Despite the fact that Catwoman and Birds of Prey both came out today, I’ve decided that I won’t be touching them with a ten-foot pole, in order to concentrate on better titles. This month is my cut-off month. No more waiting for a title to magically get better. If it doesn’t wow me this month, it’s cut from my buying list, and will eventually be cut from my reviewing list as well.
I feel really bad to admit that the only plot within this arc of Legion of Superheroes that I like involves Brainy and Glorith. Science meeting magic, with science desperately attempting to unravel the mysteries of magic just appeals to me. It doesn’t hurt that Brainy is my favorite member of the Legion, and Glorith is my favorite member of the academy.
How did Green Lantern Corps, one of my favorite books from pre-reboot DC, become so…uninteresting? Even with the big surprise reveal of the last few pages wasn’t enough to get me to care about this book. The central Earth Lanterns of this book are Guy and John, so I feel like I should like it more but…I really don’t. Hm. Sorry, GLC, you’re in-store only from now on.
I don’t like Nightwing anymore. Oh, not the character. I love Dick Grayson when he’s not characterized as a man-whore. But…I just can’t handle the eventual Dick/Babs pairing that is going to come about. I can’t do it. I’m not interested in that particular relationship, which seems to be a lot of peoples OTP. There was very little non-romance driven plot this month until the last two pages, and even then, it was vague and not exactly suspenseful. Sorry, Nightwing. Until you clean up your act, you’re in-store only.
Remember how I mentioned that there were some titles I read purely for the character interaction? That’s Red Hood and the Outlaws. Roy is a dork with issues, Jason is a jerk with issues, and Kory is an alien with issues. It’s the issue club! Gonna focus on Kory’s role in this issue, rather than the stagnant plot that is Jason’s vengeance quest against the Untitled. In this issue, Kory fights the super-intelligent, mutated, xenophobic human, Crux. I don’t expect to see this guy in more than three issues, as he seems to be a generic, exposition-spewing villain, and Lobdell could do better. Still, goddamn, Kenneth Rocafort. You’re spoiling me with this art! Does this guy have an official fan club yet? Because I want to be part of it.
Speaking of comics with amazing art and meh writing, Justice League! No, really. Where Green Lantern is fantastic, Justice League is atrocious. Sure there’s a lot of quipping, but when it comes down to it, the League is just a big penis-waving title about who has more power. The only people that even seem, well, like real people are the Flash and Wonder Woman. Diana in this book is new to the world of man, fresh off the boat from Themyscra, if you will. She’s learning about the United States from the government, which doesn’t seem like the best idea, but she’s still an Amazon, always ready for a fight. Flash is, well, a cop. An everyman, really. Superman soars above you, Batman hides from you, Green Lantern lights up your world but Flash? He runs along side you. Barry seems to be this incarnation of the League’s conscience, common sense, and heart, all rolled into one. Aquaman, who was introduced this issue, has the air of a king, and it’s pretty cool. I haven’t been reading the Aquaman title, because the character never interested me, but I hear he’s being written well there, too, so maybe I’ll check it out. The big, big reveal this issue, however, was Darkseid. I’ve heard people call Darkseid DC’s office joint, because he’s passed around so much. Need a big villain? Send in Darkseid. Need a horde of unstoppable monsters? Send in the Parademons of Darkseid. I’ve never been a huge fan of Darkseid, if only because in recent years, he was used so often, his effect was dimmed. Reboot Darkseid is supposed to be bigger and meaner than old DC’s Darkseid, but really, it looks to me like they’ve just turned him into Galactus and had him lose the tunic skirt. As reveals go, it was sort of cheesy, though very well drawn. Speaking of art, this issue’s ‘making of’ feature is Jim Lee’s redesign of the Flash, as drawn by Francis Manapul. It’s really a great redesign, even if it is a bit more detail-oriented than any other Flash costume ever. Something that pissed me off, though, were the little character details on the left page below the close-up of his waist. First appearance was on the cover of Justice League #1, 2011? Fuck you, first appearance was Showcase #4, 1956.
Supergirl is one of the best female-lead books in DC’s line. Kara Zor-El has never really been a favorite character of mine, I prefer her angrier, bustier, alternate-universe cousin Kara Zor-L, but there is no denying that she’s an interesting person. Younger, yet older, cousin to the Man of Steel, Supergirl has all the powers of Superman in a smaller, blonder package. Last issue, we met Mr. Tycho, Supergirl’s own Lex Luthor. Committed to making the world a better place, so long as he makes a lot of money doing it. Kara spends a good portion of this issue just trying to escape from his space station, so this issue can technically just be written off as one big fight scene. There is one part I didn’t like, when one of Tycho’s minions decides that he doesn’t want to see Kara in pain from the Kryptonite, so he gets her out of her pod and…is shot for his efforts. Dick move, Tycho. Still, it was an overall decent issue, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.
So, you know how Suicide Squad is my guilty pleasure and Teen Titans is my abusive boyfriend that I can’t leave? Blue Beetle is turning into a combination of the two. I loved the first Blue Beetle series with Jaime Reyes more than any non-speedster focused series ever. It was creative, innovative, and funny, with interesting characters and an original plot. This new series? Tony, what the hell are you doing?! It’s like he’s trying to take everything I loved about the last Blue Beetle series and tear it to pieces. Bianca Reyes was an understanding, supportive mother. Here, she doesn’t even want to listen to what her son has to say. And Khaji-Da…don’t even get me started. He used to be inquisitive, even sort of playful. Now he’s just this controlling, monstrous…thing. And that last-page twist I just, I can’t. Don’t do this to me, Tony Bedard. I used to love you so much, don’t start to rely on cheap shocks to sell a book.
That was this week in comics. For those who weren’t aware, tonight is the second night of Hanukkah, and I’m off to have some soup and latkes, then catch the season finale of American Horror story. See you here next week!
The Blog of ToG 
Eric said,
December 22, 2011 @ 4:18 am
Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Don’t count Blue Beetle out just yet! The scarab was meant to be a weapon so of course it’s gonna seem violent! That will make the relationship between them better as it starts to gain a free will and become playful. Remember last issue, when the scarab asks Jaime “Suck what?” when Jaime said flying doesn’t suck? There is a little there.
And as for Bianca, that was a normal reaction. Any mother would be mad if her son got a tattoo without permission and since Jaime couldn’t explain of course she was still upset. Even though it was real what Jaime was doing are convenient excuses to get out of something. In the last series she didn’t even acknowledge Jaime as her son after he transformed and scared Milagro. This is just a normal, more understanding reaction. It’s called being a “mother.”
And I’m sure Paco will be fine, it just shows how dangerous the scarab can be and the position Jaime is in. Jaime will have to learn to work with it and make it see that these things are wrong.
DO NOT STOP READING BLUE BEETLE JUST BECAUSE THERE IS DIFFERENT STUFF! I WILL NOT LET IT BE CANCELLED AGAIN! JAIME IS MY FAVORITE HERO AND I REFUSE TO LOSE HIM!!!
touchofgrey37 said,
December 22, 2011 @ 6:01 am
Hey hey, I’m not going to stop reading Blue Beetle. Like I said, this title is my abusive guilty pleasure. Heck, I’m still secretly reading Catwoman just so I can yell about how terrible it is in order to convince people in my LCS not to buy it. Dollars send messages, and the message I want to send is STOP LETTING JUDD WINICK WRITE WOMEN.
I’m not a mother. I doubt I’ll ever be one, due to my utter loathing of babies and what they become. So I’m not going to pretend I understand the reactions mothers have to their children getting tattoos and other body modifications. My best friend has several tattoos, and her mother was the one who took her to get them. My mother pierced my ears herself, when I was a baby. Mothers have different reactions based on different settings. Maybe in El Paso, tattoos are strictly a gang thing, and that’s why Bianca freaked. Though I would like to offer a counter-point to her reaction last series, when Jaime scared Milagro. Afterwards, when Jaime was telling his story about being in space, she immediately accepted that the boy in front of her was, in fact, her son. I guess the point I was trying to make is that last series, Jaime’s parents were a bit more chill. This series, they just seem…angry.
As for Paco, well, while I’m really hoping for the same kind of fake-out we got in Generation Lost, this ‘edgier’ reboot has me fearing the worst.
Eric said,
December 22, 2011 @ 4:17 pm
I live in AL and my mom would freak if I got a tattoo without her knowing. And Jaime had explained his space story to them but then they thought he was on drugs. His mother said he wasn’t her son after he scared Milagro and it was only after things cooled down and they were ready to listen what they had to say that they were able to adjust to this new part of their lives.
Once Jaime has a better control of the scarab and/or is able to tell his parents I’m sure things will work out. But of course they’re going to seem angry, after their son sneaked out, went missing – while on the way to a mob boss’s house – and seemed like he got a tattoo without permission, of course they’re going to be angry a lot.
t4e said,
December 22, 2011 @ 10:18 am
Crux is going to be the newest Outlaw.