purple reign

drive-by readings

Green Lantern #57 (DC) "What Happens in Vegas" Geoff Johns Doug Mahnke Christian Alamy Tom Nguyen Keith Champagne Randy Mayor Gabe Eltaeb Nick Napolitano Mahnke/Hi-Fi (cover) Ryan Sook/Fernando Pasarin/Joel Gomez/Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: after a brawl stretching from Minnesota to the Sin City, Star Sapphire of Sector 2814 (a.k.a. Carol Ferris) corrals "The Love Predator" (which is definitely different from Ah-Nuld's nemesis) and makes a stand about it, earning here the title of queen of the Star Sapphires, whose erstwhile queen conveniently decides to croak at that particular moment.
oh shit moment: Carol kisses the Predator (John Walsh and Chris Hansen just tore their hairpieces out) and Hal's jaw tenses. for one moment there, he was going to go Parallax again. or not.
what's next: next time you get arrested for stalking your ex-girlfriend or your crush, you can blame the Love Predator. no, really.


you don't have the proportions, Larfleeze.

dead like them

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #6 (DC) "Dead Zone" Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi Ivan Reis/Patrick Gleason Scott Clark/Joe Prado Vicente Cifuentes/David Beaty Mark Irwin/Christian Alamy Peter Steigerwald/John Starr Rob Clark David Finch/Scott Williams/Steigerwald (cover) Reis/Dave McCaig (cover)

what we learned: Mera is from an Atlantean tribe tasked to assassinate Aquaman. Firestorm has multiple personality issues (there's always something with the powerful ones. Molecule Man, The Sentry ... ). J'onn is looking for a killer who's just like him. and Deadman hasn't eaten yet, because he's been Deadman for so long. may i recommend: Red Robin ... yummmmm.
oh shit moment: could the killer J'onn is hunting be his ... wife?
what's next: does anyone want M'Gann to live, or bite the dust? call 1-800-DIE-ALIEN to vote now!


Arthur's best gift was 20/20 vision ... in water.

aaaaaaaaaaand ... we're back.

the DC Universe is so circular. who are they gonna bring back next??



/uhh ... Batman?

unmellow yellow

drive-by readings

Green Lantern #46 (DC) "Feared" Geoff Johns Doug Mahnke Christian Alamy Tom Nguyen Randy Mayor Gabe Eltaeb Rob Leigh Hi-Fi Andy Kubert/Alex Sinclair (variant cover)

what's the best thing about this issue? the inevitable showdown between Sinestro and Mongul. and guess who wins!

Blackest Night, as an event, seems to be overburdened by its own hype. i mean the series itself is something worth following, but the nature of the whole thing demands it has to spill over to the DC Universe, inadvertently making it like DC's version of cough, cough, Marvel Zombies, with a twist. Blackest Night is inherently a Green Lantern story, but by encompassing all the major titles (incidentally, where's Blackest Night: Wonder Woman?), i have the feeling that it kind of overreached a bit.

of course you need to tell other stories that may be tangential to or build something toward the main storyline. here we have the beginning of the melding of colors - Green Lantern, Sinestro, Star Sapphire and Indigo-1. Blue should not be a problem, but Red (Anger) and Orange (Avarice) may need a little more prodding to play ball. along the way, Hal Jordan, all coiffed up and ready to fight, has time to flirt as well (hel-lo, Carol!). hey, perks of the hazardous job. the Indigo Lantern said it best (referring to our flyboy): "Despite what the Zamarons preach, love cannot conquer all - you are a living example of that." of course, he is. he's the one who has one night stands with like half of the Birds of Prey.

next issue promises to be more of relationship exploration, as more dead friends come back to life. Arin Sur? who's Arin Sur? exactly. you sly Sinestro, you.

drive-by readings: Green Lantern #43

Green Lantern #43 (DC) "Tale of the Black Lantern" Geoff Johns Doug Mahnke Christian Alamy Randy Mayor Alex Sinclair Eddy Barrows/Nei Ruffino (variant cover)

pretty neat origin story for who's to be the Black Lantern. William Hand, from the Coast City Hand clan of embalmers, fits into the embodiment of all that is dark, aided by a renegade Guardian who's like Gollum with more intelligence. the covers are actually misleading as the eventual throwdown between Black Hand and Hal Jordan is yet to occur. Doug Mahnke continues to be one of the most reliable pencilers around, and that shot of William blowing his own brains out was sick! Blackest Night better be a rip-roaring tale to take some interest away from Marvel's Dark Reign, or else!

our favorite martian

... is gone. but is he? considering nobody really dies in comics?



Grant Morrison, architect of the Final Crisis, deemed it so. he also deemed to kill off Magneto in his New X-Men run, and Marvel hastily clicked on the Undo button while his head was still rolling on the ground. would J'onn be resurrected somewhere down the line?

thanks to Peter Tomasi for The Godfather nod.


political correctness and comics code be damned ... we want blood!!! we want payback!!!!

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Final Crisis: Requiem
Peter Tomasi/Doug Mahnke/Christian Alamy/Rodney Ramos/Nei Ruffino/John Hill