Who'd Like A Cocktail? #249

Bad guys saving the world? Seems to be a theme this week.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #235

Not something you get to say everyday

WTF Was That All About? Part 2

Last week saw the final gatefold covers of DC's aborted WTF Certified event in April. The name of the now non-event was widely derided after it was revealed, and rightly so, but the covers themselves - the main cover supplemented by a surprise on the gatefold - was a neat idea. I tried to remain as spoiler free as I could, both in the run up to it when covers were being released on the net, and in my weekly Cocktail posts.

Now it's all over, I figure it's time for a quick look at the ones I bought, continued from yesterday. So, in alphabetical order...

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #214

Admitting it is the first step.

Multiversity Is Finally Coming

Well, if all goes according to plan, that is.

DC announced that Grant Morrison's much talked about but little seen series will be out late 2013. From the announcement:

MULTIVERSITY is an 8-issue series comprising 6 one-shots and a two-part conclusion with each issue featuring a 38-page lead story followed by an 8-page backup. Each issue takes place on a different parallel world from the main DC Earth and functions as a number one issue. Each world in the Multiverse publishes comic books about the heroes on the OTHER worlds. Once the characters realize this, they then unite to respond to the villains!

Additionally, each universe (which have been brewing in Morrison’s mind for years) will open up an endless series of worlds and realities for future writers and creators to use, expand upon and enjoy.

Who Was Who Is Who #37

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 Reactron's chance.

PUZZLER - umm . . . who, now? Apparently an old Superman villain, "obsessed with games, tricks and puzzles" who was intent on outwitting Supes. Yeah, don't think we'll be seeing him.

QUAKEMASTER - pretty sure this is one Batman villain that we won't be seeing again.

QUEEN BEE - there's been a couple of versions of the Queen Bee: the original alien seductress and her modern-day JLA version along with the Queen of Bialya who caused trouble for the Justice League way back when it was funny. Will we see either in the New 52? I don't think so.

Perusing Previews - June 2012

Seriously, if the title of your graphic novel is Bazongas, I don't think you need to find out "more information on this item" You probably know what you're going to get.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #26

After a month off due to a hectic work schedule, the Cocktail post returns as I run through what I've bought this week.  And what a bumper week to return, as well, as there seemed to be shed-loads of comics.

Ah, Ambush Bug, the DCU is a better place for having you in it.  Ambush Bug: Year None #5 continues the irreverant, nonsensical but above all funny exploits of Keith Giffen's wonderful creation as he hops from one alternate world to another, searching for . . . well . . . a job and . . . er . . . Dan Didio?! It lurches from one gag to another with little regard for plot, let alone continuity, and is all the richer for it. It'll be a shame when this finishes with the next issue but we can hope the Bug will show up somewhere in the DCU soon - hopefully with the Heckler in tow!

Booster Gold #15 picks up from #12 and now regular writer Dan Jurgens carries on Chuck Dixon's unfinished story of museum thefts and time-travel. After a brief visit to the 16th Century where Booster's sister Goldstar turns out to be the model for the Mona Lisa, they return to the present to find Rip Hunter and his lab missing, all because a knife wasn't replaced following the museum theft from several issues back. Cue more time travelling and an awkward reunion with the Elongated Man and a mysterious villain before Booster ends up stuck in what appears to be World War I.

The nastiness (and that's putting it mildly) continues in the pages of Crossed courtesy of Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows as the survivors struggle to come to terms with their new world. A simple mistake by one of their number means they're on the run once more and are quickly made to realise that the diseased Crossed are smarter than they first might appear . . . and a damn sight more disgusting as well. They come up with a novel way of spreading their disease (and yes, that's a pun) which results in another death among the survivors as they move off, heading for a safe haven. It's a tough, visceral story that makes me wonder how it's all going to end.

The Project Superpowers universe expands a little more as well with The Death-Defying 'Devil #1. The silent martial artist with the steel boomerangs gets his own series and, apparently, his own set of bad guys, one of who is dressed the same as himself but with green instead of red on his costume. I'm enjoying the new world these old characters are establishing and am looking forward to the rest of the specials spinning out of Project Superpowers.

Final Crisis #5 finally arrives and starts to tidy things up a little. The whole Green Lantern/deicide charge is brought to a close with the revelation that Granny Goodness is inhabiting Alpha-Lantern Kraken and the Guardians of the Universe charge Hal Jordan with saving the universe.  In 24 hours, no less. Poor old Dan Turpin has been subsumed and is now simply Darkseid who intends to end the entire world while Mr Miracle attempts to save it with the help of Checkmate. An assortment of heroes attack Darkseid's base in Bludhaven prompting a fight between various Shazam powered characters. Meanwhile the exiled Monitor, Nix Uotan, begins to remember things about his previous life as Libra heralds the arrival of his dark lord. It's all going very wrong for the heroes and I like it but, despite the tie-in series, it still doesn't feel like a big enough event. Something like this should have been a crossover series in the truest sense - we should have had to pick up half a dozen issues of series we don't normally buy because as it is at the moment the DCU we're seeing here isn't reflected in any of the normal monthly series. How can this be a universe-shattering event if no-one else knows it's going on?

Talking of the Final Crisis tie-ins, Final Crisis: Revelations #4 was out as well and I still think it's one of the better tie-ins, if only for the central conceit that long-time villain Vandal Savage is actually Cain, the Biblical murderer. With the use of the Spear of Destiny he manages to separate the Spectre from his mortal hose and subjugate it. The Question puts up resistance with the aid of the Radiant and Huntress but it seems to be too little, too late as Savage/Cain uses the Spectre to release the Anti-Life Equation on the world.

In what appears to be the definition of "jumping on point for new readers" new writer Andrew Kreisberg gives us all a run down of who Green Arrow is in Green Arrow/Black Canary #15. It's neatly done, as well, running us through his origin in a handful of pages before, via a flashback, we get a scene where he sweeps out the supporting cast. Ollie's son Connor, fresh from the Judd Winick written "coma and new powers" nonsense, decides to split just as Speedy decides to leave as well as her new boyfriend lives in London. All of this is sandwiched between a framing scene where Ollie and Dinah take down a low-level thug and appear to have (unknowingly) created the new Fiddler. Not a bad issue, but Kreisberg seems to think the title of the comic is still Green Arrow - where's Black Canary's origin? If it's not in the next issue, there will be words.

Justice League Of America #27 had me at a bit of a disadvantage. That nice two page spread where a whole bunch of characters are introduced? I had no idea if they were brand new or part and parcel of the whole Milestone Comics event that happened a few years ago. Still, I went with the flow and the story's shaping up nicely. Best part of the whole issue, though, was Black Canary finally standing up as the leader of the League and chewing out Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman over their secret meeting room.

More Garth Ennis goodness as he and long time collaborator return to the Punisher with Punisher: War Zone #1. It's been a while since I've seen any of Dillon's art work and it's nice to see it again; his clean lines and excellent facial expressions are a joy to see. Couple that, of course, with Ennis's writing and it's going to be no surprise that this Punisher series will be a success even if the dreadful looking film it shares a title with isn't. Chimps flinging junk, lesbians beating up men and the return of Ma Gnucci whom the Punisher killed years before all add up to the sort of story that defines entertainment, at least in my home. I think I might need some help.

Gail Simone fills the gap left by The All-New Atom's demise with her run on Secret Six as the gang try to get the Get Out Of Hell Free card across the country. As Tarantula keeps saying, the card plays on their fears and guilt and they slowly begin to turn against each other before they arrive at Las Vegas only to find that the monstrous Junior is already there, along with a whole host of super-powered mercenaries. Chief among them is Cheshire who saves the mercenaries the bother of killing the Six by having poisoned their last meal.

Finally Trinity #28 continues the whole alternate Earth storyline as the should-have-been friends of the main heroes try to set about bringing the missing Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman back to where they're needed. While that's going on, the villains of the piece are causing problems for the Society of this world by releasing villains from all sides before Tomorrow Woman arrives and attempts to help. It's still good fun that romps along at a cracking pace and while it may be unfair to compare it to Countdown, you can't help but think that this is how that series should have been handled.

Final Crisis #4 Annotations Complete

Finished the notes on Final Crisis #4 over at the Annotated Final Crisis.

There's a few things I need a hand with in this issue in so far as identifying a couple of characters. You can find all the ones in the Help Needed page but lets see if we can get something out here as well:

Pages 12-13 - Panel 1    In the skies above Checkmate's castle, Hawkgirl battles Silver Swan though I'm unsure as to who the flaming, flying character on the left is. Anyone?

Pages 12-13 - Panel 3    Green Lantern Alan Scott stands in front of a large screen depicting the status of various heroes. In the very top right hand corner is an unknown gold coloured man.  --  solved; it was Robotman.

Pages 12-13 - Panel 5    Not reading Checkmate, I'm unsure of who the speaker is; beside him are Amanda Waller and The Question, Rene Montoya.  --  solved; it was Taleb Beni Khalid.

Page 24 - Panel 2    Above the Checkmate castle from the top down are Killer Moth; an unknown Justifier; Hawkgirl; possibly Sun Girl; Green Lantern Alan Scott; Bolt; Man-Bat; and, in the whirlpool, Typhoon.

Who'd Like A Cocktail? #21

Slight change here to the (recently neglected) Who'd Like A Cocktail? post. Instead of picking out a single comic, I'm going to just run through my complete week's haul - damn it, why not?

Booster Gold #12 - who knew, indeed, that Batman was such a clothes horse? The Chuck Dixon story which, in two issues, has convoluted time more than Geoff Johns' entire run continues here but doesn't conclude, even though it finishes on a definite cliff-hanger. Connected to Dixon's recent sudden departure from DC? Possibly. Either way, I have to admit to being marking time until Dan Jurgens takes over as writer.

Dark Tower: Treachery #1 - I'm a big fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower books and the adaptations/extensions to the story that Marvel have published have been excellent. As with the earlier series, the art on Treachery is simply stunning, but I find myself wondering whether the team will stick together for the entire run. At this rate, they'll be working on Dark Tower comics for the rest of their lives!

Final Crisis: Revelations #2 - something else I'm a big fan of: crossover events. This joins another bunch of issues that I really have to get off my arse and note up for The Annotated Final Crisis site but, as I've mentioned before, work keeps getting in the way. The Spectre and The Question face off (as much as The Question can) as the world goes to hell with the events of Final Crisis #3. Not having read the recent Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood series, some of the references to The Question's recent activity are lost on me but this is still a damn fine read. The Radiant, the spirit of mercy, makes her debut but what really grabbed me was the revelation of Vandal Savage's part - an excellent surprise!

Green Arrow/Black Canary #12 - a whole year in and this title keeps dragging me along, unsure of why I'm still reading it. I guess it's one of those that I'm reading out of loyalty to the characters rather than the writer. Judd Winick seems to have taken forever to get round to resolving the mystery of who shot Connor and now that it's done, I wonder if the series will find a higher gear? Full marks to Mike Norton on the art front, though.

Green Lantern Corps #28 - I like Peter Tomasi's writing, though, and his tenure on Green Lantern Corps has been a solid start but most of this issue seemed like laying groundwork for the forthcoming Blackest Night event. A Lantern who can talk to the dead and the scarred Guardian who wants the corpse of the Anti-Monitor found, but wants it done secretly is a fairly obvious signpost. Having Ice turn up early on Guy Gardner's doorstep was a nice touch; I read Justice League when their whole tentative romance started with the obnoxious Gardner simply trying to get in her blue and white spandex pants. With the more mature, but still brash, Gardner now in place, I'm interested in seeing where it's going. Of course, that last glimpse of Ice with the power battery at her feet could mean that it's not Ice after all . . .

The Stand: Captain Trips #1 - like I mentioned above, I'm a fan of Stephen King's work and, of all of them, The Stand is probably my favourite book so I was really interested to see what was happening with this. The art is excellent and the writing's spot on. My one complaint is that it seems a little rushed. The Stand is a huge book and, having read it several times, I get the feeling that they're trimming a heck of a lot off it to make the adaptation work. Which isn't to say it's bad, but it is a bit rushed.

Trinity #15 - the mystical, tarot-card driven nonsense continues once more! Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the book, but it seems to be labouring the point a little . . . but then without the symbolism angle of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman forming a trinity, where would the book be? What I would like to know, though, is where Batman's ears have gone? That scene a few pages in where the whole Justice League are trying to work out where the bad guys are? Batman's ears are little more than stubs at the top of his head! I demand Kelley Jones go round to Mark Bagley's house and show him how to draw a damn good pair of bat-ears! There's one hell of a fight in the back-up story, though, illustrated by Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens - whose work looks gorgeous - and which ends with Hawkman about to hit something very hard!