Death of Supergirl homage art

So, about a year or so ago I had in mind a post where I would collect all the homages to the Death of Supergirl cover I could find.  This post has been sat in my draft page since December 2009.  I thought I'd do something about it and actually post the damn thing.

For clarity, here is the original image, from the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi series, issue #7:

Reviews 23.07.2009

Well this is nice. I’m reviewing something the same week it came out. Spoilers ahead for Wednesday Comics #3 (so-so), Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5 (tickle worthy), Green Lantern #43 (Prologue to Blackest Night), Green Lantern #44, Power Girl #3 (so-so), Gotham City Sirens #2 (tits and asserific), Supergirl #43 (wow), Adventure Comics #1 preview (double wow).
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Wednesday Comics #3
The Supergirl strip continues to delight, Amanda Connor’s art is lovely and I’m really enjoying the little details she’s putting in, such as the kids petting Krypto. I hear tell that this type of story is very silver age. I wouldn’t know as I haven’t read much silver age stuff, but now I’m more inclined to give the old fashioned stories a go.
Kamandi is just an old fashioned adventure story really.
Superman is still lovely – full of emotion.
Tim’s derision of Wednesdays and the violence it brings, in the Teen Titans strip, makes me chuckle. I think it’s great how this strip contains more than one group of Titans.
The Wonder Woman story is very full of information, but that doesn’t make it bad. The colours are beautiful, the lettering is really effective and I find it really interesting. This strip has received a lot of criticism, but I’m not getting that.
Flash has just got a whole lot more interesting, what with Barry visiting the future.

I no longer have any interest in Metamorpho, Strange Adventures, Metal Men, Sgt Rock, The Demon & Catwoman, Batman, Hawkman, Deadman or Green Lantern.

Final Crisis: legion of 3 Worlds #5
Oooh this went all meta! I am a big fan of these types of stories so was very tickled by the outcome of this one. Not really much else to say. We finally saw the reunion of Superboy and Bart with the Titans and respective families - the scene was set up in the same manner as that of Green Arrows return from the dead.

Green Lantern #43 (Prologue to Blackest Night)
I succumbed and placed all Blackest Night titles on standing order. Initially I wasn’t going to bother with the prologue issues but I was told that I really should get GL #43. Post reading, I’m not that bothered by it, but I guess it’s good to see where Black Hand came from since he’ll be an integral part of Blackest Night.

Green Lantern #44
J’onn is back and beats up on Hal and Barry. John Stewart is at the site of Xanshi when all the black power rings descend and proclaim the dead to Rise. As the man says, That ain’t good.
It sure isn’t!

Power Girl #3
Ultra Humanite’s ship is powered by a giant organ. Hur hur. Innuendo aside, that’s a frickin’ great idea! Terra and cameos from the JSA made the final installment of this story more interesting. I was rather enamoured of the way in which Peej and Terra rescued Manhattan. The new alien ladies look like great fun and remind me of why Amanda Connor’s art is so good.

Hopefully now that this arc is completed we won’t see any more discussion of the use or ownership of Peej’s body.

Gotham City Sirens #2
The idea of Selina getting training from Talia Als Ghul on how to hide Bruce’s secret for the world is just terrible. An awfully cackhanded way of resolving last issue’s cliffhanger.

Although the colouring and pencils in this issue is gorgoues, the gratuitous tits and ass isn’t. The scene where the criminal blokes are checking out Harley and we only see a torso, that’s not gratuitous - we are seeing her from their perspective and they only see her as a hot piece of meat.

Every other scene of Catwoman, Ivy and Harley where their breasts, bum, legs or lips take centre stage, that’s gratuitous. It is interesting that the other women in the comic (bystanders) aren’t objectified like this, so it seems to be that the artist (or editor, whoever makes these decisions) is deliberately choosing to make the 3 heroines uber sexy. While I understand that they are all sexy and each has their own way of using their sexuality, that doesn’t mean that every.single.scene. has to objectify them. When the 3 of them are together, alone, in the warehouse they won’t be using their feminine wiles on each other. It follows that the art should reflect this. Yes, they are wearing sexy costumes, but their costumes don’t require them to arch their back or for the focus to be on their hips, groin, chest or grossly distort their anatomy. I’m thinking specifically of the first splash page with Selina tied up. What is going on with Ivy’s thigh. Legs, and joints do not work that way!

Supergirl #43
Oh my I’ve been waiting a long old time for this issue. The cover is beautiful and would make a perfect poster. Kara thinks so too as she has a photo of it on her desk. That is incredibly egotistical and weird. Who has pictures of themselves on their desks? Well, I know people do, but I think it’s bizarre. It’s similar to have a portrait of yourself up in the living room…

This issue gave us a lovely snapshot into Kara’s home life on Krypton. The arrangement of items in her room, the way the clothes are strewn across the chair and floor and the objects she has decorating her room all give us more insight to both Kara’s personality and Kryptonian life. Her white outfit that’s he’s wearing at the desk is evocative of 2 of the Tonner Supergirls doll. I wonder which design came first?

Kara is a typical teenager in this installment, by that I mean self centred and self pitying, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. She is convinced that her mother is sending her on all these chores in order to punish her. Her mother is actually doing it as a favour to her so that she can learn more about her new world and make an informed choice when it comes to choosing a guild.

I thought this was a great piece of characterisation. Who here hasn’t, as a teenager, been so convinced of their rightness and world view that they cannot fathom that their parents may have a different motivation for asking them to carry out chores.

This sub plot also served to further differentiate Kara from other heroes. Dinah Lance, Barbara Gordon, Wonder Woman would never have jumped to the same conclusion. Granted, they wouldn’t be put in that position because they don’t have the adult-teenage mother-daughter dynamic, but nevertheless as adult women they have maturity and an understanding of life that you generally don’t have as a 17/18 yr old. It tells us more about her and contributes to an individual characterisation that distinguishes her from not only adult heroes but also her teenage peers, Mia, Cassie Sandsmark and M’Gann M’orzz wouldn’t have had the same interpretations of her mother’s requests.

I am not faulting Kara for reacting the way she did, it’s something everyone goes through and it’s necessary as you grow up to be a mature, responsible adult. It’s really good to see that she’s not being treated as standard teenage hero model 3 and it also helps us see her growth from issue #1 to now.

All in all, an excellent issue.

Adventure Comics #1 preview
The art in this is ace. Colours, pencils, layout, all of it. It looks like the first issue is going to re-establish Connor’s place in the DCU, comparing him to Superman’s career, re-connecting him to his friends (hello there Bart!) and looking at how he performs with potential disasters. This is going to be a must on the pull list.

Currently listening to: Patti Smith's Easter.

Part 2 Or, the second hand stuff I bought off ebay (mostly)

Final Crisis: legion of 3 worlds #1
Well, reading this suddenly made #s 2 and 3 make more sense. It probably helps that I was reading a lot of Superboy Prime’s other appearances at the time. Either way, a good start to the mini and it even made me like the Legion a bit more.

Impulse #30 and 31
Oh humour how I have missed you. I had hoped one of these comics would be the silent issue I was asking about the other week, but as it turned out that is actually a Young Justice one I didn’t really have much luck.
Still, really good comics, as you’d expect. In number 30 everyone loses their faith in something, leading to lots of folks hugging the ground as they’ve lost their faith in gravity and fear being sucked into space. Haw.
#31 features lots of Max Mercury (hurrah!), as he’s been captured by Morlo and the dude Max stole his wife from. Bart is meanwhile running around like a mad thing trying to work out where Max is. It’s good and I approve and think everyone should seek out copies of Impulse. After I’ve got mine so that you don’t price me out of buying the issues.

Doom Patrol: Magic Bus trade paperback
Written by Grant Morrison this is surreal and anarchic, of course. I enjoyed all of it apart from the Fantastic 4 spoof which was shit and reminded me why I don’t read Marvel. I hate dialogue written in accents.

2 weeks worth of comics

Today was a toss up between a Buffy post or a review of all the comics I picked up on Friday. I've settled for the comics review.

As it was a bank holiday on Monday my shop only got the books in on Friday, I had forgotten about this and was somewhat surprised by the busyness. In all the confusion I forgot to pick up Flash Rebirth number 2. No matter, I shall collect that next week. they also hadn't got Mercury Falling in, but that is now on order for me. As is my Wondy figure. Fingers crossed they'll still be able to get it in.

I'm not impressed by the changes to the DC website. The search facility looks awful and the homepage with the tags is annoying. On the plus side you can now download Vertigo's first issues for free. I recommend the Books of Magic.

Onto the reviews. Spoilers ahead for:
FC Legion of 3 Worlds /4 - Buffy /25 - Power Girl /1 - Superman /687 - Superman World of New Krypton /3 - Teen Titans /70 - Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th grade /6- Superman/Batman /59.
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FC Legion of 3 Worlds /4
Again, a very densely packed issue. And I picked up the wrong cover, doh- I prefer the character covers but got the other one instead. So, this featured quite a lot of Bart which you'd think would make me happy, but as I don't like the art this sullied the experience. This artist may draw the other Legionnaires well, but that's a crappy Bart. Jenni catching up with Bart was good though, as was Supes reaction to Bart and Kon. And Kon-El, ahh Kon, he's back! That was a delightful 2 page spread when he socked Superboy Prime one. And his return story, yeah, that worked well you know?
Now, although this was a pretty dense issue I managed to follow it, despite reading with a hangover. What I would like to know is the advised Final Crisis reading order, because although I'm following this story fine, I'm rather lost as to what fits in where. Anyone got any ideas?

Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th grade /6
The final one. Boooo. Pretty much just as frenetic as issue number 5 - I think these last two issues may have benefited from being dragged out to 3 issues instead, but that's not a big beef. The introduction page was very welcome as I am crap at remembering Lena's and Superior Girl's names. Supes consternation regarding Comet was very amusing, Karas' reactions to both Belinda Zee and Lena's (apparent) demise(s) was lovely, and further demonstrates that this mini shows a damn sight more character depth and development than a lot of media aimed at adults.

I was on the fence about Mxy's involvement in everything, but I think I'll get over that - I'm not too keen on Mxy being an evil megalomaniac, I prefer him as a fun prankster. But then again, that doesn't mean it's a bad ending, it just means I'm demanding some fan entitlement.
The 2D scenes were fabulous, as were the panels of Kara's hand emerging. I have since learned that this is referencing the creation of the DC Universe.

Kitty Streaky wins the cute award this issue: Mew! Hiss! Rrowl! I'd love some Streaky icons, but I don't know how to make them.

I will definitely be buying the trade of this for my friend's kids, once they actually start having them. (Drax, if you're reading, you better have a smart kid cos I don't want to have to wait 3 or 4 years to be able to give them this!)

Superman /687
World without Superman issue. Still good and lovely art. We get to see more of Mon-El and how he's developing on earth, both in terms of powers and relationships with the Guardian. Zatara also appears and continues to be a knob, but I'm getting to quite appreciate him now! It's nice to see snotty good guys every so often.

Superman/Batman /59
Conclusion to the microverse story arc. On first reading I was disgusted by Batman's attitude, his arrogance and superiority. On second reading I came up with a different interpretation. The way he and Kal act together, even when they're not speaking to each other, it comes across more like ribbing between 2 best friends who have known each along time and are dead comfortable with each other. Which is what Bruce and Clark are really.
Sample dialogue:
Bruce: 'I shrank myself down to save him. He'll thank me later.'
'A savior on a wire swoops in to save me. So this is what it feels like.'
Superman: 'No I'm fine.. but..Batman..Your armour looks ridiculous'
For the record, Bruce's armour = great. Not ridiculous,
Bruce might be grouchy and mean and really miss the dark alleyways, but all in all, he's pissed off because he's got a hard job to do, and saving his friend's ass probably wasn't on the top ten list of things to do today.

One beef - Bruce claimed that you can always rely on Clark to use brute strength in any given situation. Errrrr...no. This looked particularly odd when read next to Superman World of New Krypton /3. To be fair I may not have noticed the discrepancy had I not had 2 weeks of reading in one go. Read the next review for more.

Back to Supes/Bats, the art in this issue was really fluid and graceful - I can almost see the movement between panels. It's really well put together and made this a joy to read. If only all comic art flowed like this. A great finale to an enjoyable arc.

Superman World of New Krypton /3
Great cover. Doesn't Kal look Christopher Reeve in that? Admittedly the drunk stubbly Christopher Reeve from Superman 3 (?), but Reeve nonetheless.
Loved this issue. Kal solves a problem with non violent means. (Take that Superman/Batman!). He voluntarily gets rid of his powers for 30 minutes so he can talk the Labour Guild out of holding Alura hostage and so prevent a massacre. Hesucceeds, of course, and Kara prevents an assassination, Kal compliments her on this and she just glows.

One of Zod's sidekicks take issue with Kal and wants to give him a beating, but Kal again demonstates that he thinks with his head, not his muscles and easily beats the guy. It's nice to see Supes be able to kick loose a bit in this run, to not always have to be be the good guy and to be able to be a bit sneaky.

And then the GLs show up. Hal and John and I believe that's Guy. Hurrah!

A few notes on New Kryptonian fashions - Kara's cape and neckline mysteriously moves throughout pages 2 and 4. And back again on page 5. Alura's outfit is very striking. If I get my arse in gear and go to another fancy dress party I want to make her outfit. It's lovely. Anyone else notice how Alura's white cuffs mach Kara's gold ones? And that grey and black uniform really suits Kal.

Power Girl /1
I got the wrong cover. Doh. I'm glad we're seeing part of her home life and also how she deals with blokes ogling her boobs. Nice orb joke too. It's good that the citizens around her like Power Girl and she doesn't have to win their trust.

I can't help but think that the Ultra Humanite is a bit dumb. If Karen lets Manhattan drop, he's won, if she lets him into her body, he's still won and will continue to wreak havok just in a super strong body. Not really a good idea. She's hardly gonna say yes to the body swap is she?

Teen Titans /70
I haven't been buying the other parts of this story but that didn't turn out to be too disruptive. I'm a bit confused why Donna has decided to have two tiny strips of material covering her ample bosoms. Maybe her flying power extends to boob squashing?

Rose is back :D Eddie is so excited he faints. Cute!

Buffy /25
Well, the cover art is technically very good but why is Willow snogging the Thricewise? That sure as hell aint Dawn. And that cover is a really gross image.
Dawn is now human again. :( I liked her as a centaur. Good overall issue though. Dawn and Buffy (again) work through their relationship, it's nice to see as I'm in season 7 at the moment and Dawn has done so much maturing since season 5.
I am going to do an overview on Buffy season 6 and 7, hopefully this week.

Comics review part 2 – the vintage edition

Covering a bunch of comics from the 80s to last month. Specifically:
Justice League America (Keith Giffen run)
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 worlds, # 2 and 3
JLA - The Hypothetical Woman (tpb)
Titans # 10
Wonder Woman # 29
Hammer and Locke #3
The Trials of Shazam #7
Deadshot #2
Legion of Superheroes #43
Infinity Inc #28
Dragon Slippers – This is what an abusive relationship looks like by Rosalind B Penfold

Justice League America, issues 26 to 60
Sod JLE, JLA is where it’s at. Beautiful art from a range of pencillers, including but not limited to Ty Templeton (so expressive!), Bill Willingham and Adam Hughes.
The introduction of the cat rocked (# 37), not as much as when it arrived in JLE, but still, pretty good.

What has really made this run for me though is Guy Gardner.
Guy and Tora have their first date (# 28) - Guy shows a really repugnant side of himself (thigh cheese!) but later redeems himself (in my eyes) by getting overly protective about Ice and displaying some hidden depths when General Glory arrives on the scene (#46). Guy actually starts saying Sorry and Sir. And after the JLA has been disbanded, he admits he misses the rest of the League.
I think we also get hints of his past crappy life and why he’s such an arrogant macho jerk all the time – he was quite clearly very happy reading his comic books as a kid, and it’s hinted that they constituted an escape from the rest of his life. That doesn’t quite justify tearing up some 8 year old's JLA comic just because he doesn’t like the cover, but still. The issue where he has a boxing fight with Ted Kord was also interesting, to see him go from normal aggressiveness to completely flipping out because ted made him bleed.
Aside from all the intense character exploration this run is just damn funny, and so self referential. The introduction of General Glory also heralded the arrival of the Uberbot – a giant Nazi robot from WW2. This was quickly followed by J’onn just about giving up on the ridiculousness of his life.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold decide to set up a casino on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey. This being a very specific incarnation of the JLA, of course it goes wrong. Major Disaster arrives and with the help of Big Sir cleans the casino out of all cash. Then a very gnarley Aquaman arrives just in time for the island to decide to uproot itself and move to a new area of the globe. Where does it elect to settle down? (By elect I really mean manipulated by Aquaman). Why, it wedges into the top of a live volcano. Of course.

This run is now being collected in trade format. I believe vol 4 has just been published, I would urge everyone to go buy it.

JLA - The Hypothetical Woman (tpb)
Written by Gail Simone. I usually find her far too wordy, but not in this. Maybe it was because it’s a trade and I can read the whole arc at once. Nah that doesn’t make the sense. Whatever the reason, this was damn good. Wonder Woman takes on an army. By herself. And wins, effortlessly and easily. Now that’s the Diana I want to read about.
The art is wonderful – Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Diana looks fantastic, adult and textured. When she challenges the army to a fight, she’s in battle armour – leather pleated skirt, shield, axe, sword, dagger in her boot, breastplate - with shoulder straps! I really want a battle armour Diana doll. And Diana has been drawn with pants that cover her arse. Amazing.
There were other characters in the book, but Wonder Woman impressed me the most. Also, she baked. And the rest of the JLA didn’t know what to do with themselves.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 worlds, # 2 and 3
I haven’t been able to locate # 1 yet. This was far better than I anticipated, mostly the stupid names didn’t put me off. Lightning Lass? Cosmic Boy? Whatever the hell their names are they come across as infantile and shoddy. I know the titles are a product of their times, but they’re usually so cringeworthy.
But not in this run. I fully expect that this Is because they BROUGHT BACK BART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes yes old news now, but I’m still chuffed to pieces about it. Issue # 3 made my week.

Titans # 10
Bought for the Origins and Omens story. This turned out to be a rather good issue. I think it’s because the art got a lot better – no pornface or impossible spines. I’m considering buying the trades of this now. Or, as it looks like Terra is gonna jump on Beast Boy, maybe I’ll start buying it regularly.

Wonder Woman # 29
Wordy. But more Diana in battle armour, this time with the gold wings, oh how I love those. The origins and omens back up was good – seeing Hippolyta make Diana was lovely. Not enough to make me buy it monthly though.

Hammer and Locke #3
The most interesting thing about this was the inside cover had an advert for the Dr Giggles movie.

The Trials of Shazam #7
Loved the art, loved the story, gonna buy the trade. Wonderful.

Deadshot #2
Heavy, creepy, threats of child sexual abuse, probably unnecessarily dark but pretty well done overall. The art and the plot fit well together.

Legion of Superheroes #43
On first read I wasn’t too impressed, but something is preventing me from getting rid of the book. Mysa Nal, Drusa Sept and random red headed woman were an absolute pleasure to read. The fight with Mordru however was painful and obvious. I think my path may be to track down more of these 1993 issues and give them a go.

Infinity Inc #28
A pre the first crisis story. It’s odd to read of other versions of the characters, pre crisis. This book is commendable mostly for the layout, using the theme of bones to frame the panels and having the page backgrounds consist of the characters posing. If I had a working scanner and could establish how to convert pdfs to jpgs I’d post some examples. But I don’t. Can anyone help?

Dragon Slippers – This is what an abusive relationship looks like by Rosalind B Penfold
Definitely a graphic novel and not a book. Does what it says on the tin. Painful to read and will be triggering for people who have survived domestic violence.
The art isn’t very sophisticated but it doesn’t have to be. It does the trick.
One of my main reasons for buying this was to read it and consider if suitable to give to some friends, possibly as a wake up call. Now however, after reading it, I feel better about one of my friends, and am still concerned about the other one – who is currently in a shitty argumentative relationship, but hey, it hasn’t got physical yet, so that’s something right?*
But you can’t drag someone away, you can’t make them see sense and you can’t make them see that they’re a good person who deserves better. They need to see that themselves. And thankfully this particular friend has had a lightbulb moment and I think she’ll be ok.
More info about domestic violence on Friends-of-Rosalind.com.
In the UK there are also organisations, google women’s aid or women’s refuge and your area. Sadly, there are not enough for women and I know of none for men who experience domestic violence, and that’s something that should be fixed.
To anyone who’s reading and in an abusive relationship:
Get the hell out. You deserve better than what you are experiencing. You deserve to be loved and treated well. Get out and leave. They very rarely change and even if they do, can you guarantee you will survive that long?

*no not really.

How did no one tell me?!

They brought Bart back?! In Legion of 3 worlds? Is this honest to goodness true?

I'm hanging out in the wrong places, clearly! Internet, you fail me.

Of course now I'm super happy :D Great way to end a great weekend.


(Am I far too involved in my comics?)

Comics of the week 15th January 2009

Criminy. I just realised it’s Tuesday and if I don’t get hurry up and write something I’ll have two weeks worth to do. Eeep!

Spoilers ahead for Manhunter 38, Green Arrow and Black Canary 16, Action Comics 873, Booster Gold 16, Final Crisis 6, The Amazing Spiderman 583.
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Manhunter 38
The final issue. I would feel sadder but I still don’t understand why we are suddenly in the future. So mostly I was confused and was hoping this issue would rectify my confusion. That aside, this was a pretty damn good issue. Actually scrap that this issue was bloody great.
It starts off slow, introducing us to everyone and letting us catch up on where they are in the future. Kate has had Dylan make her a mystery something, Ramsey is graduating that very same day, Dylan and Cam have separated and we meet Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett, Todd is trapped in Bones’ body (I don’t know why). Todd and Mrs Lovett are on a murder spree, of course and have commandeered a van.

After Ramsey’s graduation ceremony they all head back to the house for the party, which is where it gets stunningly cool. Todd and Lovett turn up and decide they want to eat all the fresh meat*. Then it seems nigh on everyone gets superpowers and start kick ass. Even those that don’t have superpowers join in the fight, clanging Mrs Lovett with something metal. There’s a giant man, Obsidian, Kate of course and Cam being all light filled and explody.
The whole set up, being all the family and friends fighting as one in their back yard against the bad guys, is just wonderful.
And finally we find out what the mystery something is – Kate got Dylan to make a Manhunter costumer for Ramsey and the issue ends with them going out on patrol.

Very good, great send off. 3 different artists, but I didn’t find that a problem.

* A far classier way of dealing with cannibalism than Marvel's recent effort. Which I nonetheless find amusing, because I have not sense of taste or decencyand have seen far too many 80s slasher flicks.

Green Arrow and Black Canary 16 – Faces of Evil issue: Merlyn.
I can’t help thinking that Merlyn should be spelled Maerlyn.
I thought the Faces of Evil issues would be told from the villain’s perspective? That ain’t happened. Part of the story was told from Merlyn’s POV, but most was business as usual.
I appreciate how on the cover Merlyn’s nose resembles an arrow. Clever, I thought.
The art in this was good. Clear and effective.
The story? Well I do like this ongoing, I am enjoying all the stories, but it has yet to feel like a GA and BC comic. It feels like a GA comic where Dinah is a supporting character. And that’s not right to me. It seems that very often Ollie is in the foreground, responding to the action, interacting with it, and Dinah is behind him, (often physically placed behind him, at least in this issue), awaiting his lead. She seems more static. I know she took the lead in contacting Oracle to get the info, but she then got shot and was out of the game. She could still scream surely? And when has getting shot stopped any other hero? It just seems like she’s not allowed to be in the thick of the action, and that disappoints me.

This issue also introduced us to a new woman who’s obsessed with Ollie. If their method of including Dinah more is by framing her in terms of the jealous girlfriend I will be so angry. I want to see Dinah kick some ass and win fights, without Ollie’s help.

Maybe I need to reread them all to get the big picture. I’ve been put off buying volume 1 of the ongoing because so far it’s only out in hardback and that’s bit pricey, but now I'm bored with waiting.

Action Comics 873 – Faces of Evil: Les Luthor
Again, not so much telling us the whole story from Lex’s POV.
This is the final part of the New Krypton saga. Aaaand I don’t know how I feel about it. I hate the treatment of Alura, I think it’s crappy and tacky. I would have preferred to see more of the magic fighters, but did love the depowering of the Kryptonians with ‘mazahs’. I’m not up to date with the Marvel family so don’t know where that came from, but I like it. I do like the New Krypton planet, particularly the panels where it was formed, but feel trepidation towards Kara’s decision to fly there. I can only hope that Kara is there to keep an eye on her mother. I’m gutted by Superwoman being evil but delighted by the return of Zod, Ursa, and the bug lump.

Booster Gold 16 – Faces of Evil: Enemy Ace
This was easily the best of the week’s purchases. Booster goes back in time to the second world war and is captured first by an American, who turns out to be Maxwell Lord’s granddad (or dad?), then by Enemy Ace.
I am not seeing how Enemy Ace is evil. OK so he fought on the side of the Germans, but he’s wasn’t shown as being a Nazi and he has honour and saved Booster and Mr Lord from torture. Not all German soldiers/airmen were Nazis, many would have wanted to fight for their country regardless of the specific political nature of their government, and I don’t see how this necessarily makes Enemy Ace any worse than an allied airman, except the fact that we won. Yes he shoots people and he did allow Cyrus to be tortured, but then again, it’s a war time situation. And I’m betting the allies also tortured their prisoners. And it’s a different time. I don’t approve of what was done, but I don’t think that makes the man evil.
I presume there’s some comic history to the character I’m not aware of.

This issue also saw Michelle and Skeets trying to locate Michael. I’m growing very fond of Michelle.

Final Crisis 6
Thank god Mary Marvel reverted back to human, that godawful outfit was hurting my eyes. I do not like Apokolipsian themed costume. Ollie is taken over by the anti life equation and Dinah fights to bring him out from it, it kinda looked like she was succeeding.
There is so much going on in this issue, it’s so dense. I can’t start to explain it, it’d take too long, so I’ll point you to Supergirl Comic Box Commentary for an in depth review.
Batman’s dead though. Hmmm.

The Amazing Spiderman 583
I buckled, I bought it because it’s the Obama commemorative issue. That back up story was daft. I did like the dating story though. But not enough to justify £2.90 on the comic! Was this issue more expensive than normal? Cos £3 for a comic is ludicrous.
Interestingly, the boyfriend, who hates American superhero comics, and American politics coverage, liked the Obama story. One of my friend’s who never reads comics also enjoyed the whole book.

This is a timely comic as not only is today Obama’s inauguration but also I got a late Christmas present on the weekend, of a Spiderman piggybank.

On the subject of inauguration, man am I glad he's been sworn in. I was half convinced he;'d be shot before he could take the oath. I have enjoyed Peter David's commentary.

9 comics to look at today

I was shocked when I arrived at my local comic shop and found I had 9 books to pick up this week. Given that since Thursday I have spent between 1 hour and 4 hours travelling each day, and have visited 5 different, quite far apart, towns in Kent it's worked out pretty well. Plus, getting to read comics at breakfast when I'm not at home is a lovely experience, and one I should repeat. One last 4 hour journey to go and I will be back home tomorrow. Thank the Gods.

Herein follows mini reviews on Action Comics 872, Superman & Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves 5, Final Crisis 5, FC Revelations 4, JLA 27, Booster Gold 15, Superman/Batman 54, Supergirl cosmic adventures in the 8th grade 1, Green Arrow/Black Canary 15.
Also I include some thoughts on the DC Nation Super centric column.

Spoilers ahead
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Supergirl cosmic adventures in the 8th grade #1
Brand spanking new line. I'd pretty much read all of it on Scans Daily before I got the comic so all my squeeing was pretty much over and done with. I very much like this, it is adorable. Everyone should go and buy it.
tell you what, one thing SD didn't prepare me for was the paper used. Very nice!! A rougher grade than usual and a different type of printing maybe. I guess all the kids comics are like this, and I like it!
4 stars for the story 5 stars for the unexpected textural feel.

Superman/Batman 54
Hot damn super powered Bats is creepy. I hadn't realised how much we rely on Kal's colours to make him palatable to us and not fucking terrifying. And vice versa. I enjoyed Kal training Bruce, (in the fortress, where strictly speaking a depowered Kal should be wearing a fur lined coat, much like Zatanna, instead of just his normal suit).
Bruce hanging like a bat is just proving to me that he's mental. His new permanent gotta save everyone gotta be on duty 24/7 outlook? Nuts.
And Clark, oh Clark, keeping the duds on under your shirt. Oh a hero to the very end. Oh Clark.
Oh Lois.
I didn't realise that was Bane on the cover until, well, just now actually. :/ That's cos I'm not a bat fan.

Booster Gold 15
Hehehe. Still good. Sibling fights. Booster meets the Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) much earlier in Ralph's timeline than expected, and chooses not to tell him about his wife Sue's future (raped and murdered in Identity Crisis). Oh my.

JLA 27
Dinah provides a verbal beatdown to the big 3. That is why I love her. Odd that message being conveyed in the book, yet she's not featured on the cover. Do you reckon the artist got her confused with Zatanna? Hey, one fishnet clad girl is much the same as another right? Grrr.
Waah? Hawkgirl and Roy (Red Arrow? Speedy?) are together? Wha'?
I enjoyed Dr Kimiyo (the good one) Light's appearance, and the bad woman's refreshing honesty. I might continue buying this book on a monthly basis now.
(PS. i bought this book due to notintheface's review, here and have since noticed the ass shot.).

Superman & Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves 5
Nothing I say about this will make anyone buy or not buy it. You know what's like, the clue is in the title. In case you need to know anymore, this issue features Man-bat and hot totty being sucked for her sveet sveeeet blood by the lead vampire guy.

Action Comics 872
So I think I can read art, right. Why did I assume that the cover was Supes battling the Creature Commandos and that they were the bad guys? I'm stupid sometimes.
A good solid book within the New Krypton storyline. Alura is insane and not too bright. Kryptonian trained soldiers are scary. And please god don't say they've actually killed off Zor-El.

Grenn Arrow/Black Canary 15
This book has both their names in the title. So why is this issue all a retrospective of Ollie's life? In fact, it seems that all the issues up to now have been led by Ollie and focused around him. Dinah seems to be a supporting character in her own title. Not impressed.
I am choosing to believe that Dinah allowed herself to be caught by Dregz and was just humouring him and Ollie, and demonstrating that they work as a team. Despite the fact it was a very inefficient way (if cool looking) way to do so. And I suppose it scared the crap out of Dregz.
That said, the dialogue was very enjoyable and from their conversations it is clear Ollie and Dinah dote on each other and they seem like a real couple, which is good. But please, can we get Dinah more action focused please?
I loved Mia in this :D I find it surprising Ollie and Dinah are shocked that she is planning to have sex with Dodge and am sad this means she won't be around for a while.

Final Crisis 5
Guy Gardener is wonderful in this! I love how he seems to view Hal being framed as a personal slight against him (And we aint having it!). I'm still enjoying this Crisis. It's complex and it's detailed and it's long winded. And I don't think Wondie, who used be the Goddess of Truth, should have succumbed to the anti life equation. because of what she stands for. Anyway. It will play out well.

Final Crisis Revelations 4
Epic, religious, lots of Renee, the Huntress and disaster coming to the world via Cain. Great. Moved slower than previous issues I thought, but like Final Crisis, I think this will bear up well when read in one go at the end of the series.

Some thoughts on the DC Nation Super centric column
- A new dynamic duo in Metropolis means Nightwing and Flamebird
- Supes will be leaving earth and his title in the hands of some of his closet friends. This will mean the JLA, Lois and Jimmy, or new Kryptonians. I vote for the new Kryptonians.
- A new Adventure in front of us means the relaunched Adventure Comics right?
- The super threat to a girl is a woman - yus, Superwoman, we've already seen her.
- New Krypton is not a frame of mind but a new home for 100,001 Kryptonians. So what, it's not going away? It will stay?
- Following Infinite Crisis, Supe's origin is secret no more and will be delivered by Johns and Frank. Ok, a new mini? Actually I don't know what the IC reference is so can't relaly guess the specific of the last one. But the others? C'mon, actually tell us something the readers of the books won't already know! Give us a proper hint not obvious statements! Pointless column.

Comics of the week

Not too well received by me actually.. Probably because I read them whilst in view of strangers – not something I like doing, I’m a very private person – or whilst drunk.

Short spoilers follow for Green Arrow/Black Canary 14, Action Comics 871, Manhunter 36, Final Crisis – Resist, Supes & Bats vs Vampires and Werewolves, Booster Gold 14.
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Green Arrow/Black Canary 14
Did not like. The art looked very off and this new Connor seems flat, no depth. He seems like a slightly angry shell.
Also, last Judd Winick issue. This makes me sad.

Action Comics 871
Nightwing and Flamebird! Hurrah hurrah hurrah! Oh look they are on the cover too, I hadn’t noticed that.
My first thought was they each looked very like the Flamebird hanger on seen in Teen Titans occasionally, and like Dick Grayson. Very Battish symbol he’s got. Also, I was inexplicably reminded of Hawk and Dove.

Manhunter 36
Crap art.

Final Crisis: Resist
I thought everyone in the blogosphere was joking when they said Snapper Carr got boinked by Cheetah. That was a surprise to see they weren’t.
I didn’t know Snapper had teleportation powers now. He’s not as annoying as he used to be.

Supes & Bats vs Vampires and Werewolves 3
Rubbish. Probably due to my being drunk when reading it.

Booster Gold 14
Not as funny as it should have been. Possibly due to strangers or being drunk.

Back to the frivolous and most definitely not earnest..

Sort of half spoilers but probably more rambling thoughts for:
Infinite Crisis, Teen Titans 64, DCU Halloween Special, Superman/Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves, New Krypton Superman 681, Superman/Batman 53, DCU 4.

Infinite Crisis is really fucking cool! Now I understand lots of the plot lines from the last 3 years! Superboy Prime is a massive whiny jerk isn’t he? Kon dying, ahh, so sad, poor Cassie. Bart coming back…tugging on my heartstrings (bring him back DC!).

Superman/Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves 2
Not as bad it should be. Reads like a B movie - the subtitle is ‘and a tentacled creature FROM BEYOND!’ which kind of makes me love it. And I like the narration boxes – all sepia like. The last panel wins for being very very cool. Superman sweeps down from the sky to flatten, with his feet, the tentacled monster FROM BEYOND!
Next month, an unspeakable HORROR From Beyond!
I was obviously in a grump reading the first issue of this.

DCU Decisions 4
I thought we were going to see if Supes stood for? False advertising! Nice stirring speech from Supes though, even if I don’t’ quite understand what his beef is. Good conversation between Clark and Lois at the end. Chuckle making indeed.

Teen Titans 64
I like Bombshell. More of her please. And make her a good guy, I never quite bought that bad guy shit, so I’m pleased with the background they are giving us. And Cass’ storyline is definitely going well. Never make a pact with a god of war folks, it will turn round and bite you in the ass.

DCU Halloween special 2008
Vixen’s story was great J The other stand out one was Batman and the kids in the sewer.

Superman/Batman 53
My god, Bruce is a moody git isn’t he? I’m loving how Lois takes finding herself nearly buried alive as just a matter of course! I think I’m going to enjoy this arc.

Superman 681
Poor Ma Kent. L It’s nice to see Krypto being caring though. Doesn’t Renato Guedes draw and awesome Diana?! And of course, Kara was good. The inclusion of Doomsday knocked my socks off. I think he’s gonna go on a rampage and kill lots of the current Kryptonians. I bet at some point in the future, if not in 6 issues, then in 6 years, we’ll find out this enlarged Kandor thing was all a hoax. At the moment it’s exciting and I appreciate it.

Next I’ll be reading Aquaman, volume 2 through 4, partly written by Peter David. Good times ahead.

In bad news, check out this review of the Superman/Supergirl story arc :( How disappointing. I shall buy it anyway. And Birds of Prey has been cancelled. That sucks.

Clocks + Comics + ?

The clocks went back this morning. I'd completely forgotten about this so it was rather a nice surprise for the radio to inform me I'd got an extra hour in the day, especially as we'd overslept.
Do any other countries put their clocks back and forward?

On to the comics. Spoilers for Final Crisis \4, Superman New Krypton \1 and DCU Infinite Holiday Special 2007, and Superboy (Kon EL series)
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DCU Infinite Holiday Special 2007
I picked this up off ebay. It's the first holiday special I've bought and I rather enjoyed it. Of particular favourite was the Supergirl story (of course!), where Kara learns more about the Christmas holiday and how life is somewhat more complicated than it appears on the surface. I'm not sure if this was ever referenced in her own title, but as a stand alone story it fits in well.
Plus I'm a fan of Ale Garza's art.
Because I've got a mean streak I also loved the Shadowpact story with Blitzen paying pranks on Santa each year, pretending to be from the Anti Christmas League :D
The Green Lantern and Trials of Shazam stories were good and all, but knowing these books histories meant I didn't really understand all the background, which I think you were meant to.
Marcos Marz pencilled, Luciana Del Negro inked and Ron Reis coloured the Trials of Shazam story and it's really beautiful stuff. Good team.
Of course I loved the Flash story, it's Bart after all, how could I not! (BRING BACK BART DC!)
The Batwoman story was good, but again I felt like I was missing something.
Supes own story, done with more than a nod to the original stories (Lois as top journalist made to get Perry a coffee, and the clothes and hairstyles), made me chuckle. Specifically when Batman is dressed is Santa and then Supes clocks him in front of the terrified kids. Wonderful!

Final Crisis \4
Yep, still liking. I haven't bought all the tie ins so I have no idea who the tattoed man is or why Renee is now about to work with Amanda Waller, (or was that in FC Revelations and I didn't notice?) but I love the war they heroes are in. The impossible odds, the sense of tragedy (Ollie and Dinah separated), the despair, the sense crushing sense of doom - essentially it's all gone to hell in a handbasket and the DCU is fucked.
My favourite type of story, in fact. Can't wait to see how this is going to play out and what it will mean for the heroes.

Oh, yeah, and the Flash kiss. :)

Superman: New Krypton \1
This is being handled well. Initially I thought bringing back Kandor was a crap idea, now I've changed my mind. The writers have done well introducing conflicts and questions I hadn't anticipated (not that I ever try and second guess anything, I prefer to be led into a story). The thing with the whale was very effective and the El family meal contrasted with Ma Kent was heartbreaking. Alura and Zor-El must know the Kents right? How can they be so shortsighted
to assume that Kal has been dying to have a meal with them? On the other hand, it only looks selfish because we know of Pa Kent's death, they don't. However they do seem an arrogant bunch. But at least Kara has her folks back. Now, if they can only tie up her origin once and for all I'll be happy.

Lastly, check out the perspective on the cover!

Superboy (Kon El series)
This series is utter fluff. Just like the Kid, it's superficial, obsessed with women and their looks and with partying. This isn't a criticism, it works to write the comic to fit with the main character. It's not particularly to my taste mind you, but I'll keep reading it.
I'm on about issue 40 or so now, and it is showing signs of maturity - Superboy has just found out he'll never mature past 16 and he's having nightmares and angsting about it (as much as the boy ever angsts, let's face it, he's not Batman). The issue where he visits a never never island is really good and he has recently had to deal with villains who are not clear cut evil, and you can tell it's giving him beefs. In this completely not humble writer's opinion, this is a good thing.

Currently listening to:
Dub War - Pain. Welsh angry metal reggae type stuff. Fucking wonderful.

That's it for today, I'm out for a roast to celebrate the boy's birthday. Hope you all have had a good weekend!

This week's stuff

More reviews brought to you courtesy of my hungover brain. In between segments of Smallville (Clark, at the Planet, a bomb goes off on a bus, he rushes out to save everyone! :D)
Green Arrow/Black Canary 13
Why is this labelled as Dec 08? In fact why are all this week's stuff labelled as Dec 08? Have I never noticed this before? I'm pretty sure it's still October...
Aww I love Mia. This book is very irreverent and fun. Ollie's reaction to Mia and English dude's date was great. Dinah shows off some interesting up to the minute fashion choices. I'm sorry, I just hate that style of top. Mind you, Dinah's always had terrible taste in clothes. Anyone remember that godawful fringed/tasseled jacket she had at the start of the Birds of Prey run?
This issue also features topless Connor, so beefcake.

Terror Titans 1
Yay Rose. I'm convinced that she's still on the side of good. nice art too, showing her reasonably well built and all.

Final Crisis Revelations 3
Yep, still good. I def think I'm a bit too hungover to write a decent review. :/

Action Comics 870
No no no no no. Stop killing off Pa Kent. It's wrong. Kara's new Argo City origin wasn't looked at and I've no idea how Clark fixed Kandor and Metropolis. All in all, a lame ending.
Apart from Supes punching Brainiac in the face. That was enjoyable.

Birds of Prey: Metropolis or Dust
Very good. I much prefer this to Gail Simone's run and shall continue to purchase the trades.
Zinda and Helena getting drunk and bonding is great, there's a giant mechanised robot, Supes is a jerk, Babs beats herself up, Misfit is oh so enjoyable and freckly, and there's some really dodgy stuff about Zinda getting brainwashed and raped. Utterly utterly recommended.

Two Face year one /2
Yeah, this is good. An interesting journey into what made Two face Two face. Lovely art and a wonderful cover.

Runaways trade: Live fast
A telepathic dinosaur. That's what I mostly remember about this,. That and the paper quality is so damn nice. Things have gone downhill since Gert died. But the next trade is written by Joss Whedon, so I'm looking forward to that!

Supergirl and Batwoman to join the JLA? Oh say it is so!

Now I have a really massive headache and need a bath. I give up on streaming Smallville it takes too damn long.

Second lot of reviews

Or wibblings, if you will.

Final Crisis Revelations 2 Ooh there's an angel of mercy! I believe I've mentioned how much I'm a sucker for religious stuff right? Well, by religious I mean christian stuff. Other religions do interest me but they don't get me in the heart like christian stuff does. I go to churches or cathedrals to sightsee and always end up lighting a candle and offering up a quick prayer. But I don't believe in the doctrine as a whole, just small parts get me.
I really really feel for Crispus. He was made to kill his son as the Spectre and now he's found out there's an angel of mercy and his world is turned upside again. He can't make sense of it. How do you live like that? How do you carry on?

Booster Gold 12 So much fun. It's nice to have a title not full of aggro and darkness. And Booster as Elvis. Bonus.

Green Arrow/Black Canary 12 Still the title I most look forward to each month. Love the art and colouring, love the GA family, love Dinah, getting to like Shado. I've now caught up on all the Green Arrow titles and will get round to putting up some thoughts later, along with lots of pictures of Ollie, who I now have a massive crush on. God I'm sad.

DCU Decisions 1 - Hell it centred round Ollie, of course I like it! I'm hacked off Lois is a Republican but glad to see Diana supporting Ollie making a stand.
But they shouldn't make all the characters take a stand. I mean Superman? Whatever you do it'll break a lot of hearts and tarnish the character. It's fine for Ollie, we've always known where's he's stood, but the none too obviously political ones? Please let us keep the story in our heads.

Teen Titans 63 Well Cassie was much improved in this. Bombshell wasn't how I expected, she seemed mad and homicidal last time we saw her, now she's stabilised? I guess it's a good thing, she's got more depth as a character now. Let's continue with her please, I like her.

Comic reviews

Spoilers for Final Crisis Revelations, GA/BC\11, Booster Gold \11, Action Comics \868.
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Final Crisis Relevations \1. I got suckered in. It's gonna feature the Question and Batwoman. And it has a religious theme. I'm suckered. And it was actually pretty good! I do like the Spectre, I like the whole idea and concept. I'm intrigued as to how Renee's gonna get out of this mess, I like the whole moral debate and resentment Crispus has for carrying out the Spectre's duties. It's interesting.
I would have even liked Dr Light apparently getting torched, except that he appears to have Raven, Starfire and Donna Troy cowering in ripped rags, tears and fear by the bed. Now I'm not reading Titans, or any other Final Crisis minis (except for Final Crisis) which I guess is where this led in from, but I can't quite fathom why these 3 women are cowering like that.
Even if they were stripped of their powers, they'd still fight and they wouldn't be scared of him, they'd be disgusted.
And because of that I think the whole scene is a fake. Y'hear that DC? Rampant misogyny makes the storeis fail!

Booster Gold \ 11. Time travelling fun! Alternative histories and a really good cover. I likrd. Lighthearted.

Action comics \868. I don't buy that Kara has never seen breast Implants before. So I choose to ignore that panel and assuem she's taking the piss out of the reporter. Lovely art and a good story. I particularly enjoyed Kara's horror at seeing Brainiac and her gentle puzzlement over where Kal is. Given that I am jumping on in the middle of an arc yet I wasn't lost about the plot, is a testament to good well placed writing. it seems obvious but so often this basic stuff is forgotten. There's a lot of crap out there.

GA/BC \ 11. I love these covers. Thsi issue totally felt like a filler. I know we found out who shot connor and who the faux Ra's is, but this issue really won't make sense on a standalone basis. Still, it moves the plot on and I'm still interested so it's cool!

This weekend, well from Thursday, I re read the first 50 issues of Teen Titans. :o Love that book.

As I've gvien up on Trinity I won't be buying anything this week which will be good on ye old finances. At least until I spend an extra tenner next week buying the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis trade. I've read one issue and the art is breathtaking. Should be good.

Comics frenzy!

Yup. It's been a comics frenzy. God I've read so much recently.

Spoilers ahoy.

JLElite mini - re-read this after I finished Batgirl. Really really good. I got a lot more out of it now I know more backstory etc.

Trinity - still reading it, but am no longer offended. I don't really care either way to be honest so I can probably drop it soon.

Joker's asylum - Scarecrow and Two Face - Ooh yeah, I really really enjoyed both of these! I didn't know much about the character's before but now I'm really intrigued.

Two Face year 1 - issue 1. I also really enjoyed this. Bought it from a shop in Romford with a very chatty sales guy, who gave me a discount and also pointed out his sexy corner!*

Huntress number 6 - Wonderful. :) Although the last panel was corny. I shall enjoy the whole mini in sequence soon.

Manhunter 33 - I don't like the art on this. I can see why people like it, but I like my art glossy, and this isn't. The plot and everything else is good though, so I shall keep getting it.

Supergirl 32 - Oh Kara, you've matured! Love the older her costumer. And poise. She makes the right decision, she felt like her own person, finally. Not like a supporting cast member. And Empress is in the next issue! I like Empress, a lot, I still think her powers etc are a bit dubious, but she is great.

Buffy 17 - Not as exciting as I had hoped :/ And I'm quite frankly shocked to see Willow turn to the dark side again. I'd assumed it was Drusilla leading the way. Nice of them not to put a Buffy upskirt shot on the cover.
I'm on Buffy season 3 at the mo, and by god the main cast's attitude towards Faith is irritating. So she has sex, she dresses like a 'bad girl', get over it! I realise this is a fairly accurate portrayal of some teenagers attitudes, but it's so hypocritical. You just know that Willow is the same between the sheets (As evidence I submit to you Evil vampire Willow and her later more open relationship with Tara) and Buffy has a wild streak in her (Spike sex), yet they pretend to be so bloody puritan and innocent. Grrr. I've never understood people like that. It's ok to say you like sex! It's not a character failing! *Gnashes teeth*

Robin 176 - I only bought this cos it's Spoiler. I cannot start buying all the bat titles, I don't have the room or the money. Must. Not. Buy.

Superman/Batman 50 - Aww I love this title! So far I've been buying the trades but decided to sue this issue as a jumping on point. It's great! I love seeing the two of them interact, light and dark and all that. :) And the fathers meeting retcon pleases me too, I like the concept of fate in my books.

Final Crisis 1-3. I wasn't gonna buy in. I wasn't'. I'd bought Rogues Revenge but that's because I'd just finished the Flash and I'm narked that they killed Bart off. But then I saw that gorgeous Supergirl cover. And remembered it was written by Grant Morrison. So i caved. And it's pretty darn good! I'll need to re read it to get it all to sink in - I was a bit stressed on first reading - but yeah I'm impressed. Here's that Supergirl cover:

Isn't it beautiful?

And finally I'm reading JSA 16, annual and 17. For this I blame Heidi Meeley! And the Alex Ross cover. And the Power Girl theme. I didn't like the inside art that much - it felt very static, and some was just poorly done, but the story of a God coming to earth, healing everyones pains, that's the kind of thing I'm a sucker for. And as Heidi says, it is all going to go to hell in a handbasket. The other reason why I like these sorts of stories.

And I still haven't talked about Babs giving Cassandra that teeny weeny bikini in Batgirl yet. Really it's more a piece of string than a bikini. Babs would never do that to a vulnerable girl like Cass. Babs knows she isn't ready or used to male attention and she knows exactly what will happen. In short, Babs doesn't need Cass to look hawt. Babs also understands you can look hawt while wearing more than two very tiny circles and some string. The same plot point could have been demonstrated with Cass wearing a swimsuit.

*gnashes teeth*

*Where the Grimms Fairy Tales and Witchblade stuff was! get your mind out the gutter!

Is Trinity in continuity?

I ask because I can't see how it fits in with the ongoing plot of the Superman title (I'm not reading Wonder Woman or Batman), and also, with this whole RIP Batman rubbish that's going on, I assume Batman isn't going to die or ascend to become a god if he's still existing in Trinity.

Help anyone?

I think I'm gonna purchase Final Crisis. Ulp. More wasted money. Or not, cos I'm rather into the whole story now. I'm definitely gonna buy Final Crisis - Rogues revenge cos it's dealing with the death of Bart Allen, an event that has left me utterly heartbroken and made me cry. Nearly.
Yes, you may say I get far too involved in my books, I say it's a good book if it drives you to tears.

For the love of god DC

I'm really really bored with all these Crisis-es. Really bored. It's been, what, 2 or 3 years of buildup? Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, 52, then Countdown, now final crisis. Have a I missed anything? 52 was good,I enjoyed that. I just wish they'd collected the extra bits at the end of the comics, the history of the DCU bits and the origins stories, into the trades. Or into another book I coudla bought. grrr.
anyway now they've killed off J'onn J'onzz. why? just to spice things up a bit? god i'm bored with all this.
and I couldn't get a copy of manhunter #31 or the robin/spoiler special because my shop had sold out of both in one day. grr. got them on order now which is ok.
I did get the new Buffy and supergirl issues though and my god they were good. Kara is now her own person, she's not a pale imitation of Clark. the storyline and Kara herself has depth and maturity. It was really really good. and the Buffy one was also fantastic. it took a while for this comic to get into the flow of things, but Wolves at the Gate has been a really really good story arc. Giant mecha Dawn fighting realy Dawn on the streets of tokyo! with a tail! Buffy jumping off the building to save Willow was also made of cool. and Dracula and Xander's conversation at the end. and buffy comforting Xander. so many good things. so many! loved it.
i also forgot to get Trinity #1. Should I buy? Should I wait for the trade? but oh how I love those 3 together. hmm. what to do, what to do.

Monster Comic buying session part 1

I got my Nightwing figure! It's very cool :D Although the slots at the back where her wings fit in and not level :( Oh well, it's still pretty awesome :)

I've bought a ridiculous amount of comics recently. Orbital comics in London has loads of 50p back issue comics, (it's also where I got my figure from), and Forbidden Planet does a grab bag of 5 back issues for a quid. You can only see what two of them are and the second time round I did end up with duplicates but it's still a bargain. I may now attempt a super short collection of thoughts of each comic. I won't say review. Team ups first, then individual books, then Infinte Crisis tie ins. Then non DC books.

Justice Society of America \2: Nice. Features Kingdom Come Superman. I'm thinking of picking up the title on a regular basis now. Previously I haven't gone near it cos all the JSA heroes except Power Girl have bored me senseless. I am ready to concede I may be wrong.
JSA Strange Adventures \5: I remember enjoying this. And the cover art is great. And it's got Hawkgirl. Thumbs up.

Justice League New Frontier special \1: Lovely art. Didn't really like Superman in this. Liked Black Canary and Wonder Woman in the strip club, even if Diana did come across a bit mental. Dinah's reactions to her and the situation were great though.

JLA \67: I do have a soft spot for this run.

Teen Titans\57: An issue devoted to Rose, my favourite of the titans, hurrah! I must get the 5 or 6 issues I've missed of this.
Teen Titans Year 1 \1 to 3: Oh poor aqualad, he's rather pathetic isn't he? I like this mini. A lot.
Titans \1: Yes so it's Michael Churchill's art and it's pornface all over, and Supergirl and Wonder girl are clones of each other, but the story is good. What's everyone's beef ??

Green Arrow/Black Canary \6 and 7: Oh hell yeah. I love these two. And I like Judd Winick's writing. Oh Ollie, you're such a twat, you didn’t' check the aliens. *shakes head*
Green Arrow \48: Dire.

Brave and the Bold \10: Oh Robin and Wally, you’re so mean to Aqualad.

Wonder Girl \1: Oh I'm definitely getting the trade of this. Oh yes.

Black Adam \2: The end of 52 promised a better book than this. And the cover is lame. But hey, Black Adam's back!

Batman Legends vol 2 \2: A British reprint of stories from ASBAR, (Ninja) Man Bats of London and Superman/Batman Public Enemies. Hey, it's the goddamn Batman, what can I say, I love it!

Robin Annual \7: Shiny. The bat family has always interested me more than batman himself, and this was an enjoyable read. The festival of the hungry ghosts story was the best even though I know fuck all about Damian. Maybe that's why?

Superman \661: Tagline on the cover reads - (Khyrana) 'No one can stop Khyrana, Superman--no one!' (Wonder Woman) 'OH?'. The boyfriend finds this funny in an American comics are really utter dross way (he's a manga snob). I find it funny in a cheesy overly dramatic way. Lois was acting rather jealous in this though. Is that a normal part of her characterisation recently?
All Star Superman \10: Definitely not as awesome as I'd been led to believe. I will not be rushing to pick the hardback of this anymore.
Superman \185: Gorgeous cover. Really enjoyable read, although Superman getting snarky with villains does always seem a bit contrived. Like the writers are trying to move away from the gentle boy scout image, it's not always handled very well and this issue is an example of that I think.
Superman \207: Can't remember a thing about this..
Action Comics \10: Yay! I especially liked the terrible editing job. In the Criminals of Krypton we find out why the ugly silent one - Non - of the Zod + Ursa group is so grunty. Turn the page and Superman's Top 10 Most Wanted reads Non’s fall from grace and current condition remains a mystery. Err, no it doesn't!
Superman The Man of Tomorrow \ 13 and 26: Mulletman. Rubbish.
Superman The Day the Earth Died \658: The start of the Camelot Falls saga. Oh I want to read it all.

Supergirl \28 : we’ve finally had a run of several decent issues! And good art, thank god!

Nightwing \137: Not good as an intro to the Nightwing books.

Plastic Man \9: New, refreshing funny. I'm amazed I like a Plastic Man title.

Aquaman \48: Oh my god this was brilliant. Have they put this into trades? Must get all back issues. And the art is simply lovely.

Booster Gold \1: 52 pick up. Great! Booster's a brilliant character, a bit of an arrogant cocky jerk but he generally does the right thing. I'm now gonna be getting this one regularly. \8 also followed on pretty well.

Countdown to Mystery \2: Well it's nice and shiny and flicking through it I can see it features the Spectre and a guilty Plastic Man but for the life of me I can't remember any details.

Countdown to Adventure \3: Oh I like this. Go Starfire. I liked how the 3 way relationship between Starfire, Animal Man and his wife was handled.

Infinite Crisis aftermath The Spectre \2: and Tales of the Unexpected featuring The Spectre \1-4: I think I've got the individual stories of these mixed up. I wasn't aware of this new incarnation of the Spectre and it has piqued my curiosity. the Dr 13 stories at the back of tales of the unexpected were far superior though. Mad and very very funny.

Checkmate \15: Did I even read this?

Showcase \1: Cyborg, Blue Devil, Catwoman: I did not care for Catwoman. I think they may have wanted to make her more edgy and mean and 90s. The Blue Devil story was entertaining, the Cyborg one was a good opener but without the follow on issues I've lost interest. Overall, rather forgettable.
Blue Devil \22: From 1986. Funny, a keeper.

Midnighter \14: Do not care for. I picked it up cos I thought Midnighter was a gay superhero and I'd heard interesting things about it. But it didn't grab me. Maybe it will on a future re-read.

Serenity Better Days \2: Of course I like, how could I not?

Buffy \13: Not as good as last issue. Loved the Xander/Dracula dialogue though.

Wolverine \58: Wolverine is one of the few Marvel characters I care for. This was ok; I’m a sucker for random religious/spiritual experiences so this drew me right in. And of course it’s got Doctor Strange in it, who rules. However, do they really think that their audience needs the word anagram explained?

X-Man \49: Fucking shite. oh Marvel you suck.

And then there's the Impulse run as well. And more 52 spin offs. And 5 of a kind books. And Empowered. And Superman 3,2,1 action. And probably even more. *Sigh*