The April Solicits

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.

No Habla Espanol. And That's Okay.

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!

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle Related Solicits

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!

The Rest of the Solicits

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?

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.