What I Bought 12/1/2015 - Part 4

I tried to go to a comic book store I found out was not too far from here over the weekend. Just to look around. Its sign said it opened at 11:30. I hung around until 12:15, nobody showed up. There was a phone number, but what, I have to call the owner to get them to show up when their sign says they're supposed to be there? No.

Starfire #6, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Emanuela Lupacchino (penciler), Ray McCarthy (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Bit of a change from the earlier covers.

We learn a little more about Sol's lost love, Maria, who worked in the Coast Guard like him. That happens in some dream flashback, while Kori's busy saving him from Dr. Soren, nearly killing the doc in the process. It seems important that, when Kori saw more of the doctor's memories, she still didn't see him killing the entire crew of the cruise liner. As still more bad news, that bounty hunter arrived on Earth, and starts hurting and killing people while demanding they bring him Kori. She shows up - advantage of living on a relatively small island - and beats the guy's butt. Then she throws him back in his cryopod, and sets his ship to drift in deep space, where I'm sure he'll remain for the rest of his days. And since the issue started with a lost love, here's Dick Grayson, who must have had a stopover on a flight.

I had kind of expected the bounty hunter to be more of a problem than that. Which is the sort of thing I remember being an issue when I was buying Harley Quinn. How Conner and Palmiotti seemed to flit from one story to the next, without anything seeming to stick or have real impact. I expect that plotline will come up again. The Citadel will find him and send him back, or her sister will send someone else to find her, but nothing sticks. They could be going for this sort of madcap, whirlwind feel, where stuff just keeps happening, but the characters don't seem to be reacting to it, outside of Stella's brief freakout last issue. Which ends up making it hard for me to care.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Matt Digges, David Robbins, and Chip Zdarsky (trading card artists), Rico Renzi (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - I think Dr. Doom always improves covers. Sometimes you need a guy with a metal mask to spice things up, and nobody likes Iron Man.

Doreen is mysteriously transported back to the 1960s, which has caused everyone except Nancy to forget about her. Which is making it hard for Nancy to get any help rescuing Doreen, once she finds the note Doreen cleverly left her. Fortunately, Dr. Doom arrives, wearing Kraven's pants as a fringe on his cloak? I don't know what it is, but he definitely has something made of fur with black spots on, so you tell me. Our hero, meanwhile, has already met one other person stranded, and has embarked on a plan to try to find any others, through the power of newspapers! But it appears someone else is trying to alter the future, which is not good, I guess? I mean, Hank McCoy's already fouled things up pretty well, not sure someone introducing the Ipod will make much of a difference.

I kind of hate the sliding timescale sometimes. My first thought when Doreen starts explaining to that robber that superhumans do exist and Captain America isn't dead was that of course they do. Then I remembered Peter Parker wouldn't have been Spider-Man since the '60s in the Marvel Universe anymore. Kind of knocked me out of the story. Otherwise, I enjoyed this. Mary and Doreen commiserating over the lack of microwave pizzas (a problem that would certainly terrify me), and being called "cupcake" all the time (a problem I don't think I'd encounter). I don't share Doreen's enthusiasm for the fashions of the era, but I could probably have shortened that to, "I don't share Doreen's enthusiasm," and left it at that. I'm rarely an enthusiastic guy. Except about this comic! And some of the others I buy.

I really liked the nine-panel grid of Doreen's quest for money to place an ad. Henderson altered her style in a way to make it feel appropriately old-timey somehow. Maybe it was just the stern, mustachioed face of the newspaper advertiser, but it felt a little, Tintin-ish, is the best comp I can come up with. I also enjoy that Tippy is extremely concerned about potentially altering the future, while Doreen pretty much blows it off.

And "Mr. Fantastic" is a much dumber name than "Deathlok", if for no other reason than I'm pretty sure none of the Deathloks named themselves that, while Reed absolutely felt like fluffing his ego a little more was the way to go.

What I Bought 10/20/2015 - Part 1

Six books for four weeks. And four of those books came out last week. It's a slow, sad time here, but oh well, make do with what we have. Quality, not quantity, I hope.

Harley Quinn and Power Girl #4, by Amanda Conner, Justin Gray, and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Stephane Roux (artist, pages 10-22), Elliot Fernandez (artist, pages 1-9), Paul Mounts with Alex Sinclair (colorists, Sinclair for pages 18-20), Marilyn Patrizio (letterers) - In another second, Power Girl will open her eyes, realize she was only dreaming about (insert character of your choice), and throw up in Vartox' facial hair.

Evil Vartox appears to have Power Girl on the ropes, only to be freed of the mind control by the purring of a caticorn that decided it liked Harley because she lured out a giant, carnivorous fish for it to eat. Vartox tries to explain where he knows Power Girl from, though no one bothers to explain to him this isn't that Power Girl. Oreth Odeox arrives with his gun-toting space nuns, which accomplish nothing, though he does blast Vartox' clothes off, which is much more an impediment to the bad guy than to Vartox. All seems well, but a force called the Harvester of Sorrows is about to arrive, and that will probably be bad.

Back when Annihilation: Super-Skrull was going on '06, someone explained to me Harvester of Sorrows is a reference to a Metallica song. it was used to refer to a planet-destroying weapon there, and I assume it'll be much the same here, though probably a much sillier one, given the tone of this series. Having both Power Girl and Harley to interact with Vartox is a good plan, since Peeg tends to be disgusted with him constantly, whereas Harley just keeps egging him on. It's a bit different to have a character who pretty much encourages Vartox to be himself at all times, but if anything, she's pushing him to be more Vartoxish than normal. And he's the sort who doesn't need much pushing on that score.

This was a fairly good issue, maybe because I felt like it tried moving the story forward a little more, instead of wasting so much time on drug hallucination sequences. Not that there's much of a plot, but at paying lip service to it is nice. I still wouldn't say any of the jokes made me laugh, though some of the expressions Roux gives Vartox are pretty great. His big grin when Harley compliments his "evil" wardrobe, and his haughty look when he's lecturing Oreth while wearing no clothes in particular. Power Girl said Harley had no shame, she just as easily could have been speaking of Vartox.

Starfire #5, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Emanuela Lupacchino (pencils), Ray McCarthy (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), Tom Napolitano (letters) - I notice the rest of the sea life as unsure of how they feel about what's happening as I was. Good to know.

Kori has some drinks with the killer guy, they trade toasts, she touches his hand, and someone gets a flashback of his life. Wherein we learn he was a doctor with the power to cure cancer, except it made the tumor in his head grow, which eventually made him the crazy serial killer he is now. He flees, Kori doesn't follow, and isn't sure whether she should tell the sheriff. About the serial killer. Kori, you're an immigrant, not an idiot, c'mon now. The guy her sister hired to find her is approached by the Citadel, who want Kori dead, and they captured the guy's wife and kid. The guy agrees, but only after blowing up one of the Citadel's ships, which might have had said wife and kid. O-kay. Little nuts, though I did appreciate his wife's smirk after the Citadel guys started freaking out. I guess you don't marry a dude like that unless you're prepared for that sort of thing.

Back on earth, Kori goes to her interview at the aquarium, but a lack of experience leaves her out of luck. Isn't that always the way? You need experience to get the job, but need the job to get experience. Anyway, Kori does wind up getting the job, because the bounty hunter guy shows up and kills all the other applicants. I'm JOKING! Actually, she makes out with a sad dolphin so she can speak its language and find out why it's sad. The ability to communicate with sea life gets her the job. There's a big party, the sheriff seems to have been roped into Kori and Atlee's trip to visit Atlee's home (whenever that happens), but when Kori gets home, she finds Dr. Killer waiting, having already attacked the sheriff's brother. Oh, and one of those jewels she had was an egg, and hatched into a star-thing that flew off. It spoke in musical notes, so maybe it's from the same sector as that one Green Lantern? Probably not.

So the dolphin thing. It seems weird, but I know this is because I associate kissing as primarily a romantic thing - and not something done with animals - whereas it isn't that necessarily for Kori. It has been at times - I'm pretty sure she wasn't kissing Boone in issue 1 just to learn 'more English' - but that needn't always be the case. So I wonder if this wasn't Conner and Palmiotti trying to drive that point home in a particularly direct fashion. She wanted to communicate with the dolphin, that would enable her to do so, so she did it. Still, not something I was expecting to read in a comic this week.

There are certain panels where Kori's hair looks like something Lupacchino drew separately, then cut and pasted into place. Note I'm not saying he isn't drawing it, just that there's something about it that makes it note seem to be part of the same picture. Like the hair and her face aren't interacting like they should. The panel on page 3 where she makes her toast in particular. Something about the color of the hair (which I guess would be more Hi-Fi's doing than Lupacchino's), or especially the dark line around the outside boundary of her hair compared to all the lines inside the mass of her hair, just really make it feel like it came from something else. Of course, the dark line might be McCarthy's doing, in which case I need to stop blaming Lupacchino. So someone on the art side of things is making Kori's hair look out of place.

What I Bought 9/15/2015 - Part 1

Didn't even have to wait for Wednesday last week to pick up the previous three weeks' comics, since nothing came out for me last week. Five books total, 4 of those from the week of the 9th. And I'm only expecting two books total this week and the next. At least Squirrel Girl starts again next month.

Starfire #4, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Emanuela Lupacchino (pencilers), Mirco Pierfederici (pencil assists), Ray McCarthy and Trevor Scott (inkers), Hi-Fi (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Kori looks a little puffier in the cheeks than normal. It's Tamaranean mumps! Which probably causes Earthlings to pop like a balloon, so the street cleaners are gonna have a bad time of it.

Kori and Atlee deal with the Chida, by having Atlee hurl it to the sea, and then Kori blasts it until it grows so large it breaks through a weak spot in the sea floor and sinks in. Atlee also explains why the Chida's after her - she wouldn't marry his boss as arranged - and her origin, which does still include Power Girl being her best friend, which makes me wonder if that's why Atlee added a boob window to her costume, because her old one had a v-neck collar. Even so, I was glad to see they kept that friendship.

Kori and Atlee get really excited about both having super-powers, which kind of freaks the sheriff out, since she's concerned having superheroes around will get the town destroyed. That argument doesn't make much of an impression on the girls, but perhaps this Soren fellow, telepathic serial killer, will cause a reassessment. And it seems Kori's sister has hired someone to find her, which is certainly played as ominous. Her sister stays mostly in shadows, the guy she hires is a trained killer, she won't explain why she wants to find Kori (though it makes sense a ruler wouldn't feel it necessary to explain herself to a hireling). Which makes me suspect Conner and Palmiotti might make this into something relatively benign, just to mess with our expectations.

The biggest issue I continue to have is my uncertainty whether Lupacchino's art fits the tone of the book. Kori here seems very heavily drawn from Teen Titans Go! in terms of personality, but whereas the animation on that show doesn't really sexualize her, I don't know think you can say the same about the art here. Of course, Conner and Palmiotti have pretty much every character notice or comment on how attractive she is. The characterization puts me in mind of a much younger character, which clashes with that.visual presentation. I know Kori was portrayed as naive about Earth from her earliest appearances, but her she initially ignores the part she's supposed to play in Atlee's plan, to listen to Atlee explain why the Chida's after her. It's supposed to be a joke, but it does feel more like something a child would do. Lupacchino seemed to favor having characters place both hands along their face, in some expression of glee or surprise, but it just looks odd. I especially didn't buy it with Atlee, because her face doesn't really match the body language. It's trying for extreme excitement, but doesn't get there. It doesn't help her eyes are drawn looking at us, rather than Kori. That actually makes it a bit creepy. Anyway, there's a conflict there I'm struggling to resolve, but I'm not sure how that's going to happen.

Mrs. Deadpool and Her Howling Commandos #4, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Salva Espin (artist), Val Staples (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - It's the little touches in that cover. Frankenstein wearing the wizard's cape from last issue, Man-Thing with the flower growing out of his head.

I was wrong about Dracula killing everyone last issue. He killed everyone, except a fair number of his vampire minions. Shiklah spends too much time gloating about having a magic scepter with the power of starlight, and not enough killing Dracula with it. It turns into a scramble for the scepter, which kills the Commandos, save Man-Thing, and ends with Dracula seemingly triumphant. Wade finally gets involved and possesses a minion, tosses the scepter to Shiklah, she finally kills Dracula and vows to conquer the surface world. Then she and her followers are killed by the Thor Cops. The end.

That was a flat ending. The Commandos went out like a bunch of chumps. The series introduced Marcus the centaur as an unbeatable warrior (except for his diabetes), and Drac casually beheaded him in one panel. She decides to wage war on the surface world - and it goes worse for her than it ever has for Namor. Was it a lesson about overreach, or had Duggan simply written Shiklah as preparing to conquer the above world at the end of the last Deadpool series, and decided to nod towards it here? There are a lot of stories where the main character quests for some item, finds it, takes their revenge, and all ends well. Here it seems like that up to a point, and then we find out it went downhill because just finding a magic doohickey doesn't mean every decision is a good one. I'm just spitballing, trying to understand. Duggan probably just thought it was funny to end an ultimately meaningless story like this.

So neither book was exactly a winner. Friday's selections will be better.

What I Bought 8/19/2015 - Part 2

Comics Alliance had a poll up to see what were people's favorites out of Marvel's many, many events over the last decade. I naturally voted (repeatedly) for Annihilation, which is at least running second. Of course, it's second to Civil War, and the next is House of M. No accounting for taste, I guess. At least World War Hulk pulled ahead of Infinity.

Harley Quinn and Power Girl #3, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Stephane Roux (artist, pgs. 1-7, 12-19), Moritat (artist, 8-11), Elliot Fernandez (artist, 20-22), Paul Mounts (colorist), John J. Hill (letterer) - I keep thinking that cover reminds me of a different one, but I can't recall which. I'm probably just thinking of all those covers with one hero unconscious and held by their cape, while another rushes to the rescue. That's not an uncommon type.

Our heroines reach their destination, and are immediately attacked by another space armada. They fend that off, then spend 4 pages on a drug trip thanks to Groovicus Mellow. About the time they come down from that, Vartox shows up, and Power Girl has to start fighting him. I'm starting to think this would have been better served as a 4-issue mini-series. I know the creative team is mostly just screwing around with this whole thing, there isn't any particular point to it, but it was a little too obvious here. Or maybe it doesn't work because all the Hunter S. Thompson stuff is lost on me. The closest I've ever gotten to his work is either those articles he wrote on ESPN's Page 2 in the early 2000s, or the X-Play episode where Sessler dresses up as him while he and Morgan Webb seek the fabled burial ground of Atari E.T. games. I'm still not sure if the bald guy with glasses who showed up as the ladies shook off the effects was supposed to be Thompson or Grant Morrison. I'm thinking Morrison, given the nice suit and lack of a hat, but hell if I know.

I may not have cared about the "montage homage", but Moritat and Paul Mounts did a good job drawing it. Moritat's draws Harley and Peej with a simplified looseness, it somehow suggests their faces could radically alter shape any moment, but they're still easily recognizable. Mellow's face doesn't do this as much, but you could at least argue that he has a higher tolerance from repeated exposure to starflower pollen. Mounts gives everything this sort of oversaturated feel, where there are these purples and greens that are all over the characters, even in the shadows. It works for them being in this haze, the grip of the drug, and so it colors everything. There's definite skill at work, I just didn't engage with it in terms of being sucked in.

Starfire #3, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Emanuela Lupacchino (pencils), Ray McCarthy (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), Tom Napolitano (letters) - Nothing worse than being pursued by a giant, slobbering creature, who has your name written on its face. Everyone will just assume you bullied it, and so you deserve to get eaten.

The hurricane has passed, and the island tries to pick up pieces, and Kori starts moving into her new place, Stella and her brother's guest house. This is interrupted by a cruise liner crashing into the harbor. We had seen it pick up some poor shipwrecked guy, who is actually some sort of serial killer with mind powers. By the time Stella and Kori get on the ship, he's nowhere to be seen, and only one member of the crew is left. Since the ship is a crime scene now, Stella asks Kori to wait at a bar nearby, where every guy is interested in her, and she gets some advice from a helpful waitress. Then a monster that kind of looks like he's made of magma shows up, Kori assumes it's after her, but it's actually after the waitress, who is Power Girl's old friend Atlee (I don't know if she uses Terra as a codename).

I understand Conner and Palmiotti are playing up Starfire's lack of familiarity with Earth, but sometimes I think they take it too far. She spent time around other species while she was a prisoner. She lead them in a revolt/escape. She's had other adventures along the way. It seems strange to me she hasn't previously encountered things like sarcasm, greed, or police forces, or whatever. I'm not certain she needs to be this much a fish out of water, to the point she seemingly needs everything explained to her by everyone. Which is too bad, because the idea of Atlee getting to be the voice of experience is a nice potential switch for her, but I feel like it leaves Kori once again in the position of needing to be led by someone else. Maybe it won't turn out that way. Kori clearly knows things, she said she could build one of those weather controlling machines, so she isn't an idiot. Hopefully she'll get a chance to show off some of her knowledge and experience. I do like the fact Stella, even though she sends Kori away, asks her to stay nearby, just in case.

I did wonder how Kori was in her skirt and blouse when she met saw Stella running, but was in her costume by the time she flew Stella to the dock. She couldn't have been wearing it underneath, and it wouldn't have saved time to go back and change, then fly. On the other hand, Lupacchino did remember to draw six toes on the polydactyl cat, and the expressions on the faces of all Kori's possible suitors at the bar were well done. There are times Lupacchino's work seems kind of flat, the expressions are blank, or I can't shake the feeling a face is partially photo-referenced. When he loosens up, gets a little more exaggerated, I think it's an improvement, fits better with the tone. I mean, a bunch of guys and gals all buying drinks for Kori and being interested in her could be played as creepy, but it isn't playing it that way. It's a gag, everyone is attracted to her to the point she gets a ludicrous number of drinks. Everyone has little hearts above their heads, that one guy is sitting backwards in his chair with the classic "totally smitten" pose of resting his head on both hands (which are positioned on either side of his face), with a big smile. Even the cat is waving shyly. And that's a fairly normal tone for this book. Loosening up some might fit better, or at least carry the jokes farther.

What I Bought 7/22/2015 - Part 1

As promised, I ventured to the store and purchased comics, obtaining most of the ones I sought. They were missing a couple, but I’ll find those somewhere else and tack their reviews on later, maybe next week.

Harley Quinn and Power Girl #2, by Amanda Conner, Justin Gray, and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Stephane Roux (artist, pages 1-18), Elliot Fernandez (artist, pgs. 19-22), Paul Mounts (colorist, pgs. 1-18), Alex Sinclair (colorist, pgs. 19-22), John J. Hill (letterer) – Harley, you’re partially obscuring Peej’s boob window! How is she supposed to distract these guys when you do that? I guess she could just punch them without them being distracted first. Seems inefficient, though.

That’s what she spends most of the issue doing, trying to smash Oreth’s considerable army, while Harley flees from a cheerful killbot out to sew her orifices together. While Harley succeeds in transforming her foe into a cheerful pile of rabbit-shaped robot junk, Peej is overwhelmed by numbers, until a super-powered strike team of Vartox’ exes arrive to lend a hand. This team tends to bicker a lot and pointlessly shout their names, so it’s pretty much the ‘70s X-Men (albeit dressed more like the Mike Grell-drawn Legion of Super-Heroes). At least they don’t constantly describe their powers out loud. Harley shows up with a spaceship so they can rescue Vartox, who is busy being transformed into something by Oreth.

I’m guessing the chief bad guy is going to wind up have a lot of repressed urges he needs help getting in touch with. Good thing Harley’s a licensed psychiatrist. I was just joking about that, but I could see that being how this problem is handled, with liberal doses of trying to smash the problem with a hammer thrown in. Because it’s still not at all serious, from Power Girl telling Harley not to blow anything up, especially crap (and Harley didn’t blow anything up), to the XGF arguing about whether the one guy on the team should even be there, and him arguing that calling it an Ex-Girlfriend Force isn’t fair to him. Peej’s expression in that panel is great. She has her eyes shut and this sour expression, and you can tell she’s about to start hitting people if they don’t change the subject.

It does highlight a difference between pre- and post-Flashpoint DC. I think pre-Flashpoint Power Girl would have been exasperated, but she’d have rolled with the absurdity of all this, whereas this Power Girl just seems massively frustrated by everything about this world. Part of that is the old Peej had met Vartox, so she’d at least have context for some of these comments. But in general, she seemed at least a little more inclined to accept things were odd and enjoy it. Current Power Girl is a little more focused, but consequently much more easily aggravated by distractions.

Starfire #2, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Emanuela Lupacchino (pencils), Ray McCarthy (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), Tom Napolitano (letters) – And on that day, Starfire learned parrots don’t like it when you try to remove their feathers to clean them.

Kori gets an introduction to severe Earth weather as the hurricane hits the island. She manages to get her landlord and her grandson to the school where everyone is hunkering down, then gets plastered with a big sign, which knocks her into some odd fellow’s bathroom, where he is hunkered down. He (and his pugs) go with her, but only because the Sun Goddess told him the Mistress of the Winds would be coming. I can’t tell if that’s going to be significant later, or if he’s just a random oddball Kori meets once. Sheriff Stella’s brother heads out in the middle of all this to try and rescue a couple in a busted boat, and they all get sunk. Fortunately the sheriff found Kori, and after a brief detour to rescue that freaking parrot again, Kori heads out and rescues them all, though it was a bit of a near thing with Gabe, who is possibly smitten with his rescuer. The storm passes, families are reunited, but Kori’s new home is destroyed. Wow, that didn’t take long, and this is why I don’t have much interest in living in coastal regions. Also, some odd thing crawled out a hole in the ground, looking for someone, and he at some poor guy with really obvious tan lines on his arms and legs. Possibly even worse than mine, which is impressive. Nice touch there by Hi-Fi, I assume.

One thing that concerned me about Conner and Palmiotti’s writing on Harley Quinn was that at times they seemed to just be throwing everything they can think of at the wall. The end result is that there are so many different things and characters around, most of them don’t really get developed. It still works to an extent there, because the title character is so scattershot herself, but I’m hoping a similar approach isn’t going to be taken here. Now that Kori isn’t going to be living at the trailer park, will we see Tina and Boone again, or is their part in the story done already? It’s too early to say for sure, and I feel pretty confident Stella and her brother will be regulars in the book, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

I’m curious how they did the rain in this issue. It’s a bunch of thin white lines, and so I don’t know if that’s something Hi-Fi did, or if Lupacchino drew all those in over the rest of the art, and it was understood not to color those in. In the places where they overlap other linework (a person’s hand for instance), you can still see that linework, but sort of faded. So maybe it’s not about not coloring those spaces in, but coloring them in with white? I don’t know, it was just something I noticed on the two-page splash on pages 2 and 3, and it got me wondering. I will say the characters don’t look like they’re inhabiting the same space as the hurricane. I feel like their clothes, and especially their hair, ought to be showing more effects from being in this storm. I’ve been drenched to the skin plenty of times in storms that are likely nowhere near as fierce as what those characters are supposed to be experiencing, and clothes sit differently on you in those situations. OK, Kori’s wearing some alien fabric, and she’s solar-powered, so maybe it’s different for her, but that doesn’t explain all the Earth folk. I mean, the poor joker who gets killed by the subterranean creature is wearing a shirt that ought to be clinging to him by the time he died, you know?

What I Bought 6/12/2015 - Part 2

Poison ivy is an awful thing. Not the worst thing - I still hate ticks quite a bit more - but an awful thing, nonetheless. One more offering from the revamped(?) DC, plus a book from Marvel I already know I like.

Starfire #1, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Emanuela Lupacchino (pencils), Ray McCarthy (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), Tom Napolitano (letters) – Seems as good a place as any to mention that I’m not sure how, but Kori’s new outfit seems to cover more when Conner draws it than Lupacchino. But when I look back and forth between the two, it seems to end at roughly the same places. I’ve decided either the perspective we’re seeing Kori from on the cover is giving the appearance of shortening her, or Lupacchino gives her a longer torso.

I haven’t loved Conner and Palmiotti’s Harley Quinn, but it’s had its moments, and I do like Starfire, so what the heck. Kori’s settled in Key West, for some reason, and sought the advice of the sheriff, Stella Gomez, in finding a home and employment, for some reason. The Sheriff helps her get some money (by selling some gems Kori found when she was escaping her captors out in space), and finds her a trailer, just as a hurricane comes along to destroy everything.

Palmiotti and Conner seem to be keeping it deliberately vague as to how much of Kori’s history in the new 52 is in play. She didn’t mention the Titans, or her time working with Jason Todd and Roy Harper, but alluded to having many other adventures, so I guess they wanted to leave those doors open. Fair enough. In personality, she’s reminiscent of her portrayal on the Teen Titans’ cartoons. Unfamiliar with Earth customs and colloquialisms, very literal, very eager to make friends and empathize with others, open with her emotions. She hasn’t demonstrated a temper yet, but we’ll see if that emerges in time. I definitely approve of the effort to establish a supporting cast of characters in the various townspeople (something they’ve made a solid effort with in Harley’s book as well).  The Sheriff, for one, but also Boone and his grandmother (who owns the trailer), Benji who owns a jewelry store (which I’m sure will be robbed, the sheriff’s brother Sol (who’s with the Coast Guard and nursing a broken heart). We’ll what the creative team does with them, but I’m never going to criticize the attempt to build a supporting cast.

Lupacchino’s art is good, though I honestly expected something a little more exaggerated for this book, given the writers. Of course, I thought the same thing about Harley Quinn, and Chad Hardin seems to have loosened his lines up over time, so we’ll see. There are already the thought balloons for Kori, where we see how she interprets various Earth phrases Those aren’t more exaggerated, just kind of silly, which is OK . Kori certainly looks attractive (Lupacchino’s art reminds me of the Dodsons, at least in the faces and hair), and I like the fact her hair is always trailing energy. It’s a nice visual, implies her free-spirited nature, and also how much power she has at her disposal.

I can’t decide how gratuitous the panel of her in the shower was. It was just the one panel, but yeah, it was probably pretty gratuitous. At least the way she was standing seemed anatomically possible, and the whole scene was sort of in keeping with the “not from around here theme”. Unrelated to that, I did laugh at her introduction to Boone, and his explaining to his grandma that Kori can learn languages through kissing. When the Sheriff points out Kori already knows English, she promptly replies she hoped to learn more English. I thought that was a good response. After all, Boone probably has an accent and all sorts of phrases Kori wouldn’t know. How does that power work anyway? Never mind.

It wasn’t a spectacular first issue, but I’m willing to give it some time, see where things go.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Eloise Narrington (trading card artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) – Before I saw it was Koi Boi, I thought Invincible had wandered over from the Imageverse again, like when he teamed up with Spider-Man, and that made me scared. The last thing this book needs is a visit from Robert Kirkman’s hyper-violent superheroverse. On the other hand, she should definitely add Niels and the Invisible Woman to her team, Niels because Nancy would like him, and he’d be a friend for Mew, the Invisible Woman, just because. And just say no to Joe Quesada, Niels might attack him on pure reflex, anyway. Then he’d get put down as a vicious animal, and Speedball would turn into Penance again.

Squirrel Girl’s reward for stopping that bank robbery is to have to guard it for a week while they repair the hole she made in the wall. Then Hippo the Hippo (an ordinary hippo hit by strange energies and turned into a hippo-humanoid) comes along to rob the bank, and S.G.’s attempt to stop him is interrupted by Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boi, the former making many terrible jokes and puns, the latter uttering some truly cheesy superhero dialogue. ‘Who would think the only thing I couldn’t punch. . . was his heart?’ I would have thought that, because you are a small human being, and he is an angry hippo. I bet you can’t punch his small intestine, either.

Anyway, Squirrel Girl deflects Hippo’s attempt at carrying off an entire bank to pay his food bills by helping him to find employment, and it turns out all the heroes know each other, as Chipmunk Hunk is actually Tomas, who Doreen met on her first day. This is all very well and good, but Nancy feels left out as the only one who can’t speak to animals. So Doreen takes her to the zoo, on the theory Nancy simply hasn’t met the animal she can speak to yet. This doesn’t work, and then a group of lions escape their enclosure only to be stopped by Girl Squirrel. A squirrel dressed like a girl, who is an instant hit online (and steals Doreen’s catch phrase about eating nuts and kicking butts). Doreen is suspicious of this squirrel, and with good reason, as that night it sneaks into apartments all over New York, whispering in people’s ears, and causing them to go on violent rampages when the awake. Including some of the super-heroes. All right, hero versus hero fight! Beat up Cyclops first, Doreen! And last! And all the times in between those! Except for when you’re punching Tony Stark!

I really liked this issue, from Doreen not knowing whether to introduce herself when a bunch of heroes get together, to Nancy’s theory about the ineffectiveness of the Squirrel suit for people without super-strength, to Erica drawing Chipmunk Hun with the Tuxedo Mask-style background full of roses. The part I laughed at the hardest was Hippo’s card in the Deadpool Guide to Super-Villains. Not because of any of the text, just for how grumpy he looks on the card. “Rrrrr, yeah, I’m wearing a plain white tank top. You know why? Because you can buy them cheap in bulk, and I don’t have any money! THAT’S WHY I’M ROBBING THIS BANK!” Large, grumpy animals amuse me, apparently. As long as they aren’t trampling me. Good work on that trading card, Eloise Narrington! I’m still laughing out loud picturing his grumpy face as I type. My brain may have been more cooked by the sun than I initially suspected.

Playing Off The Idea Of Robin As The Intersection Of Batman And Superman

This first occurred to me after reading Scipio's post from March 26th about Superman being essentially a circus performer, while Batman is more representative of the theater. At the end, he brings up how Dick Grayson, as Robin, represents an intersection of the two This isn't the first time I've read someone discussing that (though it was the first time in the context of theater vs. circus), but it set my mind to thinking about Grayson a bit, and I wound up wondering whether his romantic partners are intentionally following this pattern.

(I should point out, this is going to follow pre-relaunch continuity, at least as far as I understand it, because I don't know what's in play in the New 52.)

From my perspective, it seems like Robin/Nightwing's two primary love interests have been Barbara Gordon (as Oracle), and Princess Koriand'r (Starfire). One is an Earthling with the will to use her brilliant mind as a weapon against crime, as well as to train herself physically to be a more than capable combatant (even without the use of her legs, Oracle was far from helpless). The other is an extraterrestrial with considerable physical power (drawn from stars, no less) from a world that has been destroyed. Admittedly, not when she was a baby, and it was sort of restored by Vril Dox getting Rann Zeta Beamed to its orbit, Maybe it would be better to say Tamaran has been lost to Starfire at times.

Barbara has some of Batman's control issues, though she lightened up from the early days of Birds of Prey. Back then, she knew everything about Black Canary, but Dinah had no idea who this "Oracle" person  getting her to risk her neck was, and Barbara was fairly threatening at times to Ted Kord when they were messaging each other without either really knowing who the other was. I think Barbara tends to be more reserved, where Starfire has historically been open with her emotions. If you're her friend, she tells you. If she loves you, she'll say so. If she hates you, you won't be unclear on that fact. Superman's probably not as open with his emotions as Kori, but he's certainly not as stingy as Bruce. He never made any secret of Jimmy Olsen being his best pal, or that he cared deeply for Lois Lane. It's interesting that his openness with his emotions is apparently a product of his adopted homeworld, while Kori's is from the world of her birth (I think Superman would have been fine expressing emotion if he'd grown up on Silver Age Krypton).

Following Scipio's circus/theater idea, Starfire could certainly fit in the circus. She's a what, 6 foot 6 inch tall woman who is bright orange, in a fairly scant, purple outfit, who has flames/energy trail from her hair when she flies. She's going to be noticed, and her powers are very showy. Flight (with the aforementioned flame trail), super-strength, energy blasts. If she's not the strongwoman at the circus, she's probably the fire-eater or someone to that effect.

I'm tempted to say Oracle is more a director than actor, given her preference to stay off-stage and give orders to others. But she does get on stage occasionally, and it's a big deal when it happens (if Oracle's in the field, or her headquarters is under attack, the reader knows things are serious). She isn't necessarily physically dramatic in the way the Bat is with his swoopy cape and vanishing into shadows, but she's a capable dramatic presence. Her ability to locate people, breach all their defenses, learn everything about them, then use what she's learned in the most effective way possible, all that can have great effect. Imagine you're some villain. You think you've escaped from your latest heist to your quiet hideaway, but when you check your hidden accounts online, they've been drained. Then you hear sirens. Then you realize someone gained control of your security measures, and used your own cameras to see when you got home and sicced the law on you. You can escape, but you have to leave everything behind, run blindly into the night, and the most you might have to go on is that avatar Oracle used. Some computerized image no one has been able to learn anything about, except now you know she can get to you anytime she wants. First she's going to make you squirm. That's pretty theatrical.

(I'm not sure how to square Barbara's time as Batgirl into this. She certainly still has the theatricality, , but like Robin, she's more bright and showy than the Bat. Then again, I'm not clear on whether she and Grayson were together while she was Batgirl prior to the relaunch. My feeling is no, but there was a Nightwing Annual Marc Andreyko wrote that I think suggested otherwise, so I'm confused on that point.)

Given the number of writers and the years involved, I'd be inclined to say coincidence, but I don't know. It lines up so well to me. I'd love to hear your thoughts, because anytime I start trying to draw conclusions from the histories of DC characters, I feel like I must be missing a lot.

Reflections #9 - Teen Titans #34

First off, the Comics and Gaming Expo 2006 that I mentioned in my February 9th post kicks off with Gaming Day tomorrow, starting at noon. Sunday is Comics Day, starts at eleven. The link has more info, if you're in the area this weekend, show up. Come on *kicks your tires*. Probably have some convention related posts this weekend, but for now, on to Teen Titans #34!

I miss Starfire.

I think it was Jack who said that with Grayson's proposal to Barbara Gordon, Starfire had no reason to be on Earth, since she couldn't win his heart (this is his interpretation of DC Editorial's thinking). Screw that, especially since that appears to have fallen through and Grayson is a big old whore, even more than Daredevil, Hawkeye, or Green Arrow since Kevin Smith brought him (say what you will about Ollie being a chauvinist, back in the day he knew how good he had it with Dinah, and he didn't step around on her), and that says something. Not that I want Starfire with Nightwing anyway, who knows what Earth "social" diseases might be communicable to Tamaranians. Still, of all the team members not there One Year Later, she's the one who most needs to be, and has the least reason to not be there, from my standpoint.

I can see Mia going off with Connor somewhere, maybe because they feel they make Ollie vulnerable after Dr. Light went after them, maybe because they fell in love, I don't know.

Beast Boy joining the Doom Patrol, sure whatever. I'd say that was pretty much ordained since since Superboy-Prime altered reality by punching his way out of Speedy's 'Space-Filler' Arrow, and the original(?) Doom Patrol returned.

Raven retires after Beast Boy breaks her heart? Yeah I'm editorializing, but Gar usually comes off as a wannabe player that can't be too serious, so I'm sure it's his fault. Hopefully she's going to school, I'd be satisfied with that.

I am surprised Bart semi-retired. He seemed so determined to be the best hero he could be to pick up the mantle of the Flash, not from Wally, but from Barry (at least, that's how it seemed to me), that for him to walk away from it seems odd. But, maybe being in the Speed Force aged him a lot somehow (like older than Jay Garrick) and that's why he retired. Maybe all the death overwhelmed him. Maybe he still hasn't come back. He probably should still be there though. Teen Titans needs at least one romantic conflict, and Bart/Rose has already been foretold as a great tragedy, so let's see it. Come on *kicks tires*.

Cassandra's reason for not being on Robin's team makes perfect sense to me. Tim ditched her; why the hell should she be there when he asks? She's Ares' champion; I don't think he's known for forgiveness.

I'm real glad Cyborg is on the team, but I feel like Starfire needs to be there as his counter.

Under more normal circumstances, I saw Cyborg as the sort of calm, steady, tactical leader, the one who gave the pat on the back or the consoling word when it was needed. When Speedy joined the team and hit Cyborg with a cryonic arrow because she thought he'd gone out of control, Vic convinced her it was no big deal, that he wasn't angry or anything. He was the one who helped to feel like she could belong here, if she wanted to.

Starfire was the more emotional, firey one, perhaps a little more devious. She was also the one that was going to give someone a kick in the butt if they needed it. At the start of the series, she got on Impulse because he'd zipped around and saved a few people, and seemed satisfied with that. Starfire was the one who told him to stop standing around and help, try to push him to do more.

Being part machine placed some limits on Cyborg, being highly emotional did the same to Starfire. Put them together, they provide a nice compliment to each other. And really, I think that's what I would have liked to have seen in this issue. Starfire being there when Vic woke up, someone he's known and trusted for a long time. I know that would have ruined the "shock" effect that Johns was going for, Cyborg being as surprised at his teammates as we were, but it seems like, right now, the team is lacking something. Right now, there isn't anyone on the team I think Cyborg regards as his equal except Tim, and while Tim has the deviousness going for him, emotional, not so much. I guess maybe Johns plans to make Vic the emotional one during this period of adjustment, but even then, you could have Starfire reverse roles and play the calm consoler for her friend.

I feel kind of bad, dumping on the book after just one issue. They haven't convinced Wonder Girl to rejoin yet, we haven't even seen what they can do in combat. Maybe the threat of a brain in a can will impress the hell out of me. Still, the whole thing just feels "off" to me, and what's a blog if not a great place for me to vent? Normally, with a character I know zip about, I'm intrigued, see Chamber in Joe Casey's run on Uncanny X-Men. For whatever reason, Kid Devil isn't doing that for me. I have no idea why; he's a demon-thing, breathes fire, why is this not exciting me? I know why I'm against Ravager, she's connected to Slade, and those people always wind up going crazy and screwing over the team (see Terra, Jericho). And given that they've pushed Robin possibly well into and possibly beyond Batman territory, he might as well just spend his time in Gotham and leave it at that. I don't even know what to say about Marvin and Wendy. "Die slowly and painfully", perhaps?

It's funny; Robin did a really good job getting my attention coming out of the gate, in a positive way. I got my fingers crossed (figuratively) that Teen Titans #35 will do that.

Random Comic Thoughts from this Week's titles

Blech. I need a better name for this than that mess. Maybe it should fall under "Things I think About". Oh well. Just some questions and random impressions from the week, now that I got that whole "mutant" thing out of my system:

1) I'm worried Starfire won't survive Infinite Crisis. I glanced through what I think was the most recent Outsiders. Her sister, who I take it doesn't like her any better in the comic than she does in the cartoon, is there, extra powerful and looking unfriendly. I hope I'm wrong, because I would really like to see Starfire in Teen Titans when One Year Later kicks off. Nightwing doesn't seem to be in a bad place (at least if IC is to be believed) and that was the whole reason she left the Titans, to keep an eye on him. I guess I'm just paranoid. I start thinking Batgirl might be OK, so now I'm thinking "Which other character I like is DC gonna take instead?"

2) If Cassandra Cain is a living member of the Birds of Prey at the start of OYL, I will buy the title regardless of quality. Come on Didio, I'm not asking for her to still be Batgirl (though I ask why she couldn't be), just that she still be alive. Work with me here!

As for books I actually bought:

Robin #146: What was with those sores on Conner's body? I can't figure his body would start devouring itself in select circular patterns here and there, though it is better for him than his body eating his own heart.

Robin mentioned a program he made that determines how difficult a place is to break into, on a scale of 10. There were 3 tens: The JLA Watchtower (oops, never mind), something in Washington D.C., and something that moves, and was in Coast City at that moment. What is the thing that keeps moving?

Ultimate Spider-Man #89: Is there a reason to have S.H.I.E.L.D. except as cannon fodder? I mean, they are constantly getting shown up. If it isn't six of Spidey's enemies escaping from a prison designed to hold them, it's Norman Osborn managing to hide Harry's "abilities" from the lab guys. Or it's Magneto escaping, or anything that's happening in The Ultimates. I know I said it when I reviewed this book, but I do not feel confident in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ability to stop Gah'Lak'Tus.

Exiles #76: Should I be expecting the Dr. Doom of 2099 to catch up to and absorb Proteus' abilities at some point? Doom stole the Beyonder's power, and compared to that Proteus is like a firecracker.

New Avengers #15: Would Jameson really have broken his word like that? Saying he will ease off Spidey for exclusive access, then turning around and broadcasting that arrangement to the world.

I mean he lied to CAPTAIN AMERICA! Isn't that considered treason?

Also, doesn't this mean Joe Robertson quit? He told JJJ, 'Say yes or I quit.' Jonah ended up going back on the deal, so I guess Robbie has some people offering him jobs now. Good, now let's see the Bugle fall apart, and Jonah have to crawl to get Robbie back.

And really, why can't Warbird be on the Avengers? I mean, besides Cap, Iron Man, and I would say Spidey, none of the others have proven themselves as much as her. That includes Luke and Jessica, and I'm really glad they're on the team.

Spider-Man and the Black Cat #6: One more time, why did Kevin Smith add rape into Felicia's origin? I would say that when a book is as late as this one has been that your goal should be to take what Chris has described as the Geoff Johns approach: comfort food. Don't go for the home run, just give the fans what they want. Some fighting, the hero wins, his friend is safe, maybe she gets to do some ass-kicking too. Just a simple superhero story. Do NOT add elements of rape to a story that didn't need it!

Wolverine #38: I'm sorry, was there anything to this issue?

Amazing Spider-Man #528: What was the point of Peter being sick? The first four issues of The Other, they made a big deal about how Peter was sick, and there was nothing anyone could do, in the realm of science of magic, to fix it. He was weaker than normal, and then Morlun attacked, and skin was shed, and Spider-creatures showed up, and it just got dropped.

From a biological standpoint it made sense for Morlun to attack when Peter wasn't at 100%. That's how it works in nature, predators attack the weaker individuals. The young that aren't full-grown, or the old, or the sick, or the injured. But there wasn't any need for that in this story. Morlun showed the first time around he was fully capable of kicking Spidey's ass even if Peter is at full strength. Peter won that fight on a gamble that paid off. The sickness was unnecessary. This one has been bugging me for awhile.

If you have answers to any of these, please help the world (meaning me) to understand.

Not Quite The Last Thing I'd See Myself Talking About, But. . .

I'm posting about costume changes, and remarkably it's not Spider-Man's. First, the backstory.

I'm cruising Absorbascon. Scipio has provided four new entrees for Galact. . . I mean four new characters for the Marvel Universe. Below that he links to all the previous donations. I admit, I hadn't read them all, so when I see Starfire, I'm a little surprised. I like Starfire. I like the one in the cartoon better, but that's because I've seen her more often. My experience with the comic version is probably less than 20 issues, hasn't really given me enough depth with the character. Anyway, Scip had a lot of reasons for not liking her, most of which are irrelevant to me. Yeah, she has a trail of energy flowing from her hair, and yes, she shoots energy out of her clenched fists, instead of an open hand. So what? I can't figure any reason why Superman has heat vision or x-ray vision. Superpowers often don't make sense. Back to the topic.

Scipio ragged on the costume (uniform? outfit?) she wears, and I have to admit, he's right. it's just absurd, and this is coming from a guy who has played the stupid, drooling fanboy more than once. Prior to his post, I didn't know about her life as a slave girl, so I'd never really understood about the significance of it, or why she'd wear that, other than the creators were guys (which I'd figure is the real reason, but still). So she needs something different.

Now this is where you come in. Because I have very little artistic ability, and less fashion sense, so me designing her a new outfit, is probably not wise. But let's set things up.

1), She needs more clothes. It doesn't have to be be head-to-toe coverage I don't think, but it should probably be near what she has on the cartoon. Personally, I kind of like that outfit, but it feels too young for comic book Starfire somehow.

2) She doesn't need armor. She's not invulnerable, but she's resilient enough that armor is kind of redundant. Plus, would armor interfere with her ability to absorb energy?

3) No capes! With that hair, she doesn't really need a cape, unless you're going to cut the hair, and even then, as a warrior, you think she would understand the danger of wearing something that can be grabbed and used to spin you around and fling you into buildings. Look at Wonder Woman. Top notch warrior, no cape (usually).

4) I like the color, what is that, lavender? Like Aquaman and orange, not many people can make that work, and I think she's one of them.

5) I think the boots and the arm gauntlets (yeah, they're probably just gloves, but 'gauntlets' sounds cooler) are fine.

Anyway, I'm kind of thinking something like the Jim Lee drawn Psylocke only with the different colors, plus maybe some designs that might reflect Tamaranian culture (is there any of that shown in the comics anywhere?) I mean, obviously that's not heavy coverage, but it's an improvement and besides, baby steps people.

But, like I said, I have no clue what I'm talking about when it comes to designs. Help me out. Maybe we get some artwork from people, we can let the people who read this blog decide what looks best. Then we march on DC's offices! How's 10 on Saturday on sound?