Monday Memories #38 - Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #4

Each Monday this year I'll be taking a look back at a random comic, prestige format issue, graphic novel or collection of reprints from amongst my 3,000 or so comics that date from 1962 to 2003 - I figured anything in the last ten years would be too recent to hark back to.

The comics are chosen completely at random and apart from a four week lead-in period, even I don't know what I'll be looking at in the weeks to come!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #233

That's right, Flash - piss off the 40 foot giant...

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #225

Let's keep it simple, folks.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #217

He's not wrong.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #207

Hawksmoor paraphrasing Oscar Wilde. A Haaaawwwksmoooor?

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #203

The new Green Lantern ingratiates himself to the Justice League.
Well . . . most of them.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #198

You hear that, Justice League?

Earth 2 #6

From the solicitation:

Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by NICOLA SCOTT and TREVOR SCOTT
• The Green vs. The Grey! Who will decide the fate of this dying Earth: Green Lantern or Grundy?
• Will the new wonders of Earth band together to form the first super team since the death of the Trinity?
• Does super-genius Sloan really know what’s best for this world?

In order, I'm guessing Green Lantern; yes; and probably not though he thinks he does.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #190

Flash and Hawkgirl get off to a flying start.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #186

Please pardon my French

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #182

Boxing gloves are so 1960's

Who Was Who Is Who #18

So for want of anything better to write about on a Monday, 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 Grim Ghost's chance.

GORILLA CITY - probably going to appear (if it hasn't already) but as it's a place I'm not counting it.

More Earth-2 Info

James Robinson finally gets to talk about Earth-2 in a little (emphasis on little, there) detail over at Newsarama a day or two back.

From the interview, we get confirmation that this Earth-2 is, not surprisingly, a brand new version of the concept. After all, DC aren't going to reboot / relaunch their main universe and then allow an old version to keep on running in the background, are they? As much as some of us might have wanted / expected that very thing to happen just because they're using the term "Earth-2".

Anyhow, Robinson is asked fairly early on about what sort of world we can expect, the interviewer saying that based on the previews we've had - where Batman's willing to kill, Wonder Woman's the last Amazon, Superman's mourning Lois Lane's death and ready to kill - it seems Earth-2's going to be darker than expected. He replies:

"It isn't darker. It's just taken a different turn based on key events unfolding differently than on [the main DCU Earth]. And as the series progresses, you're going to see that, while it isn't a completely different world that's so alien to us that we can't recognize it, or even a world with a gimmick, kind of like the old Earth X where it hadn't won the war. Those kinds of things, which are very easy and pat to put down. 

This is an earth that in some ways is very like [the main DCU Earth], but in very key important ways, it's also very different. And obviously, I can't reveal too much now, but by the end of the first issue, I guarantee you you'll get a sense of how this world is different and then how it's familiar at the same time."

I'm more inclined to believe Robinson's take on this rather than DC editorial and am figuring that all the stabby, grim and gritty talk is DC shouting "Look how menacing this all is!" just to get people talking. I'm not saying that's a good tactic (I really don't think it is) but Robinson's reply gives a little more hope, I think.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #131

Oooh, she's feisty!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #130

The Spectre gets all snitty with Zatanna

Retroactive - The 70'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.

Any excuse to look at old comics, eh? 

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #124

Zatanna gets a strange display of loyalty

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #123

Power Girl asks what we've all been thinking for some time . . .

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #115

Zatanna makes a whole lot of sense

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!