gotta hand it to you, Arthur

i still don't know where Brightest Day is headed, but just to keep our attention from meandering from the meandering series, they give us some (regurgitated) shock and awe. in 2028, some other villain will use telekinesis to rip off Aquaman's hand once again.

the Devil makes work for idle hands, while God cuts them off - wait, what?

still haven't found what they're looking for

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #9 (DC) "Lost and Found" Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason/Ivan Reis/Joe Prado Rebecca Buchman/Keith Champagne/Tom Nguyen Peter Steigerwald Rob Clark Jr. David Finch (cover) Reis/Hi-Fi (variant cover)

what we learned: ah, so the black dude with the eel tattoo is Black Manta's son. why did it only take this long for him to get up his butt and look for him? J'onn's search for the telepathic black hole lands him in Oliver Queen's enchanted forest and they needed to hightail it out of there before the forest ate them up.
oh shit moment: never saw Black Manta this cool and aggressive. but that costume is still funny.
what's next: message in a bottle, yeah.


Ollie didn't like his first session with The Mentalist.

protect this house

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #7 (DC) "The Secret of Life" Geoff Johns Peter Tomasi Ivan Reis Ardian Syaf Scott Clark Joe Prado Vicente Cifuentes David Beaty Mark Irwin Peter Steigerwald John Starr Rob Clark Jr. David Finch/Scott Williams/Steigerwald (cover) Ryan Sook/Fernando Pasarin/Joel Gomez/Randy Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: apparently, the entity in the White Lantern has been the DCU's version of the Watcher (unlike the Watcher, it hasn't made any moves beyond watching - until now). the 12 revived characters are here to protect this world until the arrival of its "new protector". huh? like this world needs more protection, given the long list of DCU her- oh you mean this time, its a competent protector? are you suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure?
oh shit moment: we'll go with what a Deadman could feel ... eating a damn burger after far too long. ohhhh, man. that is the shit.
what's next: the White Lantern has issued instructions for each of them (burn what, J'onn? stop Magog, Max Lord?), so get cracking! move it, move it, move it!


why? what's wrong with the current crop of protectors?

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.

snaps: Brightest Day #1

... where we find the resurrected heroes from Blackest Day go about their business. apparently, there's no big meeting with the rest of the DCU (maybe that happens in JLA?), especially Aquaman and the Hawks. there are mysteries in place that Johns and Tomasi dangles in front of us, though am not sure am sufficiently intrigued. i know its the White Lantern thing and all, but for something called Brightest Day, this thing's still a bit dark (pirate rapists and zombie sea creatures anyone? oh, and wait till you see the return of the real "egghead"). also, that character line intros are tolerable and kinda smart-ass sometimes in Matt Fraction's Uncanny X-Men, but here its becoming annoying.

man, that chin itself is a lethal weapon.


this is Sinestro defending himself from unpowered mortals.


here's a thought, guys: Ronnie, hang out with Jason, and be his girlfriend.


hey, isn't that the Infinity Gauntlet??


i don't really get that helmet. it screams L-O-S-E-R.

snaps: Blackest Night #8

... where the Rainbow Riders finally get to defeat Nekron and the Black Hand (as if there was any doubt). and in a complete reversal of a cookie-cutter comicbook event, NO ONE DIES (well, except the bad guy and the jury is out on that, and because they were fighting dead people to begin with), and A FEW DEAD PEOPLE COME BACK (not just all you hoped for). all in all, i'd still rank Blackest Night below The Sinestro Corps War, primarily because there were no more surprises after the first issue. plus with the Internet talk these days, you basically get a preview of what's going to happen anyway ... what's that? Brightest Day is going to be a gay musical starring our DC heroes? for sure?

"and that's for not getting my back when i got captured by that loser Libra!!"


why do you have to be a heartpuller?


coming soon to Broadway: Brightest Gay Day!


"uh, J'onn ... are you gonna reimburse us for that funeral we threw you?"


goodbye, Infinite Crisis!


goodbye, 90's!! farewell, beard and hook!!


William can't even wipe off his drool with his Hand.

snaps: Blackest Night #6

... where we learn that Lantern rings can deputize another for 24 hours. the question is, how sure are we that that timeframe would be the limit? and once someone gets deputized, they would be willing to give up the ring? also, a bunch of other characters become the second Rainbow Seven.

1) Nok! Nok! who's there? see below.


2) it's the Ultimate Warrior Atom!!!


3) mermaid got your tongue?


4) no tongue, no jaw - how the hell does she talk? amazing.


5) uh uh. sure. are you gonna be the "villain" in the next GL crossover?

snaps: Blackest Night #5

... where everyone has a grand old time with dead people.

1) ok, who was the joker in the cave then???


2) your name is Bartholomew Henry. you're 53 years old. you're kinda old.


3) i believe she was referring to this.


4) i'd wager its the second, Mr. Jordan.



5) oh, shoot ... here we go again!!

death is everywhere

drive-by readings

Blackest Night #3 (DC) Geoff Johns Ivan Reis Oclair Albert Joe Prado Alex Sinclair Nick Napolitano Ethan Van Sciver/Hi-Fi (variant cover)

ok, maybe brute force is the answer to kill these Black Lanterns. turns out the Indigo Lanterns (representing compassion, natch!) hold the key or at least the plan on how to beat them. hint: you have to be gay. you know, like a rainbow? no? sigh.

since when did Ralph talk like the Joker? Atom "hates being in the dark" yet shrank to minutiae in the blackness post-Jean Loring imprisonment. right now, we are still in Barry/Hal-centric mode (as this is indeed, for all intents and purposes, a GL-driven crossover). and we get some Firestorm love as it looks like the new version isn't up to snuff. heh. snuff.

we also have a heart to heart talk between Barry and Hal regarding their philosophies. i thought i'd never write that sentence except when looking back at old Justice League stories. i thought we moved past that, had Kyle and Wally. nope ... back to old. what are the bets that Grant Morrison's reconstituted Batman will be reversed down the line and they'll bring back Bruce Wayne back?

but anyway - we get more dead people coming back (hell, the dead obviously outnumber living people at this point, so from a numbers standpoint, the heroes have no chance). note that they're all in the JLA HQ in Washington, DC, and they have all their dead in the building! so you see Maxwell Lord getting out of his cadaver with his head(!) still attached. (and is that a piece of Wonder Woman's lasso around his neck?) things look bleak around here, the Purple Ones notwithstanding.

Nok Klek. this means you ain't seen nothing yet.

love rules!

he may be a selfish jerk (reminds me of me) ... but Ollie Queen gets the babe!


(and Merlyn gets 2 broken arms ... hooooohaaaaaa!)

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Black Canary #4
Tony Bedard/Paulo Siqueira/Joe Prado/Amilton Santos

you hit like a girl! #1

copping an idea from The Man Named Chris, who has this super cool weekly posting called Friday Night Fights - which are just basically cool Chuck Norris-worthy fistfights from your favorite funnybooks - allow me to roll out my own version, where basically (super)girls put the hurtin' on (mostly) guys who hatin'.

there, that should make the feminists happy.

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pics for this inaugural post are all taken from the babe-centric Birds of Prey.


Lady Shiva/Jade Canary, Birds of Prey #93



The Huntress, Birds of Prey #93


Black Canary, Birds of Prey #94

for all of Prometheus' smarts, he's always vulnerable to this.

Huntress, Birds of Prey #95

and bitch-slapped by ... Gypsy? really??

Gypsy, Birds of Prey #95


Huntress, Birds of Prey #99