Hawkeye Returns! (Sort of...)

I first fell in love with the character of Hawkeye (Marvel's version of DC's Green Arrow) when the limited series of the West Coast Avengers came out in 1984. He was brightly clad, led the new (and, in my opinion, much better) Avengers team, and had an interesting love-hate relationship with Mockingbird (Marvel's version of DC's Black Canary). I followed him through the years until I stopped reading comic books somewhere around 1993.

Rejoining the world of comics books a year ago, I was excited to find a mini-series titled New Avengers: the Reunion coming out devoted solely to Hawkeye and Mockingbird. Yea! Unfortunately, Hawkeye (Clint Barton) is now called Ronin, whom I last recalled as being a samurai character in the DC Universe created by Frank Miller. It was jarring to say the least, but I'll roll with it, hoping that he'll lose that persona and go back to his original by the end of the series. Still, at least it's the same two characters, and I'm enjoying their reunion, as rocky as it may be.

Now (in Spring 2009) comes a mini-series called Dark Reign: Hawkeye. Yea! Come to find out, it's not Clint Barton in the blue and purple costume. It's Bullseye masquerading as Hawkeye in an attempt to discredit the Avengers. For example, Hawkeye (aka Bullseye) saves a woman from getting raped (yea!). When she asks him for an autograph, he stabs her in the eye with the pen (ouch!). The first two issues have been pretty good, but this is not your 1980s Hawkeye series. It's darker. It's grittier. And it's obviously much more violent! Here's hoping Clint Barton makes an appearance in the final issue and wrestles the Hawkeye title from Bullseye.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

Dear DC Comics,

Thank you for bringing back Conner Kent (aka Superboy). I can't wait to read his monthly adventures, loves, and life in the new Adventure Comics.

Love,

A BIG Conner Fan

What's New With Superman?

Question: What's New With Superman? Answer: LOTS.

I haven't been a fan of Superman comics since John Byrne revitalized him back in the 1980s. Even throughout the "Death of Superman" and Doomsday storyline in the 1990s, the stories lacked luster. This was then followed by four new Supermen all vying for the title. Yawn. Wait...that sounds vaguely familiar. Oh, yeah...now I know. It's been 15 years since Superman "died" and now Batman has recently "died," and there are "new" characters from the Batman Family popping up everywhere in the new "Battle for the Cowl" storyline. Thankfully, this time around the concept seems more intriguing as they're using pre-existing characters that haven't gotten the attention they deserved over the years. But I digress...

Today, though, new life has been breathed back into all of the Superman-related comics (Superman, Action Comics, Supergirl, and the new Superman: World of New Krypton) and I now get excited to read each of them. What's the big deal? First, Jonathan Kent, Superman's adoptive father dies. As Superman tries to come to terms with the death, he suddenly finds 100,000 Kryptonians now living on Earth (from the lost Kryptonian city of Kandor that was kept shrunk aboard Brainiac's ship). The citizens of Earth become fearful and all Kryptonians except for Superman are asked to leave. Superman leaves Earth to return to his "homeworld" to be amongst his people, but more importantly, to keep an eye on them (especially General Zod, head of the military) because he doesn't trust them. New Krypton is also led by Supergirl's mother and after the death of her husband and Supergirl's father, Superman is a bit unsure about her stability as well. There are so many characters to enjoy and conflicts to witness that I'm never sure what's going to happen next. In her own title, Supergirl is discovering the mystery of "Superwoman" who uses unorthodox ways to issue justice. Is she friend or foe? Exciting!

Meanwhile, back in Action Comics and Superman's own title, someone has to take up the reigns during his absence. Enter: Mon-El (from the Legion of Superheroes), the Guardian, and the new duo of Nightwing & Flamebird. Mon-El provides a fish-out-of-water storyline that Superman probably had way back at his beginning in the 1930s/40s. Nightwing (not Dick Grayson from the Batman mythos) & Flamebird offer some mystery and...well, action...to the Action Comics title. The Guardian is...kind of average. I think we can do without him. He's probably my only disappoint with the new direction of the Superman comics. I just try to overlook him, but admire the shininess of his costume.

Way to go, DC Comics! Thanks for getting me interested in the Superman Family again.

Magneto & the Holocaust

Magneto Testament delves into the background and childhood of Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, a Jewish boy from Germany who survived the Holocaust and would one day become the villain Magneto. He is born Max Eisenhardt, though, which is the first unresolved mystery. Why wouldn't he keep that name or change his name to something less...Jewish? You would think to escape the Nazis, he'd change it to something that would be less identifying...but no; that wasn't the case and we, the readers, were never told why.

Although I found the story enjoyable and moving, I was a little disappointed in the mini-series as a whole. I think my expectations were higher for the book because of its (supposed) powerful storyline, the beautiful covers, and $3.99 per issue price tag. Unfortunately, if the cover didn't say "Magneto" on it, one would never know that the comic was about this X-Men villain rather than some other boy during the Holocaust. Besides the names being different (and, again, we weren't given an explanation about the name change), the story sped along so fast that it read just like a Holocaust timeline with not a lot of depth to the characters. We didn't have a chance to learn about the characters as much as I had hoped to, including Magneto and his family. It seemed that while a lot of time was put into researching the Holocaust to ensure the events were accurate, not a lot of time was spent researching and developing Magneto himself. There was no indication of the development of his powers either. There was perhaps a tiny clue when his entire family was riddled with bullets but he wasn't, but not enough attention was paid to it.

Magneto is a truly unique and tragic character in the Marvel Universe and it's disappointing that he wasn't given his full due in what could/should have been an epic tale of the Holocaust and the specific events that shaped this boy into the powerful and hate-filled villain Magneto. I'd have to give the idea of this series five stars (out of five), but the execution of the story only three stars, as it was merely average for the way-too-important subject matter.

Smegma Flight

As a kid/teen in the 1980s, I used to love to read Alpha Flight by John Byrne. Byrne had the most creative ideas and could take minor characters and turn them into the most interesting people with distinct personalities. He did so with the Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, and then Alpha Flight. Guardian? Puck? Snowbird? Northstar? Aurora? Sasquatch? Marina? "Who are these characters?" you might have asked yourself back then. Suddenly, they're starring in their own comic book, though, and you oddly get to know (and love) each and every one of them. That's the work of a great writer.

What's the work of a bad writer? See the 2007 Alpha Flight revamp called Omega Flight. What I thought would be the bringing together of some great characters was basically the equivalent of Howard the Duck meets the Avengers. Captain America? Check. There's the copycat and pointless U.S. Agent. Spider-Man? Check. There's a Spider-Woman knock-off by the name of Arachne. Hulk? Check. There's Sasquatch...but not the one with any sort of personality that we once knew. Thor? Check. In the form of Beta Ray Bill, a bird-like version of the God of Thunder. Yes, I did say "bird-like." They're what would happen if Marvel lost the licensing rights to the Avengers and had to come up with "similar" characters. Did I mention Omega Flight isn't even frickin' Canadian anymore? Eh?

And what a pointless and dreadful storyline they have to go through after they band together. You almost feel sorry for these characters, but not enough to still want to see their demise (which, unfortunately, (SPOILER!) never occurs). Skip Smegma Flight and re-read Alpha Flight from the 1980s. Maybe someday Marvel will have the decency to treat Alpha Flight with some class again.

Black Adam

The Black Adam mini series (2008) was one of the first comic arcs that I read upon my return to comics after a 15-year absence. Why? I've always had a fondness for the Marvel Family that dates back to the 1970s. Now, I'm not talking about Marvel Comics. I'm talking about the Marvels: Captain Marvel (Shazam), Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., etc. Growing up, I used to love watching the Shazam! live-action series that came on every Saturday morning. To a young kid, it was way cool. Now, I don't recall if Black Adam was ever on the TV show (I don't think he was), but since I was happy to see one of the members of the Marvel family currently being used by DC Comics, I picked up the entire Black Adam: The Dark Age series to give it a shot. I was given an even sweeter treat when I discovered that the series also featured Isis ("Oh mighty Isis"). Come to find out, DC had, after all these years, created (and killed) an Isis character based on the Shazam! show's sister show Isis. Woo hoo! How psyched was I?

In the mini series, Black Adam is mad as hell at the world (and he's not going to take it anymore). He wants the love of his life, Isis, back. Dammit. And he'll kill anyone (and does) to get her back. Yes, Black Adam is evil and a murderer in all senses of the words, and quite possibly could be considered a terrorist. So imagine an entire mini series revolving around his character?

The story takes place in mythical countries in the war-torn Middle East, and the violence is astounding (yet necessary and purposefully used to tell the story). In fact, the story was SO well written by Peter Tomasi that I actually felt sorry for Black Adam. (Of course I had my own selfish reasons for wanting Isis back alive.) The art by Doug Mahnke was amazing, too. He really brought the story (and violence) to life. Now if only we could get these two to do a Black Adam continuing series with the same murder, mayhem, and terror. Oh, and love. Ah, l'amour...

The Joker's Boner

Click on the image below to see it bigger (you know you want a bigger boner):