Finally Annotated?

Back last year, I mentioned that the platform I used for both my Annotated sites - Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis - was going to change from Google Page Creator to Google Sites.  Everything seemed to go a bit quiet after that so I carried on using Page Creator to make any updates to either site.

About a month or two back I had an automated mail from Google saying they'd be migrating both sites over to the new platform but nothing's happened yet.

I'm loathe to make any more additions/changes to either of them (which is my way of saying I'm getting out of finishing the few odds and ends on Final Crisis for a while) until they're migrated.  I still feel the urge, though, to throw something together and get back into annotating . . . if only there was another big DC event coming up that I could have a go at . . .

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #45

Another quick round up of this week's comics:

• Booster Gold #22 - anyone want to take a guess at the shadowy guy directing Black Beetle? Booster's dad again? Too obvious?
• Green Arrow And Black Canary #22 - since Andrew Kreisberg took over this title, all Canary and Arrow seem to do is bitch at each other - dude, they were happily married before you came along!
• Green Lantern #43 - Blackest Night is shaping up to be one hell of a story line!
• The Punisher #72 - wait a minute . . . two people manage to creep up behind Frank in one issue?!
• The Stand: American Nightmares #4 - Flagg and Lloyd Henreid in the prison is one of my favourite scenes from the book and while it's necessarily contracted here, it still works.
• Wednesday Comics #1 - on the whole this was pretty good though I have to wonder whether Amanda Conner illustrating the Supergirl strip will impact on her work on Power Girl - as much as I love her work, she's not exactly known for being fast and with two gigs at once . . . ?

And what made me raise an eyebrow this week:

Sapphire's hoping for "the mother of all pearl necklaces"?! I can't be the only one to think Neil Gaiman can't be ignorant of the double meaning of that phrase can I?

How Many People Did Tommy Monaghan Kill? Part 1

Sometimes, I really do think I have too much time on my hands.

Over the weekend just gone I was working through a batch of comics, cataloging them for the lovely people over at Collectorz.com.  I'm currently working through a long box that stores most of my Garth Ennis written titles and have started going through the fantastic Hitman series.

I know, I know, I should be working on the Annotated Final Crisis, finishing off those last couple of issues that I still have to breakdown but, well . . . honestly, this is just a bit more enjoyable.

In issue #1, Tommy meets Wendy, a girl he's attracted to and starts dating.  Trouble is, he doesn't tell her that he's a hitman and that he kills people - okay, technically he does but she thinks he's joking and he doesn't correct her.  When she eventually finds out, they have a blazing row:

I have to admit, I read that and thought . . . how many has he killed?

Armed with a day off work and a penchant for prevarication, rather than do half a dozen things that I should do (like the Final Crisis stuff) I decided to count through the first 20 issues of Hitman that I've cataloged so far and tot up the numbers of deaths caused by Tommy, Natt the Hatt, Sean Noonan, Ringo Chen and Hacken.

So what's the score so far:


There's a bit of estimation in there - there's plenty of scenes where Tommy and Natt are both blowing the crap out of the bad guys, but it's close enough for government work, I think.

Of course, I'm opening up a Pandora's box here - after Hitman, I really should go through The Demon and include any killings there, not mention anywhere else Tommy turns up.  Thinking about it, though, all that means is I get to read more comics again . . .

Dear Mr Palmer

Isn't this how your bat-shit crazy ex-wife killed one of your best friends?  By entering her skull at microscopic size and then growing?

So she ends up in Arkham and you become a member of the Justice League again, eh?

Thank goodness you're one of the good guys.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #44

Busy, busy, busy in work lately but still get my comics on the weekend.

• The Boys #32 - Butcher is so pissed off!
• Crossed #6 - obvious comparisons aside, this books needs to get as much attention as The Walking Dead. The comics, not the zombies. Don't pay them any attention.
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #3 - "This isn't over, hot nips!" Man, I'm enjoying this series more than Final Crisis!
• Green Lantern Corps #38 - what an ending: FLESH.
• Justice League: Cry for Justice #1 - I know it's come in for some stick on other blogs, but I thought this was okay as a starter.
• Secret Six #11 - "Nasty little prunes they were!"
• Strange Adventures #5 - the Weird's gone . . . errr . . . weird.

And what made me smile:

Even though I knew something was coming, that pay-off line made me laugh out loud! Humour at its blackest from Garth Ennis in Crossed #6.

Following Recent Events . . .

. . . could this be seen as disrespectful?

Nah, I don't think so.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #43

• Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #2 - not as good as the first issue, but still well worth a read;
• Green Lantern #42 - Blackest Night comes one step closer!
• Justice League of America #34 - well that explains how the Milestone characters ended up in the DCU;
• Justice Society of America #28 - as my wife said, when will Green Lantern, Flash and Wildcat stop interfering in Stargirl's love life?
• The Last Days of Animal Man #2 - Mirror Mistress isn't good enough but she settles for Prismatik?  With a 'K'?
• The Question: The Five Books of Blood trade paperback - looking forward to reading this!
• Tarot Witch of The Black Rose Vol 7 trade paperback - my secret's out: I read Tarot tradepaperbacks!
• Teen Titans #72 - is it just me or was Joe Bennett's art this month just a bit weak? Miss Martian's arm in panel 3, page 6 look a bit weird to anyone else?

And what made me smile this week:

The Green Lantern of Earth in the future is a blue whale!  Genius in the pages of The Last Days of Animal Man #2.

Co-Feature Blues Joy!

I blogged a few weeks ago, bemoaning the fact that Captain Atom was getting a co-feature slot in Action Comics, a title that I don't get.  I finished the post saying "So I guess I'll have to settle for reading about it on the net and hope against hope that the Captain Atom story will get collected some point down the line."

Oh happy day! I've just read over at Newsarama that "[Senior Story Editor Ian] Sattler said that the co-features will be collected into their own volumes, but the "hows" and "whens" of the process are still being worked out."

Oh yeah! Captain Atom collected trade in the future!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #42

Here's the weekly run down of the comics I picked up this week:

• The Brave And The Bold #24 - don't know much about Static so this issue seemed a little lacklustre - not bad, just nothing notwworthy;
• The Dark Tower: Fall Of Gilead #2 - this series just keeps getting better and better;
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #2 - what are they doing to Rising Sun?  The guy deserves better;
• Green Arrow And Black Canary #21 - has Andrew Kreisberg actually read any Black Canary stories before? Last month it was all Canary's fault because of some repressed teenage angst, now he has her being a dumb blond thinking to herself: "I hope that whatever that is in her hands isn't more complicated to operate than a Dust Buster because when it comes to me and technology..."  Jeez, Kreisberg - she's the chairman of the Justice League for frick's sake!
• Masquerade #4 - a damn fine mini-series and I can't wait for Project Superpowers to continue;
• The Boys: Herogasm #2 - oh dear, someone's watching Hughie . . .
• Power Girl #2 - really enjoying this but I have a complaint: the Ultra-Humanite gets an origin story that completely ignores his Golden Age appearances?! Where's Delores Winters?! The All-Star Squadron?! Jimmy, Justin - sort this out!
• Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #0 - hey look, I can't wait for it to continue and here it is!

And what made me smile this week:

Power Girl's method of dealing with overly talkative villains!

I Want It Now!

Just read this over at the Dan DiDio 20 questions piece at Newsarama:

9. A pretty simple question from a reader: Will we see Ambush Bug #6 before Blackest Night #1? 


DD: (laughs) It’s good that we hit this question every time. I know exactly where Ambush Bug #6 is - it’s still in the same place it is the last time I was asked this question. I might have put my money on "yes" for a while given those choices, but now, I’m going with 50/50. 


NRAMA: What’s the holdup? 


DD: We’re just working out some of the last changes on it, and right now, everybody’s plate is full, to be honest. We’re ready to roll with it as soon as Keith is ready to go - Keith’s been working vey hard on Doom Patrol and Magog, and really doing great stuff. Once he has that stuff in hand at reaches a point where he can catch his breath, we’ll get it out. 


NRAMA: So really, Keith just drew every character in every panel on every page flipping the bird? 


DD: (laughs) See, I only wish it was that interesting.

C'mon - give us our Ambush Bug #6!