Happy 2010! This week we do some recaps and discuss the big two comic book events underway, Marvel's Siege and DC's Blackest Night. We also weigh in on the Spider-man 4 news and reboot and finish off with our review of James Cameron's Avatar, does is live up to all of the hype?
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This week saw the passing of a comic character very near to me and I imagine most comic readers from the 1990s. Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern was the latest casualty of the Blackest Night event that began earlier this year. Now, he may come back eventually, most comic characters do, but lets take a moment to reflect on the overall impact of a character who held the torch for the Green Lantern franchise for almost a decade on his own.
As a young reader, I never fully identified with Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) as he was written in the late 80s and early 90s. Most of the brash, hotshot personality that Hal was known for had given way to fairly cheesy characterization. I was not heartbroken when the decision to send Hal on his way and bring in some new blood was made in Green Lantern editorial. As Kyle was introduced in the Emerald Twilight story and issues that followed, it was clear that an effort was being made to really separate Kyle from his predecessors. The GL writers showed that Kyle was not a perfect character from the get-go and had to spend time learning not only how to wield his newfound power but also learn what that responsibility really meant. He was very much like an early version of spider-man, at first thrilled by his new abilities but quickly learning that not only his but his loved ones lives were now on the line because of his decisions and actions. Kyle also differed from other Green Lanterns in how he would create and use his ring (which manifests anything he can think of). Being an artist, Kyle's mind was fertile ground to explore the full potential of creating constructs from light, much like a 3D painter. Lastly, Kyle was burdened in a way no other Green Lantern had been before. He was the last soldier in an army which no longer existed. The years of training and experience which had been passed on to his predecessors would not be available to him.
Over the years I continued to follow Kyle's integration in his surrounding universe, from his inclusion into the Justice League, to his personal relationships with fellow heros and various girlfriends. Kyle, a romantic at heart, was continually on the receiving end of bad breakups which seemed to become a trend for him. Kyle's book also became a place where social issues came to the forefront which some readers may have complained about at the time but I felt added a relevance and maturity to the title.
As I stated earlier, most comic characters never stay gone forever and after years of Kyle headlining the Green Lantern title, the decision to bring Hal Jordan back to the forefront was made. Kyle's adventures would continue in the Green Lantern Corps. book which also followed the resurrected Green Lantern army. For a character who traditionally had stood out for being the last of his kind, Kyle's importance in his new role as part of the corps was his conscience. Doing his best to question the blind orders for which he disagreed with and proving has valor as a member of the GL Honor Guard, Kyle continued to thrive while having been put in a more supportive capacity rather than the spotlighting role he had previously had.
This week saw his sacrifice and passing in an effort to protect his fellow soldiers. For myself and many people who grew up following his adventures, the Green Lantern Corps will never be the same. 
This week we give our reviews of Spider-Woman #1, Amazing Spider-Man #606, Dark X-Men: The Confession #1 and more. We also round out the show by going through each member of James Robinson's new JLA team and give our thoughts on who makes the cut.
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Well we're back from our hiatus and this week we get together to discuss the books from last week as well as our quick thoughts of the events and reboots going on in the comic world. Come listen to our thoughts on Dark Reign, Batman Reborn, X-Men Utopia, The Blackest Night and more.( The audio is little off at times, but hey something is better than nothing!!!)
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This week we go head to head with Battle for the Cowl: The Network #1 and Superman: World of New Krypton #3. We also review Flash: Rebirth #2, Cable #14, and more. We discuss last week's Legion of Three Worlds #4 and why it may have given David renewed hope of the DC universe and finish off the show with the top 5 things that we were able to get our hands on at this years Emerald City Comic-Con
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We've had this one in the can for a few weeks but after some uploading issues we're back and ready to go. This week we go head to head with Battle of the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon and Ultimatum #3. We also discuss, New Avengers #51, Oracle #1, X-Force/Cable Messiah War Prelude and more. We finish off the show with our top five things we're looking forward to at this year's Emerald City Comic-Con.
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This week we go head to head with Daredevil #116 and Batman:Cacophony #3. We also give you our reviews of War of Kings #1, New Avengers: The Reunion #1, and more. We finish off the show with our review of Street Fighter 4 and a little movie based on a graphic novel called The Watchmen.
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This week we go head to head with X-Infernus #3 and Nightwing #153, the final issue! We also review Green Lantern Corps #33, Batman #686, Thor #600 and more. We finish off the show by discussing the shocking and exciting end of last week's Legion of Three Worlds #3 and talk about the announcements made at the New York Comic-Con
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This week we go head to head with Daredevil #115 and Superman #684. We also review Ultimate Spider-man #130, JSA #23, New Avengers #49 and more. We finish off the show with our review of Final Crisis #7 and how we fill about the whole series now that it's ended and touch on what events we're excited about this coming year.
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We're back with a new year and some new comics. We go head to head with X-Men: Legacy #220 and Robin #182 and review Dark Avengers #1, Green Lantern #37, Deathstroke #1 and more. We finish off the show with our final thoughts on volume 3 of Heroes and discuss the ramifications of Final Crisis #6.
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We had some problems uploading this episode but better late than never. We go head to head with X-Infernus #1 and Batman #682. We also review the end of secret Invasion with the release of Secret Invasion #8, did all the years of planning pay off or was the series a disappointment. We finish off the show with some quick looks at JSA #21, New Avengers #47 and more.
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This week we went head to head with Daredevil #113 and Batman #681, the final issue in the R.I.P storyline. Did it live up to Eric's expectations? We also review JSA: The Kingdom Special, Ultimate Spider-man #128, Superman #682 and more.
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We're back from another little break, life's been a little bit bust lately. Eric and I go head to head with a couple of books from last week, Terra #1 and the first issue of Ultimatum. We then give you our reviews of some of the books from this past week including Wolverine, Green Lantern Corps, JSA Kingdom Come Superman Special and more. We finish off the show with some DC comic news covering Batman R.I.P and the cancellation of the bat-family titles and the rumor that DC has decided to change the ending of Final Crisis.
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This week we go Head to Head with Daredevil #112 and Final Crisis: Submit #1. We also review Secret Invasion #7, Final Crisis #4, Superman: New Krypton Special and more. We finish off the show with our review of the new Star Wars Clone Wars TV show. We thought the movie was lukewarm, is the series any better?
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This week We trade off books with Robin #179 and Uncanny X-Men #503, we also discuss Amazing Spider-Man #573, The end of Ultimate Origins #5, JSA #19, Final Crisis Rogues' Revenge #3 and more. We finish off the show with our review of the latest episode of Heroes- Angels & Monsters
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It's our 50th episode and time to change up the show a little bit. You'll hear about our new format as we discuss the books of the week including Detective Comics, Secret Invasion: Inhumans, Green Lantern, Action Comics and more. We run down what we've thought of Heroes Season 3 so far and finish off the show with our reviews of the Wii and PS3 version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
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While Watchmen has always meant something big for us comic readers, its quickly on its way to rising up and becoming a true cultural phenomenon beyond graphic novels. Word of mouth is quickly spreading and the book is being found in retailers one generally wouldn't expect (even at Urban Outfitters!). My point is that interest in the story is expanding beyond the typical comic book audience and my friend and fellow blogger Kate has recently undertaken the task of reading Alan Moore's greatest work. She's been kind enough to write up her thoughts for us below;
In the interest of full disclosure, until I picked up Watchmen I had never read a graphic novel. My experience with the genre was contained to movies and the seemingly incoherent ramblings of my geeky friends. But I nearly gave Eric a heart attack when I asked him if I could borrow what is considered the greatest graphic novel of all time. And then he added to the pressure by asking me to blog about the experience of my first graphic novel.
I quickly found out that it was longer and much more complicated that I had ever anticipated - a novel as layered and engaging as anything I ever got handed in AP English. What struck me especially, were the questions of morality from a genre that I have long understood lived in a black and white world.
So when I finally did turn the last page of this work I was left pondering one of life’s BIG questions. Does the end justify the means? Especially in this modern era when the end is murky at best. Now this is a question that has been and will be continued to be debated by philosophers, novices and apparently by people who dress up and fight crime.
In an almost post President George W. Bush world, these questions take on a new and interesting layer. And certainly violence in New York is seen in a different light post 9/11. But didn’t Bush, Cheney & Co. use a horrific tragedy to unite a country (and most of the world) behind one common cause? Didn’t they use it to divert our attention to the problems that they wanted to solve? I’m not suggesting that 9/11 was a huge conspiracy perpetrated by the President but certainly it was used in an exploitive fashion.
And we know now what happens when the plot to deceive is exposed, alliances fall apart, the peace and unity created is fleeting and the President has the one lowest approval ratings in history. And the tentative end of Watchmen suggests that their created peace, may also, in fact, be fleeting at best. It’s left of a copy boy in a newspaper office.
And what about those who go along with the plot? Are they simply doing what’s best for humanity? Or are the accomplices in the most disgusting propaganda campaign that includes murder? Considering that The Night Owl and Silk Specter seem to get their happily ever after, the former seems to the case. And poor Rorschach – betrayed in probably the worst way possible. There is no way that he could even see this as a grey area. He could not live in a world post this horrific event.
I was struck by a graphic novel that was written in the mid 80s could smack so smartly with current events.
The plot kept me guessing the whole way through, which as an avid consumer of pop culture is hard to do. I can usually spot the ending about 5 miles away and have to sit patiently as everyone else catches up. But in the end I was surprised.
I’m left thinking about many things. What would I have done? Would I have stood by and let thousands die in order to bring peace to the world, however fragile?
But the real question is, will I read another graphic novel? Well, when you start at the top, there is only one place to go. But I’m open for suggestions….
Kate currently co-runs the blog giif-giif.blogspot.com where you can find her musings on a variety of topics and is also an avid trivia player. Please feel free to leave suggestions for future books other than the typical fare or respond regarding your thoughts on Watchmen. Thanks Kate!
Written by Duane Swiercynski
Art by Areil Olivetti
Letters by Joe Caramagna
OK so Cable #7 was the best book that I read this week.......but not to disrespect the book but it was down to either this or Trinity.
That being said, this book.....not too bad.
While the first 5 issues of Cable took us on a dragged out story of Nathan running from Bishop, issue 6 with Cyclops seems to have changed the direction of the book, something that it desperately needed. I wasn't aware of how much had changed until I picked up this issue and was surprised to see a red headed toddler running around.
Yes Cable is further into the future and the Messiah baby, is no longer a baby. Bishop went back to the present and had some scheme to take down Cable from there but was captured by X-Force and taken to Cyclops for questioning. Upon testing, Hank finds out that Bishop has actually been gone for 4 and a half years so it looks like the messiah baby should be around 5 years old.
More characters is what this book sorely needs and had the book been like this issue all along, I would have been more sympathetic to the series as a whole. I still think the biggest weight holding this book down is the art. Swiercynski's art isn't bad by any means but it also isn't good. One of the reason's that everyone seems to hate Cable is because they think of him and they see this huge bulking character with guns and...it's just too much. Cable doesn't need t more realistic artist but Swiercynski is just a bad fit, this book needs an artist that can tone it done a little and not make the characters look so stiff.
All in all I'm happier with this book now than I've ever been. This was a very slow week for books but I'm happy to see this story progressing and it was very obvious that Cable and this baby will be back with the X-men fairly shortly and that can't happen soon enough.
Eric picked Titans #5 as the best book he read this week because the character interactions were great and the art was pretty good for a change. We also discuss Robin, Uncanny X-Men, Young X-men, Secret Invasion, Hellblazer and more
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Written by Judd Winick
Pencils by Julian Lopez
Colors by Edgar Delgado
Letters by Rob Clark Jr.
It's no secret that I love every character that inhabits this book. So far though I've found Titans to be lackluster. The characters haven't really had a chance to settle in to the team, being too busy fighting demon spawn and being possessed. This issue however finally let everyone take a breather and deal with being a team again with this group that has so much history together. In short, personal moments abound! Gar and Ravens soul bearing discussion paid respect to Titans history while setting up the next direction for Raven. I've enjoyed watching these two get closer since they've come back into each others lives. It makes complete sense that these people who have such a history would develop feelings for eachother. And speaking of relationships, revisiting Dick and Kory's past was the scene stealer for me. Despite being set in pool allowing some cheesecake art, the conversation between the two is somewhat heart wrenching. When Kory asks Dick if he loves her, and his single strained answer was "no", my heart sank a bit. These two are the lovers who will never truly work and anyone who has ever been in that situation will feel something in this scene.
Judd Winick does a great job with the smaller scenes in this book. This issue spotlighted how well he writes smaller moments. That's not to say he can't do action but few do character development like Judd. Winick, like Johns, does well telling a new story while tying in the Titans rich history. These are characters that have known eachother for years yet haven't spent much time together in the last several. Come to think of it, this book reads like an action heavy high school reunion and I love that since I've been able to see these people grow up.
I really hope Lopez stays on this book. The art is a drastic improvement from the last several issues. The only thing I don't understand is the overabundance in this title of putting characters in revealing outfits (not just the costumes). It seems like they got an editorial comment to make it happen in every issue. Anyways, its still a big improvement from what we've had.
This book stood out as a "most improved player" book this month. I love this team and I want to see them do well. It seems like Winick has finally found his stride and I hope the momentum is maintained.
