A Thorny Debate

National Comics' Rose & Thorn #1 (2012)

DC Comics again produces a better comic in a one-shot than numerous of their ongoing series.  What am I talking about?  National Comics' Rose and Thorn.  Like last month's Looker one-shot, Rose and Thorn reintroduces a character into the new DC Universe.  

Now, I absolutely loved the first Rose/Thorn character in the DCU.  It was later shockingly discovered that she was the mother of Jade and Obsidian from Infinity, Inc., having previously married the Alan Scott Green Lantern of Earth Two. That made for fantastic storytelling. 

Infinity, Inc. Annual #1 (1985)

The new Rose is a geeky high schooler whose Thorn persona comes out and does some wild things that impress even the Mean Girls.  She gets a tattoo from one of the Mean Girls' ex-boyfriend's dad and then turns into an S&M dominatrix, ties him up, and mutilates him by "branding" him with the word "MINE" across his chest.  We also discover that, as Thorn, she tried kissing her best friend in high school (another nerd) and, come to find out, the friend actually liked it.  How will Rose handle these new revelations when she can't control her second personality?

In my opinion, DC has done a better job reintroducing their characters through the National Comics medium than through their regular New 52 titles.  I hope we get to see Looker and Rose & Thorn in their own well-told monthly series one day...

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

Wait...where's the Justice League?  Well, you won't find them in Justice League #1. 

This new series, the first of DC Comics' "New 52," only has appearances by Green Lantern, Batman, and a pre-Cyborg Victor Stone.  We see how the "new" Green Lantern and Batman meet and, as a side story, Vic Stone playing high school football.  Does this mean that Vic was never in The New Teen Titans, one of the greatest comic book series of all time?  How truly sad.

There wasn't a lot of "meat" to the highly anticipated (and sold-out) comic book, especially with a $3.99 price tag.  I sincerely hope it gets better.  Geoff Johns did a wonderful job in the past with super teams like the Teen Titans and Justice Society of America, so let's hope that he can accomplish the same with the new Justice League.  This issue, though, isn't it. 

I look forward to there actually being a Justice League in future issues and seeing more of its teammates.  At least from the cover, we can anticipate that DC decided to de-pants Wonder Woman in favor of her famous blue and white-starred bikini shorts. 

Green Lantern: Overexposed!

Green Arrow #12

How much is too much?  All of DC's comics -- and I do literally mean ALL -- are coming out this summer with Green Lantern movie marketing bands slapped on their covers.  Nice idea to promote the movie; poor execution.  It's very distracting and takes away from the beautiful covers.  Take a look at Green Arrow #12.  Is it Green Lantern, Brightest Day, or Green Arrow?  With so many marketing banners, the image keeps getting pushed down more and more.  In fact, Swamp Thing's head has to take up some of Green Arrow's title just to fit on the page. 

Is there really a comic book reader/buyer/fan out there that doesn't already know that the Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds is coming out this month?  Or that this summer is a fantastic summer for superhero movies with the likes of Iron Man 2, Captain America, Green Lantern, and X-Men First Class? 

Perhaps DC should focus their marketing on non-comic reading folks.  Comic book fans are already going to go see the movies.  It's the rest of the folks that may or may not.

Mastering Time Masters

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #1

Time Masters: Vanishing Point is the lesser-known companion piece to the concurrently released Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series.  However, unlike the latter, the six-issue Time Masters: Vanishing Point mini-series was much better written and contained a more interesting (and easier to follow) storyline.  

In Time Masters, time-traveling Rip Hunter, along with his father Booster Gold, Superman, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan journey back and forth in time in search of Batman who has been lost in time since the events of the  Final Crisis/Batman R.I.P. storyline.  Dan Jurgens, creator of Booster Gold, wrote and drew Time Masters, and you can see that even after all these years, he hasn't lost his touch.  His characterizations of Booster, Rip, and Skeets were fantastic, as usual.  There were, however, some off-putting characterizations of Hal Jordan and Superman.  Hal criticizes Booster throughout the series, as if he's the self-centered, self-serving narcissist that he was back in the 1980s.  And Superman wants to intervene in situations they encounter during their time travels, despite being told that they can't change events in time because it could negatively alter the time continuum.  I would think he'd be a bit more rational than that.  

Rip Hunter with his sexy scruff

Each issue of Time Masters started with a two-page back story of Rip Hunter's up 'til now unknown past, showing him as a child learning about the timestream from his father, Booster Gold.  This was something I looked forward to in every issue.  Rip Hunter's past has been very secretive, but now we've been given a few glimpses.  The mystery still remains, though:  Who is Rip Hunter's mother?  We catch a distant peek of the back of her in one scene, but she's dressed and looks like Michelle Carter (aka Goldstar), Booster's sister, and that's just wrong.  I sincerely hope that Rip wasn't the result of some Carter inbreeding. 

Starfire #1 (1976)

As the heroes travel through time, they encounter some DC Comics characters who haven't made appearances in a long time.  There's Claw The Unconquered, whom I remember having a short-lived series back in the 1970s.  More interestingly, there's also the appearance of the original Starfire (before Koriand'r made her appearance in the New Teen Titans), who also had a short-lived series back in the 1970s.  Booster even makes a joke about Starfire copyrighting her name.  I remember her well because I had a copy of her first issue in my earliest comic collection, so I was excited to see someone give her a chance at redemption. 

Time Masters' connection to Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne is somewhat questionable and probably only mentionable for the purpose of driving sales.  Even Superman comments on what readers are probably thinking: "I think we're supposed to be working to find Batman, yet all we've done is chase our own tails!"  So if you're buying this mini-series for Batman, forget it.  However, if you're buying it because you're interested in Booster Gold, Rip Hunter, and events leading up to Flashpoint (or even the return of Starfire!), then you're on the right track. 

The final issue of Time Master: Vanishing Point was released three months after the five first monthly released issues. The ending cleverly leads into Booster Gold #44 and Flashpoint #1, both of which aren't scheduled for release for another couple of months.  The final scene leaves you with Rip Hunter's mysterious chalkboard which, as always, gives readers clues to upcoming events in the DC Universe:

Before I end this posting, can I just shout, "Hooray for Amethyst!!"  I'm looking forward to seeing the Princess of Gemworld again, but I hope she's back as her original Alice-in-Wonderland-type self and not the [yawn] mystical Lord of Order.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Poop.

I've always liked Green Lantern as a superhero and character.  Unfortunately, I've never been able to really get into reading about his adventures on a regular basis.  I think I attribute it to his storylines always being too "out of this world."  He's not grounded enough.  We never get to see him as Hal Jordan except in origin stories.  He's always just Green Lantern.  It's almost like he's not human, and that's a shame.  I really like Hal Jordan.  I do.  We just never get to see him.   


I decided to give the monthly Green Lantern series a try again when I began reading comics again and discovered (and loved) Geoff Johns' previous writing on Teen Titans and Justice Society of America.  I thought that here was someone who could do Hal Jordan justice.  Then with Green Lantern being a central focus of the Blackest Night event, picking up Green Lantern was a no-brainer.  

I started with the Secret Origin storyline that ran through issues #29-35.  I was happy to see Hal Jordan, the person.  However, as I stated before, this was an origin story; the only time we ever get to see the "real" Hal Jordan.  As the series jumped forward to present-day, it was the same old, same old.  The Hal Jordan persona is lost to all things Green Lantern.

Another disappointment I have with the monthly Green Lantern series is the title.  It's Green Lantern, not Green Lanterns. So why does it feel that this series is nothing more than an extension of the Green Lantern Corps series?  We're not just seeing a storyline involving Hal Jordan Green Lantern.  Every issue involves at least a handful of Green/Orange/Blue/Red/Indigo/Yellow Lanterns.  That's why I don't pick up Green Lantern Corps.  There are just too many characters that I don't care about.  With such a large cast, do we ever really get to know them individually?  Is it too much to ask that we get to learn about Hal Jordan as a person?  Does he have any sort of personal/private life?  When does he eat?  Shower?  Does he have friends or family that don't wear colorful rings on their fingers?  Does he date?  Does he have sex?  

Lastly, am I the only one who considers Larfleeze to be the Jar Jar Binks of the Green Lantern world?  Does anyone besides the creators really like him?  (And, just for the record, he does not resemble the Muppet Gonzo as he's consistently referred to in the comics; he resembles the Muppet Uncle Deadly.)

Sadly, after continuously reading 30 issues of the current Green Lantern series, I've been underwhelmed, for many of the same reasons I couldn't get into his series back in the 1980s.  It's time for me to move on...

Green Lantern, Interrupted.

I've always liked Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) as a character, but have usually always gotten bored with the stories that writers have presented him with. So throughout the 80s, I was very selective with my Green Lantern comics.

In the past year, I've picked up the Secret Origin storyline (issues 29-35) and started to enjoy that Hal was finally being written with supporting characters other than the multitude of GLs. Of course, I already knew most of this story (being that it was his origin all over again), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. First and foremost, he is an Earth man and should be treated as such, going through the same problems with his personal life that we, as non-metahumans, do. It brings life to the characters. That, to me, makes a really successful comic book.

But then after the Secret Origin storyline was finished, I got bored again. I had to keep checking the cover to make sure I had picked up a copy of Green Lantern and not Green Lantern Corps. What were all the other GLs doing in Hal's comic when they have their own? It was issue after issue... YAWN. I purposely don't buy Green Lantern Corps because I'm only interested in ONE Green Lantern: Hal Jordan. Just like with Star Wars, I'm basically only interested in one Jedi at a time.

Then in Green Lantern came the introduction of Agent Orange who was like a greedy, little kid (more yawns), and, whom, by the way does NOT look like the Gonzo the muppet as mentioned in the comic; he looks like an orange Uncle Deadly. It's not that it's a big deal...but if you're going to make a pop culture reference...please get it right!

Anyway, I'm still buying Green Lantern (at least through the Blackest Night storyline/event). I began reading GL #43 with sheer dread, hoping it wasn't going to be another GL Corps redux. WOW! It wasn't! It was an actual, decent storyline! Sure, there was no GL, but getting the background of the Black Hand was fascinating. That's the kind of storytelling I expect. Thank you...FINALLY. Let's hope the great storytelling continues after Blackest Night so I can continue reading the adventures of Hal Jordan, Green Lantern and not the ENTIRE GL Corps. Can we separate the two since they have their own books? Pretty please???

Facade of Evil

What's a good example of a marketing gimmick? DC Comics' Faces of Evil. I was excited about this "event" when I read about it coming. I thought it was a great idea to have each comic in the DC Universe focus on one of its more prominent villains and truly give us "The DCU from the villains' point of view." I've read several of the issues on the checklist and...I'm not impressed with the gimmick. And what a "gimmick" it is. Let me give you the definition of "gimmick" from Wikipedia:

"In marketing language, a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. However, the special feature is typically thought to be of little relevance or use. Thus, a gimmick is a special feature for the sake of having a special feature. In marketing, product gimmicks are sometimes considered mere novelties, and not really that relevant to the product's functioning, sometimes even earning negative connotations."

Faces of Evil is a gimmick. It's not relevant and earned a negative connotation in my (comic) book. Why, you ask? The premise promised stories told from the point of the view of the villain. They weren't. The covers featured villains against a black background. One would think that the issue would actually contain that villain for more than a panel or two. They didn't.

Wonder Woman #28 - features The Cheetah baring her claws. The Cheetah doesn't show up until the END of the comic and even then is in only about two panels. The rest of the comic shows Wonder Woman getting dolled up in warrior armor, enlisting her white gorilla friends and the former and current Wonder Girls, and going off to do battle with the green faceless creature that beat her up in the previous issue. How is that a Faces of Evil comic, you ask? I don't know. You tell me.

Green Lantern #37 - features an angry Red Lantern by the name of Laira on its cover. The issue turns out to be mainly about the battle with Atrocitus, the supposed head of the Red Lanterns. And, no, the story isn't told from his viewpoint either. (And don't even get me started about this new rainbow of Lanterns out there in the universe. Or the fact that the Green Lantern Corps can't stay in their own comic and have to bleed over into Green Lantern as well. Green Lantern = singular. Green Lantern Corps = plural.)

Batman #685 - features Catwoman holding a giant (and presumably stolen) diamond. Now, I LOVE Catwoman as a character. However, didn't DC just cancel her comic? And now they're making her the main focus of this Batman issue? Her own series could have been extended a couple of issues for this storyline and given a lesser known Batman villain (who's never had his/her own comic) a little spotlight.

Birds of Prey #126 - features the --yawn-- villainous Calculator. Sadly, this BOP comic really was about the Calculator in its penultimate issue. Readers already clamor that they're tired of seeing the Calculator in Birds of Prey, so what does DC do? They devote an entire issue to him. Right before they end the series. Way to go out with a whimper. Maybe this comic should have read "Feces of Evil" instead.

Faces of Evil? Concept = A+. Follow-through? D-.