Phoenix ResurreX-Lapsed, Episode 05 - Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #5 (2018)

Phoenix ResurreX-Lapsed, Episode Five

Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #5 (March, 2018)

"Chapter Five: Be Thou Those Ends"

Writer - Matthew Rosenberg

Pencils - Leinil Francis Yu & Joe Bennett

Inks - Gerry Alanguilan & Belardino Brabo

Colors - Rachelle Rosenberg

Letters - VC's Travis Lanham

Edits - Harrington, Robinson, Shan, Paniccia, Cebulski

Special Thanks - Axel Alonso

Cover Price: $4.99

On-Sale: January 31, 2018

Today we wrap up Phoenix Resurrection, and finally find out how Jean got her groove back.  Turns out, all she had to do was tell a bird to take a hike!

Also: Old Man Logan slices her friend's throat AND has the gall to insult her coffee.

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Phoenix ResurreX-Lapsed, Episode 03 - Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #3 (2018)

Phoenix ResurreX-Lapsed, Episode Three

Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #3 (March, 2018)

"Book Three: A Constellation of Them All"

Writer - Matthew Rosenberg

Pencils - Joe Bennett

Inks - Lorenzo Ruggiero

Colors - Rachelle Rosenberg

Letters - VC's Travis Lanham

Edits - Robinson, Harrington, Shan, Paniccia, Cebulski

Cover Price: $3.99

On-Sale: January 10, 2018

Welcome back to the Sunday Special - we're officially at the halfway point of Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey... and while it continues its (perhaps too) slow burn - it also continues to keep me on the edge of my seat, x-cited to see how this all shakes out!

Our titular heroine is beginning to lose control over things in the Elsewhere... does she just need a stiff drink (or a stiff man?) - if that's left up to a certain Mr. Patch, I've got a pretty good idea!

--

@acecomics / @cosmictmill / weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com

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Sensational Spider-Man #33 (1998)

Sensational Spider-Man #33 (November, 1998)
"The Gathering of Five, Part Five: Gifts"
Writer - Todd DeZago
Pencils - Joe Bennett
Inks - Al Milgrom
Colors - Tom Smith
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Liz Agraphiotis
Edits - Ralph Macchio
Chief - Bob Harras
Cover Price: $1.99

Even though nobody's following along anymore, we're still working our way toward the Byrne/Mackie Reboot... and today, we wrap up the lead-in story arc, The Gathering of Five.  Be ready for one heck of a satisfying conclusion.  Would I lie to ya?  Hrmm...

If you wanna/needta catch up, here are the first four chapters.  Just click'a the cov'uh, and you will be delivered:

Now, onto the senses-shattering conclusion!  Tomorrow, we begin The Final Chapter... which, uh, is the next story line.

--

We open with Override... yeah, him again... it's several weeks ago and he's sat at the bedside of his wife in the hospital.  It'd been near a quarter-century since I last read any of this, so I assumed she was just "ill"... and not all tore up from their last outing together as supervillains.  Anyhoo, she's been comatose for awhile, and our man decides he's just going to put her out of her misery... until, that is, she wakes up!

Back to the present, and Peter Parker is trying to repair his leaky roof.  While in the attic, he comes across some old photos... and, like most of us do when in the same sort of situation, he starts to reminisce.  He is soon joined by Mary Jane, who hems and haws about maybe getting back into the modeling game... even though she's clearly already made up her mind.  We get a panel with some of Emjay's photos, which... if taken out of context, would be pretty gross.  Splott, indeed.

MJ continues to hint that she's doneski with school... and starts harping on how expensive her textbooks are.  $300 for a psychology book!  Hmm.  I've been a student of Psychology for a decade now (at undergrad, masters, and post-masters levels), and haven't had a book quite that expensive in any'a my syllabuses.  She must be taking some advanced stuff!  Peter tells her not to sweat it.

Back at the hospital, Greg (Override) tells Annie about the Gathering of Five ritual.  Oh yeah, that li'l thing... almost forgot about it!  It's not like it's front-and-center in the story named after it, is it?  We learn a bit more about the extent of Annie's injuries... it doesn't sound great.

Greg heads out... almost ashamed of himself for not being completely upfront with Annie about what the Gathering of Five might actually result in.  He realizes she's pretty hopeless at the moment, and he didn't want to pile on anything else for her to worry about.

We shift scenes, and... hey, it's Spider-Man!  After nearly killing himself by swingin' in the rain... he pitches a tent around a homeless man, and follows the police to an armored car that had just been robbed.  Ya see, he's hopeful to snap a few Spidey-action-pics to sell to Jonah... and use those monies to buy MJ her books!

Little does he know, however, that at that very moment... Mary Jane is withdrawing from all of her classes!

Back at the hospital, Annie Override has another visitor... it's Norman!  He promises her that, should the Gathering of Five go sideways for Greg... that he himself will return to "bring her peace".  Welp, that got kinda dark.

Back with Spidey... he notices, say it with me, Override running away from the armored car holding a briefcase.  The next four pages have Spider-Man chasing the baddie... into a building, and up to its roof.  Along the way Spidey sings a bit of Fastball's "The Way", which really helps ta get ya into the gestalt of 1998, eh?

Spidey knocks Override off the roof, but catches him before he falls all that far.  He delivers the baddie to a pair of police officers, who appear not to give half a damn.  Whattayagonnado?

What's important here is that Peter got his pictures... and the Bugle ran one of 'em!  Look at the angle on this thing.  Where exactly would "Peter Parker" be to snap this picture?  Does Jonah ever stop to think about that?  I mean, Pete would have to be hovering in a low-flying helicopter or something, no?  Silly.

Back in the hospital, we learn that Greg managed to give the officers the slip... not that they cared all that much in the first place.  He's now got "all the money" they could ever need... and soon, after the Ritual, their lives will be perfect.  You almost feel for the guy, right?

Speakin' of guys we feel for... we jump to the next day, where Peter is putting the finishing touches on his roof repair.  Mary Jane joins him... and he gleefully presents her with a gift.  It's her Psych books!  She looks at them the same way a kid might look at a gift of socks on Christmas morning.  Or, perhaps how one might look at a mess the dog left on the new carpet.

Now, she finally comes clean... school, a degree... she don't want none'a that.  What she wants is "adventure"... and "excitement"... and for her, that comes with modeling.

Peter says, if that's what is most important to her... than she should do it.  Emjay corrects him, and while holding up a picture from their wedding day, says this is what's most important to her... but, she's still gonna get back to modeling anyway.  And with that... The Gathering of Five story arc... and this volume of Sensational Spider-Man come to an end.

--

Boy, I hope y'all didn't get too burned out on the hot-n-heavy Gathering of Five stuff in this issue!  Hoo-boy, and how about that conclusion!  Wow, I never expected the Gathering of Five to end... without the Gathering of the friggin' Five!  Yeesh... I know a running gag in the bullpen and letters pages is to give "Ralf" a hard time about how bad a job he does, but... c'mon man... who paced this event?  Five-parts... only two-and-a-half of which had anything to do with the actual thing it's named after!

Alright, let's put that aside for now... and talk about what we actually did get.  This was Override's story... who, for getting such a focus here, feels like a character we should still be talking about today, no?  Heck, it's been a long while since I read any "current year" Spidey... so, for all I know, he's looming larger than ever.

His story is pretty tragic... made even more so by the fact that his wife's current bodily state is his own fault.  You almost feel for the guy... and perhaps, under other circumstances, I would.  I gotta say though, every time he was on panel here... all I wanted to do was flip forward.  I'm expecting some Norman stuff here... and all I'm getting is Dr. Greg Whatshisface.  Not a fault of the story, the issue, nor Todd DeZago... but, more an "it is what it is" sort of thing.

Speaking of DeZago... I really like the way he writes Peter/Spidey.  The banter is not forced like it is under Byrne, and it doesn't feel like he just found a book of Henny Youngman one-liners to recite from like so many other Spidey writers.  While on the creative team, I really gotta hand it to Joe Bennett.  His art has been one of the bright-spots of revisiting this story/era.  His Dr. Greg might look a bit too much like Peter at times, but, for the most part... his work is really great!

Let's talk Mary Jane.  As much as she got on my nerves for making excuses and hemming and hawing, I'd be lying if I said I myself have never had those thoughts and conversations.  School as an adult... sucks.  While everyone you know is focused on their careers and gets to plan to spend their free time however they see fit, the adult student has... schoolwork, research, and classes after their day job.  It's not easy.  I mean, it's not impossible... but, it's not preferable, ya know?

I've had those hemming and hawing conversations with the wife... where I make excuses about anything from "expenses" (like MJ did), and having a more accommodating schedule... questioning the "value" of an advanced degree, asking if it would make that much of a difference in the long-run.  It's definitely something that can burrow into your brain pan.  Especially when it's a Psych degree.  I tell ya, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology... is worthless (I've had one for years!)  Well, worthless if you actually want a career in Psychology, or Research, or Behavioral Health that pays more than minimum wage.

So yeah, didn't love Emjay's take... but, can't suggest that it didn't feel right or real.  I still can't shake the feeling that we're supposed to feel somewhat betrayed by her quitting school.  Even with her holding up the photo from their wedding... it still doesn't feel like they're "on the same page".  We'll be exploring this further as we move through the Byrne/Mackie reboot.

Overall.  This was a fine issue... but a lousy chapter (much less the concluding chapter) of The Gathering of Five.  We get very little (if any) closure.  It feels like something out of nu-skool "Marvel Events 101"... where final chapters don't actually conclude anything... all they do is lead into the next in a string of endless events.  Imagine buying a The Gathering of Five trade paperback collection... and it only included these five issues?  You'd feel like you were robbed... and you wouldn't be wrong!

--

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--

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Sensational Spider-Man #32 (1998)

Sensational Spider-Man #32 (October, 1998)
"The Gathering of Five, Part One: Acquisitions"
Writer - Todd DeZago
Pencils - Joe Bennett
Inks - Ralph Cabrera
Colors - Tom Smith
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Liz Agraphiotis
Edits - Ralph Macchio
Chief - Bob Harras
Cover Price: $1.99

Okay... we're going to dip back into the old blogging bag o' tricks.  What do we do when we're stuck?  What do we do when our focus is shaken?  What do we do when we don't know what to do?

Well... we start a project.

I don't know if we'll see this one all the way through... I hope we will, but I can't make any promises.  This is a comics topic I would file under "unfinished business"... as it was something I would threaten Reggie with regularity while we were working on the show(s).

The subject of Spider-Man would come up during our recordings, and I'd say, "One day we will get around to... (imagine thunder and lightning sounds here) the Byrne/Mackie Reboot!"  And so, starting today, that's exactly what we're gonna do.  I figured we'd start with The Gathering of Five storyline that leads into the big wrap-up of the Spidey Volume Ones.  I probably could've gone back further... or, heck, just started with the first issues of the Volume Twos... but, I think this is probably the best place to begin to give us just enough context.

A little housekeeping before we hop over the hyphens... I'm still going to be sharing audio offerings here with regularity, but I haven't decided if those will just be "Spidey-skip-days", or if... heck, maybe I'll just have two posts on those days.  One thing I'm coming to learn (and accept) is that there ain't no such thing as rules here anymore.  Somehow, still haven't missed a day though.

And now... let's get ready to reboot.

--

We open at the Aleister Building, where inside Norman Osborn is trying to cut a deal with one Hamilton Cromwell, a... ahem, fifth-degree maegis of the Elite Dark Chamber.  Woof.  Turns out there are a fivesome of MacGuffins, which when put together hold the potential of doling out some "great power".  Guess who already has one of these tchotchkes?  Norman shows Cromwell a piece that resembles a spindle.  The other four pieces, by the way, look like quarters of a circle... so, when assembled, they... ya know, actually assemble.  Cromwell, by the way, has one of those "quarters".

Here's the thing, though... he isn't keen on the idea of performing the "Gathering" ritual... or, the "Rites of the Five".  After showing Norman exactly where he keeps his piece... he kicks him out.  Something tells me that Norman isn't going to give up... well, actually, Norman himself tells us that he's not going to give up.

We shift scenes and, hey look, it's Spider-Man... and he stops swinging through the skies of New York to deal with a mugging.  All he has to do is disarm the baddie... because the fella he was holding up is, well, built like a house.

Next stop, Peter and MJ's house (Aunt May's house, actually, but she's dead at the moment), where the latter is studying for some "difficult" Psychology classes she signed up for over the Summer.  Her Aunt Anna enters the room to inform her that she's got a phone call... it's her old modeling agent!  He's got a gig for her, if she's interested.  She stops to think it over, even noticing a Parenting magazine on the table next to her... which, starting a family was one of the reasons she left the "biz"... buuuuut, decides she's back in the game!

Back to Spidey as he's clung to the side of... I wanna say Grand Central Station... or something that looks like it.  He's waiting for his "usual" bus to head back home to Queens.  Before he can, however, he notices one of Osborn's armored goons causing havoc in the streets... this is Override!

Spidey gives chase, tracking Override all the way to that Aleister Building from the beginning.  The baddie busts his way in, and even kills a pair of Security Guards... then, makes his way down to that super-secret sub-basement where Cromwell keeps his MacGuffin sliver... only, it looks like a full-on round chocolate chip cookie here.

At this point, Spidey confronts Override... and, well, they fight for a few pages.  The baddie manages to give Spidey the slip for a second... but, before long our man's back on the trail.  They somehow wind up in "The Menagerie" of the Building... which is to say, a room full of horror-containing canisters.  Override is stopped by, uh... balaclava-wearing security?  Okay.

Once Spider-Man arrives, the horrors are let out.  So, we get a page of Spidey battling some generic beasties... while Override beats a hasty retreat.

Spider-Man is eventually able to overcome... but, it's too late.  He knows Norman's likely already got that weird cookie Override stole out of the basement.  Speaking of which, that's pretty much exactly what's going down on the other side of the city!  Override hands over the MacGuffin... which, again... does not look like it did at the beginning of the issue.

Here, Override reveals that he only took this job because his wife is very ill.  He knows a thing or two (literally, just a thing or two) about this Gathering of Five Ritual... as in, it might bestow "great power".  Also, that it requires five people as well as the five trinkets.  He asks Norman if he himself might get a seat at the proverbial "table" for the Rites... hopeful that whatever "great power" he might receive will help him cure his wife.  Norman gives the big ol' thumbs up.  See?  He's not such a bad guy!

We begin our wrap up with the revelation that Norman's in cahoots with... aw hell... the Scriers.  How did I forget about that?  Good grief.  You ever wanna tune me out of a Spidey story... toss a Scrier in it!  He learns that Kaine and a woman named Mongrain (who he had hired during Mary Jane's pregnancy to swipe the Spider-Fetus) are now on the table as pawns in all this.

We close with the revelation that Alison Mongrain is hiding out in Paris... and has just been located by ol' Robbie Robertson!

--

Ya know, I feel like when people stop and think about infamous eras in the Spider-Books, their minds immediately go to The Clone Saga, or Sins Past, or One More Day... and, trust me, if I were discussing any of those, I'm sure this piece would get far more engagement than it actually will.  The Byrne/Mackie Reboot, in hindsight, trumped all of those stories... again, that's with near a quarter-century of hindsight.

Now, after reading this first part of the lead-up... ya know, this wasn't as bad as I remembered.  Again, this is only one issue... and, for this project, we'll be looking at over fifty... so, it isn't saying all that much.  But for a start, I was okay with it.  I remember not being so on-board back in 1998... and let's talk about why that might've been...

The main complaint I remember hearing about The Gathering of Five (as well as elements of a lot of Spider-Man stories of the mid-late 90's), was that it didn't feel like a Spider-Man story.  It wasn't "street-level" enough... it had to do with weird mumbo-jumbo, mysticism, and other very un-Spidey stuff.

I wonder if the, in my opinion, very un-Spidey stuff we got from the Spider-Man "brain trust" in the 22 years since has kind of desensitized me to the inherent "badness" of this storyline?  Just think about everything that happened to Spider-Man after the turn of the century...

• Spider-Totems
• Unmaskings
• The Osborn/Stacy Twins
• Deals With the Devil
• Body-Swaps
• Becoming a wealthy tech wizard
• Having like a dozen other Spider-Heroes running around

                                      ... to name a few.

Very... to me, un-Spidey stuff.  Almost makes the odd trappings of The Gathering of Five seem like "just another day" in Peter Parker's life, dunnit?  I guess if "exceptions" are around long enough, they eventually become "the rule"?

Anyhoo, let's actually look at this issue instead of kvetching about much of what came after (though, no promises)...

For the most part, I enjoyed this well enough.  There was plenty of action (though, it was pretty shoehorned in), blended with soapiness, angst, and greed... everyone's motivations are pretty clear, and we have a kind of "direction".  I tell ya one thing, I think we got more out of this Part One than we ever would in a Part One from "current year".

Override... pretty lame villain, though was fleshed out decently enough here.  They gave him an altruistic reason for wrapping himself up in Osborn's business.  That's fair enough.  We'll learn more about the Rites of the Five as we move along... so, I won't go into the risks/rewards of participation just yet.  I do like, however, that he's purely motivated out of desperation and far-flung hope.  We get the impression that, outside of his wife, he's really got nothing to lose here.

Mary Jane.  Hmm.  Almost feels like they're trying to turn the reader against her, dunnit?  Nah, probably all in my head, right?  She and Peter were in full-on "settling down" mode not too long before this.  Ben Reilly was Spider-Man, MJ was pregnant... and with Aunt May's passing and nothing keeping them there, she and Peter were goneski from New York City.  She'd lose the baby, and Peter would pop under the webs again, of course... but, it seemed (at the time) like they were going to continue pursuing a semblance of a "normal family".

That kind of goes out the window here, doesn't it?  Mary Jane does take pause when offered the modeling gig... to consider the life-altering decision she's about to make... but, ultimately appears to forgo becoming a mother for now.  Were we readers supposed to see that as a sort of betrayal?  A sign that maybe she and Peter aren't ready to be grown-ups just yet?  There's a lot we can read into from that scene... especially with everything that has happened since.

Then there's Norman.  He hasn't been back on the table all that long at this point (relatively speaking)... but he's definitely aiming quite a bit higher than he did in his prior life.  He's not dressing up like a cartoon goblin, for one.  For another, he's exploring some pretty dicey hoo-doo in order to procure some nebulous "great power".  Feels like he's being "leveled up" a bit with this story.  They're showing us more of a cerebral Norman... he's really the "straw that stirs the drink", and retroactively, he always has been.  Not a bad look for him as the "big bad", though I could certainly do without the Scriers.

Overall... yeah, not bad.  I'm actually surprised!  It's been... err, twenty-two years since I last cracked the cover on this... so, maybe it's just faulty memory... maybe I'm softening in my old age... or maybe, this is a comparable "breath of fresh air" from what would come later... but, yeah... not bad.

Worth noting, this era of comics is probably on my absolute favorite paper stock.  It's like a perfect blend of newsprint and gloss... and, hoo boy, the smell (while likely toxic) is amazing!

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Justice League: Generation Lost #4 (2010)

Justice League: Generation Lost #4 (Late August, 2010)
"The Rocket's Red Glare"
Script - Judd Winick
Breakdowns - Keith Giffen
Penciller - Joe Bennett
Inker - Jack Jadson
Colors - Hi-Fi
Letterer - Steve Wands
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle
Editor - Michael Siglain
Cover Price: $2.99

If I had more time in my day I think I'd research how many issues dedicated to the Rocket Reds bear the title "Rocket's Red Glare".  I bet it's a lot.  Kinda like when any book takes place in England the title will very likely be "London Calling".

Anyhoo, it's still #BrightestMay... we're almost halfway through, and it feels like we haven't even made a dent!  That's probably because we haven't!  I think to truly do this, it'll take 4-5 more Brightest Mays.  Well, if we're still at this next year... maybe we'll give it another go!

--

We open in... an undisclosed location.  Parts unknown, if you weeeeel.  There, Maxwell Lord is chatting up a researcher... who, of course, doesn't know Max from a hole in the wall.  Lord pulls one of his "power of suggestion" tricks, which surprisingly changes the lab-man into a zombified Black Lantern?!  We then shift scenes.  If you recall, last issue ended with the Gen Lost League catching a ride from an OMAC portal in El Paso... and winding up in Russia.  Enter: The Rocket Reds.

The Reds shout out some threats... but it turns out they're not even paying attention to our Super Buddies... they're actually threatening another Rocket Red?!

Skeets gives the deets... turns out this "rogue" Rocket Red is Gavril Ivanovich, a "revolutionary".  He was once a Captain in the Brigade... but has broken off as the Reds move a bit closer "to center".  Ya see, Gav is a "true Communist", and sees any and all westernization as a betrayal.

The Gen Lost League decides... maybe it would be best to stay out of it.  Ya know, "International Incidents" and all.  Plus, this gaggle of geeks doesn't exactly have the best reputation at the moment.  It isn't until the War of the Reds starts endangering innocent civilians that the heroes know they must get involved.

Gavril is overjoyed to see that the Justice League International has come to lend him a hand.  Just how old are Russian newspapers, anyway?  The JLI hasn't been a thing in like forever, right?  Anyhoo, they enter the fray and fight for a bit... and are eventually joined by Fire.

Now at "full capacity", Gavril gets it in his brain that they can take on the Rocket Reds head on.  Thankfully, Booster and Captain Atom drag him away.  Ya see, they know the fight's not over... but would rather it occur where there are fewer potential civilians to injure, maim, or kill.

Tora asks Bea how things went at Checkmate, which segues beautifully into a scene where the Black King is reporting everything that went down last issue to Batman.  Batman takes the information... but isn't quite sure what to do with it.  You know how Batman is always the smartest guy around, right?  Well, he has a sneaking suspicion that there might be more to this than meets the eye.

Back in Russia (after beating up the pursuing Rocket Reds), Gavril takes inventory of his new "team", and refers to them as the Justice League International.  This goes over like a lead balloon... but he's sincere.  He suggests all they need is a Green Lantern to make the "ensemble" complete.

Booster gets a whiff of what he's cooking... and suggests that Gav's right.  He starts ranting and raving... finally realizing that they're being "played" by Max Lord... and they're being played for a reason.  Suddenly a voice box on one of the fallen Rocket Reds starts to crackle.

It's Max!  And he just might be ready to answer some questions.

--

Very nice issue!  We're definitely getting somewhere.

Before we get "into" the issue, I really wanna say that this is the series where I finally started to "get" Judd Winick as a writer.  It felt like he really found his "voice" here.  This no longer feels like snarky, stale Bendis-lite... or, even worse Kevin Smith-lite.

The jokes here, while not laugh out loud, actually land.  The characterization is strong, and there are some pretty great working-off-each-other moments to be had.  I remember being so bummed out when the "follow up" to this series, Justice League International (vol.3) from The New-52! was announced... and Judd's name was nowhere to be found!

Not that Dan Jurgens (who wound up writing that short-lived volume) is any slouch, but by the time Gen Lost ended, I felt like Winick really made these characters his own.  What's perhaps worse... Judd went on to write that Catwoman (vol.3) book that featured rooftop sex in the very first issue.  Maybe Gen Lost was an anomaly?  Who knows?

Anyhoo... into this book!  It's a pretty good blend of talky and fighty.  There is banter... but it's written in an... I dunno, organic way?  So often it seems as though a writer will think of a really great punchline... and work backwards from there.  Like setting up a joke for pages... lobbing dialogue softballs for a set-up.  I bet if we look though the archives we'll find that I've very likely leveled that accusation at Winick himself.  Here, however... it doesn't feel like that.  Jokes just "happen"... and it makes for a much smoother read.

The Batman scene... eh.  I could say I could "do without" it... but, one of the few things I do remember about this series is that Batman will eventually get involved.  Remember, he was a founding member of the Bwah-ha-ha League too.  I remember growing up and how annoyed we'd get when Wolverine always seemed to have "all the answers" and would get involved with everything.  Never really see those complaints about Batman though.  Ehh, maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

The Maxwell Lord stuff is pretty interesting.  In our look at the various returnees so far, it's clear that they're not exactly as they'd left us.  Aquaman is summoning undead sea(un)life... the Firestorm Matrix has some sort of dark entity swirling about... Captain Boomerang can summon black boomerangs... and now Max is "power of suggesting" people into dead Black Lanterns?!

Really feels like we're building to something special here.  I'm going to wager that DiDio and Company didn't yet have their hands on the toilet flusher just yet.  I mean, could you imagine putting this much effort into revitalizing the line... knowing that you're a year away from dropping the entire magilla (minus Batman and Green Lantern) into the commode?  Seems like a mighty dumb idea, don't it?

Overall... this was a fun read... and the cliffhanger we're left with is a great one!  This whole Brightest Day endeavor almost feels like we're watching a class on serial storytelling.  Good stuff.

--

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There will be comics at AT LEAST one of these events
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