If An Elongated Man Falls in the Forest...

So it's been, what, over six months since our beloved Ralph Dibny died? And has anyone mentioned him anywhere? Even in passing, like "Hey, have you seen Ralph Dibny?" "Nope."

Does anyone know that he is dead besides, like, Faust? If they do know, then where the hell is his funeral? Why is everyone all "Bart Allen...the greatest hero who ever lived. Ever." and not sending Dibny any love? Did he not die heroically? People are still talking about the tragedy that was the rape and eventual murder of Sue Dibny, but why doesn't Ralph's death matter? Elongated Man is a great character with a long proud history of solving mysteries in the grossest way possible. Didn't he have any friends? Didn't any of his fellow heroes, his Justice League teammates, respect him? Don't any of them wonder where he is? Or do they all assume that he killed himself and just don't want to talk about it. Everyone is out searching for Ray Palmer, the murderer-lover, but no one is even Google searching the whereabouts of Ralph.

So are there any plans for Ralph? Will anyone ever try to find out what happened to him? Will we see a series that has Ralph and Sue as ghosts who solve mysteries? Can Ted Kord be their sidekick? Can Ralph Dibny get a case in the Batcave?

I know that for the next long while everyone is going to be freaking out about the death (?) of Green Arrow (I hope Bart enjoyed his 15 minutes of posthumous fame because they are OVER, my friend). So I am guessing that we're not going to hear anything about Ralph for quite some time, if ever. But I have been waiting for over 6 months for word on my favourite stretchy sleuth and all I've gotten is that panel in a recent issue of Countdown that shows us his corpse, rotting where he fell dead. That's just depressing. [EDIT: Actually, it was an issue of Black Adam].

Oh, the fallen sons of DC. Is it possible for me to manipulate an image in Photoshop that is stirring enough to convey the sorrow I feel?

The answer is YES.


Perhaps some sort of rubber bracelet campaign is in order. It would certainly be fitting. Maybe purple ones that say "Whither Dibny?" on them. Or "He Died As He Lived...Stretched To Disgusting Lengths."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAL!

Today is Strange Adventures owner Calum Johnston's birthday!

Besides opening and operating the greatest comic shops ever, Cal is just generally the greatest guy you'll ever meet. He does more for the comic book community than anyone I've ever heard of, which includes but is not limited to:

- Giving away tens of thousands of comic books on Free Comic Book Day
- Bringing in an impressive array of comic creators to this tiny town
- Keeping a very small store fully stocked with everything you could every want, including a ton of all-ages books
- Throwing kick-ass Halloween parties
- Paying for everything. Seriously, everything. That man will not let you pay for your own meal.
- Giving everybody rides in his big yellow bug.
- Giving me, like, so many comics. And Montreal Canadiens-related gifts.
- Giving lots of stuff to charities.
- Selling all the back issues at the shop today for ten cents each! Seriously. Go there now.
- Buying and giving away 300 copies of Supergirl #20 to support the change in art.
- Just generally being super supportive of everyone in anything that they try to do.

Happy Birthday Cal! You rule!

This Week's Haul: Blargh!

Man, there was so much throwing-up in my comics this week. Like, really. A lot. It was weird.

Also, I read a lot of stuff this week, so I'm going to run through everything pretty quickly. I'll just say that Avengers: The Initiative was really good. Sub-Mariner was good too. And Blue Beetle.

And now, the rest.

52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #2

Is it insane that this is kinda my favourite thing that I read this week? I really, really liked it.

As I mentioned with the first issue of this series, there is some really great Superman/Batman banter happening here. I wish the story arcs in Superman/Batman were half this good. It's just really entertaining reading.

Wonder Woman shows up to complete the trinity in this issue. And she totally holds her own in the snappy banter arena:

Speaking of 'snappy,' the guy we all love to hate, Snapper Carr, shows up at the end of this. I have no idea what's going to happen with that.

I totally thought Batman was holding a flask there in that last panel, but it's just his binoculars.

I dunno...good story, good writing, good art. That makes for a pretty solid comic. I mean, there are still four issues left in which the whole thing could go to hell, but I'm impressed so far.

There was no puking in this comic, but it kinda looked like Superman was gonna hurl. Pestilence is a bitch.

Countdown to Adventure #2

If you want to sell a lot of copies of this comic, maybe don't put Forerunner on the cover. Animal Man, Animal Man, Animal Man. Front and centre.

That's pretty much all I have to say about this. Except that the Adam Strange stuff is the best part.

Countdown Week 31

Add points to this week's Countdown because it was a McKeever issue. Subtract points due to lack of Piper and Trickster.

Also, Jason Todd almost gets wasted by Owl Man.

Would anyone have cared? Anyone?

X-Men First Class #4

How much do I love this comic? SO MUCH!

For one thing, it really fills the Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane void. And for another, it is just such a great idea and I am really glad that Marvel has continued it into this second series. It's such a sunny comic in the middle of all the gloom. And I also really like that it's all-ages appropriate, but written for an adult readership. So it's running on the assumption that adult comic books fans want to read something cute and fun from time to time.

So in this issue, Iceman and Beast take a road trip!

And it's a totally awesome road trip. Look at the places they go!:

I love that Miami panel.

Ok, and look at how adorable this page is (the set-up: it's the end of the trip, our heroes just saved a bunch of people during a hurricane in the Florida Keys, and now they are waiting out the storm in the car under a dome of ice that Bobby made):

Awwwwwwww. Seriously! So cute!

Jeff Parker rules, and the art, by Julia Bax, was really, really fantastic. I was in love with every panel. Awesome all around.

Iron Fist #9/Iron Fist Annual #1

Double shot of Iron Fist this week!

If ever a sumo warrior traps you with his magic lightning lasso, this is what you should do:

Owned!

But you can't get cocky, cause otherwise this will happen:

Fortunately for me, I had good money riding on Fat Cobra.

Green Arrow Year One #5

*sigh* What's the point anymore? Now that I know that we all know that he's dead. I think that enough time has gone by that I can drop that week-old spoiler. Dude! Oliver totally got killed on his wedding night by one of his own arrows! Through the neck!

As a Connor Hawke fan, I'm not entirely sad about this development. But I feel bad for Hal and Roy. Those guys are gonna be miserable. And Mia. I love Mia.

But I should really talk about this comic. Because it's really good. And it totally has made me see the sex appeal of Oliver Queen, which was previously a bit of a mystery to me. I know that DC is planning more Year One series (isn't there a Huntress one or something crazy?). I hope they are all as good as this one.

Superman Confidential #6

Hey, remember how the Batman Confidential franchise was totally sucking while Superman Confidential was totally good? Well, DC is putting a fast stop to that! And I guess we have to wait to see how the Darwyn Cooke/Tim Sale storyline ends. In the meantime we get this total garbage.

Oh, please.

Now, first of all, I was excited that Palmiotti and Gray were writing the next Superman Confidential arc. And I was also excited that it would involve Lori Lemaris. But then I saw that Koi Turnbull would be doing the art, and, well...bad art can ruin a comic book.

I tried to ignore the art while reading this and focus on the story, but I just couldn't. It was so distracting.

I think with different art, this would be a completely different comic. The story has a Silver Age imaginary story charm to it. Everyone is a mermaid/man except Superman...Lois, Jimmy, Lex...and Superman is being mind controlled by Lori. Which kinda sucks, because I have a fondness for that mermaid.

Actually, the story is kinda dark and shitty. And it bothers me that Aquaman, a perfectly excellent underwater adventure comic, was just canceled and now this hits the shelves.

Anyway...Yuck:

And yuck:

Yargh. So unnecessary.

Pretty terrible. What do you think, Superman?

My thoughts exactly.

Teen Titans #51

Yep, I think this McKeever-writing-Teen Titans thing is gonna work out just fine.

It's off to a helluva start. The Teen Titans are visited by future versions of themselves, who are now a super hero team called The Titans. Tim Drake is Batman, Cassie is Wonder Woman, etc. Plus, Bart and Conner are back thanks to Tim's cloning efforts. They are all pretty evil, and the teens aren't impressed.

Future versions of super heroes are always fun because they reveal little pieces of what's to come.

Pity for Tim? But Tim is awesome! He's worth, like, ten Conners!

Also, I think this might be a Marvel dig:

I'm going to pretend it is. It's nice that Supergirl and I agree on something.

Yeah, so, excellent comic. I'm adding it to my pull list. Sean McKeever has a real gift for writing teenagers and I don't want to miss any of it. Plus I'm really liking the line-up, and it gives me some bonus Blue Beetle.

Justice League of America #13

I certainly don't need to be convinced that Dwayne McDuffie is the right man for writing JLA. Plus, the Wedding Special was awesome. So I was really excited about this issue.

Shame about the art. Damn shame.

It just looked so incredibly 90s. I dunno. Maybe that's what they're aiming for, but it's not what I'd aim for.

Behold Killer Frost:

And John Stewart:

Pages like this make me want to load Pearl Jam's Ten into my Sony Sports Walkman and set the VCR to tape Lois & Clark. Like, what the hell?

Also...I don't think the writing was that good! Like, it was all messed up and confusing and ignored chunks of continuity and stuff.

I basically liked two pages. This one:

And this one:

The second one I liked because for once it's Superman, and not Batman, who figured something out. Although, I guess it's possible that Batman told him.

Colour me disappointed.

The Spirit #10

Man I love that cover.

Ok, I lied earlier. This was actually my favourite thing that I read this week.

In this issue The Spirit is solving a murder mystery that involves the deaths of many cable TV talking heads. They are all based on actual television personalities, including Rosie O'Donnell, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Stephen Colbert. It's all very clever and funny. Check out our hero as he's caught in the clutches of "Ann Coulter":

Oh, snap!

I was particularly impressed with the pages parodying the Colbert Report. Satire of a satire is a tricky thing, and it's done really well.

Also, I think it's an interesting coincidence that this issue opens with a gag that commentates on fill-in comics the same week that the final issue of Cooke's Superman Confidential run got bumped. I mean, not bumped like I think it's finished and DC just won't release it, but in the way that at least one of the creators hasn't been able to finish it yet and thus DC has chosen to start the next arc rather than wait for the end of this one. (Tim Sale, j'accuse!).

*sigh* I can't believe this run is almost over.

Batman #669

Yup, this was pretty much perfect.

I loved this page. So much:

This is gonna make an excellent-looking trade.

I don't really have anything else to say. It was awesome.

Wonder Woman Annual #1

Hey, remember this storyline? Barely? It was so long ago that I actually forgot that it never got finished. Well, here's our ending...and it's really good.

I forget most of the details of the original story on the Heinberg/Dodson run, but I do know that I liked it. And this Annual made me remember why. Heinberg just writes a really fantastic Wonder Woman. And it's a shame that this story couldn't have finished on schedule because this issue gives us a really great plot development that probably would have helped with the Picoult storyline a lot.

Basically, it ends with Circe working some magic that makes Diana a human unless she changes into Wonder Woman. So, as Diana Prince, she is vulnerable and without her powers (at least, I assume no powers...certainly she can get hurt). I think that's pretty dope.

So she does have to learn about being human now. Which was kinda what the Picoult storyline was about. Kinda.

Anyway, Gail Simone can take this development and run with it. I'm looking forward to it.

But back to this issue, there was some really fun battle banter:

There were actually pages of Wonder Woman dishing out the good banter. That's nice to see.

Also, look at this cozy Batman/Wonder Woman panel:

Man. I don't usually want those two to kiss, but I kinda wouldn't mind it. Look at how cute!

There was also a nice back-up story, also written by Heinberg, and drawn by Gary Frank. It was also really good:

Those are some really great facial expressions. I'm interested to see him upcoming run on Action Comics.

Holy smokes, am I done?! For real? Awesome, now I'm gonna work on my accounting assignment!

Degrassi Forever

Over at the official Degrassi The Next Generation site they have posted some photos from last weekend's Word on the Street festival in Halifax. Actor Mike Lobel (Jay Hogart), artist Ramon Perez, writer J Torres and Epitome Entertainment guy Chris Jackson represented Degrassi Street and participated in a little panel discussion that I got to moderate.

You can check out the pictures here (including this one of me).

The Habs were playing an exhibition game in Halifax that day, which I went to immediately after. Thus, I was wearing my colours. Normally I would have dressed nicer...like my formal Aquaman t-shirt or something.

I'm going to post this photo too because I like it, even though I look a disappointing amount like Rosie O'Donnell in it. I think I was talking or something and it caught me at the wrong millisecond.

I like that J Torres's rock pose is "call me!"

This one is fun too.

All pictures were taken by my mom, including that one of all of us on the Degrassi site. Thanks, mom!

All-Star Batman and Robin #7: Live Running Commentary...Again!

It's that time again! This thing is coming out more or less on schedule now! It's creeping me out!

Now, once again, I will read this for the first time and post my running commentary. When you hear Batman kick you in the teeth, it's time to turn the page.


CRUNCH!

Before I get started I just want to say that as soon as I picked up this comic I launched into a giant sneezing fit. So maybe I am allergic to All-Star Batman and Robin.

Page 1 - "Striking TERROR. Best part of the job." Isn't striking terror the only part of the job?

CRUNCH!

Page 2 - "You don't know from screwed, you losers!" This gets my vote for worst Batman quote ever.

CRUNCH!

Page 3 - "Let me take you to school, suckers!" Ok, we have a new winner.
Also, Batman really gets off on people shooting each other. I guess.

CRUNCH!

Page 4-5 - "WADS"???!!!! Batman used the word 'wads'!!!!

CRUNCH!

Page 6 - Oh man. I am really glad that I didn't actually buy this. So Batman just called one guy "sweetheart," another guy "boy of mine" and all of this is making "Black Canary" (who is Irish, for whatever reason) very hot.

CRUNCH!

Page 7 - Oh, come on. Selina's not a smoker.
Yes, of all the crap on this page, that's what bothers me.

CRUNCH!

Page 8 - WHA?! NO!! YARG! I...can't believe this. At all.

CRUNCH!

Page 9 - I am so confused about what this is supposed to be. Clearly, it's a joke. I mean, it has to be, right? So my question then is, why is someone with so much obvious contempt for comic books allowed to write this comic? Let me write it! It would be so delightful!

CRUNCH!

Page 10 - So, what is Dick Grayson doing during all this? Starving in the Batcave? Sharpening his axe? Eating rats?

CRUNCH!

Page 11 - ??????!!!!!!

CRUNCH!

Page 12 - Hey, it's Robin! "I have no idea how long I've been here, in the Bat-Cave." Yeah, neither do I. I am pretty lost on the time frame of this comic. How many nights since Dick's parents were killed? Was it this same night? And didn't he leave the cave to play with that axe at one point? Or was that in the cave? Meh. Next Page.

CRUNCH!

Page 13 - 14 - Seriously, if I see one more person throw up in one of my comics this week...

CRUNCH!

Page 15-16 - Well, this is messed up.

CRUNCH!

Page 17-18 - At this point I would believe anything. It would not surprise me if I turn the page to find that Robin has chopped that guy's head off. And then the next page is a giant orgy.

CRUNCH!

Page 19 - 20 - Normally I would kind of love Batman leaning on his car like that. But this isn't any kind of Batman I want to know.

CRUNCH!

Page 21 - Oh, well, terrific. (The Joker has pierced ears?!)

Aaaand we're done. Ouch. This exceeded my expectations of shittiness. Way to go, DC.

Dear Marvel

The Canadian dollar is now par with the U.S. dollar.


Kindly check yo' selves.

Q&A with Scott Chantler

The first three chapters of Scott Chantler's really excellent Canadian historical adventure series, Northwest Passage [Oni Press] was recently collected into a beautiful hardcover book. Now he's made the trip from Waterloo, Ontario to Halifax for the Word on the Street festival. I did a Q&A with Scott earlier this week, and now I'm sharing it with you guys.


Q: Are there more installments of Northwest Passage on the way? If so, how many more volumes can we expect?

A: I intend Northwest Passage to be something I return to throughout my career. The story that's collected in the new hardcover was definitely always intended as "season one"...there at least three of four further stories I have in mind for these characters. That said, I'm in no rush to get them out. This first story took two years to complete, and I was eager to step away from it for a while. There a few other projects I want to get to, but there WILL be more Northwest Passage in the future...I just can't tell you precisely when to expect it.

Q: Northwest Passage is an ambitious undertaking! Canadian history is not a popular subject for comic books, or even adventure books in general. What inspired you to write this story, and how much history research was involved?

A: Thanks to Chester Brown's LOUIS RIEL, and my work, Canadian history seems to be becoming a more popular subject every day. But when I first pitched Northwest Passage a few years back, RIEL wasn't out yet, so there was really nothing even remotely like what I was trying to do. Oni Press deserves a lot of credit for having the nerve to take it on. I was first inspired to write something set against Canadian frontier history when I first read Peter C. Newman's COMPANY OF ADVENTURERS and CAESARS OF THE WILDERNESS (the first two parts of his history of the Hudson's Bay Company,) maybe six or seven years ago. I just thought it would make an outstanding setting for an adventure story, and couldn't believe it hadn't been more utilized in that regard. The research was pretty extensive. I had the groundwork with Newman's books, but also devoured as many other sources as I could, books on everything from everyday life at the fur trading posts, to the methods of Cree medicine men, to the history of privateering in Canada. Not to mention websites, old paintings and drawings, museum displays, you name it. Fortunately, I enjoy that part of it. One of the reasons my career has gravitated to historical stories is because I like the process of discovering and learning about new people, places, and times.

Q: How did you get involved with Tek Jansen? What has that been like, in comparison with your previous work? (I read in your blog that Stephen Colbert didn't like your original sketch of him).

People ask me all the time how I got the Tek Jansen gig, and I wish there was a more fascinating answer, but it's really so simple and boring: they called and asked me to do it. I think the guys at Oni Press really wanted to use such a high-profile project to reward some of the people who'd been kicking around there for a while, and I had done five books for them and just come of Northwest Passage. Plus, I think they thought my art style and my "animated" sense of timing would make a good fit for the project. While it was definitely different from the comics work I'd done previously (which was all my personal, creator-owned stuff,) it wasn't really an adjustment to having please a licensor. I do a tonne of commercial illustration work--which is what allows me to take such chances with my choices of comics projects--so I'm used to tailoring a job to a client's wishes. That's how you have to think of these work-for-hire, licensed books...as a job. Might be a really FUN job, but in the end it's somebody else's book, not yours.

Q: Are there issues planned beyond #3 in the Tek Jansen series? If so, will you be involved?

It's planned as a five-issue miniseries. My work actually won't appear beyond the first issue...while it was a great gig to be involved with, I've just had too many offers lately, on my own projects, to have been able to stick with it.

Q: Were you doing cons promoting Tek Jansen at all? What was fan reaction like? Are the fans of that comic different from other comic fans? Lately there have been a few releases that I like to call 'gateway comics' (ie - Marvel's Dark Tower and Anita Blake comics, Dark Horse's Buffy Season 8, and the Tek Jansen series) that seem to attract fans that normally don't read comics. Do you feel that Oni viewed this project as one that might attract new comic readers?

Oni views EVERY project as one that might attract new comic readers. I don't know that there's any publisher in the business who does more to grow the audience. I've done a few shows and signings since Tek hit the stands. It's a little weird to have people coming up who clearly don't know me or my work from a bushel of potatoes...but it helps bring their attention to my creator-owned books. A fan who comes to get their Tek Jansen comic signed might be convinced to pick up a copy of Northwest Passage, too, which is nice.

Q: Were you a fan of Stephen Colbert when you were asked to work on the comic? Were you familiar with his space hero alter-ego?

Yes, I'd been a fan of Colbert's since The Daily Show first started airing in Canada. And while we began work on the comic before the animated Tek Jansen segments began airing on the show, I was always kept aware of what was going on, in terms of being able to see the model sheets and other concept work.

Q: Do you have any other projects you are working on? I know you are working on the relaunch of Hawaiian Dick...

Hawaiian Dick is being relaunched in November as a montly series, with rotating artists. I'm the artist on the first four issues. Other than that, I'm going to be doing two new original graphic novels (both of which I'll be writing) for major publishers. One is something intensely personal, the other something crazy and fun. But that's all I can tell you for now.

Q: You are one of the rare triple threats in the comic industry who pencils, inks and writes. Do you prefer to work this way, or do you enjoy working with other authors and/or artists?

If it's something personal, like Northwest Passage was, I like to do it all myself. I want my hands--and my hands only--on the wheel, and that's the only way to be sure to get it. But I've also really enjoyed the collaborations I've had with others. All of the writers I've worked with have been easygoing, talented, and open to letting me collaborate on the storytelling, which I think is essential. Plus it's just nice to sometimes have someone else to bounce ideas off of, or joke around with...being an auter, while giving you the ability to completely indulge yourself creatively, can be lonely work.

Q: I guess I should ask why you have decided to come to Halifax to participate in the Word on the Street festival. Do you enjoy participating in comic and writers festivals like this one?

I come because they keep inviting me! Plus, I really think the presence of comics and graphic novels at mainstream literary festivals in the last few years has been a blessing--especially for people like myself, whose work isn't in the capes-and-tights vein. Anything that exposes mainstream readers to the diversity and quality of what's being done in comics can only be a good thing...again, it grows the audience. This is the just the kind of festival I like doing the most.

Q: I believe you've been here before. Any thoughts about Halifax? (People here love hearing nice things about Halifax).

My first time in Halifax was Word on the Street last year, in 2006, and I had a blast. Great city, good times, friendly people. I was so glad when the asked me back again.

Q: I'm curious to know if you have any thoughts on the separation of comic book writers from other authors. For example, at this festival J. Torres, Darywn Cooke and yourself are all listed in a subcategory called 'cartoonists,' apart from 'authors,' even though you are all authors. I'm trying to form a question out of this, but all I can come up with is: any thoughts about the status of the comic book writer in the world of authors?

I have no problem at all with the term "cartoonist." It implies someone who writes with pictures, which is a pretty apt description of what I do. I don't think it's meant derisively...at least I don't take it that way. In fact, I think the presence of cartoonists at Word on the Street is a good sign that the literary community has come to (correctly) regard comic and graphic novels as a form of visual literacy.

Q: What does the success of smaller comic publishers such as Oni Press mean for comic creators in terms of what they can offer that larger publishers can't?

Mostly what they offer is freedom. If you want to do your thing, Marvel Comics and DC Comics are not going to let you do that. They want you to draw Spider-man, or Superman, and conform to the editorial direction for those characters, as dictated by the corporations who own them. With a company like Oni, you've got an operation that's run by three guys, which has a lot more opportunity and desire to take risks. Like, say, publishing a story set in Canadian frontier history.

What's been interesting in the last few years is that smaller companies like Oni have been just as successful selling their books in Hollywood as the bigger publishers with more recognizable characters have been. So while the immediate pay-off isn't as great at the smaller companies, there's still the promise of big-time financial rewards.

Q: How do you regard the importance of all-ages comics, and do you feel there are enough being made? (Northwest Passage, for example, could be distributed in schools, but it certainly could have been written with a lot of gore and sex and profanity and still have earned rave reviews, but would have cut out the younger audience). Did you take the younger demographic into consideration when you were writing Northwest Passage, or are you just not a sex and violence kind of guy?

All-ages comics are incredibly important. One of the reasons the '90s was such a dark time in this industry was because comics were so eager to prove themselves as edgy adult reading material that very few people seemed concerned about where the next generation of readers was going to come from. Obviously, that was pretty short-sighted. What's great about the industry as it is today is that there really is something for every age and taste. That's why I think the current buzz around comics and graphic novels is more than just a fad...there are enough good books, and talented creators, to be able to more than hold the public interest.

There's a considerable amount of violence in Northwest Passage, but I tried as much as possible to keep it off-panel, or implied. It wasn't out of consideration for any kind of demographic...I just prefer that sort of Hitchcock-ian style of storytelling, where you make the audience work a bit. You could never show them anything as terrifying as what they can conjure in their own mind.

Q: It seems that more Canadians are making a name for themselves in the comic book industry than ever before. Certainly Toronto has a very strong comic scene, and Halifax has a nice little one for our size. Do you feel that it's a good time to be a Canadian comic creator?

It's a great time. I think Canadians have a distinct voice, and that the industry is becoming more accommodating of distinct voices. You can barely walk down the street in Toronto without bumping into a phenomenally talented comics creator. It's such a great thing to be a part of.

Q: How important is it, to you, for Canadian creators to tell Canadian stories? Obviously Northwest Passage is a Great Canadian history lesson, and has done well in the States. Do you intend to continue to work on books with Canadian themes?

Northwest Passage sells best in Canada, but it does better in the States than anyone had a right to expect. Stong reviews have helped, including prominent reviews in Entertainment Weekly and Publishers Weekly. And it's a big word-of-mouth book. It gets a big boost from blogs, message boards, people giving copies to friends, etc.

I think Canadians are hungry for Canadian stories. It's natural, with the amount of U.S. media we digest, to assume that all stories are set in New York. But when something comes along that's a little more recognizable to us, I think there's a real connection. Something I tried to do with Northwest Passage was to tap into a mythic Canadian landscape. What I've depicted isn't really what northern Manitoba looks like, really...but I didn't want that, anyway. What I wanted was what Canadians see when they close their eyes and think of Canada.

Q: What comics are you reading and excited about right now?

I've been reading my way through Paul Grist's Kane, which I just discovered a couple of years ago but absolutely love. I think Grist may be the most interesting storyteller in comics, currently. There's a European series called Belladone, historical adventure stuff with cartooning which makes wildly jealous. But I don't get as much time to read as I'd like...I'm too busy these days creating my own stuff.


Thanks to Scott Chantler for taking the time to answer my questions!

If anyone local is reading this, come on down to Word on the Street tomorrow! It's free and there are a lot of great writers and artists who will be there. I'll be conducting the Degrassi panel at 1:15 with J. Torres, Ramon Perez and actor Mike Lobel (Jay Hogart from Degrassi The Next Generation). There will also be an 11:15 Q&A with J. Torres on writing for comics, a 3:15 Q&A with Scott Chantler on historical comics, and a 4:15 panel with Darwyn Cooke and Steve McNiven on storytelling and comics. All of these creators, and more, will be available for signings and sketches at various times throughout the day. There's no reason to miss this, and every reason to go!

This Week's Haul: The Sexiest Week Ever

So many Batmans this week. Adorable Batman. Horny Batman. Retro Dickweed Batman. Loving Father Figure Batman. Grumpy Wedding Invite Decliner Batman.

There were other characters too. But mostly Batman.

It's a sexy week for comics all around. Let's have a look:

Catwoman #71

Rachelle cannot come to the phone right now because she has MELTED INTO A PUDDLE OF GOO after reading this comic.

Behold Batman holding Helena:

Ok, I try not to be, like, a girl, but I just really lose it over Batman and Catwoman. I want them to be together forever.

And then...Selina asks Bruce to help her "kill" herself and her daughter so bad guys will stop going after her. So they come up with this crazy scenario where Bruce dresses up like a crazed suicide bomber:

He blows the three of them up, or so it seems, and Catwoman is free to start a new life. Which we'll see starting in the next issue, but I assume involves the Outsiders. I hope it involves Bruce Wayne, but that's me being a girl again. She's the only woman I'll accept as Batman's lady...except me.

Superman/Batman #40

Bitch, you best back off.

I do not know much about Bekka, other than:

a) she is Orion's wife and a New God;
b) she is a giant ho.

While I appreciated the amount of naked Batman in this issue, I did not appreciate Little Miss No-Pants pawing him:

Nor did I appreciate how into it Bruce was:

Oh what, Bruce? You've never seen a woman wearing nothing but a dish towel over her ass before?

She's such a skank. Look at how she prays:

Anyway, Miss Thang and Batman have to do something or other together. I was trying to focus on something other than wanting to smack Bekka down, but Batman was not helping:

What sorcery are you using on my poor Batman, witch?!

ARGH! DIE!

Birds of Prey #110

Huntress is awesome. And so is Tony Bedard.

Robin #166

And now a public service announcement from Robin:

The more you know, kids!

This whole page was very cute...Bruce has been all cranky about Tim wanting to join the school tennis team. Which, I gotta say, is pretty obnoxious of Bruce.
Good for you, Tim! Stand up to him!

Captain America #30

My monthly hit of my delicious Winter Soldier.

I love you, baby.

But wait! What's this?

He can be shut down just by saying a single word? Don't we wish all men could have that feature? Am I right, ladies? Holla!

Tony Stark is being all emo:

Tony, you have to do what makes you happy.

Meanwhile, Sharon's complicated life doesn't get any easier:

Cue soap opera music!

Oh, girl. You have to have Captain America's baby. It will be the most awesome baby.

And this complicated my life:

So sexy! And yet...Tony Stark! Argh! I'm so confused!

Big shocker ending on this comic! You should read it!

Countdown Week 32

I just really like that cover. Very cute.

We get to see Black Canary's Bachelorette party for the third time in this comic. But this time Piper and Trickster are there...trying to steal car keys so they can make a break for it. It's pretty fun.

And we get to see more of the party, including Wonder Woman being Captain Bring-Down:

I think it might be too late for those girls being exposed to sexist objectification, Wonder Woman. I mean, they have mirrors, right? (Zing!)

I do appreciate her effort, though.

The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special

I think that Judd Winick and Amanda Conner are a great match. They both have a goofy playfulness to what they do, so this ended up being pretty fun.

Plus, Judd Winick is a pretty big superhero friendships nerd, so I think he was the right man for the job for this.

I loved this dig at Connor:

Vegan food and slide shows! Oh man, slide shows! It's true. And I love that whole bottom panel of the party-clothes superheroes.

This scene between Wonder Woman and Superman was absolutely adorable:

So cute. Too bad he wasn't right about all that "no evil to be found" stuff. The wedding kinda had some problems.

I enjoyed all the Snapper Carr bashing in this:

I enjoyed this. I laughed out loud quite a few times. Amanda Conner was a great choice for the art because no one does cheesecake better than her. And there was a lotta sexy action in this.

And of course A BIG SHOCKER ENDING!

JLA/Hitman #1

This was fun! I was skeptical because I don't really enjoy Garth Ennis's cynicism toward superheroes, but I liked this. It was a fun 90s throwback, and I liked having a follow-up story to Hitman #34, which had Superman having a heart-to-heart with Tommy on a rooftop.

The highlight for me was definitely Batman chewing Kyle out for once working with Tommy, only to be interrupted by Superman entering the room:


Hilarious.

This was great. Looking forward to the next one.

Aquaman #56

I love this comic. It's fun, intelligent, great-looking, well-written and funny. So of course it's been canceled.

I'm miserable. I'm not kidding when I say that this was one of the comics that I looked most forward to every month.

I mean, just look at how great this page is!:

That's a fun page!

What I really like about Tad Williams' writing is that his characters have a very natural way of speaking. There's a lot of dialogue, and it's quippy, but not in a Bendis way. I have nothing against Bendis, but the dialogue sounds a lot more scripted in his comics. I mean, it's a comic book so you can expect some over-dramatic and clunky dialogue, but I thought the writing really stood out on this series. And the story was really exciting. I'm very sad that there is only one issue left. Boooooooo!

World War Hulk #4

We finally get to see Dr Strange, Iron Man, Mr Fantastic and Black Bolt fight each other in a gladiator arena. But we don't get to see enough of it, in my opinion. I was really looking forward to some crazy gladiator action. I guess I wouldn't have been satisfied with anything short of a major motion picture. (Oh, wouldn't that have been great? If WWHulk had just been leading up to a two hour movie of the four of them wailing on each other?).

It woulda looked a little something like this:

Reed is totally gonna smash Tony with that mace!

Good times.

Marvel Adventures: Avengers #16



Speaking of good times, this was awesome!!

Stark gets some battlesuits stolen from him, and the Avengers have to fight them.

Also, Hawkeye is there!

And Iron Man gets his pants melted off!

Aw, remember when the Avengers were fun?

Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Parallax

It's a good week for Kyle fans because you get a lot of him in this, and in JLA/Hitman.

And in this, he is super dreamy:

Man, it's a good week for hotness in my comics this week. Thanks, comics!

I enjoyed this. It was emotional and exciting and stuff.

And Kyle put his old outfit on!

It's one of those A-Hero-Battles-His-Evil-Self-Inside-His-Own-Mind comics, but that never really gets old, does it?

Superman Doomsday on DVD

Hoo boy.

Ok, this movie was flawed to say the very least. For one thing, it is way too dark and violent for kids (I lost count of the number of necks being snapped) and way too boring and lame for adults. It's just not a good movie. I'm not a fan of this story line in the comics, but this was infinitely worse. And that's too bad.

Also, it was very, very gay. And by 'gay,' I mean 'homoerotic.' And not in a good way. In the way that Lex Luthor makes a Superman clone specifically so he can take his frustrations out on him. He beats him around while wearing Kryptonite gloves and no shirt, yelling things like "Why did you leave me?!" Then he straddles him, leans in so their faces are an inch apart, and says, I swear to God, "Who's your daddy?" And I fell out of my chair. It's messed right up.

Again, not really for kids. Besides the parade of spinal snappings and Lex's sexual dysfunctions, there are scenes like, oh, I don't know, LEX SHOOTING MERCY IN THE FACE, POINT BLANK!

Cartoons are fun!

Cheer me up and win a prize.

A couple of items:

Everyone who sent me a mix CD will be getting one back from me very shortly in the mail. My CD burner has been very useless lately, but I managed to get enough CDs burned off finally. Thanks again to everyone who sent me a CD.

And now...A NEW CONTEST!

As you may know, I recently started grad school. I haven't been in school for over five years, nor have I really branched out in terms of my social circles. Going to business school has reminded me of something that rarely occurs to me: most people don't read comics. At all.

It is the minority of the population that has an opinion on Kyle Rayner as Parallax. Or that knows who either of those people are. Or who knows what a Green Lantern is. Did you know that there are literally millions of people who aren't counting down to anything? Who are completely unaware that the Hulk has declared war on all humanity? Who did not choose a side in the Civil War? Who have not pondered, even for a second, what they would do with One More Day?

Entering a new social group has been a jarring reminder that I am a weirdo. An outcast. A, dare I say, Outsider. If I were to ask any one of my classmates how awesome it's going to be when Winter Soldier confronts Iron Man, they would have no idea what I was talking about. And would probably take my lunch money.

If there were one person in my class who did read comics, I would have an instant friend. I know such things have happened to other people. It's a nice community that we are all a part of.

So, I would like to hear some stories. Tell me about times where you were able to connect with someone because of comic books. We're all shameless about our love of comics on the internet, but sometimes in real life it's harder to talk about. Some people will just never understand.

Perhaps your story involves:

- wearing a comic-related shirt or button or some such thing and a stranger notices and strikes up a conversation;
- ...maybe it led to romance?
- a group situation where you don't know anyone and a mutual love of comics is discovered;
- a time where a love of comics saved your life (man, that would be great)

Or something like that. I just basically want warm, fuzzy stories about how great it is to be part of the comic book community.

And, of course, there are prizes. Once again generously donated by Calum Johnston at Strange Adventures. Anyone who posts a story, either in the comments or on their own blog with a link in the comments, will be entered. I will draw five names at the end of, say, two weeks, and they will win one of the following exciting prizes:

1. Daredevil #82 Steve McNiven variant cover signed by Steve McNiven
2. The Sandman #50 signed by Neil Gaiman
3. One of three copies of Nexus #99 signed by Steve Rude

So there you go. Tell me a nice story, because I am feeling lonely and awkward.

Rating the Super Hunks #14: Jonah Hex

If you haven't figured this out about me yet, I will tell you now: I love cowboys. A western movie does not have to have much of a plot to keep me entertained. I just want cowboys walking around talking and dressing like cowboys and shooting stuff.

I also love western comics, but especially Jonah Hex. I can't even remember when I first discovered the character, but he was an instant favourite.

Now, at first glance, you might say he is in no way sexy and should not even be considered a Super Hunk. You are WRONG and I intend to prove it.

Let's cover up one eye and rate everyone's favourite bounty hunter

JONAH HEX

Costume/Appearance: Well...what can we say?

Let's just get costume out of the way first. Jonah wears a Confederate soldier's uniform. While that may be a little gauche, it certainly looks cool.

No doubt about it.

Now, moving on to appearances...

Let's be clear: one half of Jonah Hex is perfectly attractive. Hot, even. But the other half is pretty much as gross as a face can look. I don't know if he looks worse than Two-Face, but the little bridge of skin over his lip makes me want to say 'yes.'

Jonah has been drawn with varying levels of grossness. Sometimes he just has a big eye and a messed up mouth. Sometimes he has what looks like raw hamburger for a face. It's definitely an obstacle that anyone who is interested in him would have to get over. Fortunately for Jonah, a surprising number of women have totally been willing to overlook his massive disfiguration.


Well, there you go. Jonah Hex gets action. Regular action. Possibly more than Bruce Wayne. I think it speaks volumes about how awesome he is (which we'll get to in the next section).

I mean, the good half of Jonah Hex looks pretty much exactly like young Clint Eastwood. Perfectly attractive. Shame about that other side.

Because he's half hot, I think a fair grade would be

5/10

Personality: Jonah Hex has that whole emotionless "I'm only here to kill people and get paid" exterior that women love so much. He's gruff to the extreme, lacking charm and simple good manners.

What he lacks in gentle good humour, he makes up for with total and complete badassedness. He kills people. Lots of people. And he takes great pleasure in dishing out pain and ironic punishment to terrible people. If he gets paid.


Everyone in the Jonah Hex universe is terrified of him. His legend is known throughout the land, and anyone who challenges him is definitely going to die. I like that in a man.

He's also calm in any situation, whether he's chained to a rock, being strung up, or suddenly transported thousands of years into the future, dude is in control.

I actually have no problem with his personality. He's probably the sanest comic hero out there. I guess I'll knock off a couple points for being a grumpy gus.

8/10

Day Job: Jonah Hex is a bounty hunter. That's pretty much his whole deal. And he's very good at it.


10/10

Sexiness of Superpowers: Jonah Hex doesn't need superpowers.

10/10

Cons: Besides the fact that it's hard to look at him without throwing up, I should mention that Jonah once totally cheated on his pregnant wife:

And while he was doing it she was totally baking him a birthday cake. Not cool, Hex.

Nice one, douche.

I'm taking off five points for that little stunt. And for the lip bridge. Again.

- 5

Final Score: 28/40

See? Basically Jonah Hex is a perfect man with a messed up face. If you're too shallow to look past that then you don't deserve him.

Rachelle Predicts The Least Popular ClicKet.com Products

One of my Google sponsors is ClicKet.com. I took a look at their website, which promised deluxe Justice League costumes. I found some other things that I think they probably sell less of.

1. The Steve Irwin life-sized standee


2. The Adult Movie Robin Costume


3. The life-size Austin Powers Standee with voicebox


4. The zero-visibility toddler Batman romper


5. The Newt Gingrich life-sized standee


6. The Mary Katharine Gallagher costume


7. The Alan Jackson life-sized standee


8. The 'Talk to the Hand' costume


9. The pretty crappy Robocop costume


Also, I can't say if it's a hot seller or not, but I just want to bring everyone's attention to this costume:

They call it 'Dracula with a Twist.' I call it confusing.

Note: Clicket.com has many fine products and should not be judged based on this small selection.

Love for Comic Foundry

Have you guys checked out the new magazine, Comic Foundry? I really love it. And here's why:

1. It's completely unpretentious, and perfect for new comic readers. It is in no way snobby, and recommends comics that most serious readers already know about and have read several times. It's a perfect thing to give someone who is just getting into comics.

2. It also appeals to long-time fans, with lots of fun little features about our favourite artists and writers. (Kubert vs Kubert! Michael Kupperman's Favourite Jokes! Brian K Vaughan's recommended reading!)

3. Everything in it is short, which appeals to my very short attention span, shared by many comic book readers.

4. The 'Behind the Curtain' feature, where they take pictures of a creator's workspace. Do I want to know what DVDs Brian Wood owns? Yes I do.

5. It has great, creative ideas, like a fashion spread where the models replicate famous comic covers.

6. I saw several things that I would like to buy.

7. It has a nice balance between super hero, indie and manga.

8. Matt Fraction writes for it.

9. There's an interview with Kristen Bell!

10. It's less a magazine about comics, than a magazine about comic fans.

11. It's an alternative to Wizard (and, as they say on their cover, one cent cheaper!)

I recommend checking it out. It's fun, and makes me feel like part of a cool community, where Wizard makes me feel too old for comic books.

You can also check it out online.

N.W.Yay!

My boyfriend Matt is supposed to be designing a new logo for this blog. And I thought that's what he was doing when he was scribbling furiously in his sketchbook. But when I looked over his shoulder, it turned out he was drawing this picture of Ice Cube, from the movie Are We Done Yet?


I knew there was a reason I go out with him.

Also, he brought me back a smoked meat sandwich from Montreal. I've never had anybody bring me back a sandwich from somewhere before.

But seriously, Matt, I need that logo. You can do it. Put your back into it.

This Week's Haul: MBA vs JLA

I really love Wednesdays.

I started the MBA program this week, and let me tell you, that is a lot of dry reading. Especially for someone who pretty much exclusively reads things featuring no less than three kinds of superpowers. Accounting and statistics textbooks offer no superpowers, or epic battles, or triumphs over evil, or cliffhangers. After getting my stupid school readings done, I was very happy to dive into a big stack of new comics. An added bonus was that this was a very good week for comics. Let's have a look:

Wonder Girl #1

Man, I am always happy when a good comic comes out about a teen superhero. And this is a really good comic.

So the Amazons have finished attacking, and there are a lot of dangerous mythical beasts strewn about the greater D.C. area since the Amazons were all zapped away. Someone has to clean them up, and that someone is Wonder Girl!

So here's what I liked about this comic: it gives a very brief and enjoyable overview of the character for new readers; it is very funny and entertaining to read; it has great artwork by Sanford Green; it's all-ages appropriate; it ties in to larger DC events without being confusing to people who haven't read the other comics; it gives us a little bit of the aftermath of Robin and Wonder Girl's near-kiss from Teen Titans #50; Wonder Girl is an awesome character who is feeling very sad and alone but is dealing with it by going out and helping the very people that hate her. She's a tough girl. It's rad.

And she totally goes Street Fighter Bonus Level on a military jeep!

Perfect!

Booster Gold #2

And speaking of perfect, I really could not possibly love this comic more than I do. Is anyone else just grinning like an idiot while reading each and every page? It's just so much fun!

I can't even write a paragraph about what I loved. I have to do it in point form:

- Booster's ultimatum: bring Ted back or I quit.
- Booster having to prevent Guy Gardner from becoming the greatest Green Lantern
- Sad Guy Gardner and his dying father
- Skeets using Sinestro's weakness to yellow to his advantage:

- Booster stopping Sinestro by stroking his ego:

- Sinestro twirling his moustache:

- Booster having a drink and a chat with Guy:

- Everything about Rip Hunter
- Jonah Hex!

Seriously. This comic is so fantastic.

Batman Confidential #9

The word 'terrible' gets thrown around a lot these days, but I think it can accurately describe the contents of the current arc on this series. And the one before this one. But especially this one.

This series has almost replaced All-Star Batman and Robin as my favourite terrible comic. I love reading it because it's so jaw-droppingly bad. Now, I don't like to be really negative on this blog. I'm not out to hurt anyone's feelings or whatever, but this comic is just really, really bad. In ways I can't even wrap my mind around. At least with ASB&R it's just Frank Miller being a jerk and writing a purposely bad comic for his own amusement. With this series it's more depressing because what we have is a television writer who had an idea for a Batman story and no one had the heart to explain to him that it's stupid. At least that's what I assume.

I'm not completely against playing with the origin of iconic characters, but I am against making those origin stories much, much worse. It's very stupid to write a story where the Joker gets his deformed mouth when Batman throws two batarangs at his face. It's stupider to write a story in which Batman orders a hit on the Joker. It's stupider still when the Joker is not even the Joker yet. He's just some crazy guy who robs and kills people with no gimmick. And Batman knows his name, meaning he's gonna know who the Joker is. Add to this some very clunky writing that implies the author only has the most tenuous grasp of the characters involved, and that perhaps the research ended with a viewing of Tim Burton's Batman movie ten years ago. What you have is a bad comic. With a glossy cover.

On the plus side, it gives me hope that perhaps I could one day write a Batman comic.

Justice League of America Wedding Special

Now let's get back to awesome comics.

I really liked this. Perhaps because it had very little to do with weddings and more to do with DWAYNE McDUFFIE WRITING JLA! WOOT!

It also featured awesome things like the Injustice League, Firestorm being awesome, and Hal Jordan trying to quietly get rid of some strippers he hired:

Man, that's good stuff.

I love Batman and Hal. Hal's the cool guy who hates having to ask for help, especially from annoying nerdy weirdos. And Batman is an annoying nerdy weirdo who talks all cryptic instead of just giving a straight answer because it annoys the hell out of the cool guy.

You know what else I loved? Bachelorette party at a gay bar. And, y'know, everything else.

But I do have one question. Who is this?:

What Aquaman is that? The same one I'm reading about in Aquaman right now? The ending of the last issue of JLA confused me so much.

The New Avengers #34

Is this still "new"? Can we start calling it The Avengers soon? Please?

All that I have to say about this is that I liked the little scene where Dr Strange did that spell that revealed everyone's true selves. Especially Hawkeye (or Ronin, or whatever).

Y'know, I've read pretty much this entire Avengers series and I conclude that these guys don't really do much. We've had, what, three or four issues now where they just lounge around and talk about who's a Skrull? Aren't there Hulks to stop? And aunts to save? (Actually, I'm very glad they aren't dealing with the Aunt May thing in Avengers).

Oh! Wolverine got his junk ripped off in this issue. That was neat.

Countdown Presents The Search for Ray Palmer: Wildstorm

Well this was pointless.

Seriously. I was interested in this series. I was at least curious. There's nothing terrible about the idea of crossing over DC and Wildstorm per se. It's at least interesting. But when it's as rushed as this was (and by that I mean the story was rushed along due to space restraints. I don't know how long it took to write this), it's just a jumbled mess with no purpose. This did not introduce the Wildstorm characters in any way that would make someone want to explore them more. Pages were wasted on an undeveloped and uninteresting love triangle between Kyle, Jason and Donna (Donna being the apex, sadly. If everyone was fighting over Kyle, I'd be a lot more on board).

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Pointless. And weird. And really just awkward. I think I'll give the rest of these a miss. I think they are basically just ads for Elseworld re-prints anyway. Like, do I need to read a story about Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner and some Monitor wandering around Gotham By Gaslight? No, I don't. I'm jumping off this crazy train before they get to planet Thrillkiller. Or Planet In Darkest Knight.

Black Adam #2

And this would be what we call a good tie-in. I was surprised by how much I liked the first issue of this series, and I liked this one even more. It's decidedly not appropriate for all ages, and that's nice from time to time.

I think my favourite page was this one, which shows Adam in various locations obsessively trying out different random words in hopes of landing on his unknown magic word:

I also really like Black Adam in a Red Sox hat. I'm glad he keeps it for a couple more pages.

I also really liked seeing Ralph Dibny again, even if it was just his rotting corpse. It's just good that someone is talking about him. Where the hell is that guy's funeral?

This is just a really good comic. It's compelling, and it looks great. The 52 tie-ins are kicking the Countdown tie-ins all over the place.

Daredevil #100

One of the best comics out there gets a nice anniversary treatment this month. The story has been really exciting lately, what with Milla accidentally murdering a man, and Daredevil facing Mr Fear. This comic was as good as all Brubaker Daredevil comics, with the added bonus of having some guest artists contribute short sequences throughout. Lee Bermejo, John Romita Sr, Bill Sienkiewicz, Alex Maleev, Marko Djurdjevic and Gene Colan join Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano to make a really excellent-looking comic book.

It's a nice thick comic, but that's mostly due to a re-print of Daredevil #90 in its entirety. I was more excited about the page evolution stuff at the back, showing script, pencil, and ink pages from the different artists.

They didn't show the evolution of the Turner variant cover, which is good because it kinda looks like he just barfed it out. (Man, I am really mean today).

Superman #667

And Camelot Falls is almost done. I feel like I've been reading this storyline for about two years. How long has it actually been?

Not that I mind, because I've enjoyed this arc a lot. I was moved a surprising amount by Subjekt-17's confrontation with Superman. He argues that humans imprisoned and tortured him, and are therefore evil and shouldn't be protected by Superman. It's actually a pretty compelling and emotional argument, which ends in a fight between the two of them and some really heartbreaking panels:

I'm gonna miss Pacheco's art on this series.

Justice Society of America #9

First of all, awesome cover.

Secondly, I really loved the whole fire department-fundraiser pancake breakfast thing that the JSA was participating in.

And then they all go fight a fire, resulting in an awesome double-page spread:

I think JSA strikes the perfect balance between:

- the personal lives of the heroes and their interactions with each other;
- fighting evil and rescuing people;
- larger DCU events.

Now we get to see Kingdom Come Superman join the team for a couple of issues. I'm interested in seeing how this goes.

Green Lantern #23

Again, awesome cover.

I read three comics by Geoff Johns this week and they were all excellent. Just sayin'. Props.

Also, in two of those comics (this one and Booster Gold) we had Guy Gardner mentioning his abusive alcoholic father. Kinda interesting. And sad. Poor Guy.

I love Sinestro Corps. It's just so exciting. Now the lanterns have been given the ability to use lethal force! Crazy! And the battle is coming to Earth!


Alright, back to the accounting and statistics. Ehn. Maybe it will help me keep track of the multiverse.

Blue In The Face

Meh. I'd say second craziest for me.

Snuggles In Disguise

Every now and again I'll hold my breath, cover my ears, and enter a Toys R Us. This time it was to check out the new Super Friends figures, which were adorable.

But they were totally trumped by these guys:


This squishy guy turns into this:

And his name is...Slumblebee! The cuddliest Transformer!

And just when I thought it could get any cuter, I found this guy:




His name...wait for it...is...SOFTIMUS PRIME!

Can you stand it?

Iron Man Trailer

Is it too soon to say that Iron Man is going to be the greatest movie of all time?

I don't care. I'm saying it anyway.

This Week's Haul: If I only had One More Day, I wouldn't waste it reading Spider-Man

The reviews are pretty late this week due to a combination of comics being late this week, and me being away for Friday and Saturday. But now the long wait is over.

I should mention quickly that the second podcast guest-starring me is up at The Dollar Bin. In this episode we discuss super hunks. So you can check that out here.

Alright, let's get this show on the road.

Metal Men #2

Metal Man always has been, and always will be, a very nerdy comic. And not even in the fantasy worlds and freaky alien peoples kinda way. In the way that you actually learn stuff, and if you happen to be a chemistry nerd, there are layers to the comic that only you will enjoy.

I have never been one for science. Basically anything I know about chemistry, I have learned from Metal Men comics: Mercury is liquid at room temperature, lead is heavy, and platinum is slutty.

Even though we would have nothing to say to each other, I have a pretty big crush on Will Magnus. I like guys named Magnus who build robots, and I like guys named Magnus who fight robots. It's a weakness.

Duncan Rouleau's Metal Men mini-series is so beautiful and so entertaining. When the ads said it was "exploding from the pages of Superman/Batman," I was a little worried. Nothing should explode from those pages...except my brain.

Anyway, like I say, this series is excellent. And very cute.

Look at Lead! So adorable! And look at Will! Equally adorable!

Buy this, read it, love it. I know it's science-heavy, but you can't possibly know less about science than I do, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Even if you just look at the covers it's worth it.

Outsiders #50

I am no fan of the Outsiders. Never have been. I don't care if Batman started it, they are still boring.

So imagine my surprise when I read this and really, really liked it. I haven't read any of the Five-of-a-Kind comics leading up to this, but I checked this out because it's written by Tony Bedard and had Batman on the cover. And it's the last issue of this series, as it now becomes Batman and The Outsiders.

I'll tell you what I really loved about issue #50: this guy:

Oh, Bruce. I love it when you play dress-up. Always good to see Matches.

I also really liked that the get-up didn't fool Catwoman for a second:

Also...Catwoman!

Woot! Ok, Outsiders. Sign me up for issue #1. You have my attention.

Supergirl #21

Sadly only one issue left after this one in the Bedard/Guedes run. I'm probably never going to be very interested in a Supergirl comic, but this run has been well-written and looks great. I have no complaints. Except the covers. I wish Guedes was doing them.

But look at the inside! Look at how bored she looks when Karate Kid chops her in the face!

That girl is tough. I like her and look forward to more of her Teen Titans adventures.

Jonah Hex #23

I read this last night just before I went to see 3:10 to Yuma, so it was a really excellent cowboy night all around.

I love every issue of this series, but I thought this one was especially awesome. The Jordi Bernet artwork certainly added to the awesome.

I really like the way he draws Hex. There have been many different levels of grossness in his face, depending on the artist. It ranges from it looking like raw hamburger, to just being a simple bridge of skin over his lip and a slightly larger right eye. I think Bernet strikes a perfect balance:

I really like the blank white eye. That's a nice touch. Hex should be hard to look at.

Anyway, excellent issue.

Countdown Week 34

I was happy that Piper and Trickster were the stars of this issue. Some JLA members finally caught up with them (most notably, Wally), and we start to get some answers:

Did anyone listen to the podcast (or go to the panel) of the Big Guns panel at ComicCon? It was pretty awkward to listen to, most notably because at one point someone asked why we're supposed to believe that Piper and Trickster are innocent when we clearly saw them beating Bart to death in The Flash? Paul Dini (I'm pretty sure it was him, anyway) answered by saying that, though they are doing their best, they aren't able to keep track of everything that is going on in every DC comic when they are plotting Countdown. This was the WRONG answer.

Dude. First of all, the correct answer to questions such as that, is always "Wait and see." Then your ass is covered while you go do your research or whatever and re-write stuff. Or so ten years down the line you can write a comic that reveals that the Piper and Trickster who beat Bart up were alternate Earth Piper and Trickster. Or whatever you want. The point is, it's a valid answer that does not reveal that you screwed up in any way. Because...seriously? I know you can't pay attention to every little detail of every comic, but the comic in which Bart Allan is murdered is probably worth a read.

Anyway, I didn't mean to go off on a whole thing there. I'm just saying, his answer surprised me. And disappointed me.

Black Canary Wedding Planner

That's just an adorable cover. Stephane Roux rocks.

Inside was fine. Was anyone else bothered by Green Arrow's flaming read hair? That was kinda weird. Also, I dunno. Maybe I just don't care about weddings. They should get married in the Watchtower. Hell, I would.

The All-New Atom #15

I was really glad to see this issue get away from the whole Countdown Jason/Donna/Monitor thing for a little bit so Ryan could fight some giant monsters. That was fun. I don't have anything in particular to say about this issue except it was, as always, very funny and great. And I want a Head action figure. That talks.

The Incredible Hulk #110

I thought this was pretty great. This whole series has had a lot of great "Woah! Neat!" moments, and this comic had a good one. Amadeus Cho, kid genius and Hulk fan, successfully argues that Hulk doesn't have the capability to kill anyone. It's pretty cool.

I am still really enjoying this series. It's so much more enjoyable than Endangered Species or One More Day (and, yes, I am making that call on OMD after only one issue).

I want Hulk to come around and stop trying to kill everyone, but not before he makes the heroes fight in that giant gladiator ring. Because that is going to RULE.

The Amazing Spider-Man #544

Well, this wasn't very good at all.

This really grossed me out:

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Lucky for Iron Man he has all that armor on.

Now, I'll admit that I don't know the most about the Marvel universe, but is there a reason why Peter Parker couldn't have gone to another wealthy super hero for money for May's hospital bills besides his arch enemy? Say...Danny Rand? Anyone? Any reason at all? Was Peter just being poetic and decided Tony should be made to pay the bills?

Aw, who cares. This comic was lame.

Green Arrow Bonus Material

I just realized that I forgot to insert the best Green Arrow panel of all to my Green Arrow superhunk entry. So here it is:

Rating the Super Hunks #13: Green Arrow

Time to rate another Super Hunk. It's been awhile. I thought it would be timely to rate the soon-to-be-married emerald archer,

GREEN ARROW, AKA OLIVER QUEEN

Costume/Appearance: It's really hard to take Oliver Queen seriously. And I blame that 100% on the moustache and goatee. It's not a good look. For anyone. Unless you are someone's grandfather. Or a magician.

Trying to look past that, his costume is often pretty cool. I mean, the hat is a bit much, but he kinda works it. It adds a bit of playfulness, which is nice. I've been really liking the recent costume, with the hood. The whole look is less Robin Hood. Definitely more attractive than the laced-up turtleneck.

I mean, obviously there is still the facial hair problem. But it's an improvement.

But now let's talk about Silver Age Green Arrow. Now there was an attractive fellow! I don't know why you would every stray from this rugged and attractive look:

Clean cut. Simple suit with nice lines. Big red gloves. Matching child. That's just a sharp look. I have quite a crush on Silver Age Green Arrow.

Lately we've been treated to a new version of young Oliver in Green Arrow: Year One. I think this is an Oliver that we can all agree on:


So basically, Oliver is going to lose a bunch of points here for facial hair alone. Five minutes with a razor would earn him many points, but he insists on keeping this crazy look. Too bad, Ollie.

6/10

Personality: I've always liked Green Arrow because he cracks wise and drinks beer and flirts a lot and generally has a good time. He's a bleeding heart liberal and loves his city so much he successfully ran for mayor.

HOWEVER...he doesn't have a good track record with relationships. At all. Be it sons, sidekicks, lovers or friends. He cheats, he's afraid of commitment, and he's generally selfish and hot headed.

In the friendship pairing of Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan, Oliver is the reckless one. Consider that.

He's gotten better recently, but only very recently. I will take his improvement into consideration, since Dinah was able to forgive him his sins and accept his wedding proposal.

Plus, there is no denying that Oliver is one of the most macho super heroes. He's a guy's guy, and that's appealing.

7/10

Day Job: He's a billionaire. And until recently he was the mayor of Star City. No complaints there.

10/10

Sexiness of Powers: No powers, which always gains favour with me. Oliver is self-trained and awesome.

He can shoot an arrow at anything from anywhere. Plus, he makes all his own high-tech arrows. It's impressive.

Green Arrow is pretty kick-ass. I think every hero is pretty impressed by him. Even Batman.

10/10

Cons: Well, there is the aforementioned commitment-phobia and general asshattery. Plus he's pretty whiny with all the anti-corporate talk. I'm not saying he's wrong, I'm just saying give it a rest sometimes. And he maybe lacks some of the ambition that the other heroes have:

I think if I were in the JLA, and I arrived in the Watchtower and Green Arrow was there, I'd be like "Oh hey, Oliver, what's up? That's cool...listen, is anyone else here?" He's just a little annoying. And arrogant.

- 4

Final Score: 29/40

Well, that's respectable. I don't think anyone would name Oliver Queen as the sexiest super hero. Unless we're talking about the Smallville version. Because...damn.

Hear Me Talk!

Ok, so I totally failed to post anything on my actual birthday. It actually turned out to be a busy day, what with the First Annual Rachelle's Birthday Soccer-Baseball Match, the booze, chapters 13-22 of Trapped in the Closet, and the karaoke. In all the excitement I forgot to post.

But now I have a reason to!

This week The Dollar Bin's weekly podcasts feature...ME! If you want to hear my squawky boyish voice, then please click on this link.

Stay tuned for more me on their Wednesday show when we talk about super hunks. I appreciate that three guys were patient enough to discuss hunky superheroes with me. Thanks, guys!

So now I am 27 years old. 27, I have always thought, is a very cool number. An aesthetically pleasing number. Perhaps because it belonged to aesthetically pleasing NHL defenseman, Mathieu Schneider:

Hey, baby.

Alright, I need to tuck into some Harry Potter and go to bed. I'll leave you with a Superman panel that caught him during his new age phase:

Bruce Doubtfire

I should really save this one for my actual birthday tomorrow because I love it so much, but I can't wait.

So Batman needs to lure Catwoman into a trap. And the only way he can think to do this is to disguise himself as a wealthy, diamond-covered Southern belle.

I think he was just looking for an excuse. Like, he probably could have just strolled into the hotel as Bruce Wayne with a Rolex, but whatever.

Let's see Bruce in action:


I don't know what I love more, how he looks or how he's talking.

"Howdy, y'all!"

I can't stand it. He/she totally looks like a dude, too. Look at that jawbone!

And the best part is yet to come...

First of all, I like that Bruce is keeping the act up with Alfred while they are alone in their hotel room. Secondly I can't get enough of that panel of Bruce sans wig, but still wearing make-up and jewels. Isn't he pretty? Thirdly, I can only assume that he was wearing the Batman costume, minus the mask, under the dress. Or else Bruce just took a long break in the middle of that train of thought to change his clothes between the second and third panel.

Fantastic!

All panels from Batman #266.