Who Was Who Is Who #7

So for want of anything better to write about on a Monday, and with DC's New 52 well under way (how long are they keeping that title do you think?) I'm going to go through all my copies of Who's Who and see if I can predict who will make it over to the new DCU by the end of this year, who might make it and who hasn't got a Captain Compass's chance.

CADRE - these were the guys who, under the Overmaster, fought the Detroit League. They were, to a man, a complete shambles and no real threat to the League whatsoever as I mentioned last year. Will they appear again? Not a chance. Sure, there's the chance that the name might be repurposed but Fastball? Crowbar? Shrike? Naaaaah.

CAIN - as I mentioned with Abel in the first of these posts, there's the possibility that Cain might turn up in some Vertigo title at some point. In the new DCU, though? I doubt it.

CALCULATOR - given a fresh lease of life by being turned into the villains' version of Oracle, the Calculator was the go to bad guy for nefarious information. With Oracle getting out of the chair and back into the role of Batgirl, I think it unlikely that the Calculator will continue in that role. Who knows, maybe he'll go back to wearing a bloody great number pad on his chest again.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #105

See, there are worse things than pelicans

• THE BOYS #48 - with one of the best pastiche covers ever, the new Boys storyline gets underway. The Homelander's plans seem to be underway and Butcher's previous bastardry comes back to haunt him.
• BRIGHTEST DAY #13 - a Hawkman-heavy issue is never a bad thing even when all he's doing is beating the crap out of things which, let's face it, is what he does best. A quick cameo by the Resurrection Man reminds us that Deadman still has a mission to find the Chosen One and as a certain Batman has recently returned, there's no prizes for guessing who next issue will feature.
• CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES #5 - for a moment at the start of this issue there was a flash of what the Crossed world offers to writers: an exploration of how normal people deal with the extreme crap they find themselves in. Then they had to go and bring the corseted and stockinged mother into things as a cartoon villain out to get them. Ah well, not long to go now.
• DOOM PATROL #16 - would it be remiss of me to mention that I've met Brian Keene, author of this issue? And that he's a good friend of my mate Tim? Probably, so I won't. Even though it's something of a fill-in, this is still a good fun issue with some wonderful Giffen artwork. It manages to further Robotman's character as well, pushing him towards the horrible realisation that he may be turning into the Chief. Talking of Robotman, just about any other issue would have ended with that wonderful splash page of the alternate reality Cliff roaring in and I'd have been happy with that. Carrying on with an excellent next panel was just laugh out loud funny! A damn fine issue.
• FREEDOM FIGHTERS #3 - Phantom Lady turns out to be the ace in the hole to get rid of the renegade shamans before Firebrand's conspiracy theories take over. And hey, Miss America's back! Another cool issue of paranoid politics and superheroics.
• JSA ALL-STARS #12 - despite the cover depicting a big space battle, the vast majority of this issue deals with Cyclone and her attempts at leading a normal, de-powered life in university. Until not one but two apparent clones of her super-powered self turn up . . . or do they? Neither Roxy nor one of Cyclone's university friends seem to notice the doubles . . .
• LADY MECHANIKA #0 - finally managed to get my hands on this even though it's been out for a couple of weeks. The art's gorgeous and the steampunk genre is one I enjoy so I'll be sticking with this. The only slight quibble is Benitez's dialogue. Mostly it's okay but every now and then it's just a bit clunky and forced. But hey, it's an introductory issue so here's hoping it'll improve.
• SECRET SIX #27 - both teams go berserk in Skataris and Catman makes a passable Warlord. It's all a bit hectic, to be honest, and I'll be glad once they're back in the real world again.

And what made me smile:

Recipes at the back of Lady Mechanika! This is what we want!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #85

Black Alice produces the best Etrigan rhyme ever!

Bumper week this week following the no-show of my comics last weekend.

• Booster Gold #33 - understandable that the title's tying in closely with Justice League: Generation Lost and the whole hunt for Max Lord thing, but it was nice seeing the JLI-era League once more.
• Brightest Day #3 - nice, too, to see J'onn J'onnz being a detective once more, working out who was brought to Earth before him; and is it me or is Ronnie Raymond looking waaaaaaaaaaay younger than ever before?
• Doom Patrol #11 - oh man, and they thought Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol was weird! This is cool, though, with Ambush Bug helping the team out - the line about "saving that for last" almost got the Cocktail post this week as I literally snorted when I read it!
• JSA All-Stars #7 - from the cover you'd expect the service to be a closed casket affair as Damage is laid to rest; there's a touching eulogy from Judomaster which runs throughout most of this issue, giving it a quieter, respectful air. Very well done.
• Co-feature Liberty Belle & Hourman - the good guy / bad guy team up continues to make this an enjoyable story even if it is starting to drag a little.
• Justice League: Generation Lost #3 - it's Fire's turn to be tricked by Max Lord into becoming a renegade as the team, now with extra Blue Beetle which is always good, continue the hunt. Great line from Ice when she explains she doesn't know what the OMACs are - "I'm pretty sure I was deceased when they showed up the first time!"
• Justice Society of America #39 - now that, my friends, is a cliffhanger! Excellent issue!
• PunisherMax #8 - three stories running in parallel this issue with lines being crossed by the end of it.
• Secret Six #22 - aside from the splendid rhyme quoted above, this issue had several cool moments ranging from the cold with Catman and his father, to the sad with Black Alice and her father, to the funny with Ragdoll . . . just being Ragdoll, really.
• The Stand: Hardcases #1 - the focus of the story shifts to the bad guys as Flagg begins gathering his troops.
• Superman: New Krypton Vol 1 - picked up the trade of this pretty much on a whim so will read it over the next few days.

And what made me smile:

Booster Gold stands up for the JLI!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #81

Jeanette and Bane discuss fine cuisine

• The Boys #42 - Mother's Milk works out what Butcher's doing and isn't too happy about it while poor old Hughie is still being kept at arm's length.
• Brightest Day #1 - so the next big storyline kicks off with Aquaman raising dead sea creatures, Martian Manhunter remembering the old days differently and Hath-Set getting a hold of the Hawks' original bones. A good start all in all.
• Doom Patrol #10 - more crazy happenings with the DCU's weirdest heroes. As much as I like this title, I keep waiting for a cancellation notice to be posted somewhere . . .
• JSA All-Stars #6 - Johnny Sorrow's plan is revealed at last and the All-Stars regroup and take stock of where they're going. Anna Fortune seems to be sticking around which is cool as I like the character, though the implied attraction to Atom Smasher's bound to cause friction with Stargirl.
• Liberty Belle & Hourman co-feature - heroes and villains working together and actually getting on! This is a great little mini-series whose strength is the interaction between the characters - I've pretty much forgotten what they're all after but I'm happy to keep reading nonetheless!
• Secret Six #21 - if there was an award for best cover, this issue would win hands down. Catman continues on his rampage to find his son while Black Alice flips out and becomes the Demon Estrogen! Damn, I love this book!

And what made me smile:

There were several laugh out loud moments in Secret Six but this little exchange between Power Girl, Hourman and Citizen Steel from JSA All-Stars won out for me.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #79

Catman shows money is no protection in Secret Six #20

• Booster Gold #31 - the cover proclaims this issue is The End of an Era! as Dan Jurgens finishes his run as writer/artist on the title. It leaves things in a relatively tidy fashion for Giffen and DeMatteis to pick things up from next issue and starts to work in a little leeway with regards changing the past. Booster himself ends up feeling better than he has recently, Goldstar's back on the team and Rip Hunter's heading off to look for Batman. For me, though, the nicest touch was Booster visiting Siberia in 1908 to witness the Tunguska event without actually being part of it. Too often in time-travelling stories, the characters have to be revealed to be part of the event (witness Goldstar being the model for the Mona Lisa a few issues back) and it was just nice to have Booster and Rip watching something without the tired reveal of a twist. Anyway, sad to see Jurgens go but looking forward to Giffen and DeMatteis!
• Brightest Day #0 - a set-up issue as expected, this laid out the characters that have returned from the dead in Blackest Night, putting them in place for their individual stories that take place in either Brightest Day itself or other DCU titles. The ones holding most interest for me are Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Max Lord and the JLI, Martian Manhunter, Jade and the Green Lanterns, Firestorm and Sinestro.
• Green Arrow #32 - another end of an era as Green Arrow's story comes to a close. I'm a little peeved that he and Black Canary are splitting up again and that Ollie's becoming the lone hunter again but, for my sins, I'll be picking up the new series as well - it's the characters I follow more than the writer in most cases so I'll stick along for the ride. It was nice to see Canary vocalise what most readers have been saying, that Arrow's killing of Prometheus was nothing new and that he'd killed before.
• Magog #8 - as guest stars go, The Shield seems a little . . . C-list to say the least, and the Planeteers sub-plot rolls on.
• PunisherMax #6 - oh this is good! I don't know if the art of Steve Dillon just makes Jason Aaron channel Garth Ennis but this series is rolling along nicely. Bullseye's never a character I've had much to do with (not straying that much into the Marvel Universe) but this version works a treat!
• Secret Six #20 - hard to believe Catman was a joke character only a few years ago. Here he's driven, methodical and utterly ruthless. As the rest of the team go to help him, Bane and Jeanette look to hire others. I guess this means a second Six will be kicking around over the next few issues and when the originals return, there's bound to be a fight!

And what made me smile:

Bullseye does away with that whole "kill you with a toothpick" thing in splendid fashion!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #58

As I was away last week, this week's Cocktail post is bumper sized double issue!

• Blackest Night: Batman #3 - hmmm, seemed to finish on something of an anti-climax, I think.
• Booster Gold #25 - genuinely touching moment between Batman and Booster and Rip Hunter's chalkboard was entertaining as ever!
• Blue Beetle co-feature - come on! Anyone really believe Black Beetle is Jaime from the future?
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #6 - if I have to re-read all six issues to make sense of this, I think I'd be more inclined to read the whole of the Bloodlines crossover again.
• Green Arrow/Black Canary #25 - Green Arrow is apparently going to be an important character next year in the DCU; I kinda hope Andrew Kreisberg isn't writing him when that happens.
• Black Canary co-feature - well, that was a waste of ten pages.
• Green Lantern Corps #41 - oooh, just when things look their bleakest, the Indigo guy turns up!
• JSA vs Kobra #5 - as I've said all along, this is a really nice series both writing and art-wise and it'll be a shame to see it end.
• The Punisher #75 - crap - I missed #74! Still, nice collection of stories here and great to see the preview featuring Steve Dillon's artwork.
• Secret Six #14 - Catman shows he's still a bad guy at heart.

And what made me smile:

There were rumours for years about those two, you know . . .

And here's what I picked up this week:

• Blackest Night: Superman #3 - wow, Krypto really is a good dog!
• The Brave And The Bold #28 - you know, I think it took me until Flash took his mask off to realise that was Barry Allen! I'm so used to Wally being the Flash, I just didn't realise . . .
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #6 - so, only FCA: Ink to go and then we can all put Final Crisis behind us.
• Justice League of America #38 - the new era starts here, then? So what have we got? A teaser of a hidden villain; a return to Happy Harbour to reconnect with the old League; lots of self-doubt; reference to the end of a mini-series that hasn't actually ended yet; a completely pointless attack by an old villain; a realisation this version of the League's not worth continuing with; and a tie-in to Blackest Night. For a new era, it all sounds quite familiar.
• Power Girl #6 - whereas this is still fun and fresh month after month! A situation that would normally turn into a fight is handled differently here and that's so refreshing.
• The Punisher #74 - I missed this last month so picked it up this week. Not the best storyline ever, but Parlov's art is still great.
• The Stand: Soul Survivors #1 - this is the first issue of this adaptation that's felt a bit weak - knowing the book as well as I do, the burgeoning friendship between Nick and Tom was a lot richer in the original.

And what made me smile:

Talking of friendship, watching Power Girl and Terra interact is fun enough but having Terra map out the formula for superhero comics? Marvellous!

So You Think Catman's Cool?

Gail Simone really surprised everyone a couple of years ago with her successful reinvention of Catman in Villains United and later the Secret Six. It wasn't that long ago that he was simply the straight man for one of the most . . . unusual Green Lanterns:

Yep, back when he was still wearing bright yellow jumpsuits and, frankly, being nowhere near as cool as he is now, G'nort was on his tail.

And you know what they say: birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, dog shaped Green Lantern gotta chase two bit Batman villain!

And where do all good dog-cat chases end up?

Ah, Catman, who'd thought you go on to bigger and better things after this?

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #25

Another Garth Ennis title leads the Cocktail posts this week as Crossed #1 picks up the story a year after where the preview #0 left off. The world's gone to hell, an infection has ravaged the world and most of the population has become evil, depraved sons of bitches, willing to perform any and all types of atrocity. It's certainly not a happy go lucky book with little sign of the black humour that Ennis usually peppers his stories with. This is grim, horrible stuff but it's done so well you can't help but continue reading it. Comparisons to The Walking Dead will be made - a small band of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world - but the titular Crossed, the infected, aren't zombies. There's obviously some intelligence left as they go about destroying the remaining dregs of humanity despite the survivors' best attempts to continue. It's a tough read but well worth it, and the art by Jacen Burrows is gloriously hideous.

Dark Tower: Treachery #2 continues adding to the Dark Tower stories of Stephen King and introduces something that was missing from the original books: a female gunslinger. Or, at least, a young woman who wants to be a gunslinger. Rejected due to tradition, though, young Aileen is unlikely to gain that hallowed title despite her obvious proficiency with a pistol.

The big DC event of the year, Final Crisis, continues with Final Crisis: Revelations #3 with the re-born Cain - lately known as the immortal caveman Vandal Savage - seeks out the Spectre who had been the one to mark him all those years before. The heroes struggle against the people of Gotham who have succumbed to the Anti-Life equation that Darkseid unleashed at the end of Final Crisis #3; Batwoman attacks and almost kills the Question before the Spectre and Radiant arrive and seek sanctuary in a church. Joined by a few survivors, they are soon surrounded by the possessed civilians who wait for the arrival of someone. That, with no surprise, turns out out to be Cain/Savage, who arrives clutching the Spear of Destiny and demands that the Spectre face him so that Cain may have his revenge. Convinced of his powers, the Spectre appears but is more than a little surprised when Cain manages to pierce him with the Spear. Theological debates between the Spectre and the Radiant aside, this is  easily one of the best Final Crisis tie-ins and I can't wait for the next issue.

Talking of "no surprise there," Speedy and Dodger finally get together in the pages of Green Arrow/Black Canary #13 even though Speedy fronts up about her HIV positive status. It's nice to see a genuine romance blossom without Judd Winick feeling the need to make a big deal out of it; both Speedy and Dodger act realistically and while I'm no fan of his drag-a-plot-out-till-it-snaps story telling, he's done well with this. Back at chez Arrow, though, things aren't going that well with the recently revived Connor Hawke who appears to have no memory of himself and at the same time has developed some sort of regenerative ability where wounds heal up in a matter of seconds. That can't bode well.

Love is in the air elsewhere this month, specifically the pages of Green Lantern Corps #29 which really begins to explore the idea of the Star Sapphire Corps. Newlyweds Miri and Kered are heading off on their honeymoon when their ship is attacked by Mongul who raids it looking for food and when challenged almost casually kills Kered before leaving. Guy Gardner and Ice, meanwhile, attempt to find out where their relationship is going but, despite maturing over recent years, Gardner still manages to be a bit of an arse when it comes to Ice. Back at the ship, a distraught Miri plans to kill herself to be with Kered but is found by a Star Sapphire ring and becomes one of, it not the first Sapphire Corps members. Saarek - the Lantern who can talk to the dead - continues his secret mission to find the corpse of the Anti-Monitor while the scarred Guardian who sent him on that mission later has Gardner, Arisia and Sodam Yat head to Zamaron on a diplomatic mission after expressing her dislike of the Zamarons obvious attempt to emulate the Corps. There's a lot going on in this title at the moment and much of it is heading towards the Blackest Night event next year which is shaping up to be really big.

As much as I like Geoff Johns's writing, his secret origin of Hal Jordan which comes to an end in Green Lantern #35 has seemed to drag a little. Still, there's a couple of good points raised in this issue about why the buildings on Oa are all yellow and why the Guardians don't like the Lanterns to fraternise but otherwise the resolution seems a little weak for the length of the story. Still, next is the Red Lantern storyline which ties into Final Crisis.

Ah, I still miss The All New Atom which finished a few months ago, but at least I've now got my Gail Simone fix with Secret Six #2. Charged by an anonymous contact, the team band together to break Tarantula out of Alcatraz prison and escort her across the country to Gotham, knowing full well that every meta-human mercenary will be on their tails. While the breakout starts off well enough, it all goes down the pan fairly quickly and they're left trying to find a way out with a bunch of guards heading towards them. Meanwhile, the mysterious Mr. Junior comes out of his box for once and hires as many mercenaries as he can to capture Tarantula and the Six, offering an enormous bounty. And framing all this is the long-awaited fight between Catman and Batman which has been brewing ever since Simone revitalised Catman in the pages of Villains United. It's peppered with wonderful dialogue with Catman trying to work out why he can smell Mexican food and at the same time Batman attempts to help him and the Six by warning them off the Tarantula gig. This is Simone doing what she does best and I really hope her run lasts longer than The All New Atom.

With The Stand: Captain Trips #2, the adaptation of one of Stephen King's best books continues apace and while I'm enjoying it, it still has the same problem as the first issue - condensing such a huge book means cutting a lot out and it still feels a little rushed. If it's going to be done, why not do it right? But hey, that's just a fan of the book bitching about it as opposed to any complaint about the book itself which still looks gorgeous.

Trinity #19 switches focus this week, with Tarot and Gangbuster stepping up to the main story rather than being the back-up. In the new and alternate world that's been created recently, they need to find a way to bring back the heroes that they now only vaguely remember. On the way they meet a very different Alfred Pennyworth who gives them a little something to pass on to "the head of the J.S.I." - a scroll from the reing of Khufu who (notwithstanding Jim Starlin's recent retcon) was a previous incarnation of Hawkman. The world, meanwhile, struggles to remember the heroes of the trinity with a young woman becoming obsessed with drawing Wonder Woman, convinced that she was real despite the condemnation of her abusive husband. It appears she's not alone as Firestorm briefly arrives - due to him investigating the Cosmic Egg at the time of the reality warping, he still knows things shouldn't be like this.