DC Rebirth Reveal – Some Art And Quick Reactions

…SO, today was kinda nuts. Before I go in-depth on all of the big announcements, since I fully expect more news to come out soon enough, let’s instead take a look at some of the art revealed for the new books and a few quick notes I took for the different titles.

80 PAGES FOR $2.99?! That’s some insane dedication to the price drop!

…So wait, several of my favourite Bat Family characters, all part of a team book, and debuting in the same month as my birthday? I feel like this book is especially for me. 😀 Kinda confused by Clayface’s presence, but whatever.

Supergirl going back to a more classic costume makes sense, especially since we have her show going right now. The only thing that’s kinda weird is that we’re keeping the story arc where her father is the new Cyborg Superman. It’s just…odd.

He’s back in blue! THANK GOD! Also, the reaction to the first story arc’s title, “Better Than Batman” got just the exact reaction I was expecting. XD

Greg Rucka is coming back to Wonder Woman. This is going to be INSANE, and I REALLY can’t wait for Wonder Woman Year One, with art by Nicola Scott. Also, thank God, Wonder Woman’s back in gold. I don’t even care that it’s blatantly copied from the movies, it looks good on her. 🙂

Lex Luthor as the new Superman of Metropolis. That’s literally all you need to know to realize that’s gonna end badly. Throw in Doomsday, and I’ll be surprised if there’s anything LEFT of Metropolis by the time we hit Action Comics #1000.

Interested to see where this new story takes Batgirl, but I hope it eventually returns her to Burnside. Would hate to see everything that’s been going on with her dropped so unceremoniously.

So Hal’s going back to the Corps, while Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz are having to take over on Earth. Interesting set up, and REALLY glad to see Cruz graduating to Green Lantern. 🙂

DC has a REALLY warped sense of humour, revealing that the sons of Batman and Superman will be teaming up in the same week that Batman and Superman threw down. lol

Bryan Hitch, Tony Daniel, and Fernando Pasarin have got some BIG shoes to fill with Justice League, but I like the team. Also, it seems details on JLA are being kept a secret for now.

Relax, people. It’s not THAT All-Star Batman. lol Also, I guess now we know what Snyder’s been up to. That said, gotta admit, I’m a little disappointed to see Ivy relegated back to being simply another rogue for Batman after all the work that’s been done with her as her own character.

Y’know, everybody else is talking about how Damian is on the Titans and how Wally West is still black, and all I can think of is “Thank God, Starfire’s on the Titans and NOT the Outlaws”. 😛

A mostly all-new Outlaws team with characters I don’t care much about. So, in other words, Lobdell is being kept away from anything I love. Good to know. ^_^

Whoa, whoa, whoa, lemme see if I understand this correctly: A Titans book where there’s only ONE person in red??? 😛 Also, who is that in green? Can’t be a Lantern, can it?

They really might as well have just said “We’re going with the same team as from the movie”. I mean, honestly, I don’t even really care that they’re cross-promoting, so why not just admit it?

Oh goodie, David Finch is on Batman. -_- Tom King should prove to be a good choice, though, and I’m interested to see where this goes in the aftermath of Superheavy, especially as it pertains to Duke Thomas.

Interesting set-up with Flash having to mentor not one but SEVERAL new speedsters. Also, I don’t care that Wally is still black. I just hope he’s FUN again. That’s all I’ve EVER wanted.

I’ve never been so excited and so confused for a book. So someone is posing as Oracle? Does that mean Oracle is canon again? Also, that’s clearly New 52 Helena as Huntress. So does that mean she really WAS Huntress before having to fake her death?

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll go more in depth soon enough, though. Lemme know your own thoughts below, and we’ll see how things pan out from now to May 25th, 2016. Ja né!

Early Predictions/Desires For #DCRebirth – The Justice League And Related Characters

So, I’ve talked about some things I’d like to see from DC Rebirth back before we knew really ANYTHING about it, and I gave general thoughts on the books announced to be part of DC’s new line-up during Rebirth and beyond. Now, it’s time to look at the individual books announced and/or characters involved and talk about what I either expect to see happen as part of this movement to bring back the elements of the books and their characters we and the creators love. Keep in mind, I might’ve discussed some of this already in the aforementioned articles, so I may be repeating a few points. Still, let’s start off with…well, a book I’m a little disappointed to hear something about…And by a little disappointed, I mean my first words upon hearing about it were, and I quote, “SONOFABITCHMOTHERFUCKINGSHITMASSAGINGCOCKGRINDINGMONKEYFACEDCLOWNFART!!!“…I might’ve overreacted slightly. lol

Justice League

Then again, though, when you consider the quality of Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok’s work as of late with Justice League, can you really blame me for that reaction? Well, regardless, with Justice League and Justice League America, what I would recommend doing is having both books be about different groupings of the same team. Like, one book could focus on the original big seven of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter (who I am hoping to God is returning to the League now that his book is ending), and the other can focus on some of the newer members, like Shazam, Cyborg, Jessica Cruz, Mister Miracle, and Big Barda. I’ve actually heard for a while now that there might’ve been a planned crossover between Justice League and JLA, but unless they had this planned with whoever was taking over for Johns, I don’t see that happening right away. And frankly, I’m a little sick of books doing crossovers before they hit 12 issues anyway, so holding off on that might be in order.

Batman

Assuming he retains the memory of it from the events of The Darkseid War, something tells me that a future arc of the new Batman title might revolve around him looking for the Joker now that he knows his identity. I just can’t imagine him gaining ahold of that information and not wanting to use it to maybe put an end to the Joker’s threat before anyone else gets hurt. Still, I’m a bit…leery of that idea. See, for me, the Joker works best when you DON’T know all the details of who he really is and what his past was like, and I can’t imagine DC actually going through with that. As Joker himself once put it, “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice”. Then again, they’re apparently telling his back-story in the TV show Gotham, which I dislike for various reasons on top of that, so who knows? Like I’ve said before, though, I hope that they decide to make Joker a little more fun in the future. He’s more than capable of being a terrifying villain AND the occasional goofy clown. Other than that, since I don’t see any books involving Robin in the line-up thus far, one has to wonder what’s to become of Damian and the members of We Are Robin, in particular Duke Thomas. Will Damian become Bruce’s full-time partner again in one of the Batman books, or will he step aside and become his own individual while Duke takes his place? Or perhaps Duke will instead take on the identity of Lark, like in one of Bruce’s nightmare scenarios brought on by the Scarecrow’s fear toxin? And what of Jim Gordon? Will he continue to take up the mantle of the All-New Batman? Only time will tell for sure, but we’ll talk more about Batman’s supporting cast and related characters later.

Superman

So, after the newest issue of Action Comics, it looks as though Superman is no longer dying. I could be wrong, but that appears to be the case. He’s also been fully revitalized. So, doesn’t look like the Super League is being built as a possible replacement for the Man of Steel. However, I would be willing to suggest that he’s instead putting it together due to the events where his powers were drained, his identity was leaked, and so on, and that there’d need to be someone who could stand in for him if something like that should ever happen again. Speaking of, though, I’ve got this sneaky suspicion that the public may not remember that Clark Kent and Superman are one in the same post-Rebirth. Why? Well, like I mentioned before, the Spyral satellite has the ability to remove the public’s knowledge of Dick Grayson being Nightwing, which is likely how he’ll return to the role as I’ll get into when I talk about him. If I were one of the heads at DC and decided that Clark’s secret identity being exposed was not a good idea for the long-term, that seems like it’d be a good way out of it. With that said, though, if I may make a request, if that happens and they do that…?

Lois Lane

Keep Lois’ memories of the ordeal intact. This isn’t even me wanting to see Lois and Clark as a couple again (although I do, a LOT), but simply because ever since she found out Clark Kent is Superman, she’s been even more actively involved in stories, for better or worse. Married or unmarried, couple or friends, ultimately, I think history has proven that there are more stories that can be told with her in the know about Clark being Superman than with her being kept out of the loop. But, with that said…yeah, I really do wanna see them together again, especially since the book about the pre-Flashpoint Lois and Clark is ending. In fact, who knows? Maybe they’ll do some kinda merger thing where the Superman and Lois Lane of both worlds blend into one, and both become a balance of their counterparts? Not sure where that leaves little Jonathan, but it could happen. But, for that to happen, obviously, something’s gotta go…

Wonder Woman

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s time to call it quits on the Superman and Wonder Woman relationship. Above all else, the reason I’m just plain sick of it is because the two are rarely, if ever, treated like equals when it comes to their relationship. Wonder Woman is pretty much just Superman’s girlfriend in a lot of stories they’re presented in as a couple. Beyond that, my standard requests are as follows: Restore the Amazons to the compassionate protectors of mankind, and for the love of God, pants or no pants, I don’t care anymore, just give us a brighter colour scheme for Diana. In fact, I’d actually be fine with the design Jason Fabok uses for her in Justice League, but with gold instead of silver. Also, I keep hearing that the movie will be rebooting to the old school Etta Candy, and if I can make a suggestion? Do the same in the comics. You don’t necessarily have to undo making her black. Hell, you don’t even need to make her as overweight as the original. Just something similar, and above all else, make Etta the ninja tackling badass sidekick I remember.

Aquaman

…Okay, not really much to say about Aquaman, other than it’s great to see him back to his old look and kicking ass like normal. I will say, though, that the writers really need to make up their minds as to whether he’s gonna be King of Atlantis or not for the foreseeable future, though. No, my biggest concern for the Aquaman books is something…different.

Mera

…OH, GOOD GOD, WHY?! I got into a little bit of a rant about this on Twitter when I saw this, as you can read here. Suffice to say, no. Absolutely not. Whatever the writers of Aquaman are thinking, NO! BAD writers! Don’t make her Aquawoman. You make her Aquawoman, and I will violently murder the first fish I see. Oh, and just saying this? If they DO make Arthur King of Atlantis again, can we PLEASE have these two be officially married again? Or maybe they already have been when I wasn’t looking, I don’t know, but if they aren’t, please don’t listen to Dan, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to superheroes being married, especially with these two. It makes no sense for them to not be married when all evidence points to her having served in the capacity of Queen of Atlantis at Arthur’s side at least at one point. Also, I’m sorry, but one of these days, we gotta make Mera an official member of the Justice League. How many times does she have to accompany them and their various divisions into action and show just how easily she stands among them before she’s given a seat?

The Flash

Again, not a lot to say about The Fastest Man Alive, other than that I hope that this whole mess involving him being Central City’s most wanted and being hunted by the Rogues doesn’t last long. I AM interested to see what role he plays with Rebirth, however. As Geoff Johns himself has pointed out, nearly every time there’s been a massive change to the universe, a Flash (usually Barry) was at the center of it. Speaking of, I wonder if we’ll ever get follow-up on exactly why Pandora used Barry to reboot the universe at the end of Flashpoint. The whole thing about Pandora’s Box being the reason seems kinda minor when you consider what that turned out to be. I mean, she really needed to reboot the universe just so we can get a Boom Tube that led to Earth 3? But yeah, once again, my bigger concern is with a certain other Flash…

Wally West

Seriously, I don’t care if he’s black, white, yellow, red, purple, green, or fuchsia, we need the FUN Wally West back. The Wally West who is cracking jokes and being the far more fun-loving Flash. And I don’t care if he’s The Flash, Kid Flash, Impulse, whatever, it’s time to pull the trigger on him suiting up and working with Barry. With that said, a lot of people were against the new costume we saw him in during the whole Future’s End tie-in, but honestly, I thought he looked good. The silver DOES stand out in a very dramatic way and makes him look very distinct from the other Flashes.

Green Lantern

Again, I’d kinda like to see Hal Jordan and John Stewart, and maybe even the other Earth-born Lanterns rotate on the Justice League and JLA. Beyond that, though, I get the feeling that Jessica Cruz will be switching out the Ring of Volthoom from Earth 3 for a Green Lantern Ring. There WAS a silhouette of a female Green Lantern in the image for Rebirth, and Jessica seems like the logical candidate. And frankly, I would just be happy to see her conquer her fear and give Volthoom the boot. Still, kinda hope her Green Lantern costume, if I’m correct, incorporates some elements of her Power Ring costume. Oh, and can we PLEASE have a sense of stability in the Green Lantern Corps for at least a year? I don’t think I even need to point this out, but life has been hell for the Corps as of the past few years. The Guardians finally came out as evil, there’s been a shit-ton of members dying left and right, they got better Guardians who still managed to screw the pooch in the end, and now most of them have been banished to another dimension or some shit. But as for Hal himself…he’s gotta lose the jacket. I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t work for him. To be honest, when he and Parallax had their fight recently, Hal looked more like a villain than Parallax did…y’know, until Parallax pulled the whole fangs thing, which still looks fucking stupid. lol

Martian Manhunter

What in the HELL is going on in J’onn’s comics as of late?!?! No, seriously, someone please explain this shit to me! It turned out he was a bio-engineered weapon the Martians were going to use to take over Earth, and that he was hiding that for years, and that might’ve been why he was kicked outta the League during the gap between the first two story arcs of Justice League, but he doesn’t wanna hurt anyone, but he’s not willing to stop the plan, but then he wants to die, and then he does die, but somehow he’s got different aspects of himself that converge into a new Martian Manhunter, who looks…well, I’m not gonna say BAD. In fact, as far as radical redesigns go, at least this keeps some aspects of the old look intact. But still, he tries at first to lead the martian invasion, but then he decides not to, and now he’s got some kinda giant mech, which is both awesome and stupid, I don’t even know, and oh God, my head… … … …So yeah, please DC, just put him back on the Justice League and scale this nonsense down a bit. I had to check my ear a second ago just to make sure there wasn’t blood seeping from my brain and out there from all that.

Cyborg

Okay, is it just me, or does the storyline of the government being untrusting of Cyborg actually make WAY more sense than when they do the same thing with Superman? Maybe it’s because we’ve seen that Vic’s control CAN be overrode, and thus it’s less about trusting that he’s a good guy, but rather concern that it could happen again, especially when he can be plugged into EVERYTHING. Plus, there’s the whole matter of Victor having cybernetic enhancements to benefit him after he lost most of his body, and yet amputees have to deal with ordinary prosthetic parts that don’t work even a tenth as good. I’m not saying everyone should be decked out with his stuff, and it was established from the beginning that the tech used to make him into Cyborg was experimental and very easily could’ve backfired. And yeah, none of this is actually Victor’s fault, he’s just as much a victim in this as anyone else. Still, I can at least understand the conflict here WAY more, and if they wanna continue with that arc post-Rebirth, I wouldn’t mind. However, I WOULD suggest maybe adding more to his rogues gallery. We need his version of the Joker or Lex Luthor, someone who is his opposite in nearly every way, but can challenge him on an equal footing despite his natural advantages.

Shazam

If I haven’t made it abundantly clear by now, allow me to do so: I HATE THIS VERSION OF CAPTAIN MARVEL! And a big part of why I hate him all revolves around the mass changes to Billy Batson. He was supposed to be a sweet, innocent, giving, and (for the most part) selfless individual. It was why he was chosen to gain the powers of Shazam. But when we meet him in THIS universe, he’s a little punk shithead who cons people and is mean to his adoptive family for no reason other than he wants to be! And even after all that, when he finally becomes Shazam and learns more about being a hero, he STILL acts like a little twerp who swears a lot to sound adult and cool, which is at its most jarring when he’s transformed into Shazam, has the wisdom of Solomon, and therefore should know better! But then, I KNOW why they made those changes. It’s the exact same reason they made so many changes to Superman: It was to make him SO much more identifiable and realistic. But, just like with Superman, it was done in a manner so poorly that he no longer resembles the hero he once was in any way. Hell, he doesn’t even have the same NAME! Seriously, DC, if you are serious about this, look back at what made the old Captain Marvel a beloved character and try reintroducing those elements.

Anyway, that’s all when it comes to the Justice League. Check back in next time when I look at the Bat Family and what I hope and/or expect to see become of Nightwing, Batgirl, and the returning Birds of Prey. Ja né!

My Thoughts On The DC Rebirth Line-Up

Yeah, this is kinda late, but I thought I’d wait at least a little bit to see what news emerged before giving my thoughts on the current line-up. There were a lot of rumours going into Rebirth, namely what exactly it was. Another complete universal reboot, a soft reboot, a changed line-up to better reflect the shows and movies going right now, etc. In the end, though, what it appears to be is basically taking the concept of books like Green Lantern Rebirth and The Flash Rebirth and applying it to the DC Universe as a whole, as Geoff Johns explains here:

So, it doesn’t seem to be a universal reboot, but rather a soft reboot to reintroduce certain aspects of the characters that we love, as well as re-establish certain other heroes. We can go more in-depth about what that might entail, as well as the cryptic words of the mysterious narrator, later, though. For now, let’s just look at the actual line-up of books that have been confirmed thus far, which looks like this:

June:
Rebirth Specials:
• AQUAMAN REBIRTH #1
• BATMAN REBIRTH #1
• THE FLASH REBIRTH #1
• GREEN ARROW REBIRTH #1
• GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1
• SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1
• TITANS REBIRTH #1
• WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
• AQUAMAN #1
• BATMAN #1
• THE FLASH #1
• GREEN ARROW #1
• GREEN LANTERNS #1
• SUPERMAN #1
• WONDER WOMAN #1

New Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
• ACTION COMICS #957
• DETECTIVE COMICS #934

July
Rebirth Specials:
• BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1
• HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS REBIRTH #1
• THE HELLBLAZER REBIRTH #1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1
• NIGHTWING REBIRTH #1
• RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
• HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
• NIGHTWING #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):
• BATGIRL #1
• BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY #1
• THE HELLBLAZER #1
• RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS #1
• THE SUPER-MAN #1
• TITANS #1

Fall
Rebirth Specials:
• BATMAN BEYOND REBIRTH #1
• BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1
• CYBORG REBIRTH #1
• DEATHSTROKE REBIRTH #1
• EARTH 2 REBIRTH #1
• SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1
• SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1
• TEEN TITANS REBIRTH #1
• TRINITY REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):
• CYBORG #1
• DEATHSTROKE #1
• HARLEY QUINN #1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1
• SUICIDE SQUAD #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):
• BATMAN BEYOND #1
• BLUE BEETLE #1
• EARTH 2 #1
• GOTHAM ACADEMY: NEXT SEMESTER #1
• SUPERGIRL #1
• SUPERWOMAN #1
• SUPER SONS #1
• TEEN TITANS #1
• TRINITY #1

…So, let’s go over my thoughts for now about some of the announced books, starting with…

The Superman Books

Looks like the Superman titles are undergoing a major revamp. While Action Comics is going back to its old numbering, Supergirl is returning with her own title (about time), and we’re also getting the new books Superwoman, Super Sons, and The Super-Man. If I had to take a guess, and I suppose at this point that’s all I can do, I’d wager that this all has to do with the upcoming Super League storyline that’ll wrap up the current Superman titles, with Superman enlisting several other superheroes as a team of Supermen (and Superwomen, it seems). Why is he doing this? Well, recently, Superman was able to regain his powers, but at a price, and he’s potentially dying, so he might be trying to pull a Batman and have the Super League act as a contingency should something happen to him and the world still needs Superman. Also, Batman/Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman seem to be getting dropped in favour of a Trinity book, which I am 100% okay with, especially since both books have been telling the same story as the other Super titles anyway. Might as well just put all three in a single title where they all get top billing. Also, I can’t help but notice that Superman: Lois And Clark is disappearing, but I’ve heard that the pre-Flashpoint Superman who appears in that book will both be involved in the Super League story as well as Rebirth, so not crossing them out just yet. Lastly, the one book that got me to raise an eyebrow most in this whole line-up was “The Super-Man”. However, I’ve since been directed to a cover for Justice League #51, where Lex Luthor is shown to be in a Superman-esque costume. Perhaps an attempt to cast Lex Luthor as the evil Superman that was originally conceived before Action Comics #1? We’ll see. Oh, and just saying, PLEASE DC, put Superman in a costume that at least balances out the three colours better. There’s just too much blue and not enough yellow in this equation.

The Batman Books

I’m a bit interested to see where Batman goes now that he’s been back from the dead…again. lol I mean, the last time he came back, he created Batman Incorporated. Right now, it feels like a similar idea isn’t far off, with Jim Gordon apparently keeping his Batsuit, Batgirl starting a new Birds of Prey team, and Dick Grayson evidently going back to being Nightwing. And, if you’re confused about that, well…Batman And Robin Eternal #20 kinda revealed that Helena Bertinelli set it up to where Spyral’s orbital little satellite has the ability to make everyone forget about his unmasking and ‘death’ in Forever Evil, thus allowing him to go back to his old life if he so chose. And, I gotta admit, when I first heard about that, it actually sounded like an intriguing moral and ethical dilemma: Should Dick use this technology, essentially mind wiping the entire planet’s population, so he can go back to being Nightwing? Or should he continue to work for a group of secret agents who are CONSTANTLY bending the rules of what is and isn’t ethically sound or legal in order to get the job done? It’s not an easy situation to figure out… … …Too bad I know for a fact that they’re not gonna explore it much and instead it looks like he’s just gonna flip the switch and damn the consequences. I’m not saying that’s necessarily WRONG, just…kinda feels like the easy way out. Frankly, at this point, I just hope they put him back in blue this time around. I’m also interested to see what Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey will be like, and I kinda hope that Gail Simone ends up writing it eventually. Ask nearly anyone, and they’ll tell you that Birds of Prey was at its best when Gail was writing it. No sign of a Robin book yet, which is a little concerning, and it looks as though Gotham Academy is continuing on. And lastly, yeah, I remember what my initial reaction was to Red Hood And The Outlaws coming back, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that, as long as that book is around, it keeps Scott Lobdell away from anything I actually CARE about. 😛

The Justice League Books

SONOFABITCHMOTHERFUCKINGSHITMASSAGINGCOCKGRINDINGMONKEYFACEDCLOWNFART!!! Just when Justice League had become AMAZING, Johns and Fabok are both off the book! Didn’t I specifically say I wanted them to stay on the book going into Rebirth?!…Well, hopefully, Fabok can find work on one of the other titles. I’m personally hoping for Wonder Woman, because I fucking love how he draws her. Speaking of, I’ve been hearing rumours (so take this with a grain of salt) that Marguerite Bennett could be the new writer for Wonder Woman, which is actually funny because she’s Scott Snyder’s old pupil, and I was requesting Scott Snyder’s Wonder Woman a while ago, so…Yeah. lol Anyway, Justice League of America is apparently just gonna be Justice League America…’kay. Why we can’t just call it JLA, I dunno.

The Titans Books

So, I’m guessing that since there are two Titans books right now, Teen Titans and Titans Hunt, and there are two Titans books post-Rebirth, Teen Titans and just plain Titans, that plain Titans is probably gonna be about Dick Grayson, Donna Troy, Roy Harper, and the other older Titans. With any luck, we’ll see Starfire join that team, since her book is ending (not cancelled, though, as it was apparently always planned for 12 issues), and otherwise, I fear she might end up going back to RHATO, which I would LOATHE. Other than that, not much else to discuss.

Everything Else

Like I said earlier, the team of Marguerite Bennett and Jason Fabok on Wonder Woman would be awesome if it comes to be. The silhouettes for the official image for Rebirth suggest the return of Wally West as Kid Flash, which could prove interesting for The Flash, and there looks to be a female Green Lantern, which could be Jessica Cruz, and after recent events with the Green Lantern Corps, they could use the new recruits who are already a little experienced with Power Rings. It’s looking like Earth 2 might be reverting back to a more traditional look and feel, especially if I’m right about who that is second from the left behind the curtain of the Rebirth image. And I couldn’t help but notice both Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes appeared in the video, so seeing that there’s a Blue Beetle comic involved raises some questions, like are they going to be working as a duo of sorts. And Hellblazer…Look, I don’t really care about Constantine. I find him to be a major horse’s ass, personally speaking. But, I know a lot of people DO care, and were pissed when his show got cancelled rather quickly, so I will say that I’m glad those people are getting their fill of Constantine, both with this comic and with his appearances in Arrow. Oh, and lastly, I’ve heard that Rebirth will apparently include what Dan Didio calls his most controversial moment ever…Dear God, save me. -_-

Anyway, those are my thoughts so far. If anything else comes up that I’m personally invested in, I’ll go ahead and give my thoughts on it. Be sure to leave your own thoughts below, and we’ll see what goes on from now ’til June. Ja né!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…Oh yeah, and expect a How To Drop The Ball In Comics: The New 52 in June. ^_^

How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch? – Cyborg, Power Girl, Green Lantern, And More

Well, I’m back with more of How Would I Rebuild The DC Universe From Scratch. Basically, me talking about what I’d do for a fanfic, a novel, a tv/web series, or an alternate universe series of comics, should I ever be given the chance to do any of those things. I’ve already said what I’d do with the Big 3 of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman (and Robin), but what about some of the other fan favourites?

Cyborg

Okay, here’s where I’d probably be stepping on some toes and ticking people off, but since this is alternate reality, I think I’d wanna combine the characters of Victor Stone and Henry Irons as Cyborg, the Man of Steel. Basically, Victor Irons (or Henry Stone, whichever) would be the son of a scientist who works at S.T.A.R. Labs and is inspired by Superman to be a hero, but when he’s badly hurt by a foe using stolen tech of his father’s, his body is rebuilt into that of a Cyborg. He would have most of the gadgets and abilities you’d expect of both Cyborg and Steel, in particular the white noise cannon and the high-powered sledge-hammer. Costume would probably be something akin to a fusion of Cyborg’s Teen Titans appearance and Steel’s Justice League Unlimited appearance, and possibly operating like the Omegadrome, wherein he’d be able to appear human when he wanted.

Batgirl and Spoiler

For Batgirl, I’d go with Barbara, BUT I would also have Stephanie Brown be her partner as Spoiler, essentially the Robin to her Batman. Basically, they’d be operating as a team without the complete consent of Batman, trying to earn his respect while also refusing to let him tell them what they can and cannot do. For Babs, I’d go with something akin to her costume in The New Batman Adventures, while Steph would wear the usual Spoiler outfit, but with a black version of the Robin mask instead of the Spoiler costume’s head-covering mask.

The Flash

Sorry Barry fans, I gotta go with Wally West here, although I would wanna go with the Wally from the Justice League cartoon who, like Barry, worked with CSI. Also, because I REALLY liked this idea when they did it for Blackest Night, I’d have The Flash simultaneously be a Blue Lantern, and that the accident that gives him his powers would be the result of the Blue Lantern Ring seeking a suitable wielder when it collides with a lightning bolt and nails Wally and the chemicals. As such, his ability to tap into the Speed Force would be dependent on his hope, his suit would be generated from the ring and would look akin to Barry’s Blue Lantern Flash costume, and he would simultaneously be giving power boosts whenever he was accompanying this next individual…

Green Lantern

Now here’s what I can’t decide on: Which one? Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and even Simon Baz all work for what I have in mind: Namely, that the other members of the Green Lantern Corps are called away to fight an epic war, and thus one Green Lantern, who is the newest member to the Corps, has to stay behind as the sole guardian of Sector 2814. Of course, the other members would all appear from time to time, it would just focus primarily on that one individual fighting intergalactic threats to Earth…In fact, here: Which of the following Earth-born Green Lanterns is your favourite?

Oh, and the reason Jessica Cruz isn’t on there is because she hasn’t debuted as of this writing…Anyway, moving on…

Power Girl

For Power Girl, I’d probably take out the part where she’s from Earth 2. She’d just be Supergirl grown up and running her own business while also being Power Girl. As such, much like with Superman, I might wanna do stories for her both as being Power Girl AND Supergirl, or maybe doing the teenage copy thing with her too. Costume would be the one she recently got in Supergirl, since it’s both similar to the original while clearly being made of something sturdy enough to take a severe pounding. I’d also wanna alter her power-set a bit so that she’s physically faster and stronger than Superman, but her other abilities aren’t as potent. Basically, she’d be the hard-hitter for situations even Superman can’t handle, while she wouldn’t be as versatile.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Check in next time as I tell what I’d do with some of DC’s groups, including their flagship teams: The Justice League, and the Teen Titans. Ja né!

Related articles

• Review: “Identity Crisis” (comicsauthority.com)
• DA Reads The New 52: Justice League, Volume 1: Origin (henshincast.wordpress.com)
• The DCU Scoop #2: Man of Steel Part 2 – The Justice League (gascp19.wordpress.com)
• Possible Description Of George Miller’s JUSTICE LEAGUE & Wonder Woman Pitch Art (comicbookmovie.com)
• Villain Month Guide: Part 3 – Justice Leagues and Teen Titans (retcon-punch.com)
• ‘Justice League’: 5 Heroes That Need A Solo Film (splashpage.mtv.com)
• The Black Perspective: DC’s New 52 (worldofblackheroes.com)
• Establishing the Justice League (inerded.wordpress.com)
• 2002 “Batman Vs. Superman” Script Surfaces Online (comicbookresources.com)
• Five Batman Characters We Want To See In The Batman vs. Superman Movie (focusthoughts.wordpress.com)
• Movie Review: The Flashpoint Paradox (otterlimits.wordpress.com)

What I Got For Christmas – Justice League: Origin + Justice League #5 & #6 Review (SPOILERS AHEAD)

So yeah, got some money and gift cards for Christmas, which means I’ll likely be getting what can be considered more stuff for Christmas. I’ll cover that later on, obviously. Also, I got The Dark Knight Rises for Christmas, but since I already gave my thoughts on that movie a long time ago, I’m not gonna bother here, so if you wanna know what I think, go read it. In the meantime, let’s dig into Justice League #5 & #6.

Admittedly an awesome cover, but it leaves me wondering where Flash and Batman are on it. We finally have all seven together in the comic, and now two are missing on the cover. Wha?

We open to Darkseid blasting the shit outta military aircraft. Flash gets up from Darkseid’s previous attack at the end of Issue #4 and yells at him to stop. However, he realises he was the first one up and is pretty much royally boned. Superman gets up next, but Darkseid fires his Omega Beams, Barry deciding to grab Superman and run for cover. They split up, but unfortunately the Omega Beams do too, and while Flash is able to vibrate through a Parademon to get it to take the blow, Superman isn’t so lucky. While Superman lives through the ordeal (because he’s Superman), the Parademons take him away while GL tries to take on Darkseid. It doesn’t go so well, Darkseid pummelling Hal and actually knocking him through the others before breaking Hal’s arm and walking off like a boss.

Batman finally tells it like it is to Hal Jordan: If he continues like this, and that if he doesn’t get out of his own way, he’s going to die. Batman unmasks, revealing himself to be Bruce Wayne (which results in what I personally find to be a hilarious panel where Hal has to ask who in the hell Bruce Wayne is), and Bruce tells him his story, of how his parents were murdered in front of his eyes when he was 10, and how he’s spent every day since training to fight the same criminals as those that took his parents’ lives. But Bruce notes, while removing his cape, the blades on his gloves, and even the Bat insignia on his chest (I guess it’s taped on? Maybe Velcro?), that this is bigger than him, bigger than any one of them. He tells Hal to rally the others while he goes to save Superman, letting the Parademons take him away while Hal admits that Bruce might just be crazier than himself.

Hal manages to get the others up and tells them what Batman said, that they need to start working like a team. He’ll turn the light up to get Darkseid’s attention so that the others can blind him, thus robbing him of his most powerful weapon and giving them a chance to take him down. Meanwhile, Bruce lets the Parademon lead him to where they were gathering before taking it down. However, what he finds is another Boom Tube, leading to their true gathering place, Darkseid’s homeworld, and if Hell was its own planet it would be this: Apokolips.

My pet peeve doesn’t really kick in here since this is more the sight of what will happen if the heroes fail.

Issue #6 opens with a family taking cover from the Parademons before Darkseid himself arrives to slaughter them, the father narrating that he thought they were going to die until he saw THEM: Green Lantern and the others assaulting Darkseid. Diana wraps him in the Lasso of Truth and demands that he tell them why he’s there, but Darkseid cryptically replies that he’s there “For her” before punching Diana away. Meanwhile Cyborg continues to intercept transmissions between Darkseid and the boxes, called Mother Boxes (actually they were originally called Father Boxes, whereas New Genesis had similar boxes called Mother Boxes, take a shot). Through them, Cyborg can see many worlds, all burning under attack like theirs, but finally manages to get his sights on Batman.

On Apokolips, Bruce has found Superman being tortured by Steppenwolf and DeSaad…who have never been revealed in the New 52 prior to this and new readers have no idea what their deal is. Take two shots! Apparently they plan to use Supes to assist in the search for Darkseid’s daughter…and now I’m confused. His daughter? Do they mean Bekka? Possibly Big Barda? What’s going on? So yeah, since this point confuses ALL readers, I present the final rule of the New 52 Drinking Game: When everyone, be they new or old readers, are confused by a plot point, take 3 shots! Btw, I would just like to note that while anyone else reading is likely drunk off their asses right now, I get away with not taking any shots because I’m a Straightedge. XD But yeah, apparently that’s who “she” is, Darkseid’s daughter, and he’s wrecking his way through planet after planet trying to find her.

Back on Earth, Diana and Aquaman manage to put a sword and a trident through Darkseid’s eyes, but the big mo-fo is still coming, so Cyborg decides the only way they can stop him is to send him back where he came from. Tapping into the Mother Boxes, he opens Boom Tubes all around them, which also opens the door for Superman and Batman to make it back to Earth, Superman messed up and talking about seeing the Multiverse and another version of himself (see Earth-2). As soon as he’s back on Earth and sees Darkseid though, he hits him with a flying double punch so hard it causes it to become a two-page spread.

Say it with me now, “I AM A MAN!!!” *PAWNCH!!!*

Y’know, as awesome as this is, and it IS awesome, I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen a far more epic beatdown to Darkseid before…

God, I love JLU. 😀 Anyway, Cyborg’s systems start overloading, but Batman tells him it’s him that’ll be doing this and not the computer, mind over the machine, heart of the cards, yada yada, and Cyborg finally manages to suck Darkseid through the Boom Tubes and shuts them, the Mother Boxes getting fried in the process. They notice that the civilians have gathered around them and Flash thinks they should leave before they get out the burning pitch forks. However, it seems that the people have finally figured out that the seven are the heroes who just saved the world and cheer for them.

We cut to a while later at Washington D.C., where President Not-Bush is giving a speech about the recent crisis while the heroes stand by, chatting to each other. Aquaman resents the suggestion that his armour is a costume, saying he’d never choose orange for it while Hal tells him he doesn’t mind the orange but that the necklace has to go. Cyborg isn’t sure he should be with them, but Barry says he should and should be proud, motioning to the crowd where Dr. Stone is watching, proud of his son. Steve Trevor is shown too, I guess just to show that he survived the battle, and the father from the beginning of this issue is shown typing a story while narrating what’s happening. Hal can’t believe the people think of them as a team of friends, but Batman tells him that they need to make the world believe they are. Plus, they need to be working together in case something like this happens again. Hal wonders what the chances of that are, but suddenly the President gets word there’s trouble and they need the seven again, Barry saying they can refer to them as the Super Seven. Hal is unamused by the name (for once, we are of like minds), and Flash says they’ll think of something, ending with the father, David Graves, finishing writing his book, “Justice League: Gods Among Us”.

So does this mean David Graves also wrote the plot for “Injustice: Gods Among Us”?

Meanwhile in London, two creepy guys meet, talking about how new heroes are popping up every day, mentioning Green Arrow, Zatanna, and Hawkman. It’s at this point I should mention the fact that apparently at some point in the future, there were supposed to be new members to the League in the form of Deadman (Boston Brand), The Atom (Ryan Choi), Element Woman (Emily Sung), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Mera, Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), and a new revamp of the Golden Age character Lady Luck. To the best of my knowledge, this hasn’t happened yet, instead having Deadman (and Zatanna for that matter) being part of Justice League Dark, Mera mostly just sticking with her husband Aquaman (though she DOES appear in the crossover event Throne of Atlantis), Lady Luck apparently going to be appearing in The Phantom Stranger soon, Element Woman and Ryan Choi not having shown up at all, Ronnie becoming a new version of Firestorm that sees him bonding with Jason Rusch, and images of the upcoming Justice League of America shows Hawkman and Green Arrow being members of THAT team. This leads me to a few different conclusions as to what has happened, but I’ll get to that later. Instead, let’s just wrap up this page by explaining that these two men are members of the Religion of Crime from 52, thus hinting that they’ll eventually become important villains later on, but again, that hasn’t happened either.

Now, technically this isn’t the end of the comic, as we have a back-up story called “Pandora”. We see a man has been murdered in the streets, and among those in the crowd is Pandora. For those unaware, Pandora has actually been cameoing in the first issue of nearly every book in the New 52,  the only exception to this that I’m aware of being Earth-2 (which actually makes sense, since it’s an alternate Earth). She takes a closer look at the body when she’s confronted by The Phantom Stranger, who says that “they” sent him to speak with her, “they” likely consisting of Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, and Jeff Hardy… … …God, TNA storylines are stupid.

Pandora doesn’t seem all that amused by this, and The Phantom Stranger simply remarks that she should feel glad they didn’t send The Spectre, but Pandora claims she doesn’t fear The Spectre, having been judged by forces far above him: The Circle of Eternity. All of this is explained in a book that was made available on Free Comic Book Day, but just in case you don’t have it, I will simplify what’s happening here: Pandora and The Phantom Stranger make two of three individuals that were judged by The Circle of Eternity and punished eternally for their sins, the third apparently being The Question. TAKE A SHOT.

Is she good or evil? Misguided or insane? Does she know nothing…or everything?

Anyway, it seems that the Phantom Stranger is aware of the changes that Pandora made to reality, Pandora claiming she realigned and strengthened it while the Phantom Stranger feels that she’s dangerous and has been in possession of ‘the box’ for too long. However, Pandora screams at him to not touch her and that she won’t just be an observer anymore. They get into a short fight before Pandora shoots him in the head with what I can assume to be a magic gun (seriously, where are people purchasing these? XD), but anyone who knows the Phantom Stranger knows that trying to kill him is like trying to fold a newspaper over 1,000,000,000 times, it just can’t be done. However, Pandora says that while she can’t kill him, she can HURT him, and knows the ultimate means of doing so: Telling the world who he is. Yeah, y’know how The Phantom Stranger’s identity and origins were always a mystery that, let’s face it, should have stayed a mystery since it makes his character all the more intriguing? Well, while it’s hinted who he is in that Free Comic Book Day comic, it’s pretty much been confirmed exactly who he is after The Phantom Stranger #0. Would you like to know? He’s actually JUDAS…Yeah, THAT Judas. As in the man who betrayed Jesus……………Dan Didio is a sick man! And so our comic ends with Pandora saying that she’ll be released from her curse, but only after she finds ‘The Strange’ and imprisons it, and that the Justice League will be the ones to help her, “Whether they like it or not”.

Yeah, the back story kinda sucks, but the rest of the book is awesome. The biggest issues that this book has is in the way it can confuse, baffle, and on occasions anger readers that have been reading prior to the relaunch, or even just fans who have been reading info on the various wikis and watched the cartoons or movies. However, when you consider that this book is supposed to be an introduction to the New 52, it’s kinda hard to judge it for that. Besides, the story is solid enough that it’s easy to enjoy. One problem I have is that while the story does manage to establish who everyone is, what their powers are, and what their motivations are, the one who is kind of left out is Superman, as we really only know that he’s an alien with speed and strength that rivals and often outright towers over every other member of the Justice League. However, it’s worth noting that the first arc of Action Comics in the New 52 was also a prequel story that explains Superman’s origins in the new universe…too bad it apparently wasn’t all that great. It’s also worth noting that Cyborg is the only member without a solo title of his own, but considering his story is pretty much told within Justice League, it’s not THAT big a deal. Would still be nice, though.

Overall, I have to give this book props and recommend it, especially for new readers looking to get into DC Comics. Although, it’s not the BEST book of the New 52, at least not in my own humble opinion. What do I consider the best book? Oh, my friends, be sure to check in again in a few months, when I begin a retrospective of Scott Snyder’s Batman.

“I know plenty about bats, Alfred. Tell me what you know about owls.”

What I Got For Christmas – Justice League: Origin + Justice League #1 & #2 Review (SPOILERS AHEAD)

So I got a few things for Christmas, but I wanted to focus this particular entry on the comic book (graphic novel) that I got today: Justice League Origin, considered to be the primary introduction to The New 52. And because I suppose there’s a chance someone could read this blog entry that hasn’t read up much on the New 52, hasn’t read my previous What I Bought Today entries, or just wants more information, let’s first take a trip back to September 2011.

Btw, did anyone else think the hooded woman was actually Raven? Was it just my wishful thinking?

At the end of an event comic known as Flashpoint, wherein the Flash (Barry Allen, for those curious as to which Flash) found himself in an Earth where history had been altered due to a mistake he made going backward in time, Flash manages to stop himself from altering time, thus returning the world to the way it was supposed to be. However, a cloaked individual later confirmed to be Pandora (as in Pandora’s Box Pandora) merged the timeline of the main DC universe with that of two others (Wildstorm and Vertigo), claiming that they had originally been one universe but were splintered to weaken them. We’ll talk more about how combining the universes and causing some of the changes seen in the new DC Universe, or DCnU, makes very little sense later on. Instead, let’s take a look at the book that really helps to kick this new universe off, and yes, this will be an actual review. But since I don’t wanna melt anyone’s brains from going over it all at once, I’ll only look at Issues #1 & #2 here and cover the rest in other blog entries. So, as they say on a VERY popular comic book review show, let’s dig into Justice League #1 & #2 and see how the new universe got started!

I know this isn’t the standard cover, but I actually think they look better with the blue background. Also, my pet peeve aside, I gotta admit to being annoyed by the presence of all 7 members when only four appear at all in the first issue.

Issue #1 opens 5 years in the past, so I’m guessing since this came out in 2011, that makes this 2006. The Gotham City Police Department follow Batman via helicopters as he chases down a figure that is clearly not human. After a tussle with it, Batman is helped out by Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, who actually seems surprised to learn that Batman is real. Apparently superheroes are only recently becoming known to the public and haven’t really interacted much with each other. Also, it seems the world is afraid of them.

While chasing their target down, GL asks Batman what his powers are, eventually realising that Batman has none. He’s more than a bit surprised and maybe doubting of Batman at this point, until he notices that Batman has slipped his ring off. And it’s at this point I gotta wave a yellow card and just ask: REALLY? The Guardians of the Universe didn’t install some kinda safety mechanism in case someone just took the ring off a Green Lantern? Batman says that he managed to get it off him because Hal wasn’t concentrating, and that that’s clearly the means of controlling the ring, but I still wanna call foul. It’s pretty much at this point that the New 52 Drinking Game comes into play: Whenever something occurs that makes no sense, especially given knowledge obtained prior to the relaunch, take a shot. Let’s see how long it takes for readers to get plastered, shall we?

Anyway, they find the target, but it blows itself up, screaming “FOR DARKSEID!”. Hal manages to shield them both from the blast and tries to scan the box it left behind, but is unable to. Hal’s confused at this, claiming that the ring should be able to give him any information that the Guardians know…And take a shot. Okay, I know the Guardians of the Universe are MAJOR screw-ups, and nowadays have actually made the jump to being villains, but gimme a break. They don’t know of Darkseid or his machinations? This actually makes less sense later on, but we’ll get to that.

Realising this is clearly alien tech, Hal decides they should go to Metropolis, since rumour has it that Superman is an alien. Batman starts to say that he’s researched Superman, claiming his power levels are over 9000 (okay, Hal cuts him off at “power levels”, but how funny would it be if he’d actually said that?), but GL seems sure he can handle Supes if he becomes a problem.

We cut to Victor Stone winning a big football game, scouts apparently wanting to give him a huge scholarship. However, poor Vic seems more disappointed that his Dad couldn’t make the game, and that apparently he’s missed several, his studies on super-humans keeping him away. Quickly, somebody cue a chorus to sing “Cats In The Cradle”! Suddenly, a big green jet flies overhead and sets down in Metropolis, letting Batman and GL out. Batman warns Hal not to engage Superman, who apparently has been in a fight recently. Hal just puts Batman in a big green box and tells him he can handle this. However, a red and blue blur flies out and knocks Hal for a MAJOR loop, sending him crashing through the box that held Batman, before it lands next to the Dark Knight, revealing itself to be Superman.

The only complaint I can have here is that this looks more like the cover to a Marvel event comic. Y’know, where the heroes fight each other instead of the villains? ^_^

Issue #2 opens at the Central City Crime Lab, Barry Allen arguing with his superior regarding a murder case. He wants to follow up on it, insisting this man was a husband and a father and that he shouldn’t become a cold case, but while his superior agrees and wants to be solving murders as bad as Barry does, it seems the police chief wants every last one of them working to solve the Flash case, apparently obsessed with figuring out who the Flash really is. Major “Ouch” moment for Barry.

Meanwhile, we see that Batman has pretty much emptied his utility belt trying to stop Superman, who is convinced they were working with the ones that attacked him earlier since they had a box like the one Batman and GL took from the previous Parademon. GL gets his second wind and tries to chain up Superman, but like that’s gonna work. Batman is sure that Superman was worked into a frenzy from his previous fight and that right now he’s far too strong and fast to fight, but Hal claims he knows someone faster. He calls up Barry, since they apparently worked together on a case to bring down Gorilla Grodd…and destroyed the Museum of Natural History in the process, which is part of the reason the police want Flash.  However, after some begging and insisting that Superman is going to kill them (Superman doesn’t kill, take a shot), Flash shows up and actually gets a good shot in on Superman. He’s pretty sure this is a big misunderstanding, but Supes doesn’t seem to be in the mood to listen to him. Barry dodges his attacks with ease until Superman finally gets a finger flick into Barry’s face, sending him flying down the street. Batman finally manages to talk everyone down, Flash fixing up the damage their fight has done. As they try to get to the bottom of things, the military catches up to them. Superman’s sure that Lex Luthor can’t be far behind, so they take cover underground.

We cut to S.T.A.R. Labs in Detroit. They’ve got the box from Superman’s tussle with a Parademon, and have picked up a signal coming from it. Apparently, there are similar signals coming from New England, Washington D.C., Central City, and Coast City. Dr. Silas Stone is sure that the super-humans are involved somehow, but is cut off when his son Victor shows up, highly upset. His dad tells him that he doesn’t need a scholarship, since he’s paying for his school, but Victor would rather he pay for someone who needs it, claiming that M.S.U. wants him and that he could go pro. Dr. Stone pretty much explodes at him, telling him that with super-humans popping up, it could only be a matter of time before they make what Victor can do seem like nothing at all and that then he’d have nothing.

Meanwhile, Superman has brought the team to an abandoned printing press, since he apparently doesn’t have a base of operations. Fortress of Solitude, anyone? Take a shot! Hal thinks he and Flash should take the box and ditch Batman and Superman, and Batman determines that Flash is a cop when he suggests he could take the box in for analysis and try to find fingerprints or DNA traces. However, before they can continue on, we see both this box and the box at S.T.A.R. Labs are setting off some kind of pinging sound, after which they rip open massive portals that let loose legions of Parademons. And so our comic ends with Dr. Stone looking on in horror as his son is caught in the blast of the portal opening, his body burnt and torn asunder.

HOLY CRAP! Umm, I’d offer bandages, but I don’t think they’re gonna mean a whole lot here…! O_O

These comics…don’t really suck. No, really, since this book is supposed to be a brand new start and could be the first book for new readers, a lot is established. The book establishes that Batman has no powers but is fit enough to keep up with the others and is very likely the intellectual superior of the group. It establishes the group’s varying powers and how they work. It establishes the friendship between Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, as well as how Hal and Batman have problems getting along (and how Hal can be kind of a dick, lol). Most of all, we get to see Victor Stone BEFORE he becomes Cyborg, his relationship with his father, and we see what accident occurs in the new universe that will inevitably cause him to become Cyborg. However, this book isn’t perfect. For one thing, Wonder Woman and Aquaman still haven’t shown up by the end of issue #2, but then that could just be to set up the others first before introducing them. Also, this book has the main failing of most books involving Superman in the New 52 in that they constantly feel the need to remind us that he’s an alien. The only other problem is that anyone reading this book that knows these characters’ histories prior to the relaunch will find themselves picking at everything different, be it subconsciously or not.

Still, this is a good read, and it only gets better from here. Next time, we look at Issues #3 & #4, wherein we get to see New 52 debuts of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and of course, Darkseid. Ja né!

90th Blog Post! More Roster Contemplations for JLA Fanfic + Red Hood and the Outlaws Rant

So yeah, a few more superheroes I’m contemplating using. Even though I’ve already kinda got a storyline thought out, there are still spots on the team I haven’t decided on, so for my 90th blog post, let’s take a look at some more potential members.

Before I do though, there’s something I gotta address. A common thing you’ve likely heard me say is “I haven’t read any of the comics that _____ was in”. Well the thing is, I never really started collecting comics until a year ago, and the only ones I’ve been collecting are Scott Snyder‘s Batman (since the very first issue), Batman: Detective Comics (though I stopped collecting that recently), Red Hood and the Outlaws (again, dropped that because it stopped being a guilty pleasure and instead just became painful to read, but we’ll get to that later), Nightwing (starting with the Night of Owls tie-in, though I do plan to get the trade of the previous issues), Batman & Robin (again, starting with the Night of Owls tie-in), Earth-2, World’s Finest, and Batman Incorporated…Yeah, not hard to tell that Batman’s my favourite character, huh?

So yeah, prior to that, my knowledge of the heroes of the DC universe was limited to the DCAU which I still love to death, articles that I’d read online, wikis, and of course the greatest comic book review show EVER, Atop The Fourth Wall. After a while, I decided to start collecting comics myself, but since the reboot was on the way, I opted to wait until it started first since I felt it would be a good jumping-on point, and that’s the reason I haven’t read the comics involving a lot of these characters. Luckily for me, however, I have discovered the DC Comics Database wiki…or possibly unluckily, since I can’t seem to tear myself away from it for very long these days since the back-stories of a lot of these characters is so engaging.

So now that we got that out of the way, let’s go through some more potential members of the Justice League for my fic right now.

The Martian Manhunter

Reasoning: In almost every version of the Justice League’s origin story, Martian Manhunter played a role. I think the only major retelling that doesn’t is the current one for the New 52, and that’s only because he’s serving with StormWatch, and even then it’s suggested that he joined the League at some point but was kicked out due to some sort of fight between himself and the other members. I am actually contemplating involving StormWatch at some point if I don’t add him to the League in my fic.

Interpretation: Wise and knowledgeable (yes, there’s a difference between the two), though often times plagued with the loneliness that comes from being (one of) the last member(s) of his race. He’ll come with the basic run-down of his better-known powers without making him too similar to Superman (a practise I believe the DCAU did as well). He can fly, he can read minds, and can alter his body to make increase/decrease his mass, make himself invisible, shape-shift, phase through solid objects, and even regenerate from the smallest pieces of himself possible.

Aquaman

Reasoning: Okay, maybe instead of giving reasons why he should be on the team, I should address the reason people likely wouldn’t: That his ability to control aquatic life is “useless” in certain situations, like if they fight in a place with no water. Point made, but yer missing out on something else if you thought about it logically: Since he operates at the bottom of the sea, obviously a lack of oxygen isn’t a problem for him. He’d have to be much stronger, faster, and more reflexive than the average human to withstand the constant pressure. And finally, his natural senses would be enhanced as well. In particular, he’d need enhanced vision to combat the lack of light down there. Add in a badass nature to his character and his skills as a leader that come from being King of Atlantis, and I have to ask: Why WOULDN’T you want him on your side in a jam?

Interpretation: Pretty much everything I just said. And no, I’m not giving him the beard and the hook hand. I’m with MarkMadness on this one, I think that was an unnecessary attempt to amp him up and overdose him with badassness (not a real word, I know), and he doesn’t really need it.

Cyborg

Reasoning: Member of the Justice League on many an occasion, and in the New 52, he becomes one of the founding members…which is a good thing and a bad thing. Why bad? Well, because it means that the New Teen Titans never really happened at all, which is kind of irritating. Still, Cyborg is both an athletic powerhouse and possesses a high intelligence inherited from his father, thus proving to be a good choice.

Interpretation: Strong, athletic, intelligent, and comes complete with all sorts of high-tech gadgets in his body. I know a lot of writers tend to do a sort of conflict between the machine and the man with him, and while I may reference that he DID have that conflict, I think I want him to be pretty much over it and be just glad to be alive and saving lives. And don’t worry, I don’t plan to have him say “Booyah!” every five seconds, though I imagine it will be hard to keep him from saying it at least once if I do include him.

Starfire

Reasoning: Oh boy…Okay, it’s because I like the character and that she has served as a member of the JLA before, but there’s more to it than that. If you’ll allow me to go off on a rant, there’s something I’ve been meaning to get off my chest about this character.

Starfire in the Teen Titans cartoon

Again, I got into the Titans through their animated series, and while Starfire wasn’t my favourite character (that honour goes to Raven), she was kind, sisterly, forgiving, and possessed a naivety that made her endearing. Now, I understand that in the comics Kori wasn’t exactly like that, and also had a liberated sexuality, and you can make your arguments on whether that’s a good thing for the character or not. The thing is, though, that while she made love with whomsoever she wanted, it was about making LOVE, not bonking for the sake of bonking.

Starfire and Nightwing: Lovers

And then Red Hood and the Outlaws happened, and she became someone who was generally uninterested with human beings, had her happiest thought being snapping the neck of someone who showed kindness to her while she was a slave, had her memories of BETTER stories wiped from her mind, the size of her breasts had the ability to change from panel to panel (okay, really it was the artists not knowing her breast size, but that would be a little funny in an admittedly sick way if they said that) and generally had sex with whoever she wanted all the while claiming that “love had nothing to do with it”.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

Now, I’m not gonna claim to be sitting on some higher moral whatever and that the idea of a character acting in such a manner offends me to my very core. If they just had a whole new character acting in such a manner, I probably wouldn’t have even taken much notice to it. What bothers me is that they did this with Kori! And the saddest part is, having her be amnesiac and hanging with Red Hood actually does make for an intriguing storyline. Hell, even knowing she slept with him one time is alright and at least makes for a plot point that you know will eventually hit the wall when Dick Grayson eventually finds out about all of this, and you just KNOW he will. That’s actually why I stuck with it for as long as I did, because it looked like the team was gelling together as friends more and they were heading somewhere with it, but when I opened issue 10 and saw that they were planning to keep up with this bullshit AND that it was a change to her whole species, I had to drop it because of how insulted I was. FU, Scott Lobdell. FU!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3

…Okay, rant over. But yeah, let’s move on to interpretation.

Interpretation: I am very sorely tempted to make her exactly like her Teen Titans cartoon counterpart, but then again, she would be an adult in this, so…I’m thinking have her dialogue resemble how she spoke in that show, but have her more adult nature as well. Also, I’m thinking her powers should be more based off of her comic book version, and that she gets them by absorbing ultra-violent radiation.

So yeah, those are a few more of the heroes I’m contemplating. Now again, I have a general story idea thought out, so expect the fic to come out sooner or later. Til then, ja ne!