Seeing SuperMen and Women As They Were

So the new DC Universe has launched. The first month of new series and newly re-launched series has passed and the shared fictional universe inhabited by the DC superheroes 'will never be the same'. Sorta-kinda-not-really.

[Josh has already reviewed two of the re-launching books "Justice League" #1 and "Wonder Woman" #1, and I intend to review at least one of them myself, but here I'm trying to take a big-picture outlook on this relaunch and the superhero characters at its center. This is a snapshot, a time-capsule, of the moment before long-time superhero reader Jon Gorga has read a single one of DC's New 52 issues.]

The truth is that this is far from the first time these characters have been reinvented. (1986's "Crisis on Infinite Earths", most notably.) The highest-profile retro-fitting maybe. Mentioned in newspapers. Advertised on TV. But still. As I've written before, these long-running pop culture characters have to be treated like rubber bands. Stretch! Stretch who these characters can be! Make Ray Palmer, the superheroic, super-shrinking Atom, a widower to a crazy serial killer. (That was done back in 2oo5 in the near-universally-revered mini-series "Identity Crisis".) Make Batman and Superman aging neo-fascists. (Frank Miller seemed to have no fear in pushing that concept in his works "The Dark Knight Returns" and "The Dark Knight Strikes Again".) Place Superman's famous crash-landing in the corn fields of the USSR instead of the US circa 1938. ("Red Son", Mark Millar's alternate take on the DC mythos is also a popular one.)

Over these past weeks of reading and rereading, I've (re)encountered:

4 versions of Wonder Woman
9 versions of Superman
and
25 versions of Batman...

plus:

3 versions of the Martian Manhunter

2 versions of the Flash

2 versions of Green Arrow

3 versions of the Question

And so on...

I finished reading all the non-continuity Elseworlds stuff sitting around my house from Frank Miller's goddamn Batman to J.M. DeMatteis' Realworlds TV producer Batman to Warren Ellis' interpretation of Adam West's Batman to Brian Azzarello's First Wave Batman to the kiddie Batman from "Batman: Brave and the Bold".

Then I moved onto the origins of these fantastic characters: "Batman: Year One", "Superman For All Seasons", "Superman: Earth One" (which I reviewed when it came out last year), "Superman: Secret Origin", "DC: The New Frontier".

I followed this with two issues of "Justice League of America" circa late 1973 I've had sitting around for a very long time. #107 and #108, which make-up "Crisis on Earth-X!" specifically. And I chose to finish in entirely unfamiliar territory: a copy of Jack Kirby's "OMAC" #6.

The result? A whole mess of Batmen, actually. I realized that my first childhood favorite was still my favorite among the DC pantheon and the amount of his appearances among my reading material from the company belied this.

But in that, I discovered something about all these different interpretations of the character: they are all completely different but they all have something in common. Something that makes them all still qualify as Batman.

From Warren Ellis' original pitch for the one-shot "Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth":

"The Batman sees how to end it -- and tells Blank how to see the world. What worked for him when he's teetered on the edge. How to perceive the world." Batman, the man who "tries to make the world make sense by thinking about it..." (Batman/Planetary Deluxe Edition, p. 50)

From the script to the same:

"[Elijah] SNOW; YOU'RE NOT A COP ARE YOU?

SNOW; I DON'T THINK VIGILANTE IS THE RIGHT WORD, EITHER.

...

BATMAN; DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR PARENTS?

BLACK; YES.

...

BATMAN; DO YOU REMEMBER TIMES WHEN THEY MADE YOU FEEL SAFE?

BLACK; YES.

...

BATMAN; THAT'S WHAT YOU HOLD ON TO.

BATMAN; THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR OTHER PEOPLE.

BATMAN; YOU CAN GIVE THEM SAFETY. YOU CAN SHOW THEM THEY'RE NOT ALONE.

PAGE FORTY-SIX

Pic 1;

A half-page portrait of the Batman, head and shoulders -- THIS is the reason he does what he does. This is the lost core of the man.

BATMAN; THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE THE WORLD MAKE SENSE.

BATMAN; AND IF YOU CAN DO THAT --

BATMAN; -- YOU CAN STOP THE WORLD FROM MAKING MORE PEOPLE LIKE US." (Batman/Planetary Deluxe Edition, pgs. 91-94)

This got my wheels spinning... Batman changes his point-of-view through sheer willpower and that altered POV is absolutely required to do "what he does"? If Warren Ellis (@warrenellis) says it, it must be true!

Same sentiment said faster, perhaps, by Brian Azzarello (@brianazzarello) in "Batman/Doc Savage: Bronze Night" one-shot:

"I know I can make the world better. ... Hell, from before I could think for myself, that's all I thought to do." (Batman/Doc Savage Special, pgs. 4-5)

I don't talk much about Realworlds: "Return of the Justice League" in this article. You should read it anyway.

In "The Dark Knight Strikes Again", on his return to Earth after a very long sojourn, at Batman's request, Hal Jordan the Green Lantern thinks:

"How strange that it would be you. The mean one. The cruel one. The one with the darkest soul. ... How strange that you, of all of us, would prove to be the most hopeful."

(The Dark Knight Strikes Again Deluxe Edition, p. 202)

"The Dark Knight Strikes Again" really should be titled something like "The Justice League Returns" as it's more of an ensemble piece than the name suggests.

Furthermore, a careful reading of Neil Gaiman's (@neilhimself) "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" brings us a parallel as the supposedly dead Batman speaks to his long-dead mother Martha Wayne:

"You don't get heaven, or hell. Do you know the only reward you get for being Batman? You get to be Batman." (Detective Comics #853, p. 19)

Perhaps a better selection from that work, that comes closer to the meat of the answer I want, is:

"I've learned... that it doesn't matter what the story is, some things never change.

...

The Batman doesn't compromise. I keep this city safe..." (Detective Comics #853, p. 12)

Batman is the man who makes the world a better place by altering his point of view.

But what about those other two heroes of DC's holy trinity?

Superman seems so simple on the surface that most discount him entirely. 'Superman isn't brave, he's invulnerable', I've heard people say. This is a mistake.

Superman is vulnerable in that he is too emotional, too nice. Too perfect.

Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" presents Superman as a man broken by the yoke of his own fears. A superhuman so afraid of any loss of human life, he allows for a complete destruction of the quality of all life.

The sequel to "The Dark Knight" quadrology from 1986 is almost universally reviled among comics-fans. It's a tremendously dark and depressing portrayal of the DC Comics superhero characters. In the end, Superman is convinced by the daughter he has had with Wonder Woman as well as Miller's fascist Bruce Wayne that the remaining superheroes ARE categorically different, ontologically different, and unquestionably better than petty, average, normal human beings. So why NOT rule over them and force them to live better lives? Millar's Emperor Superman from his "Red Son" comes to the exact same conclusion: be the alien overlord, force the peons to be good.

In the movie "Kill Bill:Vol. 2", David Carradine gives a soliloquy on the nature of Superman in the middle of a fight scene with Uma Thurman. Quentin Tarantino very smartly cribbed from Jules Feiffer's famous essay "The Great Comic Book Heroes" when he had the character of Bill say:

"Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume." ("Kill Bill: Vol. 2", 2oo4)

So:

Superman is the secret identity.

Clark Kent is the disguise.

But:

Clark Kent is the everyman.
And Superman is like no man.

Emotionally and psychologically very human but ontologically alien. Biologically Kryptonian. Somewhere in-between is the real person, Kal-El. The Superman, the Ubermench, the In-Between Man. He may not be the everyman, but he is of every person who's ever lived.

Somebody wise once wrote: Batman is a man trying to be a god, Superman is a god trying to be a man.

I think that's the truth. Just not the whole truth. They are both men and both gods, both effect change in a positive way, but from different sources of energy.

-Superman is 'good' striving forward, positively
-Batman is 'bad' striving forward, positively.

That's why Batman appeals to people who find the Superman character repulsively simple, while Superman fans rarely fail to be Batman fans also. Batman took negative energy, used it, and spun it positively. Parents murdered in front of him at an early age. So he struggles to fight so that none may have to experience what he did. Superman took positive energy and spread it exponentially. He was shown kindness by his adopted planet from day one, despite his great loss in never knowing his birth parents, his birth home. He struck out to make others feel as welcomed and safe as he was.

So then...

Is Wonder Woman just a female clone of Superman? Just more good vibrations? A god trying to be a woman? It's been suggested that as she is the enemy of Ares, and thus the enemy of War, she is the peace-maker of the DC pantheon. ("Super Heroes United!: The Complete Justice League History", Justice League: The New Frontier DVD, 2oo8) Yes, but they are all peace-makers! I think Wonder Woman might be among the clearest examples of what all mythic characters are at their core: ideas striving to be alive. Womanhood. Strength in femininity. Fortitude in the face of social-bondage.

And what of these other men and women with remarkable abilities?

The Flash has been portrayed as a man running away from his past and/or toward solutions. The Martian Manhunter feels like an old soldier brought into a new fight. Green Arrow is the superhuman social conscience. Black Canary is the superheroic working woman. Green Lantern is a bureaucratic superhero, a space-cop who has to answer to the intergalactic Guardians. The Question is the spiritual warrior.

They each serve a purpose, fill a role. All evolved from very simple to complex characters, and all have their own personal struggles. All reflect something different back at us, the reader.

I believe, now, what I've always believed: superheroes are an intrinsic part of the human psyche exploded and clarified, expanded into colorful representations of our desires, our needs, our hopes, and our dreams. DC was there first and, in some ways at least, did it best. And I suspect no re-boot, re-launch or re-imagining will change that.

~ @JonGorga

NOTE, a full Flickr set exists that tracks my adventures in reading this stuff...

P.S. ~ I'm looking forward to reading some non-DC comics for the first time in roughly two months...

Quote for the Week 7/14/11

"As a child, when you're pretending you're different superheroes, Green Lantern was the easiest because all you needed to light the fire and the imagination was the ring... With Superman, you need a cape; Spider-Man you need, like, a full-face mask. That wasn't tough to come by in a winter town like where I'm from, but they're just hot to wear in the summer. So to be Green Lantern, all you needed to do is suck a Lifesaver down to the right size -- and to make sure it's a lime one -- slip it on your finger and you were good."

~ Nathan Fillion, in an interview about his work voice-acting as Hal Jordan for "Green Lantern: Emerald Nights".

Believe it or not, it came from this awful-looking magazine:


~@JonGorga

In brightest day....

In blackest night

No teaser poster shall escape my sight.

Let all who worship movie critics' might

Beware my power

Green Lantern's light poster.

Okay, so I couldn't make it rhyme. Deal with it. You get the gist. I'm excited for this movie. I really am. Though in my heart of hearts I know it will probably disappoint me, like an ex-boyfriend that claims to have changed. But the flashy teaser poster and the promise of Mark Long as Sinestro keeps drawing me in. Then I remember the fact that they cast Blake Lively as Carol Ferris and I'm torn again.

But besides the truly baffling choice of having skinny, blonde Lively playing a tough, pilot chick like Carol, my major fear about the Green Lantern movie is that I'm worried there won't be enough of, you know, everyone else. Now I'm not expecting John or Guy or Kyle (that would be dumb, because they came later) but what I want to see is Kilowog, Tomar Re, maybe even Katma Tui. You know, the Lanterns from other sectors that make the comic book so much fun. Little known fact, Kilowog is totally my favorite Lantern.

So far IMDB isn't listening any non-earthlings besides Abin Sur and Sinestro, which doesn't look good for me. Now I'm assuming we'll at least get The Guardians, but what I love so much about the Green Lantern comics is the range of characters. I want to see Hal become a Lantern, but dammit, I want dudes from space too. So please don't break my heart DC, and deliver me a Green Lantern movie as awesome as the comics (and as awesome as that poster).

Later, poozers. Lantern Sector 2814.5 out.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 1/27/2o1o!

Okay, I'm going to follow Josh's lead on these posts because something has to change for them to still have a point, don't they?

If Josh and I are both wrong and you really enjoy these posts as just simple lists let us know! Post a comment and let us know how wrong we are! But from here on in, I am going to name one book, the big book, the one book that I am most excited about and am most likely to buy (similar to what Josh is doing) and then I am going to write an update to the post in which I show you a picture of all the things I bought for the week, whether they're this week's books or not.

So my big book for this week is: "the Amazing Spider-Man" #619

I am finally catching up on this series and I'm getting a lot of great surprises along the way. I'm only three issues behind! This idea of throwing all of Spidey's old major villains from Kaine to Electro at him in a short period of time and calling it "The Gauntlet" is just spine-tingly good. Check back to see what I pick up!

UPDATE: 1/29/2o1o
So, still being short on cash (fingers crossed on a few job prospects), I'm limiting my purchasing again big time.

So I just got the aforementioned "Amazing Spider-Man" #619 and "New Avengers" #61, which I feel the need to point out looks to have almost nothing to do with "Siege". I seriously, seriously WANTED to pick up "Green Lantern" #50 because it looks like another big turning point in the "Blackest Night" event storyline. Sigh.

Back to "Siege", both "New Avengers" and "Dark Avengers" aren't so much tying into "Siege" as they are wrapping up their respective stories (I'd be surprised if the "Mighty" tie-in issues don't do the same). Which figures as all the Avengers titles are about to be canceled and we will finally have one single story in a comic titled "Avengers" which Josh posted about earlier this month and upon which there will be more to come soon.

However, if you really want to see a fleshing-out of the story in "Siege" #1, I'd recommend reading "Dark Wolverine" #82 and "Avengers: The Initiative" #32. So far, those two titles have actually showed us some more of the events leading up to the siege of Asgard. (And Josh and my respective thoughts about the current ongoing "Iron Man" story and the just completed "Thor" story being lead-ins to "Siege" turned out to be pretty much right on the button.)

We shall see what time and the Marvel executives have in store for the characters.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 12/16/2oo9

I'ma lookin' forward tah:

"Amazing Spider-Man" #615 (definitely)
Well... someday I'll read this series instead of just buy them and plan to read them. I still need to read #602.

"Ex Machina" #47 (definitely)
I'm not going to NOT read this. The last issues of this series (we're leading up to the final one, #50) have to go out with a bang.

"Cowboy Ninja Viking" #3 (probably)
Jeez read that solicit. How can I not buy this? It is my intention to re-read the first issue with the understanding that it is a comedy and then review it for this site. Then buy and read #2.

"Chimichanga" #1 (maybe)

Huh.

"X-Factor" #200 (maybe)
THIS looks interesting.

"Cable" #21 (maybe)

I must admit the idea that Marvel is doing an X-Men crossover event named "Second Coming" about the red-haired baby-girl who was the first mutant born since the events of the "House of M" crossover returning to the present after escaping to the future and becoming a fully-grown lady is... remarkable. For many reasons.

"Captain America: Reborn" #5 (maybe)

Hey, I'm a sucker for alternate past world stories. Read the preview pages. See what I mean. So cool!

NOTE: The collected paperback edition of "The Life and Times of Savior 28" is solicited to come out this week (earlier than we'd gotten word previously). Although I almost certainly won't be buying this since I have all five issues of the mini-series, I highly recommend the series to all fans of superhero comics. If you 'waited for trade' on this one, you really, really should stick to your guns now.

Well, that's all he wrote.... for now! Be sure to check back in this space to see what I buy!

UPDATE: 12/20/2oo9

Once AGAIN this week some comics could simply not be located: "Chimichanga" #1 and "Cowboy Ninja Viking" #3 are either delayed or got lost in a shipment or something.

Cap Reborn #4 didn't look very good. The preview pages are kind of misleading and... dammit, I don't care about this series anymore. We'll have to see how the last issue is.

"X-Factor" #200 turned out to be an expensive book with a lot of reprints in the back. Short story, bunch of pages of reprints, 5 bucks. Does not compute.

Seeing "The Brave and the Bold" #30 on Josh's pull-list made me curious and when I flipped though it I decided it looked awesome and so I picked it up. It is wonderful.

"Cable" #21 was surprisingly good and you will probably see a review of it from me in the coming weeks.

You will definitely see a review of "Ex Machina" #47 from me soon.

And I picked up Amazing Spidey #615. No surprise there.

Meanwhile, at the Pull List of Clare!- 10/28/09

Why? Why the week when I have money saved up? Why why why? Oh well, at least I'll be working a few shifts next month which means more money to feed my addiction. Oh the shame! THE SHAME! I still stand by my theory that weeks like this are plots designed specifically to separate me from my money.

On the Gotham Front, I'll be picking up Batman #692, Gotham City Sirens #5, and Detective Comics #858. I'm not terribly thrilled about Tony Daniel being back on Batman. DC-- I love you guys, really I do, but Battle for the Cowl blew. I was happy with the Winick/Bagley team. However, I am a sucker and I can't pass up most Batman comics. I'm really looking forward to reading Sirens as it is a continuation of a Joker/Harley Quinn story, and Paul Dini is the master of those stories. He invented them after all. Batwoman: Detective Comics has actually really grown on me. At first the story was only so-so but it's a lot more interesting now. Plus the art and panel layout is not just eye candy, it's a rich, decadent eye desert.

There are also three Blackest Night books coming out that I'm really looking forward to! First is Blackest Night: Titans #3. This hasn't been the best out of the Blackest Night mini-series but it holds a special place in my heart because it's the Titans. Also, it is good! Next is Green Lantern #47. After some awesome Sinestro stuff (a.k.a kicking Mongul's sorry ass!) we're moving back to the war between the Blue Lanterns and Agent Orange. This means more Saint Walker, and he's my favorite. And finally, the best-- Blackest Night #4. Still loving this, and if the book is half as good as that cover it will be money well spent.

Other DC books that will be making their way into my shortbox are Teen Titans #76. Even with McKeever gone, this book isn't picking it up. In all honesty, I should give this up but I can't give up hope that one day it will be good. And then there will be some Supes in my life in the forms of Superman Secret Origin #2 and Superman #693. Robinson's run on Supes has been great from the beginning and I love the Mon-El/Guardian stuff. However, what I'm really looking forward to is Superman Secret Origin. Johns and Frank (with Sibal's inks of course) team up to do a beautiful retelling. Look for a review of this within the coming weeks!

On the Marvel side there are only a few books. I'm making it a point to read all of "The List" so I'll be grabbing Dark Reign: The List- Punisher and Dark Reign: The List- Wolverine. I'm really interested in seeing how the all fit together when it's all done. It's a series of one-shots that ultimately are a mini-series. Plus, it's a nice way to see what's going on in parts of the Marvel Universe that I don't follow. I'm also getting Dark Reign: Young Avengers #5 and New Avengers #58.

Stuff that I can't afford this week (or for awhile) but would really like to own-- The Sandman Dream Hunters HC and the Old Man Logan HC. Sigh. So many nice hardcovers coming out lately. I still really want that new 1602 HC as well. A girl can dream, right?

Vaughan and Harris Ring In the New!

"Ex Machina" #44 from Wildstorm (an imprint of DC Comics)

I just bought and read the latest "Ex Machina" yesterday. (I forgot it on Wednesday!) And it is excellent.

(I only wish that I had read issues #33-43! For you should be aware of this up-front.)

This series has finally broken through the barrier into a full-fledged Sci-Fi and I couldn't be happier! I'm not going to give away the first clues as to the origins of Mayor Mitchell Hundred's powers revealed in this issue. But be forewarned! They are SCI-FI. With a capital S and F. Unless they merely seem to be. Which is possible. This is not a simple cut-and-dried superhero book. It is a political superhero story about an engineer who suddenly gains the ability to communicate with machines under strange circumstances and becomes a superhero for a year before deciding it was dangerous and stupid and parlays the celebrity into a winning bid for the office of the Mayor of New York.

Weird, yes? Good also!


The first thing we see in issue #44 is Mayor Mitchell Hundred's faithful bodyguard Bradbury in flashback on the eve of Hundred's victory as mayor staring at some off-panel glowing thing and saying: "What the hell is it?" and there are a few times over the issue where the reader is in the same position. But, you know, in an enjoyable way: the head of a mechanical-looking man explodes to reveal a sentient, talking purple box. That kind of Sci-Fi-I-can't-yet-tell-what-is-going-on-but-I-like-it.

The really weird thing is that it involves a color spectrum of super-powers in a similar manner to what Geoff Johns has done with Green Lantern over the past few years. Far be it for me to call a professional out on cribbing from another's work. That IS after all part of how we all get better at what we do. I'm certainly guilty of it. Well...

Tony Harris' art is gorgeous once again. His smooth as liquid line-work gives every page great life and movement while the judicious use of that line allows every shape a weight and realism that escapes most comic-artists. Somehow only drawing the rough outline of lips (and sometimes not a completely enclosed outline) creates a more realistic rendering. Most shading is left up to the colorist, which is a smart technique that the comics industry should have picked up on sooner as quote-unquote 'fine' artists have been making portraits in oil paint that way for centuries.

As always the flashbacks (a hallmark of the series) are smart and fit in perfectly with the rest of the story.

The promise in this issue of a new direction and focus for the book (which coincides with the New Year's celebrations occurring in this issue and implied in the arc's title "Ring Out the Old") has me very excited about "Ex Machina" for the first time in several years!

You can be sure I will be picking up and reviewing this book next month!

How Black is the Night?

Answer: Black. So very, very black. 

I was particularly thrilled this week because there were not one, not two, but three Blackest Night titles: Blackest Night #2, Blackest Night: Batman #1, and Green Lantern Corps #39. So, after leaving work last night I eagerly sat down on the train with Blackest Night #2. 

Oh. Man. 

This book picks up right where #1 left off, in St. Roch with Hawkman and Hawkgirl freshly dead-- murdered by Black Lantern Sue and Ralph Dibny. Ray Palmer, the Atom,  (who's been a friend to Hawkman since the two were teamed up in a book back in the Silver Age) calls to talk about ex-wife Jean Loring, and how he can't get her out of his head despite the fact that she is the convicted murderer of Sue Dibny. Close up on Hawkman's salivating jaw, already decayed and gray from his new Black Lantern ring. It's a smile, a malicious smile. "Come on over, Ray... Let's talk."  

Now cut to Gotham City and watch Hal Jordan fall on, and shatter, the bat signal. 

That energy, imagery, and fantastic mix of horror and wonder is what makes Blackest Night so damn good. Geoff Johns just delivers one "oh shit, oh my god!" moment right after the other. There were moments in this book that literally made my mouth hang open- like Black Lantern Aquaman. Yeah, were you one of those people who said that Aquaman was pathetic and not at all a bad-ass? Well, Black Lantern Arthur Curry is coming for you, and he's coming with an army of sharks, squids, and other sea creatures that will RIP YOU APART INTO A BLOODY MESS. But the Aquaman scenes are not just awesome because of the crazy fight scenes, but also because the dialogue really brings it to a whole new level. This is something that's true for the entire book.

Johns really plays with the idea that all of these revived people have had their grudges, unfinished business, and emotions blown way out of control, and that is their motivation to destroy everything. They exploit emotions in order to snuff them out. If there's no emotion then they can have "peace," eternal nothingness. So, ultimately it's the way that the Black Lanterns speak that is really unnerving and make them a formidable threat (ya' know, that and they can't die). These are powerful superheroes that the Black Lanterns are going up against and, while a corpse is pretty disconcerting, the DCU has dealt with enough that it wouldn't be enough to throw the characters off their game. So, you can't just rely on epic fight scenes to make this a powerful story. There needs to be emotional conflict and it's just so strong in this book. You can feel the words of the Black Lanterns biting into the living heroes. Aquaman taunting his ex-wife Mera- "Do you still miss him? Do you miss our son?" That was a moment when I just had to flinch. Honestly, if the art was terrible I think the writing in this book would still make it amazing. But, oh wait! The art is amazing too! 

You thought you saw awesome Ivan Reis art in the regular Green Lantern title? Oh baby, you ain't seen nothing yet if you haven't seen Blackest Night. The pencils are tight, detailed, and totally gorgeous. Everything is so dynamic and so terrifying. The Black Lanterns themselves look like they will give you nightmares. They are just so damn detailed and scary! For Reis, it's all about texture and the little details that really bring the book to life and then balancing them with the big dynamic moments. For example, when Hal Jordan is slammed into the bat signal you really feel him falling and slamming into the light. The shattered glass is so realistic and the speed lines really help with the feeling of a harsh impact, not to mention the look on Hal's face. However, Reis doesn't focus on the detail to the point where the motion is lost, which is a pretty easy trap to find yourself in when you're detail oriented. It's a perfect balance. Also, kudos to Oclair Albert and Julio Ferreira (the inkers) as well as Alex Sinclair (the colorist): both the inks and the colors add a serious "oomph!" to the art. 

The other cool thing is that the books fit together perfectly, and that the order of when the books were released create the continuity timeline of the event. For example, Blackest Night #1 leads straight into Green Lantern #44 and Green Lantern #44 leads right into Blackest Night #2. Not to mention Blackest Night: Batman #1 and Green Lantern Corps #39 fit in as well. There is a slight problem with this, which is that if you're only getting the Blackest Night title you may feel like you're missing parts of the story. This is the curse of event books: the tie-ins always matter but you don't always want to sink the money on them. For the most part, Blackest Night can be read on it's own but you're really missing a whole other chunk of the awesomeness. My advice? Put your money on the counter, it's worth it. 

This event is shaping up to be epic, organized, and a real thrill ride. Even if you're not really a DC fan you should pick it up. Johns tries to keep the characters accessible to people who may not know them as well as others and if there's anything you really don't get, then you always have Wikipedia. 

So why are you still sitting here reading this? You should be running to read Blackest Night! 

That's all from me, True Believers. See you tomorrow with a review of a non-major DC title.

Comics Love Clare, but Her Wallet Doesn't.

I'm pretty convinced that somewhere it the offices of Marvel and DC there is a group of men who sit around a round table, smoking cigars, in a dark shady room. In this room they deviously plot just what week of the month will be the one to empty out my wallet. Oh and you can be damn well sure that they're wearing black suits and sun glasses despite the lack of light. At least my one consolation is that while they're plotting my monetary downfall that they're all ruining their eyesight. HA! Take that group of evil men! How will you be able to make me poor when you can't read?

Damn, I just realized that they probably have lackies that will read things to them. Oh well, I'll get them someday.

But really, am I the only one who has this problem? Many of the books I'm getting are books that everyone and their mother will be getting (Blackest Night, Marvels Project, Adventure Comics) but also books like Booster Gold and Green Arrow/Black Canary are coming out, books that should have a much stronger following then they already do. Sheesh! It's like the week was custom made for me. Screw money, I wants me some:

Action Comics #880:

Both Rucka and Robinson really know how to write a Superman story even without Superman! Nightwing and Flamebird have been fascinating characters. It's also really refreshing to see that the introduction of Chris into the DC Universe has made a lasting impact.

Adventure Comics #1:

Geoff Johns writes Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes, both things he is a master of. I was so glad that Superbody came back and now he gets his own book? Yeah! He's been sorely missed in the DCU.

Amazing Spider-Man #602:

I'm thrilled to see MJ back in the Spidey books as she was always my favorite Spider-Man character. Also, Van Lente is great.

Batman #689:

I've been shocked by how good Winick's Batman has been. He's really handled Dick and Alfred's grief fantastically, which is something Morrison has honestly skipped over. Plus, Bagley pencils? Uh. Yes please.

Blackest Night #2:

Blackest Night #1 was the best book of the summer. I've got high, high expectations for this one. Johns is the king of the DCU. I'm really expecting this book to wow me. Look for a review of this.

Blackest Night: Batman #1:

Peter J. Tomasi does not nearly enough credit for how good he is. His Nightwing run was fantastic, his Green Lantern Corps run has been astounding, and now he's dealing with the Black Lantern Flying Graysons. I am really excited for this book.

Booster Gold #23:

Another under-appreciated book. Jurgens has picked up well from where Johns left off and I think this title will be more important than everyone thinks. I'm still expecting Booster to go back in time and save Bats.

Deadpool #13:

I love Deadpool. 'Nuff said.

Green Arrow/Black Canary #23:

Black Canary is my favorite character and at first I thought Kreisberg was handling the character terribly. Also, I was frustrated when this book was announced as a "Second Feature" title because I thought Canary was just going to be second string. However, the first "SF" book had Canary as the major story and was good, so it looks like this book is going to switch between focusing on Green Arrow and Black Canary. So, this is a GA book which is cool. Also? Bill Sienkiewicz art!

Green Lantern Corps #39:

Love, love love this book. Love, love, love Blackest Night.

The Marvels Project #1:

They had me at Brubaker/Epting. Also, I've already flipped through this book... Marvel shipped it last week even though we can't sell it till Tuesday. It looks great!

Red Robin #3:

I'm still not sure how I feel about this book yet. It seems good so far so I'll stick with it for at least another issue.

Titans #16:

New author and a focus on Starfire, who has always been one of my favorite Titans! Aw yeah Titans! (oh wait, wrong book.)

Uncanny X-Men #514:

I've been loving Fraction's Utopia storyline. Plus, what a dream team! Fraction and The Dodsons!

and to wrap it all up?

Wednesday Comics #6.

Ahhh, it's going to be a good, good week. See you on Wednesday, guys! I'll be talking about Blackest Night and Adventure Comics for sure as well as a book not all of you may be reading.

Now, transport me off this rock.