"Hey! Waddya know... Ragnell wants to socialize!"

I must confess, I'm a little nervous about Netiquette. Particularly links. So, I put off showing my local blogiverse explorations with the Internet at large, worried that I might be impolite. I figured I'd just ask before posting any links.

I only asked one person -- Scipio at The Absorbascon -- because his humor is absolutely irresistible. If you read comics, or used to read comics, and want a laugh, visit him. He is very reliable in this area.

Anyway, when I was making my regular rounds and saw the Fortress of Soliloquy today, I noticed something. He linked to me. I did a double-take. Somebody actually linked to me. Somebody actually liked me enough to do that. It felt pretty cool. Now, I'm not sure what I did to deserve this honor (Probably the Donna Troy post. That went over fairly well), but I figure one good link deserves a few more. After all, that's how I find all of my blogs, by linking, then linking again, then linking again. Hitchhiking the Internet, I suppose. And it's a public service, now that Fanboy Rampage is closing down. Thus today's expanded sidebar.

Perhaps a quick tour is in order. So, without further ado, the Wonders of the Comic Book Blogiverse (I'm not fond of the term Blogosphere either) for less than thirty dollars a day:

Scipio at the Absorbascon is currently doing a beautiful series on the unintentional humor of Crisis on Infinite Earths. I've found some real gems in his archives, too. A fine place to waste an evening. He's a huge Thanagar supporter, but he's funny so we can forgive him.

Comics Ate My Brain caught my attention with some good Green Lantern posts. Now, granted, he's not nearly as obsessed as I am right now (Rest assured, when a better comic comes along I will begin to obsess over that -- I couldn't stop talking about Wonder Woman over the Summer. Autumn must be Lantern Season). He also has the most endearing nickname for his spouse.

Comics Should Be Good is hit and miss for me, mainly because of opinion differences, but they have some good features sometimes.

Marionette of Dance of the Puppets knows more about Wonder Woman than I can ever dream.

Double Articulation -- This man validates my sanity. Never have I seen anyone who reads more symbolism into comics than I do. This is a good site to get lost in.

Facedown in the Gutters is light on the Lanterns, but still highly enjoyable. He writes series posts. He just finished reviewing a box of random comics, and if you check the archives you can find his Costumes critiques. He also has similar music tastes to mine.

Tom Foss over at the Fortress of Soliloquy is still writing his Infinite Crisis #1 review, but in the meantime he nearly has me convinced to pick up Superman: Shadow of Apokolips. And he's the first Rann supporter I regularly visit. In fact, I envy his Rann posters. I haven't worked up the courage to ask to link to them yet. "Science over Savagery!"

"Seven Hells!" is another Thanagarian support site. Devon is some sort of Seer, evidenced by the accurate prediction of Infinite Crisis a year beforehand.

Shadow of the Written World is a LiveJournal written by the Earth-2 version of me, Morchades. I needed an alternate universe self to comment on my sister's journal (she only exists on Earth-2 and Earth-4), and the name Ragnell was used over there. I started using it for non-comics stuff, and it works out nicely. But the writing style is the same, and that's what matters. I included this link because, in honor of the upcoming holiday, I wrote the Scariest LiveJournal Entry Ever Written (for US citizens, at least) and I'm rather proud of it. I felt it should be shared with as many people as possible.

Tales to Mildly Astonish is not just comics, but a wide variety of oddness. I saw the subtitle and felt compeled to bookmark it. Worth it just for the Star Trek IV post

Two Guys Buying Comics is one I always check, even if I don't agree with some of the reviews. We're on the same page for Green Lantern, though.

What WERE They Thinking? is one of the most fun sites online. Warning: Some of those panels are Just. Plain. Wrong.

Your Moment of Kim is a peek into my older sister's twisted mind. She has stopped reading comics, so no reviews here. Enter at your own risk.

The Zeta-Beam is written by another Rann-Man. He won me over with his Legion of Super-Mullets post.

And there you have it: a tour of the Comic Book Blogiverse with access to plenty of back roads I myself haven't explored, should you choose a strange direction. Enjoy!

Last Line Round-up

I have squandered my valuable time with schoolwork. As a result, I have not written full reviews for nearly a month. And, with two speeches due this week, I don't have time to do full reviews this week. However, I felt a need to weigh in on Infinite Crisis. So, in the interest of brevity, I'm going to review the last bit of dialogue or internal monologue from each of the Crisis lead-ins and the first issue itself, along with the accompanying artwork. A good writer should be able to convey a lot in the last line, after all.

And of course there are Spoilers below. I'm talking about the last page here!


The OMAC Project #6
"It feels nothing."

This line was delivered by Batman. It, and the accompanying page, demonstrate one of the Major Laws of the DCU ever since Green Lantern: Rebirth -- Even when he comes to the correct conclusion, and does everything right, Batman is Still Always Wrong in Some Way. It's a frightening change from Morrison Uber-Bats.


Day of Vengeance #6
"Of course we're with you, boss, we're superheroes."

Just taking this line out of the mini-series makes the entire mini, placed against the entire tone of Countdown, 10 times better than when I actually read it. What a way to drive home the theme, Willingham. Good job with this one.


JLA #119
"Wait... You're..."

Martian Manhunter perfectly articulates the feeling conveyed by the entire DCU line this month.


DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #4
"This is too much--too big! I need help!"

Thank you, Donna Troy, for setting the Women's Movement even further back. Wuss.


Rann-Thanagar War #6
"The Guardians' side, Poozer -- the side of the whole universe!"

Kilowog answers the question posed on the cover of Issue 1 in a way that beautifully defines the point of being a Green Lantern. A lot of people have been complaining about Gibbons, but I, for one, am glad the new GLC writer has such a handle on the Lanterns (and is willing to accept ideas from online ramblers!).

Note: This mini would have worked a lot better if this hadn't only been the last of the dialogue, but the last of the verbage for the entire mini. There was some useless narration on the last page that could have been replaced to better effect with the second half of Kilowog's line. But, I'm willing to forgive a lot with Dave Gibbons since he gives Kyle and his fans so much respect, and worked so hard to cram so much into so little space.



Villains United #6
"Aw, Hell. Lets just flip a coin."

I think the question this was answering is fairly obvious.


Infinite Crisis #1
"This looks like a job for Superman!"

After six months of cursing the darkness, this last page is way beyond lighting a candle. This is lighting the freaking Sun.

That line, and the accompanying splash page, made the entire issue worth it. It made the entire Countdown worth it. I'll even go so far as to say it made the Deathstroke fight in Identity Crisis worth it.
I got all tingly and giggly. I had to stand up, pace, then sit down. I couldn't read another book that night. It may sound corny and cliche, but somehow Geoff Johns can make the corny and cliche work very well. That's pretty talented in our society of cynics. I think he does it by surrounding the cliche in tragedy, so that it seems extra-special. I am loving this so far.

As long as I'm still hopped up on Care Bear Happy Tummy Rays...

This made me laugh today, so I will share the goodness and politely thank Scipio from Absorbascon.