Who Was Who Is Who #38

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 Roving Ranger's chance.

THE RED TORNADO AND THE CYCLONE KIDS - while Ma Hunkle had something of a revival as the housekeeper for the reformed Justice Society, I can't see her making an appearance in the new Earth-2 series.

RED TORNADO - he's an android! He's blown apart! He's the Tornado Champion! He's blown apart! He's the Tornado Tyrant! He's blown apart! He's a wind elemental! He's blown apart! He glimpses the multiverse! He's blown apart! Blimey, poor old Tornado's had it rough over the years. Don't think we've seen him yet (I'm writing this at the start of April) though hints about his creator T.O. Morrow were dropped in Justice League early on so while he may show at some point, I don't think it'll be before the end of 2012.

No More Time Travel

At least that's according to Dream Girl who's quoted on the DC Source blog as saying

"Flashpoint effect has definitely closed off time travel."

I guess that puts something of a block on Rip Hunter's activities for the foreseeable future (no pun intended) but it also closes off a big plot device. Time travel has long been a staple of science fiction and comics and to put a lock on it is either a very bold move which will force writers to come up with something different, or a very silly move which is effectively preventing writers from telling stories that can only happen due to time travel.

Wonder how long the ban will last?

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #121

Negative Man lets us know who'll be playing Batman in the new movie

Friday Night Fights - The Savage Hunter

It's Friday and we all know what that means, don't we? Fights!

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? #116

Power Girl explains the problems of dating Kryptonians

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #113

Oh, Guy Gardner . . . you charmer.

Time Master My @$$

Rip Hunter's mastery of time is well known - he's the go-to guy for all things relating to time travel. He's been now, then and everywhen so he knows what he's talking about, right?

From The Brave And The Bold #23 from the early part of 2009:

You read that? Rip Hunter says Magog's going to "do a lot of good over the next couple of years."  Booster Gold doesn't believe him, though, and plans to be the one to stop Magog when he goes sour.

Jump forward to 2010 and just a few weeks ago in Justice League: Generation Lost #13 we have this:

That big purpley-pink blob is Magog blowing his own head off under the control of Max Lord.

So, Rip - following the events of Blackest Night, we now know dead means dead so Magog's not coming back. Still want to lay bets on how much good he's going to do over the next couple of years?

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #87

Like you needed a reason not to piss Zatanna off....

• BATTLEFIELDS #7 - Anna Kharkova returns from The Night Witches, joining a fighter squadron, and was anyone surprised when the NKVD offcer turned out to be a coward?
• GREEN ARROW #1 - and we're back with the grim and gritty Green Arrow, newly separated from Black Canary and patrolling Star City's built-in-five-minutes forest. Oh, and the mysterious Isable Rochev? I'm going out on a limb and guessing that'll turn out to be Ollie's mother.
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #49 - and the big bad guy behind the Alpha Lanterns' revolt is revealed as Cyborg Superman. And if Tony Bedard breaks up Kyle Rayner and Soranik Natu over this Jade nightmare Kyle's having, I may have to send him a harsh letter. Can't the guy have one relationship that doesn't go down the pan?
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #4 - I thought it was kinda cool that it was Booster who worked out that Max Lord was behind the JLI getting together again, though the new Rocket Red seems a little . . . forced, I think.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE RISE OF ARSENAL #4 - I for one won't be following Arsenal into the pages of Titans; that one-shot where Ryan Choi's Atom got killed off was enough for me.
• POWER GIRL #13 - the comic that I've been dreading for some time finally turned up: Judd Winick's first Power Girl issue. As expected, it was nowhere near as much fun as the Palmiotti/Gray issues that preceded it and, judging by the solicitations for subsequent issues, it's probably not going to be much fun either. That said, so far it wasn't dreadful; the art was kinda nice, for example, and the Justice League: Generation Lost tie in was no surprise. I guess we see where this goes.
• TIME MASTERS trade paperback - picked this up on something of a whim; I like Rip Hunter as a character and time travel's always a good plot device but it was something of a shame to discover Hunter's a bit of a dick in this story.
• ZATANNA #2 - quickly rising to the top of my list (despite being last alphabetically) Paul Dini continues to write a good fun series with some lovely art. Fuseli may sound like a pasta dish but the nightmare demon almost managed to give Zatanna a run for her money. Despite ending up in the top hat, I think he might show up again. And the ghost on the last page? That's not going to end well!

And what made me smile:

Some people will put any old crap on their blog . . .

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!

New Time Masters Mini-Series

Cover to Time Masters: Vanishing Point #1

I'm not a massive Batman fan - I tend to pick up trades every now and then but nothing ongoing - so most of what I know about the whole death and return of Batman comes from Final Crisis and reading various articles on the internet. As such, I won't be picking up the forthcoming The Return of Bruce Wayne; I'll probably wait a year or so and grab it once it's collected.

However, I will be getting Time Masters: Vanishing Point, the new six issue mini-series from Dan Jurgens revealed on the DCU blog.

I've long been a fan of Jurgens - more for his art than his writing if I'm honest - and I like both Booster Gold and Rip Hunter in the current Booster Gold series so it makes sense to pick it up. Plus I've recently been going through a few of the Superman trades I have, in particular the death and return of the Superman where Jurgens played a major part, and there's mention of both Waverider and Vanishing Point itself in the books. Again, only reading Superman titles in trades leaves me with only a small amount of knowledge about Vanishing Point and the Linear Men but both are concepts that I find intriguing - people at the end of time keeping an eye on things is a brilliant idea so I'm interested in what Jurgens does with those in this mini-series.

And, of course, there's this line from the article linked above which describes Time Masters: Vanishing Point as:

"a story chock full of clues that point toward the next major DCU event"

Not that it comes as any real surprise but just a couple of weeks after Blackest Night finishes and in the week Brightest Day starts, there's already talk of the next major event.

They're not hanging around in DC are they?

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #76

Quote from Etrigan the Demon in The Brave And The Bold #32

• Battlefields: The Firefly And His Majesty #1 - the continuing story of the Tankies, I can't help but wonder if this relatively light hearted war tale is going to end nastily.
• Booster Gold #30 - Dan Jurgens's run is fast coming to an end with most of his loose ends wrapped up. I like his writing and his art so it's a shame to see him go but at least Booster, Goldstar and Rip will be in good hands with Giffen and DeMatteis . . . I hope! And hey, woah, hold on there - Hypertime?!
• The Brave And The Bold #32 - when did Aquaman go all Star Trek Vulcan on us? That whole "My thoughts are your thoughts... my will is your will." is straight out of a Vulcan mind meld . . . and I know that even without being a Star Trek fan!
• Green Arrow #31 - so here begins the Fall of Green Arrow who, annoyingly, has been turned into the same kind of jerk he was years ago: arrogant and selfish, unwilling to listen to his friends - I thought he'd grown out of that with the whole marriage to Black Canary? Oh, and now we dark Speedy? Poor old Green Arrow . . .
• Green Lantern Corps #46 - something of a holding issue to get to Blackest Night #8 but still a good read; could have done with more Anti-Monitor but that's just me!

And what made me smile:

Big on Star Trek references this week by the look of it! Never thought of Guy Gardner as a Trekkie but I can go with it.

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!

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #6

This week was a pretty strong week: Green Lantern #24 built on last week's Tales of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman and showed Earth at the mercy of Sinestro and his cohorts; The Punisher had Barracuda threatening Punisher's daughter; Green Arrow And Black Canary debuted, continuing the "What the - ?" ending from the Wedding Special; and Countdown #29 took us to Earth-8 where we met the new Multiverse versions of the Extremists.

In amongst all this carnage, though, it was the light hearted and engaging tale in Booster Gold #3 that turned out to be this week's cocktail, earning Geoff Johns his second since I started this thing (like he's counting...)

It's often the little things about this title that amuse me - as Booster and Rip Hunter travel through time, they glimpse other moments from the DCU. This week it was Anthro sporting his new jacket a la Mr Terrific that made me chuckle . . .

. . . that and Booster sporting the campest cowboy outfit I've seen this side of Bat Lash. The cow print design works for Rorschach in Watchmen but nowhere else!*

Sent by Rip Hunter back to the Old West, Booster has to find Jonah Hex and get him to tell him who Supernova wants killed. After several bottles of whiskey, Hex gives up the information: if he, acting on Supernova's wishes, had killed a doctor Jeb Westfield, the doctor wouldn't have been able to help deliver Jonathan Kent's great-grandfather. The young Kent would have died which meant that the infant Superman, rather than being found by the Kents, would have been found by Lex Luthor's father instead.

Hex, however, turned the job down meaning that Supernova has to attempt to kill Westfield himself. Despite the whiskey, Booster heads out to the Westfield's place to try and stop him.

Supernova is confronted by Booster and reverts to a drastic attempt to kill the good doctor - by teleporting a group of bison twenty feet in to the air above him and Booster! As assassination weapons go, I'd feel confident in suggesting that this is the first time bison have been used!

Booster saves the doctor, however, and follows the escaping Supernova into the time stream. This leads into three of the funniest pages I've read in comics for ages. Having met up with Rip Hunter again, Booster attempts to drive his time sphere, despite still being drunk. As Hunter protests, Booster asks "What am I really gonna hit out here?!"

As a set up, it's fairly obvious, but the pay-off on the last page makes it all worth it.

Johns again shows he can write good fun adventure comics - with Jeff Katz - that compliment his more serious work on titles such as Green Lantern and Justice Society of America. I really hope they keep it up.

* It's okay - I know the Rorschach design isn't based on a cow!