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Dang... I did it again. I missed a day of posting right after I'd affirmed my desire to post more regularly. To be fair, yesterday was a terrible day. Absolutely dreadful. But that's neither here nor there; today is a new day. Specifically Comic Book Day!
I particularly enjoyed this weeks Justice League of America. I feel like James Robinson is finally hitting his stride here. I read an interview recently where he talks about trying to create new villains. Usually I'm a little leery bout that; there are plenty of great villains out there already.
But I'm not always adverse to coming up with new bad guys. After all, this is a new league. Why shouldn't it have new villains? And when you get ones who looks a cool as the new "Omega," you're not going to get me to complain too much.
Whatever you may think of James Robinson's writing, there's no denying that the man is a class act.
After all, here's what he said about his Eisner nomination for writing Cry for Justice:
"To all who congratulated me for the Eisner nom, thank you. To all those vocally pissed that I got one, thank you too. The fact that you care enough about comics to have strong opinions at all is a good thing, ultimately. So bravo to all you Robinson haters, I love you all."Really, how often do you see someone thanking the people who hate him?
-- writer James Robinson, on reactions to his Eisner Award nomination for Best Writer for Justice League: Cry for Justice
Anyway, congratulation to James Robinson -- and all the other Eisner nominees.
Behold: Title Undetermined's 1000th post!
Can anyone out there believe I've actually kept this thing going as long as I have? If you do, your prognostication skills are better than mine. I never thought I'd manage to keep it going for a thousand posts. I wonder if I'll manage another thousand...
Anyway, shall we discuss Justice League of America? The book has been on rocky ground since, well, the current series started. Back and forth, up and down. Characters join only to leave in the next issue -- or sometimes the same issue.
That said, Robinson and Bagley finally seem to have hit their stride (well, Bagley had it all along but you know what I mean). The team seems to have solidified (or will soon) as James Robinson's "Big Seven." As you probably already know, the team is going to be Supergirl, Dick Grayson, Donna Troy, Jade, Jesse Quick, Mikaal Tomas as Starman, and Congorilla. It is not the "Big Seven" that I know. But it might work, as this team has interesting parallels to the traditional "Big Seven." Let's examine each member in turn and what role they are playing.
Supergirl as Superman: A pretty simple replacement (at least on the surface). With Mon-El gone and Superman apparently unavailable, it makes sense for Superman's cousin to take his place on the Superteam. She can fill his role as powerhouse pretty easily. But can she match is power of inspiration?
Dick Grayson as Batman: Unfortunately, Dick Grayson is the only Batman we've got. Since the Justice League needs a Batman he'll have to do. Having been trained by the real Batman, Dick Grayson nearly matches his mentor in strategic skills (if not the meticulous planning that was Bruce Wayne's trademark). Plus, he has better relations with the other members of the team than Batman usually did.
Donna Troy as Wonder Woman: Another obvious swap, Donna Troy may not be Wonder Woman but she is an Amazon. So there's that. She can't match Diana for gravitas or, well, anything else. But I suppose she'll do as long as Wonder Woman is unavailable. Why is Wonder Woman unavailable again?
Jade as Green Lantern: With no actual Green Lanterns available it makes sense for the daughter of the original Green Lantern to take that spot. Though Jade hasn't officially joined the team, I think she'll fit in well. The Justice League has always had a green energy wielder and I look forward to seeing what Robinson does with her.
Jesse Quick as the Flash: For me, Jesse Quick was the biggest surprise in this lineup. I thought she had settled in pretty well in the JSA as Liberty Belle. That said, the Justice League does need somebody who can run really fast. With Wally West and Barry Allen unavailable, I can't think of anyone better.
Starman as Martian Manhunter: The Justice League always needs an alien who has sworn to defend his adopted home of Earth from evil. Mikaal Tomas -- Starman -- fits perfectly into the Martian Manhunter role. He may lack J'onn J'onzz's incredible power set, but that may be for the best. With the most recent Starman having gone back to the future Mikaal Tomas can embrace the role as his own. This is the character I'm most excited about in the new League.
Congorilla as Aquaman: This, of course, is the most tenuous fit. In some ways I might be better off saying "Congorilla as the Wild Card." Though Aquaman is a traditional member of the League, all to often that final slot has been filled by a diverse collection of heroes with a diverse collection of powers -- everyone from Plastic Man to Steel. Congorilla may be quirky, but he still fits the JLA just fine.
So that's the new lineup and my thoughts on it. What are yours?
After a week of solid announcements all the Source seems to be feeding us these days is previews. That's okay, though. Previews can be useful. Like when a comic blogger who should be rested from the weekend is actually exhausted after Monday and doesn't know what to write about. So he writes about previews.
Two preview were released today: Cry for Justice #7 and Superman #697. Both of these books are written by James Robinson and make for an interesting dichotomy.
Take Cry for Justice. The comic has turned out to be an interesting beast. I'm not really sure what to think of it. It's been violent and bloody, sometimes weird, and other times stiff. Sadly, the one thing I don't think I can say about it is that it's good.
Cry for Justice may not be bad, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's good. Apparently for our final issue Star City suffers a big disaster. Hey, does anybody remember the whole "One Year Later" thing? Do you remember what happened to Star City right before that? Yeah, Star City suffered a big disaster. Then Green Arrow was elected mayor. I don't think Cry for Justice is going to end like that.
Superman is almost exactly the opposite of Cry for Justice. Superman may not be in between the pages, but the book is a rock solid super-hero tale. As far as I'm concerned James Robinson's work with Mon-El has been more than good... It's been great.
Now we're starting to see some of the seeds from Robinson's early days on Superman bear fruit. The secret Legionnaires are showing up. General Lane is clearly ready to start something. And Mon-El still doesn't seem to know where he really belongs.
Both books come out this week and we should get some sort of resolution. What won't be resolved is how one man can be so inconsistent when it comes to his comic stories...
This cover for World's Finest #2 reminded me of how much I am loving what James Robinson is doing with the Guardian.
The Guardian, as you know, hasn't done much since his the whole Death of Superman thing when he would occasionally show up in the Superman titles. But now he's not just a recurring guest star; he's turning into a real fixture in Metropolis. And I think that's a really good thing.
I know (or at least suspect) that the Guardian is a take off of Captain America. I mean, he's got the shield and the hat that cover his eyes but not his ears and all that. And you know what? The DCU should have its own version of Captain America. As a Golden Age character, Captain America would fit right in with all the other classics that populate the DCU.
James Robinson seems to be making it work, too. After all, the Guardian is going to be joining the Justice League of America. It'll be interesting to see if Robinson can make that work... And if he can make the Guardian a fixture in the DC Universe as well.
Okay, enough of that. Now if I may be serious for a moment: this whole thing is starting to get ridiculous.
Now, I've said before that I have no problem with characters dying. And that hasn't changed at all. But there must be a better way to kick off a new story than simply killing off another also-ran.
I guess what I'm saying is this: I wouldn't have a problem with killing off character left and right if it hadn't been done anymore. It doesn't seem to shock anymore; now it's just lazy writing.
That said... I enjoyed most of the rest of this issue pretty well. And though the death makes me go "meh" the mystery really entices me. I love a good mystery and that's what Robinson and Bagley seem intent on whipping up for at least the first couple of issues of their run.
Who is the mysterious murder? Why did he take Despero? What is his connection to the Justice League?
And where did he get those awesome shoes?
So, we had ourselves a comic-con last weekend, did we? Obviously I didn't go, but I did try to follow the news on the Internet. It's got to be good for something, right? Here's what I took away from the con (so to speak):
The Good: Geoff Johns on a new Flash ongoing! It's not a suprise; I think everybody expected this. But it's still a very good thing. Johns has turned Green Lantern into a top book. If he can work his magic on the Flash (a character I've always preferred to Green Lantern) I'll be a happy camper.
The Bad: JSA All-Stars! I know, that sounds like a strange thing to be "bad." Especially since I do like Matt Sturges' work. But I'm not made of money, people! Now if I want to read about guys I like -- the Flash, Wildcat, Stargirl, etc. -- I've got to buy two different books! And I'm still stuck with Magog...
The Good: T. H. U. N. D. E. R. Agents in the DCU! I've never actually read a book about them but I remember reading about the aborted DC series from a few years ago. I remember putting it on my pull list and being very excited about it. And I remember being disappointed when it never materialized. Now I'll get another chance.
The Bad: Yaaah! That T. H. U. N. D. E. R. Agents book is going to cost me money! And aren't those guys kind of redundant now that Checkmate works out of the United Nations?
The Good: James Robinson's Justice League of America! Now that we've got a tease of the team I'm even more excited than I was before. Mon-El's new costume is snazzy, and I'm curious to hear what his new "super" name is...
The Bad: Donna Troy is on that team.
Thank you, James Robinson. Thanks for remembering that there actually are cities in Japan besides Tokyo.
*sigh* I miss those days...
So James Robinson and Mark Bagley are taking over Justice League of America. Is anybody else breathing a sigh of relief?
First of all, I'm thankful that I won't have to look at Ed Benes' art any longer. Some people may like his work, but it's certainly not my cup of tea. And how nice will it be to have a JLA monthly with a monthly artist. Bagley's one of the guys we know will be able to pull it off.
Secondly I'm thankful for James Robinson. His return to comics after that hiatus he took is one of the best things to happen to DC. JLA has been a bit of a mess lately, but it's not entirely Dwayne McDuffie's fault. He's been dealt some bad cards and some annoying editorial fiats.
But he knew that was the way things work. There's no point in complaining if the bosses tell you who you can and can't have on your team. You just have to work with it. After all, look what Keith Giffen and crew managed to do years ago with JLA and a team of second stringers. People still talk about that.
And James Robinson is the kind of guy who can do almost anything with anything. Look at Starman. Gaze in wonder at what he's managed to do with the Guardian and Mon-El. You think he can't take a team of whoever and make them interesting.
I guarantee you there won't be any sitting around at tables looking at photos in the Robinson/Bagley Justice League...
