Hal Pictures Green Lantern Butt's FOREVER!: April 2016

Green Lantern Butt's FOREVER!

Now with Guy Gardner's Seal of Approval!

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Guy and Kilowog

Lately, in the current Green Lantern Corp book, there has been quite a bit of friction between Guy and Kilowog for some peculiar reason.  I suppose the writer felt that Guy had to be obnoxious to SOMEONE, since that is more or less his job...but Kilowog?  Seriously?  Why him? 

Normally of course, Guy and Hal are facing off, but Hal is off being a jerk all on his own, while the GLC is trapped in a previous Universe.  All of them.  And John is more or less in charge, and some pretty great Lanterns have been apparently lost, such as Arisia and Bd'g.  And Kilowog is also being a bit of an...ass.

This is surprising, since Kilowog has always been the ROCK of the Corps. He was the one who kept his head when others were losing theirs, trained the newbies, had a comforting word for everyone, and more or less was the mainstay of the Corps, along with Salaak, and others.  What he wasn't, and never was, was a jackass. 

Furthermore, after a bit of a rocky start, Kilowog and Guy have been best friends for...well forever.  Even back when Guy was a brain-dead twit with the Justice League, he was friends with Kilowog. Through the JLI days, through the destruction of the Corps, through the rebirth of the Corps, the two of them have been remarkably close.  So why all of a sudden are they at loggerheads?  Why is Kilowog taunting him and being rude and dismissive? 

I really don't have an answer other than that the writer seems to have never read the older books, or simply doesn't care.  With the reboot and convergence and all the other idiocy that DC has been going through, years and years and years of perfectly adequate continuity were thrown out of the window, and new relationships took over...and frankly, it is...jarring. 

It's not all that much fun to read a comic book about some of your favorite characters and have them all acting completely OUT of character.  In fact, it is not fun at all.

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Once he got his brains back, Guy developed a good working relationship with the Corps and its members. He is respected. He is a leader.  He's LIKED!  So I do hope that in the new new new rebirth coming this summer, we can get some of that back. Make Kilowog something more than a big bully, and have the Corps be a Corps again.  And I'll read it with great joy.

Friday, April 22, 2016

The Marvel Movies have Ruined Me

And I mean that in a good way actually. But it has gotten to the point where if I see an actor from one of the Marvel Movies in another production, all I can think of, is that Rhodey  is in a movie about Miles Davis for example.

There is a sequel coming out to "Snow White and the Huntsman," called  "The Huntsman: Winter's War", that naturally has Chris Hemsworth in it. I have only seen bits and pieces of the original, because quite frankly, Kristen Stewart gives me the creeps. Fortunately, she's not in it! But Jessica Chastain is, as Hemsworth's love interest.

All I could think of, was that Thor is going to be banging Loki's sister! Mainly because Tom Huddleston and Jessica were recently in "Crimson Peak" which was pretty great, and played incestuous siblings. This strikes me as being closer to Greek Mythology than Norse, but what the hey.

On the less peculiar side I did finally catch "Antman last night on Starz, and it was also pretty famed great. I am SO looking forward to the new Cap movie!

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Hmmm...

I have been seriously slacking off lately when it comes to posting.  I'm not really sure if it is just laziness on my part...and when it comes to laziness I Am A Viking...or just a general malaise.  There are still good books out there...there are ALWAYS good books out there if you look for them...but that old fever in the blood does seem to be going through one of those periods when I wonder to myself if I really do care all that much about comics anymore.

Then I see the new costume for Wonder Woman, and it all comes rushing back.  I love the new skirt thingie, it reminds me of Darwynn Cooke's version, which is my favorite. She actually looks vaguely Grecian, which is a plus.  I may just start buying her book again!  And if Etta Candy is going to be in it, then all the better.

I am not sure why Bruce feels the need to put a bat insignia on his underwear. I can understand being true to your brand, but...seriously?  Unless he is just testing out a new marketing scheme, and plans to flood the Gotham market with Bat-labled garments, which I suppose would help fund his charities and Villain-fighting endeavors.  Surely someone will buy Bat-er-oos.

Speaking of which, I do love that Iron Man calls Spider-Man "Underroos" in the new trailer for Captain America: Civil War, which I am highly looking forward to seeing. 

My DC books continue to dwindle. We will see if the new roll-out of the Re-Re-Rebirth in the summer will change that. There had better still be a REAL Green Lantern book with the Corps and Guy, because I don't give a rat's patootie about Simon and Jessica quite frankly.  I find them dull.  A Green Lantern should never ever be dull.  Hal is a dullard, which is a completely different thing.  Too many (hilarious!) hits to the head. 

So anyway...

Lucifer #5

Man, I do love this book.  Great art by Lee Garbett, and a cracking story by Holly Black.  Lucifer gets the shard of the sword out of his side, courtesy of Azazel.  Raphael shows up and goes all nutso on Lucifer and Gabriel, and there is a lot of Angel Posturing.  I love Angel Posturing!

Medjine finds her brother and has a nice little heart-to-heart talk with Gabriel, and Gabriel finds out that there are some problems with his memory, and that Metatron is a real jerk. Oh, and he goes off and pledges himself to Mazikeen and gets some bitchin' new black wings.

Fabulous!

Robin: Son of Batman #ll

Robin is still trying to atone for his Year of Blood, some other kid is out there taking his stuff, along with the Lu'un Darga.  Talia is...as usual, violent and confused...but mostly violent.  Batman shows up to do fatherly things, which is always nice, and Goliath is the BEST!

I miss Pat Gleason on the art, he is still one of my favorites, but  Ramon Bachs is pretty decent, a bit more cartoony, but really great action and flow.  And action there is, with a delightful cliff-hanger coming up. Who doesn't like Dinosaur Island?

Pretty darned good.

And that was that for DC.

Captain America/Standoff

I don't even know if this HAS an issue number! It all has Case numbers and stuff, and I find it to be confusing, but the standoff crossover hasn't been all that terrible actually, although I haven't been getting every issue, so I am still a little confused about somethings.

But Steve has been turned back into Captain America, by that weird little glowing kid, who apparently is...the Cosmic Cube?  So Cap, Bucky and Sam all team up to do awesome awesome things.  The art is beautiful and the dialogue by Nick Spencer is crisp and witty and a whole lot of fun actually.  Also, Kraven the Hunter shows up and decides that the best way to trap a little girl, is to...throw a birthday party in the woods....complete with cake and hats.  I'm completely in love with Kraven after Squirrel Girl anyway, so this made me just laugh out loud.

Fabulous too!

Howard the Duck #6

And speaking of Squirrel Girl and Kraven, this is the second half of the team-up between Doreen and Howard.  Hank McCoy, Rocket Raccoon, Weapon II, Biggs, Kraven and Doreen have all been kidnapped and now are being hunted.  Kraven is feeling some remorse for bringing them all to their deaths, and is feeling depressed at being hunted. Squirrel Girl is busy trying to cheer him up and bring him over to the side of Good. Howard is just cranky.  Weapon II, which is a talking squirrel with adamantium claws is busy trying to slice things, Rocket just wants a gun, and Hank gets taken out very quickly when he tries talking his way out instead of fighting. 

They use the villainess's own cosplay apparatus to fight her, and it is...as always...epic. EXTREMELY epic!

So...very very epic.

The Totally Awesome Hulk #5

Wherein we learn some more about Amadeus and what does and doesn't make him mad. Also for some reason, Amora the Enchantress shows up and tries toseduce him.  Amora really should get something more important to do, I think she's just bored hanging out with Malekith lately.

And then Thor shows up. 

This issue is a bit of a set-up, but beautifully drawn, and still pretty good.

The Mighty Thor #6

And here we have a tale as told by Loki to Dario Agger, who has been teaming up with Malekith lately, but although their joint villainy has been going well, he's becoming a bit nervous about being betrayed...as well he should be. So he teams up with Loki.  Oh that is going to turn out well!

And as the God of Stories, Loki proceeds to tell him the tale of Bodolf the Black, a berserker, who always won, because he always prayed to Thor, God of Thunder, and together they brawled a lot...till Bodolf got tired of Thor taking all the credit, and didn't pray one time, and Thor got pissy, so Bodolf went and prayed to Loki instead.  And ended up more or less as Hulk-Bodolf. 

Delightful as always.

So...a pretty decent week all things considered.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Two Week's Worth of Reviews

Two weeks, since I never got around to last weeks, and it still is only a few books.  How the mighty have fallen.

Green Lantern Corps #4

Well, they are still hanging out in the dying universe, and Marniel has taken Guy's and Kilowog's rings and stuff, and they are sitting in a cell in their underwear.  That has to be depressing.  And Kilowog is taking advantage of the fact that Guy has been gagged, to admit that Guy knows what he is doing and to also be a jerk about it.  This is really annoying to me, because yes, Guy has a big mouth, but he's usually right, and because he and Kilowog have been friends FOREVER! Do the writers ever go back and read the back issues?  Ever?

So, the empath Lantern uses her powers to read Marniel, and lo and behold, she's actually the Good Guy and Dismas and Ausras are actually the Bad Guys.  Well slap me silly!  And they get their rings back, and everything is fine, except that Guy was left out of the loop that Marniel is good, and busts out and tries to warn John, except  they clobber him and he's back in his underwear. 

I have no objections whatsoever to Guy lying around in his underwear, but it does seem a little unfair. 

Still, I am enjoying this book a lot. There seemed to be a whole lot of artists this issue however, which is never a good sign.  Is this book going to continue with the new Re-Re-Rebirth coming up this summer?  It had darned better!

Still heads and shoulders above Hal's book.


All-New All-Different Avengers #8

I must have missed an issue or something, because I went from them being attacked by a second Maria Hill and other Avengers to being in Pleasant Hill and being attacked by the newly awakened Villains, and that kid, and while it seems like a pretty decent crossover, I'm a tad confused. But in the end they get their powers and stuff back, while Deadpool of all people is the one to connect with the little kid who is controlling all of this.  That probably won't end well.

Oh, and Bucky, New Cap and Newly young Old Cap show up. Woohoo!

I should probably go back and figure out what issues I missed, so that this makes more sense.  But still pretty good.

Amadeus Cho: Genius at Work

This actually seems to be compilation of old stories about Amadeus Cho, but since I only had a few of them, that is fine with me.  I really enjoyed the heck out of him, when he was running around with Hercules. Damn, I miss that book, it was a hoot and a half. So, not a bad value at all.

Black Widow #2

More beautiful art from Chris Samnee. And some back story on why she is plundering the Helicarrier. Did you know that Shield has a secret cemetary?  I didn't, and it is actually rather an interesting concept.  There is  a funeral, and one of the head honchos is being bitter about Natasha's supposed failings, and all the while she is there, creeping around and taking out the hidden assassins.  But she does get caught and learns some unwelcome news.

It's all very mysterious, and beautifully beautifully drawn, and I am loving it so far.

Scarlet Witch #5

Again, I seem to have missed an issue. Wasn't she in Ireland?  Now she is in Spain, ridding a nunnery of some ghosts, with the help of some nuns and stuff, all of which they all find a bit disturbing. But not as disturbing as the ghosts!  Good ghosts and bad ghosts.  It's all pretty good actually. Again, I really should go and get that issue I missed. What was going on a few weeks ago anyway?


Archie #7

If someone had told me I would be reading an Archie Comic, I would have had them committed.  But dang...it is just so much fun.  And so good. 

Reggie(secretly my favorite Archie character, although I am beginning to like Jughead) has wormed his way into Mister Lodges black heart and is busy hitting on Veronica.  Mr. Lodge also finds out that Archie was the one who destroyed his house.  However, Jughead and Archie do figure out that some blackmail against Reggie might work, except that Archie going undercover at Reggie's father's newspaper leads to the usual mayhem. 

But Pops comes to their rescue, and obviously knows something about Reggie that he would REALLY rather not come to light and he tells Mister Lodge to buzz off, and Veronica is saved.  Or something. 
Damn, this is a fun book.



And that's it!  For two whole weeks!  It's a good thing that I am keeping my beloved comic book store afloat by getting all those collected Walt Simonson Thor books.  I had given them up years ago when I was on my DC kick, and man...those are awesome!

Monday, April 11, 2016

But What Do I Know?

Normally I would be putting up my reviews, but in light of a conversation I had today with one of my co-workers, it has been made clear to me, that I do not know what I am talking about.

I have not been to see the new Superman vs Batman movie. I have heard good things about Wonder Woman, but it frankly seems a bit dark and depressing for me, although I will probably watch it when it comes out on HBO or something. This was exactly the opinion I expressed when pressed by my co-worker as to what I thought of the movie. I then had to listen to a twenty minute speech about what a great movie it was, and how short-sighted my opinion was, and for heaven's sake, wasn't Batman kickass?

Whenever I tried to explain my point of view, that I thought the producer seemed to be going for a "Dark Knight Returns" type of vibe, I was shot down. When I said that Christopher Reeve was still my favorite cinematic version of Superman, I was scoffed at. When I mentioned that I really liked the Curt Swan version of Superman, there was dead silence because he had never actually ever read a comic book.

Oh, did mention my co-worker was a man? He thinks it is just adorable that I trot off every Wednesday to buy the books, but it isn't as though I actually KNOW anything about the characters or their continuity or boring stuff like that because... Explosions are cool!

So now I am feeling very very... cranky.

Thursday, April 07, 2016

Off Carousing

Reviews are going to be delayed... heck I haven't even READ my books yet because am at Foxwoods for the annual New England Tire Dealers trade show and will be carousing for... quite a while actually.

The Alaskan King Crab Legs are to DIE for!

But since I just can't help myself...I was watching the Marvel Avengers movie the other day... which I do love... and I couldn't help but notice that when Thor lands on the roof of the Quintet (I almost typed Quimjet, but that would be horribly rude to Natasha) that he steals their prisoner, attacks all of them and tries to more or less murder Iron Man and Cap... but didn't he get banished in order to learn some humility?

Those are not particularly humble actions. In fact... they're pretty damn arrogant AND obnoxious. But he is the hero?

Yeesh!

Friday, April 01, 2016

Happy Birthday Guy!

And Happy April Fool's Day!  I don't know if it is officially Guy's Birthday, but it is the day that I have deemed most appropriate. 

So here is another appropriate picture.

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Oh Guy. You and your impish sense of humor.