Green Lantern (vol.2) #195 (1985)

Green Lantern (vol.2) #195 (December, 1985)
"4"
Writer - Steve Englehart
Penciller - Joe Staton
Inker - Bruce Patterson
Letterer - L. Lois Buhalis
Colorist - Tony Tollin
Editor - Andy Helfer
Cover Price: $0.75

With post #300 now in the rear-view, let's look toward the future.  Today we're going to discuss an issue of Green Lantern that ties in with the very event this humble blog is named after, Crisis on Infinite Earths!  I'm surprised it's taken me this long to take a look at an official Crisis-tie in... but here we be.

I really just picked this one because of its awesome cover... just so great!  Ya know, in silhouette... you can just barely make out the *spoilers* bowl haircut.  Ahem, let's get down to it!

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We open with one of the Guardians of the Universe spiriting away Guy Gardner... with Hal Jordan along for the ride.  The Guardian has designs for Guy... but none for Hal, so he is unceremoniously dumped on the other side of Oa before the pair arrive in civilization.  During the trip there is mention of a sort of barrier surrounding Oa.

Guy gets his bearings, and realizes that his mind is now clear... where before it was anything but.  The Guardian takes this opportunity to retell Guy's twisted and tragic origin story... starting with some events from Showcase #22.  Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Abin Sur lay dying in his crashed spacecraft.  He orders his ring to seek out a new wielder of the emerald light... and it is able to locate two potential candidates... wait, two?  One, as we know is Hal Jordan... the other, a High School gym teacher on the East Coast named Guy Gardner!  Sur, being short on time, and seeing both candidates as equal, dispatches the ring to whoever is closest.  Being as though the crash occurred on the West Coast... Hal gets the power, responsibility, and title of Green Lantern.

Guy becomes Hal's backup... and during one of Hal's trips to "keep and eye" on him, Guy gets hit by a bus while rescuing a child.  As a result he is laid up for the better part of a year.  With Guy "off the table", John Stewart is named backup.

At some point after Guy recovers, Hal has to go off-planet for some ring repairs.  Guy is left with a ring and power battery.  The first time he attempts to do the whole "In brightest day..." thang, the battery explodes in his face... leaving him comatose.

Back in the present, the Guardian informs Guy that with John Stewart currently fighting the Anti-Monitor... remember, this is in the midst of Crisis on Infinite Earths... they want to now enroll him into the Corps... for a very specific purpose...

We shift scenes to meet up with Katma Tui, who is doing her damnedest to keep the Earth in one piece.  The Crisis is causing the entire planet to quake... and split.  Katma uses her emerald energy to more or less cauterize the Earth's wounds.  That is, of course, until her ring runs out of juice... likely a result of the Oan barrier.

We shift again, though briefly, to the front lines of battle... John Stewart (who is wearing his mask!) has joined forces with Jonah Hex and Cyborg of the New Teen Titans in the war against the Anti-Monitor.  His ring also peters out...

Back on (the other side of) Oa, Hal Jordan is getting his druthers while traversing the desert landscape.  He finds that though he is without a ring, he is still able to sorta will himself to fly.  This is soon revealed to be the result of the desert's irradiated sands... so full of Green Lantern energy are they, that Hal is able to not only use them... but communicate with them as well!

He remembers that there is a system of tunnels below the surface, and is able to coerce the sands to draw provide him with a path.

Hal is guided to the tunnel entrance and drops down into the network.  Down below, he is confronted by some sort of mud monster... who keeps growing arms and fisty-hands every time Hal lands a punch.  He keeps punching until the beast has an embarrassment of arms, and he is able to wriggle away.

We return to Guy as he is introduced to a crew of Guardians.  This is during a time in which the Guardians had a bit of a philosophical dispute.  Some were okay to sit on their hands while the events of the Crisis wiped out the Universe... however, these fellas are more interested in being proactive... taking the fight directly to the Anti-Monitor's home world.  This is Guy Gardner's purpose... he is to assemble a "new Corps" and take down the Anti-Monitor.  They give him a ring and a battery that the Guardians powered using their own energy.

Back underground, Hal runs afoul of a pair of Green Lantern Corps Honor Guards, K'ryssma and Apros.  They don't take too kindly to having a quitter like Hal around, and so they fight... until a Guardian intervenes.

The Guardian takes Hal to another group of little blue guys, and they tell him the story of Krona.  This is the group of Guardians that would rather stand down then fight.  Hal doesn't really like the sound of that, and asks for the permission to at least try and fight.  The Guardians are all "uh-uh" and zip him away.

We wrap up the issue with Guy Gardner in his familiar Green Lantern gear... he's ready to go!

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Another great issue from a fantastic era of Green Lantern.

I was happy to see this included Guy Gardner's backstory as it always seemed somewhat nebulous to me.  I knew all the beats, but never really got the order of the events until now.  Poor dude's been through the ringer, right?  It's nice seeing him come out the other end.  I always felt bad for him losing out on the ring due to a simple accident of proximity.

Then, when he finally does get a ring... or at least an official understudy role in the Corps a power battery blows up in his face leaving him comatose.  Is it any wonder Guy can be such a jerk?

Speaking of jerks... maaaan, the Guardians of the Universe make Guy look like Mr. Congeniality by comparison.  These dudes are the dirt worst... just using people, and space critters, as pawns to serve their ends.  I've always disliked them, though I had always thought it was due to not liking their miniature Schwartzian faces, but now I know there's more to it... they're just not all that nice.

The intermittent Crisis bits are a welcome addition to this issue.  I remember my first time reading Crisis on Infinite Earths some twenty or so years back... the exclusion of Hal Jordan from the proceedings always struck me as odd.  I thought that such a cornerstone character should never have been omitted from such a widespread universe-shaping event.  In reading this, I finally have some context... I can appreciate Hal's omission as being a result of the GL stories from this era.

We will soon learn that Guy's mission is... questionable in nobility as well as merit.  I didn't recall that there had been a schism among the Guardians... I thought everything was hunky dory with the li'l guys.  I can appreciate their having a philosophical split in how to (or whether to) react to the impending Crisis.  Gardner's gang wants to do the proactive thang, and as such... they picked the right "Guy" for the job... ehhh?  ehhh?

Overall... yeah, it's Englehart Green Lantern.  If you view yourself as a fan of GL, you really owe it to yourself to add his run to your comics library.  So much great stuff around this time.  Add to it, Joe Staton's art... art, you may notice that actually portrays flashback scenes in the style of their original artist(s)... and you've got some great comics!  As luck would have it, DC Digital has this issue available if you're interested.  Color me shocked!  It has also been collected in Volume 3 of the recent Green Lantern: Sector 2814 series of trade paperbacks.  Worth a read to say the least!

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52 Week One (2006)

52 Week One (July, 2006)
"Golden Lads & Lasses Must..."
Writers - Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka & Mark Waid
Art Breakdowns - Keith Giffen
Penciller - Joe Bennett
Inker - Ruy Jose
Colorist - Alex Sinclair
Letterer - Nick J. Napolitano
Assistant Editors - Jann Jones & Harvey Richards
Editor - Stephen Wacker
Cover Price(s): FREE & $2.50

Welcome everyone to my three-hundredth daily post here at the humble blog.  I was racking... or wracking my brain trying to come up with a subject worthy of a "hundredth" milestone post.  After a whole lotta thought, I decided that I should cover part of DC's weekly comics event, 52.  This was an ambitious project wherein DC produced a chapter each week for an entire year... and here I am trying to review a book every day for... an entire year?  Maybe?  Who knows... seems an achievable goal... hell it's only a couple of months more... ehh, we'll see.

I want to take a moment before hopping into the spoilery synopsis to thank anyone who is reading this, or has ever read my ramblings.  This year has afforded me the opportunity to find some true joy in my comics compulsion... and make some great friends.  And though, I'd be lying if I said doing this "on the daily" wasn't sometimes a chore, I'm still very happy to have stuck with this "project".  

Maybe it's the afterglow of Thanksgiving talking... or maybe I'm just a sap... but really and truly... thanks for sticking with me, if'n ya have.

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We open as the shards of reality swirl in the cosmos... the result of Superboy Prime's incredible temper tantrum during Infinite Crisis.  The shards continue to spin before converging in a brilliant burst of light... when our eyes return to focus, all that remains is the planet Earth... a slightly altered planet Earth.

As we make landfall, we are privy to several vignettes featuring some of our main players... Ralph Dibney, who is still reeling from the death of his wife, now stands among the ruins of his home.  Renee Montoya is drinking her troubles away in a Gotham bar where it is all but confirmed that Bludhaven has been wiped out.  Steel is helping a French officer clear away the rubble of a wrecked school.  This is in the shadow of Infinite Crisis... worldwide chaos and destruction on a scale never seen before.

Over the next few days, Ralph continues picking up the pieces... he receives a call confirming that Superboy did not survive his battle with Prime.  Montoya is still drinking.  Steel brings an injured man, who may have been saved by Green Arrow to medics.

We then get a bit of a teaser... the eyes of the citizens of Metropolis go skyward.  "Look!  Up in the sky!" booms in a tinny robotic voice... why, it's Skeets heralding the arrival of Booster Gold!  Booster has Fearsome Five member Mammoth hoisted above his head... he hurls him into the group... then stops for a primo photo-op with the kiddies.  Of particular interest, Booster's costume is covered in sponsorship logos... real good stuff here.  He actually turns away from the photo op, to hold up a can of "Soder Cola"... all that's missing from here is a gleam on his teeth.

Skeets suggest that Booster wipe the smile off his face, since Superboy just died.  Like a classically trained actor, Booster turns that smile upside down... and even manages to summon up some well-timed tears for the cameras.

As Booster and Skeets leave the scene, they discuss how, if Skeets' records of time are correct, within the next few days Booster will be invited to join the newest (and greatest) incarnation of the Justice League of America... a personal invitation from Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman themselves!

We shift to a hotel room for a rather unpleasant scene.  Ralph Dibney is sitting on the bed with the clipping of his wife's obituary on the nightstand.  He's chewing on mints as his voice mails play.  He places the barrel of a gun in his mouth... however, before he is able to pull the trigger, one of his messages reveals that a message has been found on Sue's tombstone.

We rejoin Steel as he approaches his niece, Natasha... who I think is also going by the name Steel... but we'll refer to her as Natasha to assuage any confusion... mostly mine.  She is headed off to help the Teen Titans.  Steel insists she stay put as there is plenty of debris that needs clearing here.  He continues by claiming that Natasha hasn't earned the right to play superhero yet.  She's obviously offended by this claim, and decides to head off anyway... that is, however, until Steel uses his super-tech to disengage her suit of armor.

Meanwhile, in Kahndaq... Black Adam is addressing his people about their new mission.  His speech is interrupted by a suicide bomber... which, I dunno if you want to intentionally screw with Black Adam... just doesn't sound like a good idea.  I'm also guessing that a TNT vest would do little more than tick Adam off.  Anyhoo, it's a moot point, as Adam snags the creep and heads skyward... tears his arm off... and tosses the TNT far enough into the sky so that it doesn't harm anyone...

We then get an odd little scene in which Doctor Sivana is watching television while admiring his worm in a jar... that's Mister Mind to us mere mortals... his viewing is interrupted by a pair of large scaly individuals who drag him away.

Back in Metropolis, we see the heroes who managed to survive the events of Infinite Crisis gathering.  They're catching up with one another... noting who made it... and perhaps more importantly, who didn't.  We see Bart Allen talking to Alan Scott and Jay Garrick... he turns down the mantle of the Flash while Wally's "away"... which he will obviously reconsider during his fairly bland volume of the title... he does mention that Wally and Linda's twins are annoying... and I couldn't agree more!  They were the dirt worst.

We get a great shot of all the heroes arriving... Booster Gold and Skeets begin their countdown to receiving an invite to the League...

... which doesn't come.  Booster is flustered, Skeets has never been wrong before.  Skeets then appears to begin malfunctioning... his language being interrupted by binary coding... This is all too much for Booster to handle, so he lashes out to the point where he must be restrained.  He knows Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are coming... they just have to be!  Well, no Booster... they're not coming... a young reporter with a name tag reading "Kent" has it on good authority they will not be attending.

Back in Gotham, the Question makes some changes to the Bat-Signal... peeling off the classic bat, and replacing it with a spray painted question mark.  He aims the signal so that it shines right into the apartment of Detective Renee Montoya.  He sees her... and wants to know if she's ready.

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A great start to this yearlong epic.  So many seemingly disparate story threads coming out of the Infinite Crisis event... but all feeling somehow connected.  This feels as though we are accompanying the creative team as they take part in an interesting writing exercise... and yet at the same time, it yields a wonderful story.  While this was a little bit less "my" DC Universe than what had proceeded Infinite Crisis, it was still just so damn good.

For this review I am looking at the DC Nation exclusive variant which I received when Dan Didio personally invited me to a super secret VIP DC Comics summit during the Summer of 2006.  Either that or I found it in a dollar bin, I'll let you be the judge.  To my knowledge the only difference between the versions is the cover.

So we get a bunch of vignettes here... let's start with Ralph Dibney.  His is a story that really bothers me... like on some sort of visceral level.  I wasn't close with the Dibneys when I first read Identity Crisis... so the events of that story were somewhat lost on me.  Since then I had read much of the tail-end of pre-Crisis and post-Crisis Dibney stuff... not by design, mind... just read a lot of League.  After getting to know Ralph and Sue... I can't even bring myself to reread Identity Crisis.  Seeing Ralph here sitting with the business end of a pistol in his mouth... it makes me kind of sick to my stomach.  Like, it really bothers me... which is weird, because not much in comics really "gets" to me, and yet... this does.  Hate what DC did to this couple... just so unnecessary.

Renee Montoya's life is a wreck... can't seem to find direction nor maintain relationships.  When I think back to 52, Renee's bits with the Question are usually one of the first things that pop into my head.  This was an example of DC organically passing a mantle from one character to another... organic and understandable.  Great stuff here.

Then we've got Booster.  Booster, Booster, Booster... why do I love this character so much?  Such a jerk... but, such a magnetic personality.  We get the sense that there is an underlying altruism to him... it's just buried deep under endorsements and royalty checks.  Him using Skeets as his own Gray's Sports Almanac is an awesome touch.  We get the impression that he's been doing this for quite some time, and Skeets hasn't gotten it wrong... until now.  His complete emotional breakdown... to the point where he had to be restrained... when Skeets' recounting of the present was mistaken was great.  It totally made sense that he would react this way... it also makes Booster's eventual metamorphosis into a true superhero much more satisfying.

Overall... I'm always going to recommend 52 to fans of DC Comics, new or old.  It's both a novelty in its presentation, and an amazing story that is definitely worth a read.  Lucky for most, this is a mainstay in the cheap-o bins... to the point where I would call them "bin cloggers", so they shouldn't be so hard to come by.  If you're interested in checking out this very issue... DC Digital has it available to download FOR FREE.  No reason not to check this one out... or revisit it if it's been awhile.

Before I check out for the day... I would like to once again thank everyone for taking time out of their day to check out my ramblings.  It really means the world to me that anybody would read words that I've typed.  Thank You all!

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I usually really dig J. Scott Campbell... but, what in the world is this?

JSA #54 (2004)

JSA #54 (January, 2004)
"Virtue, Vice & Pumpkin Pie"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Pencils - Don Kramer
Inks - Keith Champagne
Colors - John Kalisz
Separations - Heroic Age
Letters - Jared K. Fletcher
Associate Editor - Stephen Wacker
Editor - Peter Tomasi
Cover Price: $2.50

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is my absolute favorite day of the year.  Every year I meticulously plan how the day will go... what food I will prepare... how and when I'm going to prepare it... then, the morning of... go into panic mode and just hope to make it out the other end.  Sounds like a horrible time, but damned if I don't love it!

As such, I've always had a soft spot for Thanksgiving themed... anything, really.  Television shows, comics... whatever.  When I think of some of my happiest times reading (and buying) comics, this time of year always plays a role.

I've told the story of the odd jobs I took on when I was endeavoring to afford the Death of Superman and X-Cutioner's Song storylines... which occurred right around Thanksgiving.  A wonderful childhood memory that I (obviously) still think about to this day.

Before I get into today's spoilery synopsis, I wanted to at least mention another favorite Thanksgiving issue... Uncanny X-Men #308 in which Cyclops and Jean Grey take a stroll around Xavier's as the X-Men go about their Thanksgiving festivities... there's a football game that ends in a pile of raked leaves... just so much fun... so much family.  The X-Men had been put through... well, many wringers that year... so this was a great bit of "quiet reflection".  The issue ends with Scott and Jean finally deciding to tie-the-knot.  It's an issue that affected me in my youth, and continues to even today.  Maybe one of these days I'll actually start up that From Claremont to Claremont X-Men blog/cast I've been threatening so that I can talk about those stories.

Anyhoo... let's get down to dinner with the JLA and JSA.  Again, Happy Thanksgiving one and all... and be ready for tomorrow's three-hundredth daily post!

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It's a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Justice Society's Manhattan brownstone.  We open with Mr. Terrific welcoming Batman inside and escorting him down a hallway.  On this holiday, the Justice League and Justice Society are dining together... which Batman finds troubling.  He thinks it's dangerous to have both teams under one roof as it paints a pretty big target on the location.  Terrific all "relaaaaax man" because they've got enough heavy-hitters to keep things going smoothly.

In the main meeting hall, members of both teams, past and present have assembled to celebrate the holiday.  We check in on Wonder Woman as she is lecturing some members on the true meaning of Thanksgiving... ya know, like that one member of your family who sits there with a scowl on their face while the rest of the family enjoys each other's company?  From off-panel, we hear a voice proclaiming her to be "full a' crap!"

Why it's Wildcat!  And today he is playing the role of "drunk uncle".  He meanders over to the ladies and starts reading Diana the riot act... even comparing her to her (post-Crisis) mother, Hippolyta... who was a JSA founder... because post-Crisis Diana would be too young for... ehhh, let's just roll with it.  Power Girl does not take kindly to Wildcat's behavior... and so, hurls him out through an open window.

Where as luck would have it, Superman and Captain Marvel happen to be flying by!  Didn't even have to lose 1 of his 9 lives here!

Inside we see a meeting between Impulse and Jakeem Thunder where the maturely and philosophically discuss the merits of the educational system.  Really quite a cute scene.

Batman and Superman share a special moment in which they discuss the things they are thankful for... or not.

Ya see, Batman is still worried about potential threats... cuz, ya know... he's Batman.  There are no days off for the caped crusader.  He is informed that Dr. Mid-Nite had volunteered to perform monitor duty... so there's nothing to worry about.  What's great is that Dr. Mid-Nite is blind, and yet he is looking into a wall of monitors.  Anyhoo... Black Canary enters the monitor room to chat with Mid-Nite.  Evidently, they had a sorta kinda "thing"... at least Mid-Nite thinks so.  Dinah has a brief moment of profundity... and they decide to keep it "casual"... Friendzone, Population: Dr. Mid-Nite.

In the kitchen, Hourman is dazzling some of the Society wives with his cooking acumen.  In walk Jesse Quick and her mother Liberty Belle... and they are also rather taken with our man Rick.

Outside the kitchen... Hawkman and the Atom decide to team up and take on the hefty threat of sharing a turkey leg.  Well, not if Ollie has anything to say about it.  Before ya know it... we're back to the classic Green Arrow/Hawkman pull-apart.

Batman attempts to intervene... he's still on edge about a potential threat.  He urges Hourman to use his prophetic vision to check out the future... but Rick tells him his powers don't quite work like that.  Before Batman can start crawling the walls, the dinner bell gets rung.

In the dining hall we get a cute scene where Star-Spangled Kid (Stargirl, these days) is upset that she's been shunted off to the "kid's table"... I mean, the fact that there even is a kid's table is beyond great.  She nudges Captain Marvel and tells him he oughta be there too, but gets the ol' ixnay from Billy.

And so, it's dinner time.  Jay Garrick does the toast, and the members of both teams raise their glasses.  Gotta assume Superman is drinking a juice of some sort, right?  Before they can take their first bite, however... we get some trouble.

It's the Warlock of Ys (hey, we know him) and Kulak the Sorcerer... and they're ready to... uh, well... uh oh.

About a half hour later... all's well at the Brownstone... well, except for the fact that Thanksgiving dinner has been ruined.  Lucky for the heroes, the local pizza place is both open and willing to deliver.

We wrap up this absolutely amazing issue with the standard DC Comics moral... always listen to Batman.  Wonk wonk wonkkkk...

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I'm not sure "love" is a strong enough word for how I feel about this issue.  It's just a perfect storm of so many things that I dig.  Great characterization, a celebration of continuity and legacy... and Thanksgiving!

Geoff Johns on JSA was pure magic... just candy.  He's got these characters down so well.  Everything said sounds natural, everything done feels organic.  Even though this was, ostensibly, a gimme issue, ongoing plot lines were still addressed.  One plot line was the, I guess, sorta-kinda "thing" between Black Canary and Dr. Mid-Nite.  This is not something I remember at all from this era.  Either my memory is shot, or this just wasn't all that big a deal.  I still like that it gets a mention though, making this issue feel truly like "another day" in the lives of the JSA.

We get a ton of cute character moments here... Batman being uncomfortable and paranoid the entire time... Wildcat playing "drunk uncle"... Ollie and Carter being, well, Ollie and Carter... Captain Marvel not being seated at the "kid's table"... hell, the fact that there was a kid's table.  Just too much fun!  

We even get a fight scene... well, sorta when dinner gets interrupted by a pair of intergalactic geeks.  Yet another wonderfully fun scene in this amazing issue.  The looks on... well, all of the faces... priceless!

Speaking of how faces looked, Don Kramer's art here is excellent... everybody and everything looks amazing.  Definitely a "homesick" inducing artist.  Really makes me miss this era in the DC Universe.

This books gets one of my highest recommendations.  An absolute celebration of the post-Crisis DC Universe, that I feel fans of any era would benefit from checking out.  As luck would have it, DC Digital has this one up.

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