Cocktail Of The Year 2010

You ever do something as a bit of a laugh and then feel vaguely embarrassed when you realise that you should really do it again? That's me right now as I post the ridiculously self-indulgent Cocktail of the Year post just like I did last year. But hey, Jimmy Palmiotti popped over to say thanks so it shows you can never tell who's going to read these things.

Each week I get my comics, I run through them and post what I did or didn't like about them along with a panel that, quite simply, made me smile that week and it's those panels that earn their respective titles the Cocktail of the week. I've gone through the 2010 Cocktail posts and (by a hideously complicated process that I'm not going to bore you with) worked out who gets the awards.

Where In The Worlds?

Just read an article over at Newsarama about 11 Things to Watch in the New Year, one of which being the much touted Multiversity by Grant Morrison where the crazy Scotsman takes us on a tour of the DC Multiverse. From the article:

Described as a tour of the 52 universes, this upcoming eight-issue series from DC pits Grant Morrison and an all-star list of artists with defining and redefining seven of the most prominent universes in the DC’s Multiverse. Each of the first seven issues will work as a defacto one-shot for a universe, complete with heroes and villains, while the eight will pull it together into one massive story.

which got me to thinking about which of the 52 universes Morrison would go for. Earth 4 (the Charlton/Watchmen heroes) has already been reported as being one of them, along with Earth 5 where Morrison will take on the Marvel family, which leaves five Earths to guess at.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I didn't get in to pick up my comics this week - what with Christmas coming up and all - so will just say thanks for stopping by and reading Crisis on Earth-Prime over the last year or more.

I hope you enjoy Christmas and I'll see you back here in a few days.

Friday Night Fights - The Video Game

It's Friday so that means it's Friday Night Fight time, right?

Nope, not tonight. As it's Christmas Eve and peace and love spread throughout the world, Spacebooger has instead loaded up a special for us fighters and everyone else.

Click the picture below to go check out his holiday web-comic and come back for the fights in 2011.

And remember, if you have a comics blog and want to join in, get in touch with Spacebooger; contact details are over at his site.

Have I Been Fooled?

A couple of days ago, I posted about DC's solicitations for Justice League: Generation Lost #21 which reads:

It’s the calm before the storm in issue #21. Beetle is dead, Max Lord has Checkmate and the hunt for Wonder Woman has begun. But Booster Gold has given up after losing another friend to Max Lord, and the JLI is left without a leader!

Over at Bleeding Cool they're saying the whole thing's a tease and that, with a possible TV series and new comic featuring the character, there's no way DC will be killing off Blue Beetle.

Here's hoping they're right and I'm wrong.

Hitman: Ace of Killers Trade Paperback

Damn You, Judd Winick, Damn You To Hell

I've just read the DC solicits for March over at Newsarama and what do I find?

It was hinted at before but the info for this issue makes it clear:

It’s the calm before the storm in issue #21. Beetle is dead, Max Lord has Checkmate and the hunt for Wonder Woman has begun. But Booster Gold has given up after losing another friend to Max Lord, and the JLI is left without a leader!

Not content with having killed off Ryan Choi's Atom, it appears Jaime Reyes is doomed as well.

Seriously, Winick: I hate you right now. This is a crap way to start Christmas week.

Crisis On Mobiles

Just a quick one - if you've got a smart phone, have a look at Crisis on Earth-Prime. Blogger released a new template for smart phones and I've switched on the option so it should look something like this:

I've tried it with the Android phone I have and it looks good, even if I say so myself.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #110

Edward I continues his cross-border relations policy

Missed out on my comics last week so a bumper haul this week - possibly the last of 2010!

Friday Night Fights - A Sting With The Tail

It's Friday and you know what that means - it's Fight Night once more, hosted by Spacebooger.

Time Master My @$$

Rip Hunter's mastery of time is well known - he's the go-to guy for all things relating to time travel. He's been now, then and everywhen so he knows what he's talking about, right?

From The Brave And The Bold #23 from the early part of 2009:

You read that? Rip Hunter says Magog's going to "do a lot of good over the next couple of years."  Booster Gold doesn't believe him, though, and plans to be the one to stop Magog when he goes sour.

Jump forward to 2010 and just a few weeks ago in Justice League: Generation Lost #13 we have this:

That big purpley-pink blob is Magog blowing his own head off under the control of Max Lord.

So, Rip - following the events of Blackest Night, we now know dead means dead so Magog's not coming back. Still want to lay bets on how much good he's going to do over the next couple of years?

Wednesday's World Wide Web #4

Okay, at first glance this looks like a completely gratuitous picture of some lass in a skin tight, Batman-logo speckled outfit:

But no - it's another website from the mind of Frank Miller and appears in The Dark Knight Strikes Again #2.

Want to "chat live with Batchick"? Try clicking on superchicksrule!.com but be ready for disappointment - neither Batchick nor the other Superchix are there.

This does, of course, mean there's a gap in the market for Frank Miller-inspired websites . . .

I Want One

I can honestly say until today I had never heard of Mezco Toys.

Having seen this version of Sinestro, however:

I can honestly say my battered, broken, limb-missing Darth Maul Lego keyring is going to be retired next May when these go on sale.

No Cocktail Post This Week

Apparently some people have had problems with snow, much like Hal Jordan here, and my local comics shop didn't get a delivery this week.

Oh well, twice as much to look forward to this week coming!

Friday Night Fights - Hhut Before Hh

It's Friday night once more so I'm sure I don't need to remind you what that means . . .

Less Dredd-ful News

I'm sorry, I swear I'll never make another Dredd pun, okay?

Just read the list for 2000AD / Rebellion reprints over at Bleeding Cool and there's some really good news.

Not only will there be volumes 17 and 18 of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files . . .

Not only will there be volume 2 of Judge Anderson: The Psi Files . . .

Wednesday's World Wide Web #3

Well here's a nice surprise - this website, superhumanresources.com actually works!

True, it redirects to this one and is the home of Super Human Resource, an actual comic by Ken Marcus and Justin Bleep.

Go check out issue #1 online for free.

Starting To Dredd It

Busy as all heck in work in the run up to Christmas so the number of posts might slip but hey, that's life.

I've been kinda looking forward to the forthcoming Judge Dredd movie, particularly after having seen the first image of Karl Urban as Dredd:

That works for me - sure, the oversized shoulder pad and eagle are pretty much non-existant but the general look is there.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #109

You're not alone, Ray; I miss them too.

Friday Night Fights - Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Friday Night Fights returns, hosted by the ever-present Spacebooger. This time round, it's another selection of free-for-alls though the prize fight will have a theme hinted at by the "Fight Life" title above which, unless I'm very much mistaken, shows the Posse from the excellent Blue Beetle series.

But enough of that for now - click the link below to check out my first fight of Fight Life!

Who Wouldn't Want One?

As I looked through Previews last week, I scanned the Apparel section even though the stuff no longer available here in the (currently) very cold UK.

Which is a shame, as I might have been tempted by this:

A Boba Fett hoodie! How cool is that?!

Wednesday's World Wide Web #2

Want to find out what's happening in the world of science fiction? Not afraid to be labelled as a geek? Then here's where you should go, my friends:

At the time of writing, that website (which comes from The Dark Knight Strikes Again #1) is currently up for grabs.

Go, my geeky news hounds - register the domain and provide your brethren with all the news that's fit to print!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #108

This is the grim and gritty future; Power Girl doesn't do hugs

Delayed Cocktail this week as I was away for the weekend with a bunch of writer friends.

• GREEN ARROW #6 - Ollie goes up against the Queen and hears some unconfortable truths about his dad. Maybe now we can move on to finding out more about that forest?
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #14 - Captain Atom gets bumped into the future and meets various future versions of current heroes, including a grim and gritty Power Girl (you can tell she's like that as she's dressed in black.) By the end of the issue, Atom's back in the present with the knowledge that Max Lord is planning to kill Wonder Woman which in turn will send the world on the road to the terrible future he's seen.
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #45 - anyone remember when this title used to be fun? Flash turns out to be sorta/kinda responsible for the villain du jour and Green Lantern Alan Scott remains paralysed. Wasn't Alan discovered to be composed entirely of the Starheart at some point and thus pretty much non-human/able to survive anything? Ah, it's all gone a bit miserable round here.
• TEEN TITANS #89 - the introduction of the annoying Damian Wayne as the Teen Titans' new Robin seems to be a great idea; he and Ravager are quickly at each others' throats. He's brash and not used to being a team player and messes up his first time out. This should be good.

And what made me smile:

Robin's complete obliviousness!

It Represents People

In Green Lantern: Emeral Warriors #4, Sodam Yat rebelled against the Guardians of the Universe, taking his Daxamite followers and planning to start up his own Corps . . . or take over the existing one after ousting the little blue fellas in charge.

His rebellion comes complete with a change of symbol:

Isn't that a lovely ideal? To represent "Everyone -- in every corner of this universe."

People like these:

and these:

and these:

and not forgetting these guys:

Yep, that's what you need - a symbol to represent all those that don't conform to the anthorpomorphic template of two arms, two legs and a head.

Oh dear.

Wednesday's World Wide Web #1

Every now and then, writers slip a web-site address into their comics. Sometimes they're genuine, sometimes not. I've only found a few at the moment so this will be a fairly short series for now but first up is this one from the recent Superman: Earth One hardback:

Probably not all that surprising but that one actually works and takes you here.

Doom Patrol vs Secret Six!

DOOM PATROL #19

SECRET SIX #30

500th Post

Oh yes!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #107

Because he's the Batman! Duh!

• THE BOYS: HIGHLAND LADDIE #4 - I really like Starlight. She's honest and smart enough to realise that something's fishy with how Wee Hughie got sight of that footage. And she's willing to put them both through the wringer in an attempt to salvage their relationship. Another excellent issue.
• BRIGHTEST DAY #14 - Deadman gets taught a lesson as we have a quick tour through his past and hey, what do you know, the resurrected Batman turns up. Oh, and Deadman and Dove get together at last - Hawk's going to be pissed!
• DC UNIVERSE: LEGACIES #7 - wait, John Stewart became Green Lantern after Armageddon 2001?! That makes no sense at all! Nice to see the highlights of the Death of Superman as well as Knightfall, though. And hey, Brian Bolland artwork on Camelot 500! Damn fine issue.
• GREEN LANTERN #59 - "You can't erase your crimes by putting on a ring." Ummm, isn't that kinda what you did, Hal? I don't see you serving time in a Sciencell for the death of Kilowog or Sinestro. Oh and I don't know what's funnier: Larfleeze stealing Flash's wallet or the fact that somewhere in that skin tight uniform Flash finds room to keep a wallet!
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #54 - interesting bit of back story on the Weaponer and who knew that skinny Sinestro could fight so well hand-to-hand?
• JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #51 - heh - the Atom explaining about parallel worlds to Alan Scott; like he needs a lesson on the Multiverse! Another big fight with lots of exposition.
• POWER GIRL #18 - you know, with the recent balls-up of Ice's origin over in Justice League: Generation Lost, I was expecting Winick to mess this title up as well. Thankfully, he's surprised me by turning in a decent story again of Power Girl vs Divine, but I'm still nervous about the long-term prospects.
• THE STAND: HARDCASES #5 - the Free Zone Committee are in place and everything starts to gear up now.
• ZATANNA #7 - a fill in issue is always a bit worrisome but Adam Beechen turns in a great one-shot issue. This really is a charming series!

And what made me smile:

I shall now be using this repeatedly for the Friday Night Fights!

Friday Night Fights - Prize Fight!

This is it - the big prize fight finish to the Free For All rounds and as I won a round of the qualifying twelve fights, I get to participate. So who have I called up to fight for me?

Yep, it's Green Lantern Hal Jordan up against his old foe, Goldface! This was back in the days when the GL rings couldn't affect the colour yellow due to a "necessary impurity" - there's no Parallax here, kids!

After dispatching the minions, Jordan turns his attention to Goldface himself, planning to use some aqua regia he's prepared.

But what's this?!

Goldface has improved his elixir, imbuing his "body with a super-auric energy -- giving me awsome powers over gold!" Man, you just don't get villains spouting that sort of dialogue any more, do you?

With his power ring powerless, Jordan has to rely on his fists:

and when that doesn't work . . .

Not even a wooden beam swung like Willie Mays can overcome Goldface's "awesome powers over gold!" and in moments, the fight ends with Jordan having seen better days:

Now, head over to Spacebooger by clicking on the image below, check out the other fights and then do what you know is right: vote for me!

This golden opportunity to make me the winner of Friday Night Fights first appeared in Green Lantern #48, cover dated October 1966, written by "Golden" Gardner Fox with art by Gil "Awesome Powers" Kane and Sid "Super-Auric Energy" Greene.

Green Ice!

So, you've probably all seen it by now but I for one enjoyed the Green Lantern movie trailer:

That cheered me up after a long day at work!

And it's nice to see that most of you agree with me about Ice's origins as well. I ran a little poll over the last week and you voted in the thousands . . . err . . . hundreds . . . ummm . . . dozens . . . ?

Okay, 16 of you lovely people voted anyway with most thinking that the original "Ice goddess born of a magical race of beings in the mountains" origin was the best. Thanks for playing!

Dear Judd

Seriously, Mr Winick, if this:

JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #19

leads to this:

POWER GIRL #21

you and I will be having words.

It seems unlikely that Blue Beetle would be held in a body bag by Power Girl with Batman looking on, I'll grant you that, but I just wanted to make it clear: do not kill Jaime Reyes!