Who'd Like A Cocktail? #257

The same could be said for many things.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #254

Oh, that's going to end well

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #250

Stargirl's pleased for me reaching 250 Cocktail posts.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #247

Can I get an "Amen" on that, people?

DC's December Solicitations

ALL-STAR WESTERN #26

Trapped in modern times, Jonah Hex sets out to find the money he left buried around the southwest. But a chance encounter with John Constantine sets the Civil War vet on a collision course with the occult.

Jonah Hex on a bike and running across John Constantine! Why isn't the rest of the DCU this much fun?

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #229

Ladies and gentlemen: Hawkman summed up in four words.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #226

Heheh... snort...ha... hahaha,,, sorry... heh...

DC's June Solicitations

TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #1 - sort of tempted by this but, I have to admit, more from the point of it's a multiversal title, something that feeds into the forthcoming Trinity War and so I'm more interested in how it fits in rather than the character herself. Maybe I'll pick it up, maybe not.

Retroactive - The 90's Part 3

As DC Comics are celebrating the creators that made an impact in the 70's, 80's and 90's, I thought I'd wander through the same decades and pull out my favourite comic of each year.

And here we are, finally at the end of the 90's.

The Problem With Prophecy

One of the cool things about comics is that, for the most part, they never end. Oh sure, individual series will fall by the wayside due to poor sales despite them being damn good (Blue Beetle, I'm looking at you) but by and large the stories of characters will continue in one form or another. Even death is no barrier to a popular character - how many have died and returned over the last few years?

Of course, in the DC Universe at least, that's no longer possible in a post-Blackest Night world. Once you're dead, you're dead.

Unless you're the Tasmanian Devil.

But the longevity of some characters can also have a drawback, particularly in the world of comics where creative teams tend not to spend too long on the same books. When leaving a book, some writers may leave plot threads hanging but it's down to the incoming writers (or sometimes editors) whether or not they choose to pick up on those hints. Due to this uncertainty, it's perhaps unwise to make pronouncements about what will happen to a character in the future, as I mentioned before when Rip Hunter, that old Time Master, proclaimed Magog had a good future ahead of him.

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? #74

I read that line above in The Boys and thought "well that's just perfect for this week's low title count Cocktail post."

• The Boys #40 - poor old Wee Hughie's looking to get on the wrong end of a paranoid Butcher who's so used to betrayal and double dealing that he can't contemplate taking something at face value.
• Crossed #9 - the series finishes in the only way it could, I guess, open ended. Even though the forthcoming sequel (more correctly a separate story written in the same fictional world) won't be written by Ennis, I'll be picking that up as well.
• Justice League: Cry For Justice #7 - well, that's that over with then. Not entirely terrible following it's very shaky start but still less than I was expecting from James Robinson. And come on, killing Lian Harper? Jeez, that was low.
• JSA All-Stars #4 - Johnny Sorrow manages to snatch Stargirl and drop her in the Subtle Realms, betraying the rest of the Society at the same time.
• Co-feature Liberty Belle & Hourman - the husband/wife hero/villain teams are still trying to find that damn book; this isn't bad but feels like it is starting to drag a little, a result of the slightly cramped page count in which to tell the story - difficult to get things going in such a short time, but still fun nonetheless.
• Punisher Max: Butterfly one shot - hmmm, okay, this was nicely told up to the end where it didn't seem to do anything. Maybe that was the point?

And what made me smile:

Stool Shadow? *snort* Only Garth Ennis would call a hero Stool Shadow . . .

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #66

Oh yes! My Cocktail posts have a new banner where each week I'll be including my favourite quote from the comics I pick up!

• The Boys #38 - the origin of the Female as provided by Frenchie shows that the poor woman's as messed up as the rest of the Boys.
• Doom Patrol #6 - Giffen takes us through the various incarnations of the Negative Man in a wonderfully understated little tale.
• Metal Men - more Metal Men mayhem and mirth. I wonder if this is going to bite the dust along with the other Second Features?
• JSA All-Stars #2 - Ah, Matthew Sturges and Freddie Williams deal up more Justice Society larks with the villain behind the attempted abduction of Stargirl finally revealed. Really enjoying this series already!
• Liberty Belle & Hourman - an okay start to a murder mystery that pits the married couple of the Justice Society against the unmarried couple of the Injustice Society.
• PunisherMax: Get Castle - living about half an hour's drive from the setting of this story, it was kinda nice to read some believable Welsh-accented dialogue! Oh, and for the benefit of the Americans in the audience, when Kevin says to the Punisher "Alright, butt? How's tricks?" he's not calling him an "ass" It's a Welsh term that means "mate" or "friend." Don't say you never learn anything reading this blog.
  
• Red Tornado #5 - things come to a head as Red Volcano goes after Red Tornado's family. Only one issue to go to find out if Reddy manages to save Traya.
• Suicide Squad #67 - Blackest Night resurrects dead series as well as dead heroes and villains! Great to see Gail Simone and John Ostrander writing together with loads of guest stars dropping in as well.
• Weird Western Tales #71 - this one's not as effective as Suicide Squad as it seems solely an excuse to show some of the Old West DC characters but hey, nice to see Renato Arlem's work as I like his art.

Should have picked up Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2 as well but due to a snafu on my part, that's going to have to wait until next week.

And what made me smile:

Roxy, the All-Stars' new in-house AI messes with Power Girl's head!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #48

Been busy as heck all week, mostly with the Annotated Blackest Night, but here's my weekly round-up:

• Battlefields: The Tankies #3 - "Ye put one doon the barrel, son!"  Marvellous!
• Blackest Night: Tales of The Corps #3 - nice director's commentary on Blackest Night #0;
• The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead #3 - poor old Cort buys the farm;
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #3 - who'd have thought you could get closer with your tattoos?
• Justice League of America #35 - oh come on, another Justice League reboot and we get the Royal Flush Gang again?
• Justice Society of America #29 - Stargirl has a Highlander moment!
• The Last Days of Animal Man #3 - for a guy who spends all his time thinking about his family, Animal Man's family give him a rough time this issue;
• Teen Titans #73 - wait, Bombshell knows the chemical composition of mustard gas?!
• Wednesday Comics #4 - still delivering more pluses than minuses.

And what made me smile this week:

Heh!