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.

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.

atomic fate

drive-by readings

The Atom & Hawkman #46 (DC) "Bye Bye Birdie" Geoff Johns Ryan Sook Fernando Pasarin Nick Napolitano Hi-Fi a presumably one-shot following the final issue (#45) back in November 1969, The Atom & Hawkman #46 begins with a recap of what Ray Palmer's life's been so far (new fans will remember the Identity Crisis period) and details the moments as he becomes deputized as an Indigo Lantern deep in the midst of Blackest Night. his best friend Hawkman (with Kendra), now a Black Lantern, attempts to bring him over to the dark side, and is saved momentarily by his sponsor, Indigo-1. to enable her to contact the rest of her tribe, Ray has to protect her from all comers including his bitch of a wife Jean Loring (who makes him relive that night she kills Sue Dibny). his success fittingly puts him back into major player status, something i've been looking forward to, with all due respect to Ryan Choi. Geoff Johns makes hay while the night is still young, and Ryan Sook's fluid art complements him perfectly. now if only Sook also drew the X-Force issues of Necrosha ...

and here we have another case of DC's adeptness in typos.


does AIG work for you, Ray?


ironically, Ray refines his ex-wife's tested killing method.


in the land of tinier people, the Atom is king.


my, my, Mr. Palmer, what language.

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.

drive-by readings: Blackest Night #2

Blackest Night #2 (DC) "Blackest Night" Geoff Johns Ivan Reis Oclair Albert Julio Ferreira Alex Sinclair Nick Napolitano Mauro Cascioli (variant cover)

okay, am not sure who's batting it out of the park more here - Geoff Johns, or the stellar art team of Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert. i'm giving it to the latter duo (a highlight being the shark scene), as the story doesn't really get advanced much here. more deaths, more recruits, even right within the same sequence (Aqualad). i was mildly surprised to see Dove not get recruited - apparently, you had to have a violent death, and thus a troubled soul, to become part of the Black Lantern Corps (figures). the bile coming out of the lips of some of DC's beloved (currently dead, now zombified) characters are deliciously malevolent, its so wrong yet so right. and i've never seen Aquaman this intense, even during his time as arrogant ruler of Atlantis (nice touch on Mera holding her own and not being salad dressing this time). there also seems to be a subtle push to make Hal Jordan the resident DC Universe lothario (what, Guy Gardner lost his mojo because of Ice?). basically, since these zombies are practically unkillable, brute force is not the answer. i may be in the minority here, but this is scary.

drive-by readings: Blackest Night #1

Blackest Night #1 (DC) "Rise" Geoff Johns Ivan Reis Oclair Albert Alex Sinclair Nick Napolitano Ethan Van Sciver/Hi-Fi(variant cover)

my man-crush has done it again.

oh, shit.

oh, shit.

oh, shit!!!!!!!!!!!

(yes, that's all am gonna say)

at first glance, it looks like Dark Reign has better chance of having long-term ramifications and status quo changes in the Marvel Universe. but for sheer living in the moment, visceral kick in the face, leave-us-hanging-with-bated-breath-opener, Blackest Night takes the cake. and that's a summer blockbuster.