I had a really good idea for it too, involving Norse mythology, a Doomsday scenario, the legendary all Sub-Zero version of Suicide Squad (Captain Cold leads Mr. Freeze, the Icicle, Killer Frost and others into battle), and a vision quest for the unlikeliest of heroes!
But nooo-ooo! You have to go and do it first, just to get people to read Birds of Prey 104. Like it wasn't enough that it features round one of the long anticipated Big Barda/Knockout slobberknocker! (Well, long anticipated by me, anyway). You have to throw in an, er, event fans have been asking for for literally a decade.
You're just, you're just greedy! That's what you are!
Specifically, WHAT, exactly, would Professor Doris Zuel have to do to get fired? You'd think that going on naked rampage through the town would at least get one put on probation, let alone swallowing a fellow member of the faculty whole, but there she is the next day, teaching class and putting the moves on The All-New Atom. I'm surprised she was hired in the first place, considering she's a known (and, in the pages of Wonder Woman, still wanted) criminal and she isn't doing much to hide her identity.
Yes, yes, I know she was "under the influence of a cancer god" (and haven't we all used THAT excuse before) and the Dean himself isn't exactly on the up-and-up, but you'd think the board of directors or the alumni association would throw a stink about such a dangerous individual influencing the minds of a new generation. I mean, it's not like they've got Prof. Morrow teaching computer programming or Solomon Grundy lecturing on interpretations of Seven Soldiers ("Grundy wants explication of text, too!")
... or DO they? Is that the point? Based on the increased yield following Ray Palmer's tenure, is Ivy actively recruiting the all stars of the meta-science world? Is that in the brochure? "Come to Ivy University and see the laws of physics rewritten regularly!" The Flash leading a seminar on special relativity. The Phantom Stranger and Dr. Thirteen hosting a special class on "Faith vs. Doubt". And when you run out of heroes, who might have better things to do, you move on to the reformed (and almost reformed) villains?
Y'know, this could actually be cool. They could have academic rivalries with the inmates of The Haven and free-thinkers on Oolong Island. Ethics classes would have some real debate, since there would suddenly be people actually pro-disintegration. And if Ivy's University mascot was the Kawaii M'Nagalah, I don't think I'd have a problem with that.
After yesterday's post, I think it important to point out that DC isn't limiting its reader education program to the female anatomy. From the cover of the All-New Atom #8:
On Tuesday, I posted about how happy I was that two of my favorite characters, who have never met despite having linked origin stories, were going to fight for the first time, written by one of my favorite writers. And I got linked to by When Fangirls Attack.
Which is great (sweet, sweet hit count), but honestly surprised me. Usually, I know when a post is going to get linked to, sometimes I practically beg to get linked to, but this was just me squeeing over a possibly Apokoliptian rumble. In retrospect, I should have expected it, because, after all, Big Barda, Knockout, and Gail Simone are all women. In comics.
Which meets the technical definition of an on-topic post, of course, but not, as I understood it, the grander vision. It wasn't really a post about "women in comics." It was more a post about a writer and characters who happened to be women. (I didn't even make my Secret Six joke that if Simone was writing about superpowered redheads fighting, they almost certainly were going to be fighting in the nude.)
Is this good? That's an honest question. Is it good to emphasize the mere presense of women in comics? I mean, it bugs me when people call Simone "one of the best female writers." No, she's just one of the best writers, no qualifier. This isn't the same thing, I know, but...
Was it because it was all women? I post about the Justice League all the time, which includes a woman or two, but that doesn't usually get linked. If Mark Waid was going to write the proposed Barda v. Knockout brawl, or if it was going to be Orion vs. Knockout instead, would it still have gotten linked?
Or was it just that Ragnell liked the post and wanted more people to read it? (which would be TOTALLY COOL!)
Anyway, the point of this post was that I really like When Fangirls Attack, I like the writers behind When Fangirls Attack, and I LOVE getting linked to by When Fangirls Attack, but I was kind of curious about what gets linked and what doesn't, sometimes.
And to guarantee that this post gets linked to as well, here's the ickiest daddy/daughter relationships found outside of Cinyras and Myrrha, courtesy of John Rogers, who's totally a comics writer now, so it counts.
Barda vs. Knockout. Wow. It... it's like being given a birthday present and you didn't even know it was your birthday. I hadn't realized before but it turns out I have been waiting for that very moment since reading Superboy #25, Knockout's origin issue.
Ahh, that's better. Now I feel like I have some room to breath. Certainly my posts with big images, like my recent post on the myth of aristocracy look a lot better now. And I followed through on my promise of adding a greatest hits section (based on hits and links).
Went to the store today. A slow week for me. The most enjoyable comic was 52, which enjoyably progresses a plotline or three. Nothing surprising, (except maybe the religion bit), but well executed, particularly the tan line. I mean, the line about the tan.
Whatever.
But the most interesting comic, the one that stuck, was JLA Classified #28. Howard Chaykin started from the same basic premise as Gail Simone's run (Justice League intervenes in international politics) and goes in a very different direction. There's a lot of smart writing going on there. The two fictional South American nations featured supposedly have radically different ideologies, one communist, one capitalist, but the rhetoric does little to disguise the fact that they are nearly identical dictatorships. (Though I should note the capitalist dictator welcomes "plutocrat" Bruce Wayne with open arms, while the communist opens up to, of course, that old leftist Clark Kent.) And even though it's clear they're both bad guys, it's not black & white whether the Justice League is doing more good than harm by intervening, which is nice. There's even a crack about the American comics industry that's both nicely done and awfully mean.
The art's good, not great. Tom Nguyen really does make every penciller's work look like Doug Mahnke, but weak Doug Mahnke. And it's a three or four issue story at most, unfortunately told over six issues. But it's a good solid Justice League story where Wonder Woman and Batman actually hit people instead of bitching at each other from across a table, so I'd recommend picking it up.
In other news, Earth Prime has in fact bled into the DC Universe, as Infinite Crisis the book shows up in Gotham book stores. And as before, what is fiction here becomes non-fiction there.
But if Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are missing, how did the writer learn what happened on the moon?
In which I put on the turban and do my impression of Carnak.
But first, let's check in with my last prediction, that the mastermind behind the theft of the Red Tornado's android body is The Top. Well, we got another clue this week when the shadowy figure says he was stupid, but isn't any longer. That REALLY limits the possibilities, down to basically Dr. Light (who was mind-wiped and regained his memory in Meltzer's own Identity Crisis) and, well, the Top (who was brainwashed and regained his memory in Geoff Johns's run on The Flash). So my bet's looking pretty good.
As for the new prediction: Little Barda is Knockout's daughter.
Okay, there's been very little information given about the Big Barda-wannabe. Early speculation was that she was Avia Free, Scott and Barda Free's daughter in the Elseworlds Kingdom Come. This despite ANY evidence that Scott and Barda had a daughter (a teen daughter at that) and just failed to mention it. What we do know about Lil' Miss Thang is that she aspires to be Big Barda some day and has costume modeled on hers. A chance line from Power Boy indicates they are both actually from Apokolips, and not just humans with high aspirations.
Meanwhile, over in Secret Six, Knockout casually reveals that she had a daughter, but hasn't seen her since the girl was three (i.e. just old enough to have memories of her mother). And anyone who read Karl Kesel's run on Superboy knows that Knockout is herself a refuge from Apokolips who fled the Female Furies after being inspired by Big Barda's own escape.
Which means not enough of you are listening to me. I mean, the book has humor, explosions, great dialogue, kicks to the face, Elsa Bloodstone, Fin Fang Foom, explosions, and Captain ****, whose name is so filthy Captain American beat the crap out of him just for mentioning it.
What more do you people want? How about dancing Mindless Ones?
Yes, we are one step closer to my dream of a superhero musical. And NextWave already has its own theme song!
Anyway, NextWave is a very FUN book. Possibly the most FUN book on the shelves. So, if you're looking to be entertained, you really need to buy NextWave tomorrow.
Because if you don't, Marvel is going to cancel the book. And if THAT happens...
JLA CLASSIFIED was the title that was my Justice League fix after JLA proper turned nigh-unreadable.
It is exactly what I think all comics should be. Self-contained stories that are only as much a part of continuity as they need to be: from the deeply grounded in history Gail Simone run to the possibly in continuity, possibly not Warren Ellis run, from the Seven Soldiers launching Grant Morrison run, to the tragic irony of the way WAY out of continuity Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatties run, this title has been a wonderful playground where the writers can play with the toys they want, without having to worry about sharing them (or BREAKING them).
And it really has been ALL STAR, as these top writers have been matched with some of the finest (if sometimes under appreciated) artists in DC's stable. While Ed McGuinness's name might move some issues, Butch Guice, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and Kevin Maguire are MASTERS of their craft and turned out consistently top-notch work.
And this, I am sure, will be no exception. Comic book veteran Steve Engelhart is teamed with the criminally under-appreciated Tom Derenick to tell the story of JLA: Detroit, the ill-fated attempt at turning the Justice League into the Avengers. It didn't work, mostly because the writing wasn't there to support them before.
I have a feeling that will change.
So pick up JLA: CLASSIFIED to support different format for storytelling, to support two pros in the field are just not given enough props, to support a team of under-developed characters just waiting for the right writer to bring them to life.
"I'm also enjoying The Roar of Comics immensely - Steve is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. He's the kind of blogger whose passion doesn't outstrip his intelligence, and who can make the greatest points with the least amount of snarkiness."
