Who is capturing the Entities?

Over at the DC Blog they placed this page up and started running the question of who this guy is that has captured some of the entities, including Parallax, and now has made his presence know.  The comments surprised me.  No one had mentioned in the seven comments made the one I think it is in the rags.  They write some dude named Apa Ali Apsa who has John Stewart connections.


See I have been thinking Krona.  It fits to me that Johns would use Krona next.  His history fits the actions and his reappearance.  There were ties to Nekron.  I think that the Worldsoul thing will become tied to the White Lantern and the discovery of the White Entity.  So there is my official guess, Krona.


For the record, I called the White Lantern scenario in a close way.  Hal Jordan did become one like I said and I had the color thing nailed.  I hope to be proven correct once again.


BDS

Birds of Prey #6

            I was so glad when this title returned.  I knew I would like the book because I like Gail Simone as a storyteller.  Still, I admit that the restart has been bogged down some.  I wonder if Simone asked for Hawk & Dove, or if they said that the duo had to be placed in BoP because they needed somewhere to tell there Brightest Day tales that are out of the main title?  So the story of the return of the Birds gets a heavy handed treatment because we have this dual layer.  Simone does a good job of weaving her tale in with these two characters. 

            The payoff comes in this issue.  So much  been done in the life of Dinah Lance when the BoP was dissolved to carry the larger DCU pail of water.  She had to give the adopted daughter, Sin up to protect her, She got married, her husband died by her hand, her husband was alive and she had to rescue him, her husband’s son gets shot and brain drained,  Arsenal loses an arm, Ollie kills Prometheus, and she leaves Ollie.  Oh, Dinah also lead the Justice League as well.  Simone had to bring these characters back to the strength she had given them.  Dinah and the rest were not treated as well as we might think they would have been.

            A story carried from the previous run of Gail Simone on the title is continued here.  The only girl of a group of martial artist that Dinah had defeated and humiliated is manipulating things.  This White Canary has back both the Black canary and Lady Shiva into a match to the death.  Sin’s life is hanging in the balance.  The events lead Helena and Zinda to follow Dinah to Bangkok and they immediately get a surprise as they are facing her with a group of fighters.

            This is where the story begins for this issue.  Helena realizes that she has to do something that only she can do.  You miss this if you do not read carefully.  It leads to a fight between Huntress and Lady Shiva.  There is a great scene where Helena screws up the plan White Canary was forcing by using what she knows of honor and stuff because of her mafia background.  Her actions also bring us a new name for Lady Shiva, Drippypants.

            Drippypants was just a small bit of humor in this deadly serious fight between Huntress and the DCU’s deadliest women.  Never would you give Huntress a chance to get in one good moment, but she does.  It is great reading the fight, but the emotional stuff Helena is going through during this part of the story really hits her roots excellently.

            I recently purchased the entire Dennis O’Neal run of Huntress back in the late 1980’s.  Simone captures that essence of the character.  This was a Huntress that was just beginning and finding her feet.  All that was wiped out as reality was adjusted and readjusted.  We forget that Huntress was and is a strong woman that is not a shadow of Batman.  That is the best thing Gail Simone has done, bring Huntress to a level she should be at as a character.

BDS

Green Lantern Corps #54

            The cover says it all, Sinestro Vs. Kyle Rayner.  The main and baddest Weaponeer of Qwad has taken Soranik Natu captive and demanded Sinestro come face him or he will kill her.  Now Kyle and dead girlfriends is something we are use to, but I think he has decided that he is tired of them expiring.  He goes has far last issue as punching Sinestro.

            That is where we get to this issue.  Sinestro decides that they can fight without rings and keep the truce.  So we see Sinestro in a way that we have not seen in many years.  We get a look at why before Hal Jordan, Sinestro was the top Green Lantern.  Kyle holds his on for a bit and delivers a cool line, but really, he is a lover, not a fighter.  Sinestro really shows why he will never win father of the year.

            The current grouping of the Corps that this title has been following takes up the cause as Kyle heads to Qwad.  Meanwhile Natu learns a bit about Qwad and the planet’s history.  She is a great character that gets to shine even as a captive.  I really like the way they have developed her.  I have a feeling the Weaponeer might get his butt handed to him by her before all is said and done.

            Green Lantern Corps brings the greatness every month.  Tony Bedard is an excellent writer for this cosmic tale of the Green Lanterns.  I loved his work on Negation at the now gone CrossGen and he continues to amaze me here.

BDS

Batwoman #0

            So the restructuring of the Batman Family must have played into this title being so long in coming as a solo.  Issue #0 is our teaser.  The title is still a few months from launching, but we just know Batman had to check out this new player with his family’s motif that has taken to Gotham’s streets.  That is what this issue is about.  It brings the Detective Comics stories into the core and sets up what Bruce Wayne thinks of the new Batwoman.

            We watch Bruce basically stalk Kathy Kane to see if she is this Batwoman that has been seen in Gotham.  There is the dual page storytelling that J.H. Williams III seems to like.  I can be disconcerting for the reader.  Not sure I like it myself, but the story is good so I handle it.  I am disappointed in the art.  I dislike Kathy looking like a Jokerized female Batman.  The harshness is not nice to look at to me.  I am not asking for the typical glamorized look, but it just looks grotesque to me.

            Bruce does his thing and we get a nice look at the new defender of the weak in Gotham.  Whether she will get funding and a permit from the Batman Incorporated empire is unclear.  Sorry, the idea of Batman as a business tickles me.  This is just a nice setup for the title to come.

BDS

Batgirl #15

            A new art team lead by Dustin Nguyen brings us the continuing drama of Stephanie Brown.  This issue opens with an excellent look at the history of the Bat-Family as told by Stephanie.  It is a priceless bit of art and story.  They should make a poster out of these pages.  That would be so cool.

            The Return of Bruce Wayne one shots saw Stephanie stand up to the man and claim her mantle.  He seemed pleased.  The smug creators that poo poo on the Stephanie Fanbase probably did not get the joke there.  Now we are at issue #15 of the new Batgirl.  It is the title I most want to read each month.  I have stated time and again how much this book rocks.

            Here is the chance to jump on board.  This issue is perfect to begin reading if you have not been doing so.  The humor and action is well balanced as Stephanie makes her rounds at college and ends up battling a bunch of robed figures.  She has a new bit of help in the form of the “Grey Ghost.”  Eventually the kid she was trying to save is found dead by the detective she has befriended and Barbara has been flirting with and dating.  Guess who their prime murder suspect becomes? 

Nice cliffhanger on this one folks.

BDS

Flashback Friday: Mutant X #1

 

            In the late 90’s I had begun reviewing comics and like many reviewers at the time I was being critical of Howard Mackie.  Remember that these were the days of Ben Reilly as Spider-Man.  The poor fellow that was burdened with the whole Clone Saga was Howard Mackie.  He was being complained about and even from his writing on the Spidey titles one could feel his heart might not have been in the stories.  Along the same time Mackie was handed the reins of a new title.  The name of that book was Mutant X.

            The TV Show strangely would not be far behind, but they were totally different.  The set up is simple.  Take Alex Summers and blew him to bits in X-Factor.  Let his spirit float into a nexus of all realities then meld with a dying Alex Summers of an alternate reality.  Then you have an entire new set of Marvel characters that are similar yet drastically different.  It was a really under appreciated comic.  Mackie was set free to play in a cool sandbox where he could imagine the toys.

            Alex comes to in the middle of a battle with weird looking Sentinels.  His teammates are his wife, Madelyne Summers, the vampiric Storm, Bloodstorm, a horribly mutated simple-minded Henry McCoy, The Brute, the Loki cursed Ice-Man, a creepy Warren Worthington III, The Fallen.  A very disturbing team of mutant heroes.  Let me just say that Alex was very confused, and that was before he met his son Scotty.  It is a wild beginning that just gets better as the issues come out.

            One great thing about this series is the way that they are so common in the back issue bins and out in the flea market circuit.  I would guess that maybe stores bought this book like they did anything with an “X” on the title.  That might explain why it is an easy book to buy as a back issue collection.  It is a great and fun read that really brought my respect for this awesome writer back.  He was saddled with an impossible task during the Clone Saga.  The greed that took that story farther than planned drug him down and you could tell with the work product.  Mutant X reminds us why Mackie was the writer chosen to write the titles before the Clone Saga.

BDS

GETTING BACK ON TRACK.

     I hope to get to the shop late tomorrow or Saturday.  I am really looking forward to reading Batwoman #0 and The current issue of Batgirl that has the new art team.  I did get a Flashback Friday written, so it will be up and though it is short I hope it reminds us why sometimes the odd titles become the best over time.

     So my ever continuing battle with kidney stones hit hard this week and I am still recovering.  I do not seem to form them thanks to the medicine, I have the kind that are uric acid, but I do experience the symptoms that are horrible.  It came at a bad time and I hope is gone for a long while.

     Hope to have some current reviews soon.

BDS

Why No Marvel?

You stumble across this Blog and see about 90% DC Comics reviewed.  You are a follower and wonder why I never really talk about current Marvel comicbooks?  Well, I do not buy any Marvel books currently.  The last series I was reading involved Nova.  When the constant crossovers kept intruding I just gave it up.  Sadly I left a company I at one time was supporting fully.  I recently reread my Nova series until I stopped buying.  I still love the character and love Marvel.  I was reminded how perverse the Marvel Universe had become to me.  Heroes becoming fascists and Spider-man making deals with the devil so writers could have him with multiple sexual possibilities.  I could go on and on about the way these characters just did not feel right.  The strange relationship fans and corporate leaders have was broken for me.  I took to heart the  idea Quesada snidely gave of reading the back stock of Marvel Comics if I (fans) did not like the direction the company was going creatively.  I have.  I read the glorious old comics where integrity and responsibility mean something.  I read about heroes that sacrifice real and substantial things for the greater good.  Marvel currently is for a type of reader I am not.  I suppose they are selling books, and a friend of mine would say they do not care if they lost my business.  Still, are there more "mes" out there?  I am not alone right?  Others became feed up and broke the mentality of just overlooking and buying anyway, right?  Truthfully, this came at a good time.  $3.99 is too much for a 22-page story, especially if you dislike the way things are.  I have decisions to make as DC will one day have to decide a new price rate.  So far their tiered pricing has kept most of my reads at $2.99  So I hope you realize why things are so unbalanced.

BDS