The cynic in me chuckled at the first page of DC Rebirth #1. First page of a new book meant to revamp the whole of the DC Comics Universe (again!) and - in theory - bring in new readers looking for an entry point, and what do we start with? An editorial note saying we should read Justice League #50 and Superman #52 before reading this issue.
After that, the cynic didn't laugh once.
This book is good. Damn good. An all-star line-up of artists make every page poster-worthy. Textually and metatextually, the conceit at the center of this issue's story is brilliant. It is a great story, told by the perfect narrator to explain just what went wrong with the DC Universe as it is now.
Once the dust is settled I will do a more in-depth review, discussing what worked about this issue in detail. Right here, right now, I will say only this. Rebirth is the shot in the arm that DC Comics needed and the future is looking bright indeed.
I still have some reservations about what is to come. And the cynic does wonder if the various editorial teams will manage to hold to the vision of love and legacy that Geoff Johns put forth in this issue. But I have hope after reading this book that things will improve. And that is something new.
DC Rebirth #1, as a single story, is a good one. It's a love letter to everything I love about DC Comics and a renewal of many of the things we've been missing. And even if you're not a DC fan... in fact, especially if you're not a DC fan...you should check this issue out to get a sample of what we've all been missing.
1. As a fan of Hourman, I'm actually glad to see that a lesser-known hero is being given a chance to headline a major show - particularly one who, as of right now, has yet to show up in The New 52 Universe.
2. I think the logic behind Warner Bros.choosing Hourman is entirely due to two concerns. First, that a superhero show based around a hero whose powers are precognition and super-strength will not break the bank in terms of special effects and second, that there is far less baggage to deal with in adapting a superhero without a major following.
3. I do like the idea of a Daredevil TV series. Legal drama. Superhero stories. Inspiring stories of overcoming a handicap. Lots of angles to work with. If they can get a Black Widow team-up for one episode, so much the better.
4. Yes, your jokes about Marvel getting a Jessica Jones series made before Wonder Woman got a new TV show are very funny. Too bad the average American has no idea who Jessica Jones is and any attempts to explain Alias to them will probably result in confusion regarding Jennifer Garner and Elektra.
5. Also, as a feminist, I'm bothered that out of all the female characters Marvel could build a series around, they chose one whose background is dependent on a rape and who is best known as another superhero's wife.
6. Luke Cage and Iron Fist should have a show together. They've always been more interesting as a team.
7. Granting that it's almost certainly born entirely of the current craze for zombies and procedural dramas, I'm still the most excited and hopeful about iZombie out of all of these simply because the creative team behind Veronica Mars is attached to it.
8. For that matter, the fact that iZombie is the only one of these shows to have a definitive creative team attached to it speaks volumes. Everything else is just hearsay at this point.
9. Regardless of whether you are a Marvel Zombie or prefer the Distinguished Competition, we should all agree that anything that encourages interest in the reading of comics - and indeed reading in general - benefits us all.
Earlier this week, I wrote a column in response to the recent ruckus regarding J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman leaving Batwoman. For those who missed the news, the creative team quit in the wake of DC Comics Editorial declaring that they didn't want Kathy Kane and her girlfriend Maggie Sawyer to get married. My article was based around the idea that the comics industry in general seems to have acquired a fear of depicting happily married superheroes, with most of the married superheroes at DC Comics having been rendered single by the New 52 revamp and Peter Parker still single because of Joe Quesada's belief that a deal with the devil is less inherently sinful than a divorce.
I've been struggling with how to speak about this for the batter part of a day. More than any character in recent memory, Harley Quinn had always been portrayed as one of the most fun characters in comics. And try as I might, I can't think of a better metaphor for the state of affairs at DC Comics right now than a suicidal Harley Quinn.
As it turns out, I didn't have to think of a better metaphor. For I learned today that Hope has literally been erased from the New 52 universe! Metaphors are completely meaningless at this point. For all better writers and critics than me have spoken about the sense of all hope and joy being removed from the DC Universe in recent months, never did we suspect it would soon be a literal truth.
So the question that has been on my mind for the past few hours has been how - how do we fight this?
Protest? It's already been made abundantly clear that our opinions as mere fans are completely meaningless to The Powers That Be. So far the only instance where public outcry made a difference was in getting Gail Simone rehired on to Batgirl and even that may have been due entirely to the threat of decreased orders from the distributor.
Jessica Mills touched upon another challenge before us quite eloquently in her recent column - DC Comics and Institutionalized Sexism – Purchasing Power is Not Power. She touches upon the aforementioned problems with boycotts while pointing out another problem. Namely that boycotting an entire company does little to strike against the management and only hurts the artists and writers whose work we are enjoying.
"Telling people not to buy DC Comics as a way to change things at DC
Comics is short sighted and dismissive. Not buying those comics means
readers have to, not only give up on beloved characters, but pull their
support of talented and dedicated writers, artists, and others"
"I like reading comics. I love Gail Simone’s work. I love Greg Rucka’s
work. I’m not going to stop supporting THEM because the DC leadership
refuses to acknowledge the terrible decision-making that continually
alienates a large portion of their client-base."
I'm in a similar fix. Any pledge not to buy any more Batwoman comics is meaningless since I was reading the series as the collected editions became available at my local library. Refusing to buy the upcoming Harley Quinn book would send a message against Amanda Conner - an artist whom I have been dying to see on a monthly series again for some time now. And boycotting the company as a whole will only hurt Jeff Lemire and Gail Simone and all the other creators whose work I am enjoying.
I already know from experience that boycotts don't work. I boycotted all things Marvel Comics for a goodly while over One More Day, wrote some rather good articles about why the storyline was a bad idea and it did nothing. Eventually I focused my personal boycott on all things Spider-Man, purely so I could justify seeing The Avengers and supporting Joss Whedon (Browcoats Forever!).
So what can I do? What can one man do?
And then it hit me. We fight them the same way we do a bully. We treat them as we would any disruptive child who makes a mess just to get attention. We ignore them.
Marvel Comics editor and One More Day apologist Tom Brevoort let the secret slip - that they see even bad publicity as good publicity and bad attention is still attention. That they fear apathetic fans far more than angry fans because angry fans are still buying the comics.
So this is where I will start.
As a fan, I'm not going to pick up any more books out of habit in the hope that they're building toward something big. If they can't do something to keep me entertained for one issue, it's not worth my time.
As a critic, I'm not going to bother writing reviews for long-running
series or crossover events just to keep people informed as to what is
going on. If the book isn't worth reading most of the year, why should I care about it for the three months it's involved with the books I do care about?
No more angry rants drawing curiosity . No more hash-tagged Tweets giving you free publicity. And no more second chances. I'm that sort of a man.
Who said that comic fans don't want to see people getting married?
What prompted this question is today's news that J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman are leaving Batwoman as of Issue #26, citing editorial interference in their plans to have Kathy Kane and Maggie Sawyer get married. Williams was quick to note that DC Comics' objection was to marriage in general - not a marriage between two lesbians. The evidence does bear him out, given that nearly every major married couple in DC Comics pantheon of superheroes has either been broken up since the New 52 revamp or not appeared at all.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane? Not an item. Barry Allen and Iris West? Flirting but he has a new girlfriend. Wally West and Linda Park? Don't even exist! Ditto Ralph and Sue Dibny. Heck, the only married couple I think is still around is Aquaman and Mera and they've interacted so little in his book you'd hardly know they were married!
"But Starman," I hear you metaphorical masses say. "Superheroes get married and divorced all the time! It's a common element in drama in many genres!"
That is true, dear masses. Yet there is a world of difference between simple drama preventing marriage from occurring and a refusal to consider a plot element completely.
It seems that the very idea of marriage itself is under attack in our comics due to some mistaken belief that young readers do not want to read about married couples. This seems odd given the belief some publishers have that their key demographic is 45-year old males, but that's a whole other argument. So we still have the question - where did this idea come from?
You have to love the timing on these two stories breaking at nearly the same time.
On the one hand, we have an ad for a website using material from a piece they did on the super-villains of the fandom world. And out of all the characters they could have chosen to include in the ad, they chose to focus on the fake geek girl stereotype.
The image in question is presented with my own alteration to make it more truthful.
And then, we have this other news - this news that based on pre-orders, the first issue of a new My Little Pony comic has outsold Uncanny X-Men. Already this news has caused some to claim that the only reason the numbers are so high is because of the large number of Bronies among male comic fans and that there's no way that many women want to read a My Little Pony comic.
They believe this. They actually believe there's a large number of men who are buying comics centering around strong female protagonists and cute, funny stories.... and we can't get a Stephanie Brown Batgirl book like the one Bryan Miller was writing just over a year ago?
Once he was a respected scientific genius, a powerful CEO and
President of the United States. Then he was a pariah, a wanted criminal
and Public Enemy Number One. Now, having used his genius to save the
Earth from alien invaders, thus earning himself a full pardon for his
past crimes, Lex Luthor has regained control of the company he once
built from nothing and reestablished himself as a power to be reckoned
with in the world of legitimate business.
It’s not enough.
It’s not enough because Lex Luthor was chosen to wield an Orange
Lantern ring during the crisis that became known as The Blackest Night.
Tapping into the unbridled avarice that dominated his heart, Lex Luthor
briefly had access to the unlimited power he craved for so long. And now
he wants it back.
Accompanied by his loyal lackey Spalding and a life-like Lois Lane
android, Lex Luthor will embark on an epic quest to reclaim the power
that was taken from him. This adventure will pit Lex against other
arch-villains, such as the parasitic alien caterpillar Mister Mind, the
telepathic Gorilla Grodd and the immortal tyrant Vandal Savage. Lex will
even confront Death herself and maybe, just maybe, finally find a way
to make himself more powerful than Superman.
It must have
seemed like a mad idea when this story was first published as a series
of monthly installments in the pages of Action Comics. Take away Superman’s main title for one year to devote a story to his greatest enemy and not even have the Big Blue Boy Scout show up until the very end? But mad ideas are the stock and trade of writer Paul Cornell, who had been delivering madness to the masses in his Doctor Who scripts and novels for quite some time before signing on with DC Comics.
Cornell portrays Lex Luthor as a figure much like The Doctor –
brilliant, witty, and at least three steps ahead of everyone else in the
game. He also gives Lex a companion of sorts in the form of a Lois Lane
FemBot who plays the perfect Devil’s Advocate when Luthor needs someone
to stop him from crossing the line. Despite this surface similarity, The Black Ring is not a cleverly disguised Doctor Who
script. Lex lacks the Doctor’s benevolent spirit and his tale is
ultimately about an angry man seeking godhood rather than a lonely god
affirming his humanity.
Despite this heavy theme, there is much humor to be found in this series. Indeed, Gail Simone lends a hand to pen one of the middle chapters featuring her beloved Secret Six
team, and the first volume features what has to be the funniest single
page I’ve seen in any comic in recent memory. I won’t spoil the gag
except to say that it involves combat spoons.
You read that right. Combat. Spoons.
All of this is ably illustrated by long-time Superman illustrator Pete Woods, whose work reminds me of long-time Justice League
penciller Kevin Maguire. Crisp and clear, with an amazing array of
expressions, all of the human characters in this series are clearly
designed and crisply defined. Woods is also one of the few artists I’ve
found who is capable of drawing gorillas that look both intelligent and
savage at the same time.
Superman: The Black Ring, vol. 1-2
by Paul Cornell and Gail Simone
Art by Pete Woods
Vol. 1 ISBN: 9781401230333
Vol. 2 ISBN: 9781401232030
DC Comics, 2011
Publisher Age Rating: T (13+)
And now, my response to the news that Judd Winick has left DC Comics for the foreseeable future and that he turned down a chance to write Green Arrow again.
Bad News: Apparently Stephanie Brown is out as Batgirl in the Smallville Season 11 comic, according to Dan Didio. (DC Comics - The New Wave Panel) Good News: Both Gail Simone and Scott Snyder - while not having plans for Steph OR Cassandra Cain at this time - have both openly voiced their desire to reintroduce both characters to the New 52 at some point in the future. (DC Comics - The New 52 Panel)
* Earth 2 #0 will show us more of the Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of that earth before their deaths. There will be eight superheroes or "Wonders" of that time. One of them is apparently Terry Sloan, who is now a villain but has some kind of noble motivation for what he does.
* Alan Scott will basically be the Superman of Earth 2. The heavy hitter and paragon of virtue.
* Wesley Dodds is now Canadian and works for The World Army that has taken over protecting this Earth without superheroes. There will also be an original character leading the World Army named Amir Khan, whom Robinson describes as "Captain Nemo meets Nick Fury."
* Upcoming issues of Earth 2 will reveal Wildcat (who will have some kind of connection to The Red, though they won't use that name) and Dr. Fate, along with several other familiar names working for the government Nicola Scott says we've already met one, but nobody noticed.
* Justice League Dark will be introducing a new character who is described as "the Moriarity to John Constaintine's Sherlock Holmes". Shazam will also be showing up in JL Dark
* Robinson called bringing back the Ma Hunkle Red Tornado "a nice challenge", when one fan asked about her returning in Earth 2.
* Geoff Johns is planing to bring back The Metal Men at some point in the future.
* There's no plans for Plastic Man... yet.
* Blue Beetle will NOT be joining the Teen Titans.
* Justice League #12 will bring big changes to the team. New people will join. Old people will quit. Tony Daniel will take over writing after Issue #12.
# The relationship between Billy Batson and the wizard Shazam will be antagonistic once they finally meet. According to Geoff Johns, "Shazam is weirded out that a kid is visiting him, whereas Billy doesn't like Shazam telling him what to do. Johns says that Billy will be joining the Justice League." An empowered Billy Batson will be part of the new Justice League.
* Again, the Green Lantern on the cover of Green Lantern #0 is an original character, who carries a gun as a back-up weapon in case his ring runs out of power at a bad moment.
* Again, the upcoming "Third Army" the Guardians create will come about because of their conclusion that emotion and fear aren't the cause of the universe's problems - it's free will.
* Johns also made reference to "The Fall Of Guy Gardner" in the coming months.
* By Issue #12, we will learn how and why a ring from each Corps wound up going to Kyle Rayner. More, Kyle will wind up with one of each ring again and apparently have to learn how to use and master each color of the spectrum heading into "The Third Army".
* Tony Bedard also said that upcoming stories will spell out more of Kyle Rayner's past - a neccesity given, as Geoff Johns pointed out, that over half of his girlfriends may not exist in the new continuity. Jade definitely doesn't. The fate of Donna Troy and Soranik is still in question. No word on if Major Force still fridged Alexandra DeWitt.
* There probably won't be any resolution to the dangling plot-thread of Lobo getting a Red Lantern ring.
* The Dex-Starr Valentine's Day special is coming. They just need to bring Krypto back before it can happen.
* Neil Gaiman will be writing a six-issue mini-series bringing Sandman into the modern DCU. (Vertigo Panel)
* Neil Gaiman also signed off on Tim Hunter, from his Books of Magic series, becoming part of the cast of Justice League Dark. (Bleeding Cool)
* Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE will be crossing over with Animal Man and Swamp Thing in the upcoming 'Rotworld' storyline. "Frank" also be joining the Justice League Dark cast for a while, as will Amethyst from the upcoming Sword and Sorcery fantasy anthology book. (DC Dark & Edge Panel)
* All Star Western #13 will offer an origin story for Jonah Hex. It will also involve him shooting a lot of clowns. (DC Dark & Edge Panel)
* There are plans to bring back Rene Montoya into the New 52 universe, but NOT as The Question. Apparently, we've already seen "him" somewhere in the New 52 already... (DC Dark & Edge Panel)
In a round about way, I think He-Man and the Masters of The Universe was responsible for my eventual interest in comic books and superheroes. I imagine the same holds true for many other comic fans who grew up during the 1980s. The action figures all came with mini-comics. The animated series -
while largely a fantasy affair - did center around a hero with a secret
identity, a flashy costume and magical powers. At the very least, Master of The Universe it was responsible for developing my love of the fantasy genre and, more than likely, my fetish for women warriors in impractical armor.
Mattel Has A Lot To Answer For...
Given all that, you can imagine my excitement when it was announced that DC Comics would be doing a He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe comic book mini-series. And given my own fondness for the Starman series, you can imagine that "excitment" was too small a wordto describe my feelings once it was announced that James Robinson would be writing this new series. Throw in the fact that the artwork would be by barbarian artist extraordinaire Phillip Tan (most recently of Savage Hawkman)and it sounded like a license to print money, if only in the name of nostalgiafor everyone in my age-range who stripped down to their Batman Underoos to watch Superfriends as a kid.
Despite the opening pages - and the preview on DC Comics's website - those expecting a straight-forward adventure of He-Man thwarting Skeletor's latest attempts to steal the secrets of Castle Greyskull will be sorely disappointed. Our story opens upon a humble woodcutter named Adam, who has dreams of being a hero and fighting a great evil. Inspired by these too-real dreams and the repeated visits by a hawk he somehow feels is named "Zoar", Adam leaves his senile father in the care of a neighbor and prepares to leave the woods that are the only home he's ever known seeking something he cannot define.
So far, this is Joseph Campbell 101. The story thus far is decidedly generic and offers no real surprises. This is particularly true for those of us who read the early interviews where James Robinson said his story would be based in an Eternia where - somehow - Skeletor had proven victorious and made the heroes of Eternia forget who they were, trapping them in ordinary lives. It's not the most original idea but Robinson's writing makes up for a lot
Phillip Tan's artwork also helps prevent this book from collapsing into a mundane malaise. Tan's redesigns of the classic characters are brilliant, capturing the basic look of each character while still making them seem harsher and rougher. Rather than a clean-cut body-builder with a bowl-cut, Tan's savage He-Man looks like he could give Conan a run for his money.
In the final analysis, He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe is shaping up to be an inoffensive bit of fun for fantasy fans of all ages. I'm not sure if I'll be picking up Issue #2 just yet, but I'll definitely be picking up the inevitable trade-paperback collection.
First, if you haven't seen what is easily the best of the DC Nation shorts yet, behold!
Good, wasn't it? Cute. Funny. Childish without being idiotic. But, at the same time, something that adults can enjoy watching as well. And, from a feminist perspective, it is nice to see three young women with different, distinct personalities going off on an adventure that is not boy-related.
In short, this is great. I dare say this could be used to reach out to young viewers and turn them into young readers. Naturally, the very same weekend this premiered, DC Comics seemed to be determined to burst our balloon...
Lauren Faust, acclaimed animator and director whose work has included Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, The Powerpuff Girls, and a relaunch of some show with horses that’s all the rage, is finishing up her run on Super Best Friends Forever.
There will be a total of only five 75-second long shorts featuring Supergirl, Batgirl and Wonder Girl, each of them aired as interstitials during episodes of Green Lantern or Young Justice.
Serious folks, just five for now. Straight from the pony’s mouth.
Slightly on the upside, there was hope given for ‘possible maybe perhaps we’re not going to commit to it but lets tease the fanbase anyways possibly’ more given at the DC Nation panel.
*sighs* Why, WB & DC? Why do you hate joy so much?
Now, I know what you're thinking. Isn't there a chance that they're just teasing us and that they are certainly going to do everything they can to get a full-length series of this up-and-running ASAP? After all, the buzz for this short among comic fans has been big. And Faust's My Little Pony is probably the most popular cartoon to come out in years. Creating a product using the same art style with the goal of bringing in more young women and girls into the comic reading fold? Should be a no-brainer.
Well, considering these are the same blokes who have ignored basic math for years regarding the percentage of women to men in their potential readership and the number of people who watched Teen Titans Go! vs. the number of neckbeards who would like to replace all the real women wiith FemBots, I don't think we can take any chances.
3. Write a simple, polite message saying how much you love Super Best Friends Forever and how much you'd like to see it made into a full series. If you have kids, talk about how much they loved the short. Use a #SBFF tag or something similar so it can stack up with the other comments.
4. Encourage your friends and followers to do the same.
Generally, I rather like it. Not sure what that material is but the hunter-green shade is perfect and it looks to be weather-treated. That, coupled with the hood, makes it ideal, climate-wise, for a hero based in Seattle. The design looks to be fairly similar to what Ollie has now, though with sleeves rather than bare arms.
Just one question - he's going to have a different bow, right? Because while I am pleased to see he's using a recurve rather than a compound, that bow looks WAY too small for him.
Mostly supporting cast, but this news does reveal several disturbing things worth noting...
MOIRA QUEEN What They’re Looking For: 48 years old, a beautiful woman, Oliver’s mother Moira is a very wealthy woman who is not used to being shaken. Having remarried during the five years that former husband Robert and Oliver were both presumed dead, Moira has had free rein over the Queen billions. Not surprisingly, she’s deeply interested in learning whether or not Robert will also return unexpectedly, to ruin her present marriage and go over the books with a fine-tooth comb.
COMMENTS: Well, she looks like she could be Ollie's mom and could play the evil rich woman type. So... okay. Still not crazy about Ollie still having family around, much less EVIL family. But whatever. Am somewhat worried that - judging by her resume - she has more combat experience listed than anyone else on the cast.
DETECTIVE QUENTIN LANCE What They’re Looking For: In his 50s, Caucasian, he is Laurel's father; he's a gruff, determined city detective, who's pulled strings and gotten himself assigned to the investigation into Oliver Queen's kidnapping. The father of Sara Queen, who died of drowning while on a romantic weekend aboard the Queen yacht, Detective Lance bitterly hates Oliver and blames him for Sara's death. He's about to be placed in charge of a task force to capture the eccentric green-hooded vigilante.
COMMENTS: Harry Dresden is Dinah Lance's dad?! WTF? Okay, I know Blackthorne is a good actor but this isn't at all what I got from reading that description. I'm glad to see they kept Dinah's dad being a cop canon, but turning him into the sheriff hounding Green Arrow's Robin Hood just reeks of hackery.
Of greater concern is this mention of Sara Queen. Between that and the note about Dinah investigating her younger sister Sara's death and Detective Lance being Sara Queen's father... oh gods!
Ollie was married to Dinah's younger sister?! Yeah, that isn't going to make things weird AT ALL.
ROBERT QUEEN What They’re Looking For:Male, Caucasian, 50 years old, Oliver's billionaire tycoon father, Robert is a powerful, fearsome, titan of a man, used to controlling everything in his life, particularly his family. A domineering patriarch, seen in flashback to five years ago, Robert learns that he cannot manipulate the weather to suit his wishes, and he's shipwrecked somewhere in the Indian Ocean, along with his son and his Chief Of Security.
COMMENTS: Again, looks like he could be an older Oliver Queen. Only thing I remember seeing him in is The Stand but he was good in that. Apparently a regular on Law and Order, which is a good sign. Shame he's only here for a cameo and maybe more flashbacks.
Another two roles are listed, but have not been cast yet.
WALTER STEELE What They’re Looking For:- Male, Asian, East Indian, Latin, Middle Eastern. Early 50s. A commanding, upper crust man, Walter is Moira's second husband; he married her after Robert was declared legally dead -- and he's understandably interested in whether or not Robert is literally dead.
COMMENTS: They want some kind of swarthy/foreign guy to be an obvious villain but gave him one of the whitest names ever?! Weird. Am also troubled that Oliver's dad being alive seems to be a more central theme of this story than... oh, I dunno... the guy in the green hood with the arrows fighting crime?!
JOANNA What They’re Looking For: Female, African American, 28 years old, Joanna is Laurel's friend and co-worker at the City Necessary Resources Initiative. More cynical and maybe less idealistic, Joanna alerts Laurel to the fact of Oliver Queen's resurrection. COMMENTS: Is it too early for me to point out the Magic Negro stereotyping here, with both Ollie and Dinah having an African Americanto help them in their jobs? Just wondering.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Expectations lowering.... lowering...
At what point did I know DC Nation was going to be worth watching? Sometime after the first commercial break, when they did a spot showing how a Boxing Glove Arrow could work at 40 feet. I still want to see the MythBusters crew tackle that someday but I was glued to the TV from that point on.
So let's take a look at the component parts, shall we?
GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES
Seemingly set in the same continuity as the Green Lantern: First Flight anime, this pilot episode - Beware My Power - does a decent enough job setting things up for those who might not have ever seen anything Green Lantern related before now. Hal Jordan is quickly established as a heroic and well-meaning man, who doesn't always think things through. Case In Point - he causes a billion-dollar jet to be destroyed because he left his plane in mid-flight to save a train that was endangered by an earthquake.
After apologizing and making nice with his boss/love-interest Carol Ferris (who, unlike the live-action movie, doesn't know Hal is Green Lantern), Hal is summoned to the planet Oa for a disciplinary hearing. Apparently Hal was asked to preside over some manner of peace treaty and wound up attacking one of the delegates, who was later revealed to be a slave trader. This leads to the line of the episode when Hal, in response to the charge that he punched said delegate in the head, says "No, sir. I punched the Viceroy in the stomach. THEN I headbutted him in the face. Sir."
The hearing is put on hold when a Green Lantern ring lands in the middle of the room, signifying that a Green Lantern somewhere just died. Nobody has any idea jut how this happened but we viewers know, thanks to the opening scene, know that this Green Lantern died at the hands of two rage-empowered Red Lanterns, who are hunting down and killing all the Green Lanterns they can find. The Guardians reveal that the Lantern in question is one of several charged with exploring and protecting the outskirts of known space and that many of these Lanterns have been getting killed.
Hal, naturally, is ready to charge to the rescue but it is quickly pointed out that as far out as the outskirts of the universe are, even at top speed it would take Hal 18 months to get there. This is the cue for Ganthet, who is very much a Trickster Mentor in this incarnation, to show Hal the experimental FTL space ship the Guardians have been secretly working on. Taking the hint and wiping the drool from his chin, Hal hijacks the ship and head off to deep space faster than you can say "To Infinity and Beyond!", with GL Drill Sargent Kilowog in tow.
The story thus far is pretty good for what it is - a family-friendly streamlining of the Green Lantern mythos. Some aspects of the show may bother the Green Lantern purists (i.e. The Red Lanterns aren't mindless grunts, the Guardians bothering with something as menial as developing a spaceship is a little weird) but the basic set-up of the show is true to the spirit of the Green Lantern concept. And you have to love the scene where a Guardians is hovering alongside a speeding spaceship, banging on the glass and motioning for Hal Jordan to land the ship while scowling with disapproval. :)
The voice acting I can take or leave. There's nobody who stands out as being particularly excellent or absolutely terrible. But Nathan Fillion has spoiled me and I can't read the comics without hearing him as Hal anymore.
The animation is better than I expected. I've never been a fan of CGI animation in general, but what we see here is of remarkably high-quality for a television production. The character design seems to blend elements of Pixar's The Incredibles and Darwyn Cooke's Justice League: New Frontier, particularly in the early sequences with Hal on Earth. I suppose comparisons to The Clone Wars is inevitable, since both shows feature exotic-looking aliens. For my money though, the animation in GL: TAS is a lot smoother and more natural looking. The only thing that bothered me was not seeing a glow around the Lanterns when they're flying, but I can understand them eliminating that so it doesn't obscure the characters during the action scenes.
Overall, this is fine cartoon and one I'll be keeping an eye on.
AARDMAN ANIMATIONS
Easily the weakest of the new material, in my opinion. Maybe I just don't get the humor but... this does nothing for me. Sorry. Next!
YOUNG JUSTICE
Not a new show, but a good jumping on point for those - like me - who weren't usually home on Friday nights when this show first started airing. Simply put, this is everything a series centering on young heroes should be and somebody needs to sit Scott Lobdell in a chair and force him to watch this, Clockwork Orange style with his eyes wired open, until he gets it.
This first episode of Season Two is basically a retelling of the classic World Without Grownups storyline that kicked off the original Young Justice comic series. Karlion The Witchboy, along with four other mages, do a ritual that splits Earth along two dimensional lines - one housing the adults and one housing the children. Why? Well, to spread chaos, of course! Captain Marvel, who is able to switch between both worlds whenever he changes to Billy Batson (or vice versa), takes center stage as two groups of heroes have to coordinate their efforts to fight the magicians on both sides of the rift.
The biggest change here is that a teenage Zatanna is part of the new Young Justice team. Truthfully, the idea of Zatanna being younger than usual in this reality doesn't bother me too much. I am a little bit bothered that with all of the great teenage heroines that could be included on the team (Can they not use Wonder Girl for some legal reason relating to anything Wonder Woman related?) they decided to de-age one to balance out the team.
Still, this is a good show. I just wish we had a Justice League companion show to go along with it, so we could see what the adults are up to at the same time.
PLASTIC MAN
It's a crying shame that this hasn't been picked up as a regular series and is being limited to a couple of minute long-shorts. If there's any justice in this world, there will be a huge demand for more full-length episodes like this at some point. It's funny in all the ways the classic Warner Brothers cartoons were funny, despite the Ren And Stimpy style animation and the voice acting is pitch-perfect.
All in all, this isn't a bad start at all and a darn fine way to spend an hour of my Saturday morning. What a shame I'll be busy for the next two Saturdays and will have to DVR all this...
For a variety of reasons, I haven't been quite so diligent in my comic book reviewing of late. I had originally planned to review the first story arc of each of the New 52 titles I had been picking up and then... well, life got in the way, as it often does.
Now, six months into the new direction for DC Comics, I think we're at a good place to look back at what we've seen so far and consider what is coming up. And so begins my new feature: 52 Catch-Up.
I was catching up on my Twitter feed, when I read a most worrying post over at the DC Women Kicking Ass Tumblr. In brief, they discussed a recent survey conducted by DC Comics regarding public response to the New 52 line. The survey concluded that - despite much talk about the revitalization of the line bringing in new readers - most of the people reading the New 52 books are males between 18-34 and that they were avid or lapsed fans. No word on how many of them think all these new #1s will be worth something someday.
Now, I find most surveys to be suspect. Especially one that was conducted, in-part, through the Internet. But even if we could assume that this survey was wholly accurate and accept the conclusions that less than 10% of the current comics market is made up of women and children, does that mean we should give up trying to make the comics industry a wide-spread cultural institution?
Here then is The Question: Is it a waste of our time to fight for better portrayals of female characters? Is it foolish for us to demand quality comics aimed at children? Is it utterly futile for all of us to try and save an industry that, by most appearances, doesn't want to be saved?
In the words of The Mighty Thor, "I say thee nay!"
The comic book publishers in general have a lot to answer for. But they aren't the only ones to blame for the current state of things. There are some comic shop owners who have a lot to answer for too - owners like my former bosses from my days as a comic shop employee, who gave orders that any woman entering into our store was to be escorted toward the fairy statues or the Hello Kitty merchandise. Because there's no way any woman would ever come into a comic shop wanting to buy comics! Stores like this are just as much to blame for driving women out of the hobby as the publishers creating products that ignore half of their potential market.
I know it is frustrating having to deal with this sort of thing and that some days you are bashing your head against a wall. But fighting sexism is never a mistake. Fighting for your children is never a mistake. Fighting for a better world for everyone is never a mistake.
That being said, I do believe we have made two mistakes.
The first mistake is thinking this change will come quickly when it does come. That all it will take is one magical reboot and the world will change overnight. Change doesn't work that way outside the storybook pages. At the very least, constructive change rarely comes about that easily.
The other mistake is thinking that the comic book industry must be the one to initiate the change. It's us. It has always been us and it must begin with us. If there are going to be any lasting changes, it is going to have to come from all of the fandom united together. But those changes can be small ones. And like pebbles falling down a cliff, eventually an avalanche will come.
I don't claim to have all the answers. And I've thought about hanging up my pen and giving up comics more times than many would guess. But I've also come to relish the small positive changes that I've helped bring about and all the signs that as bad as things may be, there is still something worth fighting for.
The girl I wrote about a week ago, who decided she wanted a Supergirl birthday party instead of a Princess one? That's a small change.
The ex-girlfriend I got into comics by introducing her to Fables? That's a small change.
The Manga fan who I introduced to American Comics through Birds of Prey? That's a small change.
The little girl who came into my store with a brother who just wanted Yu-Gi-Oh cards and wound up walking out with a copy of Amelia Rules? That's a small change.
The girl at the movie theater, where I was handing out comics on Free Comic Book Day, who - when told by her friend that they were out of girl's comics - said "No, they still have Iron Man". That's a small change.
As saccharine as it may sound, those little changes do give me hope. And they keep me going. They say we can't fight the system. But people fight the system every day in little ways, spawning little changes and little victories.
Will their be a big victory someday? I hope so. But until then, I am content to do what good I can and change what little I can. Because we win every time someone says "No. This isn't acceptable. And we can be better."
In response, Alan Moore to summon Cthulhu from the mighty deeps.
Still, Alan DOES look striking as The Crimson Corsair...
But in all seriousness, am I the only one disturbed that DC Comics is wasting creators like Amanda Conner or Len Wein on this project when they could be creating exciting NEW material?
