Weekly Comic Book Discussion 1/13/2005

[Kamino_Neko]

@Big Bad Voodoo Lou

Justice League Unlimited #5 - usually I pay no attention to the “animated-style” books. Hell, most of the time I couldn’t care less about the “real” JLA either! But this issue spotlighted my favorite superhero, Blue Beetle, and actually portrayed him well. They played up his “regular guy standing alongside giants and gods” image, and made him goofy but competent and smart at the same time.

I really liked this one. I like how the book is focusing on ‘lesser’ characters (from what I’ve seen…Issues 4 and 5), although I fear it means they won’t be used on the actual cartoon - I hope I don’t need to go to the comics to get my Fire and Ice centric story. ;_; OK…siderant aside…

Minor spoilers for this issue, larger ones for the TV series.

[spoiler]The General was an interesting choice. I’d thought we’d seen General Eisling in the cartoon, but checking World’s Finest, the guy in Dark Heart was named Eding. Even so…given The General’s origin in the main continuity, and what’s going on in the cartoon - Episodes Fearful Symmetry, Ultimatum, and Dark Heart - he feels vaguely like someone they should be meeting for the first time sometime in the future.

Obviously, then one of 4 things is going on:

1. This General has a slightly different origin than the real one. (Likely)
2. The comic is incompatable with the TV series. (Likely)
3. This takes place at some point in the future of the TV series. (Unlikely)
4. Both 1 and 2. (Very likely.)[/spoiler]

BUT…it did play up Beetle’s ‘underdog’ aspect.

And I really like Beetle, so, it’s great to see him in action.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

"I Hunt Monsters" from Antacrtica Press has some nice art. Slow at the start, the script is picking up, & the writer is improving quickly in this, his first professional comic series.

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

Unfortunately, Beetle will NOT be appearing in the cartoon series at all. Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie have confirmed this. It has to do with a contract dating back to the Blue Beetle radio show of the 1940s, not allowing the character to be used in any other forms of media. Between that and some other screwy licensing issues, the former Charlton characters Beetle, the Question and Captain Atom won’t have any JLU merchandise such as action figures, but at least the latter two made it into the show. That leads me to believe the comic isn’t the same exact continuity as the cartoon, giving the writer more leeway to include characters like Beetle.

Oh, JLU Season 2 is supposed to conclude with a four-part episode dealing with the government conspiracy subplots they’ve been setting up for a while (Amanda Waller’s mention of the “Squad,” General Eiling, and general mistrust of the League due to things like the Hawkgirl incidents). So that should be pretty rad. The next new episodes air on 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, and 2/12, and Season 2 premieres somewhere in there.

[Kamino_Neko]

@Big Bad Voodoo Lou

Unfortunately, Beetle will NOT be appearing in the cartoon series at all. Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie have confirmed this. It has to do with a contract dating back to the Blue Beetle radio show of the 1940s, not allowing the character to be used in any other forms of media. Between that and some other screwy licensing issues, the former Charlton characters Beetle, the Question and Captain Atom won’t have any JLU merchandise such as action figures, but at least the latter two made it into the show.

Oh, this all sucks. I’d love to see Beetle in ACTION, and a Question fig would be the greatest thing ever. Not, I suppose, that he’s a hard one to make a custom of, but I’m only a wannabe customizer.

That leads me to believe the comic isn’t the same exact continuity as the cartoon, giving the writer more leeway to include characters like Beetle.

Well, this doesn’t neccessarily take it out of the toon’s continuity. They’re just stuck only using him in the comics.

Oh, JLU Season 2 is supposed to conclude with a four-part episode dealing with the government conspiracy subplots they’ve been setting up for a while (Amanda Waller’s mention of the “Squad,” General Eiling, and general mistrust of the League due to things like the Hawkgirl incidents). So that should be pretty rad.

Kick ass. Knew it was coming, but a 4-parter is pretty sweet.

The next new episodes air on 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, and 2/12, and Season 2 premieres somewhere in there.

Since I think you guys have caught up with us (You’ve gotten Wake the Dead, right?), and according to World’s Finest, there’s only 2 episodes left this season, I guess February 5 would be the season premier. I wonder if that means we’ll be getting it on the 4th or the 11th…

Er… [/end hijack]

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

@Tengu

Oh, this all sucks. I’d love to see Beetle in ACTION, and a Question fig would be the greatest thing ever. Not, I suppose, that he’s a hard one to make a custom of, but I’m only a wannabe customizer.

You know DC Direct made Blue Beetle AND Question figures a couple years back, right? And they just announced their first Captain Atom figure, to be done in the Ed McGuinness style for a Superman/Batman wave coming later this year.

http://www.geocities.com/bigbadvoodoolou/bluebeetle.html

[Kamino_Neko]

@Big Bad Voodoo Lou

You know DC Direct made Blue Beetle AND Question figures a couple years back, right?

Let me rephrase, slightly. A JLU Question fig would be the coolest thing ever. Granted, the differences are slight, but they’re important to me.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Anybody know a source online where I can buy busts/mini-busts/maquettes at 40%-50% or better?

[shy_guy]

I count the JLU comic as out of continuity - Hawkgirl was in issue #1, way before the character reappeared on the show (although I guess you could just say that #1 takes place after season one or something).

Anybody know a source online where I can buy busts/mini-busts/maquettes at 40%-50% or better?

You might want to try Discount Comic Book Service. They have some pretty good deals occasionally.

[E-Sabbath]

Rumor: The Beetle is going to be the most important character in the DCU in one to two months. There’s this cover to the new Crisis book. Look at the man being held. Logical conclusion: Ted’s gonna bite it.

I always liked Ted. Anyone know what happened to the scarab? There’s three to four answers, depending on if it’s the Charlton, original DC, or revamped with Secret Origins DC, that I know of.

[Cliffy]

Jeffrey Combs’ voice?

Fenris, it’s best not to worry about Image continuity. Because individual series are creator-owned, the existence of other characters in their universe will wax and wane as they have better or worse economic and personal relationships with each other.

–Cliffy

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

@shy guy

I count the JLU comic as out of continuity - Hawkgirl was in issue #1, way before the character reappeared on the show (although I guess you could just say that #1 takes place after season one or something).

You might want to try Discount Comic Book Service. They have some pretty good deals occasionally.

No good.

My computer can’t use Flash (at work), & the damn Flash image blocks the drop-downs. So, I can’t access anything on the site. :mad:

[cmkeller]

Big Bad Voodoo Lou:

It has to do with a contract dating back to the Blue Beetle radio show of the 1940s, not allowing the character to be used in any other forms of media. Between that and some other screwy licensing issues, the former Charlton characters Beetle, the Question and Captain Atom won’t have any JLU merchandise such as action figures, but at least the latter two made it into the show.

The difference being that the original Blue Beetle was from Fox publications, and was only picked up by Charlton later, whereas Question and Captain Atom were Charlton from the beginning.

Although I think I recall the Blue Beetle being on The Electric Company. Granted, that buffoonish character bears little resemblance to any of the comic book Blue Beetles.

E-Sabbath:

I always liked Ted. Anyone know what happened to the scarab? There’s three to four answers, depending on if it’s the Charlton, original DC, or revamped with Secret Origins DC, that I know of.

I thought the scarab was lost with Dan Garrett’s body when he died. Did they change this at some point? Was there a story in which it was recovered?

[Kamino_Neko]

@E-Sabbath

Rumor: The Beetle is going to be the most important character in the DCU in one to two months. There’s this cover to the new Crisis book. Look at the man being held. Logical conclusion: Ted’s gonna bite it.

Jim Lee (who did the pencils that Ross painted over) has apparently said the picture (which is actually the cover of Countdown, the Crisis 2005 runup, just for the sake of being pedantic) is meant to be misleading, so I wouldn’t be digging Mr Kord’s grave, just yet.

[E-Sabbath]

I remember the scarab being lost.
I remember the scarab being kept by Ted in his belt buckle.
I remember him having the scarab and it just not giving him any powers.
I remember him finding out how to use the scarab to power his weapons.
I have no idea at all what order those were in.

[E-Sabbath]

But the bit where Ted’s going to be the most important character in the DCU is a quote.

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

@E-Sabbath

But the bit where Ted’s going to be the most important character in the DCU is a quote.

Dan DiDio said it in some interview about DC in 2005, but everything else is just fan speculation.

[cmkeller]

E-Sabbath:

I remember the scarab being kept by Ted in his belt buckle.
I remember him having the scarab and it just not giving him any powers.
I remember him finding out how to use the scarab to power his weapons.

I suspect that all that must have been in the old Charlton days. To the best of my knowledge, since becoming a DC property, Ted Kord has always been a scientifically-based hero, not relying on a magical scarab in any way, for or manner.

[ussentinel]

Anyone else fill out a CBG and/or a Wizard fan awards ballot yet? Just wondering. The Wizard ballot lists five nominees per category (based on a poll) and a write-in space. I thought it was a little interesting that Jeph Loeb didn’t make the list in the “Favorite Writer” category. He wrote the popular Batman/“Hush” story the previous year & now writes Superman/Batman. Bendis, Johns, Meltzer, Millar, and Whedon (all worthy nominees) were listed in a talented field. What a difference a year makes.

Action Comics #823 – The cover depicts a guy kicking a fallen Superman with a cover blurb that reads, “WHO is this guy and how can HE do THIS to Superman?!” Pity that we never find out after reading the issue. The best part of the issue wasn’t the subplots (Doomsday, Supe’s older appearance), and it wasn’t Krypto stealing a scene. The best part for me was Mrs. Kent telling off BOTH Lois and Lane before serving Christmas dinner dessert. Priceless. I do like Ivan Reis’ pencils, and with him here and Jim Lee on Superman, I wish some of the art talent on the Superman titles would migrate over to the Batman titles.

**Aquaman #26 ** – Hmm … did I miss an issue? Nothing is as it seems in Sub Diego and roles seem to be reversed. Interesting story and it was fun trying to figure out what was going on. I do like that they’re not gonna milk this for a long drawn out story (it will be concluded next month) and the cover devoted solely to Aquagirl.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #187 – Last month, I thought this was an incomprehensible mess. This month, I upgraded this chapter to just plain “mess.” It’s part 3 of the 5 part “Riddle Me That” story and I decided to give it another chance to see if it improved any and if it was making more sense. No go. I thought I read a blurb in CBG that this story takes place before the “War Games” story, not sure. If that’s so, there’s no mention anywhere in the book itself. I like a challenging read, but there’s too many scene changes (I don’t know whether I’m in the past flashback or present), too many subplots, and just not enough on the table for me to care.

Green Arrow #46 – I thought new penciller Tom Fowler’s stuff was a bit uneven. Facial expressions were good in some places, distorted and oddly contorted in others. Hey, Marvel! Don’t look now but they’re ripping off your Stilt Man villain over here with a characater called High-Rise, dressed like a doorman with a hat and tassled shoulders. Meant to be a laughable villain and dispatched as one too. The new Speedy pays the Teen Titans a visit. Speedy and Robin test each other’s fighting skills in a place reminiscent of the X-Men’s Danger Room.

JSA #69 – the second part of the five-part “JSA/JSA” story did what it was supposed to. It was better than the already enjoyable first part. The present JSA’ers go back in time to meet their counterparts in name. The one that gets the farthest in their encounter (Stargirl) doesn’t fare so well. Another great Alex Ross cover. Shy guy, good point with Johnny Thunder.

Nightwing #101 – The bad news: Yet another retelling/retweaking of how Dick became Nightwing with the “Year One” treatment. The good news: It’s a helluva lot better and more interesting than the title has been in recent months. Y’know what I’d rather see? Instead of a bit of this rehash, complete with the Batman/Nightwing confrontations and fights (Oh, the angst, the drama, the tight-lipped, stiff, “Obey me, or else!” Batman), how about doing some “untold” stories with Dick and Barbara in their Robin and Batgirl personas? There was only a handful of stories spread out in the '60s, '70s and '80s (Batman Family and some stories in Detective here and there) in which they BOTH worked together – where their feelings for each other were only touched upon in a panel here and there --all too brief. Yeah, she was older. Yeah, their feelings may not have been the same back then. Yeah, it was gradual. But, I wanna see more of that and less of another “origin” story.

[Hey_It_s_That_Guy]

@ussentinel

Y’know what I’d rather see? Instead of a bit of this rehash, complete with the Batman/Nightwing confrontations and fights (Oh, the angst, the drama, the tight-lipped, stiff, “Obey me, or else!” Batman), how about doing some “untold” stories with Dick and Barbara in their Robin and Batgirl personas? There was only a handful of stories spread out in the '60s, '70s and '80s (Batman Family and some stories in Detective here and there) in which they BOTH worked together – where their feelings for each other were only touched upon in a panel here and there --all too brief. Yeah, she was older. Yeah, their feelings may not have been the same back then. Yeah, it was gradual. But, I wanna see more of that and less of another “origin” story.

You might like Batman: Thrillkiller, an Elseworlds miniseries reprinted as a TPB, starring Batgirl and Robin as fun-loving vigilantes circa 1961. Bruce Wayne is an important character, but he isn’t Batman in the story–Babs and Dick are Gotham’s only costumed heroes. It is written by Howard Chaykin and has some very pretty painted art by Dan Brereton.

[ussentinel]

@Big Bad Voodoo Lou

You might like Batman: Thrillkiller, an Elseworlds miniseries reprinted as a TPB, starring Batgirl and Robin as fun-loving vigilantes circa 1961. Bruce Wayne is an important character, but he isn’t Batman in the story–Babs and Dick are Gotham’s only costumed heroes. It is written by Howard Chaykin and has some very pretty painted art by Dan Brereton.

Thanks for the suggestion! Got 'em, liked 'em!

In my haste to get my post up, I forgot to comment that I am enjoying the Space Ghost mini series. I just wonder how it will conclude and even if Jan and Jayce will show up with the direction it’s going in. Folks I chat with across the country aren’t able to find copies dpending on what part of the US they’re in it seems.

Also picked up this week, but yet to read: Batman Strikes #5, JLA #110, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #5, Captain America and the Falcon #11, Marvel Knights: 4 #14, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10, Spider-Man Human Torch #1, Ultimates 2 #2, X-23 #1, Hero2 #1, New X-Men Academy X #8, Marvel Team-Up #4, Pulse #7, She-Hulk #11, Stormbreaker/Beta-Ray Bill #1, Darkness/Superman #1 and Image’s Two Bits #1 … because it only cost two bits.