Teen Titans (vol.3) #34 (May, 2006)
"New Teen Titans, Part 1: One Year Later"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Tony Daniel
Inkers - Kevin Conrad & Art Thibert
Colorists - Richard & Tanya Horie
Letterer - Nick J. Napolitano
Assistant Editor - Jeanine Schaeffer
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.50
What the crap... more One Year Later? What can I say, I'm hooked. Well, not so much "hooked" as intrigued. As hit-or-miss a proposition that this is... it hasn't yet failed in making me scratch my head. It's pretty ambitious to take an entire comics universe and shift it ahead in time.
I also noticed that not only is this our tenth "One Year Later" in a row... it's also our tenth Geoff Johns book in a row. Damn, this dude was everywhere, wasn't he?
--
We open on a caption which reads "One Year Later"... even though it appears as though we're getting glimpses (from Cyborg's point of view) from the "missing" year. This is his system "rebooting" and catching up with the "present" day. We hear hints of new team members joining... and quitting. We see Raven and Beast Boy breaking up. An odd team of mishmashed Titans including Zatara and Offspring... and finally our first look at the Wonder Twins, Wendy and Marvin. They appear to be working on Cyborg... and finally, Vic Stone lives again!
He stumbles out of the... wherever the hell he was kept, and overhears some chatter from a pair of people he doesn't realize are currently on the team... Kid Devil and Ravager.
Considering the last time he saw Rose, she was trying to kill the Titans... he immediately goes on the attack. While the battle rages, Wendy and Marvin pop their geeky heads in to admire their work. In a cute bit, Kid Devil tries to tell him that they are the "New" Teen Titans... to which, Vic informs him that he was one of the "New" Teen Titans.
Finally Robin walks in to calm Vic down. The pair walk the grounds as Tim fills him in on everything he's missed. Starfire's gone (she's currently lost in space with Animal Man in the pages of 52)... Speedy quit... Bart retired... Raven quit... Gar rejoined the Doom Patrol... and Kon is dead.
Vic asks about Wonder Girl... and so, we shift to S.T.A.R. Labs San Francisco where the Brotherhood of Evil are stealing a Blastocyst Map (which is actually a real thing... has to do with mammalian cells). Anyhoo, Wonder Girl has arrived to dispense justice... and it looks like they're on the street from Full House.
The Titans arrive to give her a hand... but only really serve to distract her so Gemini can get away. She's overjoyed to see Vic back among the living... but a little less pleased to see Ravager. Robin ask her to rejoin the team, but she's all "no dice". We learn here that following Infinite Crisis, Robin ran off with Batman for a year of globetrotting... leaving her to pick up the pieces.
Back at the Tower, Vic is trying to get a hold of Gar over at Dayton Manor. He gets the video answering machine, and is surprised to see that Bumblebee has also gone over to the Doom Patrol. He and Tim have an uncomfortable chat about the state of the Titans before Tim leaves to head to his lab.
Once down there, we see what he's working on... and it's pretty dark. He's mixing the DNA of Lex Luthor and Superman in hopes of cloning him a brand new Superboy!
--
I remember being really disappointed by this one when it first came out. I quite dug the pre-Infinite Crisis Teen Titans... thought they really worked well together. I didn't see much in adding Ravager and (especially) Kid Devil. Really saw this as a step down for the team... and it wasn't long before I sorta walked away from the title.
I'd check back in semi-regularly (until I lost my job in 2008, anyway)... and was never enticed to stick around. This is the tail-end of the Johns run... after he left, we were in some really dark times as Titans fans. It wouldn't be until the J.T. Krul run that I decided I was "back" (and of course, went back and bought everything that I missed)... and oddly enough, I've been "back" ever since... even though Teen Titans has gotten horrendously terrible since The New-52!
Now... this time around, I thought this issue was pretty great. I guess over a decade of hindsight can really alter the way we receive things. We get the impression that ever since Infinite Crisis, the Titans have had a really rough time of it. I remember learning that they added (and subtracted) like dozens of new members in this year alone. I think that really opens things up for future exploration (though, I can't say for sure that they took full advantage of it).
It's a bit jarring, sure... but that's sort of the name of the game for One Year Later. I think we're supposed to be uncomfortable, and walk away with more questions than answers. For all the grief I give the "big two" about continuity of late, this was an actual attempt at making everything feel as though it were occurring at the same time. From what we've learned since, this Infinite Crisis/52/One Year Later project was one that Didio and company took very seriously. In reading it all these years later, that's pretty clearly the case... of course, reading it in 2006 felt like sort of a mess.
Overall, this was a really good time... and damn, it's a pretty book to look at. Tony Daniel really kicks this book's ass... it's just looks so good. Not really a fan of Tim's emo haircut, but at least it's well rendered. I'd say this is one worth checking out.
--
Interesting Ads:
678
Green Lantern (vol.4) #10 (May, 2006)
"Revenge of the Green Lanterns, Part One"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Ivan Reis
Inker - Marc Campos
Colorist - Moose Baumann
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Michael Siglain
Editor - Peter Tomasi
Cover Price: $2.99
Waitasec, more One Year Later? It's weird... when I was wrapping up my notes on "Up, Up, and Away!" yesterday, I thought to myself how this era of DC is just so muddy in my mind. I honestly can only remember blips and blops of it... none of which I could go on about at length (minus, the Superman books now).
Then I remembered Green Lantern's One Year Later book having a wonderfully striking cover. Not a cover that tells you much, but a beautiful one nonetheless... I mean, just look at it! That's a nice cover! This was also during DC's push to sorta "boutique up" the Green Lantern book a bit... so the cover is of a much nicer/thicker stock than everything else on the shelf.
Anyhoo... I guess I'm taking the scenic route all to say that I'm reacquainting myself with this post-Infinite Crisis era... and if you'd be so kind as to indulge me, you're more than welcome to come along!
--
It's One Year Later when we join Hal Jordan. He is in Russian airspace attempting to detain the Igneous Man. His internal monologue suggests that something pretty heavy went down five months earlier... but doesn't say much more than that. His attempt to snag the I-Man is unwittingly thwarted by... the Rocket Reds?! Well, we did say he was in Russian airspace...
The Reds are pretty ticked off that Hal is breaking some sort of treaty (more on that in a bit). Jordan comments that while he's in uniform he doesn't represent the United States, but the Green Lantern Corps... and they really ought to back off and let him do his job. He then smacks one with a construct hammer and sickle for good measure.
Remember the Igneous Man? Well, he's still lingering... and he's decided to use his powers to melt the wings off some Russian jets... and also start cooking the Rocket Reds inside their armor. Hal is able to capture the baddie in a bubble... while keeping a jet in the sky... and fighting off a gaggle of angry Reds. Wow, Hal Jordan is the coolest guy ever! I mean, that's what we're going for right? More on that later...
Suddenly we're swept into an emerald flashback... a jet crashes in the woods. Out crawls a ring-less Hal Jordan... he never wears his ring when he flies, donchaknow. He calls out to a fellow pilot before collapsing before some masked terrorist-types.
He then wakes up in a panic... I'm assuming back in the "present". Well, what happened to the Rocket Reds? Did he land that jet? I guess that's for us to find out. On the television, the... ay yai yai, Global Guardians are being interviewed about Green Lantern having violated the Freedom of Power Treaty by heading into Russia. You'd figure if they wanted folks to take the treaty seriously they'd have a better spokesteam than the freaking Global Guardians.
In case you forgot how cool Hal Jordan was, a woman enters the room. She calls him by the wrong name... and he replies in kind. I guess one-night-stands are cool... right?
Jennif-- Julie leaves to go to work, and Hank... er, Hal is now joined by the Mayor of Star City himself, Oliver Queen. The Hard-Traveling Homeboys go out for a stroll, so Ollie can do what he does best... lecture Hal. We learn that there's a price on Hal's head... and with an enemy list as long as his, he doesn't even know where to start. It's alluded to that Alan Scott has had a rough time of late, but they don't go much further. The contentious chat wraps up with Ollie telling Hal that he should have never taken his ring off.
Next, a brief aside to space Sector-674 where Arkillo of the planet Vorn is welcomed to the Sinestro Corps.
Back on Earth, Hal and a few fellow pilots are being awarded Prisoner of War Medals at Edwards Air Force Base. I'm guessing this has something to do with what went down in that flashback five months earlier. Hal is joined by Colonel Shane "Rocket Man" Sellers and Captain Jillian "Cowgirl" Pearlman... they each have a short length of chain to show their bond.
The ceremony is interrupted by a jet crash-landing right in the middle of the proceeding!
Hal approaches the smoldering craft and is shocked to find it inhabited by... Tomar Tu! Ya know, the birdfaced Lantern Hal "killed" during Emerald Twilight!
--
Wow, Hal Jordan is the coolest guy ever...
... is something I could say if I wanted to be pithy. I mean, at first blush... Hal has gone "full Fonzie" here. Taking care of business in and out of costume. If we look a bit deeper, however, we can see that he's actually processing some pretty heavy stuff here.
From the flashback scene and the awards ceremony we can likely deduce that at some point during the "missing year", Hal was taken Prisoner of War. He chooses not to wear his ring when he flies (jets), and finds himself unable to protect he and his fellow pilots when the masked terror-types took them captive.
So, what we have is perhaps a Hal Jordan who is dealing with a bit of Post-Traumatic Stress. A different lady every night to keep his mind off things... all the while trying to keep his Sector of the universe safe. It's a much deeper story than I think I'd initially given it credit for. I'm pretty sure I dismissed it completely my first time through.
Back then, I was a Kyle guy... and really saw Hal as something as a usurper. The fact that he was constantly depicted as the coolest guy in the room really compounded my disinterest... I hated that this dude who did really bad stuff was able to just stroll back in like nothing happened. Kyle, who actually "grew up" in the costume was just shunted to the background... and really never got his due.
It's only after really "getting to know" Hal that I can truly appreciate this volume. When you come right down to it, Hal is still a very broken individual. It's just that he doesn't really project that brokenness like he used to. This isn't a slump-shouldered Hal who needs to crash on your couch... this is a Hal who keeps his insecurities on the inside, and projects (exudes really) a confidence and aloofness.
Hal really isn't a stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. The Powers Treaty is an interesting wrinkle... one I'd either forgotten about or never knew of to begin with. I think this is another bit that I likely dismissed as Hal being "too cool for rules" or something the first time through. This time, however, I was cool with it. The Igneous Man was trying to collect a bounty... and after the year Hal has had, he really doesn't appear interested in dealing with anybody's/any country's crap.
We get a bit of Claremontian subplot-dropping here, which is always good to see. I feel like in recent years we've become so accustomed to the "six and done" method of storytelling... with subplots being a relic of the late 20th Century. Having the Sinestro Corps scene here really excited me, and shows that this series is an ongoing narrative and not just a collection of six-part vignettes. The ending was pretty cool too in bringing back Tomar Tu. I suppose this serves to add to the Corps, and to assuaging Hal of his murderous guilt. Like I've said before, this is a bit of a cop-out, but one I'm willing to allow.
Overall, had more fun with this issue than I expected... I definitely recommend checking it out.
--
Interesting Ads:
677
Action Comics #840 (August, 2006)
"Up, Up, and Away! Finale: The Adventures of Superman"
Writers - Geoff Johns & Kurt Busiek
Artist - Pete Woods
Colorist - Brad Armstrong
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99
Is it finally over? Lemme tell ya, "Up, Up, and Away!" sure felt like a never-ending battle.
--
Picking up where we left off yesterday, Superman and Lex are plummeting into the water. They both emerge, with Lex noting that his arch-foe doesn't look all that hot... so, what follows is one of those classic depowered Superman vs. Lex Luthor fistfights. It doesn't go terribly long, though Lex is able to get in a few good shots before ultimately being kayoed. Superman passes out right after.
He is awakened by the Coast Guard and informed that Luthor was on his way back to Stryker's Island. Rather than be escorted back to the city, Superman decides to fly... passing over thousands of cheering fans as he heads back to his Sullivan Place apartment.
The next day we can see that the rebuilding has already begun. Luthor's crystal chunks are being carried away to be divvied up between universities and shadowy government agencies for study. At the Daily Planet, Clark receives a gift from his parents in Smallville. His co-workers are disappointed that this isn't a box of oatmeal raisin cookies, and is instead... a typewriter. Ya see, Clark's "power surges" have caused any electronics he comes around to go fritzy... remember?
Perry comes stomping in demanding an explanation for Clark's disappearance. Clark claims that while he was bed-ridden he made some calls to follow up on the story, and hands over his notes. Perry's pleased, but like any good editor, prefers dependability to flashes of brilliance. If only he were an editor in comics! Lois lays into the Chief... which causes a bit of rumbling in the bullpen. Clark is referred to in hushed tones as "Mr. Lane". Sick burn.
Jimmy wishes aloud that he could chat with Superman... and Clark "arranges" it. Later that day, Superman and Jimmy head to a nearby roof (I feel like I'm typing "nearby roof" a lot lately). While there, an exchange is made. Jimmy hands over a shard of Sunstone he'd snagged during the fracas. Superman hands back Jimmy's Signal-Watch.
Their "reunion" is interrupted by a brouhaha at the Avenue of Tomorrow. Turns out some geek calling himself Dr. Virus has unleashed an "Omni-Germ" he calls Kryptococcus. I almost gagged the last time I was tested for that. Nothing quite like a q-tip tickling your uvula. Superman takes him out in a single page... which is kind of what he does with villains for this story.
Doc Virus is hauled away by the police and Superman finds himself swarmed by his adoring public. While he signs autographs (but not body parts) he overhears the news that Lex Luthor has already broken out of prison. He sighs, knowing things are truly "back to normal".
He prepares to leave, but is stopped by Mahjoub... the pretzel vendor from allllll the way back in Chapter One (feels like it's been six years since we read that). We shift scenes to Superman arriving at the Polar Icecaps in the Arctic. He activates the Sunstone shard... and a new Fortress of Solitude raises from the ice.
We end the issue... and arc, with Superman ruining his soft pretzel by smearing mustard on it... and taking a bite. We've come full-circle... or maybe, full-pretzel.
--
Whew... remind me never to cover an eight-parter all in a row ever again.
Not a whole lot to say about this issue... it's an epilogue. Superman takes out Luthor... while having like the same exact argument they had last issue... and then acclimates back into his old role in Metropolis. Could have been squeezed in as a five-page epilogue last issue... but, whattayagonnado? Then we might not have gotten a whole page of Superman beating up an Omni-Germ or whatever!
Now... "Up, Up, and Away!" as a whole. Was it a bad story? Nah, not at all. What it was, however, was an ambitious story desperately trying to be the next "Superman epic". Unfortunately for us, many people conflate "epic" with "lonnnnnng". This could've and should've (if you ask me) been told in four issues rather than eight. Hell, even if we go with our standard "padded" trade paperback format and gave it six issues, I feel like it would have been better for it.
When I look back I can't help but feel that so much of this story was unnecessary. Did we really need to see the Kryptonite Man get his powers? Not only that, did we need a second issue just to break him out of jail? Did we need the Metallo subplot... or did they really just want to "Hush" this storyline up by showing as many members of Superman's rogues gallery as possible? Lex almost certainly didn't need that one extra rock of Green-K, right?
The wasting of Superman's B-Squad rogues about halfway through was also a bit unfortunate. I'm not sure if this was a commentary on the era these baddies were born in, or if they just wanted "any half-dozen villains" for Superman to quickly beat up. Feels like maybe a little bit of both, though I concede that I might be projecting. I never like it when creators use meta-commentary to "judge" things that came before them. I dunno... this just kinda feels like a dismissal of the post-Crisis era. I mean, these villains had all taken Superman to the limit on their own... and here they are together... being taken out in a handful of pages.
Speaking of things from the previous era being left out... there's no mention here of Lex ever having been President of the United States. I mean, that would almost definitely come up in a fistfight where Lex is ranting about all the things Superman has taken from him, right? I think it a damn shame as that arc and character progression was some of my very favorite things about turn of the century DC Comics. I thought that was just so cool... but I suppose the new powers that be didn't quite agree.
Personally... there have been very few times in my Superman reading "career" where I haven't felt some sort of a connection to the character. The New-52! is one... Grounded is another... and this story makes three. There's just this odd aloofness to Superman here... that I can't quite explain. He's not unlikable... but there's a coldness here. Maybe I'm imagining it... but it sort of feels like we readers are being kept at "arm's length" here. Know what I mean? Ehh, maybe I'm just talking nonsense.
Anyhoo, if you're interested in this story... maybe the trade will prove to be a satisfying read. I don't think this would make for a necessarily long (or as drawn out) of a read in one sitting. If you've got the issues handy, I'd say you'd be fine reading the first two and the last two... just with the understanding that Superman gets his powers back in the middle.
Overall, "Up, Up, and Away!" was a decent enough story that, in my opinion, overstayed its welcome. Still worth a read, especially given that... from what we understand, it's still (mostly) in continuity. The entire run is available digitally, and has been collected in trade.
--
Interesting Ads:
676
Superman #653 (August, 2006)
"Up, Up, and Away! Chapter Seven: Up in the Sky"
Writers - Kurt Busiek & Geoff Johns
Artist - Pete Woods
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Letterer - Nick J. Napolitano
Associate Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.99
Well, I sit corrected. I complained a lot about how lame the Kryptonian ship looked yesterday... and right here on the cover we can infer that it can change shape. I guess it blew its first impression... hopefully it'll do something cool enough to shake that off today.
--
We open with a bit of backstory on the Kryptonian artifact... turns out it was a battleship, formerly commanded by General Dru-Zod. The ship was crafted from Sunstone... a piece of which Lex Luthor had procured at some point before this story began. We get some Kryptonese between Zod and his crew... which (just like DC) I refuse to translate. Long story short, this is a bad-ass craft, and it now hovers over Metropolis. It's a great shot of the city here by Woods... looks completely hand-drawn too!
Lex and Superman share some contentious banter... which amounts to "if I can't have her, nobody can", with the "her" in question being Metropolis. Lex fires some crystal missiles into the city, which morph into these bi-pedal mechs that raise a lotta hell.
As Superman wrestles with the battleship, he attempts to appeal to Lex's conscience. He asks where his "cure for cancer" is... or what his "feed the world" strategy would be. At this point, however, Lex is so far gone that Superman's words completely miss their intended mark. We get some very familiar "before you arrived I was king" talk... which feels like one of those over-visited Luthor-wells.
Lex continues to bombard Superman and the city with crystal missiles. Shockingly, the rest of the DC Universe realizes that they might want to get involved and lend a hand. Unfortunately, Lex has accounted for such a possibility and covers Metropolis with a dome.
Back inside, Superman uses his x-ray vision to scan the battleship... and locates a tight knot of circuitry within. Deducing that as the "nerve center", he uses his heat vision on it.
Blasting the circuitry doesn't destroy the battleship, however it does sever its link to the "crystal walkers" in Metropolis. Lex responds by pulling a lever, revealing that the core of the battleship was full of... yeah, Kryptonite. Betcha didn't see that coming. Anytime Superman is fighting a machine, we (and he) should just assume that it's full of Kryptonite.
Lex continues to pummel Superman with the K-Cannon, driving him into the ground. Jimmy Olsen rushes to Superman's aid, armed with a garbage can lid. Well, at least his heart was in the right place. He mistakenly believes that Kryptonite (no matter how hot) won't hurt him. Well, an armful of third-degree burns later... he learns otherwise. Superman's safe though, and that's really all that matters.
Well, safe for a moment anyway. We now see that Lex has transformed the battleship into a Kryptonite infused Voltron-looking thing. It looks pretty cool actually!
Superman realizes he has no choice but to blitz the baddie. He compares it to when he and the Superman of Earth-2 flew Superboy-Prime into the Red Sun of Krypton. He spears the mech, and plucks the pilot right out its back.
We close with Superman grabbing Lex as they both begin to fall. Did the Kryptonite cost Superman his powers? Is his big return already over? I guess we'll find out tomorrow... though, the short answer is... no.
--
Well... that was a fight scene.
Not a bad fight scene... but, ya know... still just a fight scene.
For all the build-up, it did feel a bit disappointing... and didn't really add anything. Not that every confrontation needs to, but for this story... I was expecting something more. We get the old chestnuts of Superman appealing to Lex's ego... and Luthor's usual remark of "she (Metropolis) was mine before she was yours".
We do get Jimmy having his arm burned... third-degree burned, at that! I suppose that establishes that Kryptonite is not only dangerous to Superman... then again, heat anything up to a bajillion degrees and it's going to hurt!
I was happy to see the other DC heroes attempting to get involved... because, really... they should, right? I mean, nobody bothered to check in during the Doomsday Massacre, and we all know how that ended up!
I'd say the highlight here was the art. Not only did the characters and "mechs" look fantastic... there was also that awesome opening spread. I gotta say, I've become accustomed to skimming over two-page spreads... so often these days it seems like they're at least 75% boring 3-D models. Here however, it looked like Metropolis was completely hand-drawn... and it was amazing!
Overall... like I said, it was a fight scene. This arc still feels enormously bloated... it really should have only gone four... mayyyybe six issues. I guess we'll see how this all ends up tomorrow.
--
Interesting Ads:
675
