Maxine Hunkel's #1 Marvel comic pick in the month of December.

Also happens to be the one Marvel Illustrated project I've ever contemplated spending money on.

This series strikes me as pretty much foolproof. The writer, Eric Shanower, knows Oz. To use an understatement. From his cover, Skottie Young's art seems the ideal match for exuberant and all-ages Oz storytelling. His Lion is adorable!

I'm much more excited about this one than Marvel's promise of Dark Avengers or the story of how Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson never got married. (As if the Mephisto thing wasn't bad enough, now Marvel wants to tear down my favorite comic relationship a second time. Just when I was starting to wonder whether I should weaken my Amazing Spider-Man ban. Thanks for saving me money, Spidey team!)

Inspired by DCU: Last Will and Testament

I present a list of things that are not, in fact, cool or badass or emotionally powerful in any way:

1. Someone holding their palm over a candle flame. This is especially true if the person is Geo-Force.

2. Moping around the cemetery where your ex-fiance's parents are buried because apparently he's the closest thing to family you have even though there's two married guys you've formed strong platonic ties with recently. And an entire group of twenty-something heroes also. And a woman who is also chilling in a cemetery on the same evening.

3. Standing on a rooftop talking about swooping down to the street below to lay down sweet justice on the criminal element. This is especially true if the person is Batman or Robin. (God, Meltzer, still with the talking instead of doing!)

4. Inexplicably introducing a minor character into an unconventional role, habit, or profession. I would have had an easier time accepting Bruce Wayne as suddenly deciding to become a pseudo priest and holding confession for other heroes than I would seeing a Challenger do the same. Because Batman does a whole bunch of crazy stuff every month but a member of a C-list team that's only sometimes in continuity? No, you just can't do that all of a sudden. (Well, Brad Meltzer can't, at least.)

5. Geo-Force.

6. Dressing Lian Harper up as Speedy and training her. I see a future in mind-altering substances for her already!

7. GEO-FORCE.

8. Using a five-panel page to do what should have been done throughout an entire oversized comic.

9. Deathstroke planning to reenact "The Judas Contract" with Geo-Force and not even taking him out to dinner first.

10. Spending $3.99 on a Deathstroke/Geo-Force comic.

Alternately, things that were not bad:

1. Hal Jordan's backside being green again. Wally West may be straight, married, and raising kids but even he's got to enjoy that view.

2. Captain Cold.

I should complain about something soon.

(Taken from Midtowncomics, obviously.)

So Final Crisis: Superman Beyond is basically going to be the story of Orpheus and Eurydice retold by Grant Morrison using Superman, Lois Lane, and the Multiverse.

In 3-D.

It's times like these that make me want to drop down to my knees and cry in relief that I have become a weekly comic book reader.

(Randomly searching around the internet: I find it hilarious that you can buy a 200+ page novel titled "A Rogue's Revenge" on eBay for 1/3 the price that you can purchase Final Crisis: Rogue's Revenge #1.)

I am so geeked about Legion of 3 Worlds #1.

The only possible way I could express just how delighted I am with this book would be to scan or quote every page and then place next to it a picture of me pointing at my copy, grinning my face off, and giving it the thumbs up.

And then I'd still probably add commentary to my post along the lines of "HOW AWESOME IS THIS" or "Superboy-Prime vs. History. History wins."

Luckily for all of you, my scanner is out of commission at the moment.

A thought for the upcoming issues: even though it won't dampen my joy for this story one bit, I do hope that Geoff Johns surprises me with the lightning rod. I'm not going to be very swept away if Bart Allen pops out of that thing. Now, the pre-Crisis Supergirl? That development would have me running through the streets! I mean, Brainiac 5 has been holding that thing pretty darn close. And he certainly has a penchant for using crazy science to fill the Supergirl-void in his life.

Actually, considering the author, the safest bet is that Hal Jordan will come flying out of the rod to save the day. *g*

DC November Solicits

I'm already on board for all the coordinated Superman books coming out this fall but I'm especially excited for the Guardian of Metropolis special. First of all, the solicit:

"New Krypton" part 3! At last! The true origin of the Guardian of Metropolis is revealed! Following directly on from last month's SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL #1, we learn the fantastic and sometimes terrible past of one of DC's most mysterious heroes. How did the first clone of the Golden Age Guardian come into existence at the hands of the Cadmus Project? We'll also introduce a mysterious young girl the Guardian has sworn to protect – even at the expense of the Cadmus Project, and, if need be, his very life!"

Jimmy Olsen! Heroic clones! Cadmus! There is nothing wrong in these concepts. But the aspect that really moves this comic into possible greatness--how exactly does this Guardian choose to protect the mysterious young girl?

(Click to enlarge)

By bringing her along as he roams around town and bursts into people's windows.

YES. I want to see more care taking along these lines. After all, the mysterious young girl is totally primed and ready for window breaking and face punching. It even looks like she has the proper shoes for butt kicking.

This cover better not be lying to me! I'm looking at you, Robinson. You too, Lopestri. Because next year I want a comic featuring Milagro Reyes, Mysterious Young Girl, and Hal Jordan's In-Continuity Niece and I want them fighting crime. Under Misfit's watch.

Other points of interest:

- The replacement trinity featured in the Trinity covers? Now that is a cool idea.

- Am I correct in assuming that the Power Girl series has been pushed back to next year so the creative team can release a Terra miniseries? Damn. I want my Power Girl ongoing! Screw Terra.

- I'd be a lot more interested in "Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom" if the two Supers' positions were reversed on the cover. And if it made any sense to use New Gods right now. (It really doesn't.)

- I don't know what I'm looking forward to more: reading a Hal Jordan/Phantom Stranger team-up or reading The Absorbascon's comments on it. November seems a long way off.

- Lots of JSA. Whoooo!

- ...Green Lantern #36 is pushed back? So my only Geoff Johns GL fix in October will be the Red Lantern special? Boooo!

- The cover to Showcase Presents: Strange Adventures Vol. 1 is exactly why comics are superior to any other form of storytelling. Ever.

Page of the Week: 7/2/08

From Avengers/Invaders #3

Someone on the internet already displayed the greatest panel from this issue (and, incidentally, the week) and the art in this series is established too dynamically for me to break it up through bad cropping. So instead I present you with a page of James "Bucky" Barnes being an efficient and scary sidekick. Not a bad runner-up. I'm really happy that Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's characterization of Bucky can line up so well with the changes Ed Brubaker has made to the Cap mythos since he started on the title. Unlike, say, a new series coming out soon that seems to be regressing the Cap 'n Bucky partnership past even Mark Waid's version from Sentinel of Liberty.

I'm probably one of three people on the internet enjoying this series, but I never let a thing like the majority's criticism keep me from a series so geared toward my tastes it reads like candy. I was skeptical at first that a maxiseries could work for this conceit, but this issue established an arc for each of the Invaders that could well last through the end. Namor fighting for Atlantis. The Human Torch liberating robots. Captain America making Iron Man cry. Bucky wailing on everyone. And Toro...well, Toro's time can come in another issue.

Panel of the week: 6/25/08

From Young Avengers Presents #6

While not very self-contained, this panel still won out among all others this week as being one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life. The set-up? Young Avengers Patriot and Hawkeye are not on a date when the driver of their horse-drawn carriage (not a date!) lets the horse go and reveals himself to be...CLINT BARTON! Then he kicks them both out of the carriage and inflicts further violence on his unsuspecting namesake, as any good superheroic mentor should.

I never thought I'd be delighted over an appearance of Ronin, truly one of the worst character revitalizations of the modern age, but Matt Fraction's got some serious skills to pull it off here. Not just delighted--I doubled over in laughter. This marks the second or third time since Avengers Disassembled that Hawkeye/Clint has been written well. He is, after all, the man who once jumped on Captain America's bed to get Steve to cheer up. I miss that guy, as he's probably my favorite Marvel character. Fraction brings him back in this issue.

So anytime Marvel wants to put out a Clint Barton book written by Matt Fraction, my money will be there...(sigh) even with the ninja suit.

Good news.

New Supergirl Creative team announced!

Comics blogging, especially as regards DC Comics, its editor-in-chief, and the future of its entire line, has come across as very bleak recently in the wake of Dixon leaving and Heroes Con reports (as well as the mishandling of continuity across big titles like Countdown and Final Crisis).

So I wasn't expecting to find happy news when I loaded Newsarama this morning. But the new writer, Sterling Gates, is saying exactly what I want to hear about building up Kara's characterization, heroism, supporting cast, and rogues. Additionally, I am so pleased that the Superman family will be tied together as they haven't been in much too long--especially with such quality teams on all books. I adore Supergirl and I've been waiting for any reason to add the title to my pull list.

I think Sterling Gates just gave me a dozen, but I haven't counted yet. (Jamal Igle's art is certainly top on that list.) I remember being impressed with Gates' arc on Green Lantern Corps. Tonight I will definitely do a re-read, but his way of developing multiple strong female characters in two issues is what stuck with me the most. That will serve him well when writing the girl of steel.

Panel of the week.

From Trinity #3

This panel reminds of me the scene from Angel season 2 when Angel & co. traveled to Pylea and, through a wacky series of events, we get a shot of most of the team looking into a wicker basket that contains Lorne's head. The off-kilter angle, the expressions on everyone's faces, and the sheer unexpected oddness of Superman being laid out in one punch all made the moment captured in this panel stand out to me above all others. It's so weird...and therefore fun. Just look at John Stewart! The current JLA being caught off-guard from their serious business is very endearing. A few more moments like this and I could come to love the team again.

Speaking of Trinity--I'm still enjoying it, including the back-ups. This week's was especially adept at introducing a new character as yet unconnected to anyone else in the DCU, convincing me to quickly care about the character, and inspiring me to conjecture as to how she'll tie into the plot and which three would they be? Lovely Rita, tarot reader...

Luckily, they never made it to his bedroom.

In honor of the love-triangle-that-never-was as Geoff Johns recently wrote it in Green Lantern Secret Origins I present:

The Last Time Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, and Hector Hammond Were All In A Room Together!

And now: an apology.

I'm sorry for showing you a scene from the last time Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, and Hector Hammond were all in a room together.

Put me in the minority here.

The Top Five Reasons Why I Will Be Reading Trinity and Not Whining About It:

1. Kurt Busiek: There are very few writers I trust more than Busiek to deliver entertaining and dependable comics. He is the squishy Italian bread with the little sesame seeds on top in the bread aisle of comic writers. There's never a time when I'm not in the mood for Busiek. I know when I read a comic written by him that I am going to come away feeling pleased with my purchase and vindicated in my utter adoration for superheroes and superhero comics. I feel better about the world after reading Busiek's take on a fictional realm where people fly around in ridiculous outfits. So knowing that I will be able to walk into my comic shop and purchase a Busiek comic every week for the next year is cause for excitement.

2. Fabian Nicieza: While Nicieza is more hit-and-miss for me in the grand scheme of his writing, whenever he is paired with Kurt Busiek (or whenever he follows Busiek on a title) I always enjoy his work. He has a fabulous talent with humorous dialogue and plot, as well as the necessary gravitas to keep the characters grounded and dimensional. Additionally, his past work has proven how well he can drum up interest in minor characters. As his role in Trinity will be fleshing out Busiek's Big Three story with satellite characters and plots from the rest of the DCU, I've no doubt he'll succeed in making the backups just as exciting as the front story. Already, the first issue is tapping into unfamiliar territory for me in the DCU and I love it.

3. Mark Bagley: I have the entire collection of his run on Ultimate Spider-Man (judge me all you want!) and while I always appreciated and respected his art , I noticed in the last two arcs of the title that his style had begun to soften in a way that marked a great improvement. No longer do his teenage girls all have the figures of bodybuilders! This is already evident in Trinity. Bagley's Wonder Woman is muscular but not ridiculously so. Same for his Batman and Superman. Also, and I don't know how much this is due to inkers, his line work is not so sharp anymore that I feel like I'll poke an eye out if I look too long. But his greatest strength, and the one that Trinity is riding on, is how productive of an artist he is. He produced 110 issues (and covers) of a monthly comic series without fill-ins or delays. That immediately grants someone godlike status in today's artistic climate for Big Two books. And you know what else? He draws a hot Wally West. Who knew blue could be such a good color for Wally!

4. Consistent writing team: Countdown had almost as strong a figure as Kurt Busiek guiding the title: Paul Dini. Unfortunately, all the other less-skilled creators working on the book made it so you couldn't count on Dini to make the thing work. I don't know how they organized the writing shift or, well, anything behind Countdown but it all unraveled into utter crap. Utter crap with about one or two good moments that were undone to make way for further crap before the title ended. Trinity is going to have two writers who have previously worked together (at Marvel and DC) and in this weekly they're going to be on the same page--and both writers are quality guys. And while I've seen the entire internet clamoring to share their universal opinion on Trinity defying the previous point of DC weeklies with its focus on central characters rather than minor characters, I've got to say--that's a good thing. We know who Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman are and we know we're going to get consistent and established takes on them. This is a good thing. It really is. I'd much rather read about characters I'm very familiar with acting the way I expect them to act than read about characters I either know well or don't and watch them characterized haphazardly so...what? People get exposed to them? What Kyle Rayner fan wants anyone new to the character to have them get to know the Countdown version? This Kyle fan sure as hell does NOT.

5. Consistent art team: This was one of the most widespread complaints about Countdown and for good reason. The layouts, the costumes, the settings, the character base models were all inconsistent from week to week. People still don't know what the hell a Monitor's really supposed to look like. (Though J.G. Jones is working on that, apparently. Thanks!) With Trinity's split, we're getting the same artist and inker every week for main story and so far the solicits support the hope that Nicieza's backups will have the same rotating artists working together. Now, the backups could dissolve into a similar mess that plagued Countdown but I'm optimistic they won't. I know and enjoy most of the artists listed and hopefully none of the X-factor artists have the same blob style that one or two of the Countdown artists exhibited. ("Blob style" = why I try not to talk about comic art very often. I just remember a lot of the Countdown art being ill-defined and floaty and blobbish in a way that all jumbled together in my memory to haunt my worst nightmares.)

So until Bagley's replaced by Ed Benes or Eclipso and the Spectre take over the backups, make mine Trinity!

Still not as bad as the time Bane instructed a limbo course.

Know why you should never ask Orion, the Dog of War, to play "give me five"?


Superman does.

Comic news always makes me a jittery Pollyana.

More news from DC, particularly that of another Justice League title.

Quick translation for those who can't read through links: "This book will be about a Justice League performing Justice League activities. And it's in-continuity. 79% of the fans in attendance spontaneously combusted with disbelief following this news."

Positives:

- Written by James Robinson

- There will be a Justice League team doing Justice League things.

- The team will be traveling all over. And there will be time travel! I practically weeped in joy when I read that. I am easily optimistic but I'm already envisioning this book being on the scale of Busiek's Avengers run, with the concern for non-US populations and time travel! TIME TRAVEL. *quivers* (Why Busiek's Avengers you ask? Because I've been rereading Avengers Forever, so that's fresh in my mind as what team books should be.)

- I wasn't sure how I felt about having Hal be the catalyst for this team but then I remembered 52 and his clash over the jurisdiction of a Green Lantern, I think it's a nice progression for him. There's at least something to point back to for Hal being the character in the JLA who's wanting to expand. And of course he's taking Ollie with him.

- After being supremely disappointed that McKeever ejected Supergirl out of the Teen Titans (especially since Tony Bedard did such a nice job connecting Kara's time with the Legion of Super-Heroes with her finding a team to belong to in the present) and being supremely impressed with how she interacted for great justice with League-level heroes in The Brave and the Bold I am delighted that she'll be on this team. Supergirl (especially this current Supergirl) works best on a team and she has by now proven herself to be dependable and competent enough for the League--especially a League without Superman. This also means Supergirl fans such as myself will hopefully get to read comprehensible, fun stories involving her. And I really hope Hal recruits her personally. I'll laugh, I'll cry...it'll be better than Cats.

- Personally, I think the possibility of Kate Kane and Kara being a female Bat-Super team for the modern age is exciting. Kara's maturity is straddling the fence enough that she wouldn't be a kid for Batwoman to mentor. And Kate could develop more as a character and gain a platonic friend in the super-hero world. (Has she been shown interacting with anyone other than Nightwing and Renee Montoya?)

Negatives:

- Every member is American or has strong loyalties to America, with the exception of the alien Starman and possibly the Bill character Robinson is creating. In a book about digging out super-crime everywhere, I'm disappointed to see so few of the (already few) international superheroes involved. I can understand if DC doesn't want this to become a JLI cast rehash but surely they can find a way to add more diversity to the team along the way? (Psst, screw the JLI connection: get Fire out of Checkmate and onto this team.)

- No Martian Manhunter

- No artist assigned yet. Just, for the love of positive representations of female characters, don't tell me Ed Benes is being drafted to this League book.

- The politics could make my head explode. But I won't know until I read.

In conclusion: James Robinson, you had me at Supergirl.

Holy crap, I thought we had killed the 90s.

There are some people who believe that it's not fair to judge a movie by its promo stills.

I, on the other hand, view promo stills as the company and creative team waving their hands in the air and yelling, "Ooh, ooh. Here's a little taste of things to come. Judge us! Judge us!"

So I'm going to judge the Watchmen movie by the photos released to the internet today.

Before we begin, though, I'd like to point out that Dave Gibbons' art is a major reason why Watchmen is such a timeless and powerful story. His art has and will no doubt continue to age well, as well as the character designs which suit the story and personalities well enough that they don't stand out. As heinous crimes against god and nature, I mean.

The movie has drastically changed all that.

*sigh*

Ozymandias: So we've changed from Veidt looking like a Greco-Roman golden god come to earth to...dark, encumbered leather with an eye over his codpiece? Shit! I'm not fooled, people.

Nite Owl: When I think of Nite Owl's costume, I think of a theater major with the power of super telepathy removing the dorkiest apparel designs from the minds of Batman and Blue Beetle and then tossing it all together into the fabric of reality. Because that's just about exactly what it is. When I see the costume movie!Owl is clad in, I think of those god awful 90s Batman movies with the molded nipples and ice skates popping out of Batman's boots. Dan Dreiberg is not 90s! He is classic! He is not Batman, he is Blue Beetle Man.

Silk Spectre: I want the Juspeczyk costume to be something Laurie can look back on and giggle over. If my beloved Polish heroine wore this in her youth, I'd imagine she'd be more likely to break out the booze than titter. And this is me hoping and praying that the still we see is young!Laurie and not the Laurie in her 30s who'd much rather be wearing leather. (Because Laurie doesn't mind the 90s, you see.)

Rorschach: I'm torn here. Mostly, I see it hard to screw this one up and they haven't...but it's another case of "why on earth are they making this into a movie?" when I see the mask. It just doesn't work for me outside of the comic page. I'm not menaced. Whereas, open any page of the comic and I'm peeing my pants. Or fond. Because Rorschach is like that, you know?

The Comedian: I don't have much to complain about on this one except the same general feeling of this being off. Maybe it's the actor's expression. Oh, and raise your hand if you think including the rape plotline is going to make this movie an offensive mess on top of just being a mess!

There. Feel free to disagree but I'm only further convinced that I will not be spending money on this movie. However, if they create a spinoff sitcom called something like "You, Me, and Rorschach"...I'll be there with microwave popcorn!

Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.

I was going to write up a long post, full of angry ranting about the glorification of the male child we see everywhere in society still and especially in comics like, oh say, Batman's entire run and Green Arrow/Black Canary #4 and the recent Green Lantern arc that was like a celebration of the familial XY chromosome, all to lead up to me saying I'm pleased with the much talked about panel in Batman 673. But really it comes down to this:

In his mind, Batman mourns the loss of his daughters as much as the loss of his sons.

Not only does that present a Batman I can hold up as a hero but it also appeases me on behalf of Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon.

Non-bitter post!

This is exactly why Kyle Rayner belongs with the Green Lantern Corps:

The JLA just doesn't understand the need for super dorky teamwork in times of crisis. Whereas, I'm pretty sure there's a clause in the Green Lantern contract stating that Lanterns must exercise supreme dorkiness whenever possible and preferably when on duty fighting planetary crime. Yes, even Hal Jordan. You don't see him looking askance when Guy and Kyle break out their musketeer talk. (Perhaps this even explains the original falling out between Batman and Guy Gardner. Damn Batman and his tyranny on Dumas-inspired battle cries!)

Not the weekend I expected.

Friday night I made it about half a mile down the road from my workplace when I got a flat tire and had to get my car into the nearest parking lot. With a cell-phone on its last power notch and the only person answering their phone being my sister stuck at home with sick babies and a bracing Michigan winter wonderland temperature, I called a cab to get me home for the night until I could muster up assistance.

Saturday morning I drove to the parking lot with my mother to meet a tow truck and the driver informed us as soon as we got there, "Yeah, your car was broken into." Staring into my poor, violated vehicle and seeing glass all over the floor and seats, the door handle broken off, and my trusty radio/cd player gone made me realize how events like that seem so common place until they happen to you. When I left my vehicle there I made sure to grab all my personal information out of the glove box as well my cd cases so they only got the radio. Of course, I realized later that the thief(s) also got the complementary Spider-Man 3 soundtrack inside it.

I did have a few boxes of books inside my car but they were mostly penguin classics and literary stuff--not the type of thing to pawn off for big money--so they were still in my car after the theft. However, in driving my car home from the repair shop I took it to, I realized that the box I kept on the backseat floor was gone, gone, gone. Inside had been the entire Brian Michael Bendis run of Daredevil in trade. And you know what? It's not funny that in rummaging through all the stuff in my vehicle they only took my cd player and a box of comics.

IT'S HILARIOUS.

I had such a giggle fit after I realized those books were stolen. It was very cathartic. Because, fortunately, the only reason they were in my car was because I planned to sell them as soon I got off my lazy butt and into a bookstore and/or ebay listing. I hope whoever took them took them to read. And I hope they suffer. Flipping hundreds of pages ahead, wondering when Daredevil is going to show up again in his own comic. Asking themselves, "Demon baby? In my Daredevil comic?" (It's more likely than you think.) Waiting in excitement as a Daredevil-Black Widow team up races to the exciting climax of...standing in a bath towel and speaking French for no reason argggggghhhh.

Congratulations, Bendis! Judging by the recent plots spawning in New Avengers, I can tell you know your readership well.

Comics for the week of January 16, 2008

Alright, I feel like taking about comics and doing the weekly run-down sounds like a solid concept.

Birds of Prey 114: I only just got caught up on the post-Simone run of BoP this week and I have to say after adventures that involved Huntress driving a school bus off a bridge and using a trio of punks for character references, Lady Blackhawk wrecking a cab, a buggy, a train, and a stealth copter on her way to the bar where Hal Jordan hangs out in order to honor Big Barda (what is it with this title being the only place where minor heroes get a little love after they've died?), and Misfit saving Oracle's butt in the field using the power of....text messaging--after such fun comics that proved how well the team was working together, I'm not loving the step back that's been present in McKeever's story so far. Obviously, I'm talking about the Oracle-Misfit relationship. And for me it wasn't even about Babs breaking Charlie's ankle, though I thought that was very out of character. It was Babs then ignoring her and leaving the room that struck me as an odd storytelling choice. Perhaps McKeever is going to answer for their interaction throughout this arc but something should have been done directly in that moment to redeem Babs and her caretaking of Misfit. Babs' inner monologue at the end of 108 is the characterization I'm judging her by! So, McKeever, make my eyes misty rather than twitchy.

Even with all that, this is still one of my favorite corners of the DC universe and also in this issue Manhunter makes a man make a mess of his pants, Huntress and Zinda bring out the most irreverent in each other, and then Zinda fights an old Blackhawk villain on a roof, in her PJs, with only a gun for backup. Needless to say, I'm sticking around until Babs locks Misfit in the basement and tells her to kill rats for sustenance.

Booster Gold 6: One of the first trades I read to break myself into the DC universe was "Formerly Known as the Justice League" and it left me with an undying love for Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. So I don't care if it's cheating, but I've wanted him to be brought back almost as long as I've known the character. But I never thought it'd actually happen, even with Booster being so determined from issue 1 of this series and Ted appearing on solicited covers.

When I actually stopped freaking out and made it to the end of this issue, Booster and I had the EXACT same look on our faces:



I don't care if it's not perfectly wrapped up or too good to be true because as of January 16 and through the rest of the month and some of February it is the truth. And for as long as it lasts, I'll be emitting yelps only audible to bats and porpoises whenever I think of "Next Month: Blue and Gold Chapter One!"

Flash 236: For my part, I prefer to think of Mark Waid's run as setting the tone for Flash's new course rather than his own preference that the upcoming writers are going to undo/ignore. I am really enjoying Wally and Linda as parents and their children are already believable and vibrant characters. So I'll be standing in front of the family waving a big, flaming stick at the group of people who are silly and think that it would make any sense at all to dump the kids from the book. But, then, Wonder Woman says it better than I can:



--and that's fun!

Before leaving the title forever--again--Waid reminds us that no one writes Wally like he can.


When is Wally going to be in the JLA title? Soon? *sigh*

The final chapter of the back-up story is even better, with Braithwaite providing a painted art style that's beautiful and energetic and Waid and John Rogers packing four pages with great interaction and a sentimentality than any Flash fan has to love. Flashes are awesome! But Flash-wives are even cooler:


Now that's the kind of fridge action I, as a fan of superhero romances, want to see more of in comics!

As a sidenote: I was going to complain about the artist making Iris' head giant for her body but on Friday a young girl around that age came into the library where I work and her head was equally as towering upon her small frame as Wally's illustrated daughter. So there you have it. Sometimes kids do have freakishly disproportionate heads and comics are representing that quota!

Immortal Iron Fist 12: I don't know what's wrong with me but I'm not grooving on this comic as much as everyone else. The last issue that got me really excited was the the story of the pirate queen iron fist. Since then, rather than actually getting pumped over the qualities of this comic, I feel like I'm intellectually recognizing the stuff that other bloggers will mention with praise.

Maybe the problem is that I've been in such a DC comics mood lately that all the Marvel comics I read have to work that much harder in order to be appreciated. By me. Hmmm.

The Incredible Hercules 113: Following the above theory, Greg Pak and Fred Ven Lente must have been super training all day long because I loved this issue. I am so glad that Pak's spectacular take on Hercules--one of my absolute favorite things to come out of World War Hulk--continues here, alongside the genius punk Amadeus Cho and his adorable doggy sidekick, paving their own way through the Marvel universe. The writing is top notch, with great character voices and dialogue that fits so well because it's hilariously contradictory to what you're expecting the characters to say. Like Wonder Man nitpicking his relationship with Ares while Herc pummels him:


And we also get Ares, the bureaucrat:


Here we have an antagonist that I want Hercules to smash and smash but he makes me laugh and enjoy his presence in the story at the same time. That's good comics!

I also bought Showcase Presents: Superman Family this week so soon I'll be well versed in the adventures of silver age Jimmy Olsen and that's something I've dreamed of accomplishing for months now.

Nicola Scott's art being the cherry on top, of course.

I was dithering on the subject of Birds of Prey and whether or not it would stay in my pull list when Newsarama.com released previews for this week and, eureka! This issue opens with Manhunter again working with Oracle, specifically: kicking butt on the streets for information. That's all it takes for me to feel excited about a book.

What I've liked so much about BoP since the one-year-later jump is the larger number of characters who are involved in Oracle's operation. Of course, I always enjoyed the Babs and Dinah show as well as the addition of Huntress and later Zinda--and Gail Simone excelled at rounding out the cast with other heroes and villains and in-betweeners. But it was really exciting once Oracle sent out those invitations and the story didn't tell us exactly who we could expect until they showed up to join the party. For example, when Hawkgirl swooped in and smashed off the Secret Six's roof with her mace? I had to rock myself back and forth to eject some of the glee that was threatening to rip my body apart--and with it, the very fabric of reality. Shockingly enough, when I read that issue I didn't know Kendra from Kamandi. Such is the power of this title.

So I am really glad to see that Sean McKeever is picking up on that aspect of the post-Dinah Birds, since it makes the title more exciting and offers more opportunities for diversity in the cast. It's obvious, too, that McKeever's been doing his research on the heroines of the DCU. This month Onyx and Dr. Light, in February....the world! (Meanwhile, wouldn't it be fun if Gypsy joined Manhunter's supporting cast? I really enjoyed their partnership when Kate commandeered Oracle's operation for Mr. Bones. So, just as soon as Manhunter comes back...any day now...when new solicits are released...April? May? 2009? Bueller?)

Why I love silver age Green Lantern...

And Carol Ferris as well:



"Hello."

"Why, hello yourself, Miss Ferris."

"Hal, is that you? ...you're coughing, are you alright?"

"Ha, no, I'm fine. But I believe you have mistaken me for someone else."

"That deep timbre, it must be...Green Lantern?"

"At your ser--"

"*Click*"

(Soon to be a back-up story in Green Lantern #30 as Geoff Johns continues retelling Hal's early years.

Pencilled by Colleen Coover.

In my dreams.)

Brubaker's still got it.

Disillusioned with the fate of the Parker marriage and my girl Mary Jane Watson-Parker's place in future comics, I climbed into non-Spidey titles with hopes and fears. Was I to follow the path of good friends, in swearing to never deliver another penny to the sexist, unimaginative, tyrannical hands of our Marvel overlords? Or was there still someone out there taking into consideration my voice and opinions--acknowledging that, yes, I am heard and appreciated. Goshdarnit, even loved!?

It was with such a frame of mind that I read Captain America issue 33 and, lo, did these panels enter my line of sight:




Winter Soldier: Trained killer. One-armed. Chaotically inclined operative. Kind of (really) sexy.

Thank you, Ed Brubaker. Thank you for showcasing the opinions of this female reader in your comic. (And, Marvel, here's to you getting more of my money in 2008!)