Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Things That Made Me Happy

... in my comics this week.


  • Xanshi as the anti-Mogo.
  • Happy Magic Fun Swordgirl.
  • Tiger Moth. Really? Tiger Moth. That's... amazing. Big points to the few of you who know who she is, without looking it up.
  • Ouch. When RPG doesn't mean 'role playing game'.
  • Hm. Musical notation is clearly very different on New Earth than it is here.
  • The Shield's origin was very efficient!
  • Fate's bluff.
  • "This would be a good time to start climbing down the mountain."
  • Sigh. Metropolis is so beautiful from above.
  • I'm thirsty for some Atlantean mold samples.
  • What happens to the grandfather clock.
  • Carol Ferris, a pilot herself, resists autopilot. You go, Carol.
  • Ah ha. The source of the 'Speed Force'. Clever. As usual!
  • Have you ever noticed that heroes always, but always, fly past national landmarks? Is that, you know, in the flight plan?
  • Okay. Monster Men like Batwoman. That was... unexpected.
  • Thank you, J. Torres, for fleshing out the Great Ten, yet another of Grant Morrison's throwaway ideas.
  • A free Mister Colon Cleanser!!!!
  • "A boring lab rat was romanticized into the most selfless hero of his time."
  • I want to re-position Jimmy Olsen's bookcase so badly, I can just taste it.
  • LOL, the return of D-Bomb!
  • Mattoon? As in the Mad Gasser of Mattoon? That's... really odd.
  • So, who is that man suntanning on a mound of skulls?
  • The Periodic Table of Deathtraps.
  • I like Tom Tresser more and more.
  • Um... well, whatever "Prof. Pyg" was, I won't miss him. Just another excuse for Morrison to write free-association dadaesque dialog, I'll wager.
  • Sinestro's humiliating construct. That's just mean, even for Sinestro.
  • Kate's outfit at the ball.
  • Well, you can't blame Mammoth for that, now, can you?
  • OOOooooo, Wildcat versus Magog, battle of the tongues.
  • Why Max skipped through time. Oh, Geoff, you can make anything make sense in this crazy mixed-up world of ours! And you're dreamy.
  • The Web working on behalf of the Shield. And, ah ha... the Inferno connection. And Dr. Dickering. Why, it's all one big Red Circle, isn't it?
  • Wait, are we going to see Aquaman versus a dinosaur?
  • "Did you just say... humble?" Batman really is a funny guy. Learned it from Alfred, I think.
  • You know, being drugged and locked in the trunk of sinking car is just the sort of thing that does happen to the Question.
  • Jimmy shows up. Slightly late.
  • The charming understatement that Hal & Carol aren't "like Barry & Iris or Lois & Clark."
  • Maggie's outfit at the ball. I laughed out loud.
  • If Doctor Domino is not behind all of this, I will be sorely disappointed. As usual.
  • "Greetings, fearful leader." I tell ya, these Black Lanterns have a wicked sense of humor!
  • I like that Batwoman calls her father 'sir'.
  • Good for you, Eddie Bloomberg.
  • Even he calls him "Mr. Garrick".
  • Krypto versus Hootie.
  • Okay, I give up; I have no idea what H.S. stands for.
  • Now, that is classic crazy comic booky Silver Age science; thanks, Geoff!
  • I fully expect indie bands named 'Blume of Bobba' and "Glomulus of Poppo' within a year or two.
  • Bette is her cousin? Oh, it's all so perfect.
  • Of course that's what the Calculator wants Kid Eternity for. How stupid of me.
  • Thanks, James, for remembering Odd Man and where he lives.
  • Let's all try to remember that Dr. Fate does have an M.D., you know.
  • Agent Orange finally discovers something he doesn't want.
  • Jimmy uses his watch. Slightly late.
  • Prof. Thawne untangles some knots.

19 comments:

SallyP said...

Gadzooks! There really were a ton of fun things going on this week. Between the Flash and Green Lantern, Geoff Johns has been on one heck of a roll.

Poor Tom Tresser. Can't say that I really blame him however. Diana is VERY high maintenance.

And the new Doctor Fate is simply adorable.

Dean said...

Well, without having read the comic in question, I can't imagine that the Calculator would want Kid Eternity for anything other than bringing back his dead son.

Wasn't Tiger Moth one of the three female supervillains featured in Poison Ivy's first appearance?

Anonymous said...

I'm remembering Tiger Moth as one of three villainesses showcased in a book by a famous author. Bothered by her exclusion, the Catwoman set out to prove her superiority, winding up in jail, and having the author explain that he had considered her in a class by herself and was writing his next book about her alone.

Scipio said...

Dean is correct. Points to Dean.

Diamondrock said...

Good Lord, and here I thought I was the only one who knew anything about the Mad Gasser in this day and age (my mother grew up just a few miles from Mattoon).

Points to you, Scipio, for your knowledge of one of South Central Illinois' classic mysteries.

steve mitchell said...

Well, maybe it was the Army connection, but I was thinking of "James Mattoon Scott," the Mad Militarist from Seven Days in May.

I got an odd, and not necessarily welcome, Avengers vibe from reading the new Justice Society of America. The bickering between the members, and about the leadership, sent me right back to the mid-1960s Avengers run. And Jay Garrick's ominous hints suggest to me that the JSA may be about to undergo a "JSA Disassembled" event.

Luke said...

The Shield's origin WAS efficient, and quite nifty to boot! It will be interesting to see this "red circle" developed.

And Agent Orange's response to the item he doesn't want made me laugh out loud.

Shirley Doe said...

I assumed HS meant Holy Shit.

xanadude28@yahoo.com said...

Two words: Owl Chow.
Priceless.

Martin Gray said...

I just hope the Calculator gives Kid Eternity a haircut. When he escapes the kid could make a fortune working as a consultant for families of the missing. 'Are they dead? Give me a sec . . .'

I liked Rebirth but wasn't so keen on the Shield (click on my name if interested!).

K26dp said...

This week's Flash: Rebirth is pretty much Example A on "How To Make A Superhero Comic".

I'm loving the Hawkman strip in Wed. Comics. It's like Kyle Baker made a punchlist of "Things I Want Hawkman To Hit With A Mace".

Aliens? Check.
Dinosaurs? Check.
Hope there's some robots before the end.

Anonymous said...

"Main problem w/ the Speed Force retcon: where does Barry get his energy?"

I'm interpreting it like this: the lab accident created the Speed Force (perhaps it was always potentially in existence but needed something to spark it), and Barry was caught at ground zero, so he's tied to it in ways nobody else could be. I'll have to re-read to see if Geoff said anything that directly contradicts that.

Martin Gray said...

Hmmybe it's actually the SpMOPEEd Force?

Martin Gray said...

And another thing . . . this all reminds me of that post-Crisis recap of Barry's origin that said he was the lightning bolt that struck him, on a loop. That would fit, kindasorta.

LissBirds said...

So, who is that man suntanning on a mound of skulls?

More importantly, why is Glenn Close serving him a martini?

TotalToyz said...

So, Barry Allen's accident created the Speed Force, which empowers all super-speedsters, even those who came before him?

Well, I love a good conspiracy theory, and this fits right in with one I've had for awhile now: DC's slow but persistent movement to establish that all of their Golden-Age heroes owe their existence to their Silver-Age (and later) counterparts, instead of the other way around.

It started in the 1970s, when it was stated that the Earth-Two Green Lantern's ring and lantern are powered by magic that the Guardians expelled from the Earth-One universe.

A few years later, there was a story that showed the teenage Clark Kent of Earth-Two being trained in the use of his powers by a time-traveling, dimension-hopping Superboy of Earth-One.

Then came the idea that Wesley Dodds became the Sandman because Morpheus was imprisoned and "the Dreaming" sought to replace him.

After that, we saw that Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara were started on their path of reincarnation (which eventually led to their becoming the original Hawkman and Hawkgirl) by the radiation from a crashed Thanagarian starship.

And now this.

Mark my words; any year now, there'll be a Ray Palmer "Time Pool" adventure where he causes Al Pratt to go into the diner where Joe Morgan is enjoying a cup of java.

Martin Gray said...

Great observation. I'd never read that Superboy story you mention, was that around the time it was 'revealed' Jor-El and Lara outlived Krypton?

But does the Speed Force emenating from Barry actually impinge on Jay's origin? I thought the hard water businesss was a separate thing (hey, maybe he's connected to Mera!), with any SF connection arising post-Barry.

Joe Morgan? You lost me, is he some Atom I've not heard of?

TotalToyz said...

Mart, the Superboy story was a two-part back-up story in New Adventures of Superboy #'s 15 & 16, 1981. Joe Morgan was the down-on-his-luck boxer who trained Al Pratt to become the original Atom.

And how could I forget, John may-he-Byrne stating that the Golden Age Wonder Woman was a time-traveling Hippolyta, taking up the mantle from her then-dead daughter??

Martin Gray said...

Thanks. I bought that Superboy book, every issue - I don't remember that at all, darn it. Can't wait to find it!

And ta for sorting Mr Morgan out.