# Weekly Comic Book Discussion 3/9/2006 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624 "2006-03-09T01:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/1 "2006-03-09T01:47:02Z")
Here it is. The big Crisis tie-in title this week is Teen Titans, which picks up with Superboy and Kightwing from Infinite Crisis #5, and bridges us into Infinite Crisis #6, and gives us some insight into Wodner Girl’s situation - and gives us spoilers for the apparently delayed Teen Titans Annual #1. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/2 "2006-03-09T02:40:29Z")
**Mister Miracle #4:** Sometimes this type of ending pisses me off. But it works here. I like Shiloh as almost an elemental force of freedom, and what’s implied about the OYL state of the New Gods. Morrison pulled a fast one on us, I think. This one’s got no connection to the Sheeda at all (besides one throwaway line). I don’t care, it’s still cool. **Frankenstein #3:** Two Morrison titles in one week, both extra-strange! I’m continuing to adore his take on the Monster, and it’s interesting to see that there’s forces, ostenibly on the side of good, that’re even more monstrous than our undead (excuse me, “differently active”) antihero. **Teen Titans #33:** Oh good. I wasn’t the only one who noticed the spoiler. Seriously folks, if you’re sensitive about knowing these things, set aside this book until the Annual actually comes out. Also, it’s a big load of filler. I’m also not a fan of the type of Titans stories where they whine about how they’re family and their insecurities and such. The stuff with Ares was pretty good, so it wasn’t a total waste. It’s also the most unintentionally homoerotic comic I’ve read this year. The fangirls will be going crazy about this one. Why does Dick Grayson always end up in slash fiction? Is this the first time DC’s made a major slip up, spoiling plot before it was due, to the Crisis scheduling? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/3 "2006-03-09T04:10:20Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > It’s also the most unintentionally homoerotic comic I’ve read this year. The fangirls will be going crazy about this one. Certain fanboys, too. (ie, me.) My god, when I hit Superboy’s narration when he was fetching Dick’s uniform… ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/4 "2006-03-09T15:12:16Z")
**Cable and Deadpool** - light on the funny this time, as the title starts to set up the next big return of Apocalypse, or some such. **Thunderbolts** - Very unsatisfying. Perhaps if I was a reader of the original T-Bolts, I’d care more. As it stands, the character death here just severely ticks me off, and I am pondering dropping the title like a hot potato. **Seven Soldiers : Mister Miracle** - I’m very grateful for the twist ending here. It means the New Gods aren’t as screwed up as I’d feared. Though Scott Free remains notably absent. **Seven Soldiers : Frankenstein** - I don’t like our “MacGuffin” - the Water - in this story. It smacks of Grant’s self-absorption and obsession with drugs/higher states of consciousness/et cetera that makes the Invisibles so annoying to read. But Frankie continues to entertain. **Firestorm** - the first One Year Later Firestorm. There’s a spoiler here, but I figure no one’s reading this but me : Jamal’s lost Professor Stein somehow, and now fuses with Firehawk to form Firestorm. Firehawk has an excellent new costume, and cool stuff goes on in this ish, but I’m dropping it until they bring Ron Raymond back. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/5 "2006-03-09T15:38:02Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > **Seven Soldiers : Mister Miracle** - I’m very grateful for the twist ending here. It means the New Gods aren’t as screwed up as I’d feared. Though Scott Free remains notably absent. I don’t think you can say that. [spoiler]Between Dark Side’s complaints about his flesh oxidizing in time and Metron’s charge to Shiloh that he “Free the Gods”, I think the stuff about the Gods being trapped on Earth in mortal form may be true. It then follows that Shiloh himself may be Scott Free in a mortal incarnation. We’ve also been told that there’s a new cosmic baddie set to arrive in the DCU, and that the New Gods are being held in reserve away from the Crisis for that story. This then may be the aftermath. Morrison, you’ll recall, has been hired to help revamp the entire DCU, and I think this is one of his concepts.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/6 "2006-03-09T16:15:17Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Certain fanboys, too. (ie, me.) My god, when I hit Superboy’s narration when he was **felching** Dick’s uniform… Why do my eyes play such tricks on me…? And I’ll agree, this issue was kinda…I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/7 "2006-03-09T16:46:58Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > Is this the first time DC’s made a major slip up, spoiling plot before it was due, to the Crisis scheduling? When the first Who’s Who series was coming out, something (I can’t recall exactly what) in one of the issues revealed Barry Allen’s death in the Crisis several months before that issue of Crisis was released. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/8 "2006-03-09T16:49:29Z")
Barry Allen’s dead? Spoiler tags, people! Spoiler tags, please! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/9 "2006-03-09T16:56:31Z")
“He got better.” ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/10 "2006-03-09T17:44:53Z")
I didn’t find _Teen Titans_ homoerotic at all, and I’m usually the first to point that sort of thing out (even when it’s not there and I know it!). Either I’m slipping, or it just wasn’t all that gay. I do wish the annual had come out on time so the spoilers wouldn’t be spoilers. I liked the issue, though I would have been happy to actually see the conversation they had toward the end. That could’ve been the whole issue. _Ultimate Spider-Man Weekly_: I bet Peter’s glad his costume is a shirt and pants, and not just one big unitard. _American Virgin_: Did anyone else pick this up? I enjoyed it, but I also went to a Baptist high school in the early '90s when the whole “True Love Waits” program became really popular. I’m interested to see where the series goes. I have a bunch more books to read, but no time to read them yet. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/11 "2006-03-09T18:53:33Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > I don’t think you can say that. [spoiler]Between Dark Side’s complaints about his flesh oxidizing in time and Metron’s charge to Shiloh that he “Free the Gods”, I think the stuff about the Gods being trapped on Earth in mortal form may be true. It then follows that Shiloh himself may be Scott Free in a mortal incarnation. > > We’ve also been told that there’s a new cosmic baddie set to arrive in the DCU, and that the New Gods are being held in reserve away from the Crisis for that story. This then may be the aftermath. Morrison, you’ll recall, has been hired to help revamp the entire DCU, and I think this is one of his concepts.[/spoiler] That’s possible, but I hope not. Especially since Shilo and Scott have both co-existed in the DCU at one point. If it is true, then Grant Morrison’s more trouble than he’s worth, and they should kick his ass out the door. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/12 "2006-03-09T19:04:57Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > If it is true, then Grant Morrison’s more trouble than he’s worth, and they should kick his ass out the door. Given his popularity and critical acclaim, he’s worth quite a bit, and they should let him do whatever the hell he wants. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/13 "2006-03-09T19:19:48Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > Given his popularity and critical acclaim, he’s worth quite a bit, and they should let him do whatever the hell he wants. Two words. Chris. Claremont. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/14 "2006-03-09T19:24:30Z")
\<\< shudder \>\> ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/15 "2006-03-09T19:30:56Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > Given his popularity and critical acclaim, he’s worth quite a bit, and they should let him do whatever the hell he wants. Trion’s rebuttal is apt. I’ll add that I don’t need to see Transvestite Superman with his powers fueled by a super purple consciousness-expanding weed from Krypton. Grant works well under firm editorial control. He gets lost in his own head when left to his own devices. Sabotaging the legacy of Jack Kirby is not something he should be allowed to do, irrespective of his popularity or critical acclaim. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/16 "2006-03-09T19:52:58Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Sabotaging the legacy of Jack Kirby is not something he should be allowed to do, irrespective of his popularity or critical acclaim. Frankly, the Fourth World needs to be revamped, rebooted or ended once and for all (which was Kirby’s intention, I believe, but let’s be honest, that ain’t gonna happen). It was great for its time when Kirby was writing, but it’s become dated and has grown more than a little bit stagnant. Kirby’s legacy is so imposing that no one’s dared to do anything really exciting with it for years. We’re fortunate that his other creations for Marvel weren’t treated with such kid gloves. I’m biased, of course, since I think Morrison is one of the best inheritors of Kirby working today. They’re both about breathless, unapologetic, balls-to-the-wall superheroic/mythological high weirdness. And it isn’t like Morrison could do anything that couldn’t be put back after he was done. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/17 "2006-03-09T20:36:00Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > Frankly, the Fourth World needs to be revamped, rebooted or ended once and for all (which was Kirby’s intention, I believe, but let’s be honest, that ain’t gonna happen). It was great for its time when Kirby was writing, but it’s become dated and has grown more than a little bit stagnant. Kirby’s legacy is so imposing that no one’s dared to do anything really exciting with it for years. We’re fortunate that his other creations for Marvel weren’t treated with such kid gloves. > > I’m biased, of course, since I think Morrison is one of the best inheritors of Kirby working today. They’re both about breathless, unapologetic, balls-to-the-wall superheroic/mythological high weirdness. And it isn’t like Morrison could do anything that couldn’t be put back after he was done. You and I have different views on continuity though. Once Spidey’s had his eye plucked out, he’s always had his eye plucked out. Once Azrael’s been Batman, that can never change without a huge retcon. Black marks are hard to wash out. And let’s face it - Half of Grant’s stuff is incomprehensible. Read Seaguy if you doubt. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/18 "2006-03-09T23:25:23Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > _American Virgin_: Did anyone else pick this up? I enjoyed it, but I also went to a Baptist high school in the early '90s when the whole “True Love Waits” program became really popular. I’m interested to see where the series goes. I did, but only because it was such a slow week (the only other thing I picked up was Powers) - I don’t know, I think the set-up was promising. They could go in all sorts of directions with this. What I really want to do is see that documentary - [The Education of Shelby Knox](http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2005/shelbyknox/about.html). **Powers** - Where to next for Pilgrim? I wonder if she’ll start taking things out on Walker next. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/19 "2006-03-10T00:30:55Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > I did, but only because it was such a slow week (the only other thing I picked up was Powers) - I don’t know, I think the set-up was promising. They could go in all sorts of directions with this. What I really want to do is see that documentary - [The Education of Shelby Knox](http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2005/shelbyknox/about.html). Wow, I just read the synopsis you linked and that sounds really interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624/20 "2006-03-10T04:19:45Z")
**Birds of Prey #91** : I skipped this one the first time around. Very good, but skippable. **Firestorm #23** : Don’t you have to be 30 to be a senator? Isn’t Firehawk like 25 at most? Good issue. Have we met Ms. Sharpe in the comic before? Nice to see Gehanna is alive and well. **Grûne Lanterne #6** : First miss of the series. The story was decent, but I couldn’t follow the art at all. Loved the reason the gremlins spoke “German.” Is Seven Soliders worth reading? I see the TPBs coming out and I’m tempted, but I’ve heard mixed reviews. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-3-9-2006/347624.md?page=2)