excellent, J.T. Krul, excellent! everything is falling into place!

you're following the footsteps of James Robinson just fine. next up, Speedy.

speaking of which ...


see, that was fine work indeed!


wait, did you ever see Robinson and Krul in the same place, at the same time? are you sure???

up and down

drive-by readings

Superman #700 (DC) "The Comeback" James Robinson Bernard Chang Blond "Geometry" Dan Jurgens Norm Rapmund Pete Pantazis "Prologue: The Slap Heard 'Round The World" J. Michael Straczynski Eddy Barrows J.P. Mayer Rod Reis John J. Hill Gary Frank/Brad Anderson (cover)

have not been following the Man of Steel that closely after All Star Superman ended, save for some peeks at War of the Supermen, and i was kinda turned off with the whole let's-bring-back-the-Kryptonians thing. turns out they're all gonna be whacked anyway. but still.

the lead story from outgoing writer James Robinson, has the long-awaited reunion between Lois and Clark. if anything, i was happy for the two of them, and i haven't felt like that in a while. you take these two for granted too much.

there's a fill-in story (but doesn't feel like one) by Jurgens in the early years when Robin disobeys Bruce Wayne's orders and goes after some gunrunners, and his bacon gets saved by Superman (along with his geometry assignment). its weird to see Dick in his classic child-molester-attracting duds, but hey, that's part of history multiple Crises can't erase.

what really intrigues me is new direction set by Straczynski, who takes over the main book and will set the tone for the Superman stories to come (who isn't excited about Paul Cornell putting Lex Luthor on center stage in Action Comics?). in this prologue, Superman attends a press conference in the aftermath of War of the Supermen, and his previous dalliance with the idea of New Krypton, and a distraught woman slaps him to everyone's surprise (this recalls a similar incident in the Marvel Universe where a woman spits on Tony Stark during Civil War). Superman hears her story out, and though its an unfair burden, seeks out the meaning of what is "important" in the scheme of things and as the premier superhero of the planet. where this takes him will shape how he will be reacting to the DC Universe from hereon.

so this kind of explains the thought process in Cry for Justice?

that's our @JamesDRobinson, yeah!! San Francisco, baby!!!

Eisner Award nominees released

and yes, James Robinson (for Cry For Justice) is in the list. and Grant Morrison isn't. just sayin'.


guess Roy can't vote now.

playing with fire

drive-by readings

Justice League: Cry For Justice #7 (DC) "Justice" James Robinson Mauro Cascioli Scott Clark Ibraim Roberson David Beaty Siya Oum Giovani Kososki Steve Wands this series mercifully ends, with the Internet broken in half, from apathy and indignation. the way this series progressed, i increasingly leaned toward the latter. it seemed more and more like a shock jock show - oh, look, they cut off Roy's arm! will Supergirl's head be next? in the end, what was Prometheus' purpose? its not like he wants to outwit the League, though he did that in spades - it was more like he wanted to be a mass murderer and had a death wish (which by now, y'all knew he got it). that seemed out of character for a character that had so much potential since Grant Morrison created him. he's really Luthor with the balls to get his hands dirty. and for all the dazzling painted artwork of Mauro Cascioli, this issue is not served by having others help out with the work. but who cares eh? in a couple of years, we'd all but forgotten Prometheus was even dead (because he'd be alive somewhere and being a pain in the butt again).

foreshadowing much? but when did threatening a supervillain ever work? you give him a tumor first!


"Electrocutioner"? is lame codenames the new black?


see Ray have tiny gimpy leg. see Ray suddenly have a normal leg.


four words: get. a. friggin'. room.


oh, who are you kidding?? he'll be back within two years.

snaps: Justice League of America #42

... where we take up James Robinson on his tweet the other day:

Whatever hater goes nuts on me for JLA 42, God bless you. But I love the color from Pete Pantazis. The use of refined color in flashbacks brought me great enjoyment. A very talented fellow.

hey, am not a hater. i just try to poke fun at what i read. you, sir, on the other hand, chop off characters' arms just for the heck of it.

and oh, the ego.


oh wait, that was Donna talking ...


he-hey! don't these guys look familiar? Dr. Impossible? Hunter? a moron on a Chair? Neon Black? big athletic woman with a mace?



i think you should throw in "unhackable" in there, Cyborg. because i have one word for you: Amazo.



do you really tell anybody they're "going to die"? and ask them if they heard you?



you'd think after all this time, the Watchtower would be more secure.



oh hey! look who's going a trip down memory lane. specifically, JLA #8-9, Aug/Sept. 1997, back when a comic book still cost less than 2 bucks.


Connor Hawke survived that time. the last archer on the roster almost didn't. i almost expect Robinson to do something very, very bad to Ollie.


but hey, Pete Pantazis' colors are so awesome!

snaps: Cry for Justice #6

... where we see that Grant Morrison did a better job having Prometheus go through the JLA like Joey Chestnut at the Nathan's 4th of July Hotdog Eating Contest. really. after knocking off the original Big Seven, it seems much easier to go through this team, Hal Jordan, Ollie Queen, Dinah Lance and Hawkman notwithstanding. and the surprise appearance of a mystery villain here, causing Prometheus to pause? i guess everyone forgot Catwoman crashing the original party and introducing her cat-o'nine-tails to his balls.

with this series being left behind in the dust due to scheduling and other problems (apparently initial artist Mauro Cascioli has been left to doing covers), and with Blackest Night grabbing most of the attention, Cry for Justice has been going downhill since.

see Hawkman with his mace:


see a mace-less Hawkman a couple seconds later.


what the hell? was his mace just a hologram? or did he have butterfingers and dropped it as soon as he saw Prometheus aiming at him?

Ray Palmer does not recommend the South Beach diet.


see Donna rip off Prometheus' visor, and basically rip off his face mask.


and the League were too polite and stupid enough to put it back together during the interrogation.

"sorry for messin' ya all up, Mistuh Prometheus. here, lemme put back yer headset and armor, so you kin still calculate all sorts of ways to kick our asses while we ask you questions."

WHAT THE HELL.

James Robinson hates everyone.

that's a way to exercise and exorcise all your anger towards certain characters. what if he had the Big 7 to play with? will Wonder Woman get raped?

i mean, i probably can take DC pissing on the Giffen-Maguire Justice League, but this?

chopping off Roy's arm in increasingly-exasperating Cry For Justice, putting the Asian Dr. Light in the blender (Mr. Robinson's fiancee is, i might add, of the Asian persuasion too. just saying.), and almost everyone ending up humiliated, de-powered, and/or naked at the end of Justice League of America #40, it seems fitting that the series comes to a merciful end.

snaps: JLA #39

... where the barely-Justice League of America celebrates Black Friday with their dead friends.

1) no, i was thinking along the lines of Robocop and Six Million Dollar Man, but that's just me.


2) once a rapist, right? and why is he called "Curry"? isn't he "Arthur Light"? oh! oh! did somebody not perform his editorial duties??


3) Z has a creepy father. yeeechhh.


4) Paco Ramone, you have just been chosen to join Zombie Menudo!!!


5) Z has leprosy!! (these backward pronunciations are getting annoying)

James Robinson is going for shock. Mark Bagley's art seems shoddy compared to his Ultimate Spider-Man and even Thunderbolts days. too bad, because with this issue, JLA seemed to regain some traction it has been losing of late.

Roy Harper got greedy this Thanksgiving, and ...

no, you did NOT just write that, James Robinson!!

Ma Kent 2009

... is no longer the sweet lady you once knew.

her soulmate dead, their Kansas farmhouse wrecked every other week, used as a hostage by some supervillain every other month ... there comes a time when a girl has to put her foot down.

this is TMZ material. damn you, Geoff Johns! (and by extension, James Robinson)

------
Blackest Night: Superman #2

drive-by readings: Blackest Night: Superman #1

Blackest Night: Superman #1 (DC) "A Sleepy Little Town, Part 1" James Robinson Eddy Barrows Ruy Jose Julio Ferreira Rod Reis Barrows/Nei Ruffino (cover) Shane Davis/Sandra Hope/Alex Sinclair (variant cover)

first of all, Eddy Barrows draws a mean Krypto (didn't he draw that Cujo in Teen Titans, the one that ate Marvin? WIN!!!). and the rest of the book is no chopped liver either. as for the story ... well, am a little befuddled by the dialogue, at least on the resurrected Kal-L's (yeah you know why) part. his motivation is just to kill everyone? ("yes, grifter, haven't you been reading Blackest Night?" - Geoff Johns) seems so simplistic to me, at least for this Superman tangent of the theme. and somehow, seeing Connor Kent (the artist formerly known as the first arrogant Superboy) flying around again, after Infinite Crisis, makes me shake my head (i know, i know - Action Comics #1). let's just everyone stop making events out of deaths, ok? as Blackest Night shows in a nutshell, absolutely no one stays dead forever.

drive-by readings: Justice League: Cry for Justice #2

Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 (DC) "The Gathering" James Robinson Mauro Cascioli Steve Wands

at this rate, they'll be fighting the bad guys by issue #4. and this is a 5-issue series? not even a year's worth?

Green Lantern and Green Arrow chill out on a Gotham rooftop, discussing Bruce, the city and some other shenanigans. they meet up with Jason Bard (the Detective's detective) who sends them to beat up some ne'er-do-wells. there they meet up with the Atom (Ray Palmer version) and Freddy Marvel (hippier Shazam). Congorilla (heh.) and the gay guy - whoops, sorry, the latest Starman - are still inbound. a woozy Javelin tries one last throw, only to be thwarted by Supergirl in that scene that drove people nuts a few months back.

so why are they all here? looks like Prometheus, from the foreshadowing in the Faces of Evil event, is back stealing (or making others do his stealing of) DC Universe tech. to what end? well, Mr. Robinson has not seen us fit to be told yet. just be content and marvel at Mauro Cascioli's painted gems (Supergirl looks like someone i know).

by the way, Hal can battle scary space aliens and his own inner demons, but he can't stand the night breeze? has he fought Mr. Freeze yet? no?

and will they make a comic out of that?

really!! Hal Hordan, Helena Bertinelli, Zinda Blake. alcohol. threesome??

what really blows my mind is that Dinah knows about it, but wasn't involved!!

or wait, wait, wait!! even much more amazing, why wasn't Barbara involved??!



James Robinson, ladies and gentlemen!

---
Cry for Justice #2

drive-by readings: Cry for Justice #1

Cry for Justice #1 (DC) "The Beginning" James Robinson Mauro Cascioli Steve Wands

well, after all the backroom drama surrounding this series, here it is finally. following the tradition of Extreme Justice and Justice League Elite, writer James Robinson this time sends longtime DC cowboy Hal Jordan to organize his own "Avengers" team (obvious first recruit: Green Arrow). the premise seems too contrived for me (Nightwing could have started this, but he's not exactly an active JLAer and he needed to fill his mentor's boots. the talented Mr. Cascioli seems to be a good fit here, with his moody painted style giving it an edgy feel. this issue is more of the personnel-gathering kind, with Robinson throwing in some odd characters (Congorilla, anyone?). two things i'd like to point out: i hope this does not suffer from scheduling problems but at the same time i would hate to see the artwork rushed just to meet deadlines (or worse, you'd have fill-in artists by issue #3); and would the eventual (i think) showdown with their own teammates (Superman: "I don't think we can allow that, Hal") have long-term ramifications on the League as whole? as a wise man once said, we shall see.

Green Arrow is still a horndog ...

... that's why he's joining Hal Jordan's new Justice League ...


... so they can ogle more chicks!

(because his wife is chairwoman of the current League, and damn if he'll be able to get away with it!)

hey, i didn't make that up; Newsarama did!!


(btw, the censored parts of that DC Memo were "retcon", "Final Crisis" and "Batman R.I.P.")

Steve Rogers needs junk food

... back in 1941.



until they completely delete Rogers from the Marvel canon or revive him in the next 5 years (or 50, who's counting?), we will only be blessed only with one-shots looking back at his life. 'cause there only has to be one Captain America, right, Bucky?

------
Captain America Comics 70th Anniversary special

green justice

spinning off the main JLA title, James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli's Justice League hits the stands in 2009, led by a couple of old stalwarts along with some new faces, and having them go after their deadlier foes (revamped X-Force, anyone?).

according to the Wizard Magazine report, the team is brought together by a death of a DC character (Dan DiDio?) and want to mete out frontier justice rather than sitting on the sidelines and waiting for shoes to drop. the choice of team leaders are a little weird for me: liberal leftist Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and original space cop Hal Jordan (its been 15 years since Hal went nuts, maybe its an anniversary thing). but its nice to see both of them working together for the new generation.

anyway, with a simian on board, all bets are off. Congorillaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!