Sometimes it's nice to be forgotten

Remember when I was annoyed that no one was taking my interest in getting subscriptions to comics seriously? Well one family member didn't shop at all this year and said we'd get to choose our gifts. I chose to get Justice League International and Red Hood and the Outlaws through the mail. Hopefully they will arrive on time as their my current favorite books. I hate waiting to read them because it means I have to avoid all the spoilers. I only had a subscription once before, through Marvel, and I never paid attention to the release dates back then. I might get annoyed if it's a week or two.

But getting these two through the mail will help me hold onto a couple of series since I was considering cutting a couple due to costs. 

Happy Birthday Michael and Michelle Carter!

According to Booster Gold #1 Vol. 2 this is the day the twins will be born with Michael being the oldest by two minutes.  And yes, I remembered that without having to check up on it by rereading the issue. I didn't feel like writing up an essay since I've been rather busy lately but the twins would be Capricorns. According to todays' horoscope: 

"Quickie: Your compassionate side has been drawn out today. You will feel sympathy for a foe.

Overview: Music really resonates with you today, so make sure that you're listening to the tunes that move you in the right direction. It's one of those days when it's vital to deal with the right atmosphere."

I'm not a big horoscope person so I have no idea if these two are supposed to mesh. Or maybe they can be split among the twins. Either that or Booster will be fighting/dancing to music as his heart goes out to his foe. Which gives me a weird visual al la Buffy Once More with Feeling.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #4

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Batman Incorporated Leviathan Strikes!

SPOILERS AHEAD

To Buy or Not to Buy

A book that puts together clippings from Batmans' life to create a timeline and show cases from his point of view. I used to love looking through books like this. The only thing that held me back was the price, $100 bucks. But depending where you look it's gone down to $60. I'm thinking about it and reading reviews to see if it's worth the money.

Why I'm glad they redid the Robin costume

Well at least Jasons'. I don't know if they redid Dicks'. I think there was two different origins to it and one of them had Dick picking it out. So yeah Dick is a sadist. I never liked the idea of Jason wearing Dicks' outfit because he hated it and what does that say about Bruce when he forces the next kid to wear the same outfit?

On a side note I love this arc. This takes place just after Crisis with Donna Troy desperately trying to keep the Titans together in some form. Dick was in a bad place and acted like his name. What's tragically funny is that every single person she picked out except Jason was going through some serious emotional upheaval due to personal matters (Donna herself was very distressed due to Dicks' words.) 

Seriously. Wally is trying to honor Barry as the Flash but hasn't gotten the hang of it. Garth is depressed because his love Tula died. Hawk is moody and kinda nuts after his brother Don died. Donna is trying to juggle being a wife and being a leader that doubts herself. Roy is trying to keep his affair with Cheshire under wraps and soon learns he's a daddy. The rookie of the team, Jason, is trying to fit in but a little freaked out over how everyone is acting. 

Rip Hunter Time Master #1 and #2

I was lucky enough to find some old Rip Hunter stories and decided to review them all but for some reason I'm lazier with writing older comic reviews. Rip Hunter Time Master is (so far) an interesting ride. Yes, it does have some quirky Silver Age moments such as the story twists and unmasking al la Scooby Doo. But the characterization isn't what I thought it would be. I haven't read all the issues yet but all the team members are useful and while Bonnie is the girl of the group she helps the others and the men play the role of kidnapped teammate too. This is a little different from my recent reviews as their written "live" as I read them.

Silver Age SPOILERS AHEAD

What Christmas adds as a backround

So apparently the new 52 has Christmas issues or at least two that I know of. Not sure if it's considered a spoiler but I heard Batgirl has one this month and though I haven't bought it yet I know Superboy does. Not that I expect them to focus much on the holiday in these issues but this reminded me of all the books that I read that had the holidays used as either a focus of the issue or something in the backround. Since I don't feel like skimming through my collection to find all my Holiday back issues I'll just focus on a couple. (BTW one story I remember ironically has Spider-Man fighting against Mephisto to save the spirit of Christmas and returns home safely to his loving wife Mary Jane.) 

Hal & Ollie talk about Jason & Roy. Ollie is a jerk

Ollie died after Jason. How could anyone in the superhero community NOT know? Especially since Roy was best friends with Dick and according to this with Jason too. He wouldn't even call Ollie to say "Bruce was a jerk and Dick just found out Jason died from Alfred"?

I do like that this mentions Roy being close to Jason as they did get along during his Titan days. But that was after Roys' drug period, in fact Jasons' first mission was the one Cheshire revealed she had Roys' child. She does this in front of the two. It makes me incredibly annoyed that Ollie would think Roy introduced Jason to drugs and that resulted in his death. 

Not only does this show that he never moved on from learning of Roys' past addiction but it's incredibly naive for a guy like Ollie. Jason lived in Crime Alley. He had the chance to get addicted to drugs, in fact his step-mother was an addict. In one version she died of an overdose. If Jason did get addicted it would have been long before Roy met him. But Jason was the sort of kid that didn't want to show weakness or need anyone/anything on the streets. Interestingly enough there was another parallel between the two brought up with Ollie and Bruce later on. 

I'm actually amazed that Hal is coming off as the mature one putting up with Ollie. Granted I think this is back when he was trying to force Ollie back into the land of the living but in this scene he comes off well. 

It's that time again: DC Solicits

I love looking at solicits because having to wait a month between issues is pretty rough. It does annoy me when some spoilers are shown but I'm willing to believe the BIG ones revealed this month are misleading. Some books I don't get are thrown in too. 

DC cancelling lowest selling comics after #8?

I heard this and it makes me nervous. I always hate looking at sales because it has me worried about the title(s) I like. I mean just look at what happened to Booster Gold. Part of the problem is the fact that I prefer underdogs. I mean I used to follow Spider-Man and the X-Men who are pretty popular but their characters are underdogs. The ones I like in DC are mostly a combination of that and lesser known heroes. I can't get into big name like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman on their own. I prefer Booster Gold and JLI. I like the Bat kids more than Batman. Really I started on board the New 52 because of two titles, added some lesser favorites of mine and tried out a few new titles. I'm not sure if I'd stick around if they didn't have my favorite books. 

Justice League International #4

Justice League International #4:

Highlight to read SPOILERS

Superboy #3 & Justice League Dark #3

I had to make cuts because of money reasons which is why I'm giving up Animal Man. It was good but it wasn't that high on my list of favorites. I also gave up Static Shock but that was mainly because of the confusing plot elements. I wanted to love it but it was becoming a chore to read. I felt like I missed out on too much and I just started getting the arc. 

SPOILERS AHEAD

Too nerdy for my own good

The Green Lantern action figures have been out awhile. I'm currently resisting the impulse to get the Red Lantern Guy figure since I already have a Guy Gardner figure. But then there's the Black Lantern Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) figure. I don't even collect the Black Lanterns but I want this. Sadly it's only offered in a box set with figures I have no interest in. And so far a loose BB is going for half the price of the whole set online.  While I don't collect Ted figures like I do with Booster I want this one because I loved that story and I want to pose it with the Booster and Jaime figures. Or made him do poses from thriller (as best I could with the closed fists.) Of course if this was a good Rip Hunter figure I wouldn't be so unsure. 

No more Super Kids?

I've been thinking about the new 52 and one thing that makes me sad is the lack of kids the various "families" have. I'm not talking about the teens but the babies to preteen kids. Sure we have Damian and the Baker kids, as well as Jaimes' sister. But others don't exist or their fates are up in the air.

Batman : Death in the Family

I heard a lot about Death in the Family before I even picked it up and I didn't even get it until sometime after Under the Hood. I'm not going to get into the poll too much because that was a lot of hype, only open for a day and even DC admitted they were pretty sure one guy cheated it anyway. I will say that I always thought it represented the worst of the fandom, things I still see with other characters like Booster or any number of characters for what their not. Jason Todd wasn't Dick Grayson (granted his pre-crisis self was damn close to it) and that couldn't be accepted. But how does the story hold up?

Batman The Brave and the Bold #13 & Teen Titans #3

Got these two at the bookstore so I just have to wait for Superboy to come in the mail and get JLD at my LCS. I never got a Batman: The Brave and The Bold comic before but this had all the Robins in it so naturally I had to buy it.

Bruce Wayne: Bad Father?

I'm sort of behind in getting my comics lately. Superboy wasn't there and work/the holiday rush kept me from getting Teen Titans and JLD. So I'll get to those but rereading some of the bat books I've been thinking about Bruces' role as a father and how he seemed to fail his kids or do horrible things. Just for an example:

He fires Dick, refuses to reconnect with him and acts very childish about adopting Jason. There's a bit with Tim desperately wanting to tell his friends and girlfriend (Spoiler/Steph) who he is. Bruce repeatedly tells him no. This causes strains with his various relationships. Then out of the blue Bruce tells Steph without discussing it with Tim beforehand. Abandons Cass for a year which leads to her turn for the worse. Only let's Steph be Robin to make Tim jealous. And don't even get me started on what he did with Jason. I'll be doing a review on Death in the Family and believe me, despite the writer not liking the idea of Robin Bruce doesn't come off that great.

I think Bruce has some great moments but there's plenty of issues there. Lack of trust, the way he pushed people away, pettiness, and what looks like favoritism. Or maybe it's just the issues I've been reading lately. At least he's not kidnapping Robins anymore. 

Things to be thankful for comic-wise

I'm thankful for the creation of Booster Gold, his character development from Countdown to Infinite Crisis forward, having another solo title, JLGL, the Time Master mini series and the current JLI. This is the character that got me interested in DC, the reason I stuck with the company despite some of their poor choices and why I decided to give other titles a try. I'm glad Skeets got a bigger role in his series, that Michelle returned and just about anything to do with Rip Hunter. 

I'm glad Scott Lobdell is writing three titles for DC because I enjoy all three of them. I'm not annoyed with Cassandra Sandsmark, Tim Drake is likable, Bart Allen has returned to his more interesting roots, and the new characters are fun. Jason Todd actually gets real development that makes sense, the outlaws have great interaction and it really hit it's stride. Superboy has managed to explore his sci-fi origin and hint at his connection to Luthor in a way that's compelling. "Red" and Rose come off very strong and have me wondering what will happen next.

While I'm not thrilled with every choice in the bat books (Babs/Batgirl) I'm glad that all the Robins and Batgirls still exist. 

Booster Gold pilot being made?

Since nothing has happened with the Blue Beetle show I'm not holding my breath but still awesome news.

Jason Todds' most cherished memory

I seriously love this book, it's quickly rivaling JLI as the book I look forward to the most each month. Spoilers/scans from RHATO #3

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3

SPOILERS AND TEARS AHEAD

Demon Knights #3

SPOILERS AHEAD

Batman: The Cult

This is truly one of the most horrific Batman stories I ever read and I'm not just talking about gore (which might be considered tame by todays' standards.) This one is brutal and scary because for most of the story Batman has no control of the situation. He's not the flawless badass that we know today that even has a plan for being mind controlled. This one stands out for a lot of reasons, it's also the second most known Robin tale for Jason Todd where he plays a rather interesting role. So why is this such a well known story for Batman fans?

SPOILERS for ALL Four Books

Dc puts out release dates for the new 52 trades

Now I'm not planning on getting all of these but it's always interesting to see what warranted Hardbacks, how many issues are packed in and the different prices.

More Pricey Superhero Dolls

Remember the Teen Titan dolls with Raven, Dove and Starfire? Well here's a few more.

The Woes of being a Comic fan

This year I'm trying to do my Christmas shopping early but no one is being particularly helpful when I ask for ideas. (So they shouldn't be surprised if I end up giving them gift cards.) This kind of confuses me because I was under the impression that you want to get things you like as gifts. Not that anyone seems to care what I want either. 

I made a list and lo and behold no one takes me seriously when I put that I want a subscription to the comics I listed. I like comics, this would save me money on a few series and gas money. What's not to love? Sure it's not something you can really wrap under the tree but believe me I'd love it!

Justice League International #3

Static Shock #3 and Animal Man #3

SPOILERS AHEAD

Justice League International #3 Preview

Along with a interview with Dan Jurgens. 

Justice League Dark #2

SPOILERS AHEAD 

Teen Titans #2

SPOILERS AHEAD 

Birds Of Prey #1

Lady Flashpoint

Hmm, I figured she would show up again but I'm not interested in JL, now if it was JLI I would be all over that. It would make sense too since Boosters' a Time Master in training. I hate when he's pushed aside in things he should be starring in. Time Travel is his thing, his son is Rip Freaking Hunter.

Bruce being creepy and the boys being cute

This is the next time we see him after a wide eyed Jason gets pulled into the shadows with Batman. I have no idea how he went from terrified to confidently wearing a costume when he doesn't know who Batman is.

Batman "recruiting" Jason

Like I said this scene from Nightwing Year One really had me looking at Bruce in a bad light. Because kidnapping someone to be your sidekick (someone who is obviously scared) is the pretty disturbing. As far as I know this is still part of Jasons' origin. (Although no one mentions it.)

Bruce Waynes' lack of Parenting Skills?

I've been hearing arguments on how Bruce should know how to be a good father by now and how he pretty much did a good job with his other sons. Which reminded me of Nightwing Year One (a.k.a. Nighting Vol 1. issues 101-106) This was a retelling of how Dick Grayson became Nightwing and to a lesser extent how Jason Todd became Robin. Taking another look at it you see how truly messed up Bruce Wayne is because he has some serious issues with dealing with the boys. Writer Chuck Dixon even had Bruce doing something to Robin before Frank Miller did!

Red Hood and the Outlaws #2

SPOILERS AHEAD

Superboy #2

SPOILERS AHEAD Highlight to Read

Thoughts on Solicits

Demon Knights #1 & #2

Spoilers Ahead

DC Panels

Not much was revealed in these DC panels but a few things stuck out from Justice League, Batman and Young Justice.

Lots of comics next week

This is turning out to be a nice b-month with all the comics I'm getting even if I dropped a couple of books. While I still haven't gotten Superboy yet last month had enough issues left to convince me this month will too. I found a decent deal online for two issues of Demon Knights which I should get soonish. I've been staying away from spoilers so I should be fairly surprised plus this will be the first time I can review issues back to back. That's going to be a joint review.

I plan to get the Justice League Generation Lost Vol. 2. trade when I get my comics (Superboy & RHATO) next week but I keep thinking I'm forgetting something. Is anything else out in trade? I think the latest animated Batman film might be out but I'm always iffy on getting those. I loved Batman Under the Red Hood and Batman/Superman Apocalypse but I was bored to tears with Superman Doomsday (likely because of how much they changed the story. No JLI.)  But we also have the DC panels this weekend so hopefully we'll get some good stuff.

Writers Block: Winick and Jurgens JLIs: Who is Rocket Red?

How different is Judd Winicks' version of the JLI to Dan Jurgens new series? They have similar story beats but differ in presentation. Naturally they can't connect directly since Flashpoint changed the history of the characters involved in Jurgens' version. They were never teammates before because there never was a Justice League International. I will try to be brief with connections from the original Giffin/DeMatteis run when it comes up but with JLI it's bound to get a mention or two. But first let's start with a character that doesn't have as much history as the rest: The new Rocket Red, Gavril Ivanovich.

Newsarama interviews Jurgens on JLI

Jurgens gives some very interesting insights like Boosters' reaction to Godiva, things to come like more Skeets, and a spoiler for the Rocket Red/General August in Iron dynamic.

Adding to my books to buy this month

I'm getting the second volume of the hardback Justice League: Generation Lost. I don't care if it's not canon anymore I love that series. Yes it had that problem with Tora but overall this was my favorite series for an entire year. I looked forward to each issue, felt excited about the series and didn't have to wait an entire month for the next issue. Plus it was one of the three books Booster Gold was starring in. Good times. Yes I miss things from that series, like Jaime and Captain Atom being part of it, the Gavril/Bea romance, the sense of history with the team, but mostly the Max/Booster relationship. If not for this series (which originally was planned to be something completely different) we probably wouldn't have another JLI. We wouldn't have Gavril. Nate and Jaime got their own series and Booster is officially chosen as the leader.

I'm thinking about doing another meta to compare JLGL to the new JLI but I may wait until the first arc is done first. On another note I still haven't found Demon Knights for a decent price and I might be getting Superboy the week after it comes out because of transportation. 

International Exchange with Dan Jurgens

Where Jurgens talks about the interactions in the book. How well the members know each other and more.

Max? Is that You?!

Not really what I was expecting. Not sure how to feel about this.

Justice League International #2

SPOILERS AHEAD

Animal Man #2

SPOILERS AHEAD 

Static Shock #2

SPOILERS AHEAD

Justice League International #2 Preview

Yep it's up. Looking forward to more Booster Gold and those other guys. Now we get to see just what it's like for Booster Gold to be a leader for JLI under all sorts of pressure. I put spoiler thoughts under the cut and in white out text.

Relaunch Questions

Relationships between characters have changed and in some cases we have no idea what certain characters mean to each other now. So my questions are: Would you buy a comic you usually don't get in order to read about a character you like? Or get a issue of something you don't pick up in order to see how these characters interact now? I've heard that Max Lord will be appearing in Omac for example. And that Green Arrow will interact with Black Canary and Roy (I think he's Arsenal now?) at some point. I'm not sure if I would for those but if Booster appeared in Omac WITH Max? Oh yes.

Justice League Dark #1

SPOILERS ahead

Teen Titans #1

SPOILERS ahead

Short reads and new review plan?

I got Teen Titans and Justice League Dark. I already read TT and I'm struck by how short it seemed. I mean JLI seemed a lot longer by comparison, likely because it had more characters in it but still. Superboy, which was written by the same writer as TT also seemed longer as well. 

I haven't even started on the reviews yet but I think I'll try to post them either Thursday or Friday. Next month I think I'll drop a couple books, Captain Atom for sure. The reviews will be a little different since I'll be dropping the introduction summaries for the characters. We'll see if Lady Flashpoint sticks around for another month. At present I feel it's still far too early to judge the relaunch as a whole. There have been good and bad changes but I think we all can agree that their taking some chances. We'll see if they pay off.

Question

Since the topic of text size came up in the past I was wondering something. I was wondering if whiting out spoilers bugs anyone. Not really tags per se but you can read it just fine if highlighted. I've been thinking of doing it for things that are too short to fit under cuts. Like for example:

Booster Gold is actually Michael Jon Carter and his son is Rip Hunter.

Yes? No?

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

SPOILERS Ahead

Blue Beetle #1

SPOILERS ahead

Captain Atom #1

SPOILERS ahead

This is the second time this happened!

I know that we comic readers are excited when new books come out but things should have warnings on them. Hey I had some trouble with cut tags before I figured out the new format for blogs but I tried to keep the big things under wraps or wait to post certain things. Posting images from a comic the day before it's released with bold text telling what happened isn't cool. I've been waiting for this book for awhile and while yes, it was a shocking reveal I'm more ticked off that it was spoiled before I got a chance to read it! The same thing happened to me back in Booster Gold #30, someone had to reveal the plot twist regarding future Booster and it completely ruined the surprise.

I read the spoilers for Superboy beforehand because I didn't think I was going to get it. That's one is on me but I'm going to be paying money on these comics and in most cases I want to be surprised so I can experience it in full. I'll be writing on what this spoiler was in my upcoming review but this seriously irks me. It's like if someone ran up to a movie goer in line for Star Wars The Empire Strike Back and said, "Luke's dad is Darth Vader!" Of course in that scenerio you would at least get to give that person a piece of your mind in person.

Red Hood and the Outlaws preview

This makes me very happy, if Kory is written well then this will be perfect. I know some won't think so because of the killing but they are going up against killers. I like exploring the grey areas. :D

Superboy #1

SPOILERS and reason for adding this under the cut

They did WHAT to the Wall?

I haven't been able to go to my LCS and won't be able to for a while. I guess, it's unclear. Not sure if I should get all my stuff next week or get my weekly picks online. Anyway the Suicide Squad has been getting some attention since their odd redeisgn of Halrey Quinn. But what have they done to Waller?! Part of her appeal was how she looked and how badass she was. I don't believe this woman can get the job done.

The Carter Family Tree

I've been thinking about doing a few of these for awhile. Although this isn't as complex as the Superman or Batman family trees (which I also considered doing) I figure it was a good place to start.



At the moment the Carters aren't quite as complex as you'd think. Although I should make a few notes about the choices I made. According to an interview Johns did as Booster Gold/Skeets Jon is a shortened version of the 25th century name Jonar, which means "he who tries and fails." Since it wasn't in the book I didn't put Jonar and Boosters' middle name has always simply been Jon. To the best of my knowledge the twins mother has never been named. So the question marks are the obvious answer for those who aren't given names like Boosters' future wife and Rips' real name.

Michelle was never given a middle name although CTIC had her listed as Michelle A. Carter on the checkmate list. This seems a little random, and since Booster has his fathers' name as his middle name I'd assume this was a family tradition of sorts. That Michelles' middle name is actually their mothers. (Or Rips' is Michael.) Rani isn't listed because it's unclear if she still exists and just what her relation would be to the family. I'd assume that Michelle would have adopted her but until things are cleared up I'm not going to put her in the family tree.

Reasons for Ted being retcon?

I heard someone suggest it was to give Jaime the sole role as Blue Beetle which doesn't make sense to me. His appearances on TV always made it clear that he wasn't the first. Smallville might not have had Ted as a BB but Dan was still mentioned (not a great mention but it was still there.) Brave and the Bold made a bigger deal out of this with Jaime finding out about Ted and Boosters' reaction to his death.

But then I remembered Didio mentioning Max not being evil so much as trying to do what was right for the world. So if Teds' time as BB is gone was that to help *ahem* boost Max up back to his shades of gray roots? Why did Booster mature if Ted never met him and died? Are we supposed to take this as an implication that Ted actually held him back from maturing earlier? That Rip proved to be enough of an influence to help him change? That the other heroes are now more jerky than Booster so he figured it was his time to show you don't have to be grim and gritty?

I'm not actually worried about this. If it does factor into the stories it won't happen for awhile anyway. I'm just curious.

Justice League Dark trailer

This was the last one I added to my pull list and it recently came out with a trailer. Some of the trailers DC released haven't been the greatest but I have to say that so far this my favorite. The beginning almost starts off like something you'd expect from a scary movie. And when the cast is introduce you want to see more. Nicely done.

Why don't people list Rip?

Whenever there are lists for who's the smartest human characters in DC Rip always seems to be forgotten or brought up only to be forgotten. I don't agree with some of the usual choices. When you're talking about intelligence immortals like Vandal Savage get listed just for experiencing things more? If Mr. Terrific is the undisputed number #3 then shouldn't the others have similar skill sets in science and experts of whatever field(s) they study? I know Bruce Wayne is smart but I don't rank that in the same terms, if I did Max Lord would rival him.

I could understand the normal DCU not knowing where to place an unknown like Rip but he's listed as the guy who invented time travel! Something very few people in DCU even understand or control. He's an inventor, knows countless customs/history, master chess player and was regularly invited into the lab of Brainy 5. A family friend that very likely acted as his teacher. That should at the VERY LEAST rank the top 5.

Rips' only on panel kiss

Okay, technically he was kissed in the Silver Age but that was only on the cheek. I haven't gone through all his appearances yet but based on the summaries I've read I'm inclined to believe it's the only kiss he ever gets. Post-Crisis Bonnie actually had more romantic interests in this mini series and believe me when I say this is by far the nicest. (Seriously all the others over sexualize her to ridiculous lengths.) For some reason this goes south right afterward as Bonnie freaks out a little and the two mostly yell at each other throughout the rest of the mini. Oh and Rip makes faces as she snuggles up to her other love interests. I have yet to discover Rip having any other loves besides Bonnie.



Which is kinda funny because Booster hasn't kissed many women on panel either. More than Rip has, to my knowledge there's only been three. The first with a random date, the second with his actual love interest and one that may be out of canon. Carter men must not express their emotions much with their lovers. Still there was that one time it was implied that Rip and Jeff shared a bed in college...

Who is the Flashpoint Lady?

She obviously has to be a time traveler right? My first guess would be a new character Johns is building up or even a obscure one. But why not have fun coming up with guesses? Even if I have little hope of any of these being right.


Liri Lee? Last seen as the new Waverider/Linear Woman in Time Masters Vanishing Point. She has new powers we haven't seen explored too much. Plus in one timeline she became the Time Trapper, who usually sports a hood like this. Actually the Linear Men first appeared in hooded cloaks calling themselves the Brotherhood. Liri was known for being the one that bent the rules.

Lena Luther? Daughter of Lex Luthor, granted the first version is gone but she has connections to Brainiac and may be back in another form. As the big B has recently created a kid with Luthors' genes. Scott Lobdell has teased Superboy meeting his half-sister. Seems unlikely though.

Stephanie Brown! Bet you didn't see that one coming! She has taken the name of Spoiler to heart and goes to every book to find out what will happen to post the Spoilers online so she can ruin the relaunch. Superboy Prime helps her because he wants his own ongoing or at least a special when he beats up the Titans.

Bonnie Baxter? Yeah she was erased by Jason Goldstein BUT Flashpoint happened. If she's still a Time Master she'd want to right things.

Alex from the last Booster Gold arc. Many, including myself, thought she was the original woman on the JLI cover. She still exists in some form and knows time has changed. Raises questions but she's the only character that comes to mind that was directly related to Flashpoint.

Rani? Hey we never did know what her future was. And she was absent during Boosters' return to the Time Lab. Even if she's not an "official" Carter that family does like to sneak into crowds and provide easter eggs/break the fourth wall with the audience.

Justice League International #1

Animal Man #1

SPOILERS AHEAD

Static Shock #1

SPOILERS AHEAD

Interview with JLI crew

The duo talk about JLI, the friction on the team, who's the artist favorite to draw, etc.

JLI #1 Preview

It certainly raises a lot of questions, doesn't it?
SPOILERS below as I give my two cents about the content.

Another Booster related sell out

Justice League #1 sold out and is already going into it's third printing. Also on the list is Action Comics #1, Batgirl #1, Batman and Robin # 1, Justice League International #1 and Hawk and Dove #1. Curious to see who else joins this list.

Taking the Spot on the cover

The dark haired mystery lady from the first cover disappeared and now Lady Godvia takes her spot. More timeline problems or change of plans?

Predictions for Pull List

I wasn't interested enough to get the main Flashpoint series because I'm not a Barry Allen fan nor really into Flash in general. And I have no desire to pick up Justice League no matter who is doing the book. I'm just not into those characters enough. But there are some books I'm thinking about getting. Depending how how good they are we'll see how long I stick with them. I can be pretty ruthless with what I'm going to drop and I almost stopped getting Booster Gold when Giffin/DeMatteis were on.

Ironically it turned out that their last arc was the one I would decide whether I was staying or not. Not counting mini/max series, tpbs and back issues of the first BG run I believe it's the only series I have a complete run of. No matter how much I love a character there are some things I can't support. Usually it's a different writer that can't get the character voices right, or something that wanes my interest. That's one of the reasons even thinking about trying out 10 issues is a big thing for me.

So, what do I expect from these series at present?

Where's Waldo DC style

Spoilers for Flashpoint under the cut

Comic Alliance reviews new books

No real spoilers, but DC let them read a few books early. For some reason JLI isn't on the list.

Rip would be so pissed if he knew

Spoilers for Flashpoint #5 have surfaced. A good twist? Sure but it makes me face palm the stupidity involved. A pretty big Spoiler under the cut.

JLI quote confirmed

I know it's hardly surprising that the origin of this quote comes from JLI. And I know I assumed it came from Batman. But there's something so satisfying in getting proof of this. I'd always thought that Bruce enjoyed the humor in JLI even if he sometimes got annoyed with it. If he could get caught up enough to tell jokes he must harbor some good feelings towards those people.


“I’ve always enjoyed your sense of humor, Booster.”
— The Batman in Justice League International #1

Another Booster look

See, future Booster even has golden pants and he apparently ditched the goggles! Yeah he has a jacket but he had one after he left JLI for another team. It's a vast improvement over the new look! 

Plus baby Rip, who always is adorable and wearing his (so-far) first Time Master uniform. Wonder if Rip, Michelle and Rani are stuck in present day. I mean they should be if the time stream is closed since no one but Booster got transferred to the Flashpoint world. 

He's from where?!

Apparently Booster Gold is Canadian now. Huh. Didn't see that one coming. Not sure what to think. Maybe he just let's people think that?

Huh.

Seriously how young do they have to make everyone?

Kyle Higgins was good enough to answer questions last night about the new Nightwing series. Apparently Dick is now 21, which means Roy would be too. (Lian would have been two or three.) Yeah, this kinda of annoys me. There was supposed to be an age gap between Dick and the younger bats. He was 19 when Bruce got Jason, who was 12. Jason is around a year and a half to two years older than Tim. Now Dicks' three years older than him? How does that work? Did Bruce decide that Dick was too old at 15? Was Jason only a Robin for a year? Same thing with Babs, the reason it was cool that they were older was because they were old enough to mentor the kids that took up their legacies. It's hard for me to think of either as real mentors when they only had a couple more years of experience than the other bat kids.

Higgins also says we'll see more of Babs, which I hope will calm people out for Lobdells' blood simply because he said Kory isn't too happy with Dick at the moment. Which was actually a plot point before the relaunch so he's not just coming up with it from thin air.

Loose Ends and how have things changed

Given the Jurgens interview I started thinking of all the plot we never got tied up and things we never got answers for.

• What is Alex now? How did she come to exists as this energy being?
• Who's looking for Rani? Will she be raised by the Carters?
• Who is Black Beetle?
• Who went to the Beetle Cave with the scarab?
• What happened to Sondra and Gracie Green?
• Who ends up marrying Booster and gives birth to Rip?
• What is Rips' real name (beside his surname being Carter)?

Anything I'm missing? I also wondered what is different with Boosters' supporting cast that Jurgens didn't want to show yet. Are Daniel and Rose married? Seeing other people? Did Michelles' boyfriend Drew live? Did he save Rani? Are the Time Masters (Bonnie, Jeff, Corky) alive? I just hope Rips' not back to being cyborg Linear Man because that wasn't fun for the character.

Dan Jurgens talks about Booster Gold #47

Jurgens talk about the bittersweet ending for the second series and the lingering questions. While I can understand the need to keep future story ideas under wraps this makes me nervous again. 

I mean Rip has to exist for Booster to recall being a Time Master and you know, since 52 claimed that he's the one that created time travel. And is the reason for Booster going back to the past to become a hero. While I don't agree with the need to get rid of Connor Hawke or Lian Harper I can at least understand how some might see their existence as aging Ollie. But Rip hasn't even been born yet and the whole point is that he's teaching his dad.

52 Logos

The logos for the new 52 are out. 

Boosters' Bond with Ice

Fire and her odd friendship with Booster

Target Acquired: Damian Wayne

J.T. Krul talks Captain Atom

And something caught my eye when I was reading the interview.

Not a Bwa-Ha-Ha league

I'm a little puzzled with some of the recently proposed boycotting of JLI because it's not the same as Giffin/DeMatteis. Even they said that their retroactive issue was the last time their writing the characters. But I'm mainly confused because even with the irritation some felt for Winick most seemed okay with him writing the book like JLGL. That wasn't a BWA-HA-HA book so why is this such a shock? Jurgens said there would be some humor given the personality clashes but it's not going to be like the first JLI run. It's not going to be over the top and will be more action based. Like I stated in my last post I'd hate to go backwards. Booster may play pranks but right now he's in charge of a team trying to keep it all together. The old tone wouldn't fit anyway.

Also because it was mentioned: Jaime isn't involved because a.) he's a teen, b.) the U.N. want to know the heroes I.D.s. I do want more Blue and Gold but I understand why it's not happening right now.

Jurgens may not be known for his humor but he has it. He's the guy that had Booster poke fun at Hal Jordon. That came up with the idea of Skeets "riding" a horse. That, in his last JL run, had Booster drag Ted into a prank because he was worried Ted was becoming too Batman like. I'm not going in thinking this will be the best thing ever nor am I thinking it's the worst. I'm just going to enjoy the ride, it makes the whole thing more enjoyable.

Character Development

Besides having certain characters exist this is the biggest concern I have in terms of the relaunch. Happily it looks like a lot of my favorites still have it since their stories are already in place. Although a few things should be trimmed from the bat canon but we'll see how that goes. I'm a little confused where this leaves Booster, given his role in JLI it seems that he still has his evolution as a character. Generally Booster doesn't have too many big changes when canon changes. His origin has only had a few slight changes like how he gets the Legion tech or how/why he gets into gambling. Usually because Dan Jurgens has been behind the big shifts. 

That's one thing that really keeps me interested. I don't want to start back at square one with him or any of the characters I'm into. I get that some things have to change to better explain who the character is. The preview art seems to imply that Jaime is getting a retelling of his origin without Booster. While I mourn the loss of the start of their semi-friendship (their not there yet) I can understand the need to get rid of the IC tie in. (Even though Smallville did the same thing WITH Booster being involved.) 

But I have no interest in seeing character A and character B try to restart their relationship with "will they/won't they." It can be highly frustrating when only a month ago they were married and in some cases had kids. Going down my pull list I've come to realize most of my picks have past canon in place. Something that's either confirmed by them being bat characters or by the writers themselves. There may be changes we don't know about, but I like keeping who Booster has become. In a funny way that puts him miles ahead of the so-called A listers. Many of them are restarting the journey into discovering who they are. But Booster has already done two laps and is already preparing for the next marathon.

Jurgens talks JLI

Plus a new page of art is shown.

Always nice to read interviews although this was a pretty short one. I'm intrigued with the mention of Gavrils' interaction with a fellow teammate but then again it makes sense given his political status. Did he get his head shaved? Can't judge Beas' outfit until I see the whole thing.

I wonder how Booster is going to do this leadership thing and how he's seen by his peers, etc. The U.N. would have to think of him highly or at least think they can manipulate him to let him be in charge. 

Poor Guy never looks happy in JLI meetings.

Do I want to do a Booster Doll?

I really should finish my work before I start new projects. I saw the cutest plushies (I mean the cutest I ever seen) and now I want to make my own. But I know me, I'll either abandon it at some point or keep doing more. 

I'm not even sure if I'd be able to do stubble on a Rip Hunter plushie.

How old does one have to be?

Because DC seems to be under the impression that you have to be a specific age to be a parent. I just heard some disheartening news I wasn't aware of on a forum and hope it's not true. Because if it is it's just bull. Connor doesn't exist because Ollie is too young to be a father?! The guy was shown as a ladies man/womanizer/whatever you want to call it. He could have had Connor when he was a teen, and it certainly would have made sense for a kid that age not being ready for that kind of responsibility. Does this mean that his other son with Shado, Robert, was never born? How is Identity Crisis still canon if Clark isn't married to Lois, his parents are dead and Connor doesn't exist? Because there was like a page of Ollie being thankful he was alive.

Sin likely never got adopted by Dinah and apparently Roy is too young to be a father. Despite it being canon that he and Jade had Lian when he was still Speedy. Jason was like 12 when they found out about her. Ironically Jasons' birthday was listed on the 16th  and the 17th is supposed to be Lians' birthday. 

Wonder if Mia exists.

This is embarrassing

but how do you get a cut on a blog? I'm used to using Live Journal and nothing I'm doing seems to work. I checked the help section but unless I'm missing something I'm just not seeing it. :(

Nevermind

If Steph was Rips' mom

I was just thinking about this and while I don't think she's who Jurgens had in mind it could be awesome. Although if Tims' 16 in the reboot she might be back to 17 but time travel works. Plus there might not be as big a gap in Booster and her age although he's supposed to be 23 now. He might be back to 20 for all we know.  Their both cheerful people. We already knew for sure that 50% of his genes were awesome. Both are from poor families and have criminal jerky fathers (although Arthur at least showed some concern for Steph in the past.)

Yeah, Rip said that his parents built the Vanishing Point but we don't know how. If Booster could get better at tech enough to control it in TMVP then Steph could too. Neither of Rips' parents seemed to be able to update Skeets without Brainy 5s' help anyway.

But the thing that occurred to me that made me think "yeah that has possiblities"? Stephanies' father is the Cluemaster, a Riddler like character. And what does Rip do? He leaves cryptic messages on his blackboard. 

Of course if this was true it'd also mean he had a older half-sister.

The Team that Almost Happened

Unused cover for the Supergirl arc where younger heroes were targeted. Apparently it was cut short so this never happened. But it would have been awesome. Goodbye Steph Batgirl, and I hope you're around Irey. 

That time Booster almost killed someone

In Justice League Quarterly #10 I believe. Booster remembers how his life was ruined and his mother rejected him once the truth was revealed. It's a little too over the top at points and there are a couple of characters that really shouldn't be in this story. But this has a few parts that I love. One of them is Booster telling the truth of his origins to Guy, Tora and Bea for the first time. (The two random character stand ins are pretty awkward here.) Ted already knows all this from the tale Jurgens wrote years earlier.

There are two truly powerful moments in this story that I adore. The first is the heart breaking moment where Booster outright tries to murder a man who's descendant will help lead to his ruin. Only Teds' there to try to talk him down. Booster cries out, "It's all his fault!"

And Ted replied, "No, it's yours."

Ouch. When Ted was serious he really could hit where it hurts. Naturally Booster is depressed after all of this and what follows is one of my favorite moments in their friendship. Ted admits what he said was risky and yeah Booster was stupid. But he's a hero now and that makes up for those wrongs in his book. And the greatest truth of all: that Booster really only has one person that needs to forgive him for his past wrongs. Truly one of the better written Ted stories.

The Trinity talks about Booster Gold

I always thought this was beyond weird. Yeah, I know the writers had no idea what was happening to the stars of 52 but even with that knowledge this sounds strange.

I like that Superman is always standing up for Booster by bringing up how he stood by him against Doomsday. But why the hell would he think it would be a good idea to give away Boosters' suit to someone else? Ignoring the fact they think it was caught in a nuclear blast or that it might be buried--it's not their legacy to give away! Can you imagine Booster turning up after they did that?

Umm, Bruce you do realize this is MICHAEL not Ted right? Not sure how a fake Booster Gold would honor him anyway, not like Ted is around to be fooled. 

Funny thing is that according to a review in the 52 novel Boosters' big fight happened in front of the heroes at the Superboy memorial. While everyone else was stunned to see Booster was alive Bruce stared. "How...ah, time travel. Of course." Makes you wonder if he was annoyed here in the comicverse because no one else had picked up on it yet.

He's a crafty one

I would seriously buy every Hal Jordon book I could get if he acted like this all the time. Forget the fearless pilot, I want the bumbling liar that can't come up with an excuse to save his life. 

You'd think he'd at least change his hair.

Is DC turning into Marvel?

Contains SPOILERS from interviews with different DC writers and the previews.

Any one else getting this vibe? Marvel has certain heroes that are looked down on like mutants and Spider-Man. Now DC seems to getting in on the act. In the preview for JLA #1 the police don't trust Batman. Jurgens has said that the JLI have formed as a group that answers to the U.N. in order to watch the JLA. None of the members have secret IDs. (Batman isn't supposed to be there but acts as a way for the JLA to know what the U.N. is doing.) Does that mean that Booster has a greater P.R. image than most of the JLA?

Jurgens also says that aliens aren't allowed to join JLI. This idea of aliens being outcasts seems to be spread throughout other stories as well. The latest cover for Morrisons' Superman book shows protestors waving their anti-alien signs at the man of steel. Supergirls' solicits say that she isn't fond of the people of Earth. Lobdell is exploring Starfires' struggles of fitting in and possibly helping other aliens find a sense of belonging.

I don't mind the idea--yet--but I miss the more optimistic DCU.

Cut off date?

I'm still a little stunned by the commitment of some fans to get so many comics each month. I've already seen people claiming their get all the 52 #1 issues. Some say that DC have that one issue to get them interested in each book. Others say that their give their books an entire arc. How long do you stick with a book? I admit I usually have to have enough interest to get me to purchase it in the first place. But with a book like Captain Atom that I have the least interest in I'm thinking maybe an arc. Depending on how it's written. If it's great then I'm keeping it if it's so horrible I can't stand the first issue I'll have to consider it long and hard before I drop. I want to give these books a try. 

I have thought about back up books as it were. Titles I'd like to try out if/when I drop a title. I liked the Static Shock tv show but I'm not sure if that will translate well in the comic. Especially since he's being moved away from his home town/supporting cast. Animal Man intrigues me although I'm not really into horror. And I have thought about the new Nightwing title. We'll see, I guess.

I'd rather have the old 90s costume...

...than the new 90s costume we're getting in JLI. It looks slightly better in the second issue cover but it doesn't say Booster to me. Tell me this shortlived Dan Jurgens design isn't better than what we're getting.

How to purchase comics during DCnU?

I wonder how the relaunch will be received in the first month. I vaguely remember how insane it was during the Death of Superman (before I was really into comics but my sister was.) Everyone was picking up as many Super-related comics at my LCSs as they could get. Will it be like that? Bigger? Or will people be driven away? When I went shopping yesterday I set out to get three comics, two tpbs and a Damian Wayne figure. Two of the items I was looking for weren't there but it took me ages to look for my stuff because of the guys blocking the aisles. 

Before I went to this store I never seen so many customers getting such huge stacks. I'm not exaggerating when I say their piles looked like they were getting half of the comics released this month. I have come across readers that have big pull list online but it's still mind blowing to see it in person. I don't think my collecting ever reached those heights because only a handful of books interest me and I don't have that kind of money. Trying out seven of the upcoming books is sort of a big thing for me. 

I don't really go to my new LCS often because it is slightly out of the way. But while glancing at my new pull list lo and behold I have books coming out every week. That's never happened to me before, usually I wait for the less desired books and pick them up at the same time I get Booster or a mini series. The year of the Booster did change this some since there was one ongoing, a bi-weekly max series and a mini. But half of that I still had to wait for. 

Still, I want to be excited about this relaunch and see other fans reactions and I want to read the books asap. So I'm thinking about coming in each week. The book I'm least excited about, Captain Atom, happens to be released the same week as two of my other books. I might make a bigger deal about reviewing than I normally do when I get to them. 

Another Batgirl and Booster?

Bryan Q. Miller released a directors' cut of Batgirl #24. 

SPOILERS BE HERE

So from the sound of it these weren't just things that Steph desired but some plots Miller never got around to doing because of DC. One of these things was getting together with Cass to have a time traveling adventure with Skeets (later to be joined by Batgirl Babs) in search of Booster. 

............WHY WERE WE ROBBED OF THIS?! 

Seriously that would have been epic! I already like the potential of the Babs/Booster dynamics but then I thought of something. Steph was touching Boosters' image in BOP when he made a cameo. She's dreaming about going on a mission with Skeets (this had to be a unused story idea because she shouldn't know that they are Time Masters) so then I thought...she's blond. Rips' mom had blond hair. Hmm.

Booster Gold #47 The last Issue of the 2nd series

SPOILERS of course

Booster Gold #47:

While the new JLI title softens the blow of this title ending this didn't end on a high note. There are still lingering questions and even a couple added by this end. Like many last arcs before the reboot there's a rushed feeling. Although to be fair I only got that vibe in terms of writing in this issue although the art duties were split for a couple issues likely because Jurgens is doing art for the new Green Arrow book.

While the Doomsday fight wasn't all I had hoped it would be I did like how it ended. It was a genuine surprising moment that I didn't see coming and was impressed with Jurgens twist. It's a good character moment and is different than Boosters' methods of fighting. I'm not surprised that Booster is starting to forget memories of the old DCU and it does explain why he wasn't affected by the Flashpoint change. But it doesn't explain why Rip and Michelle weren't brought along. Yeah, it's never been said outright that Michelles' costume was updated with the same time travel tech as Boosters' but Rip was still wearing the uniform from TMVP. 

I know there are going to be complaints about Booster wanting to take Alex with him because I've already seen some comments about not wanting her as a romantic interest. While Booster might have been attracted to her I didn't get the feeling that was the main reason for his attachment. Since Skeets was trashed she was literally the only person that was there for him. Likewise he was the only one that really accepted her for what she was, there's a connection. Booster still has problems letting things be because time says so. He wants to help and knows she'd be happier in his world. Sadly the only thing Booster did to affect the main Flashpoint story is to tell Barry what to do. So basically if anything is screwed up in DCnU it's Barrys' fault since Booster wasn't there to stop it. ;)

Is that Alex at the end? Did she get get turned into the same kind of energy being Jason Goldstein is? Is she stalking Booster? Because she knew where the time lab was. So many questions that need to be answered. I liked this issue but there didn't seem to be enough of it. Hopefully there will be more Time Master goodness after the relaunch.

My Past attempts at sewing

I actually attempted to make Booster Gold related 12" figures about a year or so ago. There was a project online that I was going to enter but never got around to. Mainly because I never finished it. I was going to do three or four figures: Booster, Rip, Michelle and either Daniel or just the Supernova costume. The Booster costume didn't work out but two uniforms were shaping up. Might finish these some day

Guys' thoughts whenever he encounters random idiocy?

DCs' "Pants Rule" extended towards male heroes?

According to Red Hood and the Outlaws #3 cover Jason Todds' Robin costume has been retconned. The biggest change is that he has pants. This of course calls into question if Dicks' costume is different, if the iconic case costume changes (I bet you that some artist will forget it changed) or if the boys still shared the same outfit. Something that was part of Jasons' hurt in regards to Bruce favoring Dick. (He also told Jason that he wasn't good enough to be as agile as Dick to the point Alfred had to tell Bats that he was giving the kid an inferior complex.) Granted Jason technically had his own costume pre-crisis but that doesn't work as well as this one. I like the touch of him having a red mask too. 

As for the other two on this cover: wasn't Korys' slave outfit what she used as her costume in NTT? I thought it was said that Roy wasn't on drugs or was that a misquote? Granted I thought he didn't look like he was suffering through withdraw in the "Speedy is a junkie" story. 

Saw this and thought of Sue

Speaking of comic book art here's a piece I found awhile back. I don't know what the context is. What do I think the story is based on the image? 

It was Katma and Johns' wedding day and Hal got himself killed/faked his death. Likely the latter because I just have this image of him doing it to get out of making an appearance. The GLs decide to honor Hal much to Katmas' annoyance . She decides "screw it, he's not going to upstage me on my big day" and bravely tries to pretend it's a normal wedding while walking through the graveyard.

Arisa decides to end her life only to discover she doesn't know anything about earth based weapons. Later on she would be embarrassed to learn she actually stopped herself from getting sprayed with a water gun. Katma wasn't pleased with being blocked and the rest agreed to ignore the sobbing girl. Guy naturally found the whole thing hilarious especially since he was the only one that knew Hal was alive and how pissed everyone would be once they knew the truth.

More expensive Stuff

Tonnor has some DC dolls (mostly women) that go into the $100.00 something range. What impresses me is that they didn't just do Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batgirl (Babs), Poison Ivy and Harley. They also did a limited edition Huntress, Black Canary, (BOP represent), Catwoman, Hawkwoman, Mera, Teen Titan ladies Starfire, Dove, and Raven. Sadly the men don't always look great since Batman looks a little odd, they also have Superman, Green Lantern (Hal) and Aquaman.

They seem to differ in size as some are 13" and the TT dolls are 16" to 17".