Random thoughts on a Friday night.

Yes, it's Friday night again and you know what that means! Oh, you don't? Well, it means that I'm wasted from the week and instead of actually reviewing some comics or posting something specific, I'm just going to ramble on about some random stuff until get tired and feel like passing out! With that great explanation out of the way, let's start the inane prattle.

-No Batman: The Brave and the Bold tonight... That kind of sucked. That show has really grown on me. It'll NEVER be as great as Batman: The Animated Series, but it's just quirky enough for me to enjoy it. When I'm watching Brave and the Bold, I can just shut my brain off for that half an hour. That's not to say that the Brave and the Bold is some stupid, mindless kids show, it isn't, it's just good, easy to follow fun. With no Brave and the Bold, I was going to watch Wolverine and the X-Men, but I just couldn't bring myself to put it on... It's bad enough that Wolvie is on every team in the Marvel Universe, but now the X-Men are HIS team??? NO WAY! If the cartoon was just called X-Men, I'd watch it. But, I refuse to watch a show called "WOLVERINE and the X-Men". Hell, why not go all the way and just call it "Wolverine!!!"? Or better yet, "Wolverine and some other guys"? What can I say, seeing Wolvie EVERYWHERE is really starting to sour me on the character. I've always been a Wolvie fan, the guy just exudes cool, but come on, enough is enough Marvel, stop overexposing the little Canuck!

-I came close to finally giving in and buying DC vs. Mortal Kombat today... I managed to stay strong though and not give in. Once that price drops a little bit more though, wild horses couldn't keep me away from buying that game. The prospect of kicking ass as Deathstroke actually causes me to salivate!

-Hey, I haven't mentioned a single comic book yet. Let's rectify that right now. Since one of my professor's no showed a class today, I had two hours of sitting around campus with nothing to do. Luckily, I was prepared, and had packed the last 9 issues of the Runaways as well as Batman: The Killing Joke in my book bag. With nothing else to do, I breezed through every one of those books.

-First I'll start with the Runaways. I used to love this comic back when Brian K. Vaughan first created the series. Brian put in a good 24 issues or so, before Marvel handed the writing duties over to Joss Whedon. I really didn't enjoy Joss' take on the team, and lost almost all interest in this book(that's why I had 9 issues to catch up with!). Joss left the series at issue #30, and the series was restarted at #1(Marvel sure loves to do that...)and the writing chores were handed over to Terry Moore, who's work I'd never read before. So, I read issues #1-6 and kind of liked them... Which wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to hate these comics! My subscription is almost up, and now I'm on the fence as to whether I should renew or not. If Joss was still the writer, my decision would be easy, I'd abandon ship. But, I still need a few more issues before I can make up my mind about Terry's work. Most likely, I'll wind up renewing this book, and cutting something else.

-Next up is Batman: The Killing Joke. For those not in the know, this was the Alan Moore graphic novel in which Barbara Gordon(Batgirl/Oracle)is shot and paralyzed by the Joker. This was one of those books where I pretty much knew what happened in it, but felt I had to actually own it. I'm very possessive about comic books, what can I say? The basic story is that Joker decides he wants to prove that any man can be driven insane if pushed far enough, so he decides to drive good old commissioner Jim Gordon crazy. He shoots Barbara, kidnaps the Commish, and basically tortures him physically and emotionally to prove his point. Gordon never snaps like Joker had expected, and Batman eventually shows up to rescue the Commish and bust Joker. The story was really pretty good, and Joker's dance number, complete with sideshow freaks and lyrics nearly had me laughing out loud. However, I was pretty let down by the ending, which sees Batman try one final time to appeal to Joker, offering to do anything in his power to help him reform(this was before Joker's brutal "murder" of Jason Todd). After listening to Batman's offer of help, Joker tells Bats a joke about two guys in an asylum, and the two of them laugh at the punchline. The comic ends with Batman reaching out and grabbing the hysterical Joker... Huh? But didn't Joker just paralyze one of your closest allies and torture another close friend Bats? Why the hell were they standing around sharing a laugh? That really bothered me. This comic also detailed some of the Joker's past, giving some information I didn't know about, so that was a pleasant surprise. If I was to score this comic, I'd give it a 8 1/2 out of 10. It was good, but the ending really sucked for me.

-While I'm still on a Batman kick, I recently finished reading "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" tpb. This wasn't as great as I had heard it would be... That's not to say that I didn't enjoy reading it, because I did, but I was hoping for more. As far as I'm concerned, All-Star Batman and Robin was WAY superior to Dark Knight Returns. I really can't explain why Dark Knight Returns didn't click for me, maybe it was the fact that it was so heavily influenced by it's time, Cold War America, maybe it was because of the far-fetched occurrences that happened. Why the hell would anyone book the Joker to appear on the David Letterman show? I mean come on, that's crazy even for a comic book! I guess the thing that bothered me the most was the final battle between Batman and Joker. Joker had killed Jason Todd 10 years earlier(it was this that pushed Batman to retire), escaped custody, killed 200 people at the Letterman show, killed 20 boy scouts at a county fair with poisoned cotton candy, and went around shooting people indiscriminately until Batman arrived at the fair. Bats finally corners Joker and the two fight, with Batman gaining the upper hand after a nasty battle. Batman twists Joker's neck, snapping it, but not enough to kill him, just enough to paralyze him. Joker decides, "F### that, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in a wheel chair", and manages to turn his head just enough to kill himself... What the f### is that!?!? I'm sorry, I know Batman doesn't kill, but come on! Joker kills your kid sidekick, murders hundreds(thousands?)of people and just killed a bunch of boy scouts! Snap his f###ing neck already! I can't believe Batman stopped just short of killing Joker here. That really hurt my enjoyment of the rest of this trade. It almost made it seem like Joker had won. Sure, he was dead, but he went out when he wanted to. The end battle between Bats and Superman was pretty cool though. Score-wise, I'd give this tpb a 9 out of 10. I wanted this to be more like All-Star Batman, and it just didn't live up to expectations.

-I also mentioned in an earlier post that I had finished up the Starman series written by James Robinson earlier this week. I'd implore anyone who hasn't read those comic books to hunt them down and give them a read. Starman was by far the best comic series I've read in a LONG time(maybe ever). Not only did I love the way the main character, Jack Knight developed, I just couldn't get enough of the Shade. That guy was just incredible! I'd probably rank the Shade right up there amongst my favorite comic book characters of all-time, which speaks volumes about just how awesome the Starman series was. One of the secondary characters has become one of my all-time favorites. Starman was an amazing series, and I hope the rumors I've heard about James revisiting the character down the road are true. Jack Knight in the role of Starman again, even in a flashback story would have me doing backflips through my house!

I think that's about all I can come up with tonight. If you've got any questions or comments, post em, and I'll be more than happy to respond. Until next time, LONG LIVE THE LEGION!

The March to Valentine's Day: My beloved poor Legionnaires

With the Legion of Super-Heroes cancelled, I figured I take a look back at some of the happier moments from this comic book series.

First up is Shadow Lass and Karate Kid
Here we have Timber Wolf and Princess Projectra in a cozy situation...Triplicate Girl and Element LadSupergirl and Cosmic BoyAnd finally one more of Supergirl and Cosmic Boy

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!

An explanation would be really nice...

I'm still kind of stunned/pissed off after reading issue #50 of The Legion of Super-Heroes(you can read my thought here, if you haven't read it already). I just figured I'd ask anyone who reads this blog to let me know if they know why Jim Shooter didn't finish his work on this comic series.

I read an article from Newsarama here, and in this article it plainly states that Jim Shooter had every intention at the time, of writing the final issue of this series. If any one can help shed some light as to what the hell DC did here and why they did it, I'd be really appreciative. Thus far, I can't find any explanation for the bizarre way this great series came to a screeching halt. Like I said, I'd appreciate anyone who can shed some light onto why this series ended in the manner it did... Damn DC, first the Final Crisis debacle, and now this...

Legion of Super-Heroes #50, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED HERE???

I am dreading opening this comic book up... This series has been one of my favorites monthly, and knowing that this is the last I'll be reading about these great characters really hurts... Oh well, why delay the inevitable. Here's the review of LoSH #50, the final issue...

Overall- Hmph. I'm going to try my damnedest to review this comic book before I start to editorialize about what happened here. We discover the Invader Planets are from a virtual 4D world that borders our own 3D world. The leaders of the 4D world scan people and objects they deem interesting from our 3D universe which sends them to the 4D world, but in doing this, the people/objects are destroyed in our 3D world. Whew. Confused yet? Well you will be soon...

Anyway, Brainiac 5 figures out a way to send a team of Legionnaires to the 4D realm to try to defeat the invaders in their own realm, which the 4D creatures would never expect. While the small strike force of Legionnaires attack the 4D world, the 4D leaders are pressing their attack on our 3D universe, destroying everything they can. Every member of the Legion is out battling the Invaders all over our 3D universe, while the Legionnaires in the 4D realm run into harsh resistance. Before things fall apart completely, Invisible Kid has a brainstorm and sends Brainiac 5 data which allows Brainy to take over the landscape of the virtual 4D world and destroy all of the forces there. He then manages to send everyone of the Invaders here in our 3D universe back to their own 4D universe, before sealing them up in their own dimension, thereby defeating the Invaders.

The story ends a week later with Brainiac healing the Legionnaires who went to the 4D realm, since they were messed up by the Invaders in our 3D world before Brainy turned the tide of battle. Besides returning the Legionnaires to our world, Brainy also manages to return Dream Girl to life to the shock of the Legionnaires. Dream Girl then invites them all to her wedding to Brainy, thus proving that Brainy really was in contact with Dream Girl, and ending this comic series on a very happy note.

OK... That was a bare bones review of how the LoSH, one of my favorite comic book series has ended. All I have to say after reading this comic is simply, WHAT THE F### WAS THAT?!?!?! First of all, I was so dumbfounded after I read this comic book, I had to go back to make sure that Jim Shooter, who has been writing this comic book for the last year and a half or so was still writing it, because this issue didn't resemble anything like what he had been building towards... I was absolutely shocked to discover that he didn't write this comic. Why the f### not??? Jim has been building this storyline for the better part of 6 months, and then someone else(Justin Thyme)finishes writing the last issue? HUH???

I'm literally in a state of shock right now... Why didn't Jim finish this series off? Most of the stuff that has been going on in this comic book lately has been completely ignored this issue! What the hell happened with Princess Projectra??? She had become a very major player in this comic book leading up to the final issue, and she wasn't in this comic book at all!!! Not at all! On top of that, I was under the impression that Cosmic Boy was supposed to return this issue, and that a Legionnaire was going to die. At least that's what the last page of issue #49 stated. Well, not only was Cosmic Boy a no-show, nobody died(which I'm fine with, I hate to see characters killed off unnecessarily)and Dream Girl came back to life. How? Why now? If Brainy could bring her back to life why the f### didn't he do it prior to this point???

ARRRGGHHH!!! I just don't know what happened here... Before I forget, I will say that Justin Thyme, whoever he is, did an admirable job of trying(which is the key word here)to finish up this series, but I wanted Jim Shooter to finish this story! He was the one who crafted it, he should have been the one who finished it! This was all just bizarre... There were SO many story elements that were just dropped in this issue. The situation with Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad was seemingly forgotten... I already mentioned Projectra, but what happened to Timber Wolf, who was conspicuous by his absence. What about Phantom Girl, who after getting messed up by Projectra last issue seemed just fine this issue?

I don't know what I expected to read here, but this issue just totally blew my mind, and NOT in a good way. Before I end this post, allow me to say a big F### you to DC for making this a regular 22 page issue... It was not only the 50th issue of this series, it was the LAST issue of this series... This book deserved at least 48 pages. Why DC didn't give this comic a proper 48 page send off, I don't know, but that fact really pisses me off. Usually for a milestone comic like #50, or a last issue, you give the fan's a double sized comic. This whole situation really sucks... Anyway, for a final score for the final issue of this series, I'll go with a score of 7 out of 10, and that's a VERY generous score. This comic had no flow to it, felt extremely rushed, and was a very disappointing end to one of my favorite DC books. Still though, now and forever, no matter how badly DC disrespects these characters I've grow so very fond of, LONG LIVE THE LEGION, LONG LIVE THE LEGION, LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nova #21

Overall- Ahhhh.... I sure love this comic book. Here's the story. To the shock(and horror)of Nova, Worldmind has managed to possess Ego, the Living Planet, basically making Ego serve as a host for Worldmind. Worldmind goes on to rename Ego Nu-Xandar, after Xander, the original planet that housed the Nova Corps, before it was destroyed during Annihilation. On top of that, Worldmind introduces thousands of new Nova Corps recruits from all over the universe to Nova.

All of this was done without Nova's knowledge or cooperation, and needless to say, he's a tad pissed at the situation, besides being highly concerned about Worldmind using Ego as a base. For those of you who might not know, Ego the Living Planet is basically a crazy sentient planet that roamed the universe destroying other planets and being a major nuisance. Ego has fought against the Fantastic Four as well as Thor, so Ego can be considered a major threat. Worldmind assures Nova that Ego is no longer a threat, and that it was long overdue for the Nova Corps to be reformed.

Nova storms off of Nu-Xandar to clear his head and runs into the Fantastic Four, who are(naturally)alarmed by the sudden appearance of Ego in the sky. Nova heads to the Baxter Building with the FF and explains that Ego isn't a threat and that Worldmind has erased Ego's mind and transplanted its own sentience into Ego. Mr. Fantastic seems to think the reformation of the Nova Corps is a good thing, but Nova just can't shake the feeling that something is horribly wrong.

While Nova was speaking to the FF, Nova's brother Robbie, who became a Nova Centurion a few issues back arrives. Robbie provides a holographic image of Worldmind, and Worldmind and Mr. Fantastic talk science for a while. Worldmind offers Mr. Fantastic any information he wants, in order to allay any fears the FF may have about the Nova Corps. Worldmind then accuses Nova of basically going insane. Needless to say, Nova doesn't take this news well, but Worldmind explains that since the destruction of Xandar, Nova has been housing the entire Worldmind computer/Nova Force in his brain. Worldmind tells the FF that there is a possibility that the massive amount of information/power Nova has been storing might have damaged his brain.

Nova doesn't want to believe this, and asks Mr. Fantastic for his advice. Mr. F says that Worldmind doesn't seem malicious, just concerned about Nova's mental well being. Nova decides to trust Worldmind and returns to Nu-Xandar with Robbie to transplant the remainder of the Nova Force into Worldmind/Nu-Xandar. As Nova approaches the power cell that will absorb the Nova Force from him, he has second thoughts and decides this whole situation, from Worldmind reforming the Nova Corps without consulting him, to the recruitment of his brother into the Corps, to the possession of Ego, just seems too wrong. Nova tells Worldmind he won't return the Nova Force, so Worldmind orders the Centurions to attack Nova. Nova easily overpowers the Centurions thanks to the Nova Force, but this distraction was all Worldmind needed to forcefully tear the Nova Force from the body of Nova. After Nova has been completely de-powered, Worldmind basically fires him from the Corps and teleports the now powerless Richard Rider to the front of his home on Earth.

What can I say that I haven't already said about this comic book? Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are continuing to do a stellar job on this comic, and with the exception of Ed Brubaker, these two guys are the best writers currently working at Marvel. That's some lofty praise, but I truly mean it. If you want to read a great Marvel comic book, or just a great comic book period, read Nova. Like I said, just read my last couple of reviews for this comic, and you'll see this series has been great month in and month out.

As for the story, I can't wait to see where Dan and Andy are going here. Worldmind must be possessed or something, which would explain Nova's ominous feelings, but Dan and Andy are doing a great job of painting Worldmind as a more benevolent force. While Worldmind's actions seem overly harsh at times, in reality, Nova HAS been rather careless in protecting Worldmind, and he hasn't bothered to try to rebuild the Corps. While it would be easy to just say Worldmind is evil and leave it at that, in truth, much of what Worldmind said this issue rang true. It's comics like this one that really help me remember why I love reading comic books. For a score, I'll give this issue a 9 1/2 out of 10. I can't fricking wait to see what happens next issue!

The March to Valentine's Day: Just some random weird stuff.

Iron Man, Tigra and Moon Knight
Catman and Huntress
Superman and Green ArrowRobin and BatgirlButch and Bombshell

Yeah, there was ABSOLUTELY no rhyme or reason to this post... Just sit back and(hopefully)enjoy.

She-Hulk # 37

Why am I reading She-Hulk, when there are a bunch of comics I would much rather be reading, such as Nova or The Legion of Super-Heroes? To put it bluntly, it's because out of all the books I plan on reading this week, this was the one I care the least about. With an early day of classes ahead of me tomorrow, I figured I just get this comic out of the way tonight, and dig into the comics I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night when I have more time. Does that make any sense? Meh, what can I say, I'm tired. On that rather ominous note, here's my take of She-Hulk #37.

Overall- Well, storyline-wise, I this was an OK comic book. Not great, but not awful. However, Peter David was back in top form when it came to witty, funny dialogue. That's probably the thing that's bothered me the most in regard to Peter's run on She-Hulk. The comedy just hasn't been there... One thing Peter does better than just about any other comic book writer is mix a good story with hilarious dialogue. For some reason, he just never seemed able to find the right balance of good story and funny dialogue in this series. This comic was probably my favorite issue of She-Hulk written by Peter, which is funny in an ironic sort of way, since the next issue is the last issue of this series!

This story unfolded on two fronts, with the primary story revolving around Shulkie getting released from UN custody after the public found out about her humanitarian efforts in that earthquake stricken country(I can't remember the name for the life of me...)last issue. With her approval rating sky-high, Mallory Book(from Shulkie's old law firm)shows up and tells Shulkie that she wants her to come back to the firm again. After visiting her old law office again, Shulkie gets a moment alone, and calls her Skrull buddy, Jazinda and tells her the news. Jazinda pretends that she is happy about Shulkie possibly getting her law licence back, but she realizes that if Shulkie becomes a lawyer again that means their bounty hunting days are over.

After getting off the phone with Shulkie, somebody knocks on the trailer She-Hulk and Jazinda are sharing, asking to speak to She-Hulk. Jazinda shape-shifts into She-Hulk and is surprised to see a giant elephant-themed villain standing at the door. The bad guy apparently used to be called the Man-Elephant, but smartly changed his name to the Behemoth... The Man-Elephant... Are you kidding me? Jeez, whatever writer came up with that name must not have been feeling very creative that day. "Well, he's a man dressed like an elephant. I know, I'll call him Man-Elephant!".

ANYWAY, Behemoth beats the hell out of Jazinda with ease, since Jazinda doesn't have She-Hulk's strength, only her looks. Behemoth ultimately beats Jazinda unconscious, which forces her to revert back to her Skrull form. Upon seeing this, the crowd of people watching the fight figure that since Jazinda is a Skrull, she must be a part of the Secret Invasion, so they call the police while Behemoth stands there confused.

Like I said before, this was a funny comic book. THIS is how Peter should have been writing this comic book. She-Hulk was hilarious, the villain was ridiculous(the Man-Elephant/Behemoth! Please!), and the situations were absurd, just the way I like my She-Hulk comic books. Anyway, from the looks of this issue, and next issue being the final one for this series, I'd wager that She-Hulk will get her law licence back and Jazinda will disappear, putting She-Hulk right back to the status quo. I doubt Peter will kill Jazinda off or anything like that, I figure she'll just return to bounty hunting in space. For a score, I'll give this comic a 7 out of 10. Hopefully, Peter will pull out all the stops next issue, and give us something laugh out loud funny. Too bad Peter hit his stride in this comic as it was getting cancelled... Oh well, that's life I guess.

The March to Valentine's Day: A Green Arrow by any other name...

Well, besides inheriting Oliver Queen's blond locks and archery skills, Connor Hawke sure seems to have inherited Ollie's legendary animal magnetism. Much like with his father, women can't seem to keep their hands off of Connor. Lucky stiff...