Sunday Splash Page #211

 

"Yellow and Green Make War," in Green Lantern (vol. 3) #144, by Judd Winick (writer), Dale Eaglesham (penciler), Rodney Ramos (inker), Moose Baumann (colorist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)

What few Green Lantern comics I own are all from Kyle Rayner's stretch as the sole ring-bearer. The only one I bought at the time it came out was the final issue, for reasons I can no longer recall. That ends with him decapitating Major Force and sending his head floating into the void. Then Kyle decides to go into space.

Pretty sure the next time he pops up is Green Lantern: Rebirth, where he managed to not get snuffed by Geoff (goddamnit, I spelled it "Geoof" on the first try again) Johns, against all expectations.

The others are from the stretch when Kyle tapped into all the power Hal left behind when he reignited the Sun during Final Night, becoming rather godlike in the process. Kyle manages to not try and reboot the entire universe, but does gradually extend his abilities. On a grand scale, he travels to an alien world he visited previously, still torn apart by conflict, and simply makes violence impossible. Oh, people can try, but any attempt, from using a laser tank to a rock is thwarted by him. The idea seemingly being that, with killing or harming all their adversaries off the table, the sides will have to learn to co-exist.

On smaller scales, he reignites his then-girlfriend Jade's inherent powers, so she no longer has to rely on a power ring. He also tracks down his father, who was apparently an intelligence agent who wanted out of the life, and is so skilled, he covered his tracks beyond the ability of anyone Kyle knows to track him down.

Kyle ultimately chooses to recreate the Central Power Battery, which somehow creates a bunch of new Guardians. So we get a whole new batch of little blue morons. That was after Superman gave him the old, "we can't do too much for humanity or we stifle their potential," speech, and Kyle debating whether to stop Hal Jordan from going down his dark path. So he was going to mess with time, just a little. 

Kyle's presented as still inexperienced in some ways. Still only touching the surface of what he can do with these powers. But also wise enough to know when to ask questions. Ask Hal if he wants Kyle to change the past (unsurprisingly, Hal has an active role in this story.) Ask Alan Scott for his perspective on having this much power inside. And when he renounces it, wise enough to make some changes to his ring to address certain problems he's had in the past, like the ring getting taken away from him, or running out of power entirely.

It's an OK storyline, although he creates a new costume that's kind of hideous. Way too much white, almost no green. When he goes back to just being a Green Lantern, he creates the costume I remember seeing described as looking like a sneaker. I can see what they mean, but I like it all right. That may be because it was the one he wore during Joe Kelly's Obsidian Age storyline, which I was rather fond of.

This is Why They Say Never to Read Your Old Work

I was thinking about Green Lantern: Rebirth recently, the mini-series Geoff Johns and Ethan van Sciver did bringing back Hal Jordan back in 2005. I don't know why, so don't ask. More specifically, I was thinking about my reception to it, which was mostly positive.

OK, fine, I ranked it my second favorite mini-series of 2005. Man that list has not aged well, other than GrimJack: Killer Instinct in the #1 spot. In retrospect, it should have just been a Top 1 and left at that. Good thing I've developed impeccable taste in the last 15 years! Hahahahaha. Not buyin it? Fine.

Admittedly, my standards going in were really low. I figured Johns was going to kill off Kyle Rayner in some extremely violent and humiliating way, to clear the deck for his beloved Hal Jordan. Instead, Kyle not only survived, but was the only Lantern who wasn't controlled by Parallax for at least a while. Of course, Johns corrected that misstep a few years later during one of those interminable Lantern war stories, when Kyle briefly served as host for Parallax. But at the time, he survived, so the story exceeded my expectations.

Still I said Johns' greatest strength was to reach into his butt and pull out the finest silks and polished gems and Jesus Christ, that's embarrassing to read. And Kelvin rightly pointed out that's not what he'd call what Johns produces. Even if you could count what I wrote as a backhanded compliment, which it sort of is, still embarrassing. This is why I try not gush about things. It's awkward for everyone when I do.

I mean, Johns definitely pulled stuff out of his butt, but on a certain level I have to respect the amount of. . . I don't know, Chutzpah? Cheek? Lack of self-awareness? It takes to look at Hal Jordan wiping out the entire Green Lantern Corps and trying to erase the universe and say, "A giant yellow bug made of fear made him do that."

That's dumb, but it feels like the right kind of dumb for comics*. A completely bizarre answer to a particular problem, that tries to point to other stuff from the character's history - the yellow weakness in the rings, the stuff about being without fear - as evidence to support it. That's something that at least a certain subset of comic fans - myself included - love to do. My "theory" tag is full of me proposing ideas of various levels of plausibility to explain this thing or that. Johns just manages to get paid to do it. The thing about the yellow fear bug explanation I had the most trouble with was the Parallax would somehow think going from possessing the Spectre to possessing one of those little blue Guardians was an upgrade, as opposed to the existence of a giant bug made entirely of fear.

Looking back at it through what I can remember, I think Johns managed to string together enough big or "cool" moments between all the backstory and frantic handwaving explanatory dialogue to keep it going. I don't even remember how they got Parallax out of Ganthet, other than something where they all restrained him in ways that were meant to demonstrate how each of them approaches using their rings. But I remember Green Arrow trying to use Hal's ring. Kyle putting a bunch of arrows in Sinestro's back. Johns undoing the whole "Warrior" phase of Guy's backstory in one fell swoop, and Guy wearing his ring on his middle finger. 

It's the kind of thing Mark Millar tries to do, coast on momentum with memorable stuff to get past all the all important connective tissue that holds a story together, but Johns probably does it a little better. Low bar to clear there, I know, but I think Johns has enough interest in making things fit or connect to actually try and do some of the work on that end. Whereas Millar can't be bothered with such tedious shit. Does it make sense Iron Man would send Bullseye and Venom after Spider-Man? Are we going to try and make it make sense. Who cares? It made for a cool last page.

I didn't really have any larger point with this post. Just got to thinking about that mini-series and figured the best way to stop was to get it out of my head by writing.

*As opposed to Johns' "Alan Moore is responsible for all those incredibly violent and dark stories I wrote from 2005 to 2015." That's just shoddy, spineless, buck-passing.

Random Back Issues #38 - Green Lantern #145

I don't know what Sallyp's up to these days, but this page of Kyle Rayner in his underwear, fighting a crazy person in an endless void, is for her. Not quite sure why Kyle wanted to fight this guy wearing only tighty-whities, but it has been well established elsewhere in the comics blogosphere that Kyle is not the dumbest Earth Green Lantern only because Hal Jordan exists.

What we've got here is a big fight issue between Kyle and this Nero guy. Kyle's been unconsciously drawing from all the Green Lantern energy Hal left in the Sun when he reignited during Final Night, and apparently so has Nero, who has yellow power ring energy going like Sinestro. Except maybe it's internalized? I don't know. They're fighting out in space to see who gets the godlike power all to himself.

It seems to pretty much be a stalemate, as they're fighting each other while their energy constructs wage war all around them. Nero tries to get a jump on Kyle, but can't quite escape. Then a bunch of Qwardians show up and interfere. They claim they're here to kill Nero, who they gave this power in the first place, but Kyle figures out they really want to be killed by the weapon they created. I really had no idea the Qwardians were so into death. I suppose it explains them helping the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on the Infinite Earths, though. Well, that and both of them being "Anti-Matter Universe 4 Life".

I was going to type it as "lyfe", and then felt physically dirty for doing so. I'm typing this right after I typed that Murder Princess post on Monday, meaning 4 a.m., so who the hell knows where my mind is at this point.

The Qwardians die as they want, and one manages to stick some doohickey on Nero's back, so that he'll be teleported to safety if he doesn't win. We never actually see if that happens or not, but Kyle also doesn't really try to kill Nero. Given how powerful he ends up being, I don't think the attempt to hide Nero would work anyway.

Kyle catches up again, they fight some more, Nero seems to have the edge, Kyle really reaches out and grabs the power, then decides they should settle things man-to-man, leading to underwear fighting up there. That really seems like more of a Hal move, personally. Kyle wins and then finds two doors. One leads to the Sun, and all that power. The other leads back to the alley where Kyle first got his ring. Hal, as the Spectre, is giving him a choice. Kyle thinks it's because Hal feels he did a bad job and shouldn't have all that power. Hal insists he just wants Kyle to know there are options, something no one told him.

I'm pretty sure people told Hal killing all the other Lanterns and stealing their power was a bad idea. Probably those very same Lanterns, while he was killing them. But OK, sure Hal, keep playing the victim. Next you'll be telling me a giant yellow fear bug made you do it.

Kyle chooses Door Number Sun, takes the power, and the codename Ion. I thought for a minute his new costume is the one people describe as looking like a sneaker, but I think that's actually the costume he takes after he surrenders most of the power back into the Central Battery 5 issues from now.

[5th longbox, 20th comic. Green Lantern (vol. 2) #145, by Judd Winick (writer), Dale Eaglesham (penciler), Rodney Ramos (inker), Moose Baumann (colorist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)]

Kyle Rayner As An Artist

Kyle Rayner was, at one point in his history, a comic book artist. What was his art style like?

I know that in Morrison's first JLA arc, Kyle describes himself as a 'manga nut with a power ring,' although the giant mech construct he builds doesn't look much like one I'd expect to see in a manga. But maybe I was watching different mech animes than he was. Beyond that, I don't have much to go on. I never read Green Lantern during the time it was Kyle's book (or at any other time, for that matter). I'd expect in any given issue where he was shown drawing, it'd resemble the style of whichever artist is drawing that issue (depending on their ability to vary their style).

During Mark Waid's time as writer of JLA, there was an arc where the Leaguers (except Wonder Woman and Aquaman) were split into their superheroic and civilian identities. While GL Kyle ceased to use the ring for anything other than just blasting stuff (as he entirely lacked in creativity), Artist Kyle went slowly mad because the ring had been the first instrument that could actually make the things he pictured in his mind look exactly how he envisioned them. So we could try to use the style of his constructs as some sort of guide, but there's a difference between how he was make a teddy bear look and how he'd lay out a panel or page. Plus, we fall back into the issue of the constructs appearance varying with the artist again.

Granting that Kyle was a comic artist during the '90s, I can't see him aping Liefeld or his imitators with the ridiculous musculature and pouches. Just doesn't seem to fit Kyle (if Guy Gardner tried his hand at art, I could see that style having great appeal to him, though). I tend to picture Kyle having too strong a grasp of the fundamentals to adopt that style of wildly varying proportions and out of whack perspectives. For whatever reason, the late Mike Wieringo's style strikes me as one that would match Kyle. Not exactly that necessarily, but in a similar vein. Clean linework, expressive, can be exaggerated with with anatomy where necessary, but it works in context. Capable of handling quiet scenes, humor, big action, crazy cosmic stuff.

I'm curious what other people, especially those who read more of Kyle's adventures and have more to work from, think.

Which Lantern Cares About A Secret I.D.?

For some reason, I started thinking of JSA Classified #1, which was the storyarc Conner, Johns, and Palmiotti did which was supposed to explain how Power Girl's origin worked after Crisis on the Infinite Earths erased Earth-2. In reality, I don't think it did that (or rather I didn't see how reiterating she was from an Earth that had been made to never exist explained anything), but whatever.

I was thinking specifically of a scene from the first issue where Peej sees a boy in danger and bursts through the window of her apartment to make the save. She's reflecting on how bad she is at maintaining a secret identity, and recalls a conversation with Green Lantern. GL asked why she didn't wear a mask, she replied most people weren't looking at her face (and indeed the boy is gawking at her chest, as she tries to get him to redirect his gaze up and acknowledge the person who just saved his life).

So which Green Lantern was it?

I couldn't find the page anywhere, but I'm pretty sure Power Girl referred to the Lantern as "him", so rule out Jade, though she didn't wear a mask either, so she probably wouldn't ask. Those both rule out those alien Green Lanterns that stayed on Earth for awhile (Kilowog, Salaak, Katma, Arisa), so I figure we're down to the Earth boys. John doesn't have a mask, so I don't see him asking. Neither does Guy, though my guess is he'd be too busy leering or making an inappropriate comment to ask anyway. I can't see Peej being that flip if Alan Scott asked her.

Which leaves Hal or Kyle.

Hal's the most likely choice. For one, this is a Geoff Johns written story, he's going to default to Hal almost without fail. For another, Hal actually was on a team with Power Girl for awhile, and they were even close for a bit, I think (which is really poor judgment on her part, but let's chalk it up to all the origin confusion messing with her). I kind of see Hal not caring enough to ask. He worked with Black Canary, she never wore a mask, though I guess she had a wig some of the time. Wonder Woman doesn't wear a mask, neither does Superman. His best friend (or second-best, maybe Barry was his best buddy) Oliver Queen wears a mask, but everyone seemed to know who he was anyway. Hal probably wouldn't think anything of another hero not wearing a mask.

At the same time, Kyle strikes me as the one who would be more concerned about secret identities, even though he was absolutely terrible at maintaining his (hey, something they have in common!) Kyle unfortunately got a graphic lesson early on about what happens when bad guys know who you are in your off-hours. Not that Power Girl needs to worry about a dweeb like Major Force, or that she has many non-powered friends to worry about (especially back when this comic was written), but Kyle might not know that, and you can see why it might weigh on his mind. He's fought alongside a lot of those same heroes Hal did, but you know how Kyle for a long time felt out of place among them, so I think he'd have a hard time approaching Superman about it*. Power Girl might seem less intimidating, strange as that sounds, given the fact she can be a bit more prickly than Supes.

* I can't remember, in that story Mark Waid did, where the JLA split into two people, one their superhero identities, the other their civilian, did Kyle reveal he didn't think Superman even had a secret identity when he learned it? Or was that Batman?

How Smart Do You Need To Be To Make Power Rings?

I've been going through my comic collection, trying to clear out stuff as I do from time to time. I was up to Tony Bedard's R.E.B.E.L.S. run, and I was rereading the Blackest Night tie-ins, when something struck me. At that point, Vril Dox' kid, Lyrl, has his 12th-level intellect back, and has thrown in with Starro the Conqueror. Vril has figured the best way to get rid of the Undead Lanterns that were coming after him was to sic them on Starro, and Starro's quite enjoying fighting an enemy he can't manage to kill. Meanwhile, Lyrl's trying to come up with some weapon that can mimic that particular energy emitted by a Lantern's ring, since that's all that can destroy these things. But nothing he builds works.

So, like the title of the post says. Coluans are supposed to be about the smartest species in the universe, and Lyrl is exceptionally smart even by their standards (Brainiac 5 is listed as a 12th level, so the only one I know for sure as being smarter is the original Braniac, who was listed as being some degree greater than 12th-level, meaning they can't accurately gauge it, I guess). It's not like one has to come up with a power source, the rings run off the emotional spectrum or whatever, the ring just has to tap into that. I know, I make it sound easier than it is, but come on, the Guardians managed it.

OK, they're a really ancient race (of little twits), they had a long time to study the emotional spectrum, figure out how to build something you can control mentally that runs off willpower, and they don't share their work. So unless a Coluan is brought into the Corps (which must have happened at some point), Colu doesn't get to study a ring, so they have to work off whatever they can observe at a distance. Even so, the Qwardians were able to cook a yellow ring up for Sinestro, and it didn't seem inferior to a GL ring. So they're smarter than the Coluans? Or is this a case where they're "Weaponeers", so they possess some limited brilliance that only expresses itself when they make weapons? Still, I wouldn't think that would somehow restrict the Coluans from figuring it out. They certainly possess sufficient understanding of the universe to make all sorts of interesting weapons.

Maybe it's supposed to be the emotional aspect that escapes them. They can't figure how to measure or quantify emotions, so they can't devise a weapon that absorbs and controls an energy they don't understand. Except the Guardians divorced themselves from emotions, didn't they? I guess it's a question of whether they did that before or after they made the rings, or maybe the Manhunters, since they ran on the same power source as the rings. Though the Guardians don't have to use the rings, so it wouldn't matter if they can't or won't feel anything, because they find others to handle that part. The Coluans would have to rely on themselves (I can't see them making power rings, then being dumb enough to hand them to some other species to use), and maybe that won't work. So it's considered a dead end field. Which doesn't explain Lyrl's failures, except if it was strictly a matter of time. He only had a couple of days.

Favorite DC Character #9 - Kyle Rayner

Character: Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)

Creators: Darryl Banks and Ron Marz

First appearance: Green Lantern (vol. 3) #48

First encounter I had with him: It might actually be the episode of the Superman cartoon he showed up in, where Kyle was the new cartoonist at the Daily Planet. In the comics, I probably skimmed an issue of Green Lantern at some point in a store, but the first book I could point to for certain is probably JLA #47, which marks the point I started buying that book regularly.

Definitive writer(s): Grant Morrison or Joe Kelly, most likely.

Definitive artist: Doug Mahnke.

Favorite moment or story: There are a host of moments of Kyle being a dork that amuse me. Go to Devon Sanders' old blog, Seven Hells, and peruse the "Kyle Rayner, Adult!" posts for a string of them. In that JLA story arc I mentioned, where the League battles the Queen of Fables, there's a good one between Kyle and Wally West as neither one of them can bring themselves to play Prince Charming to Wonder Woman's Snow White. But for a favorite, it has to be Obsidian Age. Kyle's freaking out throughout the story, shaken by prophetic dreams of his and the rest of the League's death. Even so, he saves them early in the story, and offers his heart as the receptacle to maintain their spirits across 1,000 years or however long it was.

What I like about him: Almost all my experience with Kyle comes from JLA. I own more issues of Hitman that feature Kyle than I do his own series. In JLA, Kyle was the guy who wasn't sure he could play in the big leagues. He was the replacement alongside the legends, and it freaked him out, no matter how reassuring Wonder Woman, Superman, or J'onn tried to be. Batman giving him grief, and Wally giving him the side-eye out of some loyalty to his "Uncle Hal" probably didn't help (though Kyle and Wally's gradual friendship was a nice growth out of their initial hostility, and something I enjoyed about alter issues of the series).

But Kyle stepped up. He made mistakes, often spoke without thinking, but when it was all said and done, he'd come through. That's an encouraging thought, we can overcome our fears and doubts when it matters. That was the nice thing about Obsidian Age. Kyle was really badly shook by those visions, apprehensive about going into the past, leery of staying once they were there. Everyone else on the League seemed fine, business as usual, no big deal. But when it all went wrong, Kyle was the last man standing, and it was his actions in part that convinced Manitou Raven to shift sides. Looking back, I wonder if that story (or Kyle's story in general) wasn't a major building block for Geoff Johns' Green Lantern: Rebirth. The key for Kyle in that story wasn't that he was without fear, Kyle had plenty of fear. It was that he knew it and was able to overcome it, anyway. Kyle gets scared, he's not unflappable like Batman, but he fights through.

Beyond that, Kyle's just a pretty pleasant guy. Little melodramatic, little quick to run his mouth, certainly not the brightest bulb. Doesn't always show good judgment when it comes to his romantic relationships (not so much in who he falls for, more in the decisions he makes while in those relationships). But generally sweet, fiercely loyal to his friends, creative, and resilient. Having the ring has given him the chance to see and experience things few people have ever seen, but it's also cost him dearly. And yet he keeps going, keeps showing a willingness to sacrifice when it's needed. The one issue of his series I own is the last one, where Major Force tries to talk him into giving up the ring, and Kyle actually does it. For a moment he decides he doesn't need the hassle. Then Force implies Kyle wasn't cut out for handling such power, that the government will find someone appropriate to carry the load, and Kyle remembers all he's seen and done (and who he's talking to), stabs that asshole in the eye with some glass, takes back the ring, and kicks his stupid butt. There's that instant of self-doubt, then he stands firm and takes care of business.

I've mentioned visuals play a role. With Kyle, it isn't his costume - my favorite is the one he wore around Obsidian Age, and I completely understand people who say it looked like a sneaker - as the potential of the ring. You can create anything you can conceive of with it, and because Kyle is an artist (also a bit of a goober) the things he uses the ring to make can be really cool, or really silly. Witness the scene above, where Kyle rides to the rescue on a giant cat. One of those GL issues I skimmed had Kyle and Alan Scott skirmishing a little. Alan created a giant bee for some reason, and Kyle responded with a giant green Stone Cold Steve Austin, who unleashed the Stunner on said giant bee. It's silly, but if I had a ring that created whatever I could think of, it'd probably wind up creating a bunch of silly stuff based on whatever amused or entertained me, too. Giant Green Earthworm Jim! But it can be silly, because it works. Just offhand, Kyle once made a steam shovel that lifted the entire city of Manhattan out of the path of a tidal wave. That wasn't even the big climax of a story, it was just something he did at the beginning of a story arc, a response to the initial sign of a threat. Cool scenes, sometimes that's all you need.

As Hal's Bad At Being In Charge, Kyle's Bad At Being Low Key

I don't read any of the Green Lantern books, but I read enough blogs by people who do that it isn't hard to keep up with what's happening, now that this latest crossover event thing is done. I think it's funny - and great -  that with Johns gone, Hal's lost that seeming air of infallibility he had for so long, but he's still carrying on as if nothing's changed. Which makes sense; Hal's a fictional character, he doesn't know there are different writers handling things, ones perhaps not so enamored of him as their predecessor.

Putting Hal Jordan in charge of the entire Green Lantern Corps? That's a terrible idea. Hal's not a bad guy to have around for bad guy punching, last minute heroics, stuff like that. But he's not cut out to lead, certainly not on a level with that many administrative headaches. He's like one of those field commanders that's great on a squad level, where there's only so much to keep track of, but he can't handle the extra responsibility that comes with the promotions, the logistics, paperwork, etc. Honestly, the Corps might be better off keeping Hal in reserve. "In case of Universe-threatening emergency, break glass". Don't let him out before that, because he'll rush in recklessly and make things worse. But if you wait until things can't get any worse, then he seems to be pretty good at turning the tide.

But as a boss? No, bad idea. Witness sending Guy off to join the Red Lanterns pretty much on his own, in spite of the risks to Guy's life. At least let one of his friends in the Corps go along, say Guy convinced them to defect, too. Then they can watch each other's backs. Now he's instituted some rule about not using the emotional spectrum energy without authorization, which comes from Hal, apparently. He's the boss for a few months and already he's making laws he's specially exempt from to use against people he considers a threat, while cutting his friends slack. Ah, cronyism and corruption, ain't it a wonderful thing?

 I've always thought it was a little dodgy the way the GLs seemed to police things whether they were wanted or not, but Hal just making up a new law all by himself, then rushing off to arrest someone with that new law as one of the charges five minutes later, that's going pretty far. Gavok noted it on 4thletter, Hal's veering into Tony Stark circa Civil War territory these days. Nobody needs to go there, especially Hal. The last time he got a swelled head and started trying to dictate how things were going to be, it ended with Ollie shooting him with an arrow before he wiped out the entire universe. Though if Hal does go on another trip to looney land and tries to remake existence, it might be better to let him. He could hardly do worse than Barry Allen, who's responsible for the current state of things. Plus, if this leads to several months of all Hal's friends taking turns calling him a jerk and punching him in the face, it might be a lot of fun. That was certainly one (the only) result from Civil War I enjoyed, everyone - Spidey, Dr. Strange, She-Hulk, Nova (especially Nova) - taking a shot at Stark.

I really didn't mean to speak so much about Hal, this was more about Kyle. I guess he joined the Source Wall for about 5 minutes, then got popped back out after everyone had left. But he's going to pretend to still be gone. Well, nobody seemed very broken up about it, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but maybe it needs time to sink in.

As it is, I don't see Kyle managing to keep his status a secret very long. He's an artist whose super-power is using energy to do stuff, which usually means "Big, flashy constructs". Not exactly subtle. Then there's his inherent personality. He's very nice, loyal, brave, clever when he needs to be, but I wouldn't say he's good at really thinking through his actions ahead of time. Consider how bad he was at something as basic as a secret identity. He'd switch into costume in full view of a coffee shop worth of civilians at the drop of a hat. If you needed an Earth Lantern to pretend he was dead and make it stick, I think John's your choice, assuming you could convince him it was necessary, which I think would be harder than with the others. The same thoughtful, steady approach that would make him think out how he was going to do something while not blowing his cover, would probably also make him question just why he needed to play dead in the first place. Recall how he wisely balked at becoming an Alpha Lantern.

Anyway, Kyle strikes me as such an absent-minded type I could easily see him deciding he was lonely or thirsty, and heading for Mogo to visit Warriors. Wait, was Warriors still on Oa when it went, and if so, did it get incorporated into Mogo? Let's say it did. The GLs need a place to relax, and I bet Mogo could grow some stuff that would make some wicked brews. So Kyle lands, and walks in, says hi, asks for a drink, starts up a conversation with Kilowog or Soranik like nothing happened. A couple of minutes in, he's still chattering along, he notices everyone's gawking at him, and it dawns on him they're supposed to think he's dead. At that point, I sort picture Kyle letting out this shriek, maybe creating one of those dressing screens to hide himself, or a bunch of giant hands to cover everyone's hands, maybe while yelling, "Don't look at me! I'm not supposed to be seen!"

OK, I stole that last bit from an issue of Groo, but Sergio Aragones is a pretty good guy to steal from when you want knuckleheaded hijinks. Point is, Kyle's not a good person to ask this of, so I don't expect it to be long before he blows it in some ridiculous manner.

Are We Sure This Man Should Be Flying Planes?

That wasn't actually where I planned to go with yesterday's post. Originally, I was going to talk about how Carol's refusal to use her powers to save the T6 reminded me of the only two Green Lantern comics my dad owned.

Like Captain Marvel #2, they both featured stories where Hal refuses to use his power ring to deal with a problem, opting instead to rely on his natural abilities. He's doing this as a way to prove something about himself, much like Carol. Since this is Hal Jordan we're talking about, though, he can't help putting his own twist on things. Two twists, in fact.

The first is that Hal takes this approach to his superheroics, rather than his day job. This translates to relying on fisticuffs and the fact he's apparently an excellent skier(?) to fight crime. This is somewhat passable against a couple of art thieves (though it makes things much harder than they need to be), Even against a former circus clown/acrobat who developed magnetic bracelets that let him move through the air like he's swinging from an invisible trapeze, it can work. The Aerialist is a fine athlete, but no superhuman. When it involves an alien overlord roughly the size of the Hulk, it's a less advisable. Fortunately, Thraxon was foolish enough to think a blow to the head would finish Hal, and grew overconfident. If you've spent any time on comic blogs, you know head injuries are a common occurrence for Hal Jordan, but hardly a game ender.

The second is that, unlike Carol Danvers, who is trying to surpass an older pilot she considers her hero, Hal is trying to prove himself better than. . . Green Lantern?! Because first Carol Ferris, and then a lovely young lady who ran a ski resort Hal worked at after leaving Ferris Aircraft, both fell head over heels for the ole' ring-slinger. They both think GL is so ginchy, Hal can't see straight. Or maybe that's all the blows to the noggin. At any rate, that's how you get a superhero who refuses to use the most powerful weapon in the universe, which is sitting on his finger, in favor of slugging it out with big blue guys in feathered helmets.

Leave it to Hal Jordan to endanger his life - and his entire sector of space - because he's jealous of himself.

How Do You Get Past The Little Blue Bouncers After They Kick You Out?

All yesterday's post's griping about the pointless killing of Vixen to get John Stewart and Shayera together aside, the story did have the possibly planned for effect of making me curious to see the origin for the future Justice League's Green Lantern.
If you have read the story, John kills Shadow Thief with a bullet made from Nth metal, fired from a gun. Quite where he got the bullet, I'm not sure. He already had the gun out before Shayera came to offer her assistance, but I suppose it could have been an earlier gift. Anyway, the end result is the Guardians take his ring - unimpressed with his argument that he didn't break the rules because he didn't use the ring to kill anyone - and basically turn their back on that entire sector, until such time as they think Earthlings have grown up a little bit. Which is the sort of massive overreaction I'd expect from the Guardians. They're a bunch of dipsticks regardless of the universe.

Aren't there other inhabited worlds in the sector besides Earth? What are they supposed to do? And what about Kyle Rayner? Kyle got a ring in that universe, during the Superman cartoon. And Katma mentioned him in a Justice League episode where she was busting John's butt about how poorly he was using his ring. To be fair, she wasn't really complimenting Kyle, expect by saying John was doing even worse. So maybe Kyle washed out. Or perhaps the Guardians abruptly snatched away his ring, and when he asked, they said, "Talk to John Stewart."

Be honest, we can all see the Guardians doing that. I could see them doing it while Kyle was traveling between star systems and leaving him to die out there. OK, maybe they wouldn't leave him to die, but I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped him on whatever world happened to be handy. Knowing Kyle's luck, it'd be Czarnia, or Kanjar Ro's home.

All that being said, I'd like to know what it was about the young kid that's wearing the ring in the future that convinced the Guardians to give him a ring. I have a hard time looking at the state of that world, given how Gotham was before Terry McGinnis became Batman, or how Metropolis probably went in Superman's absence, and concluding Earthlings demonstrated how, as a whole, they were ready to be let back into the club.

The kid could be an alien, I suppose. No reason he has to be from Earth, just because he looks like an Earthling.

If The Universe Has a Sick Sense Of Humor, What's That Say About Its Creator?

I understand not everybody can get someone to look after their kid, and so maybe it's unavoidable you have to bring the little one to work. But a library is not the place to bring a squalling, hyperactive toddler! I'm about ready to clothesline the kid next time he runs by.
In other angry news, I still hate the direction Nguyen and Fridolfs went for Warhawk's origin in Batman Beyond Unlimited. Part of that is that killing Vixen was so unnecessary. People have relationships end for reasons other than death. Their priorities change, they change, they decide aren't a good match long-term. It happens.

But the other thing that bugs me is the whole predeterministic aspect of it. Remember that issue of Brave and the Bold JMS wrote? Where Zatanna has the premonition of Barbara Gordon being shot, and rather than do anything about it, she and Wonder Woman take Babara out for a night on the town? The attitude seems to be it's supposed to happen, so it can't be changed. Zatanna's one, half-assed attempt to do so, actually helps it come about because she suggests Barbara should stay home from crimefighting to have dinner with her father more often. And of course, Barbara got shot while having dinner with Jim Gordon.

Yeesh, that was such a dumb story.

Now, here we are with John Stewart, back from the future. He's met his son, the one he had with Shayera (Hawkgirl). He's even told Hawkgirl about it. But John's not going to be led around by the nose, by fate. He's still with Mari (Vixen), he loves her, he's going to stay with her and see how things play out. And that's why they're having dinner at a cafe when Shadow Thief shows up and kills Vixen to get revenge on John. Fate apparently counted on John Stewart being a stubborn fellow.

If he'd only broken things off with Mari, it would have been Shayera getting killed. Which wouldn't have been any better, though it would have made more sense for Shadow Thief to strike at someone he might actually hate. And it would have been a case of someone bowing to what appears to be destiny, only for that to keep it from ever coming about. That seems a little different, the protagonist throwing a wrench into the works by going along with the larger plan.

For No Particular Reason, A Brainiac Versus A Lantern

This question came out of reading the Blackest Night tie-ins for R.E.B.E.L.S., where Vril Dox found himself inducted into the Sinestro Corps, only to ultimately be dismissed because he wouldn't follow orders. Head-to-head, who is more dangerous, Sinestro or Vril Dox?

Sinestro has the power ring, obviously, though which version varies, but Vril has the intellect. Sinestro is no idiot, though, and Vril's more than capable of coming up with some dangerous weapon, given time to think. They're both arrogant enough to regard basically everyone else as expendable, though I'm not sure it's for the same reasons. With Dox, he tends to view things from a logical standpoint. If you have to sacrifice one person - or a whole planet - to stop someone who's conquered 9 galaxies, so be it. He's confident he's devised the best plan. With Sinestro, I think it's simple arrogance. He thinks he's better than everyone else, so they're less important than he is. Not that Dox isn't arrogant, but he's not going to throw away lives unless he has to. A person who is dead now is one who can't help him later, so better to avoid suicide strategies if possible.

At the same time, Dox is a little more ruthless. He'll do just about anything to win, including pleading with his son for help, making deals with interstellar despots, go drinking with Lobo, or hamming it up to the media*. Sinestro will do things he finds mildly distasteful - teaming up with Hal Jordan, for one - but I think he has too much pride. There are certain things he wouldn't do to win, because he'd consider them too humiliating. I don't think he'd play servile to encourage a foe to drop their guard, or to gain assistance. He'd be more likely to brashly demand submission, which isn't always going to work.

* After he captured Braniac (with a little help from Brainiac 5, slumming it in the 21st Century), he told the media he pulled it off because it's a law of nature, the good guys always win. Which is the sort of thing he'd normally sneer at, but it plays well with his potential clients.

Not Having To Distinguish Colors When Concussed Might Help

The Justice League in Batman Beyond has a Green Lantern in its ranks, as is fairly typical for Justice Leagues. Do you think his ring has the weakness to yellow?

I don't know where Batman Beyond sits in continuity with the current Lantern books. It would be a future, obviously, but not necessarily the future for those books, since the Multiverse is back and all. It's possible Kai-Ro could be a GL in a universe where they never figured out the way around the yellow vulnerability.

But Batman Beyond was originally a cartoon, and I can't recall if the issue with yellow was every brought up in any of the cartoons of the last 15 years or so. Sinestro showed up in Superman and the Justice League cartoons, but I don't remember his ring being yellow being established as a way for him to take advantage of a flaw in Green Lantern rings. Sinestro's advantages tended to presented as he was more experienced and ruthless, but his ring was equal to a GL ring, no more.

The cartoons tended to present the weakness of the ring as its user. If the user doesn't know what they're doing, or can't put sufficient will into it, the ring is useless. So the yellow impurity may not even exist in that universe. I guess I got on that track because Kai-Ro was created for the cartoon back before Johns did all this adding and revising of the concept, and I'm curious if Beechen would adopt some of those changes, or leave them out.

Back To Making Our Own Solicits

Sally has suggested we return to the idea of taking a cover and devising our on solicitation for it. Since I'm feeling a bit pressed for content myself, I'm game. I do wish Guy was using a wrench or some other blunt instrument, though. Oh well.

Warriors Bar on Oa has a ghost problem. A Stooge Ghost problem, to be exact. Yep, the ghosts of the Three Stooges have dropped in and possessed some of the Lanterns! How will Hal respond to Guy calling him a "chowderhead" and pulling his hair? Will Kyle be able to stop saying "woo woo, woo woo" and barking randomly at Soranik? And will he ever get to eat that oyster soup? Will the Guardians close down Warriors after being caught in the inevitable pie fight? Will Sinestro use being cracked over the noggin with a ladder by Hal as pretext to resume hostilities? What happens when the ghost of Shemp appears, demanding equal time? Will Salaak, Arisia, and Kilowog be able to set things right, or he will they even notice anything out of the ordinary?

I don't know who would be responsible for all that. I guess if ghosts are involved Nekron would be the easy answer, but I'd rather not go there. Maybe Control Freak from the Teen Titans cartoon, or the Prankster, taking some time off from harassing Superman. Though if anybody needs to be pranked, right now it's Superman.

Secret Identities, Easy Or Hard To Maintain?

When it comes to superheroic secret identities, what's your pleasure?

The old school, Silver Age I guess, style, where the hero is able, though not without difficulty, to keep people from learning who they are in their civilian lives? This doesn't mean no one would know, necessarily. The hero could decide to tell someone, or there could be a member of their cast that's just really on the ball. Captain Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man, Lois Lane for Superman, though she had the deck stacked against her considering all the powers, robots, and Batman assistance the writers pulled out of their butts to help Superman keep her guessing in the Silver Age*.

Or, I guess I'd call it the Ultimate-style, where it is really hard to keep a secret identity. Especially if you are, for example, some teenager from Queens who gained spider-powers then fairly quickly jumped into the deep end of fighting insane businessmen, and mad scientists, while being harassed by well-funded and well-equipped spy agencies.

Some blending of it, where some heroes keep it secret from everyone, while others don't hide it at all, plus some heroes who just aren't good at keeping it secret, or they trust someone who isn't (Karen Page might fall in that category for Daredevil), would probably be the best, if just because it offers the most avenues, but assuming we live in a horribly strict universe, where there are only two options, and you can't mix-and-match, what would you prefer?

I'm in favor of the old one myself. Yeah, it was funny to see how bad Peter was at keeping his mask on, especially when MJ handed him a list of everyone who knew who he was, and it hits home just how bad he's been about keeping the mask on, or not blurting out his name to the X-Men just because they've seen his face. I grew used to it there, because that was a generally consistent law of the universe. The X-Men were in the open, Kingpin knew Murdock was Daredevil, Dr. Strange was on late-night TV, and everybody knew who Spider-Man was. I could roll with it. But I feel it's an attempt to put too much realism into a situation that doesn't necessarily call for it.

It might be unrealistic for these heroes to manage to keep their secret identities hidden, but considering all the other things I suspend my disbelief for, it's not hard to swallow. I accept Peter Parker not only didn't die from a radioactive spider-bite, he gained awesome powers. I accept his Aunt can survive 700 heart attacks (may be an exaggeration), but needs magic help to survive a bullet. I accept the idea of stupid little blue men handing out rings that do anything if you will it hard enough. I'll buy that heroes (and villains if they're good enough at getting away) can keep people around them from figuring things out. Some of them will be better at it than others, or have more resources to help them out, be it powers or money.

Another part of it, is the problem-solving abilities most heroes tend to demonstrate. I've seen a lot of heroes apply their resources quite creatively to deal with a particular threat. Between that and their witty banter, they seem to possess excellent abilities to think on their feet, and devise solutions quickly. So while I believe I'd have some trouble explaining why I was always covered in bruises or missing whenever Hood Guy** appeared, the heroes seem more on the ball, so sure, they can come up with some quick excuse that saves their bacon. For a little while, at least.

So old-school for me, because I like the idea the heroes are smarter than I probably would be about it.

* I know Morrison and Quietly used it in All-Star Superman, though I don't think they started it, but I really like the idea that Clark Kent carries himself completely differently when he's Clark, compared to when he's Superman, so it isn't just the glasses. He really seems like a completely different person. Along those lines, how easy do you think it was to figure out Hal was Green Lantern? Setting aside how little of his face the mask covers, I can't see him behaving any differently from identity to the other.

** Though I like Spider-Man's costume, I think my love of hoods would cause me to design a costume with a hood. Or, more likely, get someone else to design it for me, because I know squat about fashion design.

Rambling About Kyle And Wally

One of the things I enjoyed about Joe Kelly and Mark Waid's runs on JLA was Kyle Rayner and Wally West's friendship. While most of the team got along well enough, they seemed to be simply coworkers, while those two became buddies. What's nice is that it didn't start out that way, and instead grew over time.

Though it's been months since I read it last, I was thinking about JLA: New World Order, Morrison's opening arc on the book, and Wally's attitude towards Kyle in that one. Wally clearly doesn't like Kyle. When they go to the Hyperclan base in Mongolia, he gives Kyle grief about making him wait - for a whole three minutes. The look Porter gives Wally as he checks his watch seems disgusted rather than gently mocking or anything friendly. I know Wally's often impatient, but I can imagine he'd have done the same it if was J'onn or Diana. When he saves Kyle from the one Hyperclan member who throws his shield at Kyle, Wally hands him some more guff about having to save Kyle twice*. When things turn in favor of the heroes, Wally disses him for beating one of the Hyperclan by dropping a giant green anvil on him. Throughout all this, Kyle's trying to give as good as he's getting verbally, but 'Yeah? Kiss my ring, buddy.' is kind of weak sauce**.

The one that sticks with me is Wally telling Superman he has some problems with this kid calling himself Green Lantern. I'm not sure whether he means he doesn't like someone using the name Green Lantern, or he just doesn't like how this particular person is acting. I could see it either way. Devon Sanders' "Kyle Rayner: Adult!" posts back on Seven Hells! demonstrated Kyle was a dope sometimes (even being chastised for irresponsibility by Impulse once). I could see Wally not approving of how Kyle handles things, thinking he's got no business wielding the most powerful weapon in the universe.

But I wonder if it's more about anyone calling themselves Green Lantern after Hal Jordan's "death". Barry Allen was Wally's uncle, and Hal was Barry's best friend, and if remember that one issue of that Flash/Green Lantern mini-series Mark Waid did, Hal was kind of the "cool uncle" for Wally. While there were other Green Lanterns, at least one of which (Guy) was on a team with Wally, they weren't exactly taking over for Hal, just serving with him. Kyle took on the title after Hal pretty badly tarnished his rep, and didn't seem as though he'd get the opportunity to repair it.

Still, I'd expect Wally to be more understanding of Kyle's situation than most of the League, since he's the only one inheriting his title from someone else***. Maybe that's what helped them become friends later, Wally realizing however much of a goofball Kyle might seem, he does feel the weight he carries with the name Green Lantern. It's not the same weight Wally felt when he became the Flash, with people (including Wally) wondering if he could live up to Barry's legacy, but it's heavy all the same. I find it funny it would take Wally awhile to recognize the similarities in their situations, considering how fast he can think.

* The first time I assume being when the speedster Zum charged at them and Wally lead him off, but it's not like Kyle was twiddling his thumbs during all that. He was fighting two members of the Hyperclan while Wally was off circling the globe.

** Which makes sense. Wally can run though dozens of possible insults in his mind in an instant, before selecting the best one. Kyle has to throw out whichever one insult he can come up with in the same span of time.

*** Diana might also qualify, but I'm not sure if, at the time of New World Order, it had been added to DC lore that Hippolyta was Wonder Woman during World War 2. If so, there are two circumstances I might considering mitigating. One, Hippolyta didn't give up the mantle because she died, and took it up again when needed. Secondly, it's Diana, she's an understanding sort, so she'd recognize Kyle's struggle regardless. Not because she sees a similarity they have, but because that's who she is. Heck, she told Kyle in the first issue he could call her Diana, and she barely knew him then, but he was on the team and she probably figured it was a way to make him feel like he belonged.

Hal Has To Get Some Credit For That

Did Batman ever give Hal Jordan any credit for reigniting the Sun during Final Night? I know Batman was sort of down on Hal after he tried to erase the universe, so he could rebuild it how he wanted it.

I also remember a JSA story where some villain the Jim Corrigan Spectre dealt wth lead a revolt of all these souls the Spectre had condemned, and Hal was struggling to get them back under control. He ultimately did so by ignoring Reverend Cramer's advice to show compassion and free the souls from damnation, and instead chose to condemn them all over again. At the end, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott visit Gotham to discuss it with Batman, and they tell him Hal's still finding his way, and that he deserved a second chance. because this was a Batman written in the last 20 years, odds were good he'd be a dismissive ass to that suggestion, and lo and behold he was, claiming Hal already had a second chance, whatever that means*.

So clearly, Batman was not a big fan of Hal's over the last 15-20 years. Of course, they've made up since then, depending on who's writing the scene**. Still, even if Batman had legit reasons to be down on Hal back in the day, he can't deny that Hal Jordan saved the freaking planet by sorta dying to reignite the Sun. Hal did that. I think a "Thank you, Hal", would be in order. I would think Alfred would have taught him at least that much.

* Does he mean because Hal came back to life after he appeared to die in Zero Hour, and most people - say Thomas and Martha Wayne - don't get that chance, so screw Hal?

** So Geoff Johns has Hal tell Barry Allen that he and Bruce were friends, but James Robinson has Hal tell Oliver Queen he didn't like Bruce?

Cosmic Odyssey

I ordered one of those second printings of Cosmic Odyssey, because I'd heard some good things about it. It was alright, though it felt oddly paced, I think because, in what I'm assuming was meant to show all these events happening simultaneously, Starlin and Mignola keep hopping from one duo to another every few pages, and in some cases the handful of pages spent on say, Superman and Orion don't have them making much headway. It gives me this feeling that things are taking a very long time to play out, when they probably aren't. They can't be, since the Anti-Life Entities would be trying to work as fast as they could to clear the way for the Big Problem, so things would seemingly have to be happening quickly.

Starlin writes Starfire a little differently than I'm used to seeing. Mostly, he makes her less naive, where the current crop of writers tend to follow the model set by the Teen Titans cartoon (ignoring the fact that comic book Starfire's older than cartoon Starfire, has been on Earth awhile and would be less confused by Earth customs, or at least U.S. customs, since she spends the majority of her time there)*.

Also, I'm curious as to how Highfather and Darkseid came to have Etrigan in their possession**. Then again, he didn't appear to be in any condition to put up a fight, so if they could find him, it probably wasn't too hard.

I need to say something about Mignola's art, but I don't know that I can do it justice. I like that in the scene where they've gathered New genesis' requested "ambassadors", all the characters stand a little different, and Batman hangs back, so that even his mask is shadowed. There seems to be an alternation between white space between panels and black, I assume because the whole series is about various dualities, represented by the different characters. On a cursory glance though, I can't find a pattern to when the colors are used. He keeps panel layout pretty basic, no diagonal panels or anything like that, but I would say it works fine.

One thing I did not know was that this is the story where John Stewart screwed up and a planet was destroyed. I had always figured that was in a Green Lantern comic of some sort. Yet here it was, his arrogance destroying a world, though it's under questionable circumstances. He fails because the anti-life entity (or the host body its using) knows the ring is useless against yellow. How does it know that? No idea. I notice that the host (who created the bomb and painted it yellow) is dressed differently from the other natives of Xanshi. They're mostly depicted wearing robes, sort of vaguely Roman senate style, but the host is wearing pants and perhaps a polo shirt, plus glasses and rocking a lot of hair and a big beard.

I wonder, would that have described either Starlin or Mignola at the time this comic was created? Would that be a little joke, that the entity spread further than they thought, reaching the actual creative team, and taking advantage of their knowledge to guarantee success?

* Maybe I'm off base on that, though. I've never spent any time in a culture wildly different from mine, so maybe it takes many more years than Starfire's had to get comfortable with the everyday protocols of life in said culture.

** I'm always impressed with writers that can do the rhyming Etrigan and make it work, which I think Starlin does. It seems like it would be hard to write dialogue that actually makes sense, yet rhymes, especially when it's being uttered by a demon that's probably going to be describing horrible things.

A Game Redminding Us Of The Value Of Maintaining Supply Lines

Nowadays, when I'm not working, or doing any of the other myriad activities I while away the time with, I find some time to play some games. Having received a PS2 relatively recently (last couple of years), there's a massive game library out there for it, and I've been grabbing any game that looks good now, lest I not be able to find it later. So I'm in the cycle of trying to beat a dozen games simultaneously these days, so the progress I make is sometimes limited. And if the gameplay itself seems to be what's limiting me, well, that's not going to help my disposition.

Which brings me to Dark Cloud. At this point I've put in less than 5 hours on the game, but part of that owes to the beginning being frustrating. A genie flies over a village and nearly destroys everything, except some helpful, elderly fairy saves everyone and everything by storing them in giant capsules. For some reason, he then decided the best place to put said capsules was in a cave full of monsters. I guess senility is a problem for mystical creatures as well. I'm playing as the typical adolescent hero who winds up with the responsibility of venturing into said cave, recovering those capsules, and restoring the village. I imagine I'll eventually have to defeat the genie, but that's a long way off.

So into the cave/dungeon I go. Now, Dark Cloud does a few things I'm not really accustomed to. For one, health doesn't just decline when a monster smacks you. You have a thirst meter, and if you go too long without water, your health starts plummeting. There are springs scattered through the cave, but no guarantee there's one around when you need it*, so you have to bring water with you. Also, your weapon will gradually wear down with use. There's a helpful meter to warn you how close you are to that happening. If you aren't careful, the weapon breaks, and if you keep using it, the weapon is destroyed and lost forever. You can fix your weapons with Repair Powder, so in theory you can keep going.

The trick is, in the early going, you receive supplies from the mayor**. He only provides the bare minimum, so one bag of Repair Powder, maybe a single bottle of water. So once you run out, you have to leave, get him to cough up some more supplies, and then go back in. It's makes for a rather herky-jerky progress, as I find myself at times trying to avoid any fights while I search desperately for either a spring, or better yet the key to the next level so I can make a little more progress. I imagine my trail would look similar to early European exploration of the Great Plains: A bunch of excursions that travel out a little way, realize there's nothing to replenish supplies, and a hasty retreat back home.

So on the one hand, I think it's a nice touch, because those are things that an actual heroic explorer would have to concern themselves with, but on the other hand, it's a pain to actually deal with. Also, certain levels of the cave have special rules. So I've gained a partner, and one level specified that only she could be used. Other levels won't let you switch or repair weapons. Not really sure what the game designers thought that contributed.

For some reason I've yet to learn, a person I believe is from the future is trying to take the little device you used to open the capsules and restore the village. He's one of those "You're not worthy of it" types, which I guess makes me the Guy Gardner to his Parallax-influenced Hal. And this guy does switch from being calm to red-eyed and hyper-aggressive, so there's definitely some possession going on.

One nifty aspect of the game is that you're responsible for putting the town back together. You have all the pieces, so you put them where you like. That includes houses, trees, rivers, roads, etc. Once a house is placed, you can add the people that lived there (if you've found them), and talk to them about what their house needs, or get some ideas on how to rebuild the village. Though the ideas for the village usually involve things that only pertain to them, so one lady desn't want her house near the mayor's because he likes to tinker with inventions. I don't think you have to accomodate them, but you can if you'd like. If you can completely restore their houses, they'll give you a gift. I've already realized I'm not much of a city planner, and I'm starting to worry about how many more homes there can be, as space is growing scarce. I guess I'll just tear down the trees, fill in the pond, and dam up the river, and I'm sure that will solve all the problems forever. Who needs water and trees, right?

* Unrelated, but also irritating. Every time you visit a particular level of the cave, it's layout changes. So just because there was a spring there last time, doesn't mean there will be when you return.

** The Mayor is cheap. I've reached the point where I found the capsule containing the village trader, and his trading wagons, so he's set up shop. Now the Mayor won't hook me up at all, telling me I can't rely on him forever. Oh, well in that case, how about he goes in the damn cave and rescue his constituents?! He can't rely on me forever. The stingy bastard.

The More The I Hear About Him, The Less I Like Him

The statement above neatly sums up my feelings about both Brett Favre, and Hal Jordan. It isn't necessarily their fault; with Favre I'm mostly annoyed that he gets all this ridiculous leeway when he's been a mediocre or worse QB 3 out of the last 4 seasons. He's Jake Plummer with a marginally better arm! Yet coaches make these allowances for him, and now we've Ron Jaworski claiming Favre makes the Vikings the NFC's best team. Really, the guy that completely wore down at the end of the season last year, and is now a whole year older, and do we have any idea if he's in shape to play? But oh yeah, forget the Giants, Eagles, Panthers, Falcons, Buccaneers, Cardinals, none of those teams have the incomparable Pick Master on their team, so they are doomed to fall before the old Gunslinger. Pardon me for not quaking in my boots, but if this was Unforgiven, Favre would be more English Bob than William Munny.

With Hal, again, it may not be the character's fault. I was indifferent to him for a long time. Read a couple of his Silver Age adventures, they were OK. He went crazy, destroyed the Corps, then tried to recreate the universe? Eh, whatever. Gave his life restarting the sun? Well, that's a nice redemptive finish for him, good for him. Became the Spectre? Wait, we're hooking up the guy who went on a mad quest for more power, so he could make things how he wanted them, with the Spirit of Vengeance, one of the most powerful beings around? This seems ill-advised*. But he was just sort of there on the edge of my comic awareness, not interfering with my enjoyment of stuff, so no big deal.

Somehow, though, the more things seem to revolve around him, whether he's rounding up a team because he cries for justice, or it seems that every freaking one of these different Corps want him as part of the group, the more irritated I get with him. Maybe if he'd go away for awhile I'd better remember the good times. If I could think of one now, I'd mention it.

* Dying restarting the sun wasn't enough to redeem him? It feels like something out Angel, where the characters never stop paying for their past mistakes, they'll never balance the scales, which is horribly depressing.