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.

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!

of course, yeah!

now pardon me, and let me go back to re-reading this mumbo-jumbo right from the start.


-----
Final Crisis #7

hh.

the real Batman R.I.P!



haven't been reading Final Crisis in its entirety, so release the last issue now (or before the NYCC) so i can wrap my head around the whole thing!


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Final Crisis #6

screen capture, part 4

continuing our fantasy list of favorite comicbook storyline-turned-movies!

i want the movie industry to make films for us geeks. there are only two conditions - throw money at everything and write it the way the fans want it. some of them may need an origin movie first, but either way, this is a fantasy casting call for my favorite TPBs.

check out the previous posts:
10. Invincible
9. Empire
8. Ultron Unlimited
7. The Authority: Circle
6. Superman: Red Son


5. JLA: THE MARTIAN TRILOGY

This one needs to be done Lord of the Rings style, with all the details and battles rendered faithfully. there's some leeway in which Green Lantern character would be used (Kyle, John or Hal). otherwise, these are some the greatest Justice League adventures ever and translating them to the big screen should be an event. no, three huge events!

NEW WORLD ORDER
Grant Morrison/Howard Porter/John Dell

excuse Superman's long hair. this was written way back in the 90s, when Grant Morrison's excellent reboot made the League relevant again. it actually starts in a world without one - the tricky part now is whether intro movies need to be made for each individual character that still don't have theirs (a-la the much-teased about Avengers), before this impromptu team up bring them all together.

several superpowered beings land on Earth, call themselves the Hyperclan, and they start going out of their way to help the planet - ending wars, starvation, disease - you name it. they probably even offed annoying celebrities (that means you, Oprah, Paris etc.). but oh, they have a hidden agenda. they're White Martians you see, and they're just as powerful as Superman or J'onn J'onnz, their closest relative. Earth needs its heroes. ASAP.

casting call:
Superman - in Red Son, i called Ben Affleck to don the cape. unless anyone has a better idea, he's the one.


Wonder Woman - okay, i had a brain-freeze earlier. don't kill me, Brangelina fans. i am rectifying my error by humbly submitting Saint Angelina to be the Amazon Goddess. hey, i was just waiting for her to give birth!!!


Batman - DUH.


Flash - i always thought of Paul Walker getting the Wally West role. brash, smart with a sense of heroism.

Green Lantern - given the complications of the character, we probably need to introduce the Corps in an individual GL movie before introducing the League. continuity can be a bitch, so who are we picking - Kyle Rayner (Chris Evans)? Hal Jordan (Dominic West)? or John Stewart (Common)? i love Hal and Kyle, but my money's on John.

Aquaman/Arthur Curry/Orin - who else can be regal and an asshole except the Bean ... Sean Bean.


J'onn J'onzz/The Martian Manhunter - hey, Vinnie, you up for this? you'll look so much better in green paint than you did in Juggernaut armor.


Protex/Armek/Primaid/Zenturion/Fluxus/Zum/Tronix/A-Mortal - all CGI!



geek goosebump moment:


but please, not in that low gravelly voice, Mr. Bale!

TERROR INCOGNITA
Mark Waid/Bryan Hitch/Paul Neary/Mike Miller/Dave Meikis

you think you can keep those pesky White Martians in the Negative Zone for so long, didja? well, someone has to think up of something how they escape - being freed by the cosmic force Id as depicted in the running JLA series is continuity-dependent and won't work here.

anyway, Terror Incognita has many memorable battles - never did we love shapeshifting so much (eat that, Skrulls!), and it includes one with Krypto, the Wonder Mutt! the League saves the day again and this involves the second time they blatantly disregard physical science by moving the moon (as for the first time, that's also a great yarn. email me about it if you'd like to know more).

additional casting call:

Plastic Man - there's only one person born to do this. yes, imagine Jenny McCarthy's ecstasy if he really was Plas.

Nightwing - its only a cameo, but it hints at ... the Titans! let's just make him a silhouette for the only scene he's in.


Firestorm - Ronnie Raymond will be played by the everyone's boy next door, Josh Hartnett.



geek goosebump moment:

the League finalize their ambitious plans to defeat the White Martians again, and Superman calls them out, giving them five minutes. the villains only needed five seconds. careful what you wish for.

TRIAL BY FIRE
Joe Kelly/Doug Mahnke/Tom Nguyen

a new JLA team goes up against a very old enemy - even the immortal Vandal Savage ran into this one back when we were still intelligible. the Martian Manhunter conquers his fear of fire, and in doing so, frees his own Id, Fernus, who's destined to burn the world. he totally spanks the Justice League until Batman un-retires Plastic Man and wins the day.

additional casting call:

Fernus/the Burning - can we still grab James Earl Jones to voice him? on second thought, it might not be a good idea ("never underestimate the power of the Flame.").

Atom/Dr. Ray Palmer - who plays a swashbuckling (yet nerdy-looking) adventurer better than Brendan Fraser?

Faith - well, let's have Mandy Moore expand her range, shall we?


Major Disaster, you're looking at The Rock.


Scorch - J'onn's one-time hot lover has Fairuza Balk written all over her.


Manitou Raven - i've been tossing the usual suspects - Lou Diamond Phillips, Jimmy Smits, Kevin Costner, Wes Studi, but i ended up with Benjamin Bratt.


Dawn - Q'Orianka Kilcher - sorry for typecasting, but who did you think i'd cast - Katherine Heigl? Meryl Streep?


Luke, son of Plastic Man - to be played by Two and a Half Men's (free plug!) Angus T. Jones.


Ganthet, should be a CGI Yoda minus the Yoda voice. is Mark Hamill available?


Vandal Savage should played by no other than the actor's actor, Kenneth Branagh. he's so worldly.



geek goosebump moment:

and i hope Ben Affleck (or whoever's playing Superman) can do this with authority (sorry, Brandon Routh, you just can't cut it).