What, no thread yet?
I’ll have my books later tonight. Woohoo, it’s *Identity Crisis * week!
Thread usually doesn’t appear until later, when we get our books. Usually the day after. And rumor, via www.dccomics.com, is that Superman/Batman didn’t ship. Again. :mad:
I don’t have this weeks comics yet, but one quick comment on Action 819…
Lana is such a bitch!
got my IC fix at lunchtime today and read it immediately. Left me a bit disappointed. Maybe I’m dense in picking up clues but it seemed like a bunch of very well written nothing this month. Some great character stuff, but not a lot of forward movement on the story. To it’s credit, though, as usual
the big zinger at the end hit hard. As the most well known Super-spouse to the non-fandom mainstream, we knew Lois was in the line of fire. But the confirmation was done in a delightfully creepy way. I especially liked the touch of the red \S/ in the note.
Questions for the more well-read among us: Who’s the the bad guy with the clock hands on his mask? Does he actually know the future? If so, the humor in that scene is great, although it makes me wonder why they’re even playing the game.
How did Ollie know that Batgirl was shot? I thought no one outside the bat-family knew who Oracle was.
What’s the deal with Hal Jordan? I know he went evil, became Parallax, and killed a few million people and died and became the Spectre. But does he just haunt that graveyard all day? Who makes the decisions for him that he claims he can’t? God?
Well, Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) knows her identity. They’re good friends. I think some other folks do too. Black Canary knows her, so maybe Ollie knew Barbara through his connection to her. I’m not sure.
You’re right, Munch, the thread usually does show up later. I’m all screwed up this week schedule-wise. The thread often shows up before I have my books, so I guess I was just expecting it to be there. I really picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue.
sighs I didn’t comment two weeks ago & my post last week “didn’t take.”
On the DC side, I got: Identity Crisis, Batman Strikes, JLA Secret Files & Origins 2004, JSA Strange Adventures #2, Batman: Gotham Knights #57, Birds of Prey #74 and Adventures of Superman #632.
On the Marvel side, I got: Madrox #1, Strange #1, Mary Jane #4, Daredevil #64, Spider-Man Team Up #1 (a $1.75 book!), X-Men #161, Fantastic Four #518, Iron Man #88, Ultimate Nightmare #2, Invaders #2 and Emma Frost #15.
I also picked up the new Comics Buyers Guide (*likes the new format) and the Smallville Season 1 Companion tpb.
I hope to comment on more than a few soon, tomorrow at the latest.
Chronos, the time-thief. Supposedly faded right out of existence a few years back when DC introduced a new version of the character - but the new version was cancelled after a dozen issues or so (pity, it was funny) - and one can’t keep a good time travelling villain down. His presence raises some interesting questions - as he’d be a likely candidate for defeating the massive security devices we’ve seen.
Ollie knew Batgirl was shot. Ollie probably knows Batgirl was Barbara Gordon. This does not necessarily indicate that he knows that Babs is also Oracle - but as noted, it’s possible, through Canary.
Hal doesn’t haunt the graveyard all day - Arrow probably could’ve went anywhere and called out to Jordan - but I imagine he doesn’t necessarily realize that. Teh dialogue touches on the idea.
For reference, I start the Weekly Comic Book Discussion Threads on Thursday morning, after most folks have had a chance to buy, read, and digest the purchases. 
Grrr. I can’t read LODK this week because last week the DC warehouse undershipped Nightwing, and I hate reading parts of a story out of sequence.
Someone want to spoil Nightwing and LODK for me?
Er, make that, I can’t read Gotham Knights…
So, spoil it for me?
Ultimate Nightmare #2: I like it a lot. Maybe it’s the giant flying aircraft carrier that I love so much, but this is a good book. The Falcon’s verbal smackdown of Fury was fantastic, as was Cap’s immediate response (“Uh, you can call me Steve.”), especially considering his previous questioning of why he left the armed forces. Jean Grey’s response at the end also was quite impressive.
Identity Crisis: Someone needs to run down a list of who all these minor characters are so that I can keep up. Seriously. The Boomerang? Chronos? Never heard of 'em.
War Games: Also very good stuff. Sorry, TAM, can’t quite remember what went on in Nightwing last week, but I want to say it wasn’t much - pretty calm. But this issue is fantastic. Would Joker have the wherewithall to see everything falling into place to become Gotham’s ultimate crime lord (he has white gloves, doesn’t he?)? That’s my guess, but I’m a comic-newbie.
I just realized I didn’t get *Gotham Knights * in my stack last night. Guess I’ll read that one tonight. I also had Mr. Bawlmer track down a copy of Tales from the Bully Pulpit, but I haven’t read it yet. He said it was hilarious though. I have it with me for lunchtime reading today.
Identity Crisis #4: Why is Captain Boomerang getting so much face time in this book? Interesting. Anyway, I figure Lois’ note is a red herring to distract everyone and make them protect her while the real target goes unguarded.
Daredevil #64: Matt gets all the way through the issue without personally kicking any ass, but 911 operators hang up on him a few times. Fun to watch Natasha pretend to be whoever people need to believe she is. The cheesecake covers on the last two issues have been a little silly though. What *was * the the white stuff spattered across her cleavage on last month’s cover? Ew.
Wolverine: So damn bored with it. I think i might drop this one, but I understand we’re changing writers in a few issues. Rucka’s done some good work, but this isn’t it.
Hawkman: One-off adventure with the Atom. Better than Aliens vs. Predator, despite plot similarities. Mostly good for the character interaction. Ray Palmer discovers how much fun it is to smack people in the head with a giant mace.
JSA Strange Adventures #2: Good clean zeppelin-laden fun. Johnny Thunder is a spaz!
Strange #1: I know little of Dr. Strange’s canonical background, but so far so good. Straczynski usually takes his sweet time doing set-up, but gives a good payoff.
I’m getting Ultimate Nightmare, but I’m not reading it until I have all the issues.
Boomerang’s kid is the next target. Whatever the killer’s agenda is, it isn’t just the heroes he’s targeting.
I’m wondering about that patch on her shoulder. Maybe she was shot last issue and I forgot, but could that be a pregnancy patch? At her age, can she even get pregnant?
I think she got injured last issue. What do you mean “at her age”? Is she supposed to be in her 50s? I think not. Most women can get pregnant well into their 40s.
The list -
Identity Crisis #4; City of Heroes #4; Transformers : War Within - The Age of Wrath #1; Cable and Deadpool #7; Madrox #1; Invaders #2; JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004; Fantastic Four #518; JSA : Strange Adventures #2; Birds of Prey #74; Books of Magick : Life During Wartime #3; Terra Obscura Vol. 2, #2 of 6; Wanted #5 (of 6).
Re : The Invaders - The dialogue continues to rock. The art continues to suck.
Re : Madrox - Yay! a Peter David book with a third-tier character! That means we’ll get 20 issues or so, just enough time for David to show off his brilliance, then it will be cancelled!
War Games discussion:
I’m starting to think that Stephanie didn’t put everything into motion. I’m thinking someone else knew what to do, was watching Stephanie after her firing, and was 1/2 step ahead of her the whole time so that she *thinks * she’s the one who caused everything.
I think Stephanie started it, but there is some opportunist out there who clearly knows how to take advantage of the situation. Steph definitely organized the All-Gotham Criminal Peace Party, but somebody else is manipulating the events that have followed.
I have a dollar that says it’s Hush.
Hey, how’d Krokodil’s post get all the way down here?
OK.
I’ve figured it out.
Since, by the time stamp, *Krokodil is posting from about 2 1/2 hours in the future, he obviously has advance knowledge of certain events.
** Krokodil** ordered the hits on Sue Dibney and Jean Loring.
Krokodil is also the mastermind behind the events in War Games.
He probably had something to do with the Crisis on Multiple Earths as well.
And do we know for sure that it was the Joker who killed Jason Todd? Krokodil could very easily have set up that situation, too.
She was (or looked like) a little kid in WWII, according to a 90s issue of Uncanny X-Men (depicting the first meeting between Logan and Captain America). She’s only a couple years younger than Cap. Maybe she spent some time in suspended animation, but that’s never been determined.
I’ve heard an awful lot about this Identity Crisis, but completely hate DC Comics (aside from the rare Vertigo issue, I’ve never found a DC Comic proper that I liked). Why is it so good? What is it screwing around with in continuity that I should check it out?