Photon Torpedoes on DC Comics, Video Games, and Pop Culture

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

2009-11-22T20:00:46Z

Put Harry Potter, Beverly Hills 90210, Bright Lights Big City, and Narnia in a blender, and you've got The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

I was really knocked out by the first two-thirds of the Magicians, where it takes on the subject of the Potter books--a coming of age story where a young man learns the mystic arts. Quentin (the young protagonist) and his friends aren't as squeaky clean as the Potter crew. They swear, smoke, crush on their instructors, drink cocktails and have sex, which gives you the feeling that this is happening right now over in Brakebills (the academy for the mystically gifted). Grossman puts Quentin and his friends through five years of school by the time the novel is halfway over, and this compressed pace is a welcome relief from the Potter series. The magic that is taught and wielded by the students is also quite different, as Quentin performs feats that Doctor Strange would envy during his final year.

Quentin hooks up with a clique of friends that he hangs around with post-graduation: Alice, Janet, Eliot, and Josh. In addition there's Penny, a freakish loner who Quentin surpassed during the first year. What do young people do after they graduate and become full flung Magicians? It turns out when you can do anything and don't have to work, things can fall apart quickly, and that's where the Bright Lights Big City phase comes in.

I reveled in Quentin's decadence, but after that section, the book hit a speed bump. I wanted the rest of the novel to be that magical soap opera story set in the modern world. Instead, Quentin makes a horrific mistake and drags his friends into Fillory, a magical world that resembles Narnia to a certain degree. I wasn't that interested in Fillory, but I was never into Narnia either. Grossman weaves the back-story of Fillory (there's a series of Fillory novels that Quentin has reread numerous times) throughout the Magicians, so you're prepared on the mythology before the gang arrives.

One frustrating thing about the Fillory section is the inconsistent use of magic. Quentin seems enormously powerful by the time he graduates from Brakebills. In Fillory, he can barely summon a spell to save his life. It can be explained away by the fact that magic in Fillory works differently, and Quentin had other problems since graduation. It's still frustrating--especially when another character's power levels suddenly spike in order to save the day.

I still recommend reading the book, it's a lot of fun, a complete story all tied together, but Grossman leaves plenty of room for a sequel. Which I would probably read as soon as it was published! The most interesting element of the Fillory section is an inter-dimensional gateway plane that opens up portals to many different worlds. I'd love to see Quentin travel to another world that doesn't resemble a famous fantasy series.

Here are some links to a three part interview that Lev Grossman did with Zack Smith from Newsarama, where he discusses a lot of scenes that were edited out of the book, and talks about comics as well. Nuff said!

Newsarama The Magic of Lev Grossman, Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

Justice Society and Infinity Inc Amazing Heroes Covers

2009-11-19T15:36:04Z

As you can tell by my previous Metal Men post, I've been going through a set of old Amazing Heroes magazines from the 1980s. This was one of our main sources of comics news, and they had some terrific covers.

Amazing Heroes #3 featured this Justice Society of America cover featuring both old and new generation. Joe Staton, who drew the JSA in the revival of All-Star Comics, did this cover. The classic Golden Age characters are in the foreground, but take note of the ones featured in the back. The Earth-Two versions of Superman, Bruce Wayne, Power Girl, Robin, and Star Spangled Kid.

A couple of years later, the new generation--Infinity Inc--came along and booted the JSA out of the spotlight. This cover by Mike Machlan and Jerry Ordway introduced us to Nuklon, Brain Wave Jr, Fury, Northwind, Obsidian, Silver Scarab, and Jade. Along with familiar characters: Power Girl, Huntress, and Star Spangled Kid. The interior content featured a nice interview with Roy Thomas and loads of information on the Earth-Two mythology. Nuff said.

Terry Austin’s Metal Men Cover

2009-11-17T07:18:00Z

I'm a big Metal Men fan. I've written about them extensively here, I've got a PVC set of the entire team, and I'm currently buying the Doom Patrol comic just to read the excellent MM backup series by Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire.

In going through a bunch of Amazing Heroes back issues, I came across this Metal Men cover by Terry Austin. This appeared in AH #10, 1982.

Check out some of my other Metal Men articles:

Nuff said!

Damon Lindelof Interview on CBR TV

2009-11-15T23:08:58Z

Damon Lindelof was in Golden Apple Comics a while ago to sign some Ultimate Hulk Vs Wolverine collections, and Jonah Weiland was right there with a camera.

The interview is quite substantial, 30 minutes long, and covers many topics: his Ultimate Hulk/Wolverine story, Stephen King's Dark Tower, ambitions to create his own comic universe, and of course, LOST.

Borderlands: So good it should be illegal.

2009-10-22T14:51:03Z

I bought Borderlands (XBox 360) yesterday, popped in the disk at 11pm thinking I'd play an hour before going to sleep. When I stopped it was 1:30am.

This game is irresistible if you loved the loot-gathering of Diablo and you get off on the kickback of a gun firing. The enemy AI leaves something to be desired, but the gun combinations are terrific. I got a pistol last night that fires incendiary bullets and a grenade mod that splits your grenade up into separate little mini-grenades. This is only just the beginning, as I'm only at Level 7.

Jeff Gerstmann's review of Borderlands on Giant Bomb really convinced me that I would love this game. I like to play games mostly on my own, and this game works well either single player or with friends. A number of critics detail Borderlands good vs bad points, but only Gerstmann accurately described the crystal meth level of addiction that Borderlands can inspire. Nuff said.

BTW, Fanboy Radio fans will be pleased to know that Oliver Tull is the voice of the Soldier character, delivering funny lines like "Now that's what I call a head shot!" Nuff said.

Superman as President and Public Enemy #1

2009-10-20T15:32:16Z

I love the high concept covers of old DC Comics. These covers (by Neal Adams) were probably conceived before the actual story. These two have Superman having identity problems.

Superman's Greatest Role: The President of Steel! I predict his foreign policy would have been smashing.

Superman as Public Enemy #1! Obviously suffering from multiple personality disorder. Nuff said.

Keith Giffen's 1983 Legion of Super-Heroes Poster

2009-10-19T15:49:34Z

In 1983, Keith Giffen took on a daunting poster for DC Comics. One that featured nearly every character (heroes, villains, substitutes) that had appeared in the Legion's entire history. The picture above is only one-third of the entire image, taken from the right-hand side! I cropped it to this side to show my favorite Legionnaires: Dawnstar, Wildfire, Star Boy, Karate Kid, Mon-El, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Colossal Boy.

Here's the full poster, you can click on it to view the scan. I remember buying this and pouring over the voluminous cast of characters. It could have been blown up and used as wallpaper in order to see all the characters better.

Keith Giffen blew a gasket on this poster, as he said in an interview with Jon B. Cooke (for Jack Kirby Collector #29): "What happened was I did this Legion poster, characters all over the place. And in drawing that Legion poster I totally burned myself out on the book. After the poster I just had to walk away."

Giffen's last regular Legion issue (as penciler) with co-creator Paul Levitz was in the Baxter Legion of Super-Heroes #2. He would return to guide the Legion in their infamous "five year later" reboot. Nuff said.

Wildstorm toasts Paul Levitz with Legion of Super-Heroes Drawing

2009-10-18T18:46:35Z

Here's a terrific Legion pinup by the Wildstorm crew on their Gelatometti blog.

This was a gift to departing publisher Paul Levitz. The sign says "Welcome Home" as he is returning to writing the Legion in Adventure Comics.

This drawing brings back memories of the Levitz-Lightle Legion era, with Sensor Girl, Kismet, and Tellus featured prominently on top. A great way to celebrate Levitz returning to these characters! Nuff said.

Flash Facts: Manapul is a Flash fan, a Kid Flash series, and Wally's new costume.

2009-10-16T14:12:55Z

There's a nice Geoff Johns interview on CBR where the writer discusses all things Flash and Green Lantern. Here's a summary of what is coming over the next few months:

A new Flash monthly comic in March 2010, with Francis Manapul as the lead artist. There is a very lengthy and good interview with Manapul over on the Legion of Substitute Podcasters (Episode 51). Manapul is a huge Flash fan, particularly of the Wieringo run, and actually tried to get on the Flash series in the past.
The Flash comic will have a backup series featuring Wally West, by Johns and Scott Kolins. Huge kudos for all Wally fans.
Wally West's new costume will appear in Flash Rebirth #5, now scheduled for November 11th. Does it appear on the very last page? We'll have to see.
There will also be a Kid Flash comic sometime around the launch of the Flash. Johns intends to bring theses two series in tight continuity, as he did with GL and GL Corps.

I think all Flash fans are dying to see what Wally's new costume design (by Ethan Van Sciver) will look like. SpeedForce.org is guessing that it will be a red costume with the top sliced off, exposing Wally's hair, as does Kid Flash's. My choice would be the Flash costume made out of "pure speed force energy" that we saw Wally wear in Flash #131-133. These issues were written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, who came up with this great concept, and the costume was drawn by Paul Ryan. I think it looks out of this world, and would look even better now with modern coloring techniques. Nuff said.

DC Universe Online is our only hope!

2009-09-17T16:59:34Z

See More DC Universe Online Screenshots at IGN.com

We all know the development on DC Universe Online is taking forever, with no firm release date yet (sometime in 2010).

I was hoping that either Champions Online (PC only right now, XBox 360 coming later this year) or Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 would be worthy enough to tide us over in the meantime. Alas, both games have mediocre reviews, with the theme generally being "more of the same, nothing new here to see". I think the Marvel game is still worth playing, but I will wait until the priced drops to $30 or less.

Given the excitement that Green Lantern has generated over the past few years, how far will the DC game go to incorporate the GL mythos? We've seen screenshots of Sinestro in his yellow uniform. I wonder if you can create a bad guy and make him a member of the Sinestro Corps?

Surely the DCU game cannot have Red, Blue, Sapphire, or Indigo Lanterns? Those are too recent.

Can the Flashes go so fast they become the one with the Speed Force? Probably not.

Too many questions. I hope the game will be released in the first quarter 2010. Nuff said.

Green Lantern’s Blackest Night is Leaving a Black Hole in my Wallet

2009-09-09T14:22:09Z

I though I had given up collecting monthly comics for good, but as Al Pacino (once said in Godfather III): "Every time I try to get out, they pull me back in." Now I'm ordering comics through an online service and I've pretty much stopped reading digital stuff. I'm getting Marvel and DC titles, including all of Geoff Johns work and Blackest Night. Getting the monthlies isn't too bad--online services save a lot there. The Blackest Night madness has triggered an addictive need to own every single issue of Green Lantern since Rebirth!

Sure, I could get the trades. That would make very good sense, being cheaper and easier. There's just something about the single issues I've got to have--maybe it's the thrill of the hunt. From eBay to various comic stores in my area, I've managed to snag all GL issues except for #12 and #20. Why is #12 (shown above with the Cyborg Superman cover) so hard to find?

Issue #20 is more understandable. That's the first appearance of the blue, orange, red, and sapphire rings that have been featured during the past year in GL. There's also a Tales of the Sinestro Corps story by Johns and Gibbons. I think I was lucky to pickup issue #18 and #19 for a relatively cheap price--these issues also had Sinestro Corps backup stories.

This disease isn't contained to just the main title, no. Of course, the Green Lantern Corps titles are in the back issue bins next to them. First I started getting just the Corps issues tying into Sinestro Corps and Blackest Night. Then I found a bunch of other Corps titles for a good price and now I have a near complete run of that as well.

Let this be a lesson to you kids. Think you want to stop collecting comics? You can try but they will eventually pull you back in. It's cheaper to keep up your subscription plans. Nuff said.

Star Sapphire’s Come A Long Way in Green Lantern #45

2009-08-31T00:50:36Z

DC Comics has really reversed its creative slump during the last few months. Wednesday Comics, Batman and Robin, Flash Rebirth are quality comics. And of course, leading the way are Blackest Night and Green Lantern.

Green Lantern #45 veers away from Hal Jordan (while he is the spotlight in Blackest Night) to focus on Star Sapphire, Sinestro, and his fear-mongering corps on the Zamoran homeworld.

This story really struck me as to how far Carol's character has grown. In her early appearances as Star Sapphire, Carol was obsessed with Hal Jordan--to the point of battering down his resistance to becoming her mate! The purple ring pretty much brainwashed Carol, who only reverted to her normal persona after being defeated in battle. There's great subtext in all of this depending on which decade you read the stories. In the 60s, it was about women's liberation and having the power to get what they wanted--only to have a man take it away! Especially in the scene above (from Green Lantern 74, 1970) where Star Sapphire battles not only Green Lantern, but Sinestro as well.

Now in the current Green Lantern series, Geoff Johns has done a lot to explain why Carol has acted so crazy over the years. The sapphire ring is so dominating to the bearer that they do become brainwashed. Only Carol is able to resist the power, as she has had the most experience with it: "Stop trying to put me on autopilot."

As the cover promises, Carol throws down against Sinestro after he breaks free of the Zamoran purple prison. I take some disagreement with Sinestro's statement ("I have never sought revenge against my former pupil through, you Carol...") because obviously he has done so. But you have to think that Carol is terribly overmatched in this confrontation. I had Bullseye/Elektra jitters all over again.

Fortunately, Carol's ring has a power more potent than creating purple constructs. She traps Sinestro and causes him to remember his own lost love, who turns about to be the sister of Abin Sur! Perhaps this has been established elsewhere, but it was the first time I knew who exactly he had married in the past. With the recent revelation that Sinestro is the father of Soranik Natu in the Green Lantern Corps--Sinestro's story just keeps getting more wondrously complex. We still don't know exactly how Arin Sur died...or at least I do not. Was it from Sinestro's own hand, a la Darth Vader?

John Siuntres just speculated in a recent Word Balloon podcast that Sinestro might actually be "the greatest Green Lantern of them all" if somehow he turns around during the Blackest Night conflict. It's possible, but I hope that Geoff Johns doesn't try to totally change Sinestro...he's just too much fun being evil. Nuff said.

DC Universe Online Fan Event at SDCC 2009

2009-08-28T16:54:55Z

This fan event for DC Universe Online was held last month at San Diego Comic Con 2009. The video below doesn't show you anything of the game--just the crazy, wonderful fans who came to eat ice cream and get Jim Lee's autograph on a poster. I can sympathize with one fan who said he had been waiting three years and would buy the game right now!

DC Universe Online at IGN.com

There's a woman dressed as Mary Marvel (good version) and several DC characters (Wonder Woman, Vixen, Batman, Catwoman) dancing in the room. Greg Miller from IGN is pretty wacky. Nuff said.

The Flash’s New Speed Effect in Blackest Night

2009-08-22T19:39:50Z

I'm really hot on Blackest Night. It's revived my enthusiasm for DC Comics...it's even spurred me to collect all the single issues for that title, as well as Green Lantern, GLC, Flash Rebirth, etc.

I can see why Barry Allen had to be revived. In scenes like the following, where a Flash needs to interact with Hal Jordan, it just feels better if it's Hal's peer, Barry. As they say in this splash page from Green Lantern #43, they are both cops, after all!

But here's something even greater: the new speed effect for The Flash. It's a ghost effect showing the after images the Flash leaves in his wake.

Ethan Van Sciver talked about this in one of his recent interviews, that he was charged with designing a new speed effect. During the Golden Age, the Flash's speed effect was portrayed with multiple images of him doing something. In the Silver Age, Carmine Infantino drew the character with trailing speed lines that looked great in the 1960s. For the modern era, Wally West had those effects, plus a blurring of what was going on around him.

Now with digital computer art, this new ghosting trick, combined with the traditional methods, really makes the Flash's power new and exciting. This panel by Ivan Reis shows you all of them. The colors also blur to give you that notion of speed.

Even when the Flash isn't fighting, just turning his head, it still looks fantastic.

The art in both Green Lantern books is really top notch. Now I am wondering who the artist will be for the regular Flash title, once Flash Rebirth is done. I'm thinking that DC Comics should tap Ivan Reis when Blackest Night is over. What do you think? Nuff said.

DC Universe Online demo at SDCC 2009

2009-07-31T17:46:11Z

Here is a demo of DCU Online, now called an "action MMO", taken at San Diego Comic Con 2009. The video is a walkthrough and the actual game screen is in the distance, but the description of the game is interesting. Solomon Grundy helps the playable character defeat "patient zero", a character infected by a mutant virus. Still no firm release date for this game! Fall 2009 belongs to Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Nuff said.