Was that them at the end?
Klarion and the kids were in the car that almost ran Shilo down (pretty unmistakable once you notice Klarion’s blue face), just before he walks past where Jake’s arguing with Carla about his carreer (made obvious by his picking up the ring from where it almost fell down the storm drain).
(Also, I’m suddenly wondering if that big brute with the K necklace and shirt that hangs around with Baron Bedlam and Dark Side is the 7S version of Kalibak… He’s awful white to be Dark Side’s son, but who knows how their appearances in this form were chosen…)
Mostly teaser and mostly-spoiler free, here’s an interview with Dan DiDio about Infinite Crisis, possible repercussions, etc.
http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=56070
Inf-Cri #4: The first issue of this to make me say “Holy crap!” The others were okay, but this is much more like it. Loved the speedsters cameos (“Grandpa?”) and hope this won’t be the end of DC speedsters. Loved Linda’s decision.
Minor gripe: people yelling to each other in outer space. Doesn’t work that way. Speaking of which, Donna Troy’s team has done a whole lotta nothing. Saving a few ships, cool, but I thought they were out to save the universe. Was Donna even in the book other than the cover?
New Books for January 18, 2006, continued:[ul]**Infinite Crisis #4 ** - This was a really good read. Or at least those plot developments in the stories I’ve followed leading into this miniseries (I was a bit lost when it came to developments rising out of the Rann Thanagar War not having followed that DC Countdown storyline but there are only so many books one can buy). I particularly liked the glimpse of a humble-er Batman (which contrasts very strongly with the Batman we’ve seen in books like this weeks Birds of Prey - they are virtually different people), and the tragic fall of the alternate Superboy. Jimenez and Perez’ work is fantastic. (However, given how drawn out the intro to this storyline was, it had better be.)
A new writer, Denise Mina takes over Hellblazer with this weeks #216. Her’s is a meaner Constantine than Carey’s, edging closer to Azzarello’s and Ellis’, than say, Carey’s or Jenkins. I’ll give this arc a try.
Ellis and Ryp’s Angel Stomp Future #1 must be a one shot story. Essentially a long, comic and freaky monologue by a twisted soul adrift in a dystopian urban setting, where cyborg implants and infectious ideas and mutanting nano-machinery, doesn’t so much change our lives, as simply provide a vehicle for expressing our more deviant impulses. It’s an unsettling look at humanity, marvelously illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp. The best artist I’ve seen on an Avatar Press title in some time, I hope to see more of this artists work very soon.[/ul]
Ta-Da!, that’s it for this week!
Mister Miracle #3 – I was really liking this issue of what has so far been about my least favorite of the Seven Soldiers titles (largely because I know bupkes about the original New Gods mythos and never cared about the characters). I love the maniacal evil grins on all the plastic people. But then I got to those last few pages…god almighty, that is some brutal shit. “Bolt cutters”…brrr. Pretty obvious what Shilo’s next “escape” has to be.
Infinite Crisis #4 – “Bad dog!” Heh. Ditto to everything Menocchio said. I’m really enjoying this, but it is so dense with information, and you do have to be a DC continuity expert (which I emphatically am not) to follow it all. I don’t even know who half the characters we see are. But that’s not a criticism. One of my main problems with comics in general is that they are too short. This one took me a lot longer to read than the average comic.
All-Star Superman #2 – Don’t you think getting
shot with a kryptonite laserqualifies as “date from hell” material?
Another observation:
[spoiler]I suspect it’s significant that, when he confronts Conner, Superboy-Prime suddenly develops a major stutter. This seems to be a direct parallel to the situation a couple months ago, when Alexander Luthor first revealed himself to Lex, who had been experiencing similar mental distress and personality upsets. Alexander remarked that there could only be one Luthor in each universe, and since Alex’s mind was the stronger of the two, Post-Crisis Lex was being overwhelmed by his proximity. (Actually, he used “anti-parallel brainwaves” or some other marvelous gem of Pre-Crisis technobabble to convey the gist of the idea.) I guess that the same principle was operating between the two “Superboys,” affirming that Conner represents the more authentically heroic character, or some such notion. It’s probably also no accident that Alexander taunted Post-Crisis Lex with the question, “How does it feel to be stupid?” and Superboy-Prime was driven over the edge by the same insult. In any case, I’m now interested to see who starts twitching when other characters encounter their respective Earth-2 incarnations.
I have to say that I’m vaguely disappointed by the relatively short shrift given the Superboy-Prime character after all this time. Wasn’t Earth-Prime supposed to represent our real, non-superpowered Earth, where Superman is just a comic-book character, etc.? This does not speak well of our universe: that our Clark Kent could spend two decades living with the Golden Age Superman, yet never internalize advice about how to pull punches. The whole “secretly plotting with Luthor while Superman is distracted by grief” angle also sort of broadcasts an unreasonable level of gullibility, or at the very least a catastrophic ignorance of comic books.[/spoiler]
Well, remember,
[spoiler]He did freak out at having accidentally decapitated Pantha. What’s more, he also wound up taking a few more lives after that. I can understand why he’d be reluctant to use his full strength after being accosted by the Flashes.
Besides, he was clearly in a bit of emotional turmoil.[/spoiler]
Birds of Prey #90: I loved it when Canary said,
“This time I don’t have a bunch of Justice Leaguers getting in my way.”
Dang, woman. You rock.
Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been looking forward to reading her take on the character - I’m a big fan of her prose crime fiction - but have been away from comic shops for so long that stuff is starting to slip past me. Looks like I’ll have to drag myself to one this weekend.
It looks to me like he’s not only frozen solid, but cracking apart. But maybe that’s really just a coating of ice.
I’ve been going over the Infinite Crisis space crowd scenes with a loupe, and I can’t see Ultra the Multi-Alien. A little help? Where is he?
He’s with Donna Troy’s team in space. The big splash panel with them all centered on the spatial anomaly. We see him from the back, on the right side, below the anomaly.
(working from memory)
To make it easier - find Starfire. Look up.
Taking your eyes off of Starfire is easier? 
Easy as anything. That costume is hideous and the hair is frightening. No matter how pretty she is out of her costume (or in a better designed one), she’s just NOT attractive in that outfit.
NowI see him. Thanks!
there’s a rather large Infinite Crisis spoiler in the DC Direct section of the dcomics.com site.
[spoiler]Viz, the Superboy Prime action figure, being released in the Infinite Crisis line (Alexander Luthor, OMAC, Mongul, Power girl and Earth-Prime Superboy). It seems Superboy Prime will become is some kind of armoured-up zombie. I’m not sure I like the armour, but I DO like the other zomibifications!
Link here
This means he escapes the Speed Force (which wasn’t the speed force? wha hunh? Yeah… um?) -but may not survive the experience? [/spoiler]
Someone else, somewhere else (I think) observed that the armor on the figure in question is reminiscent of the Anti-Monitor’s, also.
Good point, and very true.