Who'd Like A Cocktail? #39

A bumper haul this week:

• Battlefields: The Tankies #2 - if it weren't for my self-imposed family friendly position on this blog, there's several scenes I'd love to quote from this issue!
• Crossed #5 - and the same goes for this one!
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1 - much as enjoyed Sturges and Willingham's Final Crisis Aftermath: Run, I wonder if DC saved the best till last? This was really good.
• Green Lantern #41 - Agent Orange gets an origin story of sorts.
• Justice League of America #33 - with the news that Dwayne McDuffie's been fired from writing this title, I have to wonder what's going to happen to it. Is Geoff Johns going to take over as has been rumoured?
• Justice Society of America #27 - and talking of Johns, Jerry Ordway's fill-in story's not bad at all.
• The Last Days of Animal Man #1 - picked up on the off chance it might be good and, for a first issue, it's not bad.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1910 - wooyay! Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill! Damn this is good!
• The Stand: American Nightmares #3 - the trip through the Lincoln Tunnel - one of the best scenes in the original book - and they managed to nail it here!
• Teen Titans #71 - poor old Ravager's out on her own but at least she's got the back-up feature next month.
• Trinity #52 - and that's it, it's all over and, for me, was a better Crisis than that Final one.

And what made me smile this week:

An Alan Moore one-liner from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1910

A King-Sized What?

I know this is the sort of thing covered by What Were They Thinking (hopefully the site'll be back up soon) and may even have appeared on there already, but when I read this a couple of days ago, I just knew I had to post it.

That's 1940's slang written in the mid-80's and spoke by Tarantula in the pages of All-Star Squadron #43.

How times change!

Fan Made Green Lantern Trailer

Holy crap, this looks superb!

Who Was That Masked Woman?

I've been re-reading JSA over the last couple of days, cataloging the series for the lovely people over at Collectorz.com and have come across something that doesn't really sit right with me: the identity of the Crimson Avenger.

One of the things I like about the Collectorz comic database is that it allows you to record which characters appear in particular issues and, as I was updating JSA #33 onwards, I came across the fantastically designed Crimson Avenger. Now in both the Collectorz database and elsewhere, this version of the Avenger is listed with a secret identity/alter ego of one Jill Carlyle.

Trouble is, I can't find anywhere - in a comic I mean - that definitively states that's her name.

The issues of JSA would be the most obvious place to start, of course, but throughout the Stealing Thunder storyline and #52 and #53 where she takes Wildcat to task, no mention is made of her real name.  She simply appears, does what she needs to do, and vanishes in a haze of red mist.

The Wikipedia entry also lists her as Carlyle although it does go so far as to include the line "She... might be called Jill Carlyle." (that's my emphasis there) as well as the data panel entry which lists her alter ego as "Unknown."

The Comic Book Database lists her as Carlyle with no mention of where that name comes from but the DC Comics Encyclopedia lists her alter ego as unknown as well:

That scan's from the updated and expanded version, by the way.

So where has Jill Carlyle come from?  The closest I can come to is this page from JSA #53:

Click on it to make it readable. In that page, the Avenger relives the murder of Jill Kyle before heading off, presumably, to track down Kyle's killer because that's what she does. That's not her grave, just that off the latest victim she has to avenge.

If anyone knows where the name of Jill Carlyle came from, please post a comment and let me know.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #38

Been a bit quiet round here lately as I've just been manic in work. Still, least there's always comics to look forward to on the weekend!

• Black Terror #4 - a good solid end to what's been a good, solid story; shame the last issue was a little delayed but the wrap-up was worth it.
• The Boys: Herogasm #1 - "Krow eht tfahs . . eldarc eht sllab . . . " One for the Preacher fans!
• The Brave And The Bold #23 - what are the chances Magog will be turning up in Booster Gold's title sometime soon?
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1 - "Suspension of disbelief: ON." Best line in the comic and it was on the first page; the rest was so-so from there on in.
• Green Arrow And Black Canary #20 - oh, so it's all Dinah's fault is it? Riiiiiiiiiiight, of course it is.
• Secret Six #9 - why isn't Gail Simone writing everything in the DCU?
• Trinity #51 - the big three are back to normal at last.
• Vigilante #6 - that Vigilante: he's all "I'm gonna kill Jericho," then when he has the chance . . . actually, I think he might have done something worse than kill him.

And what made me smile:

Bane from Secret Six #9 who tried, bless him, he really did!

Blackest Night: Superman #1

Co-Feature Blues

I'm kinda sad that the new Captain Atom co-feature will appear in Action Comics. I like the character - have done since the very early days - and after the mauling he had during Countdown where he became Monarch once more and presided over the destruction of an entire Earth, I'm interested as to how he's dealt with.

The interview here at Newsarama with the story's writers, James Robinson and Greg Rucka, is interesting and grabs my interest more than a little. Greg Rucka says:

"I can tell you tight now that when the co-feature starts, the fan reaction is going to be "What the ---?" I think that there will be a contingent that will be ticked off by it - there’s always that contingent who, when they find something different that’s not explained immediately, they become furious. So the furious brigade will be burning us in effigy from the start, but it makes sense - there’s a reason for it all."

and, a little later:

"NRAMA: Would it be fair to say that there’s a fair amount of redemption in this story, or a putting him back on the tracks in a sense?


GR: I think it’s very fair to say that, in many ways, this is a very redemptive story."

all of which makes me rather depressed.  I'm not a huge an of Superman and have never picked up his titles as an ongoing, just the occasional trade paperback. And with the state of the economy right now, there's no real way I can pick up a new title just for the back-up story.

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.