Who Was Who Is Who #12

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 2012, who might make it and who hasn't got a Dr Cyber's chance.

DESTINY - ever since Neil Gaiman pinched Destiny and decided he was one of the Endless, he's pretty much been off limits. Even with the recent relaxation between the Vertigo and DCU lines, I can't see him arriving soon.

DETECTIVE CHIMP - one of best characters in the sadly short lived Shadowpact series, I'd love to see him back in action as the ex-alcoholic, surly genius that he is. Kind of doubt it'll happen, though.

DIAL "H" FOR HERO - had I been writing this just a couple of weeks earlier, I'd have said not a chance of ever seeing this series again. As it is, it's been picked up as part of DC's Second Wave of comics so even though it hasn't been published yet, it's going in the "in place" column.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #115

Zatanna makes a whole lot of sense

Who's Who In The JLA/JSA?

Last week's issue of Justice League of America (#48) had a couple of things that kinda threw me off balance when I was reading it. Hopefully long time readers know that I like to be as positive and upbeat about the comics I read as I can - Cthulhu knows there are plenty of comic blogs out there that bitch about things and I've never wanted to do that.

However (you just knew that was coming, didn't you?), like I said, Justice League... #48 had some things that I had to drag out here.

In an attempt to disrupt the Starheart taking over more heroes, Mr Terrific ropes in both Supergirl and Power Girl to help him build a device that will sort things out. It's great that Terrific recognises Power Girl is more than just a fighter - he specifically has her help because of her "scientific abilities" - and her reasoning about not really getting involved in that side of things with the Justice Society rings true. She wants to keep her Power Girl and Karen Starr personas separate. But then James Robinson has her say this:

Charles?! Who the hell is Charles?! The only Charles in the JSA was Charles McNider, the original Dr. Mid-Nite and he's been dead since Zero Hour! Was she confusing McNider with Pieter Cross, the current Dr. Mid-Nite?

Later on in the book, the good guys of both the JLA and the JSA take on Green Lantern Alan Scott who's possessed by the Starheart:

Now I'm not going to go on about the coloured and mini-icon styled caption boxes - others have done that better than I could - but I do need to pick up on something in them.

The captions at the top belong to Hourman, those below (mostly) to his wife, Jesse Quick. Here's what Jesse's say:

It's clearly Jesse's captions because she's got the Liberty Belle logo on the side . . . despite the fact that she's gone back to using the Jesse Quick name but that's almost by-the-by because she refers to her husband, Rick Tyler, as Rex.

Rex Tyler was the original Hourman and is Rick's father!

I'm not suggesting that Jesse and her father-in-law are having an affair that she can't stop thinking about when she's in the middle of a fight alongside her husband. What I am suggesting is that James Robinson (and I'm being charitable here) is obviously confused as to which heroes are currently in the JSA.

This book has three editors listed - Assistant Editor Rex Ogle, Associate Editor Adam Schlagman, and Editor Eddie Berganza. You'd think one of them would have caught these mistakes, surely.

New Power Girl Creative Team Announced

Cover to Power Girl #13

And, for me at least, it's not good news.

Over at the DCU blog, the new creative team for Power Girl has been released - art wise, the new artist Sami Basri (whose cover for issue #13 is on the right) looks promising. It's nice and clean although they've gone for the classic costume rather than the latest Amanda Conner design but hey, it's not terrible.

Writing wise . . . well, there's where I kinda got dismayed. Replacing the fun and witty Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey is Judd Winick.

Judd.

Fricking.

Winick.

I'm not a fan and nor are many of the commenters over at the original post linked above. The very first comment simply reads "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo...." a sentiment I can heartily get behind.

I'm not a fan of his work on Green Lantern or Green Arrow - though I stuck out both runs because of the characters - and the Trials of Shazam left me cold. I'm just waiting for Power Girl's supporting characters to become relevant . . . we'll discover Terra is gay or PG's cat is HIV or Dr Mid-Nite's blindness is cause by global warming or something. I've nothing against serious fiction dealing with real issues but not in the pages of Power Girl, thank you very much.

Winick, of course, is also writing the up-coming Justice League: Generation Lost so of course he'll be tying Power Girl into that . . . which makes me wonder if this is the only reason he's managed to get this damn writing gig.

Damn it all . . .

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #64

This is it, the last Cocktail post of 2009! My local comic shop will be getting another delivery next week but I'll be away for Christmas by that point so no more new comics till 2010.

• The Brave And The Bold #30 - odd that I should enjoy the two page recap of Justice League International #7 almost more than the rest of the story. Still, nice seeing the original Dr. Fate once more.
• Green Lantern Corps #43 - after the shock ending of last issue, it was kinda cool to see Kyle brought back and in such a way that it was believable (within the confines of the story at least.) With all the death that been hanging around the Blackest Night event, I did wonder whether Kyle was done for good.
• Justice League of America #40 - did we really need to see Dr. Light lose her costume bit by bit? I don't know, it just seemed a little tacky and unnecessary to me.
• Power Girl #7 - easily the best comic this week, Power Girl is consistently entertaining. With lines like "Fetch the seduction musk rifle", "You shot cologne at me?" and "Stop referring to yourself in the third person! It's annoying!" coupled with the art of Amanda Conner, this series is one every DC fan should be reading.
• Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #5 - with a handy recap of recent events, this series is moving forward apace now.

And what made me smile this week:

There were so many potential moments from this issue, but Power Girl and Dr. Mid-Nite's exchange was great.