, "Your tattoo is pulsating?" If so, that's kind of hot.
  • Jonah Hex wasn't the only morally complicated comic this week. Justice League Unlimited features a very interesting story by Dan Raspler about trust, recidivism, & good intentions gone bad. It's the kind of rich character study that used to be in comics in the 1940s, and doing it with a member of one of comics' most two-dimensional characters, the Royal Flush Gang, was genius.
  • The return of the Tweeds.
  • Nightwing and Superman's photo op.
  • Mary Marvel calling someone a six-foot baby giraffe.
  • We finally get to understand what's been going on in Ivy Town!
  • Ryan Choi in his underwear, covered in syrup, and tied up in a lasso. I'll have what she's having!
  • Do not let Starman order the pizza.
  • Do not mess with Topo.
  • Do not shaft the Mad Hatter.
  • Nightwing drops in to thank Bruce.
  • Am I mistaken or is something very odd about the weather in Teen Titans Year One? Are we being reminded about Mister Twister for a reason...?
  • I like Amazing Man's outfit. At first I thought it was silly that he wears that serape-thingie without a shirt, but when your power requires you to touch stuff, showing skin makes sense.
  • Thank you, art team on Teen Titans Year One, for remembering what color Aqualad's eyes are supposed to be.
  • I guess now Hippolyta's got a new island of Amazons Lite. That's good; it helps keep Wonder Woman unique, but still gives her a homeland.
  • Travel stickers on Jakeem's suitcase. I wish DC sold those.

13 comments:

Patrick C said...

I bought my first ever issue of Nightwing today. I can't believe how quickly Tomasi seems to be turning it around. Well done Mr. Tomasi.

How many members will the Justice Society end up having?

Also, is the JSA Gog the same one from the Kingdom series awhile back? Did he slip out of hypertime? I can't remember where Gog was at the end of that story.

HotAndCold said...

Am I mistaken or is something very odd about the weather in Teen Titans Year One? Are we being reminded about Mister Twister for a reason...?

I was under the impression that Barry was, essentially, dragging rainclouds in his wake.

Anonymous said...

It's not every week where my favorite comic book character is an inexplicably moral and wise $10 whore. I'm really glad I ignored my natural distaste towards westerns and started buying Jonah Hex--it may be even a little bit better than everyone says it is.

SallyP said...

There was a LOT to like this week. I bought my second copy of Nightwing, and I'm glad that I did.

Teen Titans was hilarious and ominous and just so darned cute.

Ryan Choi is also too cute for words.

Jonah Hex wasn't cute in the least, but it was very good. So was the JSA. For some reason, seeing Wildcat Jr. smoking just cracks me up.

And if you aren't reading Fables, guess what? A HAPPY ending! I am all a'twitter.

Anonymous said...

Ryan was supposed to be wearing Diana's bustier! :)

Gail

Tom Mulherin said...

What made me happy that wasn't on your list:

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"Let's go Bats! The carpenter will cut you down to size!"

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"Seriously?"

BZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

I can't believe this exchange didn't make the poll!

Anonymous said...

Batman vs. Carpenter was a beautiful thing.

As was the Atom covered in syrup and tied up in Wonder Womans' lasso.

And Nightwing has suddenly become...ridiculously good.

Strange world.

Scipio said...

Tom and Laurie,
I agree, the Batman/Carpenter exchange was priceless. The poll is designed for stand alone quotes, which is why that gem couldn't be included.

But I should have put it among the Things That Made Me Happy!

Anonymous said...

Funny thing is, I dropped Nightwing from my pull list just when it was ready to get good again! Oh well, easily rectified....

I loved the "photo op," plus the one bit nobody mentions in the story, but is nevertheless apparent: the cop wants a picture of him with Superman, and even though he knows who Nightwing is and seems to like and respect him, doesn't even *think* about asking for a picture of him with Nightwing!

And, y'know, I think Dick would be fine with that, even setting aside the likely Bat-Family aversion to being photographed. After all, that's Superman!

Anonymous said...

Is Mary Marvel a Tarantino fan?

That "six-foot baby giraffe" line is from "Death Proof."

Anonymous said...

I liked the rectangular pupils in Topo's eyes. It's nice that the artist got that right. (Of course, the Spongebob artists get it right too.)

Roberts said...

I've been buying issues of Nightwing since it came out, really wanting to like the character, but always ended up dropping it after a couple of issues.

Thanks to this post, I bought the last two issues, and what do you know, I thoroughly enjoyed them! Thanks for increasing my already-bloated pull list ;).

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