Justice League of America #1

So, Justice League of America #1 came out this past week.  The setup for it comes from the just concluded “Throne of Atlantis” story that was running in Justice League and Aquaman.  While I won’t get into the nitty gritty of that story, what you do need to know is that the Justice League does not look good in it.  Well, to the general public, they do not look good.  There’s in-fighting, they disappear for a spell, and it causes the public perception of them to take a hit.  And that is what brings us here.  Spoilers follow.

Amanda Waller decides that now is the time to form a team that will answer to her.  A team the American government will be able to control.  She persuades Colonel Steve Trevor to train and lead this team.  This being Amanda Waller, of course it is a bit shady.  She uses photos of Superman and Wonder Woman kissing to persuade him that this is something that he should do.  After all, a romance between the two most powerful beings on the planet can either end badly, which is bad for everyone, or go extremely well, which may be bad for everyone.  (Waller points out that Wonder Woman wants to change the world, and what happens if Superman starts to agree.) 

Geoff Johns ending run on Green Lantern

With the release of DC’s May Solicitations, it has been revealed that Geoff Johns’ run on Green Lantern is ending at 9 years with issue #20.  (Yes, that sounds weird.)  This news brings up mixed emotions in me.  On the one hand, Johns has been on the title for a very long time, and it may be good to let someone step in and take control of the title.  On the other hand, I’ve really enjoyed Johns’ run on the title, and there is the worry that I may not enjoy whoever replaces him.

Geoff Johns began his run on Green Lantern with the Rebirth mini-series.  This mini-series is what ended Hal Jordan being The Spectre, and brought him back to life, and back to being a Green Lantern.  Throughout the early part of his run, his stories dealt with the difficulty of Hal being alive again, considering what he did as Paralax before his death.  Then there was the most notable story in his run, the crossover Sinestro Corps War.  This story would launch the Sinestro Corps, wielding yellow rings powered by fear, and would expand to create corps for the rest of the light spectrum.  Later on, we would get Blackest Night, War of the Green Lanterns, Rise of the Third Army, and lastly (soon to start) Wrath of the First Lantern. 

A new Justice League of America book

At Fan Expo Canada, Geoff Johns announced that  new Justice League of America title would be launched sometime in 2013, and this image was given to announce the lineup.

That guy you don’t recognize is Vibe, or Steve Trevor, or the new Green Lantern.

From left to right you have Vibe, Catwoman, Steve Trevor, a new Green Lantern that is being introduced soon, Martian Manhunter, Stargirl, Katana, Hawkman, and Green Arrow.

Personally, this seems like a new definition of a randomly thrown together group.  Especially Catwoman.  Yes, out of this group, I question the inclusion of Catwoman.  And it’s not really a surprise that Johns would put Stargirl on the team, given his history with the character.  I haven’t dug too much into reaction, but I do think this title will be shielded from the “no-name JLA” criticism (like James Robinson’s JLA run) a bit because there is still a big name Justice League running around.

But I have no complaints.  Really because there’s nothing to complain about.  We haven’t seen why and how this team is assembled.  I assume that this title will spin out of the events that happen in the Trinity War story that is taking place in Justice League.  Of course, what those events are is still a complete mystery.  And I do really like putting the Martian Manhunter front and center of a high profile book.  And I’m not really a fan of David Finch’s art, but hopefully Johns’ writing will make up for it.

Batman: Earth One

Initially announced…a very long time ago, this graphic novel (yes, it is a graphic novel) written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Gary Frank has finally been released.  This is an origin story, setting up the Batman of Earth-1.  (I assume the Earth in the monthly titles is still called New Earth.)  I had mixed feelings about this book.  I liked it, but I felt it could have been better.

It seemed like the main thing this book was concerned about was building the world in which it existed, and I think this is what hurt the book.  Johns simply tried to shove too many things into the book.  I do commend him on wanting to change so many things, but I felt spreading them out would have been better.  Here’s a list of what he did, spoilers bellow: 

Earth One Still Going

Back in 2009, DC announced that they would be releasing Superman and Batman original graphic novels at a pace of 2 per year.  Well, in August of 2010, J. Michael Straczynski’s Superman book came out.  Now finally, at the start of 2012, we finally are starting to see completed pages for the Geoff Johns, Gary Frank Batman book, and a guarantee that it will come out this year.  Also today, since DC didn’t see a point in staggering the Earth One related news stories, they released images of a couple completed pages from volume 2 of Superman Earth One.  DC stated that volume 2 should be out in the Fall.  I still haven’t read volume 1 of Superman, but plan on doing it soon.  However, I am really looking forward to the Batman title.  I really liked Johns and Frank’s run on Action Comics, and have been looking forward to this Batman book since it was announced.

Batman Earth One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superman Earth One

If continuity issues bugged me…

…then I would be really upset about Steel showing up in Action Comics #4.  And here’s why.

So, Action Comics is currently telling a “beginning” story for Superman, whereas the Superman title is “current” day.  So, with Steel showing up at the beginning, it means he doesn’t show up when Superman died.  Now, that may mean that Superman never died.  No big deal, right?  Wrong.  Since Green Lantern did not divert from the path it was on before the relaunch, it should be safe to assume that everything in it’s past is safe, especially the stuff written by Geoff Johns.  Well, when Johns started writing Green Lantern, Hal Jordan was the Spectre.  He became the Spectre after getting killed while he was Paralax.  He became Paralax because he went crazy after Mongul destroyed Coast City during the Reign of the Supermen.  The reign happened because Superman died.  See?  There’s an issue there.

Granted, there are a couple easy ways to fix it.  Say Superman still died, and Steel put the “S” shield on his armor as a tribute.  Or, you can say Mongul destroyed Coast City on his own for some other reason.  But the question of what happened remains unanswered.  And if continuity issues bugged me, this would really bug me.

However, I wouldn’t be sad if the New 52 wiped this from existence.

Panel of the Month

The Panel of the Month for the month of December comes from Justice League #4.  While I went with comedy last month, this month is pure badassery.  And in connection with the Aquaman book, I’m starting to believe that the entire point of the New 52 was so that Geoff Johns could try to make Aquaman look badass.  Leading up to this panel, Green Lantern asks Aquaman why he should be the leader, and what can he do that the others can’t.  This was Aquaman’s response.

I was also considering something from Fables #112, but it’s more of a page than a panel, and I’ll likely geek out about it in a couple days.

DC Comic-Con Stuff From Friday

Here are the interesting, I think, tidbits from Friday’s DC panels.  A bit of a warning, there is a spoiler about the end of the last issue of Green Lantern.

Grant Morrison Panel (may have happened late Thursday)

• The Invisibles was written as a happy book because Morrison needed cheering up, whereas his next book, The Filth, came out of a happy time in his life.
• Morrison would like to write Wonder Woman.
• Morrison has a screenplay called Dinosaurs vs. Aliens that is being looked at being made into a movie.  He joked that it probably should be a SyFy movie, but still, it may be the first movie he has made from his work.
• Addressing a fan comment about lack of originality in comics, Morrison responded that there are only seven different plots people go through, and everything is a version of those.  ”Everyone in the world has a unique experience, everyone has one set of eyes in the entire history of life on earth and the universe and that’s where the originality comes from, by telling the truth of what they see, and a lack of originality comes from not telling the truth and trying to be like someone else.”
• A screenplay for We3 is floating around, but he doesn’t expect it to be made anytime soon.
• When asked if he could make anything he wrote “unretconable,” since a lot of his New X-Men stuff has been phased it, what would it be, Morrison replied with Animal Man’s marriage.
• Morrison mentioned that he had an idea of what he’d like to do if he had the chance to write a Flash:  Earth One graphic novel.
• There are plans for him to appear in a third My Chemical Romance music video.  (Writer’s note:  if you haven’t seen either video, do so now but clicking here and here.)
• Morrison talked about how he envisioned his Superman as a bit more mischievous and anti-authority, going back to his more “champion of the oppressed” roots.
• He stated that he respects the work of Scott Snyder and Matt Fraction, and his favorite comic to read currently is Batman:  The Brave and the Bold.

New 52, Superman, and Justice League panels after the break.

DC’s Big Announcement

Since the August solicits were announced, and it was revealed that DC would only be releasing Flashpoint #5 on Aug. 31, rumors were floating around about a possible relaunch/reboot of DC titles starting in September.  Well, DC confirmed that that is what is going to happen.  On their blog, The Source, DC announced that they would be re-launching their superhero titles, 52 in all.  The first of these re-launches would be Justice League #1, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee, coming out with Flashpoint #5 on Aug. 31.  Then, the rest of the relaunched titles would come out through the month of September.  Also starting with Justice League #1 will be same day digital release for all of the DC Universe titles (probably everything but Vertigo titles).  The only thing stated about the re-launches was that the titles would not be starting at the beginning, just at a younger point in their lives.

After reading an article about this, I decided to read some comments on this bit of news.  (I am a glutton for punishment, and comments pages are like train wrecks.)  I saw the usual panic and hysteria that I was expecting, but it did give me a couple of topics that I could comment on.

What’s going to happen to [insert 2nd or 3rd generational character]?  That’s a very good question, and there aren’t any answers to be had yet.  There’s no telling what’s going to happen to guys like Tim Drake, or Kyle Rayner, or Cassandra Cain, or Wally West, or Bart Allen.  It’s just something we’re going to have to wait around and see when creators are announced and stories are discussed.  Personally, I really hope nothing happens to Tim Drake.  He’s one of my favorite characters, but it would be foolish and irrational to say I’m going to stop reading anything if something happens to him.

Why does DC hate continuity and is always changing it?  Personally, I think people pay way too much attention to continuity, but that may be because I don’t care about the fine details of everything that has gone on previously.  When I’m reading a story, the only thing I’m interested in is that I’m interested in the story and does the characterization of the characters seem right.  However, I do hear from rational people, the excuse of not wanting to start something because there is too much continuity for them to learn.  Personally, I think it’s a lame excuse not to try something.  There are plenty of sources of information easily available to learn all there is about a character.  Sure, you may not be able to read every appearance, but you’ll have the background information needed to fully understand what’s been going on.

Why have I been reading for the past X number of years since it’s all meaningless now?  No it’s not.  Regardless if there is a retcon, reboot, or change in status quo, the issues you’ve bought are still going to exist.  No one is going to come along and remove them from your collection.  So, you can go back and read them anytime you want to.

Why would DC do this to Action Comics, Detective Comics, Superman, and Batman?  I hate renumbering gimmicks as much as anyone, and have often made fun of Marvel for all of their renumbering antics with books like The Incredible Hulks, and I don’t like everything going back to #1.  That being said, the number on the front of the issue shouldn’t be influencing whether or not you’re going to buy the issue.  To me, that’d be like buying an issue based on the cover art, especially if it is done by a different artist than the interior artist.  To me, the content of the issue is far more important than anything on the cover of the issue.  And history has shown us that more people will buy a #1 issue than would normally buy a regular issue that’s billed as a new start.  Look at what Marvel has done.  FF #1 was just a continuation of the story that had been going on in Fantastic Four.  Fantastic Four #588, the one between the death of the Human Torch and the re-launch, sold only a little over 63,000 copies.  But this new #1 issue sold over 114,000 copies.  Of course, sales fell back down for issue #2, so there is that risk.  I can only assume that DC is hoping that people will sample #1, and find that it’s not just the same book they haven’t been reading.

In responding to comments I saw, I am probably coming off as defending DC more than I really intended to.  I didn’t intend for this entry to come to DC’s defense, or to bash their decision.  Just simply respond to some of the common themes I have seen regarding this.  I don’t really have a first impression on what will come from this announcement.  I’m of more of a wait and see mindset.  I mainly want to know who will be writing and what the stories will be.  Once information about that stuff is announced, then I’ll start to form more opinions on the issue.

Thoughts on the Flashpoint Announcement

Last week, DC released some information about their upcoming event, titled Flashpoint.  Written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert, the main mini-series would run 5 issues.  However, the bigger news was that there would be 15 additional mini-series that would also come out.  That’s right, 15 additional series.  We have the titles of 14 of them, and confirmation that at least those 14 will be 3 issues long.  No writer or artist information was given.  Also released, was the information that these minis would tie into a “Whatever happened to…?” question or one other statement.  Below are the titles.