The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Eclipso-- Hero and Villain in One Man!

Look for us on iTunes, ShoutEngine or the Internet Archive, where you can also directly download an art-tagged MP3.

The show returns as part of a multi-blog/podcast crossover covering the 1992 DC Annual event Eclipso: The Darkness Within by offering a detailed account of the first three decades of the villain's career derived from numerous print and online sources. Created by Bob Haney and Lee Elias in 1963, Eclipso appeared in House of Secrets for 19 issues before moving on to guest roles in Justice League of America, Metal Men, Green Lantern, Adventure Comics, Outsiders, The Phantom Stranger and more! See the misadventures of Bruce Gordon, Mona & Simon Bennett as they combat the super-villain!

#BestEventEver Eclipso

• Hero History of Eclipso
  • Never-Ending Reading Pile

• Eclipso-- Hero and Villain in One Man!
  • DC Bloodlines

• Eclipso ‘66 Merchandise on The Retroist
  • …What A Puzzling Beginning!
  • Playing Cards With Batman – Part One
  • Playing Cards With Batman – Part Two
  • The Brave and Bold #64

• Starman #42-45 on Chris and Reggie's Cosmic Treadmill
  • Starman #42 (1992)
  • Starman #43 (1992)
  • Starman #44 (1992)
  • Starman #45 (1992)
  • Starman #42-45 Podcast

1. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1
   
   ♦ Chris Is On Infinite Earths

♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



2. Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #1
   
   ♦ Resurrections-An Adam Warlock Podcast Episode 61



3. Green Lantern Annual #1
   
   ♦ For the Non-Discerning Reader



4. Detective Comics Annual #5
   
   ♦ For the Non-Discerning Reader



5. Superman Annual #4
   
   ♦ For the Non-Discerning Reader



6. Justice League America Annual #6
   
   ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



7. The Demon Annual #1
   
   ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



8. The Flash Annual #5
   
   ♦ Coffee & Comics Podcast



9. Action Comics Annual #4
   
   ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



10. Wonder Woman Annual #3
    
    ♦ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman



11. Green Arrow Annual #5
    
    ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



12. Robin Annual #1
    
    ♦ Chris Is On Infinite Earths



13. Hawkworld Annual #3
    
    ♦ Pop Culture Palace Presents



14. Deathstroke: The Terminator Annual #1
    
    ♦ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman



15. The New Titans Annual #8
    
    ♦ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman



16. Justice League Europe Annual #3
    
    ♦ Resurrections-An Adam Warlock Podcast Episode 62



17. Batman Annual #16
    
    ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



18. L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 Annual #3
    
    ♦ I'm the Gun



19. The Adventures of Superman Annual #4
    
    ♦ Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal



20. Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2
    
    ♦ I'm the Gun

• Valor #1
  • For the Non-Discerning Reader

Spill Some Blood!!!* *across social media only.

• Tweet host Diabolu Frank directly, or probe @rolledspine as a group.
• Email Diabolu
• Rolled Spine Podcasts Facebook, which Frank hates and has nothing to do with.
• If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Nightblade

Look for us on iTunes, ShoutEngine or the Internet Archive, where you can also directly download an art-tagged MP3.

This episode looks at Nik Mayak, a New Blood with extraordinary body regeneration powers, supplemented by great agility and uncanny accuracy with blowing blades. Debuting in 1993's Green Lantern Annual #2, we give an overview of the rest of his career in Eclipso Annual #1 & Bloodbath #1-2, the Blood Pack mini-series, Guy Gardner: Warrior #29 & 39, Deathstroke the Terminator #49, Infinite Crisis #7, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D #1-2, and finally 2010's Adventure Comics #4-5. You can follow along with our reading of the annual at Scans Daily.

Spill Some Blood!!!* *across social media only.

• Tweet host Diabolu Frank directly, or probe @rolledspine as a group.
• Email Diabolu
• Rolled Spine Podcasts Facebook, which Frank hates and has nothing to do with.
• If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

The DC Bloodlines Podcast: Green Lantern

Look for us on iTunes, ShoutEngine or the Internet Archive, where you can also directly download an art-tagged MP3.

The Guardians of the Universe chose Hal Jordan to be their Emerald Gladiator for Space Sector 2814, wielder of a Power Ring that could create jade energy constructs limited only by the bearer's willpower and a necessary impurity that rendered it ineffective against anything colored yellow. However, the day would come when Hal Jordan would falter, and on that day his successor would rise to command the energies derived from the Master Power Battery on Oa, and that man's name was John Stewart...

This episode, we look at the 1970s adventures of Neil Adams' & Denny O’Neil's Green Lantern John Stewart, DC Comics's first African-American super-hero (unless you count Vykin the Black or Black Racer, which virtually nobody does, despite Jack Kirby publishing them nearly a year earlier.) Also, an obligatory history of that jerk Jordan, mostly cribbed from Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones. You can follow along with our reading at Scans_Daily. Also, check out the Neal Adams interview at Robin Hood: Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood.

This episode's non-paying advertisers:

• The LanternCast
• Green Lantern's Light

Spill Some Blood!!!* *across social media only.

• Tweet host Diabolu Frank directly, or probe @rolledspine as a group.
• Email Diabolu
• Rolled Spine Podcasts Facebook, which Frank hates and has nothing to do with.
• If the main DC Bloodlines blog isn't your thing, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts.

Justice #12 (August, 2007)

Superman whined to himself about how he wished someone else was Superman, and how he's responsible for what happens to every bullet that bounces off his chest, and oh do cry us a river Man of Steel. No wonder so many people find you unsympathetic. Superman did this while smashing up the Toyman's city of malevolent playthings as the script writer caption box monologued like a low rent Alan Moore just as hard as he could, bless his heart. The physical Toyman was found to be a shirtless unkempt chubby geek overrun with Brainiac's nanotech who was obsessed with saving the children of the world in a vaguely pedo way, which is about as insightful as pointing out that wool is itchy, but the junior college will cash your Creative Writing 101 tuition check all the same. Finally, Toyman revealed how many nuclear warheads Brainiac had taken control of: "All of them." So money! So, so money!



Superman then flew to Scarecrow's city, where Green Lantern Hal Jordan handled citizens driven mad with fear. Yes fear. Will, against fear. Got it? This prompted Scarecrow to run away into a sewer... where the Joker happened to be lurking... dressed as Bela Lugosi's Dracula... and proceeded to bite his "Super Friend" on the neck for leaving him out of the Legion of Doom. META TEXT! Joker needs plastic fangs! META TEXT! Joker needs plastic fangs! META TEXT! Joker needs plastic fangs! META TEXT! Joker needs plastic fangs!



The Marvel Family flew the innocents out of Toyman's city atop a giant, er, top. Stretching men Plastic and Elongated were also essential for evacuations elsewhere. Most of the characters featured in the mini-series remained visible doing obligatory background stuff like that without contributing to the primary narrative. Lex Luthor was the main person responsible for finally corralling Brainiac, while others halted the doomsday missiles he'd launched. Zatanna was key to getting Superman to Brainiac over and over again, who was captured almost as an afterthought, and its not like his plan hadn't already been foiled. Basically, Superman was only around to rescue Zee after she was imperiled by the final leg of the pursuit. Later, the Man of Steel gave a frozen, miniaturized Brainiac to the Kandorian Museum. Batman-- get this-- Batman insinuates that this very capital-I IMPORTANT vanity project adventure might have been the first step toward lasting world peace, and it's insinuated that it leads to the utopic future of the Legion of Super-Heroes, including a gratuitous two-page spread.



The extra long, extra torturous final "Chapter Twelve" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite. None of these men have any share or even self-awareness.

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• The Atom & Red Tornado @ Power of the Atom
• Batman, Elongated Man, Aquaman, & Zatanna @ Justice League Detroit
• Wonder Woman @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman

Justice #11 (June, 2007)

Hal Jordan waxed philosophical about his foe Sinestro while providing narration for this issue. "Thanks to Sinestro, I was given a taste of what it would be like to rule everything. Thanks to my enemy, I will now never become anything like him... I don't need to be the greatest anything anymore. I just want to help my friends. And my world." I'm not sure if that was meant as a rebuttal against "Emerald Twilight" or if it reinforced it. All in all, it would really only take another random blow to the head to send Hal off in any given direction anyway.

The big siege progressed. Metallo tore apart Platinum while the Man of Lead continued fighting Black Adam. Parasite decided that he needed to "end this," so he grabbed Adam's foot to steal his powers, then swiped the kryptonite heart out of Metallo. Bizarro was grappling with the Man of Lead, affording Parasite the opportunity to rip through "Superman's suit" to discover Lead had actually helped to conceal Captain Marvel. The power of Shazam slammed Bizarro into Parasite, then the Big Red Cheese gave Hal Jordan the order. Iron's armor over Jordan had concealed the fact that Hal was wielding Sinestro's lost spare yellow power ring (that had been lent to Grodd but stolen by Metamorpho) through a filter of blue kryptonite. The blue K immediately took out Bizarro, while Captain Marvel crushed the piece of green K Metallo thrived on.



Ross had fixed the incorrect Platinum symbol on Plastic Man's armor to shift it to Tin, but it was never explained how Gold could pretend to be Green Arrow and cover Superman at the same time. Anyway, the shiny gold mummy quasi-Shazam Superman was attacked by the Parasite. Black Adam thought Captain Marvel liked seeing him weakened, but Billy was too innocent to enjoy another's suffering, though he was willing to choke Adam until he said the magic word. The ensuing lightning bolt conveniently struck Parasite on its way to removing Adam's powers. Plastic Man contained the Riddler in his fleshy mass while Tin (absent his familiar stutter) separated to cage Parasite. It seemed from his demonstrated pomposity that Ross and company had confused Tin with Mercury, who the Flash was still wearing, at least until he was used to gag Teth-Adam.

Green Arrow had delivered Hal Jordan's power ring to John Stewart, who by the spoken narrative grace of Jordan had been allowed access to Hal's incredible power as Green Lantern to free the teenage super-heroes from the control of Brainiac's nanotechnological worms. The same tech briefly retook the Leaguers made vulnerable by their release from the Metal Men "armor," but John Stewart promptly liberated them. Hal Jordan is so awesome for allowing his Negro acquaintance to save the day (but not allowing him any lines of his own, heaven forbidding such impropriety.)



Yellow Lantern Hal Jordan continued to match Sinestro with the same type of power ring, openly acknowledging that should he falter, John Stewart and the Justice League would surely avenge him. In response, Sinestro offered the scintillating bon mot "Shut up. Shut Up. Shut-the-hell-up!" Does Korugar even have a concept of Hell? When in doubt while writing Green Lantern dialogue, always try to hear Nathan Fillion saying Hal lines and Vincent Price saying Sinestro ones. Jordan and Sinestro tapped out their power source and switched up to mano-a-mano. Jordan beat Sinestro bloody, claiming that it was not vengeance he sought, but justice. Then both men fell through the top of a black city-sphere, and John Stewart apparently laughed off-panel as he returned Jordan's power ring so he could save himself and Sinestro.

The villains present on the main scene were either shut down by force or through the disabling of Brainiac's influence. That left the previously hostage supporting casts to mingle with their heroes, or in John Stewart's case, to get stuck with Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, Carol Ferris, and Hal's brothers. The Flash and Iris West had a sweet if inhibited WASP pseudo-embrace, while Superman and Lois Lane had a big ol' sloppy wet P.D.A. Supergirl looked on from a distance as Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen milled about. Captain Marvel was oddly separated from Mary and Junior, preferring Zatanna's company (though who wouldn't?) Rita Farr held Robotman's brutally battered severed head.



The Super Friends followed Brainiac to Toyman's world, where Superman took the fight deep into the heart while everyone else tore apart duplicates of Brainiac in a somehow self-serious spread. Zatanna then teleported everyone but Superman to Scarecrow's creepy 19th century European faux city, though Green Lantern proved capable of taking it all on his own. The Indian girl from last issue was there, and her hands were already starting to hurt...

"Chapter Eleven" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite. After wasting all those early issues on individual attacks and a couple on the back end on big fights, these guys are having a heck of a time trying to tie the plot threads together. At least Elasti-Girl is consistently prominent in the crowd scenes, thanks to her stature.

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• The Atom, Hawkman, Hawkgirl & Red Tornado @ PotA
• Wonder Woman & Wonder Girl @ Diana Prince
• Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Aquaman, Elongated Man, Zatanna & more @ Justice League Detroit

Justice #10 (April, 2007)

Click To Enlarge


Previously in Justice

An Indian woman wrote her parents about the wonderful city run by a super-villain that she had run away to live in, and mentioned the differences between each villain's haven.

The seemingly triumphant Legion took to formal dress and toasted themselves in a building whose architecture recalled the Hall of Doom. The Atom was detected as a spy in their midst, and turned out not to be the only one, as armored heroes rushed the hall. Violence ensued. The Flash/Mercury used Plastic Man/Platinum to super-speed bind some villains. A Captain Marvel bound up in golden bandages (thought it was Metamorpho at first) and a Lead-plated Man of Steel clashed with Black Adam and Bizarro. Green Lantern paired off with Sinstro, and actually, most of the matches were entirely predictable.

The mind-controlled sidekicks of the main heroes were called in by the Legion as reenforcements, but were met outside the hall by the Doom Patrol. Robotman was torn to pieces by Mary Marvel, and Beast Boy fared little better against Kid Flash. Negative Man challenged Captain Marvel Junior as Elasti-Girl stood tall against Batgirl and the Teen Titans while wearing a mini-skirt. However, once Larry Trainor was forced to return his negative form to his corporeal body, Rita was overwhelmed by the Marvel Family. The Joker had managed to insert himself into the city, stole Robotman's severed head, and detonated bombs he'd planted all over town.



Platinum (Again? Spread thin?) and Gold pretended to cover Green Arrow and Black Canary, but that duo was secretly teleported into a sewer tunnel by Zatanna. Once there, they were attacked by Clayface (again,) who was contained by Green Arrow's "shadow," Elongated Man. Once the deception was detected, Gold and Platinum tangled with Parasite and Metallo, 'Tina ending up worse for wear. Superman knocked Toyman about while keeping a choke hold on Bizarro, but then Lead taunted Solomon Grundy and Kal-El took the brunt of the resultant punishment.

Green Arrow insisted that Black Canary save her sonic powers for a planned moment of truth, but once the pair located the supporting cast hostages, Ollie was left to deal with the possessed Supergirl. Dinah argued against Ollie firing a kryptonite arrow at the Maid of Might, a discussion super-hearing easily allowed Kara to act upon. Supergirl dodged the arrow, which struck John Stewart in the chest. As it turned out, all went according to plan, since the arrow actually had a power ring on its tip. Green Lantern declared "You're not killing any super-heroes today, Supergirl. You're going to help us save the world. Just like always.

"Chapter Ten" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• The Atom, Hawkman and Hawkgirl @ PotA
• Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Wonder Woman & Wonder Girl @ Diana Prince
• Aquaman, Elongated Man & more @ Justice League Detroit

Justice Volume Two (2007)

Superman was being held down by Solomon Grundy, while Metallo killed the Man of Steel slowly with radiation from his kryptonite heart. Bizarro and Parasite looked on, until lightning crossed the skies, and an unseen force began to attack the villains.

In no time, the Power of Shazam was at Superman's disposal. Captain Marvel had answered Kal-El's distress signal, and now offered a helping hand. Superman was too sick to hold himself up, and Bizarro had recovered, so the Big Red Cheese flew them both to safety. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor teleported to the scene to save Parasite from the kryptonite (he'd absorbed Superman's weaknesses with his strengths) that he replaced in Metallo's chest cavity. Bizarro rejoined the motley crew.

Dinah Lance walked into her bedroom to find her lover Oliver Queen buried under a fleshy mass, and with green arrows seemingly buried in his head. Whether this was from the Scarecrow's nightmare gases or Clayface's shifting form, an ear-splitting Canary Cry shook the facade loose. Ollie Queen yet lived, and shoved the sparking end of a busted lamp into Clayface's electrocuted hide.The villains fled, and a tearful Black Canary held her shaken man. Dinah wondered why her cry hadn't hurt Ollie, until he removed his earplugs. You see, Clayface had turned himself into a blond Dinah to trick Queen before the attack, not realizing Lance was naturally a brunette. Ollie figured he might be needing more than one form of protection, if his Pretty Bird was indulging in amorous role-play...

Green Lantern Hal Jordan had been forced through a Boom Tube by Sinestro and left in a starless, uncharted area of space. His power ring couldn't get him back home, so he asked it "How much longer before your charge runs out and I die?"



Superman guided Captain Marvel to the Batcave. None of the active Leaguers were answering his calls, so some reservists like the Captain had been notified. The Dark Knight was angry that Superman had compromised him, but Marvel assured, "I would never tell anyone about this place. Which is really cool, by the way." Marvel thought it might help to transform back into his normal self of kid reporter Billy Batson, but Batman just complained about the noise and magic lightning bouncing around his headquarters, not to mention questioning the kid's experience with "crime and loss." Billy politely blew off the Caped Crusader's ignorance, while Superman cold decked his friend. The Man of Steel was too weak for it to be a killing blow, but he gave it all he had, since Batman had palmed some kryptonite. X-ray Vision revealed that Batman was full of mind-controlling mechanical worms, and Superman soon realized he was similarly compromised. Alfred Pennyworth was too, as he covered Billy's mouth with one hand and threatened to slice the boy's throat with the Batarang in the other.

Lex Luthor cast black marbles into a body of water, and from out of it emerged ebony spheres the size of cities. This was Braniac's doing, and though one super-villain would inevitably betray the other, for now everything was going according to mutual plans.

Billy's heel slammed hard into Alfred's foot as he broke loose of the butler's grip. Superman pegged the manservant in the brow with a flung coffee cup, while with one magic word, Captain Marvel was restored. Alfred and the Batman were tied up. Next, Superman asked Marvel to throw him into the sun, in order to burn out the worms...



The powers of the gods allowed Captain Marvel to try to talk Superman out of the prescribed course of action while traveling through the vacuum of space. Wordlessly, the Man of Steel made it clear he was more afraid of his infestation making him the man who killed Captain Marvel than vice versa, so the Big Red Cheese threw Superman into the sun.

Hal Jordan was mildly amused to finally encounter a portion of space(?) the Guardians of the Universe knew nothing about, but not too much under the circumstances. His power ring only had seven hours worth of charge remaining, and he was potentially lost forever. Green Lantern decided to convert himself into electronic impulses stored within his ring, perhaps indefinitely.

"This involvement of Captain Marvel was unforeseen," noted Brainiac to Lex Luthor and Grodd. The Super-Gorilla seemed the most irritated by the party crasher, and was given permission to send the pseudo-prophetic nightmare shared by the Legion of Doom to Black Adam in order to increase their numbers.

Ablaze with solar energy, the Man of Tomorrow was restored. On learning that Superman had rid himself of a worm-like bodily invader, Captain Marvel offered Mr. Mind as a suspect. Just as the pair were reaching the JLA Satellite, it exploded in front of them. Captain Marvel asked if Superman detected any trace of Red Tornado in the debris...



John Stewart told Zatanna when he arrived at Ferris Aircraft Company, and asked that she thank Elongated Man for calling him in. On the property, Stewart met with Hal Jordan's sometimes girlfriend Carol Ferris and sidekick Tom Kalmaku. Stewart was searching for Hal, but the best idea "Pieface" could offer was pointing to the sky. "Thanks. That narrows it down."

Hal Jordan knew that it was Sinestro who had "killed" him via Boom Tube, but tried to move on with his everlasting illusion of life. Simulations of Coast City and its residents were constructed, but they were hollow things, and Green Lantern wondered how long he would wait before allowing space to take him...

An emaciated Flash continued to run across the globe, surely doomed to die from exhaustion...

Brainiac was aware Aquaman's body had been found, but it served its purpose of distracting the League, since Lex Luthor had failed to assassinate the super friends. Of course, Brainiac himself hadn't found in the Sea King's brain what he was looking for, so it was up to Gorilla Grodd to initiate a new phase in the trio's plans. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Mary Batson, Freddy Freeman, Jean Loring, Carol Ferris, Steve Trevor, John Stewart, Dick Grayson, Wally West... all targeted...



Once again, the Wisdom of Solomon trumped any thoughts in Superman's head. Captain Marvel flew as close to the wayward Flash as he could, and with one magic word, magical lightning shook the Scarlet Speedster out of his uncontrollable race toward death. Superman caught Billy Batson before any harm could come to him, then gave him space for the power of Shazam to restore Captain Marvel. Getting thrown into the sun had burnt up the Man of Steel's wallet, so Earth's Mightiest Mortal came to the rescue again, offering his only ten bucks to feed the Flash at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Hal Jordan was already feeling like death in a self-centered world of his own making. However, his power ring refused to restore his physical form for such an end. "Your essence has been converted into an electrical impulse that has been stored within the ring... You will now live forever. Alone."

In Shazam's lair within an abandoned subway tunnel, Black Adam covered Mary's mouth, and threatened to kill her if Freddy said a word...

Superman arrived at his Fortress of Solitude, greeted by fellow heroes awaiting him...

In an Arabian desert, the Flash broke up Captain Cold's mini-harem. "You tried to kill me. And that means you tried to kill everyone I hope to save until the day I die. That's a lot of people." Cold should have pointed out that if he had succeeded, the Scarlet Speedster still would have saved everybody he saved until the day he died, but since he didn't die, he might ought to consider swapping a chemistry class for some remedial English. Instead, Cold drew a replica pistol made of ice, which Flash totally fell for, so maybe he needed another police detective class, too. Captain Cold froze up a hall of mirrors, and when that didn't work, created sculptured duplicates of himself. Failing yet again, Captain Cold was run to the Fortress of Solitude.



Still trapped in his power ring, Hal Jordan argued with simulations of his brothers about the benefits of lacking fear, and where his adventuring ways landed him.

Batman, having interrogated Captain Cold, learned all about the prophetic nightmares that motivated the villains to action. Black Canary wondered if the Legion of Doom thought they were doing the right thing, but Batman explained that the villains wouldn't have tried to turn the situation to their advantage to lord over potential survivors if their hearts were truly in the right place.

Supergirl, Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon were all captured by Legion forces.

Hal Jordan had regressed to childhood, which is why he wished to heed the command of his parents not to talk to the Stranger who had paid him a visit. "So there you are, Hal. I've been looking everywhere for you." The Phantom Stranger then helped Hal with some self-realization psychobabble about not trying to remake the real world in his image/with great power comes great moderation/how the League helps Hal check his head/yadda yadda. The important thing was the the Stranger brought a power battery and a direction home, so Green Lantern could try to look cool saying his oath in a painted splash page.

All the heroes were together at the Fortress of Solitude, except John Stewart, who got himself kidnapped by the mind-controlled kid sidekicks of other heroes (mostly the Teen Titans and the Marvel Family.)

"Justice, Vol. 2," collecting issues #5-8 of the 2005 mini-series, was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

Comic Reader Résumé: November, 1983

ré·su·mé [rez-oo-mey, rez-oo-mey]
noun
1. a summing up; summary.
2. a brief written account of personal, educational, and professional qualifications and experience, as that prepared by an applicant for a job.

Looking at the landscape of November, 1983, I feel I have some explaining to do. I hadn't continued with Captain America because of a combination of falling out of habit and Mike Zeck being replaced by a string of inferior artists. Friends of mine were buying Uncanny X-Men and Power Man and Iron Fist, so I just mooched off them. My local newsstand did not carry New Teen Titans, or it sold out before I could get any, so I was simply out of luck there. That's why I was always questing for the next new series, rather than sticking with favorites.

For instance, I bought Storm And Illyana: Magik #3. I don't think I'd quite grasped the concept of the mini-series yet. I was used to jumping into an ongoing series at a random point and chancing a cliffhanger, but these circumstances guaranteed it. Further, these were alternate fantasy universe, parallel timeline versions of the already byzantine Claremont X-Men and New Mutants, the latter unfamiliar to me. I pretty much didn't know what the hell was going on, or to whom, and who made my poor Kitty Pryde into an evil werecat? Tom Palmer did a such swell job inking over Ron Frenz that my mind recalls it as John Buscema art, but the story battered my young wet brain inside its soft skull, and I was still chicken enough to be too freaked out by the heavy metal Satanism on the cover to even consider buying #4.



I thought Green Lantern Hal Jordan was one of the best looking super-heroes around, which is why I bought his Super Powers figure. I likely also knew him from animation, but probably not all that well. The appeal was mostly in his uncommon brown hair, sleek costume, the boss oath, and the smart accessory. I think I also liked the design of Javelin, with his severe hair and the balance of gold and blue in his suit. It's also a cool name and weapon, at least until you start thinking about it. See, the guy had a bunch of collapsible trick javelins that he carried in pouches, sort of like Green Arrow... except that he would logically have less of a selection and lack the propulsion device to throw as far as a bow could shoot. It might have been cool if he was a gymnast who used a tricked-out javelin to pole vault, or doubled as a staff/pugil stick, but even then he would only be fit to fight guys like the aforementioned Green Arrow. Instead, he could fly, and throw pointy sticks at a guy who patrolled the galaxy with a ring that created anything he could image. Javelin was equivalent to a Firestorm villain in punching out of his weight class, and like the mighty hemp rope of Slipknot, he survived only through a loophole: the color yellow. I suppose the cover to Green Lantern #173 should have clued me in, but the issue ended with a javelin exploding on Green Lantern, covering him with yellow paint, and rendering him powerless. I'm not sure Hal's weakness had come up in my reading before, so as I watched him falling out of the sky to his probable death, I was thinking "this guy sucks." Not concern for his well being or angst at the cliffhanger, but more like "these guys are both so, so lame." This issue was likely my introduction to Bruce "Eclipso" Gordon and the Monitor, but all I took away from it was "yellow paint? Really?" I never fully recovered.



I want to say The Thing #9 was another three-pack purchase, but I have an odd association between it and a rarely visited Circle K in the exact opposite direction from my apartment as my standby 7-11, so who knows? Maybe it's because the book felt so off-brand. Joe Sinnott's inks gave Ron Wilson's art an old-timey look, and the Thing transforming into some sort of centurion battling cops was a very Weisinger Superman sort of turn. This stood in sharp contrast to Alicia Masters' disturbingly butch haircut, a very big turn-off even in pre-adolescence. I recall the book's splash page head shot giving way to a two page spread, which registered in my brain as a waste of three story pages. Blame John Byrne, ever fond of shortcuts and spectacle for its own sake. Suffice to say I wouldn't buy another one of these on purpose anytime soon.

IGN's Top 20 Comic Book Heroes of All Time

In 2009 or so, the comics department of the popular video game website IGN.com put together a list of their Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time, and have finally followed up with the vastly less well considered Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time. There is much here to mock and debate (in that order,) so I'll have to do it on an installment plan. Watch the video if you like, but expect a poverty of speech content...

More IGN Videos

Review:
100-81
80-61
60-41
40-21

20) Catwoman
The top twenty is too low. Despite constant costume changes, Catwoman is one of the most recognizable characters on the planet, breaking boundaries of both gender and race within the cultural consciousness. Her solo publishing track record is surprisingly solid, and in my experience, female fans are far more likely to embrace Seline Kyle that Wonder Woman. Truly one of the greats.

19) James Gordon
I'd have far less trouble with this if the rest of the list wasn't such a sham. Of course Commissioner Gordon is widely recognizable and worthy of inclusion, but at his heart he is still a supporting character, so where is Alfred Pennyworth? This also begs the question of where other significant others are, like Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson? If you don't draw that line, you open yourself up for serious criticism.

18) The Thing
I've only known one guy whose favorite hero was Ben Grimm, a guy who has never carried a solo series longer than three years (unless you count the team-up title Marvel Two-In-One, which broke 100 issues.) The Thing has turned up in animation since the '60s, so he's hardly obscure, but he doesn't seem to work on his own, either. Once again, I feel you need a Fantastic Four group entry, not thinned out and rather dubious solo listings.

17) Barbara Gordon
Who doesn't love Batgirl and/or Oracle? Great character, versatile, uplifting... still not quite at Jim Gordon's level, which gets into the supporting character boondoggle. At the end of the day, Babs sits at a computer and tells other people what to do, which is problematic on a list like this, especially when her primary proxy is in the '90s somewhere.

16) Rorschach
I kind of hate Rorschach a little bit. I suppose he's here to represent for Watchmen, but he's also the poster child for pretentious, pointless deconstructionist super-heroes and anti-heroes with nauseating motivations (not to mention personal hygiene.) He's also at heart just a proxy for Steve Ditko's the Question, who is not on this list at all beyond such legacies/knock-offs.

15) Dream of the Endless
Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is one of the high water marks in comics, and doesn't seem to be going anywhere, despite the series ending better than a decade ago. That said, Morpheus was essentially a cypher that stories were created around, which is why his bubbly sister Death is the one everybody really loves.

14) Thor
The Odinson has had quite a comeback in recent years, with a big summer movie release doing okay numbers. I want to like Thor more than I actually do, and the enjoyable (if familiar) feature helped. Still, even with his elevated status at Marvel, the top fifteen seems a bit high.

13) Jean Grey
I liked this character growing up, but she is now one of the finest examples of everything I hate in mainstream comics. She's incredibly powerful, but her personality is less than distinct, and she's still defined by her relationships with the douchiest of male characters. She's the poster child for very dead characters dying in a spectacular fashion necessitating commemorative editions who still manage to come back to die some more. She's gone through a series of generic codenames until finally giving up and going by her Christian one. She's the queen of heel turns, which marks the only time in her career that she's actually had a good costume. She's been repeatedly cloned, whether literally or in role, and her powers are terribly inconsistent. Most damningly, she is best known as a victim, whether of her husband's emotional abuse, her teammate's unwanted advances, her latest cause of death, or her own instability.

12) Iron Man
One of my best friend's favorite heroes, and while it took me years to get it, one of the greatest super-heroes. While he's done the occasional left-appeasing "no more arms dealing" shows, Tony Stark is the conservative wet dream of money, power, influence, and magnificent toys. I love Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal, and even if my value set is quite different, I can see the appeal of this type of character. It's also nice to finally see the guy make the A-list after years of skimming the Cs.

11) Dick Grayson (Robin)
The first comic book sidekick, and one of the most recognizable characters in the world... as Robin. As Nightwing, not so much, so his current gig as the alternate Batman who stays in Gotham City and deals with Bruce's brat will likely be good for him in the long run. Hopefully, a better Nightwing will come out the other end, because Spider-Man with a plunging neckline/vampire collar/yellow armpit gliders/mullet/really long ponytail/batons ain't cutting it.

10) Daredevil
Exactly the problem with a list like this. Matt Murdock is absolutely a fantastic character who has benefited from a number of exemplary runs receiving critical acclaim. However, part of the point of the character is that he's unpopular with the public, underpowered, handicapped, and has grim noir-influenced adventures in a book that skirts the line of mature readers. The Man Without Fear does not exist to be a top ten favorite super-hero, but as an alternative to that sort, especially if that means no more crappy Ben Affleck vehicles.

9) The Hulk
Strongest one there is. Before Wolverine, the Incredible Hulk was the personification of the rageaholic anti-hero, and he's still the dreamiest to steroid abusers the world over. He's big, he's unpredictable, he's got a solid creative pedigree, and we actually do like him when he's angry.

8) Wally West (The Flash)
Yeah, no. Look, I dug it when Mike Baron played up West's less admirable traits as a right-wing, money-grubbing, adulterous creep. Once Mark Waid recast him as a Silver Age style legacy hero, I was bored to tears. He's Runs-Fast-Man, the single least interesting power in my book. If you're so fast, you should beat everybody before I can turn the page. If you don't, you don't know what you're doing. Barry Allen works around this by balancing police work and the sheer outlandish nature of his villains, but all Wally did was run fast while fighting other guys who ran fast. Plus, he now has a young family, thoroughly domesticating him. I don't think a Flash has been built yet that the general public will embrace outside of a team, but whatever Barry Allen's faults, they go double for Wally West.

7) Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)
The last of the lazy combos, but it occurs to me this means only Hal and John Stewart made the list. I can live with that. It remains to be seen how well white Green Lantern will go over this summer on film, seeing as black Green Lantern has shown the most traction outside the comic book audience. Personally, I've never forgiven Hal for "Emerald Twilight," and the more I read of his Bronze Age adventures, the better I recognized Hal within Parallax. DC marketing has been pushing GL, Flash, Superman and Batman as their big guns, and I'm curious to see if that will prove a mistake.

6) Captain America
Well, the latest movie trailers have been much less terrible than the early ones, and I've had no desire to read the Captain America comic book for years. Still, f-yeah, I love the Star-Spangled Avenger. I would have bet on Thor at the start of the summer, but Cap's recognition factor is way higher, although it remains to be seen if the rest of the world wants patriotic shield slinging. Flogging the horse one more time, I believe characters like Supergirl and Aquaman are better known and loved internationally, while Blade, Green Arrow, the Punisher and the Crow probably play much better to younger generations. Not only do I like confidence in Cap's relevance, but I think another box office bomb could do irreparable harm to his standing in the super-hero community.

5) Wonder Woman
An argument could be made for the fourth spot, but I'm just glad Princess Diana was awarded the lion's share of her due respect. If only more comics stories reflected her stature.

4) Wolverine
The most popular super-hero created since the Silver Age ended, and the sole truly successful X-Man on his own merits.

3) Spider-Man
Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne tend to swap out the top spot in terms of dinero and fan love, but IGN was clearly working off of their own weird, subjective standards. "The Clone Saga" and "One More Day" can't have helped.

2) Batman
It's kind of nice to see the Dark Knight out of the top spot for once, even if it's totally unrealistic. Besides outselling Superman by a wide margin for decades and being the far superior merchandising machine, the Caped Crusader's last movie was the seventh highest-grossing film of all time in unadjusted dollars. My interest in Batman died long ago, so when I note his accomplishments, it's purely objective.

1) Superman
I have such a love/hate relationship with the Man of Steel, but he's (kind of) the first, and (sometimes) the greatest. However, he inflicted Smallville on the world. Send him back three spaces for that.

Bonus Round:
IGN collects celebrities interviewed about their favorite super-heroes.

More IGN Videos

Jason Statham: The Hulk
Theresa Palmer (I Am Number Four): The Flash
Seth Rogen: Batman
Carla Gugino: Catwoman (Prrrrfect!)
James Cameron: Spider-Man
Matt Damon: Chris Nolan's Batman
Amy Adams: Superman (with a shrug)
Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead): Spider-Man
January Jones: Emma Frost (White Queen indeed)
Owen Wilson: The Silver Surfer (great delivery)
Isla Fisher: Wonder Woman
Diane Kruger: Wonder Woman
Minka Kelly: Wonder Woman
Jenna Fisher: Wonder Woman
Olivia Wilde: Wonder Woman
Channing Tatum: Gambit (ex-male stripper, folks)
Mark Wahlberg: Underdog (WTF?)
Michelle Rodriguez: Catwoman (no thanks to the movie)
Michael Sheen: Superman and the Sandman (Morpheus)
Aaron Eckhart: Green Lantern
Robert Kirkman: Spider-Man (Celebrity?)
Djimon Hounsou: The Black Panther
Dianna Agron (Glee): Donatello
Michael Peña (Crash): Preacher
Timothy Olyphant: The Silver Surfer
Joel Silver: Lobo
William Fichtner: Superman (George Reeves version)
Dan Fogler (Who?): Wolverine
Elton John: Superman
Jamie Bell: Tin-Tin
James McAvoy: Batman
Nicholas Cage: The Hulk or Ghost Rider
Helen Mirren: Catwoman
Liam Neeson: Superman
Jeff Bridges: Green Lantern
Johnny Depp: The Sub-Mariner (also, Sgt. Rock)
Christian Bale: Batman (also, Superman)

Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold #1 (October, 1999)

A man who was hijacking a plane suddenly lost all his aggression, and then was killed by his own shadow.

Hal Jordan was at the airport, waiting for his buddy Barry Allen’s plane to come in. Barry was going to fly in for the weekend rather than run as the Flash to keep his “lives” separate, but had lost track of the time and missed it. Instead, Hal used his power ring to find Allen and carry him to Coast City. Of course, Hal immediately lost any points by being too broke to pay for parking, so Barry came to the rescue.

At a party thrown by Carol Ferris, the airplane’s pilot was attacked by his own shadow. Hal tried to use his power ring against it, but the emerald energy disappeared with the creature, so Jordan fearlessly dove in after it. Barry followed, and both heroes were captured by Science Minister Saraar of the Dorag.
The extraterrestrial Doragians were a placid people unprepared for war with the invading Khand. To compensate, the Doragians used an invention called an infektikon to transmit a psi-virus to leech Earth’s evil. An exception to the rule, Saraar was already pretty darned corrupt.

The Flash and Green Lantern broke free, and then returned to Earth to stop the shadow creatures, including their own evil shadows. Barry reminded Hal to “see reverse,” but my decade-plus old index card notes on this issue are a bit hard to follow, so I’m not sure about the relevancy of that. At some point someone dropped the old saw, “…In order for evil to triumph, it is only necessary that good men do nothing.” Green Lantern trapped somebody in the same “constrictor(?)” that the aliens (which aliens?) sent. Since the shadows were too evil to work together, they perished. Maybe the Khand (Khund?) had evil shadows too?

The important thing was that Green Lantern showed the will to stop the shadows, while Iris Allen and Tom “Pieface” Kalmaku wondered how such opposites as Hal and Barry became friends. The creative team was used to sell this mini-series as something of a “JLA: Year One 2,” but it was really more like the “Silver Age” event in that it was a lame, nostalgic wankfest. The details didn’t matter as much as reminding everyone how swell Hal was before the mass murder, and how solid a fella Barry was before he stayed dead until Wally couldn’t sell books anymore. I didn’t care then, and I’m clearly even less worried about it now, but I wanted credit for writing this crap down years ago in the form of a filler post.

"Those Who Worship Evil's Might" was written by Mark Waid & Tom Peyer, with art by Barry Kitson

Justice #9 (February, 2007)

Previously in Justice...

The Legion of Doom found "It's time to wake up. They are all having the same dream. Over and over again. Every one of them. All so humanity will survive these creatures of tomorrow."

The super-villain's plot to destroy the super friends unfolded...

The news media was all over it...

Bizarro burst through the ceiling of Clark Kent's apartment, and pulled Superman out to fight in the steets of Metropolis...

In no time, the Power of Shazam was at Superman's disposal.

John Stewart was searching for Hal Jordan

Once again, the Wisdom of Solomon trumped any thoughts in Superman's head.

In an Arabian desert, the Flash broke up Captain Cold's mini-harem.

"With a word, I become the world's mightiest mortal. With a whisper, the thunders call my name. I am Captain Marvel. And in the infinity of possible retaliations against Brainiac and Luthor and their cohorts that we could make this day, there is only one that is perfect. Only one that is just.

All words are magic. That is the beginning of wisdom. Secret words open and close doors. They are like keys. That's how our names and identities have been used to endanger those we love the most. That's why a promise to heal has ensnared the world."

Not a bad bit of monologue, but this comic is basically as dumb as Metamorpho, so it won't pan out. "I don't understand. But then, I usually don't." Well Metamorpho, the world has been taken over by good deeds done with bad intentions, in no small part helped by mind-controlling synthetic worms getting into people's brains. As Captain Marvel noted, the villains "could never naturally form this sort of alliance. They are criminals because of their inability to sustain any sort of community." Also, Hal Jordan wasn't killed by Sinestro because his power ring would have just gone to John Stewart, so better to stick him someplace out of the way. "I'm still working on my G.E.D. What is he saying?" Oh, Metamorpho.



Captain Marvel was magically transported to a battle against Gorilla Grodd where he was supposed to be protected from infection by Green Lantern's power ring. However, Black Adam was also on the scene, and lured the Big Red Cheese away by threatening the life of his sister. Of course, Mary Marvel was only playing possum, as she and Captain Marvel Junior were both in thrall to the worms. "You're so stupid, Billy. Where's your wisdom now? You left your friends." While Black Adam and Junior held Captain Marvel aloft, Mary Marvel returned the power of Shazam, and began falling to her inevitable death. Adam wanted Captain Marvel to "Say the magic word." With tears in his eyes, Marvel asked, "...please..." Adam sneered, "That's not it."

The World's Mightiest Mortal broke free with the strength of Hercules, then flew after Mary with the speed of Mercury. Mary again called down the thunder, striking Captain Marvel. The champion of Shazam landed with a thud, as he could no longer hear the gods whispering their powers to him, for he was now worm food.

Under the direction of Batman, the Atom and Doc Magnus, the Flash constructed suits of armor for the Justice League to wear as protection from the worms. That hadn't done Captain Marvel any good, as he began slamming into the outer walls of the Fortress of Solitude. Asking why would require a wisdom he now clearly lacked. Even Captain Marvel couldn't take on all the collected heroes on his own, so why not front an army of super-villains, if they knew where the League was located? Why knock, when Marvel should be strong enough to pick up Superman's key? If not, how about if Black Adam and the Marvel Family had been in tow? No, we would instead have another one-on-one fight with an (unprotected) Superman, until Captain Marvel was captured by Green Lantern, and his worms removed. Useless tangent? Deux ex machina? You be the judge.



Hal Jordan and Captain Marvel were sent by Batman to Arkham Asylum, where they found that Dr. Sivana, inventor of the worms, had been locked up by Brainiac. Why? Stop--using--wisdom--readers!

Most of the Justice League donned their armors, including Green Arrow and Plastic Man, but not the absent Captain Marvel. Meanwhile, Metamorpho managed to defeat Gorilla Grodd by becoming a gas and choking the Super-Gorilla before he even knew the Element Man was present... and Rex even managed to steal a yellow power ring. Who's wise now?

"Chapter Nine" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• Batman & Company at Justice League Detroit
• Gorilla Grodd & the Martian Manhunter at The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• The Atom at Power of the Atom
• Cheetah: From Bruce Wayne's private files in the Batcomputer at Diana Prince

1984 Green Lantern Postcard by George Pérez

Absolutely without fear, the Emerald Crusader, Hal Jordan, was given the magnificent ring of power. Green Lantern serves the Guardians of the Universe as one of the famed Green Lantern Corps, fighting evil in all its forms.

Green Lantern Hal Jordan was one of the first super-heroes I ever encountered, but he had about the least presence of them all. He was a Super Friend, and I would catch one of the old ‘60s Justice League of America shorts every now and again, but it’s not like he had his own cartoon like Aquaman. The earliest comic I saw Hal Jordan in was from the Hard-Traveling Heroes days, involving a generic cult that kidnapped Green Lantern, but his ring had managed to reach Green Arrow. It was a gorgeous looking comic, and even though Jordan was the jobber of the tale, I didn’t hold it against him that time.

When his Super Powers Collection figure came out, it was instantly my favorite. Hal was too barrel-chested, and his lantern jaw too similar to Superman’s, but the glorious costume design of Gil Kane rendered in three dimensions could not be denied. The simple color scheme of green, black and white came off as so much more refined than the standard hero fare, and a domino mask has an air of sophistication about it. Most heroes had black hair, and quite a few were blond, but brown was a unique shade reserved for a select few (with heavy hitters Peter Parker and Bruce Banner also so graced.) I think my favorite part was that drop of emerald jewelry amidst the negative space of Green Lantern’s white glove that only hinted at the incredible power resting on his finger.

I’m sure I encountered Hal sometime in the interim, but my next strong memory was from the mid-80s, in an issue of Green Lantern with the Javelin as the featured villain. I believe the character was designed by Dave Gibbons, and he looked good, but what really stuck with me was how a dude with a hollow javelin filled with yellow paint had managed to place Green Lantern in a life or death situation. Hal‘s vulnerability to a color was already a joke to me by then, and his diminishing presence in the DC Universe didn’t help. John Stewart seemed to handle his ring with much greater competency, and Guy Gardner had loads more personality than either of them. Hal would pop up here and there, like in Millennium tie-ins, but he had already become my third choice and falling in the role of Green Lantern. In fact, it kind of ticked me off that Stewart’s wife was killed because he was among the majority of GL corpsmen who lost their rings at decade’s end, excluding Hal, who was written as a total douchebag in his Action Comics Weekly run. I gave Hal several more tries in the years that followed, which only led to several more fails on Jordan’s part.

The first comic book professional I ever met was Bill Willingham, who turned up at a convention shortly after drawing a chapter of “Emerald Twilight.” I told him Hal Jordan didn’t mean that much to me, but I thought it was wrong that fans had invested over thirty years into a hero before having him become a mass murdering madman. If I recall correctly, Willingham was either diplomatic or simply agreed with me, so we moved on to discussing The Elementals and how nice Terry Austin’s inks looked over a Huntress short story he’d done in a recent Showcase.

I continued to irregularly follow Green Lantern in the late ‘90s, because that book was always having guest stars over that I found more interesting than Kyle Rayner. I also went back and read Denny O’Neil’s work in the ‘70s, as well as Steve Englehart’s in the ‘80s, and came to the conclusion Hal‘s going nuts was actually foreseeable. Jordan was indecisive and open to suggestion, was prone to erratic behavior, made colossally stupid decisions in dramatic fashion without regard for the consequences, and basically was a screw-up with more power than he deserved. Fans fought over the new status quo, but for a decade DC insisted that Hal Jordan was and would always be the very evil Parallax, which I accepted. Even when Hal sacrificed his life to reignite the sun and eventually became the Spectre for a time, I was alright with it. Only when DC announced that Hal Jordan would be reborn as Green Lantern did I have reservations. There were plenty of theories as to how this could be done, my personal favorite being that evil Hal had been a clone created in a Guy Gardner story right before going nuts as Parallax, but things played out different. The real Jordan had done all that evil, only under the influence of an extraordinarily powerful alien entity. Now see, heroes get possessed by evil all the time, and Kyle Rayner specifically would be in this creature’s thrall a few years later. However, like most heroes in those circumstances, Rayner had regained his autonomy after a few issues, not a dozen years following a massive body count. Even that was slowly retconned, with Coast City, Kilowog and even Arisia (killed by Major Force in a completely unrelated story) brought back to life in as arbitrary a fashion as possible. What they were selling, I wasn’t buying.

Here we are in 2010, with next summer promising a big budget Green Lantern motion picture that I personally have little interest in seeing. For the second time in the Geoff Johns era, John Stewart has been promised a co-starring role in an ongoing series, only to become a bit player supporting a boring honky lead. In fact, Twitter was all atwitter about why a white guy was playing Green Lantern after a generation of fans had been turned on to the character outside of comics by a black GL in the Justice League cartoon. DC Comics spent most of my life cultivating a hatred of Hal Jordan, and I’m afraid it will take a lot more than Warner Brothers throwing millions of dollars at a Ryan Reynolds vehicle to change my opinion.

2010 Green Lantern Movie Trailer

The Entertainment Tonight preview looked pretty bad, but now that the full length trailer for Warner Brother's summer 2011 tentpole has been released, I figure this better pull some kind of Hancock. I mean, I never saw the Will Smith vehicle, but even though the reviewers were unkind, it was able rake in some dough. At the end of the day, it was one of the world's biggest stars playing the only black super-hero to ever be afforded a decent budget, and the comedy worked for its audience. Green Lantern seems to fall more on the Meteor Man side of "funny super-heroics," and Ryan Reynolds has never really proven himself outside of comedy of the dubious/romantic variety. Maybe it's just me, but that CGI costume looks ridiculous, and I can't see past Reynolds to Hal Jordan. Blake Lively looks like she should be carded, and acts like cardboard. The brief glimpses of Hector Hammond recall Jeffrey Jones in Howard the Duck. The other aliens/landscapes make for some really nice video game cut scenes, but on the silver screen? It seems to me this thing really wants to be Iron Man, but everything is so awkward and goofy looking, it has the stink of too-faithful failures past all over it (The Phantom, The Rocketeer, Superman Returns.) It may make money, but will it win hearts?

For the record, Captain America looks like it's going to break my heart. That's possibly my all time favorite super-hero, but he just does not seem to work in live action. My only hope for next year is Thor. Like Iron Man, I don't care very much about Thor as a comic book character, but the film shows all kinds of promise. Check the trailer below and tell me what your preference is. I reserve the right to mock you, by the way.

Justice #8 (December, 2006)

In an Arabian desert, the Flash broke up Captain Cold's mini-harem. "You tried to kill me. And that means you tried to kill everyone I hope to save until the day I die. That's a lot of people." Cold should have pointed out that if he had succeeded, the Scarlet Speedster still would have saved everybody he saved until the day he died, but since he didn't die, he might ought to consider swapping a chemistry class for some remedial English. Instead, Cold drew a replica pistol made of ice, which Flash totally fell for, so maybe he needed another police detective class, too. Captain Cold froze up a hall of mirrors, and when that didn't work, created sculptured duplicates of himself. Failing yet again, Captain Cold was run to the Fortress of Solitude.

Still trapped in his power ring, Hal Jordan argued with simulations of his brothers about the benefits of lacking fear, and where his adventuring ways landed him.

Batman, having interrogated Captain Cold, learned all about the prophetic nightmares that motivated the villains to action. Black Canary wondered if the Legion of Doom thought they were doing the right thing, but Batman explained that the villains wouldn't have tried to turn the situation to their advantage to lord over potential survivors if their hearts were truly in the right place.

Supergirl, Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon were all captured by Legion forces.

Hal Jordan had regressed to childhood, which is why he wished to heed the command of his parents not to talk to the Stranger who had paid him a visit. "So there you are, Hal. I've been looking everywhere for you." The Phantom Stranger then helped Hal with some self-realization psychobabble about not trying to remake the real world in his image/with great power comes great moderation/how the League helps Hal check his head/yadda yadda. The important thing was the the Stranger brought a power battery and a direction home, so Green Lantern could try to look cool saying his oath in a painted splash page.

All the heroes were together at the Fortress of Solitude, except John Stewart, who got himself kidnapped by the mind-controlled kid sidekicks of other heroes (mostly the Teen Titans and the Marvel Family.)

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• The Atom, Red Tornado, Hawkman & Hawkgirl at Power of the Atom
• Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel at Diana Prince
• The Motor City League, Plastic Man & Superman at Justice League Detroit

"Chapter Eight" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.

Justice #6 (August, 2006)

The powers of the gods allowed Captain Marvel to try to talk Superman out of the prescribed course of action while traveling through the vacuum of space. Wordlessly, the Man of Steel made it clear he was more afraid of his infestation making him the man who killed Captain Marvel than vice versa, so the Big Red Cheese threw Superman into the sun.

Hal Jordan was mildly amused to finally encounter a portion of space(?) the Guardians of the Universe knew nothing about, but not too much under the circumstances. His power ring only had seven hours worth of charge remaining, and he was potentially lost forever. Green Lantern decided to convert himself into electronic impulses stored within his ring, perhaps indefinitely.

"This involvement of Captain Marvel was unforeseen," noted Brainiac to Lex Luthor and Grodd. The Super-Gorilla seemed the most irritated by the party crasher, and was given permission to send the pseudo-prophetic nightmare shared by the Legion of Doom to Black Adam in order to increase their numbers.

Ablaze with solar energy, the Man of Tomorrow was restored. On learning that Superman had rid himself of a worm-like bodily invader, Captain Marvel offered Mr. Mind as a suspect. Just as the pair were reaching the JLA Satellite, it exploded in front of them. Captain Marvel asked if Superman detected any trace of Red Tornado in the debris...

John Stewart told Zatanna when he arrived at Ferris Aircraft Company, and asked that she thank Elongated Man for calling him in. On the property, Stewart met with Hal Jordan's sometimes girlfriend Carol Ferris and sidekick Tom Kalmaku. Stewart was searching for Hal, but the best idea "Pieface" could offer was pointing to the sky. "Thanks. That narrows it down."

Hal Jordan knew that it was Sinestro who had "killed" him via Boom Tube, but tried to move on with his everlasting illusion of life. Simulations of Coast City and its residents were constructed, but they were hollow things, and Green Lantern wondered how long he would wait before allowing space to take him...

An emaciated Flash continued to run across the globe, surely doomed to die from exhaustion...

Continue the story through these character-specific posts:

• Batman & more at Justice League Detroit
• Martian Manhunter at The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• The Atom, Hawks and Red Tornado at Power of the Atom
• Wonder Woman at Diana Prince
• Captain Marvel, Superman & Green Lantern at DC Bloodlines

"Chapter Six" was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.