Running Water

OSHI- IT'S A BLOG POST, WHAT

2008-04-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

That's right! Actual content on Running Water, ZOMG!

...

APRIL FOOL'S!

8D

(I am working on real posts, but I'm not going to deny that I am not at all being prompt about it.)

(I am also aware of the ironies of posting an April Fool's Day post about how I never post, yes.)

Review: Blue Beetle #24

2008-02-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

Omigodthiswassogood.

Also this week I got Justice Society of America #13, which was rather enjoyable. I particularly like the penciller on this book. Rock on, Fernando Pasarin. Your expressions make me a happy HAC.

Also got the Blue Beetle Reach for the Stars TPB. It was fun. And went from issue 13-19, which is bigger than I thought it would be, but also means that the unexpected guest issue isn't going to mess with the next trade, so I'm OK with that.

I did not get Teen Titans #56 and, in fact, did not even bother to flip through it in the shop, and I don't particularly feel like regretting it, either.

So, how about that Blue Beetle #24, eh?

Cover: Ohmigod, that speech bubble they added to the cover. I screamed silently in my comic shop when I saw it. The last time I did that was-- OK, the last time I did that was when they added a speech bubble to Booster Gold #6. BUT STILL.

Pg. 1: Yay, survival for the Reyeses and company!

Pg. 2: Yay, Traci 13! Yay, cookies!

Pg. 3: Hehehe, Beetle-mobile.

And lookit how miffed Brenda is on this page. So very miffed.

Pg. 5: Unpunchableium. Kehehehe.

Pg. 6: Jaime speaking Scarab Speak! It's like a full circle of awesome from the Scarab speaking English last issue!

Oh, and the translation: "Code A1Beta." and then "Stun."

Don't need no stinking powers indeed. <3 Ted would be so very damn proud, Jaime.

Pg. 7: Pants, then spaceship. Good prioritizing, Jaime.

Scarab Speak translation: "thanks."

Pg. 8: I <3 this outfit.

Pg. 9: OK, so Brenda's obviously calling La Dama here, but who's Paco on the phone with? The Posse, maybe? but that seems awfully quick.... Although I suppose they'd mobilize more quickly than La Dama's forces, anyway....

A coincidence? I think not.

Pg. 10: Peacemaker's on his feet again! \o/ And he's got the Posse with him! \o/

Pg. 11: Scarab Speak translation: "You have no idea what I can do." Negotiator's D:/o_o face after that is awesome.

Pg. 14: La Dama! The Diviner! Mr. Reyes! *General flailing of love and awesome*

Pg. 17: The code just seems to be gibberish to me.

Pg. 18: Jaime's gleeful "I knew they were alive!" makes me happy. Mortal danger? Guards with guns that want to kill him? Bah! His family's still breathing!

Pg. 19: Mrs. Reyes and Brenda <3

Pg. 20: Oh noes!

Also, please note Mrs. Reyes with a gun there. So awesome.

But also oh noes!

Pg. 21: I'm interested in knowing what the code is for. And it interests me that Jaime's surprised the ship can't crack it.

I love the defiance here. Ted would be so very damn proud and then some. <3

Pg. 22: Khaji Da! That's the phrase Dan used to activate the Scarab, of course. I have no goddamn idea what it's giong to do in this context. I can't wait to find out. Way cruel cliffhanger.

Also, next issue features a JLI reunion, too! Booster appearing in Blue Beetle yesplz.

Review: Booster Gold #0

2008-02-25T23:03:00.000-08:00

Well, this took forver.

The also-rans of the weeks:

Atomic Robo #5: I actually remembered the sucker this week! \o/ Amusing, but felt mostly like set-up for next issue. It happens.

Green Lantern Corps #21: I thought Boodikka has returned to Bellatrix before.... I seem to recall seeing scans of her visiting her mother on Mother's Day. That aside, I am interested in where this story's going. I am somewhat disappointed that it seems to expect one to be following the other Green Lantern book, considering that I'm only picking up GLC.

Wonder Woman #17: I do believe that I will continue to buy this book. I wouldn't say I'm ZOMGSUPEREXCITED about it, but it doesn't repulse me like Teen Titans did, so it stays.

Brave & the Bold #10: Y'know what's odd about this book? I honestly can't remember what's going on in it between issues. I'll open the book and be like, "Oh, right, last issue ended on that cliffhanger, didn't it?" and then "Oh, right, there's that Mephisto thing going on," and then "Oh, right, that team-up happened." I can't recall this happening with any of the other books I read, it's just Brave and the Bold where I keep going, "Oh, right, stuff is actually happening in this book." It's really a good book while I'm actually reading it, so I keep buying it, but it just doesn't stick once it's out of my hands.

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War Vol. 1 HC: I concur with the rest of the blogosphere that this event is rawkin'.

And now, the main course, Booster Gold #0:

Cover: Does not have as much Zero Hour trade dress as I would've though. Also, the image itself is slightly off-center and that bothers me.

Pg. 1: Interesting how Future Beetle doesn't quite seem to be pointing at Ted specifically. Although I'm pretty sure there's no "supposed to be dead" in Booster's life (recently).

Also, noticeable and considerable height difference yeesssssss.

Pg. 2: "Of course, I just broke the same rules I'm supposed to be enforcing," amuses me greatly, considering that Booster got his superhero career started by stealing from a museum he was employed as a security guard in.

While Max was very directly involved in Booster's League membership (and there is a certain argument to be made for making the League seem ineffective with that...), Ted was a member of the Giffen League from the very start, while I think it took almost a year for Max to really become an accepted part of the team.

Pg. 3: "Leaving my future to be eaten away by the spawn of Mr. Mind." Ooooooo, a hint of another panel of the preview page at the end of the first issue!

Dan and Ted's successive "What?"s amuse me. So much I made a LiveJournal icon out of it:

Scarab Speak Translation: "Ted, take the wheel." Which, of course, makes no sense in context.

Pg. 4: Oh hai Zero Hour!

Daaaaaaan, Jaime doesn't quite qualify as a grown man yet!

Pg. 5: Oh, wait 'til Ted hears that Booster was drunk when he rear-ended Barry, too.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Ted, take the wheel." And it actually makes sense here! And seems to be Future Beetle's Scarab speaking, which is interesting.

Pg. 6: Booster confirms that he's over 30. And, of course, he was 19 when he started, so he's been at the superhero thing for over a decade. Of course, considering how long it's probably been since CoIE for the rest of canon, a few of those years were probably spent in the future between the end of the OMAC Project mini and when Booster reappeared in Infinite Crisis. I really would like to know what happened in those years....

Scarab Speak Translation: "My Scar ab's goin g nuts." I really like how they formatted the line breaks there to show the wigging out.

Pg. 7: Hal Jordan was a good guy again by the time I started reading comics. Is hurting Parallax as big a deal as I think it is?

Booster and Hank Hall have met before. In Booster's first series, actually. Issue #17. They did not get along. Things do not seem to have improved. (Which is really no wonder, considering how Booster left Hawk at the end of that story....)

"I lost some special to me. But Parallax says he'll bring him back." Substitute "Future Beetle" for "Parallax." Smirk knowingly. And worry.

Pg. 8: Scarab Speak Translation: "Or me." Hee.

I love how "already destroyed 64th century" = "annihilate the 25th soon enough." That's not nearly 4,000 years or anything. Quick, ~~Shane~~ somebody who's actually read Zero Hour! How long was it between Impulse's disappearance and Booster's? And between Booster's disappearance and when the present was in very immediate danger? Because if that was like bang-bang-bang, then I'll reverse my "haha, what?" reaction to that. But otherwise....

Pg. 9: I rather like how the 25th century is still "home" for Booster, despite everything.

Pg. 10: So, it seems that Jonar lost his eye to pay for a debt. Not terribly exciting, but certainly gruesome.

"Do you really think you're strong enough to deal with that kind of guilt?" Jonar Carter. Still an asshole!

Booster tracked Jonar down, did he? Iiiiiiinteresting. Mostly, of course, because if Booster tracked Jonar down, then Jonar didn't track Booster down to demand monies of him, which is fractionally less bastardliness than I would've expected.

Honestly, though, this page can pretty much be accurately summarized by just "Jonar Carter is an asshole and Booster's not a particularly bright kid. (Though he is a particularly pretty one.)"

Pg. 11: I love how Michelle is totally more important than anything Booster's done as Booster Gold.

Michelle's supposed to be blond like Booster! Curse you, Hi-Fi! At least the red hair isn't totally out of left field, considering that Mrs. Carter was a redhead, but still. I get the feeling that somebody or multiple somebodies have gotten the two Goldstars mixed up, since Trixie (who actually was a redhead) is sadly overlooked here. But I guess she's kind of obscure.... Not that Michelle isn't, of course, but Michelle's easier to bring back than Trixie would be, of course. Which is really sad when you consider that Michelle's the dead one of the two.

Also it means I have to update my Proud Carter Tradition icon again:

Oh, while I'm at it, hey, lookit, Booster's football uniform is red again. Exciting.

Pg. 12: Ah, Michelle, I am so happy that you are so capable of seeing through Jonar's bull. Not that Booster would ever listen to such a thing, of course. But it's nice that one of you is capable of reason. Also makes me feel much less worried about Jonar's "you and your sister always thought too much of me" from issue 4. Funny how one simple page can assuage my Jonar-rezzing-Shel ~~desires~~ fears.

Tangential thought: Why is the locker room so empty save Carters?

Bawwwwww, Booster's crippling need for love and attention.

"A few months after I went back in time, Michelle followed me" is such a drastic understatement. I mean, of course they couldn't summarize that whole arc down to anything even closely resembling reasonable, but still. It would be hilarious to see 'em try. (I think the shortest I can summarize it is something like, "Booster's power source for his suit ran out, and also he got the tar beaten out of him and ended up terminally ill, so he went back to the 25th century, and the cops caught him, because stealing a time machine is a crazy heinous crime [the punishment is execution without trial, even! Booster compares it to setting off a nuclear bomb in a church.], but then Shel breaks him off death row and returns to the present with him, 'cuz like hell she can stay in the future after that."[And, yes, that link is completely gratuitous, but I love that panel, so bah!]) I would've at least liked it if they mentioned that Booster made a return trip to the future and Michelle ended up coming back with him, instead of making it sound like Michelle made the trip independently.

Pg. 13: I don't think Michelle ever actually called herself Goldstar. I'm not sure anybody ever called Michelle Goldstar in-canon. I mean, Goldstar was the name associated with the costume, of course, but it's not like Shel ever actually did any heroing. It's explicitly stated in canon that she stole (and funny how that part isn't mentioned....) the costume because she wanted to fly. Of course, I can excuse this because it's not like she ever told Booster that, and I can easily believe that Booster is not as good at sussing out Shel's motivations as she is at his.

Booster, 5 minutes does not really a big brother make, while I'm at it.

"It wasn't your fault she died." Actually, Ted, it kind of was. I realize that Booster has probably never explained what actually happened to you, but Shel was not actually murdered like you thought in C2IC; she died at the uncaring hands of electrocution via falling rubble. And what caused the structural damage that resulted in the falling rubble? Yeah, that'd be a guy by the name of Booster Gold. So Booster's part in the death of Michelle is roughly equal to Ted's part in the death of Dan. So unless you've gotten over your massive guilt complex, Ted, (and maybe you have, considering the general lack of Freaking Out that's been done so far, actually,) I'm not sure you should really be telling Booster not to feel guilty about it.

I adore that Ted places Michelle before himself here. Because it is Right and Good ~~and feels like delicious, delicious Validation~~.

Explicit statement that Friends and Family > Career and Respect makes me happy.

And check out that grin in that last panel. Booster has a Plan. A Plan that involves saving his sister. Yesssssss.

Pg. 14: Look, it's the Space Museum! Check out Booster's Legion Flight Ring in the foreground there and the forcefield belt in the back.

Also, be sure to check out the expression on Dan's face. He's so totally gawking. Jaime probably is, too, but it's less obvious. And Future Beetle's just like B|.

Hi-Fi, I do not think that the guy tackling young Booster on that screen should be wearing the same color football uniform that he is.

While I'm at it, why is this game being broadcast to an empty museum?

I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with Dan Garrett calling Booster "Michael".

I'm curious as to how they managed to get this far without setting off any alarms already.

Pg. 15: Lookit, it's a Batarang and Adam Strange's helmet!

Man, that's a lotta robots. Which is new. I'm none too familiar with the Space Museum's original stories, but I don't think it's ever had robots other than Skeets in the context of Booster. And none of these other robots look like Skeets, which is even more weird.

"And I don't want to hear any more complaints from you about our protocol. Shoot to kill, Skeets, you're scrap." I still haven't figured out if the Leader 'Bot is telling Skeets not to kill people or if he's telling him to kill people. Very big difference, that.

I like the expressions in the 4th panel. A lot. They are quite perfect.

Pg. 16: "Which one?" Hee. (Although, c'mon, Ted, why are you even bothering to ask; what could you do against a horde of robots like that?)

It amuses me that the other robots turn into regular OMAC's, while Skeets just turns into an OMAC'd Skeets. That makes perfect sense!

OK, starting from regular Booster and working outwards, we've got the original costume (complete with cape!), the life support suit from Extreme Justice, the Conglomerate outfit (<3), and 3 versions that I don't think are actually from anything. Pretty sure I'd remember seeing a Booster with that many stars on his costume. So gaudy.

Besides the Jaime-esque costume, all of the alterna-Teds seem to be just made up.

Of course, if I'd been in charge of this, I probably would've included the Booster from this (admittedly fairly obscure and probably with good reason) comic and the literal Blue Beetle Ted who recently appeared in Countdown: Arena.

Pg. 17: "This is so awesome." QFT.

"We can't remember this? But that's not fair." Also QFT. Although I do agree with Dan regarding the necessity of it, and it does explain why Jaime is not showing any signs of having met Ted over in his own book.

"Just try to remember to go easy on me that first year of school, okay?" "Never." I <3 you, Dan. <3

Ted and Jaime bonding yay.

Pg. 18: "Your blind, unflinching determination is as inspiring as it is fortuitous, Michael." It's also probably kind of unhealthy and definitely makes him easy to manipulate.

Pg. 19: "In fact, everyone looks ridiculous with a mustache." As a fan of facial hair, I will fight you, Ted!

Rip's not that bad, is he, Booster? Just has a stick up his time-traveling butt, does he?

That just can't be healthy.

Oh noes, the chalkboard is clean! And, uhh, broken to bits. That too.

What is with all the using Michael in this issue? He goes by Booster. He calls himself Booster. Other people call him Booster. All to the point where if he is going by Michael or Mike, it's usually to protect somebody else's secret identity (since he lacks one of his own), and when somebody has to introduce him as Michael/Mike in that situation, they usually pause before they say it, because it's something they have to work to recall, even if it's Booster himself doing the introducing. Booster got the moniker of Booster Gold by automatically answering Booster when asked for his name by the President and not getting the chance to fully correct it in time. That's how thoroughly Booster goes by Booster instead of Michael. Could we please not throw it around like we would Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne or something? Kthnx.

Pp. 20-21: OHSHI-

Pg. 22: Yes, Booster, Zero Hour. That's why there are OMAC's all over the place. That makes perfect sense. B| Booster, sweetie, I love you, and I understand that you really don't want this to be exactly what Rip was warning you about, but seriously. Could you at least try for a scapegoat that makes sense?

So, this is going to end well, yes?

So, stuff rocks right now.

2008-02-11T00:39:00.000-08:00

Booster Gold #0 is swiftly approaching. JSA #12 was pretty damn nifty, as was Teen Titans Year 1 #2. I read and enjoyed the first trade of Iron Fist, but really need to get around to reading up on Iron Fist's history to achieve the deeper appreciation for things that I like to have. Editor Jann Jones is a crocheter. And check out what's #1 on Bully's top 50 end of the year countdown!

The April Solicits

2008-01-24T21:49:00.000-08:00

Are over here, of course.

Teen Titans #58: It always amuses me when somebody with a pretty skintight outfit gets held up by their shirt.

Booster Gold #8: Provides yet another example of the Incredibly Stretchy Costume, although at least Ted doesn't have chain mail being stretched there.

Also, I totally love it whenever Booster fights Superman. It's very meta.

I am curious to see who's on this all-new, all-different Freedom Fighters team.

Supernova teaming up with an evil Beetle? So very much want. Had not thought of that sort of thing myself, but, in retrospect, probably should've.

Also, it totally makes me want a team-up with Supernova and Ted's Uncle Jarvis. It would be ~~traumatizing~~ great.

Batman #676 and Superman #675: I find it interesting how these two issues are solicited right next to each other and both figure floaty cape action.

All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #10: Isn't "better half" usually used in reference to one's wife/girlfriend?

Detective Comics #843: Zatanna's showing up again? How odd. Also, I am vaguely curious as to the origin of the new Ventriloquist.

Action Comics #864: Is it just me, or is that cover reminiscent of the end of IC #1, where Earth-2 Superman busts out of the crystal place?

Green Lantern Corps #23: I swear I've seen that cover somewhere before.... Am I just crazy, or what?

Countdown to Final Crisis Vol. 1 TP: Already? I could've sworn they waited longer than this to solicit the first 52 trade, but I could just be crazy.

Tiny Titans #3: Penguins tied to rockets with helmets with umbrellas on them yes.

Super Friends #2: The smiles on the cover disturb me. It's sooo.... I dunno. totally bizarre.

Review: Blue Beetle #23

2008-01-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I ended up never reviewing #22. So I'll do that right now, real shortlike: It rocked.

I bought 4 books today:

Atomic Robo #4- Needs to stop coming out on Booster Gold weeks so I can actually remember to buy it. Also it was good.

Wonder Woman #16- Did not totally rawk my socks off, but doesn't fill me with boundless rage, either. Hrm. Also, didn't she, like, just come back to life? And is showing up in multiple comics? (But I'd rather not get into that headache....) So I'm having a bit of trouble caring/worrying.

Teen Titans #55- Is probably going to be the last issue of Teen Titans I pick up. I started getting this book for Jaime, and I don't really approve of how McKeever is writing Jaime. Also there is just something about Tim and Cassie that makes me want to stab people in the face and never stop, so I figure it's for the best if I just drop it.

I will admit that I did chuckle at Rose dismissing Jaime's talk of the Reach as just joking, though.

And, of course Blue Beetle #23, which was soooooo goooooooood.

Pg. 1: "Yaaaaaay me." Hee. Oh, Jaime. <3

WWTKD? Oh, Jaime. <3

Hahahahaha, the books on the bookshelf. 5 and 2 and then 2 and 3. I don't know who's responsible for that, but <3 <3 <3 for them.

Pg. 2: C2IC Parallel #2 (#1 being the Beetley star, of course): The massive Conspiracy the Justice League wouldn't believe.

I rather like Jaime's description of the average Teen Titans meeting.

Pg. 3: Any plan in which Paco does not get to help is a sucky plan. Of course.

It is impressive to be an uptight control freak at 8.

Pg. 4: I am interested by the social system slightly exposited by the Negotiator and Dawur here.

Also I bet the ruling caste is totally scary and I hope they show up sometime.

Part of me wants to play around with the Calculus in the first panel. The other part wants to beat that part into a bloody pulp for even suggesting it. And then I get sad because I look at it and realize that I don't really remember much Calculus.

Pg. 5: Thousand-year rule? Haven't the Reach been around for a good deal longer than that?

C2IC Parallel #3: The bad guys closely monitoring the hero's every move! (Yeah, that's pretty standard fare, but still.)

Pg. 6: Oh, Jaime, you're so wonderfully responsible. And again with the incredible 8-year-olds! Also, <3 Jaime's parents. As always.

Pg. 7: Om nom nom themes.

<3 last panel.

Pg. 8: I like how Jaime had different narration-thought-boxes when he's in costume.

I just.... Oh, Jaime. <3

Pg. 10: I love that Ted managed to get 3 entire chapters worth of notes on time travel out of vague hints from Booster. And that he appears to have also noted Booster's jokes and lists of boob-slang.

Nebulae is the correct plural of nebula, but I guess that could change in the 400-some years between now and then.

Also, I am surprised that those notes are at all comprehensible, considering how often the rules of time travel as relate to Booster Gold keep contradicting themselves.

Should Booster Gold-related time travel craziness count as C2IC Parallel #4? I think it might be stretching it a bit....

Pg. 11: Delightful, delightful time travel craziness.

Pg. 12: Hahahaha, Jaime's so confused. <3

Pg. 14: Yes, the ~~dialogue~~ monologue here matches up with on page 11.

Pg. 15: Invisible-fied!

\m/ triangulation. Clever!

I oddly <3 the expression on the Negotiator's face in that 2nd-to-last panel. It's so "Bwuuaaaahh!"

Pg. 16: I audibly gasped at the Scarab speaking English. Truly one of the most awesome things I have ever seen in a comic book. <3 It's just pure Fuck. Yes.

Pg. 18: Oh, Negotiator, you sneaky bastard.

Pg. 19: D:

C2IC Parallel #4/5: Lightning-bolt-esque energy from space machine destroying Beetle's home with friends/family inside. D:

(I, uhhhh, checked, and the sound effect does not match up perfectly with C2IC, at least. It's just "CA-KOOOM" in C2IC, as opposed to the "WHAKA-KHOOOM" here.)

Pg. 20: Poor Jaime. :(

Pg. 21: Shouldn't that have, like, killed Jaime? Or at least rendered him extremely unconscious?

The Negotiator really is a Magnificent Bastard.

Pg. 22: Man, now that is a helluva last page.

And maybe by next month I'll have figured out how many C2IC Parallels the cover of next issue will count for!

No Habla Espanol. And That's Okay.

2008-01-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Boo, solicitations have to wait until tomorrow. Booooooo. At least we've got a sneak preview at Jaime's solicit.

BLUE BEETLE #26
Written by Jai Nitz
Art by Mike Norton & Trevor Scott
Cover by Zach Howard
A special extra-sized Spanish-language issue, with the English script as bonus material! Blue Beetle takes Traci 13 to his family reunion, and having your girlfriend meet your family can be tough, especially when she's the only guest who doesn't speak Spanish! To make matters worse, two people have uncovered Jaime's secret identity — and one of them is the Parasite!
On sale April 30 • 40 pg, FC, $3.50 US

Ah, the rumored all-Spanish issue. I, personally, think it's a nifty idea. And I know pretty much no Spanish whatsoever. (I took Latin as my ~~2nd~~ 3rd language in high school, because I have some sort of aversion to things that are actually useful, obviously. ~~That's why I'm planning on being an English major!~~) But I think that's the whole idea, of course. We're not supposed to know what's going on any more than Traci is.

And Traci gets to meet the Reyeses! Want!

One wonders who the other person who discovers Jaime's identity is. Also what the Parasite has to do with anything....

So, basically, I am all for this. Bring it on, DC!

I'm Just Saying, I Wouldn't Be Surprised If I Ended Up Blogging Only Once a Month

2008-01-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

Once a month being, of course, when the new issue of Booster Gold comes out. >.> I also bought the Flash, but I don't think I will continue to do so. It's an alright book, but it's failed to grab me in the 4 issues I gave it.

Did Wonder Woman come out this week? DC's site says yes, but it wasn't at my LCS, and I know how the DC site is frequently full of crap. But it never hurts to double-check.

Anyway, Booster Gold!

Cover: Is incredibly terrifying. Especially with the added speech bubble.

Pg. 1: I get the feeling that Future Beetle has no business reminding me of Uncle Sam. I mean, he's just waaaaay too convenient. He's got to be up to something.

Pg. 2: See, Rip agrees with me! Although I wouldn't say that Skeets needs Booster right now more than ever. Skeets has been neglected before plenty. Booster kept him in a box for years for crying out loud! (Skeets kept himself amused by playing with the Internet. Oh, Skeets.) And I'd say that Skeets needed Booster a lot more when, saaaay, he got eaten by a certain Venusian mindworm during 52?

Also, I love the body language of the Beetles in the 1st panel. Namely, that Dan and Future Beetle are both standing all ramrod straight and Jaime isn't. It's a nice detail.

Pg. 3: Future Beetle speaks incredibly... academically. Yes. He uses many big words when a few small ones will do.

Jaime's dialogue hints that the Beetle Brigade came to pick up Booster at his suggestion. I find this interesting.

So, Skeets, who is the other guy? I choose to believe he's referring to when the Joker beat Booster senseless using Skeets as a prop. Because that makes the other guy Booster and that's hilarious.

Skeets is woobieful.

"What are you going to do to stop me?" <3 <3 <3

Pg. 4: olol Beatles.

"I'm going to bring my friend back or I'm going to die trying." Oh, Booster.

Pg. 5: The wormholes shown are Jason Todd and Red Robin, which I hear tell is where Countdown is headed; Ralph Dibny, Batman, and Sherlock Holmes, which is, I believe, the 50th anniversary issue of Detective Comics (I vaguely recall seeing an ad for it in Booster's original series); and the Jack Knight Starman with a guy whose name I can't remember, but I saw him in JLA: The Nail and I think he's a Kirby character, but I'm not sure....

Thought: There's clearly no room for privacy in that time sphere, and Booster's changed costumes. I mean, Booster wouldn't have a problem with that, of course, but still. Awkward!

Also his wounds have disappeared and changing clothes doesn't work that way!

"These colors are giving me a serious headache." Hee. Oh, Jaime. <3

Ted is something of a study in contradictions. Part of the reason I like him.

Booster 'n' history lessons and the like will never fail to vaguely amuse me.

Pg. 6-7: Kehe, Action Heroes is a nickname for Charlton heroes, although I'm not entirely sure where the nickname itself originated, come to think of it.

I want to say that Ted fought the Madmen in his first appearance, but I'm not at all sure that's right. Pretty sure they were in the Ditko Charlton days, though. Which, uhhh, they'd pretty much have to be, I guess, with the hourglass-goggles and being before CoIE.

CoIE being the "In any Crisis." panel, of course. [Aside: I really should read CoIE one of these days....]

The backwards-S layout is even more awkward here than it was in the 1st issue with Booster's 5-second life story. And, of course, while Booster's went a little something like, "I'm a failure, I suck, Ted's great, I still suck, but I'm trying to get better. For Ted.", Ted's is more like, "Ted's great, Ted's great, Ted's great, Ted's dead." Oh, Booster. Therapy.

The switch from Charlton to DC not only goes from the hourglass goggles to the round goggles (which make more sense), but it also changes the head bit of the beetle design on his chest. And also improves it, imo.

The Scarab temp-rezzing Dan and trying to kill Ted with him is still in continuity, is it? I would muchly like to see that explored at some point, be it here or in Blue Beetle.

Does ripping off the layout of the cover to A New Beginning ever get old? Honest question. It's not a straight lift here, with Max replacing Dr. Light and Oberon, Batman moving over to occupy Black Canary's and J'onn's spot, and Booster in Batman's vacated spot. Also there was considerably less smiling on the original.

Ted, mind you, did not fare particularly well against Despero or Doomsday, but he tried, poor boy. (Also, lawls, Booster's long hair. And Bloodwynd, being J'onn in disguise, really shouldn't be so close to that fire there....)

So, if Canary and Ted are right behind Babs there, then who is she talking to?

It amuses me that Jurgens can't seem to decide which direction Ted's antennae go. Not that anybody can, of course.

Pg. 8: Man, I know on an intellectual level that Dan's an archaeologist and I believe he even had a doctorate (I seem to recall reading Ted referring to him as "Doc Garrett", though I can't say where I saw it), but when I think "Dan" I think "punching", not "quoting Emerson."

...I'm not sure Booster's actually done so much of the being sincere and thinking aloud thing with Ted. I mean, probably moreso than he's done with others, but honesty is not one of Booster's particular strengths. He's been described as talking a great deal, but saying very little, which I think is incredibly accurate. I mean, he tells Guy in issue 2 that he never told Ted about his dad, remember?

Scarab Speak Translation: "I only did it to impress a girl." I like to imagine it's said in a mocking tone.

Pg. 9: I've no comment on this page but <3

Pg. 10: The Conglomerate! Once upon a time, Booster was in the JLI. And then he got fed up with nobody giving him any respect, so he quit, and formed his own team. The Conglomerate. I <3 the Conglomerate. Booster as a competent leader yesplz. Also, reminds me that I have yet to review JLQ #1. Aheh. >.>

While Danny is indeed more of a strawberry blond in this issue and Booster's been pretty consistently sandy throughout the series, Danny's hair has previously shared its palette with Booster. The question is whether or not the difference will continue to exist....

Danny being two inches shorter than Booster makes him anywhere from 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches, I think. Booster is tall. Two inches seems like a pretty precise measurement to be able to tell, though....

It amuses me that she didn't see fit to mention that Danny and Booster have completely different haircuts.

Hahahaha, Golden Age Booster, hahahahaha.

Putting on acts, eh? Oh, Rose, you Carter(-to-be).

The eye Rose is removing a contact from in the 2nd-to-last panel is not the one that is contact-less in the last panel. Goddammit, Hi-Fi.

I wonder if anybody besides me remembers that Danny is also a contact-wearer.

"Now what do we do?" The answer?

Pg. 11: ~~HAWT HAWT MAKE-OUTS AND EVENTUAL BABY-MAKING.~~ Getting interrupted by super-devious Rip!

Danny and Rose have switched positions on the couch. This bothers me.

So much love for Rip here. Apparently the answer to "What are you going to do to stop me?" is "Recruit your ancestors!" This will probably not end well. But it had damn well better be ancestors. Can't imagine why else Rip would bring both costumes otherwise. And Rose should totally be Supernova IV. Because it would make for the fastest moving legacy ever. How many Starmen have there been so far? I need to know what number we have to beat. :P

Carter family's heroic legacy? Really? I always figured that Carters were, by nature, more likely to fall on the other side of the law. Considering that the Carters-by-birth we know are Booster, who's a wanted man several times over in his home time period, and if the cops ever catch him, he gets to get executed sans trial, very lovely (unless that's been retconned, but I certainly hope not.); Michelle, who busted a guy off of death row (note the aforementioned "executed sans trial") and stole the Goldstar costume, even though Booster probably would've given it to her if she asked, he being a giant push-over like that; Jonar, who is, of course, a supervillian, to say nothing of the back-stabbing that Booster mentioned or his gambling problems; and Danny, who, admittedly, doesn't seem to be all that bad of a guy (at least comparatively), but, well, somebody's who reaction to getting an extremely powerful supersuit is "play Madden without bathroom breaks" is probably not entirely there to begin with. So I'm not sure where Rip's getting this "heroic legacy" stuff from. I mean, Booster's a straight-up hero, but Danny and Shel have so far just gotten in on technicalities, and Jonar's straight-up evil.

Pg. 12: I'd try to figure out if 16 months is accurate to what we've been given before, but I've honestly just given up on making sense out of the timestamps in this book.

"I wasn't exactly in the best place" is some pretty drastic understatement. At the time of Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster was apparently flat broke and homeless.

The files are pretty directly cribbed from C2IC, it seems. Straight down to that "intransigent" error in Booster's file that drives me nutters. (And that Shel's middle initial is A. It's just so random.)

It's so odd to see this scene without Ted's narration boxes. Mostly because it amuses me that Ted refers to Michelle as Booster's "murdered sister", because that makes it pretty clear that Booster never actually told Ted the circumstances of her death. Michelle wasn't murdered at all. It was, at best, a tragic accident, and, at worst, totally Booster's 'n' Skeets's fault. But I wouldn't call it a murder.

Pg. 13: Y'know, I was worried that this would end up changing C2IC a bit, and I don't mean because of the time-travel. But, no, all the dialogue on this page is lifted straight from C2IC, straight down to the italics. I <3 it. I mean, there's some skipping of stuff, but it's understandable, given space limitations and such.

"We never liked Max. Not really." is a total lie, though. They might not have always gotten along perfectly with Max, but they certainly seemed to like him well enough.

"But we were never bad guys." Booster, sweetie, do I need to remind you of your impressive criminal record? I mean, OK, Booster's not a straight-up bad guy or anything, but he does fall kinda low on the moral ladder....

Pg. 14: And nobody knows the danger of ego like Booster Gold.

Sooooooooo much woobie. <3

Dan's smirk here? Best.

Pg. 15: Nice ass, Ted.[/shallow]

Man, I really hope that something gets done with hospitalized Booster.... Mostly because I greatly <3 hospitalized Booster.

I love that Ted is visibly shorter than Booster and Dan here. Yes.

"Brother Eye fried that bozo Booster" is close to a line from C2IC, but not identical. (Max calls Brother I "Brother One" in C2IC, there's a bit in the middle, and "that bozo Booster" gets "flash-fried" instead of regular fried.)

Pg. 16: Scarab Speak Translation: "They tried to kill Blue Beetle. Let's break their skulls." Which is interesting, since the Scarab and Ted never seemed to be on any sort of good terms. Probably just the principle of the matter, though.

Max has not technically said yet that he made the League ineffectual on purpose. Whoopsie!

I'd also like to point out that the JLI was plenty effective when they had people to fight, it just didn't happen very often. But the joke amuses me anyway.

And Ted and Booster are fighting people together and bantering and, darnnit, that just makes me happy.

Pg. 17: Man, Dan and Sasha really are totally flirting here.

Future Beetle has zappy powers. Good for him.

Jaime, your timing for questions is terrible.

Max's OMAC activation code is same as in C2IC, except that instead of "Blue Beetle recipient" it's "intruder recipients", which is nice.

The dude who turned into an OMAC in C2IC was blond, though.

Pg. 18: Dan to the rescue!

The OMAC successfully broke Ted's arm in C2IC, of course.

Pg. 19: Max is supposed to already have given his "you or Batman, but I was betting on you" spiel, but I guess he could be repeating himself here for effect.

I'm not sure that Max's powers can be used to shut somebody's brain down, but OK.

I am sad that "Join or die time, is that it?" got cut.

I find it odd how far Booster's bleeding progressed in these panels, while Max's nosebleed did not progress at all.

Pg. 20: If any of you ever doubted Booster's willingness to literally take a bullet for Ted, do me a favor and go smack yourself, because seriously.

And then Ted flips out and beats the crap out of Max. Mmm-mmm, catharsis.

Pg. 21: But Booster's OK! \o/ Which is kind of weird, because you'd think that having somebody shutting your brain down would cause some sort of permanent damage....

I find it odd that it took all 3 Beetles to shut down the OMAC, considering that Jaime had a pretty good advantage over them by his lonesome in IC.

Scarab Speak Translation: "There's more security detail on the way. A lot more."

OK, Future Beetle is way wrong here. Max's files don't get sent to Batman, Alex Luthor deletes them. (Max blames Ted and later Batman, but it's irrelevant.) Batman finds out about the OMAC Project when Sasha sends Ted's brain-meat-covered goggles to him, which is obviously not going to happen now. And Max isn't going to just forget what happened, of course. Future Beetle, you have screwed things up.

Pg. 22: Booster's so giddy. It's adorable.

I think that Future Beetle knows too much. :/ But his smile reads as sincere to me, and that's throwing me off. (Possibly because he's not actually smiling much, even.) It's weird.

I really want to see that explanation on-screen, man. The past X # of years of Booster's life since Ted died, as told by Booster himself? Yes, please. Ted would be totally freaked by Booster's extreme hero-worship of him, assuming Booster actually let that bit into the summary. But, as previously noted, Booster does lie by omission pretty much all the time.

Tune in next month for Booster Gold #0, in which I pick apart Booster's origin! It will be great!

Way Late Review: Booster Gold #5

2008-01-05T03:49:00.000-08:00

Why, yes, I did bring my full run of Booster Gold clear across the country with me, what of it?

Cover: Anyway, this cover terrifies me and has terrified me since I first saw the solicits. Terrified with good reason, too.

Pg. 1: Everybody loves a kick to the face! Except the kickee. Unless, y'know, they're into that. Ummmm. Next page!

Pg. 2: Watch and be amazed as the "Babs was retired from being Batgirl before the Joker shot her" is handwaved away!

Pg. 3: Watch and be amazed as Batman pays Babs a genuine, no-catch compliment! Not to her face, though. Of course. But to her dad, which is almost as good!

Pg. 4: Om nom nom chalkboard. Who's Steve?

Pg. 5: Goddammit, Booster, why won't you talk about your dad so I know what's up with that? ...Oh, right, 'cuz you're Booster. That'd do it.

I'd like to point out that Booster just made it incredibly clear that he wants his dad to get ripped apart messily by dinosaurs and eaten. Tell me I'm not the only one who reads that and is seriously perturbed.

And then Rip shows of his collection of torture implements. "None of the good guys in this book are actually good people" is practically the running theme of this page.

Pg. 6: "I can't fail. B|" makes me D:

Pg. 7: Man, those freaks are creepy. And Booster's costume is not as durable as it ought to be. What happened to that hardcore circuitry he had going on in 52 whenever his costume got ripped? (Like his shoulder in Week 15 or when he showed up at the end of Week 50.)

Pg. 8: I am not particularly fond of how Dan Jurgens draws Jaime Reyes. Sad. And I think Jaime's voice is a little off here, but I may just be somewhat super-sensitive to Jaime's voice. Hard to tell.

P.S. Who are you, mysterious other Beetle?

Pg. 9: The Joker looks pretty weird in the 2nd and 3rd panels here, but pretty good in the last one. How odd. That's the thing about Dan Jurgens. Sometimes he's really on and sometimes he's really off, and it can happen in the same panel and that's just weird.

Oh, and the Joker's creepy and Booster's having a helluva time of it, but that goes without saying.

Pg. 10: Getting eliminated from the timestream is particularly nasty.

Pg. 11: Question:

Does it get much more morbid than this?

Also, Ultra-Humanite, Per Degaton, and Despero. Of the 3, Booster has only encountered Despero before, right about the tail end of the Giffen/DeMatteis run on Justice League. Booster was leading the Conglomerate at the time.

Pg. 12: Kehehehe, the conversation in this first panel.

(And if he says that he should've gone and asked Batman for help here, why doesn't he ever do that later?)

Pg. 13: B'awwwwww, Booster begging for more time and crying. D:

Pg. 14: B'awwwwww, Booster being too late. D:

Pg. 15: B'awwwwwww. D:

Pg. 16: D: "Stop laughing at me" D:

Pg. 17: D:

Pg. 18: And of course he needs to try again. D:

Pg. 19: And again and again and again. D: D: D:

Pg. 20: Rip is a lying liarface and a colossal bastard. I mean, I get what he was trying to do, but that's really not the kind of thing you can try to pull with Booster and expect to work because Booster does not give up easily and he's very much more driven by emotion than reason and, all in all, this was just a really bad plan on Rip's part.

And he still insists that he can do it. Oh, Booster. (And, honestly, he's kinda got a point here. I mean, the Joker is unpowered. By all rights, Booster should be able to win in a fight against him.)

Pg. 21: And Booster finally snaps.

Man, I sure hope you read dialogue closely, because that 2nd panel is practically a work of art.

I mean, just read this. Really read it. With all the emphases emphasized and that stop in the middle there. Like somebody is actually saying it, like in a TV show or something.

Isn't it just spot on? <3 <3 <3 to Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz there. <3 <3 <3

(Also, Booster, sweetie, I love you, but, while you're quite right about Rip making you watch that, the "over and over" part was all you, baby.)

I am actually kind of surprised that Booster did not straight-out attempt to murder Rip here, and instead chose to walk away. Ted would be proud. Although I'm sure that if the Beetles hadn't shown up at the end and Rip attempted to apologize again, things would get rather bloody.

I would like to point out that the Beetle Brigade "KRAKKKLLL"s when they time-travel, as opposed to Booster's and Supernova's popping. So we need some snapping in here, basically.

Pg. 22: Who are you, Mystery Beetle? Whooooooooooooo?

Additional Thoughts: I would like to complain that I was seriously gypped in the "secrets" department. The solicit promised that Rip was keeping some sort of nasty secret from Booster, while the next issue tease last issue promised that Rip was going to uncover a nasty secret of Booster's. But was there any nasty secrets in here at all? Nooooooooooooo. Boo, I say. Boo!

So, uh, it's been a month.

2008-01-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

Whoops. I did say I could make no promises about actually updating regularly. But now that Christmas is over and I have no deadlines to knit for, we should be good. We'll see how this keeps up. Hopefully, we'll be at least mostly caught up by the time the next issue of Booster Gold comes out, considering that I have yet to blog the last issue of it. (Short version: It totally rocked and breaks my heart in the best way.) But I'm at my parents' house right now, and don't have access to a comic shop out here, so times they are a-difficult.

So, this post is going to have little to no worthwhile content, but, so help me, I feel like pointing out something about Heroclix that bothers me.

Now, I don't play Heroclix, but I have looked at it a bit (mostly because Heroclix figures kept popping up in my regular eBay searches and I just had to know what the heck REV stood for). There are 3 versions of every Heroclix figure: Rookie, Experienced, and Veteran. (And that's what REV stands for: the auction has the complete set.) Unless they're Unique figures, like the Guardians or Jaime Reyes or something. But Unique is irrelevant here, I wanna talk about Rookie, Experienced, and Veteran.

Now, a lot of characters go a long time without changing their costume, or only change it really temporarily or in incredibly minor ways. The Big Three, Green Lanterns, Ted Kord, etc. But then you've got people who change their costumes... not frequently (at least, not since the 90's, lawl), but often enough that the costume they were wearing when they were a rookie is different from the one they were wearing when they were "experienced" is different from the one they were wearing when they're a veteran. (I guess that should be in quotation marks since I'm pretty sure you have to be retired to be a vet....)

I am, of course, specifically referring to Booster Gold. Because his recent Heroclix figure features the 52 costume. For all 3 versions. And Booster in his 52 costume being ranked as a Rookie (with a Justice League affiliation that, I may add, the Veteran rank lacks. How perfect.) makes my brain feel a bit twisty.

I think in my perfect world, Rookie Booster would be in the collared classic costume, of course. Experienced would probably have to be one of the armors. Probably the Flesh Driver armor, if only because it is the least eye-stabby. Possibly you could stretch a bit and make it the off-center star costume. I liked that costume. Veteran would be the 52 costume or the current one. (Dan Jurgens draws it without the stripes on the arm connecting the glove to the shoulder, and, honestly, I rather prefer it that way.)

[Completely unrelated tangent: I used to really not at all like the blue gloves, y'know. Like, really hated 'em. But they've grown on me. Probably because Dan Jurgens actually draws Booster's Legion Flight Ring, and the blue makes it pop as opposed to the gold, where it blended right in. I can only hope that this means artists that draw Booster in the future remember to put the ring in now that it's more obvious that it's there. They probably won't and I'll probably whine about it, but I can hope, right?]

I mean, I understand why the keep one mold for all 3, that's just common sense, but it still gives me a minor case of the brain-twist. Nothing important, but, hey, it's something to blog about!

I Already Did My Productive Thing for the Day

2007-12-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

I finished knitting a Weighted Companion Cube. I do not have the oomph necessary left after that to go through Teen Titans. So instead I shall post what I spent my weekend doing.

(Can you recognize the first pair now, Shane?)

and

(This is 13th of a set, for the record.)

Review: Blue Beetle #21

2007-11-30T19:38:00.000-08:00

So, guest writer fill-in issue. All-in-all, it wasn't that bad. Felt pretty dense to me, actually, but maybe that's because of how decompressed my usual comics fare is. I dunno. But I got the feeling I got a hell of a lot of comic for my 3 bucks this issue.

I like the cover. Simple, but it tells you all you need to know.

The shade of blue changing in the narration-boxes kinda throws me off. Do they usually do that?

I'm sure that "Las Tunas" does not actually translate to "The Tunas" (as in the fish), but that won't stop me from snickering at the idea.

"I've never come any closer to war than Mr. Robles' 7th grade Phys Ed..." While the joke amuses me, I somehow doubt that 7th grade P.E. was more strenuous than the last 20 issues of this book. Just a thought.

Query: If this is Las Tunas Federal Correctional Facility, then why do the shirts of the inmates read "TDC"? What's that stand for?

I'm not going to bother translating the Scarab Speak on this issue since it's all cribbed from previous issues and therefore makes absolutely no sense in context. Strangely enough, I'm pretty sure we have our regular letterer, and I would think that the Scarab Speak would be their responsibility, so I'm not sure why this is, but, oh, well. C'est la vie.

"I don't even wanna know what the Reach used "Population Suppression" for..." My guess is suppressing the populace, Jaime. ;D

Jaime, you are a superhero: nothing is ever just easy. Ever.

OK, dude's sitting in an electric chair, got a noose around the neck, and a big honkin' needle in each arm. The Spectre: Can Not Count.

Also, I'd like to be the billionth person in the world to point out how absolutely ridiculous the Spectre's outfit really is. God really has the most twisted sense of humor.

It's not like you could really kill the Spectre anyway, Jaime.

Jaime, why are you asking so many stupid questions today? "Systems lock" would probably mean that your systems (well, the Scarab's, at least) are, y'know, locked. Exciting!

I am strangely fond of the Spectre's yelling face in the first panel here.

Luis. Wow. Talk about somebody who hasn't been mentioned since the first trade! And remember that this issue will presumably be collected in the 4th trade. So I guess I might as well remind you that he used to work for Jaime's dad and is the reason Mr. Reyes is walking around with a cane these days. Funtimes.

"Dude!!" indeed, Paco. Because, seriously, dude. Wrath of God is big news.

Am I a horrible person for laughing at "you didn't mean gringo when you called him 'all white'"?

OK, temporary pause for commenting on an ad here. My issue has an ad for some "Dino Squad" faux-anime-looking TV show or whatever. The explanatory blurb includes the glorious hyphenated monstrosity "mutant-raptor-scientist." Isn't that just special?

Jaime hasn't told his parents about Traci yet? Oh, teenagers. (Granted, I did the exact same thing, but, uhhhhh.... Heh. Oh, teenagers.)

Yay, Peacemaker's well-being!

At least I never outright lied to my parents about my boyfriend, Jaime! I just put off telling them about him until it was strictly necessary!

Also I suspect that Mr. Reyes did not fall for that ruse at all. The Reyes parents are clever folk, man.

Viva la editor's boxes!

Also, I adore Jaime's parents. Just in general. If only my parents were even a quarter as awesome.

I don't think the number of limbs there matches up correctly, but I don't think I want to think about it too hard, either.

Kehehehe, pimp school. Oh, Paco.

"They can smell fear!" Oh, Paco.

Paco's Spanish grade. Oh, Paco.

Traci's very pretty here.

I don't think Sodom and Gomorrah were stepped on, but I get what you're getting at, Traci.

If Spectre's punishing those who manage to dodge Man's vengeance, then why is he picking off guys in prison in Texas of all places? I mean, yeah, of course, gotta happen for the plot, but seriously.

...Actually, wait, I remember that Spectre said that 3 murders meant 3 death penalties, but then Paco said that the guy was in for only 2 counts of Murder One. Smooooooooth, Mr. Peniston.

...Oh, Lordy, what a terrible last name to have.[/tangent]

"Sweet and corny. You're like a good breakfast cereal." Hee! :D

I've got no witty commentary for Jaime's conversation with Luis, sorry.

...So, after I complain about the "Oh Dios Mio!" on the Teen Titans cover, here's a "Dios Mio." in Jaime's book itself. *Smacks forehead* C'est la vie.

Man, I bet the Spectre's breath absolutely reeks.

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the distinction between "evil" and "weak."

Oh, Jaime, don't you realize that once you fall into the hero business you can't ever get out? Especially if your codename's the Blue Beetle?

So, basically, the Scarab is extremely scary and everybody in the DCU should be thankful that Jaime exists.

I'd like to note that Jaime's room looks pretty damn clean to me.

Jaime's family struck me as devout enough to go to church every Sunday, but *shrugs*.

And, once again, Jaime's parents = adoration. True Fact.

Oh, Hey, Did You Hear That Blue Beetle's HISPANIC?!

2007-11-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

I groaned at the Teen Titans cover. That speech bubble was completely unnecessary and somewhat painful, even. I mean, seriously. I don't think Jaime's ever been shown to curse in Spanish at all. I can remember a few "damn"s from him, but other than that.... And who says "Oh Dios Mio!" anyway? I mean, I'll admit that I don't know many Spanish speakers, but that just doesn't sound right to me at all. (Is it even grammatically correct? I don't know, man, I took Latin in High School.) I was thinking about it after I bought it and I actually remembered it as "Madre de Dios!" or something like that that would translate to "Mother of God!" instead of "Oh my God!" 'Cuz somehow that makes more sense to me. I dunno. *Waves hand vaguely* Catholicism.

Which led me to realize that the current roster of the Teen Titans + Jaime currently consists of, if I've got this right, 2 Catholics, 2 aliens, 2 atheists/agnostics/lapsed whatevers/doesn't really give enough of a damn about religion to self-categorize (I can only assume that Tim and Rose are non-religious since neither strikes me as religious), and 1 Greek. (What do you call somebody who worships the Greek pantheon, anyway?) I'm not sure what I'm getting at here, but that certainly looks like an interesting set-up. Really, though, I'll I'm getting from it is the mental image of Tim planning some Titans thing and asking if Sunday morning's OK for everybody else and Jaime and Eddie both being like, "Can't. Mass." (Possibly followed up by M'gann asking if Sunday is somehow denser than other days, because I can never resist a ~~good~~ corny science joke.)

The discovery that Eddie and Jaime share a religion has only served to further my determination that they should be the best of friends. Red and Blue, guys! Who's with me?

Ummm, right. Comics I bought this week:
Teen Titans #53
Blue Beetle #21

So, that's 2 instances of Jaime, neither of which was written by John Rogers. How distinctly unusual.

I enjoyed both, though there were things that seemed slightly off about Jaime's portrayal in both of them. Meh.

Normally, I would promptly launch into a long, involved rant about Blue Beetle here, but I just experienced a sudden rush of "Oh, God, must finish Christmas knitting! D:", so, ummmm, laterz. I may end up blogging over the weekend to make up for slacking so much during the week. We shall see.

But I'd just like to note that the Scarab Speak in Blue Beetle is, uhhhh, well, let's not say "untranslatable" but rather, it was directly cribbed from previous issues. The first bit of Scarab Speak translates to "Sinestro". Needless to say, I was very confused.

But to round out this Jaime-licious post, I'll just link to this. Jaime Reyes is keepin' the peace down in El Paso, folks.

I, Ummm, Forgot I Had a Blog for a While There....

2007-11-27T22:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I don't have an excuse. I've been busy with my Blue Beetle sock. The foot turned out way too long so I had to tear it all out and start over. ); C'est la vie.

At least tomorrow's Wednesday!

Flash/Waid-fest!

2007-11-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I've had something of a busy holiday (which is why I haven't posted since Monday, aheh), so I'mma keep this short 'n' sweet, 'K?

This week was Flash-o-licious. Or Waid-o-licious. Or both. I got Brave & the Bold and Flash.

Iris and Jai are really growing on me, it turns out. I seem to like super-spawn in general, it seems. I have no objections to Damien over in Batman or Chris Kent over in Superman (although I suppose that Chris doesn't exactly count as super-spawn). But I was kind of iffy-feeling about Iris and Jai until this week. I like 'em.

But I can't shake the horrible feeling that one of them (probably Jai) is somehow dooooooooooomed. Sad.

Anyway, both comics were enjoyable. I'm inclined to say that I enjoyed BatB more than I did Flash, but that might be because BatB was a more self-contained story.

Also, the ending was a delicious gut-punch of my favorite sort. >:3

It probably doesn't help that I read BatB before I read Flash, so throughout most of Flash, I was trying to apply the ending of BatB. I think I've decided on Iris, but I've been wrong in that past. It's entirely possible that Kingdom Come is influencing my thoughts.

It's all probably irrelevant anyway, but it's interesting to think about.

The Flash back-up was fluffy and fun and I absolutely love the art on it to pieces. Also oodles. It's just really pretty. And it's unique and distinctive without looking out of place in comics like Ross's or Acuna's art does sometimes.

And I enjoyed the story there, too, of course.

I hear there was a vaguely Ted-like Dan Garrett Blue Beetle in the Gotham by Gaslight Countdown Special or whatever its actual title is, so I intend to give that a look-see the next time I swing by my LCS.

...Yeah, this is my version of "short 'n' sweet." Kinda pathetic, hunh?

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle Related Solicits

2007-11-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

Solicits make for easy blogging! :D Especially when I drag it out over two days. I'm getting good at this!

Going down the list in order, we first hit Jaime in Teen Titans. So much for his membership being a temp thing, I guess. :/ Not that this is really a bad thing, granted, but contrary to my expectations. Also, this cover is kind of boring. And the text of the solicit doesn't capture my attention. I'll buy it, but that's 'cuz I'm a sucker for Jaime, not because I'm excited for it. Ah, the life of a comics fan.

None of this is a problem for the next issue on our list, Booster Gold #0! A Zero Hour tie-in issue. A Zero Hour tie-in issue. Just the kind of beautiful madness I love about this book.

The full solicit:
An issue over ten years in the making! An official ZERO HOUR crossover kicks off the second time-traveling story arc of "the greatest hero the world will never know" with "Blue and Gold," Part 1! Witness the secret origin of Booster Gold as he journeys through the time line, lost, in an attempt to return home...with a good friend in tow. But there's an evil out there waiting for him; one of the greatest villains of the DC Universe: Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Parallax!
On sale February 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

So, the 2nd arc is titled "Blue and Gold". I... hmmmm. Honestly, I've been mulling over this solicit in my head since I first saw it yesterday and I still don't know what to think of it all. Obviously, something's gone wrong, considering that Booster's lost in time, the question is "What?" (And also, probably, "So, what does this mean for Ted?") The two most likely things I've thought up is either that something bad has happened to Rip, or something bad has happened to Skeets. (If memory serves, Rip specifies that he needs Booster and Skeets together to be able to yoink them out of the time stream if he needs to.) Then again, we do have Skeets on the cover, so.... Hmmmmm. I don't know. I honestly just don't know. This is distinctly unusual.

But, hey, origins! Always fun! Maybe they'll explain what's up with Jonar. And I'm always all for the 25th century. It's an interesting place. I wonder why they say "a good friend in tow" instead of specifically mentioning Ted.... And, hey, Hal Jordan Parallax! Funtimes!

And, boy, howdy, that cover.

Man, even I can't name all the Beetles pictured. That's definitely something. I know the one with Cyclops-esque goggles is a Dan, although I'm fairly certain that his goggles ought to be red. I want to say the one with the Scarab design on his forehead is a Dan, too. We've got Ditko Ted with the hourglass-shaped goggles to the left of the Scarab, and modern Ted to the right of it, followed by Jaime. The one after Jaime is niggling at the back of my brain, but I can't place it. Then there's KC Ted, and I don't recognize that last one at all.

Honestly, I'm quite perturbed by how much this solicit just absolutely stumps me. I mean, I'm not saying I should be able to predict what will happen in the book just going by the solicit (goodness knows I've honestly been pretty consistently wrong about it all [and what it's actually been has always been better than my ideas, anywho]), but I usually have ideas, or something that makes me go "*Points!* *Flails wildly!*", but here, I just.... It's like I read the individual words and they make sense, but the blurb as a whole just fails to parse correctly. I keep looking at this and getting the sinking feeling that I'm just missing something that'll pull it all together into greatness.

I hate feeling like I'm missing something. :/

Aaaaaaaannyyyyywaaaaaaayyyyy....

What's next? Ah, Blue Beetle #24.

Lost in space! The Reach brings its Scarab home — and Jaime Reyes is about to die far from his, while knowing that his family and allies will be next. His salvation lies deep within the Blue Beetle legacy; it’ll take a hero’s efforts to find it. Don’t miss the shocking ending to this issue!
On sale February 27• 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Oh, so here's where my monthly dose of "OH MY SHIT" went!

Because OH MY SHIT. I'm not the only one who looks at that and sees a bucketful of Countdown to Infinite Crisis parallels, am I? Terrifying, terrifying C2IC parallels.

...

Delicious.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant.

I could go over this solicit phrase by phrase, but really, I'm sure all I'd say would end up being "Scary! (That is to say, awesome!)" or "Hellz yeah!", so I'll spare you the effort and move on.

Booster's inclusion in the Man of Steel TPB amuses me, although Skeets is absolutely, positively, entirely, completely the wrong colors on that cover, WTF? Skeets 1.0 was gold with a red visor. Skeets 2.0 and Skeets 2.1 are both gold with blue. Why is Skeets silver?

Showcase Presents Booster Gold! \o/ I do hope we get super-shiny all new art for the cover. I mean, it's not like I won't be buying it anyway, if only for the convenience of having it all in one easily accessible volume for reference purposes, but I would like to get new art out of the deal. Especially since I'm not entirely fond of the cover to #25, which is the image attached to this solicit. Something about the bend of Booster's spine makes me feel nyyyyyyyyyeeeeehhh-y. (I think it might just be the "oh, hai, boobies and butt crammed into one shot!" pose, but it's from the front and on a guy, and that makes it even more mystifying than usual.) ~~Also his hair is totally parted on the wrong side of his head there and that's totally important.~~

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS VOL. 1 TP
[...]
Reoffered to coincide with SHOWCASE PRESENTS: BOOSTER GOLD VOl. 1...

...Query: Sense. How does this make any?! I mean, what?! Why not just come clean and go "Reoffered! Because we felt like it! :D" That would at least be justifiable!

OK, so that's all the Booster Gold and Blue Beetle that I saw. Tune in tomorrow for the entire rest of the solicits! Same HAC time (that is to say, whenever I get around to it), same HAC ~~channel~~ URL!

I'm Not Sure If Jonar is More or Less Disturbing Than Jonah Hex.

2007-11-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

I have kind of a weird thing for tracing family trees.

I think this might make me the third person ever to draw Booster's mom. And that's terrible.

2nd person to draw his dad, probably, too, but considering that his dad's only been around since, y'know, Wednesday as opposed to 20 years ago, that's a good deal more understandable.

Imagedump!

2007-11-16T00:41:00.000-08:00

Gimme a week and this'll be on in my LJ icons list where it belongs. Because it's a bit too spoilery as of yet. But I've been waiting to add Supernova III to this icon since the first issue. It's so nice to finally be able to.

This is simply the best piece of Photoshoppery ever. I defy anyone to convince me otherwise.

I finally managed to get a picture of my Blue Beetle yarn. Chexcellent.

Review: Booster Gold #4

2007-11-14T23:46:00.000-08:00

What I bought this week:
Booster Gold #4
Wonder Woman #14
All-Star Superman #9

Wonder Woman was hmmm. I'm not sold, but I'll probably finish this arc out, at least, and then we'll see where we stand.

ASS was great stuff, but that's par for the course there.

Which brings us to Booster. Get comfy, guys, we'll be here for a while.

I am amused by Booster's towel and coffee. So nice that the drunk thing didn't get dropped between issues. I hate it when things get dropped between issues.

"That whiskey saved Superman." Best excuse for drunkenness ever Y/Y?

As an aside, I hate possessive plurals. How on Earth do you even say "Flashes'"? It's so awkward.

Also, eye color arrrrrrrrrgh.

I kind of get the feeling I'm missing a reference of some sort with the title of this chapter. Hmmm.

Time Spheres are pretty dangerous.

Is Wally restraining Booster from attempting to more or less rip "Rex"'s face off here? I'm not entirely sure.

The question is, is it OK to push Lex into an oncoming train now? Because man, oh man, would I love to see some repercussions from New Year's in 52. Because just thinking about the look on Boosternova's face in that one scene sends shivers up my spine.

Being the greatest by virtue of being the only is not really a good thing, "Rex".

Getting deleted from time hurts, apparently. Although I'd suppose it would.

Supernova is a dick.

Supernova's robot is also a dick. But Skeets is adorable.

Danny got dressed between issues. );

Oh, Rose, I love you to pieces. ~~And am somewhat mystified that you're going to end up with a goober like Danny.~~

"And we had a moment, I swear." Can we legitimately call this a Jocasta complex? Does such a thing even exist?

"I'll can only tell you" *Winces*

Question: Since when does Booster keep spare costumes? Since when is it even possibly for Booster to have spare costumes?

Oh, Danny, Danny, Danny, that was not very wise of you. ~~Also, your hair is way shorter than Booster's anyway.~~ I dig the cocked eyebrow, though.

Is that The Giant Mummy That Was Not Dead?!

...Is that Jaime?!

History is crazily specific about this lightning storm, apparently.

"And I shall brag to all my robot friends." seems to be our required ridiculous moment of the issue. (Compare to Rip's "Friends don't let friends drive drunk!" last issue and Sinestro's mustache twirl in issue 2.)

As an aside, I love the word "fisticuffs." I also kinda love how Rip's attack doesn't really look like he's applying any of those martial arts or fighting techniques he was just bragging about.

Booster's dad (If this interview is to be believed, his name is Jonar, for the record.) looks incredibly creepy and not at all like how I'd expected him to look. Mostly because I was under the impression that Booster got the vast majority of his looks from his father's side. (Mostly because he doesn't resemble his mother very much.) The huge scar down the side of his face and blank eye certainly don't help matters any. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeek. D:

What also doesn't help is that there's this weird red mark on my copy that goes right over Jonar's face.

Stuff. Of. Nightmares!

Bonnie was, if my memory serves, Rip's girlfriend back in the day. Rex is a bastard.

I am relieved to see that relation to Booster is still a requirement for the Supernova suit. It was mentioned in Week 52 when Daniel showed up, and then wasn't mentioned at all in the first 3 issues and I was almost worried about it. I guess mentioning it again would've made it too obvious?

"Or be the hero my son couldn't." Jonar Carter. Asshole.

One wonders what the last time Booster refers to was.

"Without guidance, you'll always be a failure. You'll always be a disappointment." Jonar Carter. Asshole.

"Tell me something I don't know." Booster Gold. Woobie.

Skeets is the littlest Big Damn Hero ever.

Jonar bringing up Shel and blaming Booster for it. Asshole.

And Booster actually tearing up at that. Woobie.

I really cannot wait to find out the full story here, y'know. I don't have patience, darnnit!

The fact that the Supernova mask keeps disappearing and then reappearing in Booster's hand bothers me.

I like Booster categorizing his dad as a bad guy. Finally! Booster shows evidence of actually having a spine when it comes to his relatives!

Look at Booster's posing on this page and try and tell me it's not unsettlingly Luthoresque.

As an aside, I really love how Booster tends to refer to Skeets in human terms. He says "awake" here, instead of something like "online" that would be more applicable. Even back in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, you've got "kidnapped" and "murdered" instead of "stolen" and "destroyed."

Gawd, Booster's in such a bad mood here. Am I a horrible person for loving it? At least he's focusing it towards a goal.

But man, Rip, you picked the absolute worst person for a time cop.

I kinda totally love Babs/Ted. So I am pleased by this ending.

But horrified by the thought of Booster vs. Joker. No possible way for that to end well.

Linkspam!

2007-11-12T23:30:00.000-08:00

How the Bitch Stole Comics-- Feel that holiday spirit! :D

Shopped into awesome Death of the New Gods-- By the same guy who brought us the 'shopped Civil War awesomeness!

Not comics, but this knit Weighted Companion Cube is just totally awesomesauce, isn't it? I've already bought the yarn to knit one myself. That will promptly be given away as a Christmas gift. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if I had the yarn for 2.

Dear Self: This is a Comics Blog, Not a Knitting Blog.

2007-11-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Business the 1st: I apologize for the lack of post yesterday. I was busy trying to get my Blue Beetle yarn in my hands. It was insane. But at least I have the yarn now! I'm thinking I'm gonna knit these suckers. The design might describe the lace pattern as leaf-like, but I look at that and see scarab wings. Hopefully it will not look horrible in black and blue.

Business the 2nd: Went to LCS today, ended up getting both trades of GLC and no Wonder Woman. GLC was good. I'm totally digging how the cast is all huge 'n' everything. I kinda want to learn everything there is to know about all the members. This could not end badly at all.

Seriously, though, like, there's this chick in the 2nd trade, and her name isn't even mentioned, but one of her hands is a ring construct, and I think that's totally cool. Who is that? What happened? Was it as utterly badass as I am imagining?

Something I noticed, however, is that some plot threads seem to get dropped and then picked up again a couple of issues later, which I'm sure I would kinda find utterly maddening if I was reading it monthly. But maybe I wouldn't. I don't know. I do intend to start picking up GLC once the Sinestro War is over, and then picking up the Sinestro war in trade, so we'll see if this stitch-slipping trend continues.

...Actually, I really like that, the comparison of writing to knitting. That is totally a great metaphor. There are all sorts of different needles and yarn out there, just like there's all sorts of different media, and certain needles and yarn are better for certain types of projects than others are, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't knit that certain type of project with a different sort of needles and yarn or write that certain type of story with a different medium. It just takes more effort and consideration to make it work just the right way. Sometimes you have to pass over a stitch/story thread for a row so you can do something better with it in the next, and sometimes you got to knit a couple of stitches together to shape the fabric just right, and sometimes you have to add stitches, and sometimes to have to bind them off and end them. And sometimes you have to sew some different knit pieces together, or write a crossover. And if you don't do all that in the right way at the right time, the whole thing ends up looking stupid. And if you don't do any of it at all, then what you end up with is a garter stitch rectangle, be it a dishcloth or a scarf or what-have-you, and while there's not really anything necessarily wrong with those, they are incredibly boring to knit (although useful as a learning tool when one is first starting), and, well, if one starts a hobby to be entertained, be it knitting or reading comics or watching a certain TV show or whatever, one does not want to indulge in that hobby if it's boring. Because if it's boring, then it's not a hobby anymore: it's a chore. And nobody likes chores. (Because if they like them, then it's a hobby!)

...I've had knitting on the mind a lot lately. I'm sorry.

Business the 3rd: Y'know what I realized while I was at work today?

And it only took about 18 years!

...

I'm sorry. I really can't be held responsible for the things my brain throws at me. (Seriously, just ask Shobha. She knows exactly what I'm talking about. And I'd say I'm very sorry for that, but I'm really not. :P Sharing is therapeutic!)

Well, This is Strange

2007-11-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

This is the first Wednesday since I moved out to California (back in mid-August, mind you) that I didn't visit Comics Factory, my LCS. I worked all day today (from 10 to 7) and went in the opposite direction for lunch, since I craved sushi, and, well, there wasn't anything on the list of things available today that I found interesting. (Except for the 2nd trade of Green Lantern Corps, but that's going to have to wait until I get the 1st trade of Green Lantern Corps, now isn't it?)

I suppose it was a statistical inevitability, really. I'm only picking up a handful of books, after all, and there's only so many things I want in trade. But it still feels weird.

Of course, this also raises the question of what I'll buy when I go to the shop tomorrow or whenever. Besides Booster Gold, that is. That hardly counts any more.

I kinda want to see if there are any trades of Rucka's Wonder Woman there, to prep for Gail's coming to the book next week. Bluefall over on scans_daily has been pimping it like whoa with scans, and I do so very much love the Rucka-penned OMAC Project, which has a Panels in Which Booster Appears:Panels Which Make HAC Go "Oh, Booster ♥" ratio rivaled only by the current series. (Although I may be cheating a bit by including Countdown to Infinite Crisis in with the OMAC Project, since I have it in trade, making them a cohesive unit to me. I have, on occasion, just sat and stared at the hospital scene in C2IC, no lie. The concentration of pure woobie in those three pages is absolutely epic. And I am all about the woobie.)

On the other hand, I do, as previously mentioned, need the first trade of GLC....

Nothing's stopping me from investing in both, of course, and, knowing me, that's probably what I'll end up doing. But pondering the situation gives me something to yak about!

I'm Going to Wear My Phone Out

2007-11-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

Because, y'know, I keep on phoning it in. Sort of. I'm not sure I can really call doodling phoning it in if I'm producing all-new material. I mean, these suckers do tend to take some time. But I am doing it so I don't have to put any real effort into thinking up things to talk about. At least, right now I am. The knitting obsession is temporarily overcoming the comics obsession. I'll get back on the ball later, I'm sure.

Anyways, Shane requested that I doodle up Bea to go with the Tora I'd already doodled. Of course, he never specified which costume, and, well, I felt like indulging myself.

And taking a jab at the Superbuddies minis. Forgive the tangent, but I mean, seriously, Bea says that she's not actually naked in the pictures on her faux-pr0n site (Hunh. Firefox's spell check says faux isn't a word, but lets pr0n slide. I'm not sure what to feel about that.), but then she always ends up naked after she stops using her powers? She really wouldn't think to wear fire-resistant clothing when she's going somewhere where she knows she would be expected to use her powers at some point? Hell, if I were her, I'd be wearing fire-resistant clothes all the time. It only makes sense. That's a lot of what's wrong with the Superbuddies minis, really. They're only worth it for the jokes (on account of pretty much being nothing but jokes), most of which either fall apart when you bother to think about it at all (and I'm me, so I always think about it) or, honestly, really aren't all that funny to begin with. But, y'know, I really don't think I'd have half the problem with them if so many people would stop treating it like it's gospel or something. People, these minis are not the definitive characterization of the characters involved! Hell, half the time, it's not even good characterization of the characters involved. Don't get me started on Gladys. It won't be pretty.

But, ummm, right! Bea! In various costumes! although I know that I left at least one costume out. But I haven't really read anything with that costume in it, so eeeehhhhhh. (...Yes, this does mean that I haven't read the Death of Superman. Ssssshhhhhhh.)

Special Bonus Flashback Doodle!:

Would you believe that's from over a year ago? (Also, OTP 4ever 4realz, but that bit goes without saying.)

Me, As of Five Minutes Ago

2007-11-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

"...I forgot to ~~eat~~ blog today." (Although, come to think of it, I haven't eaten in a good 10 hours or so. I should probably fix that at some point.)

So, ummm, here's something I found (and promptly bought) over the weekend. Blue Beetle yarn. Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle yarn. It so very pleases me to see my two largest interests intersect in such a way. I am going to knit an incredibly nerdy pair of socks and grin every time I wear them. It will be glorious.

OK, Wrong Kind of Comic, But....

2007-11-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you follow Order of the Stick, but I just came to the realization that I've been reading the dialogue for Roy's Archon in the Billy West Skeets voice. To the point where I've been inserting the word "sir" where there actually isn't any.

And, yes, that includes the "So I don't strangle smartass newbies" here. It makes it even better.

Review: JSA # 10

2007-10-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

I didn't buy much today, just my weekly issue of Booster Gold and JSA #10. So here's me talking about JSA #10. Exciting, right?

Hey, lookit, it's an Alex Ross cover with more than one character on it! ZOMG! Next step: have them do something other than stand around please?

I don't usually comment on ads, but, and I don't know about your copy, but the one inside my front cover is for "Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane". Think up your own Snakes on a Plane joke; I'm too lazy to.

Anyway, I'd just like to say that I rather like Eaglesham's artses. I mean, look at Maxine on that first page there. She's adorable.

"I watched all of you die." Superman-22: Not exactly the World's Greatest Conversationalist.

Wrong Crisis, Jay. Superman-2 died in IC, not CoIE.

The thing about Starman is that you can never entirely tell if what he's saying has significance or not. Like, there was a bit in the 2nd issue where he's pretty clearly referring to when Maxine got kidnapped by T. O. Morrow, but sometimes I'm pretty sure it's just nonsense. All out of yellow, I'm thinking is nonsense. Or it could somehow reference the Sinestro Corps War. Although it seems by the solicits that there will still be a Sinestro Corps of some sort post-war, so maybe not. Hrm.

I skipped the Lightning Saga. Who was supposed to be going back instead of Starman? Or is that the basis of the Karate Kid storyline in Countdown? 'Cuz I'm not paying attention to that, either.

It takes Alan an entire page to do the mental math for 52-30. Then again, I imagine that Starman speaks very rapidly, so I suppose it probably would take that long to parse what he was getting at there.

Y HELO THAR, Alex Ross interiors! I do recognize a good bunch of these characters from KC, yeah, though there are some I definitely don't. Not even I can memorize everything instantly. But I'd just like to say that Captain Atom's spine hurts me. D:

So, is this before or after the Sinestro Corps War? 'Cuz I kinda figured the Sinestro Corps War would clue everybody into the "new Multiverse" thing, since that's one of the reasons that the Corps was after Earth, mmyes? Hmmm.

If the GL in KC was Alan, then why did he end up representing "New Oa" at the UN at the end? Mystifying.

Am I misremembering KC, or didn't Magog kill Joker in court?

I rather like the border of the 2nd panel and how it leads into KC Supes's ear in the 4th. S'nifty.

What we don't see: The rest of the JSA going "O SHI-" after ol' Ted points out that the Brownstone is not exactly sound-proof.

Yes, that's right, the JSA is solely responsible for the lack of Kingdom Come-itude going on. Nothing else could influence it. Nothing.

A hole blown through his torso like has been happening to the New Gods? Oh, don't tell me that that's getting mixed up in here. I like living in my world of denial where nothing bad is happening to them. :/

One wonders what's up with Dr. Mid-Nite 'n' that "GO".

So, am I interpreting this right, and this Supes got dragged out of KC right after the bomb was dropped?

OK, Ma Hunkel had the shirt, but where did the rest of the costume come from?

Dogpile on the Kryptonian! And they knocked Jay's hat off! For shame.

Hunh, KC Supes doesn't have a cape, does he?

Don'tcha think Supes could've at least tried to mention that he was going to stop a suicide?

Cosmic Treadmill = Auto lawls.

"I've never been comfortable with time travel." I so very much want to blame Booster for this. I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

Again, I hope this isn't tying into Death of the New Gods.

And Superman meets Superman should be interesting. Lookin' forward to it. If only it weren't so far away. :(

Well, I Spent Altogether Too Much Time on This....

2007-10-31T01:28:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't really feel like talking about anything today-technically-yesterday, so I decided to phone in a doodle, again, but, being me, I took forever actually drawing the silly little things. Aheh. But, hey, at least now I have wee drawings of the Conglomerate line-up.

(For reference's sake, that's Booster Gold, Gypsy, Praxis, Echo, Vapor, Maxi Man, and Reverb.)

You can tell where the part of my brain that's actually good at this gave up right around Vapor. But I'm actually rather pleased with the first 4. Eh.

I Promise to Get Off Your Lawn Posthaste, Sir, but Could I Please Have Your Autograph First?

2007-10-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

Got my new debit card yesterday, so I went comics shopping today. Bought my weekly issue of Booster Gold, Flash #233, and that Green Lantern shirt I told myself I wouldn't buy last week. (I realized that I owned black pants and could therefore use it as an excellent basis for a Halloween "costume." I also live in southern California. So if I die of heatstroke, it was totally my fault.) I also Byrne-stole the Super~~boy~~man Special. ...Mostly to see if Booster did anything particularly noteworthy in the background. (He caught Miss Martian, for the record. Totally important.) Additionally, my copy of JLQ #1 arrived in the mail today, so it's a pretty good comics day for me. :3 Expect a rant about JLQ #1 at some point, because that's pretty much everything great about Booster concentrated. But I'mma talk about Flash right now. Or, more accurately, a tangent off of Flash.

There was a back-up by John Rogers (writer of Blue Beetle), you see, which is, incidentally, why I bought the issue. It featured Jay Garrick. Which is where I go off on my tangent.

So, I'm a big fan of the Badass Old Dude type. Honestly, I'm probably reading JSA more for Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Ted Grant than I am for any of the younger characters. I harbor a great deal of <3 for Peacemaker over in Blue Beetle. There's something really charming about that, y'know? These guys could retire. I mean, they're old; it's not like anybody would really hold it against them, right? They've fought the good fight since WWII or thereabouts, you can't say that they haven't done enough. But they keep fighting anyway, because they're just that great.

Like the Flash back-up with Jay. Technically, of course, Jay is still rather young at this point. Still courting his lady love, even, but you can still see a lot of the foundation that makes him a Badass Old Dude. The guy's just been teleported from his lady love's front porch, mid-conversation, by an alien dogosaurus, and while he's trying to get an explanation, these crazy aliens break in screaming about murder and rape and the like, and what is Jay's response? "I know bad guys when I see them." And even "Where I come from, you knock before barging in!" It's kinda hokey and cheesy, but that's kind of the point. Even Gorflack (the aforementioned alien dogosaurus) narrates that "Yes, he really said that." Jay is old-fashioned. That's his charm. He's all about the "yes, sir" and "no, ma'am" and church on Sunday and Ma's apple pie, straight from the oven. In JSA #1, Wildcat says that "polite" describes Jay in one word, and this is very much the case.

Jay so very much encapsulates what it is to really be a hero that he manages to inspire an entire planet, whose society was on the very brink of destruction, to fight back and repel their invaders. Freedom, justice, and family. That's the JSA, right there. It's just plain pure heroism. I love it.

And, y'know, Jay's the heart of it. That's what makes this story specifically a Jay story. It's all about the heart. Of the JSA's Big Three, Alan's the brains, Ted's the brawn, and Jay's the heart. So, when these guys finally retire or die or whatever it is DC decides to do with them when having folks who fought in WWII still be active just isn't feasible anymore, I really do hope that the three of them get to go together. I'm not sure it'd feel right to have it any other way.

Review: Teen Titans #52

2007-10-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

So, Teen Titans #52. Get the 52 jokes out of your system now, because there are none in this book. ~~Even though I swear that Booster Gold coming out of nowhere and then kidnapping Jaime would be a great way to end this arc. But I never claimed to be unbiased.~~

We open with Jaime staring that the JLers, complaining that he misses out on all the cool imprisonments. This is not a bad thing, Jaime!

I like how Jaime looks on the top panel of page two. And, lollers, Flash pun.

I do not, however, particularly like how Tim looks on the next page. Something about the hair, I think. Personally, I think Tim!Bats has some good points, but eh. I kinda don't really care for the idea that with most heroes it's either you never, ever, ever kill ever, or else you kill all the crackpots you can. Why can't we have more heroes like Diana, who killed because she didn't have any other choice, but isn't exactly kicking herself over it (or, at least, shouldn't be)? One of the many things I like about Booster, if you'll forgive this temporary tangent, is that, while he hasn't killed anybody yet, he has threatened it several times, and made it very clear he wouldn't have any qualms about it, but he isn't running around trying to kill everybody who crosses him. It's just one of many viable options. I like that. And it makes me anxious for Booster trying to save Ted, because of course Booster's going to aim to kill Max, and, well, Ted is very, very much one of those never, ever, ever kill ever type of heroes. That's practically drama in a can, folks!

I like evil!M'gann's skirt. The wrappy thing is cool. And that she's invulnerable to fire is extremely interesting. How does that work? Tell me more, McKeever! I'd like it if we could decide whether or not M'gann's shirt front is open or not.

I feel vaguely worried that that firefighter got M'gann and J'onn confused. They don't look that similar!

Interesting how future!Tim and M'gann seem to be at least kind of sort of trying to help their past selves. With Bat!Tim's "think about it" thing and White!M'gann's talk about potential and warrior heritage and stuff.

And then Red Devil's just kind of a douche. And seems to have quite the particular hate-on for Rose. Hrm.

The "no problem with hitting a girl" and "neither do I" make me smile. :D I do so like it when Kara is written as smarmy instead of elitist/whiny/what-have-you. Smarmy's likable in a character, elitist/whiny/what-have-you is not.

Cassie is another future Titan that's being helpful/supportive/whatever to their past counterpart.

Also, Cassie needs to get a tougher shirt, it seems.

Bat!Tim, loving somebody who's in love with somebody else is hardly a new kind of torture. It's pretty much one of the oldest ones in the book, really. There have been so many country songs written about it, you'd think it was the only subject the genre had sometimes.

The absence of Cassie on the page of the Titans getting their collective rears handed to them is a telling one.

I think Booster's new series has forever ruined the phrase "The greatest ____ the world will ever know", even if the actual tagline of the series was "The greatest hero the world will never know!" (And they've swapped it out now for "The greatest hero you've never heard of!")

Scarab Speak Translation: "Trap him."

Note that as soon as Jaime listens to the Scarab, he takes Bart out like a little punk. This is why I figure that Jaime's going to be on more of a reserve status once this arc is over than a regular member of the team. He's just vastly overpowered, really, and it's only his own inexperience that is keeping him from being able to take all comers. (Not that being vastly overpowered is really a bad thing, of course, I mean, this is superhero comics, y'know, every third character is vastly overpowered. It's just that Jaime's vastly overpowered compared to the rest of the Titans, so I wouldn't say he's really conducive to a team book, usually.)

I'd like to know how Rose managed such a perfect, exact cut with a blow that shattered her sword. Where's the sense in that?

I do kind of like that Eddie has to double-check his impression of the rules of time travel with Rose. Vaguely amusing.

J'onn leaves as soon as being freed. How sad. :(

I question the accuracy of Jaime's mouthiness at Supes here. He was raised better than that! And I'm not sure why Diana's so irritable about it, either. But, awww, wookit Wally being woobieful about Bart.

I understand that they needed to get the JLA out of here, but I do wonder if they're going to explain exactly why the JLA had to rush out. (Also, don't they have a Hall instead of a Watchtower these days? Whoopsie!)

Jaime's flailing amuses me in its Jaimeness. :D And then Kid Devil calls him "bug butt." I really am getting a buddy feeling off these two. But Red Devil's "kill you twice" and the January solicits make me think that McKeever's aiming in the opposite direction. Crying shame!

Also, Red Devil must've gotten a helluva power boost from Neron's collection of his soul, considering Jaime's previously mentioned vastly overpoweredness.

Check out that smile on Bat!Tim's face as he leaves. That is freaking scary.

Interesting how the future Titans memories change as their past changes, but that they're aware that they've acquired new memories. Possibly this mostly interests me because it's pretty much the only theory of time travel that hasn't been applied to Booster Gold.

That last page is quite the oh, snap!, is it not? What sticks out the most to me, for no particular reason, is that we've got a Hawk with no Dove, which is never a good thing. (Do we ever end up with a Dove with no Hawk? Because that wouldn't be a good thing, either.)

I don't recognize all of these Titans, but I do recognize a good chunk of them, and I'm vaguely proud of that. I'm mostly confused about the rocky guy, the green chick, and the chick with the fire visible in between Luthor's legs.

Late Review: Blue Beetle #20

2007-10-25T20:33:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the lack of blogging yesterday and Tuesday, but I kind of got mugged on Monday night, so blogging about comics has not exactly been at the forefront of my mind. :)

What I bought (technically, what my sister bought for me, on account of my getting mugged):
Blue Beetle #20
Teen Titans #52

So now it's time for a play-by-play summary of my thoughts on Blue Beetle #20. I'll do TT #52 tomorrow. Here be Spoilers, folks.

For starters, the cover. Me being me, I chuckled at the pun. And, of course, Sinestro does not appear in person in the entire issue. Which kind of makes sense, honestly, since this is peripheral to the War at best. And the solicit kind of made it sound like Jaime or his Scarab would be getting the yellow ring, but apparently this is also not the case.

So we open up with a splash featuring a fight over Mt. Rushmore that really makes me wish I wasn't tradewaiting this war, with a box of narration from our buddy Peacemaker. I went through the first two trades again last night (I was trying to see if any mention had been made of Brenda's last name or Paco's family period, but apparently not, interestingly enough.), and the box does, in fact, match up perfectly to the last time Peacemaker provided some narration. (His explanation of how he got the Scarab's programming in his head during WWIII, for the record.)

The Reach are from Sector 2. Not being a Green Lantern reader myself (umm, yet?), this doesn't really mean anything to me. Is there anything special of note in Sector 2, or is it just a random number?

Scarab Speak Translation: "Did you feel that?"

Scarab Speak Translation: "Christopher Smith". Am I reading this right and Peacemaker's Scarab has the same name as him? Interesting.

So, the Reach are a bunch of slimy jackasses, Y/Y? Gotta love the random terrified dude in the background of the top panel of page 5. A 99% chance of destruction of the GL Corps, you say? Mr. Reach "Negotiator" (does this guy have a name of his own? Usually I'd check my floppies instead of asking, but circumstances beyond my control make it a bit difficult to access said floppies at the moment.), I think you are either drastically overestimating Sinestro and his guys or drastically underestimating the GLs. Or both.

"Kid Devil and his sidekicks, the Teen Titans" amuses me, perhaps, a bit more than it should. In between this and the interaction between Jaime and Kid Devil over in TT #52, I gotta say that I'm feeling something good happening there, though I've kind of got no reason for said feeling, and the "interaction" between Jaime and Red Devil in TT gives off the opposite feeling. Sad.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Uh-oh." As Jaime helpfully translates, as well.

The way the Army guy speaks to Jaime makes me wonder whether or not the public at large has any idea that the guy in the bug suit is just a teenage kid. That said, it's nice to see an authority figure of some fashion being helpful to their local hero.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Reach-Tech."

The Infiltrator is very spiky. *Nods like this is insightful input*

Scarab Speak Translation: "Identity True" and "Sinestro Corps"

Can't fault Nadia for not having any strategic input of worth, really.

Dawur calls Jaime "the false Beetle" which suggests to me that if Jaime's Scarab was working like it should, then the Blue Beetle name would still be used. Not entirely sure if that's really significant in any way, but I find it interesting.

Earth and Earth alone seems kind of like a low goal to aim for, in perspective, (and not a wish that seems likely to be granted, given the hate-on certain members of the Sinestro Corps seem to have for the ol' Blue Planet,) but I wouldn't put planning for future back-stabbery past the Reach.

The "Peace" bit is, of course, important on account of the whole Peacemaker being in there thing. You don't need me to tell you that, I hope.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Order! Fear!"

It gives me a fun sort of glee to see that Guy gets so much respect in the Corps these days that Brik actually tells Jaime that he's not even worthy enough to say his name. Alright, Guy! \o/

Tangentially, I rather like it that Brik is entirely covered, save some of her face. Always nice to see a female character (even if it is an alien) as such. ~~Tangent: Bring back Goldstar!~~

I wonder if the Scarab actually did call Brik a bitch or if Jaime's just making that up for the sake of symmetry.

The Infiltrator is certainly a good sort for the Sinestro Corps, considering that, from my impression of Sinestro (again, not a Green Lantern reader yet), that's pretty much his way of thought right there in that one panel of dialogue.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Peace."

Shouldn't we be aiming for Deduction instead of Induction here, Jaime? Or am I confusing my terms here?

Scarab Speak Translation: "Messy."

"Blue Beetle! Surrender and I will kill you somewhat less slowly!" makes me chuckle lots. :D Great incentive there, Infiltrator!

Scarab Speak Translation: "Messy" again.

Page 17, last panel: *Cue wibble wibble wibble sound effect*

Scarab Speak Translation: "Scarab Speak." x2 I figure this is a mistake on what I suppose is the Letterer's side. Which is a crying shame.

Jaime is right: Peacemaker needs therapy (then again, what character in comics doesn't, am I right?), as the next page or so handily demonstrates as well.

"There's no frikkin' spoon or whatever!!" Hee! :D

The Scarab as Faceless!Beetle is interesting.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Scarab Speak." again.

Nice to see the Scarab demonstrating free will of its own. Eat that, the Reach! :D

Interesting how Peacemaker's corporeal body shows the same damage his mental one did. I'd figured it was just symbolic or whatever. Guess not!

Peacemaker cutting the Infiltrator Scarab out of his own spine: Bad. Ass. Also, probably physically impossible. But awesome!

This is just woobieful, y'know. The whole "I was the monster I was afraid you would be" just kind of gets me, y'know? Maybe it's part of the going through the first two trades again last night that makes even more heavy-hitting, but ouch. It hurts 'cuz it's true, y'know?

There seems to be some debate over whether or not Peacemaker's a goner now. The Reach did, after all, say that they couldn't remove the Scarab from Jaime without killing him, and Peacemaker was not exactly delicate about carving the thing out of him (so badass!), but Peacemaker is considerably more hardcore than li'l Jaime. Then again, that is a lot of blood he's lying in in that last panel there. Personally, I'd figured he's good as dead, but I guess he could survive, if Rogers wanted him to. If he is dead, I gotta say, this is a helluva way to go. He'll be missed, of course, but that's the point. There is no shame or anger in a death like that.

In short, good show, Rogers! Though that is pretty standard fare for this book, granted.

To Continue Some of My Previous Train of Thought, But in a Completely Different Direction...

2007-10-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Looking at anything on the TV Tropes Wiki runs the high risk of something like this happening, but somehow worse. Here's hoping you roll a natural 20 on your Will Save.

It amused me greatly to find J2 mentioned in the examples of this trope. And they are, of course completely right. In fact, somewhere around the middle of the run, there was a letter that basically went something like "Wait, how does this even work?" and the reply was basically, "We have no idea! :D Anybody got some good suggestions?"

Y'know when the last time I got such amusement from a letters page was?

This.

Unfortunately, only about two suggestions regarding J2's power source made it to future letter pages, and neither of them were anywhere near as gloriously cracky as Booster Gold: Descendant of Braniac. Which is a crying shame. But I do suppose that's setting the bar a bit high.

But it's stuff like that that makes me miss letter pages. I mean, sure, we have message boards all over the place now 'n' all, but message boards don't get preserved for posterity in the pages of the comic themselves. I get to cherish forever the many, many theories people had about Booster's origin (remember, his origin was never told until the sixth issue of his series, giving the readers ample time to come up with workable ideas that were completely wrong. I <3 all of the misleading clues that Jurgens dropped. That that, Identity Crisis!), despite the fact that I wasn't even born until years after the series ended, but the many, many theories that people had about Supernova will be lost to the ravages of the Internet in time.

Which Supernova am I referring to there? Wouldn't you like to know? (OK, yeah, both. Hush.)

To bring this entry full circle, Booster appears as an example in a number of tropes, including one named after his JLU episode.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to waste the entire rest of my day trawling TV Tropes.

Thinking of All the Money I Could've Saved Hurts Me a Little Inside

2007-10-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

So, after a bit over two months here, I finally bothered to set up a pull list at my LCS. Turns out I get a 15% discount for that. Saving money: Always a good thing!

My Real Life Pull List, as it turns out, is a bit longer than my Theoretical Pull List, if we discount the multiple copies of Booster Gold on the Theoretical List.

My Pull List:
Booster Gold
Blue Beetle
Teen Titans
JSA
Brave and the Bold
Atomic Robo

Also managed to guilt myself into buying the latest issue of Brave & the Bold, and managed to resist the urge to buy a T-Shirt. We'll see how long that lasts.

BatB was, for the record, rather enjoyable. I like that Peej and Diana have different facial features. Good show, Perez! And I think, though I'm not entirely sure, that Peej's facial features match with Supergirl's. If they do, then even better show, Perez! I love the little button nose, too. S'cute.

Anyway, I read J2 yesterday, and it was enjoyable enough, as far as series go. I wouldn't recommend running down to your LCS and ravaging the back issues in search of it, or anything, but it's not a purchase I regret making. It's corny and cute. And I must say, Wild Thing is what X-23 should look like, with her short, stubby head 'n' all. But X-23 just plain mystifies me, anyway.

But, ummm, highlights! Because these bits amused me and I feel like sharing! \o/

(My favorite part might be that he's trying to thread the needle on the wrong end. Hah!)

(OK, so I'm secretly 12 and I find toilets automatically hilarious. Nyeeeeer.)

As you may have noticed, it's a very wordy book. Very wordy. I'm not sure there's a single panel in all 12 issues without words of some sort in it, even discounting sound effects as words. And that'd be annoying with a lot of other characters, but it kind of works for li'l Juggie. Zane there definitely strikes me as the type to mentally narrate his own life.

It's also worth noting that every issue has at least two stories in it. It's an interesting way of doing things, I suppose. It also has the side effect of making me think that things happened later in the series than they did, so imagine my surprise when something I had thought happened in the 4th issue or so actually happened in the 2nd. Aheh.

Biggest surprise: Random, bizarre appearance of Deadpool. OK, what? (And he wasn't even talking in yellow. For shame, whoever had that responsibility!)

All in all, I'm not really surprised that this only lasted for 12 issues.

Can't Blog Today, Busy Reading

2007-10-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Personal history story time! I might be a DC reader, but I've got something of a family history of Marvel. Sitting around and reading my cousin's comics was pretty much the highlight of family get-togethers for me for a while there. Except for the part when I didn't really entirely understand what was going on, because this was Marvel in the '90's.

And then I discovered the MC2 titles, and they were a Godsend to me. I didn't need to know who this guy that the Avengers had fought once was, or what on Earth was up with the Scarlet Witch and her being crazy, or anything. I could start with #1s in something new and shiny!

And I loved it. I'm not ashamed to admit that. (And even if I was, I have the convenient out of being less than 10 years old at the time, anyway.) All 3 of them: Spider-Girl, A-Next, and J2.

J2 was my favorite. No particular reason I can recall, I just really liked the guy. But I never got to finish the series, much to my chagrin for quite some time.

And, well, you remember me mentioning yesterday that I do random eBay searches, right?

I found this and couldn't resist. It arrived today. Please excuse me while I revisit my childhood.

(I'm halfway into the second issue as I type this. So far, it's not a bad read, I guess. Not super duper excellent, and a lot of it's pretty corny, but, hey, I like it.)

Also, any comic that features a skinny, awkward nerd turning into a huge beefy guy is pretty alright by me, I'm just saying.

The fact that he's stark naked the first time it happens doesn't exactly hurt, either, of course.

I Find the Greatest Stuff Through eBay.

2007-10-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

First, really quickly, what I bought this week:
Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil HC (Read it, great stuff, considering trying to trick my little brother into the world of comics through this as a birthday/Christmas gift, may not want to give it up, may not be willing to shell out cash for a second copy, will see what happens)
52: The Companion TPB (Halfway done, read 5 out of 10 stories included, managed to not skip directly ahead to the Booster origin story, somewhat proud of myself for that.)
2nd copy of Booster Gold #3
Considered buying Brave & the Bold, but decided that I was spending enough already, thanks.

But, anyway, eBay. I think eBay is grand. I actually work in a store which has the entire purpose of selling things on eBay. (Seriously, it's what I do.) So, I will, on occasion, whenever the fancy strikes me (which is somewhat frequently), I will search for whatever, uhhh, strikes my fancy. Booster Gold is, unsurprisingly, a staple in my searching. And sometimes I find some really great, weird stuff.

Find of the day?

Dan Garret(t) has the weirdest hobby ever. I do not even want to think about how this is even working, because I know that it does not.

Find of the day yesterday?

The best part is that it's drawn by a professional. A somewhat obscure professional, sure, but someone who has been paid real monies by a big publisher to draw comics.

One can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.

The Rest of the Solicits

2007-10-16T16:02:00.001-07:00

Because I seriously stopped reading them after I got to Booster Gold.

The Batman cover confuses me. Well, that arm coming out of Bats's cape does. It's just weird.

Robin is interesting because of the Spoilery implications. Even if she's not being rez'd or whatever, she's being remembered, which is better than she's been getting. Gratzi, Dixon!

I'm not sure that Supergirl could take any direction that I'd find startling.

Superman Confidential: Didn't we get origins on Jimmy a couple of months back in Action Comics or something?

BoP: I like Misfit. I really do. I am interested in learning more about her.

It's a shame that Blue Beetle's gotten a fill-in, so we don't get anything new solicited this month. :(

The cover of Countdown Special: The New Gods: What is up with Scott's mask? I mean, sure, that's probably more reasonable than his actual mask, but it looks ridiculous.

I laughed at the "Wild Wests" in the Flash solicit. I really need to build a resistance to puns.

GL solicit in a nutshell: Guardians is crazy!

GLC: I see that the Sinestro Corps is apparently going to survive the war. Interesting.

That JLA cover is pretty cool, but won't, like, the title and stuff cover up some of that awesome? I think that is a crying shame.

Isn't this the same solicit as the last JSA?

JSA Classified: I love Hourman and Liberty Belle, because, lo, I am a sucker for married people, but that cover terrifies me, and not in a good way, either.

Man, but do I love those Metal Men covers.

Woo, 3rd Blue Beetle TPB! \o/

That's a lot of Alan Moore!

JLI HC is mystifying, considering that I am pretty sure that the JLI TPB, which has the exact same issues in it is still in print. I mean, I got a new one this past year.

Time Masters TPB coming out. Exciting. Featuring Rip Hunter whose real name is Rip Hunter, but they're saying he's the same one as in 52. I think I've decided that my fanon regarding Rip's "real identity" is that he's just a lying liarface.

So that's our solicits. Winter is shaping up to be a very interesting season for me.

How 'bout those solicits, huh?

2007-10-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Oh, look at that, the DC Solicits for January are up. Let's take a gander.

Hmmm, Countdown--Oh, wow, we're almost down to a quarter of the series left? Wow. Maybe noteworthy things will begin to happen?--Teen Titans, Teen Titans, Teen Titans, Countdown, Countdown...

*Scroll scroll scroll*

Oh, look, somebody looks to be dying in Black Canary/Green Arrow (it is traditional to do these things in alphabetical order, is it not? So why is Ollie/Connor headlining here? Tsk, tsk, DC.), how charming.

*Scroll scroll*

Ah, here's Booster GoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH

BOOSTER GOLD #6
Written by Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz
Art and cover by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
"52 Pick-Up" concludes as Booster Gold journeys back in time to save the best friend he ever had – the Blue Beetle! But can Booster stop Maxwell Lord before someone else dies in Ted Kord's place? And will Ted Kord let that happen?
On sale January 9 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

MY

SHIT.

Well.

Wow.

I wasn't expecting this, not now. I figured it was an anniversary issue sort of thing. I mean, yes, Booster did imply that he was going to be rescuing Ted as soon as he beat the snot out of whoever was screwing with time, but....

Man, this just isn't the sort of thing you end your first arc with. Johns and Katz, I admire your cajones.

I also worry for Booster's mental health after this, especially after you make him deal with Joker and The Killing Joke the issue before. Oh, I trust you, Geo/Jeffs, make no mistake about that. This series has been consistently good beyond my hopes, and I have faith that it will continue to be so. And I do honestly love to see Booster in trouble, because it is so fun to watch him, but, y'know, you can only put him through so much stress before he breaks and he can't be put back together very easily.

Issue 6 is a bit early to be doing that, don't you think?

I mean, I daren't even hope that Ted comes back. I mean, maybe I'm just assuming the worst here and that covers and solicits lie and Ted will somehow make it through this hunky-dory and nothing will happen that could cause Booster to have a mental breakdown. But I can't really see that happening.

Of course, Ted's not the only part of the solicit. Just the biggest, immediately apparent part. We've also got this: "before someone else dies in Ted Kord's place? And will Ted Kord let that happen?"

Technically, there are all sorts of possibilities here. The one that immediately popped into my mind, and, in fact, has been in my mind since I saw that last panel of Booster Gold #1, is, well, it takes some explaining.

Booster's time traveling here, of course. So we actually have two Booster Golds existing at the same time. Not a big deal; it's happened before. Supernova 'n' all that. The thing is, the past Booster would be, at this moment in time, unconscious in a hospital bed. Not a very good position to be in, strategically. Especially when Max has things like the OMACs on his side.

So, basically, I'm putting my money on something happening to the Booster who's in the hospital and Ted deciding to take that bullet to save Booster and stop time from falling apart from sheer power of paradox. We'll see if I'm right.

I Can't Think of Anything to Actually Talk About Today

2007-10-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

...So here's the cutest Jonah Hex you'll ever lay eyes on.

(Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we like to call "phoning it in")

Beefcake Week, Eh?

2007-10-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

I think I can deal with a Beefcake Week. Especially considering the copious amounts of ammo that yesterday's Booster Gold #3 provided.

(So, they've only interacted for one page, and I already love them together. When's the wedding?)

And, of course, Booster Gold is the Prettiest Man Alive, and I defy anyone to try and prove otherwise.

On-Time Review: Booster Gold #3

2007-10-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

Another fine issue from the pens of Johns and Katz. No surprise here, and plenty of roffles.

We open with Danny in his boxers. I approve. And Booster's trying to punch him out for getting the Supernova suit stolen. Of course. Nothing seems to frustrate Booster quite as much as Danny does. Though I'm not sure I can really entirely blame him for his frustration.

I already love Rose, too. Also, she is totally checking Danny out in that last panel here. Not that I blame her.

"A fight between Booster Gold and the 100" is a reference to Booster's original series, by the by. Though, granted, Booster was fighting the 1,000. It's close enough.

Another random cameo by Team 13! Love it! :D

Go figure that if the Kents don't get wee Kal, then the Luthors do. How very meta. And that Lex and "Lionel, Jr." would be bestest pals.... right up until Lex finds out that Lionel's Superman. It vaguely amuses me in the worst way that it takes Lex less than a year to kill him. Hardcore. Booster is, naturally, horrified by this, considering how very much he idolizes Supes. I really love how he's all business after that.

In case you had managed to fail to catch on, Jonah Hex is hardcore.

Can we have Booster in various states of changing his clothes in every issue? Please?

I had to look up who Ennid Morricone and Frankie Laine were on Wikipedia. Does that make me a bad person?

Considering Booster's family/personal history of gambling problems, how very quickly he accepts Jonah's bet is both very in character and slightly worrisome.

Y'know, if you can't see the messed-up half of his face, Jonah's pretty handsome. I like this scene. It's kind of gratuitous, but it totally fits. And the woobie's strong with the discussion of friends, of course.

Random page of inexplicably Caucasian Jaime Reyes!

I love these two pages here to pieces. Booster's very drunk here, and it's somehow very endearing. And what's really endearing is the story of his cape. It is 100% true that Booster used to have a cape in his original series. The cape was mostly for PR purposes, and Booster was usually in the habit of taking it off for any actual fighting. So this story, while new, does fit, and, well, it hurts in the best way. Like I said earlier, Booster idolizes Superman. It's such a pity that Superman doesn't care much for him.

Booster has fought both Mammoth and Blackguard on-panel, for the record. Mammoth in the very first week of 52, and Blackguard in the very first issue (along with the next 3) of his original series. Although Blackguard reformed before Booster's cape disappeared, so I doubt he's the one in the story.

And I love that Booster forgot to eat. Because he would. And then he drank all that whiskey on an empty stomach. Amazing!

And Supernova calls Booster Michael, which, as I noted in my review of issue #1, calling Booster by his given name is not something you just do.

And then Booster's suit appears out of nowhere. I am mystified.

Supernova has very good mastery over the suit's capabilities. And he's definitely a very clever strategist. (Because it's so hard to beat a drunk guy up, right? :P) And buffalo. Wow.

And this last scene is definitely a winner. Rip declaring that "Friends don't let friends drive drunk!" is one of the most amazing/ridiculous things ever. Kind of like Sinestro's mustache twirl last issue. And then Booster just has to go and tempt fate. And his guilty face when Rip calls him on it afterwards is just so adorable. A great note to end on. :D

Except for one little thing. Barry's and Wally's eyes are both colored brown here, when they ought to be blue and green, respectively. I could kind of understand accidentally coloring them both blue, since I see people screw up and make Wally's eyes blue all the time, but brown? Seriously? Way to drop the ball, Hi-Fi!

Overall a most excellent issue, not that this is surprising, of course.

Catch-up Review: Booster Gold #2

2007-10-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

It's time for another exciting installment of Shut Up, Shut Up, My Opinions Totally Matter! Here we've got Booster Gold #2, featuring Booster vs. Sinestro. Exciting!

We start off where we left off, with Booster and Rip discussing the ultimatum that Booster gave Rip at the end of last issue. I absolutely love this conversation. The "No one's supposed to die--" "We all die, Booster." "Not like that." It's very telling of Booster's psyche. He does not care for how history has gone recently, so, by gum, he's going to change it and if Rip doesn't like it, he can find somebody else to play chump. Rip really did not pick the right guy to be his time cop.

Also, the look on Booster's face in that "Not like that." panel is scary in the best way. Booster's usually a compromiser to the sort of extreme that most other heroes wouldn't, but when Booster does stand his ground, then he does not move in it.

By "always," Booster of course means "never." The boy has practically defined the phrase "by the seat of his pants."

What interests me most about the alternate history shown here is that Rip says that Guy would die "decades before he should," because it suggests that Guy's going to be sticking around for a long, long time. Which is good. I like Guy.

Random page of Dan Garrett! There's a lot here that contradicts previous canon, but considering that said previous canon was a few time line rewrites ago, I think I can forgive it.

Fun fact: I live in Pasadena, so I am filled with glee by this.

I like Booster being mystified by Guy's behavior. Booster never met Guy until well after he was brain-damaged, so it makes perfect sense for him to be utterly confused by this non-aggressive and completely reasonable Guy.

I like how, after the initial tackle to get Sinestro's attention, Booster spends the entire rest of the fight dodging Sinestro's attack and trying to reason with him, because, well, he did ask for a little chat. It's nice that that was almost literal instead of just a euphemism for a fight.

Considering that Booster's first series ended with him teaming up with the Manhunters during the Millennium event and then backstabbing them later, any reference to the Manhunters in relation to Booster is inherently hilarious to me.

I've also independently thought up the relationship between Booster's costume and the yellow weakness, so that's also inherently hilarious to me, too.

The appearance of the Doctor Thirteen crew is great. The Other Time Sphere intrigues me. There has to be some sort of reason for the shape of those windows(?). Other than making The Other Time Sphere look like it's some sort of twisted love child between Unicron and Galactus.

Am I the only one reminded of Return of the Joker by the "He loves to hear himself... talk"? And as near as I can figure, Booster and Sinestro were doing roughly equal amounts of being chatty during the fight, but at least Sinestro was fighting, too. Also, it amuses me that Sinestro has apparently not bothered to wipe that blood from his brow.

I love this scene here with Booster lying through his teeth to Sinestro to pieces. It's part of that constantly compromising thing I mentioned earlier. This glorious display of ego-stroking a bad guy (even if he isn't entirely a bad guy yet) is the sort of thing that Booster has and would do unhesitatingly, but isn't really something a lot of other folks in the DCU would. They might go in that direction a little bit if they couldn't help it, but I don't think I could see many other heroes going as far as to claim to be a member of the Sinestro Corps. And Booster doesn't just lay it on, he lays it on thick. And Sinestro eats it up like it was the most delicious cake he's ever had. And it's so very nice to see Booster put all that charisma he has to work.

Sinestro twirling his mustache would probably look ridiculous in any other book.

Yet another thing I love (in case you hadn't caught on yet, I love this book with the burning fire of a thousand suns) is that Booster isn't just like, "Oh, I've chased off Sinestro, time to go jump back into the time stream, lah de dah." He's noticed that something's up with Guy and, by gum, he's going to find out what it is, because Guy is a friend of his (despite the fact that I'm inclined to say that they've fought more often than not), and, even though everybody and their mother (including Booster himself) may think Booster is, at his core, a selfish jerk, the fact of the matter is, Booster cares very, very deeply about his friends.

Enough to accidentally hit on them. Whoopsie! (As an aside, I'd like to note that Booster looks very, very good in civvies and could we please have more of this?)

And then we actually get Booster talking about his family. Even mentioning Michelle out loud to someone, which is something I've seen him do maybe twice since his first series ended. And you'll notice that he says, "I never even told Ted this....", which should further emphasize to you how very much Booster does not talk about his family. So, yeah, this is Important-with-a-capital-I stuff here. This is also the first time I've ever seen it implied that Booster had any sort of contact with his old man after said old man walked out on his family when Booster and Michelle were 4. And it's interesting that Booster sought acceptance from him (It's called "being your own man," Booster. Have you heard of it?), considering that Booster's dad was not what anybody would call much of a great guy, cf. the earlier leaving a single mother with 4-year-old twins thing. You don't need me to tell you that the woobie's strong here, of course. I'm just ruminating on what it all means.

I can only wonder what Booster did with that ticket. Doesn't seem to have stayed and watched the game himself. And I wouldn't put scalping it past him, of course.

Supernova has given poor Rip an amazingly thorough beating here. I'm not sure I've seen that much strategic clothes ripping since the last time I watched DragonBallZ. Interesting how everything on his left arm seems to have been left intact though. I wonder if that was done on purpose.

Camouflage capabilities for the Supernova suit seems to be a new one. That's not something we've seen used in 52, and Booster didn't mention it when he listed its capabilities in the first issue.

And next we get Jonah Hex, so that's definitely pretty exciting!

Catch-up Review: Booster Gold #1

2007-10-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

So, Booster Gold #3 comes out on Wednesday. Today is Monday. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if I want to review #3 on time and still have covered the previous two issues, I'd have to do one a day. So....

A list of what pushes my buttons, and an explanation of all the references for those of you who do not have Booster's history more or less memorized backwards and forwards. (If you want a synopsis, you've got the entire rest of the blogosphere for that.)

So, we start off with an extended poker metaphor. Considering Booster's personal and family history with gambling, this is flail-worthy. And, of course, he's fighting the Royal Flush Gang, which, as Black Canary will point out in a few pages, is how he got into the Justice League in the first place.

And then we've got a nice double-page spread in which Booster handily summarizes his backstory. The panel layout's a little odd here, forming a kind of convoluted backwards "S" (somewhat appropriate!) The reference to his parents as a collective unit is an interesting one, given how his father walked out on them when Booster and Michelle were 4. Booster's football number being 13 has been rather thoroughly consistent throughout his history, I am pretty sure. Though the colors were originally red and white rather than monochrome. I am willing to forgive this. Monochrome feels more Gotham. I also love all the parenthetical asides here. There's something extremely Booster in that. I also love that the nearly 20 years between Shel's death and Ted's are pretty much entirely skipped over. I mean, it makes sense to do that, of course, but, well, that's almost 20 years right there.

The "I deserve to be cheered for again. (I do.)" gets me every time. Have confidence, Booster!

Batman hits on the strangest mix between dickishness and niceness here. Amazing.

Booster's first heroic adventure was to stop a Presidential assassination plot, so the first paper in the second panel on this page is hilarious. And, of course, the reference to the beginning of Civil War on the second paper. Also worth pointing out is that the teeny tiny type on the papers is all actually real words. Not words that would actually appear in a newspaper, but if you get really up close and personal with your copy, you should be able to make them out. They're worth a good chuckle.

I get a kick out of Booster referring to his usage of historical records as cheating, because I always kind of felt that it was.

It makes oodles of sense that Booster would be mad at Rip for 52. Rip put Booster through all sorts of Hell there and Booster got almost nothing in return for it. I also love it to pieces that Booster lists Skeets's body before his own reputation. It's such a small detail, but it's a telling one.

Strange that Danny and Booster are living in Pittsburgh now, considering that Danny was living in Covington, Ohio in 52 Week 19.

I love Danny. I just do. I also love the contrast of how Booster lost football through his own stupid mistakes, but Danny lost football because of an unfortunate, uncontrollable accident, along with the contrast between the way they are now. *Waves hand vaguely* Did that make sense to anybody but me?

And then Rip is an ass. An ass with a beard. Good call, that. Makes him look distinct from our other two blonds. (The ones who are actually related.)

Also, it is a True Fact that Booster considers his friends to be more important than the Multiverse. Oh, Rip, you magnificent bastard, you, you knew just the think to say to Booster to get him to go with it, didn't you?

I have many, many theories as to who Supernova is. Most of them are the same answer as the last time that question was asked.

The "if I lose an arm again...." is a reference to Booster's ill-fated fight against the minions of the Overmaster. Not only did Booster lose his arm in this fight, however, he was also medically dead for the remainder of the crossover, which eventually led to the infamous Extreme Justice life support suit. It takes balls to reference that, let me tell you.

I like Rose. She's pretty, as a relative of Booster ought to be. :P

Rip is skilled in the art of the back-handed compliment. And, of course, Rip is right when he says that Booster's entirely too comfortable in this environment. Booster's really not the type to give much consideration to the consequences of doing something like kidnapping a baby who would eventually grow up to be a time-traveling supervillain and then dumping them with a happy family.

The scene with the Justice League here just breaks my heart to pieces, because Booster so very much wants that spot on the League, and, well, dammit, he has earned it. The hard way. And he has to let go of it voluntarily (and literally, in the case of that certificate), in order to really be able to be the best hero he can be, and the whole thing's very symbolic and hurty, hurty, hurty. I love it.

And then there's the thing with Batman. Now, a very important thing about Booster here. Calling him Michael is not something you just do. There are tons and tons of reasons behind this, that'll I spare you of (for now), but what it boils down to is that there is a very, very small list of people who can call Booster by his given name and get away with it (I can think of 7 people whom I'd accept a "Michael" from. About half of them are dead. Make of that what you will.), and Batman is most definitely not on that list of people. So, seeing ol' Batsy use "Michael" and then Booster retorting with a "See ya, Bruce." is just great, because can't you just hear the spite in that "Bruce"? It's so very nice to see that the Michael thing is something that Johns and Katz get, because it's important.

Also, can you not just hear the gears turning in Batman's head after that "living down to expectations"?

Internet humor is always worth a chuckle. True Fact.

I love the scene with the kid. Even if the kid couldn't have been older than 5 or so when Booster was in the League. I'll forgive that. And, of course, watching Booster give up the glory is downright charming.

There are two things that I absolutely love about this last little scene. And they are "A couple times" and "we're going to start by saving." Because it's so nice that the writers realize that Booster has lost people other than Ted, although Ted is a very important loss to him. So this promise that Ted won't be the only one that Booster is fighting to save makes me very, very happy. What can I say? Booster has a twin sister who has been dead for about 20 years of whom I am rather fond.

The preview page is just enticing beyond words, of course. As Geoff Johns so artfully put it, "Die, Max, die!"

So, a bit about me.

2007-10-08T01:27:00.000-07:00

The name's HotAndCold. Well, technically, the name's Victoria, but whatever. HotAndCold is my alias of choice. Welcome to the Internet. Also note that the blog is entitled Running Water. I cannot resist a good pun. Or, obviously, a horrible one.

I like comic books. DC is my poison of choice. My theoretical pull list as of this writing looks a little like so: Booster Gold, JSA, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Teen Titans, and Booster Gold. Needless to say, I am pretty damn fond of Booster Gold. And I usually pick up other stuff I think looks interesting, too. Though, as a poor college student, I probably should be a bit more careful about my spending habits. Which is why I'm buying a copy of Booster Gold every week, of course. (Don't believe me? Oh, ye of little faith. [I have, since this picture was taken, acquired all the variant covers, bumping my total for the first issue up to 7 and the total for the second up to 5. Thank you, eBay!])

I do have a LiveJournal, but, well, I decided that I wanted in on the comics blogosphere instead of just the LJ crowd. Especially considering that most of my LJ is yakking about whatever it is that I happen to be knitting at the moment rather than whatever comic I happen to be reading. Hopefully I'll manage to update this thing more loyally than I do my LJ, but I shall make no promises.

Anyway, that's me, pretty much. How about you?