COUNTDOWN.....giant hands will kill you.

I know that many, many DCU geeks are scratching their heads right now, trying to wrap their minds around COUNTDOWN.

As far as this series is concerned, it's fun to read.. but that is all I can say about it, for the moment.

The PROS:

It is cool having the Monitors as the "Guardians" of the multi-verse. Thus far, they remind me of the "Agents" in THE MATRIX, with a conscience. Bad monitor, who I have named "Terminator", has begun to "Erase" the anomalies in the multiverse. Cool idea, but I need to see where it is going.

The BLEED, and all of the other multi-verse gateways are an interesting concept, although I wish I would have read more "New Gods", so I could understand that aspect of the BLEED'S relevance.

The concept of characters jumping between universes that coexist on different vibrational frequencies is a little too Quantum Leap, but it opens up some doors for the Flash, and the Rouges.

Just getting to see some characters that we don't hear from alot is cool. Who doesn't love Darkseid????

THE CONS:

I think DC is trying too hard to "fix" continuity. There is a point where leaving well enough alone is sound advice, and DC is getting mighty close. They really just need to answer the questions the last couple of years have raised, and then move on.

TOOOOOO MUCH!!!
Jimmy Olsen has crazy powers, Black Adam has his powers back, the Rouges, The Monitors, it is too much. I think the problem is that it is way too hard to keep tabs on everything week to week.

Basically, I like this series, simply because it is interesting. I like the bounty hunter that appears in issue 46. I think forerunner can play out to be something cool. My biggest concern is that DC will leave the series with more questions to be answered, thus starting a trend of crappy weekly books. If they can answer the questions we have had since Identity Crisis and move on, I think all will work out. Besides, there are way too many good books out from DC currently for them to blow them all on COUNTDOWN.

O HAI MLTIVERZ!

Via LOLBOTS. O rly? Ya rly.

Batman: Icon or Big Dork?

“Whenever I read a Batman comic book, (the writers) always make a point of saying he dresses like a giant bat,” Van Sciver says. “He is clearly a man with pointy little ears on his head, and he wears bed sheets.”

from an Scripps Howard featurette on artist Ethan Van Sciver (via the Blog@Newsarama)

Absolutely did not see this coming... Mark Waid returns to The Flash!

So, Mark Waid is returning The Flash?

And they're killing the current series and picking up with the old numbering?

And Daniel Acuna will be drawing it?

Wow.

I for one totally did not see that one coming! Read all about it here!

Although I think things have improved since Guggenheim took over the book, this is probably a smart move on DC's part. This should get one of their flagship titles completely back on track with a writer generally beloved by fans of the character.

I've actually never read Waid's original run, but I was a huge fan of what Geoff Johns did on the book. I may have to pick up the Waid trades now.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #30 Ramblings

First off, goodbye to Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, who overall did a great job on this current iteration of the Legion. This is actually the first time I've read a Legion book, and it was a blast.

It's too bad Waid and Kitson didn't get to work this story uninterrupted, but I thought the fill-in teams did a spectacular job of keeping a continuity of voice/style. My only real problem is that this issue has, at times, a "rush to pack everything we wanted to do in" feel to it. They could have almost used one more issue to wrap things up. I think I'm going to go back and read the whole story in one go and see how it all holds together.

Alright now, kids, spoilers ahead...


The resolution of the Wanderers/Dominators storyline completely works for me. Sure, the phantom zone is being used as a bit of a Deus Ex Machina here, but I thought it was well-played. And you just know there's no way Cos would kill a whole race outright. Plus, it keeps Mon-El out there to be used in the future.

But what I really wanted to talk about was the end. I'm sorry, but if you aren't geeking out about the Knights Tempus, Galactic Defenders Of The 41st Century, then you don't really care about the DC Universe, do you? :-)

Just how great is that? Of course there's more future in the DCU than just the 31st century, and this opens things up to more continuity/timeline insanity, which I'm growing to just embrace as part of being a DC fan. Here's hoping someone runs with this concept somewhere (the new Booster Gold series might be a good place to start).

The Countdown Continues

Oh, my. Nice.

Countdown 51 Quick Thoughts

Sadly my real job has kept me from contributing much here of late, but I wanted to post a lightning round of my quick impressions from Countdown #51, which I literally just read.

1. This is NOT 52. No, it's a totally different beast, and that's likely for the best. Get over it folks.
   
2. Man, I'm a sucker for all the cosmic mojo.
3. Credit Geoff Johns' fantastic run on The Flash for actual making the Rogues readable despite their inherent goofiness. Paul Dini is a good choice for doing something decent with the rogues, which leads me to...
   
4. You know, this comic is FUN. Dini is one of those people that can walk the line between goofy, mad fun and deep story (yeah, of course Darkseid has a cosmic chess set!). Let's hope the other writers follow his lead.
5. The sequence with Red Hood and Duela Dent reads a little weird considering that Jason Todd has basically been a ruthless killer since he reappeared. Now he's worried about saving innocent lives? But still pulls his gun and shoots Duela out of the air? Unless of course....DUM DUM DUM....this is all happening on another earth! Okay, maybe that's t0o easy/goofy/stupid/whatever.
   

52 Skidoo: The 52 Exit Interviews

Newsarama's Matt Brady has put the capstone on DC's historic (and overall excellent) weekly thrill ride 52 with a comprehensive set of interviews with the key personnel. Each one is fun and pulls back the curtain just enough to let fans in on what it looked like behind the scenes. My personal favorite is the interview with Grant Morrison, but that's probably not a surprise to anyone that knows my reading habits.

If you haven't had a chance to check them all out yourself, here are links to the complete set of interviews:

• Geoff Johns
• Grant Morrison
• Greg Rucka
  
• Mark Waid
• Keith Giffen
• Dan Didio
  

52 Weeks, 52 Works of Art...

Over at CBR, they've posted a gallery of all fifty-two covers created by J.G. Jones and Alex Sinclair for 52. This serves as a nice visual companion to Jones' "52 Covers Blog" over at Wizard Universe.

Every damn one of them is a work of art in it's own right – I hope comics fandom and historians never forget the sheer magnitude of that achievement.

Have a look back and enjoy!

FBC Wants To Know: Simonson's Orion?

So, I was reading this article all about Walt Simonson's Orion series for DC from the early 2000's, and, you know, it sounds really fun. As a general fan of all things New Gods-related and with the obvious importance of these characters in upcoming DC universe happenings, I got to wondering if I should track some of this run down. I see there's a collection of the early issues, but I'd have to scour the virtual back issue bins on the internet to get the rest.

So, good readers, FBC wants to know...what are your thoughts on this series? Post your thoughts and opinions to the comments section.

The FBC Question: Who is Rip Hunter...Really?

With the announcement that Geoff Johns will be launching a Booster Gold series with Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund and comics newcomer Jeff Katz, we know that everyone's favorite super capitalist will survive 52. But what about his partner in time Rip Hunter? Do we even know who he really is?

Lots of hints have been dropped throughout the weekly series that Rip's hidden his true identity so that his time-traveling enemies can't find him before he grows up to become their biggest headache. So is he someone DC readers might already know, or a nobody that secretly rose to greatness? What's your theory? Better share it quick before the answers turn up in the last month of 52...or in Booster's new book!

Gail Simone to leave Birds of Prey

What?!?

Friend of mine just tipped me to this. Apparently it showed up in the DC Nation column for this week's books, but I won't get those until Monday. Newsarama has an interview here, though.

Simone has consistently impressed on this book. Any time I thought about maybe not reading it any longer, she's done something to bring me back and get me excited. Sorry to see her go. We'll have to see how her replacement, Sean McKeever, does on the book. I always hear great stuff about him, but I've never actually read any of his work.

Moving on, in the interview mentioned above, Gail says this:

But the truth of this matter is, I was simply offered a project I couldn't turn down. A dream book with a dream art team, and a real chance to reshape comics’ history. DC's always been great to me, but this is just...insane. It's unbelievably exciting.

And I want to pour everything I've got into it. I had to let something go, and for reasons that I think will make more sense as things are revealed, it meant letting go of some beloved bird friends of mine.

Let the speculation begin! I can't imagine what's she's talking about. A monthly like JLA or Wonder Woman? Or a big miniseries event? Maybe it's what's Countdown is Counting Down to?

Mrkvm's pick of the week for 03/28/07

This week was tough, as both 52 and Green Lantern were fantastic issues. However, my pick goes to Batman 664. Despite scheduling problems, Grant Morrison's run on this book is really shaping up to be phenomenal.

This issue is essentially broken into two parts. The first focuses on Bruce Wayne as a character, something Morrison has said he wanted to emphasize. The second shows Batman tracking down some leads no one else cares about, which in turn leads Batman to meet a frightening (and familiar?) foe. A new mystery brews with mentions of the black casebook, and there's also some nice references to earlier in Morrison's Batman run, which make me realize that he's slowly building a bigger story. I also think that this issue is the best so far drawn by Andy Kubert, who has been a little spotty for me on this book.

Ultimately, though, reading this comic reminded me of being in 7th grade, when I first became a more serious comics reader. Batman and Detective Comics were my favorites back then, even if some of those stories (Death in the Family, among others) seem a bit goofy now. Morrison's Batman seems to be mining the good parts of that era and others to build the post-Infinite Crisis Batverse. Can't wait to see where this goes next.

Milligan's Infinity, Inc.

Just a quick note to mention Peter Milligan's upcoming Infinity, Inc. title for DC. There's a nice little write-up from CBR here that's definitely got me interested. I quite enjoyed the Steel/Natasha/Lex/Everyman storyline in 52, so it's nice to hear that he'll be working with some of that back story. Plus, Milligan is one of those writers who gets me interested just by being involved.

Lastly, I found the blog of the artist, Max Fiumara, who looks to have a really great style.

I'll be looking forward to seeing some previews from this in the upcoming months.

Thus We Enter the Crisis Age of Comics

I believe it started at the beginning of the 21st century. Comics were changing. The fallout from the a-bomb dropped on the industry in the 90's had subsided. In plain English, comics were good again.

In the 90's, we saw a lot change in the industry. DC and Marvel felt the sting of competition for the first time in the form of Image Comics. Everyone was on board. New superheroes in new situations peaked the interest of readers everywhere. Books like Spawn, The Maxx, and others began to catch the attention of readers everywhere. It was refreshing to see new faces and new stories after so many years. Other publishers pushed books that seemed like undiscovered frontier for readers. New and old readers alike shifted their focus from Superman and the X-Men to Valiant titles and other new "independent" comics. I believe that this is was caused the mass of crap-tacular horror that is 90's comics.

My belief is that, in response to this new demand for non-mainstream superhero books, Marvel and DC went to drastic measures and made some pretty bad decisions to compensate. Thus began "great tales" of Spider-clones, Magneto monsters, and dead Kryptonians.

The Four Horsemen of the 90's Comic Apocalypse

Famine

This beast came to us in the form on Marvel's "Onslaught" crossover. I call it Famine because it's universe expanding nature caused most Marvel fan's to go broke every month. You had to buy every issue of every title, just to understand what was happening in the particular books you actually read. You could fill a couple of long boxes with the crap you had to buy to get this crossover. It was so big, that I never really understood what was happening. And I was buying books that I never read. Hulk, Cable, and more crap than the inside of a Port-a-John. This disaster of a crossover was boring, expensive, and pointless. (For shame Mark Waid. We love you now Mark, but for shame.) At the end of this mentally handicapped crossover, came "Heroes Reborn", which really was "Heroes Need Money, Buy our Variants". This 'relaunch' of the Marvel U was a waste, and caused Famine in the industry during the 90's.

Death

"The Death of Superman" caused the greatest speculation boom in comics history. People that had never touched a comic book were buying cases of this book, thinking one day they would become rich off their resale. NOPE. Not only did the "Death of Supes" book flood the market with what seemed like 20 printings and variants, but it was complete garbage. The Man of Steel didn't fall to his arch nemesis Lex Luthor. He was killed by an illiterate grey monkey with a top knot and green Hulk pants. The story was so poorly written, that the only way Lois and Superman could have had less chemistry is if they were in two different comics.

This also spawned a demon child comeback. "Reign of the Supermen" haunts me to this day. Four variations of the DCU's most powerful hero, all with bad haircuts and die cut covers. To this day, every shop has back stock of these 'gems of crap', enough to inventory another store.

Pestilence

This highly infectious disease was brought by "The Clone Saga". Our friendly neighborhood Spidey was cloned, found his parents, died, and ruined Spider-man books for years. His clone, Ben Riley, was a hip hero, with a hooded sweatshirt for a costume. Not only did this story not make any sense, it was costly and pointless. We, as readers, needed this story about as much as we need the flu. It made me sick and want to puke, just like the flu.

War

This isn't a particular story of issue, but the state of comics in the 90's in general. Marvel and DC flooded the market in attempts to make more money, and when it becomes top priority to make as many books as possible, creativity and good writing go out the window. Variant covers and high sales numbers overpowered the need for good writers and good stories.

Another big change was how comic collecting snuck into the mainstream. Comics started to become more and more valuable. People wanted back issues and variant covers more than ever. For the first time, collecting became more important than actually reading the books themselves. This trend still continues today, (check out the value of early issues of Marvel and DC books in the first few issues of Wizard magazine, compared to today) although it isn't as bad with the multiple printings and so forth.

All of these events plague the "modern" age of comics. But out of the darkness, came a light....

The "Crisis" Age of Comic Books

As I stated above, I believe that comics took a turn for the better at the turn of the century. New writers and artists started to appear, and the stories and characters themselves once again became the reason we read and spend our hard earned money on comics.

New books, like the Ultimate line from Marvel, gave new twists on old characters, making the stories interesting again. Writers like Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Brian Michael Bendis, and Joss Whedon, started writing great stories that were not only creative, but driven by the characters themselves. The heroes we all know and love mattered to us once again. Creative teams actually researched their characters to make stories make sense. Enter now the new age of comics, where the past matters and we as fans can actually place stock and care for the heroes we love. And I am stating that this new age of comics officially started with Identity Crisis #1.

Written by Brad Meltzer, this dark and disturbing story is the beginning of continuity making sense and having a purpose in comics. In the mini-series, we find that someone has figured out the secret identities of our favorite DC heroes, and is killing their loved ones. Besides great story telling and wonderful art, we get to see a darker side (which is much more realistic) to the DCU.

We see continuity tie together really well for the first time, as well and the secrets to mind wiping, and the fact that you should never piss off a cheesy C-list villain like Doctor Light. (I know, Doctor Light!!!) I loved this book, and everything that followed it from DC.

Although the good stuff began before this issue and story, I am picking this as the beginning because I feel that this is where it became absolutely important to make a great story in every issue, at least for DC. Some other great things like Y: The Last Man, and others came before IC, but this is where I start the time line.

Marvel and Image have done some good things in the past few years too. The Ultimate books, Runaways, Astonishing X-Men, The Walking Dead, and others have all been great books that I really enjoy. I still think Marvel needs some work with the variants, and weird editorial ideas like Spider-Armor Spidey and "House of M". But they have well written books and great artists too. I think I like DC better because they made it important to have great books and stories across their universe, and chose not to put out meaningless stuff like Marvel Romance Redux and X-Men: Apocalypse/Dracula (for jgd3).

I know it isn't exactly perfect yet, for either of the big two, but it is better and a world apart from what we had in the 90's. I think it takes great minds like Dan Didio to understand what comics need, and great writers like the ones mentioned here, plus guys and gals like Grant Morrison, Gail Simone, Ed Brubaker, and the countless others to make comics special and worth the $2.99 we pay for them. Books like 52, and many others, are great consistently. That has made comics so good again. I feel like we have only seen the beginning of the "Crisis" Age of comics, and the best is yet to come.

Peace

Mrkvm's pick of the week for 3/21/07

A new segment here at the Corps! Every week I'll do a quick post highlighting my favorite book from the most recent week of goodies. I know, I know, kind of an obvious thing to do, but maybe it will inspire my cohorts to do picks of their own.

If there's a better super hero book coming out right than Justice Society of America, I don't know what it is. Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham have blown my expectations out of the water with every issue. There's just so much to love here; from the development of the Cyclone character to the strange antics of the latest iteration of Starman and everything in between.

This week we get some tasty development for Damage as well as more for the new Wildcat. Plus, Power Girl rightfully claims the role of chairwoman (jeez, thanks Geoff Johns, you've made me a Power Girl fan...how much lower can I sink?).

Yeah, I'm pretty much completely invested in all the characters and their various storylines. Maybe it's too easy, but I'm also totally digging the incorporation of Kingdom Come-esque elements into the current DCU.

So, the first story arc has wrapped up nicely, and I'm completely floored for the JLA/JSA crossover (I really need to post some about Meltzer's excellent work on that other DCU team book too!).

Reading this one? Give me your thoughts, theories, etc.!

Not reading this one? Um, why not?

52 Week 46...perhaps this is also why we read comics?

Our esteemed colleague here, jgd3, was complaining to me a bit about the Full! On! Fight! Explosion! of last week's issue (week 45), but I didn't really have any problem with it. I thought it was appropriately intense and opened up another can worms in the overall story.

Anyway, there's more Black Adam smashing stuff in week 46, but what a genuinely fun read it is (and totally different from the grim destruction we saw last week). There's just nothing like the ridiculous awesomeness of the Oolong Island mad scientist enclave. I'm still convinced that this is all Grant Morrison, but I could, of course, be wrong.

Enough of me blabbing, though. Here's some downright zany (yes, I said zany!) quotes from the issue for our good readers to enjoy...

See? Super-flamable liquid plastic plus thermo-breath!

All you're doing is making him mad. And when he gets mad he makes you dead.

Time for Baron Bug to save us all! Oh God, Oh God----Where are my insectrons??

And, finally, the quote du jour:

I'll say it if no one else will...Feel free to cackle hysterically, Gentlemen!

How's that for some fine mad scientist...well, madness?!?

Loved it as always!

Superman 660....This is why we read Comic Books

Superman 660 is a prime example of why we read comics. Take a ridiculous villain (in this case, the Prankster), and put him in a self contained issue with him as the lead character.

In this ish, The Prankster has set up a racket where criminals can pay for his services when they are in need of a diversion. The Prankster masterminds this diversion in his CTU-like HQ, where he carefully plans the logistics of the operation down to the millisecond. Each plan he devises includes every contingency, including Superman.

The great turn in this story, is when The Prankster is double-crossed, and retaliates by allowing enough time for Superman to save the day.

This is WHY we read comics. The stories are fun, the writers can take a boring and lame villain, and turn out a cool story that is entertaining. I mean, who really cares about the Prankster???? If he disappeared from comics forever, I don't think I would notice. However, Kurt Busiek's tale in Supes 660 is one of my favorite books so far this year.

If you want a great read that is well written but want stories that don't require the last 3 years of continuity to make sense, pick up some DC titles. I recommend Detective Comics, Batman, Superman and Action Comics. If you pick up from the beginning of OYL on these titles, you don't have to go too far, and the stories are great. Bats and Detective have been pretty great, and they have been consistent.

Written by Kurt Busiek; Art by Mike Manley and Bret Blevins; Cover by James Fry and Rodney Ramos

This issue looks at someone who's popped in and out of SUPERMAN for months. Ever since "Up, Up and Away," he's made his presence known. Now, at long last, the story you demanded starring… The Prankster?!

Superman | 32pg. | Color | $ 2.99 US

On Sale March 14, 2007
http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=6562

THE SCOOP

A lot has been great in the DCU for the last few years, which began with Identity Crisis. I believe that the new ERA of comics began with that story, and thus started what I am calling the "Crisis" age of comics. There will be more on this later, but I think it is safe to say that we have finally left the Spawn dominated, pointless crossover age of "Modern" comics, and moved into an age where superheroes have a personalities and character flaws that make them more believable, and make their failures and successes more tragic and uplifting.

From the fanboy corps, I will say a big "WE CARE ABOUT HEROES!". Check out Superman 660, it is why we read comics.

P.S. More on the "Crisis" age of comics soon!!!!

Rogers' Blue Beetle Pitch

Man, I should have just posted John Rogers' pitch for reading Blue Beetle in my last post. Tell me this doesn't make you want to read the book (from the same interview I just posted about):

Teenager Jaime Reyes has a spiffy, homicidal armored suit made by aliens who hate him. He has no instruction manual for the armor -- that's stuck in the brain of his mentor, who may soon shoot him in the face. His best friend's Mom is his nemesis, the other superheroes left him to die in space, and he has midterms and no date for the prom. He's El Paso's only superhero. He has no idea how to do that job, and El Paso has no idea how to have a superhero. Jokes are told, things blow up, New Gods and Batman and Green Lanterns and other superheroes visit to punch and wise-crack and occasionally weep over a bloody, tragic demise. It's old-school adventure comics drawn by an artist you can brag about discovering ten years from now. Come for the ride.

And, uh, here's a pretty picture to look at too:

Nice Blue Beetle Interview

Since I've taken it as my personal mission to pimp DC's Blue Beetle book at every possible chance, I thought I'd post a link to this fantastic interview with writer John Rogers.

Rogers frequently posts about writing techniques and process in his blog, and I always find that enlightening. In the interview he drops this bomb along those lines which grabbed my attention:

Blue Beetle is actually plotted out, both issue and arc, on a wiki page. The artists, writers and editors can all access and rewrite the page whenever they want. Joan will post a question, I'll rewrite one of the issue plotlines in response, she'll check and tell me if a villain's available or not ... and that all updates live online, so the latest version of the year-long breakdowns are always a click away. That software is idiot-proof and free for small projects (it's Backpack, if you're interested).

We use a wiki pretty heavily at my work, and I find the technology to be quite effective in enabling collaborative projects. So, I was fascinated to hear about it being used in developing a comic book. Plus, you know, I'm a huge geek, so this just set off all my usual geek alarm bells.

Anyway, this is one of the most fun and intriguing reads out there at the moment. I love the whole "outsider" perspective that's used to inform the character (go read the interview to see what I'm talking about), and it sounds like there's going to be a lot of great stuff coming up in "year two."

Read. This. Book.