Blackest Night: Superman #2 Notes Done

Published the notes for Blackest Night: Superman #2 over at the Annotated Blackest Night.

Also, as far as I can tell from the feedback form, there seems to be no problem with the Black Power Ring Percentage Table any longer so that's all cleared up as well.

Thanks to everyone who took a moment to fill it in, by the way.

Why Am I Doing This To Myself?

The best opening line in the world?  Or the start of something terrible?  Sooner or later, I guess I'll find out thanks to the DC Project.

Who'd Like A Cocktail #55

Double Sized Issue!

As I missed last week's comics due to being away I couldn't run through my usual Cocktail posts so here, along with this week's, are my thoughts on what I've been buying.

• Blackest Night #3 - oh, it's all starting to hit the fan now! And poor old Gen - I liked the last Firestorm series and to see her end up like this . . . almost brought a tear to my eye.
• The Brave And The Bold #27 - okay, a rather muted first issue from Mr Straczynski but nothing too terrible either.
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #5 - the best thing about this issue? Those final words on the last page: "To be concluded."
• Green Arrow And Black Canary #24 - Cupid's kinda fun in a yet-another-Harley-Quinn kinda way but it's becoming grating. Nice to see Speedy back as well.
• Green Arrow co-feature - wait a second: Green Arrow thinks something's missing inside him so he has to go walkabout rather than discuss it with Black Canary? Didn't Mike Grell do this storyline years ago?
• JSA vs Kobra #4 - Mr Terrific lives up to his name as this continues to be one of the best mini-series out there.
• Strontium Dog: Traitor To His Kind collection - the second collection of the new stories of Johnny Alpha by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra.
• The Walking Dead Vol 8: Made To Suffer - I had to pick this up after the cliff hanger ending of Vol 7 and oh my word, what a story.
• Wednesday Comics #11 - just about all the stories seemed to be pausing this issue as though they're waiting for the final push to wrap up.

And what made me smile:

Nothing like the Flash preparing to punch someone's lights out!

And now for this week's comics:

• Blackest Night: Superman #2 - looks like the Psycho Pirate took no time at all in getting to Smallville straight from the pages of Blackest Night #3!
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #5 - no surprises that Rising Sun's being mind controlled but the culprit kinda caught me by surprise.
• Justice League of America #37 - okay, hands up who thinks Amos Fortune's dead? Anyone? Anyone at all? And Mr Wein - can we please stop with all the puns?
• Power Girl #5 - still fun, still funny, still wonderful, still have doubts this will last long. Really - the last book I enjoyed this much was Blue Beetle and I was surprised that got past the year mark. If you're not reading this, you really should be - honest!
• Project Super Powers: Chapter Two #3 - oooooh, didn't see that twist coming - very nicely done, sirs!
• Wednesday Comics #12 - so that's it, all over. Could have sworn I read somewhere it was going to be 16 issues but hey, it was a nice run with, overall, more hits than misses. Hawkman almost got the Cocktail this week for "I had to whittle through."

but the Cocktail this week goes to:

Power Girl shows how to overcome a problem with x-ray vision!

Frida Night Fights - Cat vs Bat

It's Friday night and, once again, Spacebooger demands a fight that ends with feet flying and for tonight, I've dug out an oldie:

Some people have a monkey on their backs - Batman's got a cat(woman)!

Wait - Vicki Vale? How old is this fight?!

And okay, it's not a foot, but dammit - a knee to the jaw still counts as a kick in my book!

Remember to head over to Spacebooger and leave a comment to vote for your favourite fight.

This hot cat on bat action was written by Gerry Conway, with art by Don Newton and Afredo Alcala and originally appeared in Batman #355, cover dated January 1983. These scans are taken from The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told Volume Two.

JSA All-Stars #1

It's the JSA written by Matthew Sturges! What's not to love?

Blackest Night #3 Annotations Done

The notes are up for issue #3 over at the Annotated Blackest Night.

There are still a handful of characters I need help identifying; you can find those in the Help Needed page to save you trawling through the entire site.

I think I've fixed the problem on the Black Power Ring Percentage page - the table wasn't appearing but it should be okay now.  If you do head over and take a look at it, please do me a favour and complete the dead short feedback form so I can tell whether it's fixed. It's just three simple questions, no registration or anything complicated needed.

Thanks in advance.

Black Power Ring Percentage Table - Feedback Wanted

Over at the Annotated Blackest Night, I've got a page detailing percentage levels of the Black Power Rings.

A few users have said they're having trouble viewing it so to try and gauge the extent of the problem, I'd like anyone who's visited the page to fill out a short (3 questions!) feedback form which you can find here. Even if you can see it, please let me know so I can get a good amount of information.

Thanks in advance!

No Cocktails This Weekend

I'll have to skip one week's worth of cocktail reviews today - as you read this, I'll be travelling back from Nottingham and won't even be buying this week's comics until tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's an image which shows Cocktails have been searched for way more often than Superheroes over the last 30 days:

Let's have a bumper week next Sunday, eh?

Friday Night Fights - Dog's Dinner

Here we go, back for the Friday Night Fights courtesy of Spacebooger.

I've gone old school here to cope with the demands for a fight that features feet flying in fury: here are a few pages from the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, 2000AD, reprinted in the gorgeous Strontium Dog: Search/Destroy Agency Files Vol 4.

Mutant bounty hunters Johnny Alpha and Middenface McNulty have teamed up to bag as many wanted criminals as they can, staging a "big rammy" - a free for all fight which they've entered as well.

After all, they put up the prize money to entice the bad guys - they're not going to let them win it!

But McNulty's down, kicked on to the ropes. Surely Alpha wouldn't hit a lady?

When there's money at stake gender is no defence! A flying kick to the back of the head and it's done!

Go check out Spacebooger for the rest of the fights and make sure you place your vote by leaving a comment there.

The Big Rammy appeared in 2000AD in the late 80's and was written by Alan Grant and illustrated by the masterful Carlos Ezquerra.

Oh, Bug Where Art Thou?

I swear the only reason I read those 20 Answers & 1 Question With Dan DiDio columns over at Newarama is to find out what's happening with Ambush Bug: Year None #6 and every month it's the same:

DiDio: Didn't anyone ask about Ambush Bug?

Nrama: We honestly only had one person ask about Ambush Bug, I think.

DiDio: I'll give you this one without wasting a question. I got a message directly from someone about Ambush Bug that was hilarious, and so I just want to tell everyone that I wish there was some exciting story about why there is not an Ambush Bug #6, but quite honestly, all the stories that everybody else is coming up with are much better than the truth. So please, keep coming up with your great suggestions on what happens in that book, because you're making me laugh, and Keith as well.

Argh! Give me Ambush Bug #6, damn you!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #54

Missed the start of a new round of Friday Night Fights over at Spacebooger on Friday due to being out with some friends and drinking beer. Still, plan to get back in the ring this Friday coming. Meanwhile - it's cocktail time!

• Blackest Night: Batman #2 - ahh, I knew those second rate corpses would come back and cause trouble but blimey they seem to have killed most of Gotham's PD! And what a family reunion to end on!
• Booster Gold #24 - wait a second - Kyle (Green Lantern) Rayner and Zatanna are married in this weird future?!
• Blue Beetle co-feature - Mr T's cooler now than he ever was in the 80's! Things look grim for Blue Beetle, though.
• Doom Patrol #2 - this feels a lot like Giffen''s run on Suicide Squad from a couple of years ago which is no bad thing as I really liked that series. Just have to wonder if this'll last more than twelve issues.
• Metal Men co-feature - heh, this is funny "Metal Men assemble!"  "Assemble what?"
• Green Lantern Corps #40 - the Blackest Night gets grimmer; we find out why Arisia's parents were introduced in Blackest Night: Tales of The Corps; and Guy Gardner gets impaled.
• Magog #1 - took a chance on this after reading a couple of generally positive reviews and because it's Giffen again. Let's see how this one gets on shall we?
• Secret Six #13 - damn this is still consistently one of the best reads out there, month after month.
• Wednesday Comics #10 - still more hits than misses with Kamandi and Hawkman topping the list this week.

And what made me smile:

Salaak shows why he's second in command to the Guardians!

Blackest Night: Batman #2 & Green Lantern Corps #40 Annotations

Notes are up over at the Annotated Blackest Night for the latest issues of the tie-ins, in this case Blackest Night: Batman #2 and Green Lantern Corps #40.

Enjoy!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #53

Back from having the best part of a week off and spending most of it working on the DC Project, I should be returning to more frequent posts. In the meantime, have a cocktail:

• The Boys #34 - World War II re-enactments were never like this!
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #5 - still the most entertaining of the Final Crisis Aftermath series, I'll be sad when this is over.
• Justice League: Cry For Justice #3 - I was all ready to hate this having been sadly disappointed with the first two issues: I mean Green Arrow being okay with torturing villains? Just not going to happen. The dialogue is still leaden but with the emphasis shifted to Prometheus it's slightly better than #1 and #2. God knows if that'll continue, though.
• Red Tornado #1 - I kinda liked this. It's not earth-shattering but I've always liked Red Tornado and for six issues I'll play along.
• Strange Adventures #7 - oh, Jim Starlin you little scamp! Where are you going with this now?
• The Walking Dead Vol 7: The Calm Before - not a new release but I've been picking up the trades of this series for some time. With the cliffhanger this finishes on, I might need to track down Vol 8 sooner rather than later.
• Wednesday Comics #9 - still ticking over nicely with The Flash, Deadman and Hawkman standing out this week for me.

And what made me smile:

You gotta love Hawkman!

Percentage Increase

Just a quick one here - I've published a page over at the Annotated Blackest Night showing how much power the Black Power Rings have as shown in the various issues so far. As always, if I've missed something, let me know.

You can find the page here.

Oh, and by the way? This blog is two years old today!