Why is No One Discussing This?

Sleep is For Suckers has the Infinite Crisis #4 Review up.

Now, I'm too lazy to read Didio's Crisis Counseling Interviews for myself, but luckily my fellow bloggers sum up the important stuff.

So, I'm surprised, no one has commented on this particular bomb:

And, a bit later, something I quite appreciated reading:

?: Will the Crisis have any major effects on the Starman legacy? Or on Opal City? Now that you have "terminated" Black Condor (in a rather disrespectful way, I must say), that city is without a hero.

DD: That’s a question only James Robinson can answer.

Yes, there's more to this.

Now, when I read that, I needed to give it a moment to sink in.

I mean, could that possibly mean what I think it means?

It's mildly possible Didio is just referring to Robinson as the Opal City expert, being the last writer to extensively use the city.

But it's a much better possibility that, given the the fact that Robinson is writing Batman's first OYL story-arc, that after he's finished there we'll get to see him dust off his old supporting cast a bit and show us what's going on in Opal City.

Maybe we'll get an Elongated Man miniseries. I'm not much of a Ralph fan, but Robinson handled him nicely before.

Better than that, maybe we'll get a Shade mini-series.

Or a Gotham Central-style police series based around the O'Dares. A little CSI-style stuff with Hamilton Drew as a consultant would be fun. I do want to see the Opal City Crimelab try and examine some of the Shade's shadow stuff again.

Maybe some other new hero or heroine will take up residence there. Shining Knight or Booster Gold would both work very well there, as Opal City has such a large time-lost population since the Post Demon storyline. I always figured it would attract more time-lost people, for the comfort of knowing other people in a similar situation.

Maybe Courtney will go to college at Opal University. She's got a healthy enough respect for the Starman legacy that she might consider that city ideal for striking it out on her own. I could see her doing it to honor a request of Jack's, or even the Shade's.

Maybe we'll get a brand-new Starman. Or one of the future ones hinted at before, like Danny Blaine. He needs a different costume, though. Hate that full-face mask. Only villains should have them.

Maybe we'll get a Starboy. We do have a spare, after all. The white edition has been floating aimlessly around the timestream since the reboot. And we also have option of bringing the black version back from some ambiguous future in the current Legion timeline, y'know, like they're planning with Supergirl and they did with Superboy before the reboot.
The Shade can set him up with a place to stay. Hell, Shade could tell everyone this is his long-lost son or grandson. Everyone would probably accept the kid without question. He's Opal's oldest living citizen, and no one knows where he lives. He could have a number of wives and kids scattered throughout the city, for all they know.

If nothing else, I get to add to my DC Comics Wishlist. I'm hoping to get a combination of the above. I'd love to see a time-lost hero from the future team up with a time-lost hero from the past. Or the Shade working with Hope O'Dare. Or just Hope and Clarence and Mason O'Dare, because they haven't even gotten cameos. Or be able to see Thom Kallor on a regular basis again I ended up dropping the LSH book, as the reboot's not to my taste, which is a shame because Starboy's new costume with the cape looks pretty sweet. I swear, if you had said white pants and cape with a starfield shirt I wouldn't made a face, but actually seeing it it really works.



Man, it'd be nice to see him in the JSA.

Green Lantern Fashion

I swear, I was writing my John Stewart post last night. But close to sunrise, I fall prey to a medical condition common among Night-shifters.

You see, my brain starts tor resemble cottage cheese.

This has prevented me from finishing my John Stewart post.

It has also further dulled my wit to the point that I cannot make a recognizable joke.

So, instead, I have a special treat that I've been saving for all of you.



That's right, it's the Green Lantern Corps dress uniform, as modeled by Kilowog!

Please note the length of the cape.



It allows an uninterrupted view of the most important body part.

Jim Lee -- Better artist than previously thought

Over at Crisis/Boring Change there's a good review of All-Star Batman and Robin up to the third issue.

It has pictures (like this one) to better comment on Jim Lee's cheesecakey art.

It's in that interview that I noticed something very important about the picture to the right.

Look around the stomach area.

Try it without distractions.



Do you see it now?

Ladies and Gentlemen, that stomach is convex.

Vicky Vale has a pooch-belly.

A small fat deposit over her abdominal cavity.

A gut.

Not just curves, actual fat. That's several notches above a lot of pinup artists. That's a few degrees away from a realistic woman. That implies Jim Lee finds pot-bellies sexy.

And he's willing to draw them.

Wow.

(She must be reading Supergirl)

I've been link-farming for When Fangirls Attack for 15 days now, and I've yet to see the panel at right in a post.

For shame, folks, for shame.

Anyway, Carnival of Feminists #7 is up here and mirrored here.

It's a big one this time. Lots of neat stuff.

The Comic-Book section has the most posts. I made it for my Bulleteer #2 review this time. Kalinara made it twice. A number of people I found while link-farming are there too.

Check it out.

Type this one into Yahoo

perpetual stick up her butt

More Kyle

There's a three-page preview of Ion #1 at Newsarama.

The biggest surprise, I think, will be if what appears to be happening in those pages is actually happening.

I'm iffy on the art, but that sequence could be distorted on purpose. And I may be unhappy because Kyle's front is tilted towards the camera the whole time.

But I must own the first issue.

I feel confident we'll get a worthwhile angle on the character once the actual series is underway.

Ion Musings

The April solicitations came out before I woke up today (damn nocturnal hours) and the Internet is abuzz with a sigh of disappointment.

April is an ending month. Infinite Crisis Ends on April 19th. Seven Soldiers ends on April 5th. 52 doesn't start until May. Wonder Woman doesn't relaunch, neither does The Flash or JLA. These solicits are well into the OYL story, but they can't give much away witgout giving away these endings. I think it's fairly natural to feel a certain let down for this month's solicits.

Basically, for new stuff we have Checkmate #1 and Ion #1 on April 26th. The very next week after Infinite Crisis #7, which heavily implies that their storylines depend on events in that book.

ION #1
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Greg Tocchini
Cover by Ivan Reis
Following the events of INFINITE CRISIS and the RANN/THANAGAR WAR SPECIAL, writer Ron Marz (GREEN LANTERN) returns to the character he created, giving Kyle Rayner an entirely new lease on life in a new ongoing series with art by rising star Greg Tocchini (1602: New World, Thor: Son of Asgard)! A distraught Kyle Rayner has emerged one year later, transformed with abilities that may surpass those of any Green Lantern ever. So beware his power...because his might may not be on the side of right. For a signed edition, see Dynamic Forces section of Previews.
On sale April 26 • 1 of 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US Edited by Eddie Berganza

There's a bit been made of it on Comic-Bloc and on the Newsarama thread that the book is solicited like a maxi-series ("1 of 12") but it states its an ongoing. I'm not sure what to think about that.

As you may have learned from James, Ron Marz is already dropping hints for the nature of the Ion series. He's very careful about what he says about Kyle, but he has no problem ruining the ending of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. (To his credit, he left Citizen Kane out of this.)

"I will tell you that due to events in the Rann-Thanagar Special, Kyle finds himself with quite a bit more power as his disposal. But adjusting to all that power is ... problematic."

"When the series opens, it is indeed 'One Year Later'. Kyle's been through quite a lot, and he's trying to put his life back in order. He'd like nothing better than to have time to paint and get his head together. But events transpire that won't let him do that. Something happens that pulls him back into space."

Which all begs the question, what happened to make him still so upset a year after the event? Kyle generally recovers easily.

The first Green Lantern story I ever read was Green Lantern #91, which is a story about Kyle getting tortured by Desaad, and flashing back to the day before where Donna had up and left him. Marz had a fondness for flashbacks and dream sequences that entire run, actually. It's very possible this first storyline is set during the One Year gap, and we open with Kyle reflecting on the events of the past year, or even relating them to another character.

And there's a clearer version of the cover, but I still don't think it's the final product. You can see Guy and John in the background, though. Everybody who's ever been and Earth Lantern is standing there behind him. Fairly symbolic.

But I'm still wondering, why cover the face?

Kyle's New Costume

Nothing gets the guys at Comic-Bloc talking more than Kyle Rayner's wardrobe. This thread is jumping. It's up to 12 pages already. Ron Marz himself even got sick of the arguing, and chimed in at about Post #134. Aside from that, thread highlights are Wyldewolfe's response, this inversion of colors to outline the emblem, and James Meeley's response to Ron Marz.

There's also a redo with Kyle's classic crabmask posted there.



There's so much complaining, someone sent out a call for everyone to do their own costume redesign.

This was my shot at it.

I tried a male, I can't draw males, so I figured I'd go with Kalinara's gender-skewing and see what a female Kyle would look like.

What do you guys think?

Why can't poor Kyle ever cut a break?

I mean, seriously, Kyle Rayner's dayjob is artist. He's known to be vain. He's established as exceptionally good-looking out of costume.

But instead of leaving him in a normal Green Lantern uniform, where he looks absolutely adorable, they have to give him some unique look. And he gets stuck with the worst costumes.

Case in point: Comics Continuum has a preview cover of Ion #1.

Maybe it's not as bad as it looks. Maybe we'll see the interiors and find that it's wierd lighting. Maybe we're all just disappointed not to get a Green/White color scheme again like last time he was Ion. Maybe we're disappointed the floppy hair isn't back. Or maybe there's just something off about the hands.

But there is always some glaring little thing wrong with a Kyle Rayner. First, it was the crabmask, then it was the dog collar, now its -- Well, everyone seems to see a different problem here.

Can't any of these guys design a costume?

Are we going to have to get out a Ouija board and have Gil Kane do it for them?

Reveal Thyself!

I have been informed of De-lurking Week.

And I have judged it a lovely idea. Worthy of introduction to the Comic-blogging Community. If you've been lurking here all the while in the all-concealing shadows now's the time to step out and say "Hi!"

Even if you already talk to me all the time, leave your calling card just the same, thank you.

So, whether you've come in search of Green Lantern Rumps or Shiny Metal Racks, I want to hear from you. Tell me anything. Tell me hello, tell me goodbye, tell me your name, tell me about how you picked your name, tell me about yourself, tell me about your day, tell me off, tell me why you hate/love whatever character, tell me why the panel to the left is inappropriate for this subject, tell what picture I should have used, tell me anything!

Just say something.



(Please note: This post post-dated in order to keep it at the top of the blog all week. So, check the post below before assuming I've blown off updating again)

Mild Linkblogging

After years of inactivity, T has started blogging again.

Ethan Van Sciver has finished Green Lantern #9 already. And it's still due out in the same month it was solicited for!

Geoff Johns is kind (or cruel) to entice us with preview art on Comic-Bloc. Here is a Pacheco page from Green Lantern #7 and some Ivan Reis art from Green Lantern #11. I think I may be in love. At least, until I actually see what Ivan looks like. Right now I picture him like he draws Kyle Rayner.

Another thread of interest on that board is the one speculating that Green Lantern Villains are based on Message Board Stereotypes.

Spencer Carnage points out a superhero with impeccable taste.

Deadline for the Carnival of Feminist 7 is set for 7AM EST Monday.

An excellent art blog. (Somewhere in this blog's archives is a picture of Cameron Stewart, the penciller of Manhattan Guardian, in a Firestorm costume)

Here's the Newsarama article the Reis art was snagged from. Some hints on Green Lantern, and Batman sounds good this year.

Newsarama also promises the April Solicits on Monday. They already have the cover and solicit for Infinite Crisis #7 up.

I noticed this only because he linked to me and I saw it on Technocrati, but Dan Jacobson wrote about the recent Mutant depowering at Marvel. Pretty good.

Zombie Mallet has an interesting theory about John Byrne.

This is a wierd site.

And finally, like Jon, I joined the mob and drew Batgirl. See my wretched scribblings on my rarely updated livejournal.