Monday, October 27, 2008

Solicitations - part 2

As always here's the second part of the solicitation commentary.


I'm still watching the LEGION OF SUPER HEROES cartoon and I'm now entering the second season and so far it's pretty good. They have interesting new takes on the characters and they even included fan favorites of legion lore like the substitutes and the suneater - even if Arm - Fall - Off - Boy hasn't made an appearance yet. So here's the rest of the DC stuff :

FINAL CRISIS - SUPERMAN BEYOND 2


I'm not even going to speculate about this one. Having not even finished reading FINAL CRISIS everything that follows it is just not fathomable. There are a lot of rumors on the internet about what is going to happen but I never bought much into the internet hype. So I'll pick up the issues in the shop if they are interesting.

Have I mentioned how much the FINAL CRISIS covers suck ? I wonder whose great idea that was.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 23


Another great Alex Ross cover for one of DC's best team books. Even when this book was in it's last incarnation it was constantly upstaging Morrison's Justice League. And now it's even better. And not just because they had the stones to finally make Power Girl the team leader.

They also made her a more centered personality by finally remembering her Earth 2 origins. Now she tries to live up to the legacy of the real Superman and even though Clark is like a brother to her he will always be second - rate to the original Superman. I only could read the first chapters of the GOG / MAGOG storyline but it seems DC is finally doing more with the leftover potential of KINGDOM COME. So far the only thing they ever did with it was THE KINGDOM that totally didn't live up to it's expectations.


I have to say although I prefer covers that tell you something about the actual story inside the comic ( yeah, good chances with that SUBZERO ) I see where DC is going with this. A few years back DC did this whole " faces of DC " covers where every cover of the month was just one big face on the cover. Doesn't look that exciting in your collection but it has a nice effect when all the DC characters are looking at you from the comic shelf. Anything to get the readers attention. And it's not as if that makes the cover bad or anything.

Especially with Black Adam on the cover. He always was one of my favorite JSA characters and through the events of 52 and his new mini series THE DARK AGE he has become much more interesting.


DARK AGE is really a scary story and what happens to Adam.......well, I wouldn't whish it on my worst enemy. If you haven't read it you should definitely check it out.

By the way it seems that THE ROCK is playing Black Adam in an upcoming SHAZAM movie. I have to say : good choice.


JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL 4 HC


Well, it's about time DC made the best League of them all available for readers old and new alike. This really belongs in the bookshelf of every League fan. The Giffen / DeMatteis League was one of the books I started on when I first began reading the original version way back in Munich. I already told the tale how I went to this comic shop called Juergens Comic Shop to look for comics. I was doing my military service in Munich ( I never found out how that came to be since being from Stuttgart they should have found a place near where I could do my service ) and before getting leave for the christmas holidays we had to report to the barracks.

So I had looked in a comic magazine for the direction of a comic shop in Munich and I quickly found it. Well, the shop just had a gazillion comics I have never seen and I picked up anything that looked interesting. SANDMAN, DOOM PATROL, HELLBLAZER - never heard of them but into the bag you go. I blew a whole bunch of dough, left the shop with a bag full of comics and they were worth every dime. While going home with the train I discovered that there was also a small comic shop within the station of Munich that had american comics. And just downstairs at the international press section they also had american comics but older issues. So by frequenting all three locations I could gather quite a collection.


Ah, the good old days of my time at the Bunderwehr - comics, wrestling and Playboy Late Night on cable tv. And let's not forget Tutti Frutti every Sunday before the week started. But like I said I think I already told that story. To me this incarnation of the League was the most human because you did see the big fight but you also saw how the leaguers had to clean up afterwards and repair the embassy. Now most people call it the BWAH - HA - HA - League and totally forget that they had some really devastating fights that took quite a toll on the league. Power Girl was beaten into a coma by the Extremists and although it was only a robot duplicate Despero killed Mr. Miracle. The issue with Mr. Miracle's funeral is one of the best written comics I ever read and still brings a tear to my eye.

I think what really appealed to me apart from the great humor and the brilliant art of Kevin Maguire were Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Because that was the realistic part to me. If I was in the League I surely wouldn't be one of the idolized bigshot superstars. No, if you and me were in the League we would be the unpopular gophers who have to wipe the floors when everybody else is gone. The ones who are just there to bring the coffee and do monitor duty when the real heroes are on a mission.


So I'm really glad DC is continuing this line even if I will have to wait for the softcovers. But it would be nice to have the issues in a more durable edition since my old issues are starting to loose pages.

Well, it seems once again that's all we have time for today. Tomorrow in part three of the solicitations : more DC, more commentary and hopefully some Marvel.

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