Continuing through the New 52 #1s - Green Lantern/ Red Lantern

I apologize.  I thought I'd do this more quickly.  Well, life happens, people.  Life happens.  We're still talking about all of the New 52 #1's.

I'm now making my way through the Green Lantern family of books.

Green Lantern #1
by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke

Darn you, Geoff Johns.  Intellectually, I know you're not the world's best writer, but this was actually a fairly solid issue of Green Lantern.  Maybe not a "what is a Green Lantern and let's start from scratch" sort of #1 issue that we could have used for this comic, but...  in all fairness, I gave up on floppies of GL a while ago and have been picking up the trades, so I'm very much behind.  And while I want to know how we got here (and will buy the comics to find out), I never felt completely lost.

Hal was a GL.  He's not.  Now this jerk with a really despicable history, Sinestro, has his ring and Jordan is back on earth trying to remember how people basically go about their day-to-day lives.  And he has no idea.

Its an interesting bit, because my continual complaint about the GL series has been that Johns never slows down to let Hal develop into a real character, or be much more than the handsome fellow wielding the ring.  Frankly, Kyle Rayner has had far more time wrestling with these sorts of things of late than big-time "I've got my own movie" Hal Jordan.

You aren't going to get much out of a Johns comic but what's on the page exactly, but he's still very, very good at turning in comics that are a good, enjoyable read.  Even when you can almost see the gears of what he's doing, right there on the page.

I'd read some negative reviews about this comic, and I sort of have to raise an eyebrow.  It seemed almost as if readers were confused or unwilling to deal with their characters facing any adversity they couldn't punch, in this case:  Hal Jordan's inability to land a job.  But it actually all fits pretty neatly, and, frankly, answers a lot of the questions I'd had about the wobbly set-up Johns seemed to give Hal in the early days of this series.  How the hell WAS he supposed to be in the Air Force during war time and not be on active duty?  Or at least have someone looking for him?

Anyhoo...  its more of Johns on GL.  And given the success of the book prior to the New 52, that's perfectly okay by me.

Red Lantern
by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes

I don't really believe Atrocitus is necessarily a bad character, or even a two-dimensional character, but the concept of being steaming mad all the time?   By the time any writer explores all the nuances of rage, its not really rage anymore.  Already within this first issue, our protagonist has pensive and introspective moments, which seems to push back against the concept of what it means to be blind with rage or fury.

But you can't write that kind of energy level for characters all the time.  It threatens to stick too many characters with, more or less, exactly the same personality and its got nowhere to go.  And deep down, we sort of know that rage isn't really a useful reaction to much of anything.  Its why clever animators have given us Yosemite Sam all these years.

Do I think this book will appeal to young readers looking for vindication (and a nigh-romantic take) on their inability to manage their personal hissy-fits?  That the correct reaction to slights against us is spewing blood to make more blood?    Milligan will have to do a lot more in this book than he did in issue 1 to convince me.

Also, I almost laughed outloud at how sadly watered down Moore's original visions which eventually spawned Atrocitus and others became, and even the excitement of seeing Atrocitus the first times when we see him explaining "I used to be a psychologist".  Sigh.  There are so many things wrong there, and the fact Atrocitus was redesigned into a pink guy with a pointy nose in this book?

Man, Atrocitus, you used to be cool.  Now you're kind of...  like post 1999 Ozzy versus "he bit the head off a bat" Ozzy.

Guest Review! CanadianSimon reviews Atomic Robo!

Hey, Signal Corps!  While I was in Laredo, CanadianSimon emailed me about doing some reviews for Atomic Robo.  That sounded awesome to me as I was quite literally planning to start picking up Atomic Robo this year.  I'm a bit of a novice, and so Simon has graciously sent in these reviews, which also gets me off the hook for lack of content (and I'm going to see The Thing tonight with SimonUK, so I don't know that I'll be posting any time soon). 


Simon, make it Canadian:

So I was hanging out on twitter the other day as I an wont to do and I noticed a tweet from Atomic Robo scribe Brian Clevinger who was looking for folks to review the latest installment of Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X. This was much too good of an opportunity to let slip by.

For those of you unfamiliar with Atomic Robo, here is a brief primer. Atomic Robo was created by famed inventor Nikola Tesla in 1923. Tesla was able to endow Robo with "automatic intelligence" as he called it and what is now commonly referred to as "artificial intelligence". Because Robo is, well a robot, and by definition is not limited to a regular humans lifespan we are able to drop in on him over 80 plus years of adventuring where he's taken on Nazi's, Lovecraftian horrors, alternative dimension vampires among other challenges. This also gives us the opportunity for Robo to meet such luminary historical figures like the aforementioned Tesla, Thomas Edison, HP Lovecraft, etc.

The Ghost of Station X is the sixth Atomic Robo mini series. However, knowledge of the previous stories is not necessary. As issue one opens Robo receives a call from NASA as some astronauts are in trouble on a space station and only have 7 hours to live. It is up to Robo and the folks at Tesladyne Industries to rescue them. Unlike most comics where the characters would immediately leap into their spaceship Robo and his team have to figure out a way to get to the stranded astronauts. There is a very Apollo 13 tension going on during the discussion on how to mount the rescue mission.

At the same time there is a building stolen from Bletchley Park in England with possible ties to Robo's past. Unfortunately, Robo is not able to divert himself from the astronaut problem so he sends the "B" team to investigate.

The issue ends on a great cliffhanger where Robo takes off in the rebuilt Aerospike to rescue the astronauts.

Issue 2 picks right up where the issue 1 cliffhanger left off. We see the folks at Tesladyne leaping into action to resolve this crisis. This is where Clevinger really excels as he bounces from character to character with each one having a distinct voice and motivation.

At the same time team "B" continues to investigate the theft of the building from Bletchley Park. Once the Tesladyne team is able to avert the crisis we begin to realize through information communicated by the characters in the book that the rescue of the astronauts was a diversionary tactic. Is Tesladyne Industries under attack? Was some unknown opponent trying to distract Robo from the mysterious disappearance of the building in Bletchley Park? Could it have been both? Tune into issue three to learn more.

Scott Wegener is doing some great art in this series. I absolutely love that he has more than one body type. Too often in comic books each male character looks the same as any other male character and each female character is depicted as a bombshell.

Look folks, I can't recommend Atomic Robo enough. It is a great book that everyone of any age can enjoy. Heck you can read any of these issues to your kids. I've been following this series for years and users of Comixology can buy the digital issues at a ridiculously low price. Please give this series a try either by grabbing some digital issues or pre-ordering the floppies.


Hey, me again. 


This sounds pretty great!  If you've not downloaded the Comixology app or tried their site, I think they've got a good model going.  We need more comics like Atomic Robo out there making comics FUN.

I don't actually feel terribly great this evening

I don't believe I'm actually sick.  I think I ate horribly during my 24 hours away from the house (I ate at Burger King for the first time in a few years, and ate some other various gas-station food junk) and I believe my body is in rebellion.  Its not that I have this amazing diet when I'm at home, but the BK may have done me in.

I went to the gym when I got home and do believe I sweated out some of the bad humors, but my sweat literally seemed to smell weird.  Maybe I was imagining it, or the hotel soap just smelled oddly once sweat got mixed in, but...

The good news is that I felt less awful when I left the gym than when I walked in, and its just sort of drifted into a malaise.

Anyway, I'm skipping tonight.

Here is Louise Brooks with a small dog.

The curious bi-furcation of DC Entertainment

DC Entertainment and puzzle and game manufacturer, Wonder Forge, have announced that Wonder Forge has licensed both "Super Friends" style DC characters for little kids puzzles and toys and "Justice League" characters for older kids and adults.

Yesterday a whole block of cartoon programming centering on DC's characters, lasting over multiple hours per week (over multiple years) on Cartoon Network was announced.  Kids (and adults) will be getting family-friendly versions of Batman, Plastic Man, Doom Patrol and a My Little Pony-type take on Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Supergirl.

One also cannot help but notice that Hot Wheels (yes, the tiny, inexpensive toy cars) has been running ads for Justice League themed cars on the backs of certain DC comics that, historically, should be kid-friendly, such as Superman. 

And, of course, General Mills is putting the Justice League on boxes of cereal.  In their traditional costumes.

Meanwhile, I read Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws.  Bit of a different thing.

Diane Nelson was not brought to DC Comics (which she immediately renamed DC Entertainment) because she happened to suggest to Warner Bros. that they could do well to publish this nifty book about a wizarding school and the unlucky little boy living under the stairs.  Nelson was one of the architects who turned Harry Potter the book into Harry Potter the cultural touchstone.  The Potter franchise is clearly cross-generational, reaching out well past the original audience of young readers and becoming a movie franchise worth more than most nations, a tourist destination in Florida, a line of high-end collectibles in your SkyMall catalog, lines of cheap Halloween costumes, etc... 

What's curious to me is that I'm assuming Nelson is at least partly aware of the strategies at the comics side of DC, and has raised a thumb in support of the "males 18-34" plan put into place by DC Comics.

I'm (briefly) in Laredo

Laredo!

Its not a town I come to often, but as Texas A&M International has started working with my office, its a place I'll be hitting for the foreseeable future.


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Last I was in Laredo, I was in about 5th grade.  I don't remember much about the trip except that:
1)  I bought some plastic sunglasses I thought made me look cool (they did not)
2)  My dad bought these crazy-huge longhorn horns in a shop.  The horns hung over our fireplace briefly, and then one day, were back in the garage, never to be hung again.
3)  Jason bought this wooden model Spanish galleon that was really pretty big.  Like, two feet long and two feet high.  I never figured out how he talked my folks into that purchase.

Laredo is one of the oldest cities in Texas, a sort of way-point between San Antonio and civilization back when when this was all Mexico/ Spain/ whatever....  And while its seen Mexican armies coming north to deal with unruly Tejanos and American armies coming south to insist that, no, Texas is most definitely a part of the US now...  its not been the site of much actual military action.

As Mexico, especially border towns in Mexico, are having so many problems with drug cartels, Laredo is one of the destination cities for folks looking to not live in Mexico anymore.  The town, which is far older than places like, say, Austin...  looks like a bright, shiny new place in the area I'm staying.  Nothing looks older than 5-10 years.

There was some concern about safety, but apparently all is well on the US side of the border.

I'm headed back to Austin mid-day tomorrow, but its great to get down here.  Just wish I'd thought to plan a day in Laredo for a look-see.  Next time.

No More Krypto - DC makes a decision with which I must disagree

According to reports coming out of the New York ComicCon, DC has decided that there will be no more Krypto in the New 52.

This makes me sad.  And this is sort of the thing that is making me wonder about the stated goal of aiming your comics at the 18-34 year old male demographic.

While I do think the comics of the 90's were aimed at an all-ages audience, the 90's Superman comics by-passed the Bronze Age in terms of "world building", but it was also one of the dullest eras of Superman as creators tried everything in their power to avoid reminding readers of the past 50 years of Superman comics and tried to pretend that Superman was just a straightforward superhero book that would fit in alongside "gritty" books.  And, hey, who should be picking up writing chores on Superman than Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen?   Competent writers, but its a strange fit to jump 20 years backward as they're supposedly moving forward.

sorry, buddy

For me, as a Superman fan, this is disappointing.

Alert: Halloween Fun Deadline is Approaching!

hey, everybody.

I know it seems like Halloween is still aways off, but we've only received one submission for the Halloween participation-palooza.

This makes me a sad The League.  We can't really do this without YOU.

We'd like to get all submissions, if any, by October 19th.  So if you have a minute or two over the weekend, why not kick us a submission?

To read up on what you can do - CLICK HERE!!!

So I don't need to tell you guys Ghostbusters is awesome

This evening I went to go and see Ghostbusters at the Alamo with Jamie and my pal Kevin.

It was a lot of fun seeing it on the big screen for the first time since I was a kid, and seeing with a crowd that all wanted to see it again.  And it was most definitely an "again" scenario.

The crowd was laughing more at the small moments than the go-to laughs, like most of us who've seen that movie a couple of dozen times.

And the movie does have the greatest climactic battle between good and evil ever caught on film

the greatest shot in any movie, ever

Its a Friday.  Ya'll have a good one.

In which I talk about why I hate talking about music

So, about five years ago, I started really hating talking about music.  Not just online, but in person.  I have used the analogy "we might as well be arguing over which color we should like best", and I kind of stick to that.

I suppose I sort of used to talk about music here and at League of Melbotis, but talking about music in person is often an oddball conversation wherein you're both talking about driving, but one of you is talking about driving sports cars on empty stretches of road, and someone else is talking about NASCAR, and someone else is talking about playing SpyHunter at Chuck E. Cheese in 1987.

On the internet, however, there's no difference between a somewhat apathetic or agnostic stance and finding that your "meh" attitude just outright offends someone.

Concrete Example: If I could barely muster a shrug that REM finally hung it up after not finding a place in my record collection since Out of Time, released almost 20 years ago, I'm sorry.  It doesn't mean I think you're an idiot for praising Monster or Automatic for the People.  I haven't paid any attention to the band since my Junior year of high school.*

I just don't care.  And its not that I don't care that much about YOU as a person (and I know you take your music seriously), but I can't do anything with the fact that we have different ideas about the rock and roll.

Signal Watch Watches: American Horror Story - Pilot

Two things that are not secrets:

1)  I have not found any new shows this Fall that are to my liking enough to add them to my DVR
2)  Connie Britton, yo

You probably don't recall, but last Halloween as we discussed our favorite monsters, I named one of my favorite monsters is actually a Haunted House. 

Rather than worry about Dracula or Moth Man coming at you, there's something primal about the sense of animism and the creeping sense that we're invading the privacy of even the long-dead when we enter spaces once occupied by others, especially when the artifacts they left behind still linger.  No doubt I just never really got over The Shining and The Haunting, or handful of other movies in which bad stuff goes down inside a space that can't seem to let go of its dead (I'm a fan of Poltergeist, too, but as more of a weird kid's movie than an actual scary movie). 

what could possibly go wrong?

American Horror Story arrives with as big a name cast as anything you'll find on basic cable.  Connie Britton of Friday Night Lights plays our lead, the wife trying to forgive her spouse for cheating on her (she actually caught him in the act).  The husband is played by Dylan McDermott, star of multiple TV shows, usually featuring handsome attorneys.  Jessica Lange (I KNOW) plays the, uh, eccentric next door neighbor with a daughter with down syndrome.  Frances Conroy of Six Feet Under plays the housekeeper who insists on returning to the job.