Planet Hulk

The Hulk. Big green dude, strong, the madder he gets, the stronger he gets. Lou Ferringo, Eric Bana, and Ed Norton.

I literally have thousands upon thousands of comics. Guess how many are Hulk comics? ZERO. Sure, I have stories with the Hulk...some Avengers stuff, random team-up crap, DC/Marvel crossover...but nothing from his own book(s).

I was at the public library the other day, and they have some old trade paperbacks. I read New Avengers #1-4 (trade paperback stories), and thought they were excellent.

I also read the Thor story of Avengers Disassembled. Another great story.

I had seen the hardcover of Planet Hulk, almost as big as the Hulk himself, and kept skipping it, because he's a stupid, green monster. Finally I relented, as to avoid checking out Strangers in Paradise, or some crappy C.S.I. comics.

One thing really irritated me with this story? It ended.

This storyline wasn't "a good read", or "highly entertaining", it was epic. Action, love, hate, betrayal, heroism, humor, and death. Whatever your poison, it was there. The artwork? Fantastic. The writing? Top notch.

The only thing I have to do now is find a TPB of World War Hulk, as that is apparently the next storyline.

If it weren't for Green Lantern, I'd probably divert all my DC money to Marvel. The titles I am enjoying...

1.) Thor, past and current stories.

2.) Dark Avengers.

3.) Moon Knight.

4.) Old Avengers trades.

5.) Now the freakin' Hulk.

If I get sucked into the X-Men universe, there goes the mortgage.

5 out of 5 gamma bombs.

This Week's Weak Pull List

Blackest Night The Flash #1 (of 3)(Scott Kolins Regular Cover), $2.99

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #1 (of 3)(Greg Horn Regular Cover), $2.99

Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #13 (Robert Hack Regular Cover), $3.99

Dark Avengers Annual #1, $4.99

Why Is This Character Cool?

Dick Grayson...former orphan, Robin, Nightwing, and current Batman. 

Mr. Grayson made his first appearance a short 69 years ago in 1940. The comic was Detective Comics #38. He was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson...three names that shouldn't need any introduction.

He is arguably the most famous sidekick in comic books, and survived the Golden, Silver, and Modern Age of comics.

Dick Grayson was part of "The Flying Graysons" circus act, and watched his parents die in an "accident". There have been almost 732,000 revisions to this origin tale, but that's it in a nutshell, Bruce Wayne was in attendance, that night, was reminded of his own tragedy, and takes Dick under his wing. I felt a little weird typing "takes Dick under his wing".

In 1984, Grayson gave up his role as Robin and became his own hero, Nightwing. Up until recently, he remained his affiliation with the Bat-verse, and was a founder of the Teen Titans, and has been associated with the various incarnations of that team since then, as well.

He has taken the Batman mantle now twice, and is very respected by the rest of the DCU. Grayson was the light that kept Batman from potentially crossing the line, and has always been an extremely entertaining character to read.

As the new Batman, he also has a new Robin to deal with, a new Robin who I personally think is so irritating it makes me want to perform an autopsy on myself (not possible, I know). There is so much that this character has done in almost 70 years, that a measly blog cannot give him his just write-up. Great character, one of the premier fighters in the DCU, and a great example of someone growing out of Bruce Wayne's shadow.

Thor Annual #1

This story was brought to you by Peter Milligan, Mico Suayan, a bunch of other dudes, and the letter "C". I have not read a solo Thor comic in approximately 40 years. It's not as if I have anything against the character. He didn't take my parking spot at Best Buy on Black Friday, he didn't act like an ass when I was passing him at the grocery store...you get the picture.

Anytime I have ever read a story with Thor in it, he was in another character's book, or in a team book (Avengers, for example). Only when I saw the Ultimate Avengers animated movie did I feel like this guy seemed pretty cool.

Apparently, the Thor series was recently revamped, and by recently I mean the last year or so. I saw the first trade paperback in Barnes and Noble and passed on it, in favor of something I have probably not read.

While in the comic shop yesterday, I saw the annual on sale for only a buck! They had a few other comics on sale cheap, and I passed on them all in favor of this. What I am really trying to say is I do not know jack about Thor, other than the fact that he is a thunder god with a big-ass hammer, long hair, and talks all weird.

Please understand that I could really be butchering my understanding of what the hell is going on in Thor comics... It seems that Thor has a human host, and they "trade space", in that if the human calls on Thor, the human then turns into an apparition/vision or some such stuff. Vice-versa when Thor is not Thor-ing. Again, as someone who has not read the regular series, this is what I picked up.

In a nutshell, some bad guys are after Thor because they think he is weakened, and he is. His human host pulls a little psychology out and convinces Mr. Thor that his weaknesses are more of a mental thing, and Thor whoops some booty and thwarts the baddies' assassination plot.

Interesting story, actually, and the art was crisp and refreshing, not unlike an ice cold Warsteiner Dunkel on a hot August day. After reading this, I will be picking up the trade paperback (at my comic store, gotta support my local shop).

4 out of 5 hammers.

Hiatus, Blackest Night, and Other Crap

I have been on hiatus. Now I am back.

Blackest Night. In a nutshell, it's DC heroes versus the zombie versions of all the dead DC heroes/major players.

This is the huge crossover event in DC right now, involving almost every superhero in their universe, and in the middle of it all? Every Lantern Corps.

I have to admit I was a little skeptical when we started seeing Blue Lanterns, Orange, Red, Indigo, etc. Having just gotten through the latest issue of GL (#48), and having just started the first few pages of Blackest Night #5, I think that Geoff Johns has really fleshed out the different Corps, what makes them tick, and brought personality to the individuals behind their respective rings.

It seems like yesterday, Hal Jordan and the vast majority of the Green Lanterns were being killed off because there "were no more stories left to tell". With new fanboys who hadn't grown up reading about Hal and the Corps, they found the premise of a super-hero like Hal Jordan boring. When Kyle Rayner came along to replace Hal, and every other GL, this new generation of comic fan found someone they could "relate to". The DC version of Spider-Man.

With Green Lantern: Rebirth, and every single issue of GL published since then, it's beyond apparent that there are a lot more tales left to tell. With events like The Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night, it also proves that these aren't just tales, these are pushed to the forefront of the DC Universe, and are excellent stories. As a huge DC fan, I can still admit that things like Infinite Crisis was painful to sit through, and I really hate company-wide crossovers. However, they have really done an amazing job with Blackest Night. Hats off. In the middle of Blackest Night, I rate it 5 out of 5 skulls. Once it concludes in the next couple months, I hope that rating remains the same!

Other comics that are great: Moon Knight, Power Girl, Red Robin, Dark Avengers, Justice League: Cry for Justice, and The Flash: Rebirth. Very well-told stories that don't assume your average reader isn't 11 years old/living in his mom's basement.

I will close with a few Blackest Night images...

Batman 688-690

Judd Winick's Batman. I have been in the camp that Judd Winick is a mediocre comic book writer. I always felt like his stuff was being force fed food I hated as a baby. When I was a baby, you see, the mortality rate was pretty crazy. I was born in the 1700's.

Anyway, Winick's Batman run here has been pretty great. Perhaps when I compare him to demon-seed Grant Morrison it is clouding my objectivity. But seriously, this arc has been cool.

First and foremost, there is VERY little of Damien in this series. I love that. In fact, I wonder what Damien would look like in a casket.

So, Two-Face figures out that this new Batman (Dick Grayson) is not the OLD Batman. Quite an interesting cliffhanger in issue #690. Clayface makes an appearance, and I can't remember the last Clayface story I read.

Mark Bagley is a great artist, I liked him way back in the day when he was on Spider-Man. Good detail! Side note: supposedly this was Winick's last issue?! So someone else is writing the conclusion? Weird. Seems like the only consistently DC has right now is with Green Lantern.

Speaking of which, the next entry will catch up my legions of readers (2) on Blackest Night!

Regarding Batman 688-690, 4 out of 5 Batarangs.

Adventure Comics #1

Adventure Comics has quite a history. Starting in 1935 as New Comics, it (according to Wikipedia) started out as a humor series, making the switch to superheroes a few years later.

It ran until 1983, making it, at the time, one of the longest running comics.

The return of this title now features Conner Kent, a.k.a. Superboy. Geoff Johns brings us the story, and Francis Manapul the pictures. Does Geoff Johns sleep?

Now, last I knew, Superboy was dead, and am not sure what the deal is with his reincarnation, and I suppose I could easily find that information. Cripes, get off my jock, people! All right, I'm back. It turns out he was brought back in some sort of time-traveling debacle orchestrated by the Legion of Superheroes, after he died in the Infinite Crisis storyline.

Superboy, or Conner Kent, is cloned from both Lex Luthor and Superman. This plot point factors into the first issue when Conner and Superman visit Lex Luther's old home in Smallville. Now, color me stupid, but I didn't think Lex was really from Smallville, I thought that was a plot device used for the TV show Smallville. Regardless, reading the book was like an episode of Smallville set 15 or 20 years into the future.

Superboy is staying with Ma Kent, helps with chores, has Krypto the superdog as a pet, and has created a checklist in an effort to be more like Superman.

This was actually a pretty good first issue, and I'm glad I picked it up, even though I am left having to look up some of the key points on the interweb machine.

4 out of 5 shards of red kryptonite.

Let's Catch Up, Shall We? Dumpster Diving and Other Crap.

Hi!!! I am SO glad you are here. So much has happened since I have been busy with real-world affairs. For example, I have been doing a lot of traveling lately. China is beautiful in the summer. So is Omaha.

DUMPSTER DIVING

Dungeons & Dragons. The mere mention of the gaming behemoth will usually illicit multiple reactions.

"D&D? You better hope for a saving throw because I am going to shove you down a flight of stairs, nerd!"

"D&D? I like (insert favorite edition here) and if you don't, you are utterly stupid."

"D&D? Isn't that a Satanic game?"

I could go on, lucky for you I choose not to. Back in 2001, a D&D story came out entitled "In the Shadow of Dragons". I bought the first 4 issues, and either forgot about it, or my comic store hosed me by not putting issues 5-8 in my pull file. It was only 8 issues, so I figured it'd be a fun thing to read.

See, WAY back in the day, I played some D&D, and do not remember 99% of the game mechanics, other than the usage of dice, magic missiles, the employment of levels, etc. I'm talking early 80's here, and now that dementia has set in, you're lucky I remember anything at all.

The series was written by Jay Donovan, penciled and inked by a number of dudes. Notably, a few of the issues were inked by Andy Brase. This guy is a PHENOMENAL artist. Holy crap, what I would give to see him doing a big horror comic. I have a piece of his on my wall behind me, actually.

The story follows a bunch of people...a few humans, an elf, a dwarf (of course), and some blue dragons. Dragons = bad, the rest of the characters are presumably good. There is a fairly predictable plot twist in this story, and a mix of great, and goofy-ass dialogue. This is why I am disappointed in this series. I feel like we were reading a recounted D&D campaign that some guys went through back in the day. Why do I feel like that? Well, the characters were really built up in the beginning of the series, and turned out to be pretty douche-like in their execution of the adventure. The big exception here is Kiernan Ornarus. He was scripted very well throughout the story.

In regards to the art, why wasn't there a consistent art team on the series? Never was the art bad, in fact, it was quite good, but due to the musical chairs being played, it didn't have a consistent flow. Still, pretty pictures, nonetheless. However, issue #6 features a purple dragon. THEY WERE BLUE, it's pretty simple, really. I half-expected Prince to be in the issue.

Anyway, 2 out of 5 20-sided dice.

On to other miscellaneous stuff.

Blackest Night continues to be a great story so far. Green Lantern has been a roller-coaster ride since the Sinestro Corps war, and it doesn't look like things are slowing down. Great stuff, and will have more detailed reviews as the weeks continue.

Magic the Gathering. My very first exposure to this was a veritable plethora of sweaty dudes playing in a comic shop, and I thought "I don't understand that f-ing game, whatever." Then my friend Marcus exposed me to it on the original xBox in this cool fighting game. Sadly, I never really "got it" when playing, as he would mop the floor with me and I felt like I was a Palestinian militant locked in an Israeli jail...helpless and tortured.

Then the xbox 360's arcade game, which is basically the actual card game online. It's like crack, it's so addictive. It's also fun, which I do not know whether crack is fun or not, so I didn't want to extend the analogy. This game is so fun, that I have actual cards, thanks to Marcus, as well as my wallet. My wife even played and enjoyed it. Perhaps she pretended, but I'll take it.

Anyway, That's the update, more in a few days. We will dive in deeper to Blackest Night, and talk about some comic-related movies.

Blackest Night is Here!

Welp, it has arrived. The event of the year for DC. Blackest Night.

Three books this week... Blackest Night #1 Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 Titans #15 Titans #15 starts us off this week with The Return of Tempest.

Tempest was formerly Aqualad, Aquaman's sidekick. He sprung up during DC's sidekick phase and was a Teen Titan back in the day. Tempest, quite honestly, has turned into an interesting character, and this story was his return to a war-torn Atlantis. An Atlantis without its king. Aquaman is dead, see, but he also figures into Blackest Night.

As I type this, that was the only book I have read so far. I will post up little mini-reviews like this when I get through them.Titans #15 gets 5 out of 5 sperm whales, especially after I was hoping for MAYBE 3 out of 5.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Blackest Night = tomorrow. AARRGGHH!!!!! My time machine is not working, so I can't get them. Nor is my teleportation wand, so I can't zap into the UPS compound and run off with them.

I am apparently screwed.

This Week's Loot...

My good pal Marcus put a gun to my head and forced me to get Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men.

Red Robin and Batman came out, to add to the chaos. Maybe Damien will die and have his eyes picked out by crows.

And lastly, Green Lantern #43, the prologue to Blackest Night!!

Vigilante

Dorian. That's the only name we know Vigilante by, save his alter ego of "Joe Flynn". That is the name he uses as he infiltrates the underworld.

Seven issues into his own title, I have to say that Marv Wolfman is doing excellent work, as usual. Wolfman was the Titans writer back in the 80's when that was one of the hottest titles on the market. As a result, we see a pretty solid Titans influence throughout the series. One example is Vigilante actually breaking into Titans tower to hack into the computer, only to be caught by Donna Troy in a very cool scene.

This comic has superheroes and over the top bad guys (Shark), but is a great read, because Vigilante has no super-powers, only his mental and physical abilities. Any similarities to Batman or Nightwing pretty much end there. Dorian has a clouded past, and we know he has done some bad things that he is trying to make up for. It's a very good series, and I hope it lasts as long as Marv wants it to. With my luck, it'll be cancelled by issue 12.

There is a small, but interesting supporting cast, involving his Microchip (Punisher) style partner, an agent with the FBI who is on his tail, and a mob boss that is fairly creepy.

It's good stuff, and a nice balance from all the books I read with power rings all the color of the rainbow.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Check it out!

Magic: The Gathering

Okay. WAY back in the day (I'm old, see), I used to play D&D and Star Frontiers. That was pretty much the extent of my RPG days. I preferred Star Frontiers so much more due to the insanely easy rule system. In fact, there is an awesome Star Frontiers site out there that has all the game materials remastered! Go here!

In my local comic shop, there is an entire room dedicated to people playing RPG's. You see quite a mixed crowd in there...non-descript high school kids, normal looking dudes, and guys with Chewbacca-like hair who wear their trenchcoats in July. I stick to a budget, so comics and video games are pretty much my hobby.

Xbox Live Arcade recently released a Magic: The Gathering game. I saw it, and was feeling a little RPG nostalgic, and bought it. It's not an RPG in the same sense as D&D or anything, in that it's a card game. Holy crap is it fun!! I am addicted to this freakin' game and probably will be for quite some time.

Side note: I was looking at the comic shop and checking out their Magic cards in the glass case. I saw a couple for 300 dollars. I about shat myself. Wow.

Anyway, 5 out of 5 mana cards. This game rocks.

Here's a card that costs a couple bucks.

Captain America: Reborn

Steve Rogers is on his way back! Oh yeah...spoilers.

Issue number one, of five, brings us up to speed with what happened to Cap, from the point of being assassinated until now, where we find the new Cap, his former partner James "Bucky" Barnes and the Black Widow off on a mission to recover some of the Red Skull's crap.

The mission leads them to Norman Osborn's helicarrier.

You see, Sharon Carter, former lover of Steve Rogers and alleged murderer of Rogers, believes Steve is alive. Information she obtained while being held captive by the Red Skull and that goofy looking bastard Zola has led her to believe he is not dead after all.

Lots of dialogue ensues, setting up the remainder of this series, and we see Bucky and the Black Widow being ambushed by Ares and Venom, of Dark Avengers fame. At the end, we see flashback city, all the way back to WW2, where Cap is alive, and apparently back in that time period.

Will Cap come back to the present? What will become of Bucky, who did an unbelievably great job as Cap in Steve's absence? Is Zola a sex offender? What about the charger for my electric screwdriver? Will it turn back up? STAY TUNED!

Coming up: the last couple issues of Vigilante, Justice League: Cry For Justice, Gears of War, and more!

Zola has no neck. ------>

Cool Stuff!

Hey there 1 to 3 people who read this! My last blog was on June 16th. That was a world that had Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson in it. And now look where we are. Friends, things have changed.

I hope you all take stock in your lives, and if you have come to the realization that, while the passing of McMahon and Fawcett are sad, that the death of Michael simply leaves stock in plastic companies in complete turmoil.

See ya plastic man!

All right, since it's been a while, I will focus on some memorable reads over the past couple weeks. First off, there is the landmark Captain America #600. The main story is penned by Ed Brubaker who is one of my new favortie comic writers. Cap has been an excellent read, and it gets better every month.

This issue also features a Cap story by Stan Lee way way back in 1942!!! In the current-continuity story, it's the one year anniversary of Cap's death (Steve Rogers). There's a big memorial, and Osborne (Norman, I presume?) as Captain Iron America Man and his government registered supertypes are there, as is Bucky and the non-registered dudes. It ends with an interesting cliffhanger.

I could go on and on about this book, but it's got such a realistic flavor to it...as realistic as you can be while discussing superheroes. 5 out of 5 Cap shields.

Next up is Detective Comics #854. Batwoman is the central figure here, and this is my first exposure to her that I recall. I know she's a lesbian, I read that in the USA Today. I also know that she is a woman.

Anyway, good story, appearance by Batman (Dick Grayson), and was a good starting point for a newbie like me who only knew she was a lesbian who also happened to be a woman. 4 out of 5 lesbians.

I would be neglecting my duty to not mention two Green Lantern items. Green Lantern Corps: Through the Ages is a gigantic issue that dives into the past and present of the GL stories. All the stories are reprints, and I have them in their other forms, but it has a couple cool "who's who" pages, and is a nice sampling of stories. Plus it contains one of the coolest Hal Jordan moments ever...freefalling with his ring dead, landing on the Manhunter, and taking care of business. Awesome!!!!

My second favorite GL is Tomar Re, who has been deceased for years and years...to see him in these stories was great.

Lastly, we have the pseudo-conclusion to the Agent Orange storyline in Green Lantern #42. The drama going on within the Corps right now is stunning to a long time reader like me, and I don't mean that in a bad "I hate change" sort of way.

I can't WAIT to see the Black Lantern story starting next issue and going through the DC universe this summer. Personally, I think the Guardians are going to get it good. This issue ends with one of the biggest A-hole moves I've seen from the little blue dudes, and they are always a-holes, but this took the cake.

We also get to see a very cool Lantern, Ash, who is the coolest vampire killing Lantern ever to be created. Well, in all fairness, he is the only one, but I dig the character, he is pretty awesome. 5 out of 5 power rings.

Xbox Live is Down...CRAP!!!

More Cool Pics!

GL pic by made by AdamWithers of Deviantart.com

Red Robin #1

Tim Drake, now Tim Wayne, was the third Robin, after Dick Grayson and killed-off punk Jason Todd. Drake deduced the Batman's identity on his own, and ended up with the Robin role. This version of Robin was excellent. He was smart, a great fighter, and level-headed. He and Dick Grayson had excellent rapport and it was always awesome to see the two together.

Fast-forward to now. Batman's dead, and Dick Grayson is now Batman. Grayson appointed Bruce Wayne's son, Damien as the new Robin, much to the distaste of Tim, who just lost his job. I want to go on the record stating that Damien is so annoying that I want to actually become the Joker so I can go to New York and blow up the DC offices. Naturally, I would never do that, but what the hell? We already had a shithead Robin, and readers voted him "off the island".

Tim, in one of my favorite panels ever (primarily because of my seething dislike for Damien) punches the little bastard. Unfortunately, the punch wasn't hard enough to break his neck.

Tim decides to don the Red Robin costume, and sets out on a quest to find Bruce Wayne, who, according to Tim, is still alive.

We aren't told why Tim thinks he is still alive, but I am hoping that will pan out as the story progresses. After all, Tim was the kid who figured out who Batman really was, and if anyone can find him now (assuming he is still out there) it should be Tim.

The action in this story was great, I really liked the art...reminded me of Tom Grummet in some ways. Of all the Bat-books out lately, this one was by far the best. Tim Wayne is really skirting the edge, it seems, between keeping his cool, and losing it altogether. We get a last-page surprise that puts an interesting twist on things.

Great book! 5 out of 5, simply for the panel shown.

Loot List: 6/10/2009

Batman #687

Red Robin #1

The Flash: Rebirth #3

Green Lantern Corps #37

Batman and Robin #1

Well, there's a new Batman and Robin in town. This comic is brought to us from "scourge of humanity" Grant Morrison with art from Frank Quitely.

Everyone and their mom online is gushing over this book, as if it were the second coming of Christ. It isn't. Before I get started, understand that I love comics. I have 17 longboxes FULL, and more added weekly. I can't wait to type up my thoughts on Ex Machina or Green Lantern/Superman: Legends of the Green Flame (1996 - Neil Gaiman). I have mentioned my distaste for Grant Morrison before, and I knew he was writing this before I picked it up. How could I resist? It was a number 1 issue, a new Batman and Robin...

All that said, let's dive in.

Spoilers: Batman is Dick Grayson, and Robin is Damien Wayne. Robin acts like a complete ass to Dick and Alfred, and Dick just lets him act like an ass. If Grant Morrison is trying to make us hate the new Robin, he is doing a great job! Unfortunately, he is making me think the rest of the book is crap, too. The art isn't my taste. Quitely is talented, and it's not that the art is bad, it just isn't my cup of tea. No offense to Quitely, as 99.999% of my discontent revolves around Morrison.

Toad, really? Pyg, really? Stupid new villains.

Apparently the new Batmobile is a hovercraft or some crap. I'd rather read Spawn vs. WildC.A.T.S. over and over again until I die.

1 out of 5 stars (it gets one star for being printed).

Dumpster Diving: Elseworlds Annuals (1994)

What is with me and mid-90's comics? I think part of it is that I had them all mixed up in a box, and didn't read most of them. I did, however read these comics I am about to slap at ya. I loved them back then, and wanted to see if this was a B.J. and the Bear scenario.

In case I have not explained what a "B.J. and the Bear" scenario is, it is simply a case of liking something a long time ago, then after years of life experience has set in, you realize it couldn't be any more crappy.

In 1994, all the DC annuals were all Elseworlds stories. What is Elseworlds you may ask? Well, even if you aren't asking, it is the alternate reality banner DC uses when they are feeling wacky. To be fair, a lot of the Elseworlds stories were very well done.

Way back in '94, I thought this was the case with The Adventures of Superman annual #6, and Superboy annual #1. The Adventures of Superman is brough to us by writer Karl Kesel and artist Brock Hor. Superboy was also penned by Kesel, and drawn by Greg Luzniak.

What we have here, kids, is a two-part story set in a very bleak future. Earth has been invaded by aliens, who are occupying the planet. The big, mean, evil alien overlord guy is big, mean, and evil. He's also an alien, in case I didn't mention it.

Featured in the hero corner are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Wally West version), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Superboy, and Lex Luthor. Lex, a hero? In this story, he helps the heroes, but is still fairly dick-ish.

In this story, earth's heroes are either killed off, or sent into hiding, after revolts by fellow humans. See, our evil, alien overlord informed the populace that any time a hero was even sighted, 1,000 innocents would die. If a hero lifted a finger, 5,000 would die. Green Lantern led a raid, and as a result, 7,000,000 people died in Coast City, including reporter Lois Lane. This was enough to turn mankind against the humans, and it was "bye bye" heroes. Green Arrow was literally crucified, for crying out loud!

Batman still was active, and was stealthy enough that the aliens couldn't even prove he existed. The others were in hiding.

Long story short, the heroes are brought together to make a last stand, and some interesting plot twists take place, and just as all hope seemed lost, the heroes save the day. Oh yeah, spoiler.

This was one of my favorite stories of the 90's, and it still stands up today. Amazing read, and this should be made into an animated movie NOW. 5 out of 5 stars.

Pic of the Day!

By "...of the day" that is not to be construed as me posting a cool pic every single day. I mean, come on. Just quit nitpicking me, I'm sorry!! Don't look at my face directly.

The pic...

Dumpster Diving: LotDCU 20 & 21

Legends of the DC Universe was a title that featured some mainstream characters, as well as some that were not necessarily household names. An example is a 2 issue story-arc featuring Green lantern Abin Sur.

Who is Abin Sur? If you are a Green Lantern fan and do not know the answer, shame on you, stab yourself in the eye with a pencil. For those that may not know, he was the GL for sector 2814 who died and passed his ring onto Hal Jordan.

In this story, Abin is headed to Earth in search of Intergalactic meanie-butt Devlos Ungol, also known as Traitor. Apparently, Mr. Ungol decided that he wanted to shack up on our planet and become the head of a criminal gang in the old west. Oh yeah, did I mention this story takes place in 1882? Sorry.

In a nutshell, this is a sci-fi meets western story. It should be pointed out that this was a fun read! It was brought to us (back in 1994...heh) by writer Steven Grant and artist Mike Zeck. It should be noted that this is the same creative team that brought The Punisher to us in the famous mid-eighties mini-series.

My only beef? Abin is saved and befriends a Marshall named...wait for it...Henry Lee JORDAN. As in probable ancestor of Hal Jordan. Oh yeah, Marshall Jordan worked in Smallville for Sheriff Nate KENT. We get it, everyone from the DCU knows each other somehow, whether or not it's modern-day heroes, or their old west ancestors. To get to the point, it's not a big beef, by any means, just kind of a groaner to me.

Bonus beef: oh yeah. The cover to issue 20. I won't even share it here.

The character of Marshall Jordan was pretty cool, forced relationship aside, and the story had great pacing.

I give this 3 out of 5 stars.

???

Okay. I need to get in shape. I just carted out 10 long-boxes full of comics, went through each of them, and put them away. What caused such unbridled stupidity, you ask? Well, I blame unbridled stupidity.

A long time ago, in an apartment far, far away...I was going through my comics to get together some reading material, and didn't have even half of them alphabetized or anything. So, as I am trying to FINALLY organize certain segments of my collection, I had to go through the mess to make sure I had everything I need. Now I am tired, kinda sweaty, and in need of some pudding. Chocolate.

Dumpster Diving: Spawn vs. WildC.A.T.S.

This came out in 1996?? Apparently, so. I must be that behind in some of my reading. Yeesh.

Spawn vs. WildC.A.T.S. comes to us from Alan Moore (the guy who wrote Watchmen) and Scott Clark, who is a pretty good artist!

Remember when Spawn came out? It sold like 600 billion copies because everyone and their mother was into the whole "speculator craze"? I remember it well. I call it the death of all that is good in this world. Okay, that is a huge exaggeration, but I wish that whole 90's fad never happened.

Back to Spawn. I don't know exactly why I stopped reading Spawn, I read and enjoyed probably the first 60 or 70 issues. WildC.A.T.S. was also "okay". I thought the characters were cool with lots of potential, and I just like Jim Lee. Some of the early WildC.A.T.S. stuff is a little convoluted, but Grifter is the man...a very cool character, indeed. So when this 4-issue series came out with Alan Moore at the helm, what could go wrong?

Art-wise, the book is great. I am not sure what Clark is doing these days, but I hope he is still drawing comics, as the art was great. The book is on old school paper, too. It's all gloss nowadays. I was excited to finally sit down to this!!

In regards to the story, Alan Moore, who brilliantly penned Watchmen, had to have submitted this for no other reason but to eradicate human beings from the face of the earth. The plan had to be that there will be very, very few people on this planet strong enough to survive reading this story, and with them out of the way, Moore will be able to take over the world. I mean, what have we, as a race, done to offend Moore in this manner? Not since the bubonic plague ravaged Europe has man seen such a sickness. Is this what rape feels like? I am not making light of rape, mind you, but I am trying to imagine the worst things possible, and coming to the realization that this story is worse than that.

I couldn't even make it past the first issue. This has torn a hole in my soul, and I am unsure as to what could repair it. If you have read this, hug your loved ones just a little tighter, and know that it only gets better.

0 out of 5 stars.

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

Neil Gaiman. THAT Neil Gaiman. Sandman. Superb novelist: American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere...you get the idea. I fanboy'd out quite a bit when I heard he was doing this 2-issue story.

The title comes in homage to the Superman story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" written a very long-ass time ago. That was an excellent story that, in many ways, paved the way for the "modern" Superman.

Is that the intent for Batman with this story? I don't know, really. Flipping through the first issue (with the exception of the last couple pages), all I could think was "what the hell? Did Gaiman finally run out of ideas?" As I browsed, I thought it looked hokey, like watching B.J. and the Bear as an adult.

After I got the second issue, I flipped through it again, thinking that Neil was on crack, and I would have to burn my copies of Good Omens, Sandman, Neverwhere, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Death: the High Cost of Living, and Smoke and Mirrors. See, I am a big Neil Gaiman fan, because what he writes is different, it's funny, sad, happy, and miserable all at the same time. Smoke and Mirrors contains some of the most brilliant short stories I've ever read.

Back to what I am babbling about...after flipping through the second issue, I let them just sit for a couple weeks, thinking I will read them when I am at a peak of boredom. The kind of boredom that sets in and makes you want to take your own life. I wasn't that bored tonight and figured I'd just get it over with.

Holy shit. That sums it up, for me. In this story, we see many versions of Batman, many versions of his "death", and get to hear how he died at a funeral that contains such luminaries like the Joker, Robin, Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Alfred, Superman...you name it.

I read this story, remembering Batman stories from the Golden Age all the way to current. As with anything I read by Gaiman, I am never sure what I am getting into for the first few pages, and then he hooks you. I was engrossed, and after the amount of crappy batman stories being chucked out lately, this was amazing.

Grant Morrison, please take note.

873 out of 5 stars.

Today's Loot!

Vigilante #6

Doctor Who

Captain America #50

Brave and the Bold #23

Battle for the Cowl #3

More Blackest Night Stuff...

Below are some covers to some Blackest Night stories later this summer. Click here for the scoop!!!