From Beginning to End - 52: Week 3

It’s week three of DC’s craziest new event, 52, and it is I, Oroboros, that’ll be hitting you up with everything you need to know. Now I have warn you, the following summary is filled with descriptions of badassery, more badassery, temper tantrums, even more badassery…ah, what the hell am I doing? I suck at introductions! On to show good people!

*SPOLIERS FROM HERE ON OUT*

52: Week 3
“New World Order” (Damn it, stop reusing story names Morrison!)

Day 1:

Well things start off with a bang this week! First thing we’ve got is former Superman supporting character, Captain Maggie Sawyer, who was transferred to Gotham City PD during Gotham Central leaving her home in the middle of the night to check out a body her fellow officers have decided to inform her about. Now, I’m not expert but I don’t think any cop would leave their home in the middle of the night wearing high heels…anyway, after some idle chatter Sawyer is shocked to see that the body her subordinates have called her into check out is none other than that of: LEX LUTHOR!

While all that’s being sorted out, over the skies of Khandaq, Power Girl is doing battle with some cowboy riding a sky-cycle by the name of Terra-man. Apparently the guy robbed Ferris Air Flight 450 while it was over the Mediterranean and Power Girl, Green Lantern and Star Girl had gone to handle it.

Things are pretty much going fine until Terra-man (who really reminds of Two-Gun kid, especially with the sky-cycle) gets the upper hand on her, hits her with some sort of energy lasso and starts talking about Power Girl is one of the people responsible for what occurred during the crisis (how he knows this is a mystery) Enraged, it really look’s as if Power Girl is just going to let loose on this idiot but Khandaq’s one and only protector shows up to put a stop to it. Black Adam gives Karen a little lecture as well as telling her the exact number of people who died during the crisis before zooming off and informing her that her, as well as the rest of the world’s heroes, are to stay away from his country.

Day 2:

Here’s that temper tantrum I promised you guys. Steel’s niece, Natasha, flips out at him when he informs her that she won’t be attending some big Science conference with him because she has to attend summer school to make up for the “D” she got in English. He gives her another of his patented “You’ve gotta earn things” speeches before getting a call from STAR labs asking him to come in and identify a body. Seriously, my man John Henry’s gotta be one educated guy. How many people can say they can build robotic battle suits and cut open dead people?

Day 3:

Day 3 has us in Khandaq once again, this time, inside of Black Adam’s palace. His quiet reflection is shattered as some men decide to pay him a visit…along with a few gifts: Two million in African Gold (which Black Adam definitely doesn’t need) and the most beautiful virgin in all of Egypt (Once again something he doesn’t need, I’m sure a man of Bladam’s stature like’s his women a little experienced)

Not being a fool, Adam cuts straight through their bull and asks about the nature of their “gifts.” Apparently, their employer, Intergang, was hoping to bribe Adam into letting them transport their weapons through Khandaq since it’s apparently the bridge between Africa and the middle-east. Well, you can only imagine what his response was:

Does Terra-man's reappearance hint at a possible alliance?

Day 4:

Back in Metropolis, Booster Gold is doing battle with someone named Shockwave yet seems more worried about whether Skeets placed a wager on some sports team (who I’m assuming is a baseball team) called “The Meteors” since Skeets historical records show that they’re supposed to win their game that day. Skeets assures him that they will win and the wager he placed was quite large. Booster finishes off Shockwave just as a nearby news ticker displays that The Meteor’s won their game (with the score being exactly what Skeets predicted)

Booster then zooms off to a very important contract signing (since the guy can’t get enough of whoring himself out) to endorse the Akteon-Holt, pharmaceutical company. Now, Booster Gold probably would’ve made millions on his stock options (like Skeets has predicted) had the company’s owner not gotten himself arrested for Securities Fraud. Frankly, I bust a got laughing at this little seen and Booster’s following tantrum. He decides that Skeets needs to locate someone for him, and it’s not Dr. Magus…Booster wants Skeets to locate Rip Hunter.

For those of you that don’t know Rip Hunter is essentially one of the Guardian’s of Time. He showed up and did some stuff in Zero Hour (a lot of it wasn't useful, but what are you going to do?)

Day 5:

Steel is helping out STAR labs with the Lex Luthor autopsy, and for anyone who read Infinite Crisis it’s pretty damn obvious we’re just looking at a shaved Alexander Luthor (given his skinny build, and the fact that Luthor put contacts on him) But it’s not explained why his face I no longer scarred. So Steel removes the contacts and notes that the guy did the murder definitely inserted them post-mortem. His assistant asks who just before this happens:

The real Lex Luthor comes parading in with a news crew and some bogus story saying how all the bad things he’s done over the years were really done by his counterpart from a parallel universe while he lay in exile on that Luthor’s world before finally escaping during the crisis. Then, Luthor even has the gall to call on John to give testimony to the fact that Lex really was trapped on some other world.

Day 6:

Lois Lane and some other reporters are gathered in New York to witness the opening of Black Adam’s embassy. He goes on one of his little tirades before stating that men like Terra-man (who showed up with him) He deals with Terra-man in standard fashion before zooming off.

Don’t have a damn clue what that tube in the last panel was.

History of the DC Universe:

To be honest, nothing really happened here except that some incongruities about the Legion of Super-heroes were cleared up (sorta) and Donna’s finally going to find out about the Crisis.

End of Week 3.

I can’t say I enjoyed this issue as much as I did the last two. Aside from the bit with Booster Gold everything else was just boring.

But going back to that bit with Booster, I really think him having a meeting with Rip Hunter has a lot of story potential. Maybe we can see the Linear Men again, hell, I’ll call it right now: Booster Gold is going to either become a member of the Linear Men or he’ll take Rip Hunter’s place as Time Master. I’m telling you folks, my boy Michael’s been needing to assert himself for years and while protecting the world is all well in good I’d much rather see him protect all of time.

The lack of Question was disappointing and to best honest with you, Black Adam’s performance was a bit too. We !@#$ing get it already! Black Adam’s edgy and doesn’t have a problem killing villains! C’mon people, the guy’s becoming a bit of a one trick Pony.

Luthor’s little ploy with Alex seems smart but I can’t honestly see the nonsense working. While John wasn’t that intertwined with the true nature of the Crisis he has to know that Lex is full of crap.

In closing, it was an okay issue, but no where near as strong as the last two.

Story: 5/10 (Like I said, it was average all around)
Art: 7/10 (God this book is great looking, the details on the characters were really nice. Black Adam’s hair looked really cool in one panel)
Overall: 6/10 (Eh, DC’s lucky I think this series has potential)

Before I go folks I’d like to dedicate this column to the recently departed Alex Toth. While This man was a true great in the world of cook book illustration and even if you’ve never read a book with art by him then you’ll probably familiar with a lot of other things he contributed designs for: Super Friends, Jonny Quest and Space Ghost and Sealab 2020.

While Space Ghost and Sealab saw themselves revived and made into late night comedy series, I’ll never forget the joy of waking up to watch Super Friends and Jonny Quest-especially the latter, that show was essentially my first exposure to people who are now some of my favorite comic book characters and his Space Ghost design will always be the epitome of cool to me.

Here’s the real clincher about Toth, though, the guy actually died at his drawing table. If that doesn’t show dedication to the medium then I don’t know what does.

Alex Toth: June 25, 1928-May 27, 2006


(No, this isn't a random Question money shot, Toth drew the picture in case you were wondering)

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House Rules! Week of 05/17/06

By Thomas "HouseT" Houston

No flash, no glamour, just me getting down to the goody goodness. No need for a lot of words. I'm back, baby. And I missed you, too.

On Deck: Batman/Superman #25, Robin #150, Ms. Marvel #3


Batman/Superman #25

"With a Vengeance Chapter Six: Batmen/Supermen"

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Art: Ed McGuinness/Dexter Vines

Note-a-Quote: "They don't remember because I don't want them to remember. That... and they haven't collected those stories into a trade paperback yet..." -Mxyzptlk (You know, they really should get around to that...)

A whole gang of Supergirls ply Superman from the Source Wall. They explain that Bizarro has told them that someone or something is mroe dangerous than Darkseid and playing for the control of the universe.

Who, you ask? Why Joker and Mxyzptlk, of course. Back at the three ring Circus O' Weird, Batman confronts Joker, who has just killed the freakishly strange Batzarro. Joker notes that he made Batzarro in Batman's image, but Batman is less than flattered.

Now comes the part of the issue I like to call... High Point HeroClix teams of doom!
Joker snaps his fingers and booms in Darkseid, Battle Armor Lex Luthor, Evil Supergirl, and Bald n' Evil Superboy. Mxy snaps and booms in Superman and his Would Be Harem if he Wasn't Related to Half of Them of Supergirls. Begin fight scene.

(Prepare for the only real thing resembling plot that appears in this entire book.)

Remember way back when, when Joker took Mxy's powers (the old Emperor Joker storyline)? Well, it turns out that even though Mxy got his powers back, Joker still retained a fraction of Mxy's powers. Hence, the two are engaged in a contest. If Superman and Batman die, then Joker gets all of Mxy's power. If the dream team triumphs, however, then Joker pays the price. See how that almost maks sense? Well, hold onto that...

More super fighting commences. The good guys are taking it on the chin, and it's obvious that they're going to need more help. Suddenly, Bizarro appears with... wait for it... and army of Batmen and Supermen. While the super melee commences once again, Bizarro sees his fallen comrade Batzarro. Lamenting his death, Bizarro reaches into Batzarro's futility belt and pulls out a blue kryptonite ring. Puttng it on, Bizarro states that he's now a 12th level intellect and rushes off to do "what must be done." Presumably, it's not his taxes.

In null space, Mxy and Joker watch the fighting on TV. Mxy notes that this is getting them nowhere, and tries to figure out some way to get all of the superheroes to work together. Thinking he has the answer, Mxy snaps and merges the Batmen, Supermen, and Kryptonite Man into... Composite Batman-Superman?

Old school! Old school!

Joker, not one to tae things lying down, combines all the baddies and Maximums into... the Maximum Maximum? Uh... er... new school? Yeah, yeah. That'll have to work. New school.

As the two titans battle, Bizarro returns with a device that will put Batzarro in a stasis zone until he can be helped. Joker yells at Bizarro from the crowd to pipe down, so Bizarro shoots Joker with the stasis beam instead. Joker screams, and then... Batmite comes out of Joker's mouth. Er... I... I have no idea what type of school this is. Anyway, it turns out Batmite was the missing part of Mxy that was inside Joker. Batmite explains that only something Joker created could free Batmite, so that's why Bizarro #1 could pull it off.

With Batmite free, the whole she-bang gets called off. The fighters get returned to their respective dimensions, the continuities get shuffled back to what they should be, and Batman and Superman get taught an important lesson about togetherness. Which as Infinite Crisis taught us, they followed to a t... er, ahem. Yeah....

If there's one positive to make of this issue, it's that it does at least explain just what the heck was going on through most of the story arc. And I'll say this much. Within the confines of this story, the explanation makes sense.

Unfortunately, there's so much confusion over what's going on that it really detracted fromthe overall story. Don't get me wrong; there's tons of fun and nice moments in there. Any time you can work a Composite Superman into a story, you're really putting work in. And seeing Batmite, disturbing entrance and all, was still something, too. But to be honest there was still a ton of mishmash thrown around everywhere. Honestly, was there any reason at all to have Kryptonite Man here? And was Darkseid included just so that he could stand around and do virtually nothing? And speaking of Darkseid doing nothing, how nice of them to remind us that Darkseid played absolutely no part in Infinite Crisis. At least there's a chance that when he appears again, he may be up for some old school greatness.

One of my biggest complaints about the story would be the explanation Mxyzptlk gives for what the Maximums really were. It's fine that they were imaginary, but to imply that they were made of elements of Batman and Superman seemed a bit of a copout. Especially since they were so obviously Marvel ripoffs. Add to that the fact that there are even Marvel knockoffs as skeletons in the circus crowd, and the whole thing just seems unnecessary.

On the plus side, there are, as there have been this entire arc, some nice visuals. Eight shades of Supermen and Batmen (and bless you if you can accurately identify them all) make for a good splash panel or two, and all of the brawling is full of fun images, too.

The arc did seem to have some sort of purpose, but given the events of Infinite Crisis, we already know that it takes more than throwing Bruce and Clark into eighteen different universes to get them to work like a team. It actually takes nineteen.

Story: 4/10 (... uh... yeah. Plot... Story... hambone...)
Art: 7/10 (To be fair, there is some nice artwork in here.)
Overall: 5/10 (Complete the arc if you started it, as it's the only issue that makes any sort of sense.)
Story Arc (Overall): 4/10 (I've seen worse. It scares me that I have, but I have.)


Robin #150

"Hard Answers"

Writer: Adam Beechen
Art: Freddie E. Williams II

The Skinny: After finding a note telling him that Cassandra Cain will be killed if he doesn't comply, Robin is forced to break her father David Cain out of prison. Easier said than done, but the Boy Wonder has the skils and the technical assist from Bruce Wayne to pull it off.

Robin contemplates his situation and realizes that he's been put at a disadvantage by having to comply with the kidnappers. Knocking David Cain out, Robin carries to a point in the wood and binds him so that he can't escape. Robin confronts David and demands to know if this is all part of some plot to break himself out of prison. David notes that he could break out whenever he wants to (and as has been shown, he can do just that), so Robin is forced to head to the oil field that's set to be the meeting point.

Robin tries to show up early to get a drop on his mystery foe, but the gambit fails as he is quickly surrounded by agents of the League of Assassins. David tells Robin he can't handle them alone, but Robin won't free David for fear of having him run off. Robin holds his own against the LoA for a while, but a mystery voice tells the attackers to go after Robin's bad shoulder. With his shoulder reinjured, Robin has no chance against the assassins.

Their leader reveals herself to be... Cassandra Cain? Yes, apparently Cassandra has had a change of heart over the past year. It turns out that she was so upset that her father David had trained another of his children to be living weapons that she had to kill the other girl and make plans to kill her father. Handing Robin a gun, Cassandra tells him to begin their wonderful dual rule the League of Assassins by killing David Cain.

My Take: Yikes. Talk about things that make you go, "Ehhhhh..." It was kind of obvious that Cassandra wasn't kidnapped, since we had seen her wandering around in the background of various scenes. It still doesn't sit well, though, that Cassandra would not only take control of the Leasgue of Assassins but also kill people in the process. Yes, I'm aware that she was in a downward spiral at the end of her own title. Yes, I'm aware that she took a dip in a Lazarus Pit and as such might be a recovering cuckoo. But the entire thing just comes off wrong.

For one thing, trained killer or not, Cassie was always more of an automated killer. She wasn't the type to enjoy it, or even do it because it was necessary. Despite her background, there was an innocence about her that seems to be gone now. Speaking of which, since when has she been so obsessed with having Robin as a "partner"? Does a dip in an L-pit come with a guidebook from the Talia al'Ghul School of Dating? This would seem to lean her further towards the "some kind of crazy" theory, but since there's a one year gap in things we can't realy be sure.

But let me not give the impression that all is bad with this issue. There are still some nice moments. Robin taking time to reflect on how Batman trained him to be two steps ahead of an opponent combined with Robin's annoyance over not being able to do that in this case made for good storytelling. It feels like Robin should have been able to figure out some better way to do things than just breaking out David Cain and taking him to the meeting place, but since I couldn't think of one either I suppose I can't complain. At least they did show that Robin tried to get control of the situation, even if he failed to.

I also found the moment when Robin got his shoulder reinjured to be especially poignant. Something about the image of him standing there lurched to one side, knowing that there's no way he could fight the group off one-armed and not really sure whether or not the LoA planned to kill him or what... it was just a nice dramatic moment.

Now if I could just make sense of the whole Cassandra thing, I'd be a happy guy. It's still better that Nightwing, though.

Story: 4/10 (I reserve the right to change this if it's later revealed Cassie's crazy has a logical explanation.)
Art: 6/10
Overall: 5/10 (A bit of a dip, but maybe this story will take an upswing.)


Ms. Marvel #3

Writer: Brian Reed
Art: Roberto de la Torre/Jimmy Palmiotti

The Skinny: The entire town of Spaulding, Georgia is screwed. While the cavorite crystals in the miltary base decided to shoot into space other than instead of incinerating the Earth, the town and the military base disappear in a flash of light, leaving behind a crater.

Carol Danvers has bigger issues, though. For one, the alien hunter Cru is still lurking about, and the guy is hardly the firendliest sort. carol puts up a tough fight against Cru even after Cru injures her. Feeling her strength starting to wane, Carol puts up on last desperate gambit that pays off. Cru is destroyed, but Carol comes crashing to Earth. Noting the success of her plan, Carol passes out

The Fantastic Four arrive to assess the situation in what was Spaulding and find Carol in the woods. Reed Richards examines the slowly awakening Carol and discovers she's covered in blue goo. The goo begins floating around Reed's hand, while in low orbit, a simliar pile of Cru goo begins collecting itself.

Carol returns to New York and heads for her apartment. She looks forward to taking a bath and unwinding for a good long while, but her plans will have to be delayed. As she opens her apartment door, her publicist Sarah meets her and tells her that she's late for her interview with the reality show Super Powers.

My Take: Anyone that wasn't sure that Marvel was on board with making Ms. Marvel a heavy hitter in her own rights in this series can drop the notion here. Not only does she survive an explosion that burns al the oxygen out of her immediate area, once she gets a breath again she gets a serious injury, takes the fight back into space, blows up an alien, and crashes into the planet from orbit.

So yeah, she's one tough broad.

I'm curious as to whether Spaulding will remain a casualty or end up being in some pocket dimension. Given the current atmosphere with Marvel's Civil War story line, I'd imagine they'd be hard pressed to let Carol slide with having blown up an entire small town. Sure, I know she didn't do it, per se, but no one's really worried about those details these days,

Not much to say for Carol's personality this issue. It's consistent, and she still shows her own private sense of humor by talking to herself in the middle of a fight (although I like to think that professing your love of air is an incredibly healthy thing to do). Msot notable here is Carol's dedication to stopping Cru, even at the cost of her life. Sure, that's what heroes do and blah blah blah, but it's nice to see a moment where the hero really does feel like their life is in peril.

Perhaps the most ironic part of the whole thing is that after a big, bruising alien fight like that, I'm really looking forward to Carol's interview with Super Powers. It may sound silly, but there's been such a slow gradual build-up to the event that it almost seems a critical moment. Hopefully, it's not something they plan to skim over or ignore completely in the next issue.

Story: 7/10 (Good story, but not spectacular.)
Art: 6/10 (Art's the same deal.)
Overall: 7/10 (Only this book could make an alien space fight feel like a bridge issue... and it still works.

That's going to do it for this week. I also read Moon Knight #2, but I just don't have much to say about it. Except maybe, "Ewwwwwww!" or "Not the face! Not the face!" But not necessarily in that order.

If you have any ideas/suggestions/comments, feel free to leave them here or contact me at th_houston75@hotmail.com. Please reference either "Waiting for Wednesday" or "House Rules!" in your subject, so I have some idea why you're mailing me. It would also help me fill my T-Mail column.

You know it makes you happy.

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House Rules!: 52: Week 2: Electric Bugaloo.

Okay, maybe not. But anything sounds awesome when followed by Electric Bugaloo. Need to get up to speed on this week's weekly installment of weekly... events? Have no fear, I am here. And eventually, anyone else that wants to drop their two cents will be, too. I'll try to follow the format of the Meister and give you adequate warning that spoilers will be here. So skip past if such things offend you.


********** Yarr! There be Spoilers Here! **********


52: Week 2

"Looking Back at Tomorrow"

Day 1:

Ralph Dibny AKA Elongated Man stands at the gravesite of his former wife Sue taking pictures. The groundskeeper interrupts Ralph and notes that he is a big fan of the Elongated Man. Ralph notes that it isn't mere vandalism. Someone has left him a message in the one place they knew he would find it. As for who that someone is, a twitchy-nosed Ralph tells the young man... it's a mystery.

Meanwhile, in a clunky basement, Booster Gold converses with Dr. Will Magnus. Doc Magnus is trying to diagnose the problem with Booster's machine pal Skeets, but Skeets' future tech is a little advanced for the doctor. As if on cue, Skeets hums back to life, stating that he enjoyed his time offline. Skeets tells Booster that it must have been a glitch in his system that caused his malfunction, otherwise someone is messing with the fabric of time. And of course, no one could possibly be doing that...

Anywho, Booster drops Dr. Magnus off at the facility that's holding Professor T. O. Morrow. Magnus tells Morrow that Red Tornado has sacrificed himself to protect the earth. Morrow wonders why Tornado keeps doing that, noting that only one of his "brothers," the Red Tornado, has ever showed that kind of self-awareness. Morrow warns Magnus that a good many of the mad scientists in the world are disappearing, possibly rounded up, and that Magnus should watch his step.

Day 3:

Hot lesbians in their underpants. I am not making this **** up, that's really what's going on. The Question, semi-weird guy that he is, slinks through Renee Montoya's house. Finding her in bed with a woman, Question presents Montoya with a thong and a question: "Who are you?" Montoya responds by pulling her gun and firing at Question, who vanishes and leaves nothing but a note with an address with a question mark.

Day 4:

In Metropolis, Flight 2824 is having a critical failure and is coming in for a crash landing. Booster Gold gets a heads-up from Skeets that the plane is coming in from the north and flies to intercept it. Booster looks around and sees nothing, but it turns out the plane is coming in from the other direction. In apanic, Booster and Skeets struggle but manage to bring the plane down safely. Booster confronts Skeets afterward over the misinformation, but Skeets states that it must be one last glitch in his self-repair. As Skeets declares that all's well and Flight 2824 is just fine now, a newspaper in Sydney declares that hundreds are dead on Flight 2428.

From her apartment, Renee Montoya continues her current job as a drunk contemplating her state in life. As she laments the question that Queston posed to her, she comments to herself that she doesn't have a clue who she is as she grabs her jacket and heads outside.

Going to the address that Question left, Montoya finds it's an abandoned building. Question suddenly appears and notes it's a dump. Montoya tries to attack him, but Question quickly disarms her. Question tells Montoya that he's going to hire her as a detective, and that she should judge the building not by how it looks but by how it's used and who uses it. As Question vanish in a cloud of gas, Montoya screams at him that she still has questions.

Day 6:

At Titans Tower, Wonder Girl holds a memorial service for Superboy at a shrine with a clearly kryptonian theme. As the webcast ends, we see that it's being shared by people across the world. Ralph Dibny arrives and tells Cassie that someone defaced his wife's grave with a message he thinks was from her. Ralph explains that he realizes that Cassie did her homework with the altar. Not many people realize that the 'S' has a literal meaning as a symbol. On Krypton, it translates as the word "hope." Ralph shows Cassie a photo of Sue Dibny's gravesite with the s symbol inverted, thne notes that when inverted, the symbol stands for something altogether different: resurrection.

End of Week 2.

*************** End of Line. Ahem, End of Spoilers, that is. ***************

I hate to admit it, but I do enjoy the format of this book. From the credits that sort of "roll" between the panels of the first pages to the day by day format the story is presented in, it creates its own unique feel that makes the story its own.

And speaking of story, there are a lot of interesting elements in this week's installment. Perhaps the biggest plot point so far is the possibility that someone or something is messing with the fabric of time. Hopefully, the entire thing turns out to be an actual plot element and not just some random freak of nature.

Ralph's mystery appears to have a bigger issue in play, and it'll be interesting to see just how far it takes him. The Question's fixation on Montoya would be disturbing if it wasn't the Question and we didn't know that he was too cracked for it to be anything other than business to him. Then again, maybe that makes him more disturbing, not less. Montoya is still the wild card in the equation, although apparently she'll have some big things ahead of her (and no, I don't mean more boobs... although, boobs never hurt).

There are some solid character moments in this issue. My personal favorite was Booster's dilemma with the jetliner. Even though he did screw up initially, the effort he put forward to eventually save the plane shows that deep down Booster is a true hero. Now if he'll just figure out that he can't rely on Skeets for all of his information. It's good to see Question out and about in the DCU. His mini last year was a mixed bag for most readers, but he seems to be back to his roots here. And Ralph being portrayed as the true detective he is never a bad thing. Nose wiggle and all, it's good to see him back.

There are a few things I have to wonder about, though. For one, Ralph is very composed and collected this issue, a stark contrast to the fractured man he was last week. That kind of transformation should be accounted for in some way, but the nature of this type of story doesn't really allow for it. Secondly, there are a lot of stories to be covered at once. It almost felt like losing pages to have an extended conversation with Magnus and Morrow, and the History of the DCU backstory was pretty flat. Granted, both are initial impressions, and maybe in the grand scheme of things they will pan out into larger arcs.

So all in all, it was a solid issue. Not one hundred percent great the whole way through, but full of enough plot points and character moments to make for a good read.

Story: 7/10 (Booster and Question... how can there be any fault?)
Art: 7/10 (Hot girls in their underwear... I'm just saying...)
Overall: 7/10 (But seriously, this is worth keeping up with.)

So that's week 2. Drop your 2 cents here, or drop me an e-mail at th_houston75@hotmail.com. Just 50 weeks left until the epic conclusion. I don't want to spoil it, but I hear that by the time it's over, there will be major changes in the DC universe. If only there were some way to see those changes now... Darn.

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Points of Articulation - Back With an Onslaught!

First, an apology. When I said I intended to write a "semi-regular" column, I hoped to post more frequently than once every six weeks. However, in my defence, I'll say that I've been out of town for work - and it is really difficult to review action figures when you're in Calgary and your toys are in Toronto. I'm back home now, and I just picked up a bunch of new figures, so I should be able to crank out a few new articles in short order.

Let's kick things off with a look at all six regular figures from the Onslaught Series! They weren't hard to find, I walked into one of my favourite stores today and walked out with the whole set.



The all-villain roster consists of the Green Goblin, Lady Deathstrike, Pyro, Abomination, Loki and Blackheart. There are three variant figures: melted-face Abomination (same figure, different head), Crown of Lies Loki (same figure, different hat) and unmasked Green Goblin (same figure, Norman Osborn head). I might get the unmasked Goblin, if I ever see it at a reasonable price. Why is that, you ask?

Well, in my opinion, the Green Goblin is the best of the lot. Let's take a look.

The figure is nicely sculpted, with a look faithful to the comic book - and less cartoony than some other Goblin figures. Norman is holding a metallic-orange pumpkin bomb, although it won't seem to come loose from his hand. The base nicely approximates Norman's glider, and he has no difficulty posing on it. He also comes with his man-purse and a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #122, the issue that follows the death of Gwen Stacy - a great read!


Combined with a Spider-Man 2 movie figure, you can create a pretty neat fight scene. I'm using that pic as my current desktop.









Next, let's look at Lady Deathstrike.

Deathstrike is also a pretty cool figure, even though she comes with no accessories. As you can see, she makes a good opponent for Wolverine. Even with those long arms, Yuriko manages to maintain her balance quite a bit better than some of the other figures in this series.


















It would have been nice if she came with interchangeable arms, a normal set and her elongated metal arms - but I suppose that's just me being picky. You get a copy of Wolverine #77 with this figure.

Next up is Pyro.

I like the overall look of this figure, but the plastic seems really cheap. I'm not sure what exactly bothers me about this figure, but it doesn't seem to match the overall level of quality for the rest of the series. Plus, the paint scheme on this particular figure is a little sketchy, with some tan plastic bleeding through.



However, I think Pyro looks pretty keen with the addition of the flame accessory from the ML Iron Fist figure. All in all, a decent addition to my line-up of X-Men villains. Here's a shot of Pyro fighting Iceman. Pyro comes with a copy of Daredevil #355.















Now we'll examine Loki.

Loki is a good figure, but the heavy cape causes him to have some serious problems staying upright. Thankfully, you can remove the cape. He also comes with a sword. His face looks really, really old - I haven't read much Thor, but I didn't realize Loki looked worse than Dr. Doom!

As you can see, even taking the crown into account, Loki is pretty tall - here he is standing next to Captain America. I don't have a Thor figure, so you'll have to settle for this "Last Hero Standing"-inspired picture. Loki comes with a reprint of Thor #112, another great issue by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

















I really dig this Abomination figure, even though its fairly simple.

He's a serious brick o' plastic, really solid. I would have liked some articulation in the torso, perhaps a hinge at the ribs or some articulation in the biceps. Inexplicably, he also lacks a cut at the wrist, so you can't turn the hand. There is only a hinge at the base of the fist that allows you to angle the hand along the long axis of the arm. Also, is it just me, or does the head look just a bit too small for his body?

Abomination comes with a copy of The Incredible Hulk #25 (April 2001).

He looks like more than a match for my First Appearance green-skinned variant Hulk!
















Last, we've got the worst of the bunch, Blackheart.

My main quibble with this figure is the feet. He's designed to balance on his toes - a bit like the McFarlane Aliens figures, if you're familiar with that line. That wouldn't be so bad, but his tail is very stiff when it needs to be flexible - you need the tip of the tail to touch the ground and provide some extra stability. As a result, he has serious trouble standing up. Also, in terms of colour, I think he's too purple when he should be deep black. A blue wash might have looked better.

Blackheart is really tall, almost as tall as Abomination. Here he is fighting Ghost Rider. The chain comes from a different toy. Blackheart comes with an issue of "Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of Darkness" - a team-up I've never heard of before.














If you buy all six figures, you can build an Onslaught figure.


















I don't think all that much of this build-a-figure. Truth be told, I wasn't reading comics during the Onslaught saga, so I don't really have a clear understanding of who Onslaught is or his significance in the Marvel Universe.

Even if I was a rabid Onslaught fanboy, I suspect I'd be a little disappointed. Most of the major joints - ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and elbows - are ball joints, which in theory should allow for a wider range of motion. Unfortunately, several of these joints are frozen or very stiff, and they seem likely to break if forced.

Also, the Onslaught BAF isn't very big, certainly no comparison to the Galactus, Sentinel or Apocalypse build-a-figures. In fact, he isn't much taller than Abomination or Blackheart. Here, take a look.

Somewhat mysteriously, each figure comes with a little stand for a diorama. However, no diorama picture is included with the figures other than the standard plain blue card, which it appears you are supposed to trim and use as a background. Maybe for Namor swimming underwater, otherwise its a pretty stupid idea if you ask me.

My overall take on the series? I like an all-villain wave but the Onslaught BAF leaves me cold. I think I would have preferred this series as originally conceived - a "Bring On The Bad Guys" wave, where each figure would have been a two-pack, with lackey soldiers like Hydra terrorists or Brood aliens.

That's all for now. I hope to be back with another column soon, hopefully one that answers where Ghost Rider's chain came from. As always, you can post your questions or you can email me at notoriousuli@yahoo.ca. Look for more Points of Articulation right here at Waiting for Wednesday!

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‘Meister’s Musings: 52: The First Week

Well, Infinite Crisis is finally over. And we all know what that means: MEGA-EVENT #458908634698693.3 is here! This time ‘round, it’s 52, the weekly comic filling in the gaps left by the One Year Later jump. Here’s a quick roundup of what’s happening in the first issue. I’ve got some general comments first, and then an actual summary for those who just want to know what’s happening but don’t want to spend $2.50 every week for a year. I could do that mental math, but I really don’t wanna. Don’t worry, though, I’ll put a clear warning of when the summary starts for those who don’t want it to be spoiled for them.

If you don’t know what 52 is, I have to wonder what rock you’ve been living under the past, oh, 6 months or so. DC’s claiming it’s one of their most ambitious projects ever; if they pull it off, I think it could actually be pretty cool. Assuming they can avoid delays, as that would cripple the whole idea of 52, I really think a ‘real-time’ comic is a pretty good idea. So, in a world without Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, we get to see the stories of the other people in the DCU, and see their stories unfold. Should be quite a ride.

*****ISSUE #1 SUMMARY—SPOILERS ABOUND!*****

Here we go. I’ll try to do this as chronologically as I can. Since the issue is broken into days, I’ll go for that too. Sounds decent enough to me.

Week 1

Day 1

Ralph Dibny (The Elongated Man, whose wife Sue died in Identity Crisis) is standing in the wreckage of his house, which has literally been cut in half. It’s a mess. He’s clearly on the edge of a nervous breakdown, and it talking to someone on the phone who’s worried he was hurt in the Monster Society’s tear through Opal City, which presumably caused his housing woes.

Renee Montoya of the GCPD is in a bar, getting drunk like mad. Seems to be a common occurrence lately.

Steel is helping out at a rescue effort in Paris, cleaning up the damage from IC.

Day 2

Ralph’s looking at a picture of his wife, listening to the person on the phone talk about rumors about who’s still alive and who’s dead after IC.

Montoya’s still drinking.

Steel’s still helping out, looking for Green Arrow, who apparently saved some people.

Day 3

There’s going to be a memorial service for all of the dead heroes in Metropolis. Ralph plans on going.

Montoya’s still drinking, but now she’s depressed about lots o’ people dying.

Day 4

Steel’s hanging around, talking to a St. Louis fireman about how the good guys won.

Day 5

Since Superman is gone, Booster Gold is the new hero in town. Since he has knowledge of the future (being from the future and all), he’s able to stop crimes right when they start, so he’s become mega-popular since he’s mega-successful. Corporate sponsorships abound, as does product placement. Good ol’ Booster’s making a killing taking advantage of the future’s history. His flying robotic companion, Skeets, provides all of the info for him, and also tells him when he needs to look sad about all of the death and destruction. Pretty amusing stuff, actually. Furthermore, according to the future records, it turns out that Superman gave some historic speech at the planned memorial service that became legendary for its message of hope, and it also ushered in a new era for the Justice League. Booster hopes to be a part of it, since it will bring him even more sponsorships.

Ralph Dibny is staying at a hotel, and he has a voice mail message telling him someone left a note on his wife’s grave. Good thing he listened to the message when he did, since he had a gun in his mouth and was ready to end it all. But now he has a crime to solve, and he has a purpose. Or something.

Steel and his niece (not daughter; thanks, Oroboros) Natasha argue over her priorities, as she wants to be with the Teen Titans rather than help her father with the rescue efforts. He gives her a lecture, she runs away, he disables and dismantles her armor. She has to put it back together and presumably spend some time in time out.

Over in Kahndaq (which, unfortunately, I know nothing about), Black Adam is going to lead his people as an example to the world of justice, ‘spreading our new gospel.’ Doesn’t sound like it bodes well for humanity. Some guy at the huge meeting in Kahndaq tries to be a suicide bomber, but in classic Black Adam badassery, he disables the bomb and rips off his arm, telling him ‘You have three more chances to tell me who sent you.’ A truly great moment.

Day 6

Unfortunately, I have no clue what’s going on for a whole page. Some little scientist is complaining about Captain Marvel being gone and rants about how science beats magic. He is then abducted by a lizardy guy and a hairy guy. Sorry, but I have no clue what that was all about. If you do know, please fill me in.

It’s the day of the memorial in Metropolis. People whom I recognize that show up:

Green Arrow
Black Canary
The Ray
GeoForce
Dr. Light
Power Girl
Black Lightning
Speedy (Arsenal, maybe? You kids and your name changes these days…)
Jay Garrick
Wildcat
Martian Manhunter
Booster
Shadowpact (all of ‘em, I think)
Bart Allen (not costumed)
Huntress
Metamorpho
Nightwing
Wonder Girl
Beast Boy
John Stewart
Guy Gardner
Hal (I think; no gray hair, but it looks like his costume)

There are a few more, but that’s all I recognized. Again, please feel free to fill in some gaps.

Anyway, they have their little soiree, and Booster is freaking out when the speech doesn’t start when it should. Clark Kent comes up to Booster and explains that the Big Three aren’t coming.

Day 7

The Question rips off the bat on the Bat Signal and spray-paints a question mark on it. Montoya has a little monologue about how she’s tired of losing partners, including a woman named Daria whom she drove away. I think we’re to assume Montoya and Daria were lovers, but no more. Then the Question shines the new signal on her window and says ‘Are you ready?’

And that’s the end of Week 1.

*****END SPOILERS*****

Sorry that was so long, but I think that’s a pretty decent summary of all that happened. I sure hope I don’t have to write these every week, but I will if nobody else steps in, just ‘cause I love you guys. All, y’know, 3 people who read this…

Anyway, feel free to add things I missed, and please leave a comment or two. It’s always nice to get feedback from people. You can also email me at aswindle@gmail.com if you’d like. And, as always, all previous posts are archived at meistersmusings.blogspot.com. Until next week, then. Tally-ho!

--The Almeister

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The End of a Crisis, the Start of a War

It seems like the big events and Marvel and DC are never going to end. There was a time two years ago when the biggest event that would happen would be a 4 issue story. Since then the fans have been bombarded with more worthless stories than I can count. Finally we are done with the madness of IC, the all of the 6 and 7 part series that really made no large impact on the actual Crisis itself. No more Rann-Thangar War, Day of Vengeance, Villains United, or OMAC project. The worst part is that all of these books were summed up in the actual Crisis issues. If you are going to advertise that you must read "story x" to understand don't tell me what happens in the main story.
The same thing has been going on at Marvel with House of M, the first crapfest of a story that de-powered most of the mutant population. House of M had its own main story but then also featured its own books for nearly every hero Marvel had. All of this led up to "Decimation," the day after M day. Now after all of the Sentinel Squad O.N.E. Generation M (Congrats on being very interesting and showing a reporters perspective), Son of M, and X-men the 198, we have to put up with the 4 dollar issues of Civil War and 52.



Civil War once again beats the dead horse and reintroduces the Mutant Registration Act...err excuse me a new Superhero Registration Act. Basically Marvel feels the same need to turn back the clock as DC does and they can help but stretch stories out as long as possible to make the most money. Either way its time to unleash the latest gimmicks and get rolling.

Basically Civil War gets underway by destroying the New Warriors and blowing up a town...which is sort of fine with me. As much as I loved Night Thrasher and the rest of the New Warriors Marvel destroyed the book when they turned it into a reality show. I was surprised to see Coldheart since the last time I remember seeing her was in an old issue of Spider-Man in an arc involving the Hobgoblin. Kudos on bringing that villain into the fold to get vaporized along with the rest of that town.

So the real story begins with the New Avengers and the X-men picking up the pieces of the New Warriors mess. The scene sort of reminds me of the 911 issue of Amazing where all the heroes are trying to get people out of the wreckage. This leads to She-Hulk being on Larry King and Tony Stark attending a funeral for the children killed on the town incident. One of the mother spits in Starks face afterward and says the blood is on his hands.

Cut to the Human Torch going to a club on a date only to be harassed by idiots that blame him for what the New Warriors did. The next part is ridiculous as the Human Torch is beaten down by a mob of out of shape club goers. Come on, so he was hit on the head with a glass bottle, for some reason I believe a guy that could have turned a mob of idiots into ash should not be so easily taken out. Maybe that’s just me.

Now on to the Baxter building where a bunch of boring dialogue happens about heroes arguing about going public or not. You can basically skip this and get onto the best part of the issue where Captain America kicks the ever loving crap out of S.H.I.E.L.D. Basically Cap gets in an argument about not taking down heroes that don’t want to come into the public, he won't bring down those that risk their lives for the people everyday. It's nice that Cap is not going along and playing the role of a soldier, he is going to stand up for the heroes right to have a secret identity, their freedom to have a choice.

Cap proceeds to take down a force of agents designed to take out heroes that won't reveal themselves. Cap then jumps out of a window and lands on a jet in mid flight. The best line is as follows:

Pilot: "JEEZUS!"
Cap: "Keep Flying Song--and watch that potty mouth!"

Then Cap has the pilot land and not damage the jet, he even takes him out to lunch.

The last page of the issue shows Iron Man, Reed Richards and Yellow Jacket telling the president to push on with the registration bill.

There you have it, the beginning of the Civil War; the worst part of this for me is that Marvel has taken two of my favorite characters and pitted them against each other. I have loved the role Iron Man has played in Amazing recently and his book is doing pretty well as is Caps. It is tough but I am interested to see how the fight between the two goes down. I don't know what side you are on, but I am with Cap on this one, if the result of this book is some Gestapo crap making heroes reveal their identities my love for Marvel will plummet.

The War has begun; whose side are you on?

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My AIM Conversation With Geoff

This just happened about 4 minutes ago. It was pretty improptu, and went quickly, but I think it was worth a post. I wouldn't call it an interview but more of a conversation. Anyways, voila.

monk3ykn1fefight: ...Ey?
Geoff Johns: ?
monk3ykn1fefight: Your on my buddy list and I didn't know you were on it.
monk3ykn1fefight: Is this really you?
Geoff Johns: Yes.
monk3ykn1fefight: Amazing.
monk3ykn1fefight: How's it going?
Geoff Johns: Great. You?
Geoff Johns: Saturdays rule
monk3ykn1fefight: Agreed. Weathers been bad, but I like the rain.
Geoff Johns: Me too.
Geoff Johns: Good comic reading!
monk3ykn1fefight: Indeed.
monk3ykn1fefight: Especially when its thundering.
Geoff Johns: Yep
monk3ykn1fefight: Hey, since I'm talking to ya, can I ask you a few questions for a blog interview or something of that matter?
monk3ykn1fefight: We just started one up and it's been pretty fun.
Geoff Johns: Sure.
monk3ykn1fefight: Allrighty. Let me pull some questions from my mental hat.
monk3ykn1fefight: If there was one person or thing that influenced your writing the most, what would you say it would be?
Geoff Johns: Richard Donner. For being a mentor. I was around him for years before I started writing, listening to how he approached story and character.
monk3ykn1fefight: Donner is a hero to me, as well. He was involved in almost every great television series.
Geoff Johns: TOTALLY! How old are you?
monk3ykn1fefight: Heh, only 16.
monk3ykn1fefight: But I've got some Goonies and Get Smart love for my age.
monk3ykn1fefight: Oh! And the Banana Splits. That WAS my childhood.
Geoff Johns: Sweet.
monk3ykn1fefight: Okay. You've written pretty much every major character in the DCU, but which one would say is your favorite to write?
Geoff Johns: Stargirl. Always will be.
monk3ykn1fefight: Ol
monk3ykn1fefight: Whoops. Whitmore? I haven't most of her stuff.
monk3ykn1fefight: Just Young Justice and JSA.
Geoff Johns: That's all she's been around
monk3ykn1fefight: Really? Ah, well there is one that needs an ongoing.
monk3ykn1fefight: So, when your not writing, what other comics are you reading? Any indie material?
Geoff Johns: Yeah. Too many to list! I love comics.
monk3ykn1fefight: That's good. My list has slowly declined in recent months. Need some new stuff.
monk3ykn1fefight: Any titles you would like to write an issue you of or maybe try your hand at?
Geoff Johns: Ghost Rider
monk3ykn1fefight: What would you do with the character?
Geoff Johns: Something creepy and cool. ahahaha
monk3ykn1fefight: Heh, I'd like to see that.
monk3ykn1fefight: I just realize that if I put this on the blog, it'll be under someone's post about Infinite Crisis.
Geoff Johns: Is that good or bad/? hahaha
monk3ykn1fefight: It's a good one.
monk3ykn1fefight: You been getting much negative feedback?
Geoff Johns: On the internet? There's never negative feedback on the internet.
monk3ykn1fefight: That's true. It's a big box of love.
Geoff Johns: It's the warmest place in the galaxy.
Geoff Johns: hahaha
Geoff Johns: Next to antarctica.
Geoff Johns: But I love it.
monk3ykn1fefight: Of course.
Geoff Johns: The people I've met and talked to are awesome.
monk3ykn1fefight: Yeah, you've got an impressive forum.
monk3ykn1fefight: Any good films or music youve discovered lately?
Geoff Johns: Yeah. I just watched the BBC Office DVDs.
monk3ykn1fefight: Those are classic. The Brent dance was my icon for a while.
Geoff Johns: hahaha
Geoff Johns: awesome
monk3ykn1fefight: Hows the studio with Loeb and Hinburg going?
monk3ykn1fefight: Or Heinberg.
monk3ykn1fefight: Hindenberg?
Geoff Johns: Good. They are fun.
monk3ykn1fefight: You going to do another collab or something soon?
Geoff Johns: Not soon.
Geoff Johns: But hopefully.
monk3ykn1fefight: Rogue Wars was one of my favorite arcs in the past few years. Flash is going to really hurt without you.
Geoff Johns: Thanks.
Geoff Johns: I'm anxious to see what they do.
monk3ykn1fefight: As am I.
monk3ykn1fefight: I think you should write Green Arrow.
monk3ykn1fefight: That title needs to get better, since Ollie is my favorite character.
Geoff Johns: I love him.
monk3ykn1fefight: So what have you been up to recently that not about comics?
monk3ykn1fefight: Cause I know you've been busy.
Geoff Johns: I gotta cruise. Sorry!
monk3ykn1fefight: No prob.
monk3ykn1fefight: Adios.
Geoff Johns signed off at 9:40:19 PM.

There you have it.

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'Meister's Musings: The End of the Crisis

Well, Infinite Crisis finally ended today. I figured some exit comments would be appropriate. It’s not a long rant, but I figured I should speak my mind, and I’d also like to invite others to do the same. So if ever you were to leave a comment on a post, let it be this one, and let’s have ourselves some discussion!

Some minor spoilers for #7 are discussed, but there's a clear warning before and after. So you have absolutely no reason not to contribute your thoughts. I WILL find out where you live...

For over 2 years now, DC has made one of the best attempts at creating a cohesive universe that I have ever seen, and likely ever will see: the DC Universe has meshed incredibly well since Identity Crisis, and I’m now a DC fan because of it. I enjoy reading DC and Marvel because they essentially are their own mythologies, with entire universes and decades of history backing them up. I think that’s truly amazing for a company to be able to do that. And DC, I would say, has pulled it off marvelously in recent years.

Everything about DC lately has impressed me; this is due, in large part, to their editorial staff, as they have made a universe out of a collection of different titles operating in the same world. When something happens over in Superman, Batman knows about it; if Batman’s having a bad day, Supes knows about it. It’s been great. While Marvel used to have Thor fly overhead and tell you to read Thor’s book (although that’s much more effort than their editorial staff has put into inter-book continuity in years), DC doesn’t have to do that. It’s much more subtle, and it fits together so much better. I’ve loved every minute of it.

As for Infinite Crisis itself, I would have to say I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. Despite my lack of knowledge of all of the B-, C-, D-, etc. tier characters, I realized that the entire universe was there, and all of the heroes were at their best. Just like the original Crisis 20 years ago, we got to see the heroes of the DC Universe be just that: true heroes, who are willing to put everything on the line to save innocents. Furthermore, all of the plot points that have been building up for years now in DC have finally come to a head, and I thought it was truly enjoyable seeing a series truly mindful of its history and roots. I liked it. Heroes were heroes, some major stuff happened that will undoubtedly have ramifications for months or years to come, and we got to see that DC’s heroes are icons, even if they have been a little bit darker in recent years.

I do have one rather major complaint about the end of Crisis 2, though:

*RELATIVELY MINOR INFINITE CRISIS #7 SPOILERS FOLLOW*





The sonsabitches over at DC have pulled a Spidey: since the Earth of the DC Universe is a new one, due to all of the mucking around Alexander Luthor and Superboy Prime were up to, DC decided to introduce their equivalent of organic webshooters. Batman Begins and Smallville are hugely popular, and it looks like DC decided to retcon their way into movie continuity since they’re essentially whores. Remember how Joe Chill was caught in Begins? Well, according to good ol’ Alex Luthor, in this new Earth ‘Batman still fights for Gotham, even though his parents’ killer was caught.’ Furthermore, ‘There are recorded rumors of Superman’s activities before his appearance in Metropolis.’ Smallville, anyone? Don’t get me wrong; I thought Infinite Crisis #7 was a great end to the series, and it was packed with truly heroic and just plain kickass moments (the Supermen fighting Doomsday was incredible), but those 2 little retcons pissed me off. Not only does it insult the intelligence of new readers, as they apparently can’t understand that comics and TV shows are slightly different, but it felt like it cheapened the entire issue a bit. Now, I think that’s actually one of the cleverest retcons I’ve ever seen, as they actually had a somewhat legitimate excuse for it; better than Superboy punching on the walls of time to justify anything you want. I just think retcons are stupid in general, and this was a rather cheap, obvious way of changing comic continuity to reflect mainstream media. They could have at least said those things in their respective titles, and tried to be more subtle with vague allusions to the past. Bleagh.




*END SPOILERS*


Other than that little gripe, I’d say DC has really gotten their act together over the last few years. Hopefully I’ll be able to write another column next year (assuming we’re still here, of course) that will reflect the same idea about 52. For now, DC definitely has my interest piqued, even if it was through a massive company-wide crossover. While Spider-Man’s still a good character, I’ll take an entire cohesive universe over Peter’s financial problems any day. For now, make mine DC.

Agree? Disagree? Please, let me know. As I said before, this seems like it could be a fun topic to debate, so by all means, leave some comments and let’s have a talk. Always feel free to email me, too, at aswindle@gmail.com and I’ll get back to ya right away. As always, this and all of my previous 'Meister's Musings columns are archived at meistersmusings.blogspot.com.

--The Almeister

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Giant-Sized House Rules! Chapter 2: Reign of the HouseTs

On Deck: Birds of Prey #93, Avengers/Power Pack #1, Robin #149, and JSA Classified #11

And lo, a darkness spread along the internet. With no HouseT, ones upon ones of comic fans everywhere had nowhere to go to seek sweet reviewy goodness.

...except for the other hundred web-based review sites, blogs and message boards. But for the sake of this story, let's pretend this ***-hole is important.)

But then, from the darkness of adversity, they arose. Each with their own set of powers and abilities. Each with their own special take on the comic world, but also something else. A hidden spark of inspiration, insight, wit. Could one of these guest reviewers be the currently lost HouseT? Or could one or all host a darker agenda?


Birds of Prey #93

"Progeny Part Two: Gutshot Redemption"

Writer: Gail Simone
Art: Paulo Siqueira/Robin Riggs

Guest Reviewer: The One True HouseT

Note-a-Quote: "No, I mean... I call shotgun." -Zinda (Short skirt, big gun... there's woman I can support. She's got killing power.)

Don't let the others fool you. They may claim to be him, but I am the one true HouseT. And now that I'm back, there'll be no more of that mamby pamby nice guy crap. Intolerance will be met with swift and vicious punishment. When in doubt, beat them down and ask their corpses later. What's that? Corpses don't talk? They will. Oh, but they will...

Black Canary continues her training with the elderly woman known only as "Mother." Canary wonders if she could take Mother in a fight. She probably can't. Canary's a pacifistic wuss. She didn't even kill any of her sparring partners.

From the hospital, Huntress keeps watch over the injured Crime Doctor. Oracle reminds her that the Crime Doctor has information that they need so they need to keep him alive.

Meanwhile, Zinda, Shiva, and Gypsy head over to a boarding school to pick up Crime Doctor's daughter and keep her safe. Gypsy shows Shiva how she can turn herself invisible. Shiva is impressed that she didn't sense Gypsy while she was invisible and that the two should spar sometime. Good. Gypsy needs more killing power.

It turns out that that was a great idea, since no sooner have they acquired the spoiled brat than they're accosted by HIVE agents. Gypsy drives, Zinda shoots, and Shiva decides to go lay into people. I couldn't get too excited because apparently she's decided not to kill anyone. But she does do some maiming, so all isn't lost.

Oracle warns Huntress that something's up just as HIVE Troopers come storming through the window. These guys were just made to be broken, it seems, but that's okay as they serve only as a distraction. But you knew that, because it would be dumb to use them for anything important.

Shiva and Black Canary have a phone conversation whereby they discuss the terms of their current arrangement. The two have apparently decided to exchange life experiences. Someone's getting a raw deal in that exchange. Shiva should never have to lower herself to Canary's expectations. But lower herself she shall, because Canary has one more thing that Shiva has to do in order to stay "in character." Whatever it is, it probably sucks.

Huntress beats up more HIVE agents (seriously, I told you they were made to be broken) then goes to check on the Crime Doctor's room. Surprise, surprise... he's gone. That's some fine guard duty there, Huntress. Oracle sees the message left in the room and determines that they're facing a serious threat... Prometheus.

Hey, kids... check it out. Apparently Prometheus is dangerous again. I know he started out dangerous, and then he had that stretch where he was a lame-o with a fancy helmet, but now hes' dangerous again. Which is good, since he's such a respectable guy. He loses points, though, for kidnapping Crime Doctor instead of just outright killing. That doctor needs some serious killing, important intel or not.

The whole Canary/Shiva swap deal has its good points, but seems a bit contrived. We all know that Canary's going to be screwed over emotionally (most likely by the little girl she's grown attached to) and Shiva's going to be forced to do "nice" things (most likely for comedic value) so let's get on with it. To clarify, we skipped ahead to get to this point, so let's move on.

And what's with Babs doing all this stretching while she's working? Note to DC: stop trying to make a buzz. no one cares if Barbara will walk agian or not so long as A) she remains a top notch Oracle and B) when the need arises, she has enough leverage on her foot to plant it firmly into someone's rear end. She could make a boot gun for all I care...

Hmm. Boot gun. There's an idea. To the lab.

Story: 6/10 (Lack of killing aside, it's a good story.)
Art: 7/10 (Not enough Zinda legs, but it will do.)
Overall: 6/10 (Don't like the review? Like I care...)


Avengers/Power Pack: Assembled #1 (of 4)

"One for the Ages"

Writer: Marc Sumerak
Art: GuriHiru

Guest Reviewer: Chibi-House

Note-a-Quote: "I warned you... nobody makes me late for Spongebob." -Katie Power AKA the ultra coolest superhero in the universe (She totally is.)

Someone tried to make a copy of HouseT... don't ask why, no one really wants to know. But they failed, and came up a little... short. So now, you have me, the new HouseT!

Stop calling me Chibi! Just because I'm smaller doesn't make me chibi! I'm the real deal... and on top of it... I'm so cute!

The super-cool issue begins with Power Pack, those awesomely powered super-kids mopping up a crime scene. Katie totally talks trash to the bad guys. She's so cute!

The kids all go back to their normal lives. Julie and Katie decide to go to the library. Reading is fun! But Jack doesn't want to go. He wants to hang out with big brother Alex, but Alex is going to the veterans' retirement home to volunteer with his class. Community service is fun and cool, too! So Jack has to hang out wiht his sisters. Aw, Jack's so mopey cute...

Alex arrives at the senior center, but discovers his classmates are gone. Mr. Macginty, one of the veterans, tells Alex that he sent all the kids home early because one of his old war buddies is stopping by and he didn't want there to be a big fuss. Alex heads off, and Macginty goes to his room and checks out a picture dated 1943 of him and... Captain America?

Oh my gosh! Captain Amercia is soooo cool. He fights bad guys and nazis and stuff, and this one time, he jumped out of this plane that was really high, and he stood on his shield, and when he hit the ground he tucked and he rolled and he totally okay. Oh my gosh, he is the coolest!

What was I talking about before. Oh yeah. So across town, Captain America is checking out a Stark Enterprises building. Tony Stark (psst... he's really Iron Man. Don't tell anybody.) says that someone broke in, and since Cap is in the area he's decided to help out Tony by checking it out. Cap sees someone coming out of the building but it's just a janitor. Oh no! Tony says there shouldn't be any janitors in the building.

Cap goes to confront the janitor, and the janitor tries to hit Cap with his mop. That is not cool. Hitting people is wrong unless you're a superhero or a member of the LAPD. Haha, my joke was extra funny, because I don't live in LA. They totally can't beat me up here.

The janitor loses his disguise and turns into... Taskmaster?! Oh my gosh! Taskmaster is the coolest guy that is not a hero ever. He does lots of cool stuff. This one time, he fought Spider-Man, but Spidey totally clocked him. But that's okay, because Spidey is supposed to win. Taskmaster is still cool, though, except that he's mean.

Taskmaster and Cap start to fight, because good guys and bad guys have to fight when they see each other. Cap throws his shield at Taskmaster, and taskmaster catches it. I told you he was cool.

Elsewhere in the town, the Power kids (no seriously, that's their last name... isn't it cool?) all meet up at the library. Jack still says reading's for losers, but Julie says there's all kinds of adventures and stuff there. Katie says there's pretty pictures... she's so cute! Jack points out that they have plenty of action and adventure because they're super heroes. Which is great timing, because just then Cap and Tasky come by.

Cap corners Tasky, but Tasky throws Cap's own shield at him. Oh no! But the Power Pack kids arrive to save the day. Yay! Tasky tries to be all mean, but Katie shoots him in the face. Cap doesn't want to kids to help because it's dangerous, but the kids are all, "Step off, Cap. We got this." Then they start zapping at Tasky and stuff and he's all breakdancing and dodging, but they're like, "Screw that noise, dawg!" and they start teaming up on him and he's like, "Oh, snap, Power Pack is pwning me, fa-shizzle!" and Cap is all, "Dang! I'm glad they're on my side. Luke Cage don't kick @$$ like this..."

Okay, so I may have overexaggerated a little. But that's just about what happened.

Then Tasky is on the ground talking about how it's not over, but all the veterans from the retirement home show up in uniforms. Then they start beating Tasky up, too. No, I'm not pumping things up again; they really start fighting him. Taskmaster decides to retreat and everybody celebrates.

Alex is surprised to find out that Cap is Macginty's old war buddy, and Cap apologizes to the kids for telling them they shouldn't help. Meanwhile, back in some hidden base, Taskmaster turns over the data he stole to some shadowy bad guy. The bad guys pay taskmaster extra money because he had to take a super beatdown in the process. We don't know what the data was for, but there ar ea whole bunch of AIM cronies working there. Oh no!

This book was so cool! I wasn't going to buy this book at first, but I am so glad I did. Captain America is awesome! Do you know that one time, he was trapped, and Crossbones (Crossbones is mean) had Cap standing on a mine, and Cap stood on top of his shield and jumped off of it, and then he tucked and he rolled and he was completely okay! He's patrioti-cool!

And who knew that Taskmaster would show up? That was a double secret bonus surprise. And even though he was in an all ages book, he was still plenty mean.

And that was the best thing about this book. It was kid-friendly, but not watered down and super nice. It really was the kind of title that anyone could enjoy reading. There's even the potential of an long term villain in AIM. How can you not like that? It's super cool!

Power Pack was super great and awesome. Katie was the best, because she blows things up. And she has super attitude. She has cute pigtails, and she likes giant metal boots, and she will totally shoot someone in the face. But only if they're bad. If Power Pack had a regular title like this, it would totally rock and be super cool.

Story: 8/10 (All Ages fun is awesome!)
Art: 7/10 (All ages art is House-tastic! Take it from me.)
Overall: 8/10 (If you didn't like this review, you aren't awesome and are not my friend.)


Robin #149

"Assault on Precinct Nine"

Writer: Adam Beechen
Art: Freddie Williams II

Guest Reviewer: T. Houserton

Note-a-Quote: "Hello, Little Bird. You are not so little anymore, I don't think." -Lady Shiva (Well, he is drawn taller...)

T. Houserton here. No, I'm not really all that big on reviewing comics and such, but there's a void that needs filling. And since I have a keyboard and an internet connection, I'd better do my part.

Remember how Robin had that brilliant idea of getting a look at the fake Batgirl costume by breaking into the police precinct where it was being held? Well, that plan isn't going so good. After half an hour, all he's managed to do is get further from where he needs to be. With no other choice, Robin decides to just go for it

Robin manages to make his way into the evidence locker and gets his hands on the costume, but gets discovered in the process. He manages to evade the regular cops, but they have him sealed in the precinct with the special squad on the "Specials" (a SWAT team designed specifically for meta-humans) preparing to enter. The squad comes in and prepares to rush the only room that robn could possibly be holed up in...

Meanwhile in Calvin City, a second rate hood bullies a third rate hustler. The hood gripes about his big plans to the current blonde on his arm, but the blonde has other ideas in mind. With one subtle kiss, she ends his life then makes her way outside to receive payment. A figure emerges from the shadows and declares that the woman has been wasting her time and talent as a petty thug for hire. Striking from the shadows, the mystery assailant beats her to a pulp, then snaps her neck.

The Specials break down a door and find a rookie cop downed by Robin. The Specials send him outside and continue on to the last possible room Robin could be in. As the squad breaks down the last door, the rookie cop makes his way out the front door to the admonition of the group. The squad finds an unconscious cop in his underwear. As the Specials realize that Robin has escaped, a quite familiar looking "rookie cop," Batgirl mask in hand, makes his way into the background.

At Wayne Manor, Robin comes up short. He has no new evidence from the mask but a smudged fingerprint, and that isn't helping at all. He's about to give up when he finds a thin strip of paper in the lining of the eyehole. His discovery is interrupted by the arrival of Lady Shiva, who informs Tim that Nyssa Al Ghul was assassinated earlier tonight. With Talia tied up with the supervillain alliance, Nyssa assumed command of the League of Assassins. Shiva believes that the disappearance of Casssandra Cain, tim's framing, and Nyssa's death all occuring in the same night must all be connected in some way to the LoA. Tim tries to press Shiva for more info, but she simply tosses him aside and leaves, saying she can involve herself no further.

Examining the strip of paper he found, Tim manages to decipher a secret message. The note says that they have Cassandra Cain, and that David Cain must be brought to the Blaisdell oil fields at the given time, or they'll kill her.

Tim's certainly got his hands full. A simple night out for him turns out getting him tied up in an international plot, hunted by the police, and at wit's end. And the scary thing is, it all makes sense. As far fetched as the plot may be, it comes off as plausible. But then, it is a comic book, after all.

It's nice to see the Bat family continue to stay gelled in their books. Lady Shiva makes an impressive and also appropriate appearance in this book to provide information. The fact that she shows him respect gives his character more credibility, and the fact that he's willing to stand up to her doesn't hurt Tim's image, either.

If there's one complaint I would register, it would be that Tim gets a little too jokey in the police station while he's evading the police. Not that I mind a quip or two from him, but there's a fine line between light hearted and near insane. Tim is not Spider-Man or Deadpool.

This new arc of Robin has been pretty good so far. Tim appears to have stumbled into something much larger than he initially tought, but it should be interesting to see how he gets out of it.

I'm sure that if HouseT were here, he would no doubt make some offhand comments about how old school Tim using a cop costume as a disguise was, or how interesting it is that Shiva would just "drop in" through Tim's window. He might even go so far as to note that Tim and Shiva seem to share a color scheme here and there and no doubt make some lewd allusion to it. If only he were here. If only...

Story: 7/10 (Run of the mill plot, but solid story elements.)
Art: 6/10 (Clunky in places, but at least Tim is drawn like a young adult.)
Overall: 7/10 (I hope you enjoyed the review. I know it was nothing special...)


JSA Classified #11

"The Rise and Fall of Vandal Savage: Part Two"

Writer: Stuart Moore
Art: Paul Gulacy/Jimmy Palmiotti

Guest Reviewer: Bizarro HouseT


The Fat: Vandal Savage like green. Vandal Savage like lanterns. So it should come as complete surprise that Vandal Savage loves Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Since Vandal Savage have long time to live, Savage decide to leave Alan Scott alone and not make him pay.for causing trouble. Flashbacks show how Vandal keep getting lucky in life. Flashbacks show how Alan Scott never help friends, especially Sandman.

Vandal Savage keeps getting stronger and saner, but he not have good plan. Alan Scott, while not at home, gets no big surprise when his young solo enemy Wesley Dodds, the Sandman shows up to tell him they need to help Vandal Savage.

My Give: Me not know what you think. You think, "Why not use Bizarro HouseT? Bizarro part of 'Rise of Superman' storyline, so he make perfect choice." You crazy, but you're right. Bizarro talk make for bad entertainment and perfect use of long review.

This book has bad story, but it take too short a time. Vandal Savage live a long time and go saner; me not get that. But can we take more time getting to it? Me am immortal like Vandal Savage, and me not need to get on wth life.

Art is pretty bad in book, too. Art not focus on green things at wrong time to make nonsense of story. Maybe Savage is saner than me thought. Then again, maybe he crazier.

Terrible to see new school villain like original Sandman, too. But me think it's real deal. Not obvious at all that nothing strange is going on, especially when Vandal say nothing about it.

Story: 5/10 (Story should take more time and not be over soon.)
Art: 6/10 (Art ugly and not help story.)
Overall: 5/10 (What you mean, Bizarro HouseT witty gag? Me care, because me hate doing smart gimmicks anyway! Hey, nobody! No look at me! Me write Bizarro speak as good as Geoff Johns...!)


That's it for guest reviews. Hope they didn't cause too much damage, but if they did, don't worry. Like all good epic comic deaths, our hero will be back just in time to save the day... or will he.

...

Oh, you know he will. Sheesh.

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Amy Sits Down With Steve Rolston Pt. 1

You don't have to be familiar with Oni Press's Queen & Country to know Steve Rolston. If you've played videogames or watched cartoons, you've seen his work. The man works with pillars of the industry, handles his own solo books, and still finds time to instruct aspiring comic artists in the ways of the field.



Join me as I grill one of my favorite artists in the industry, as we touch on everything from Rescue Heroes to Spider-Man, from electronic people to Electronic Arts.

First, your style. What was your inspiration when you were starting out? Did you idolize any artists in your studies?

Well, in the early days of my comics obsession, I think my favourite artists were J Scott Campbell, Chris Bachalo and Sam Kieth. Then my attention drifted away from superheroes and I really got into artists like Scott Morse, Jim Mahfood, Jamie Hewlett, Philip Bond, Mike Mignola, Paul Pope, etcetera. I'm sure you could say I idolized a few of them.

I know you've done storyboard work for Sabrina, Rescue Heroes, and even Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy. How did you make the leap from animation to comic books?

My sentiment at the time was "why should I work on other people's crummy stories when I can work on my own crummy stories?" So I quit my storyboard job and started doing my own animated webcomic Jack Spade & Tony Two-Fist for an internet media startup. It wasn't too long before they realized they would never make their money back and they closed up shop. Shaughn Struble, who had been colouring and doing Flash-work on my comic, decided to help me finish our second episode and host Jack & Tony on his own website, http://www.cartoonmilitia.com/ (where you can still view them!).

I believe I then spent a year unemployed while I worked on comic samples, trying to get my skills up to a semi-adequate level. Then one day I got the fateful call from Jamie S. Rich, editor at Oni Press, asking me if I wanted to draw a comic called Queen & Country with Greg Rucka. At the time, I think Rucka's only published comic was Whiteout but he had already won me over with just that. Apparently the idea of giving me a shot came from Oni publisher Joe Nozemack seeing a page from a story I drew for a never-published anthology Scott Morse was putting together at the time. It helped that I had been talking to the Oni guys for a few years via conventions and their message board, so they'd seen my progression as an artist and knew I wasn't a total nutjob.

Queen and Country was your first official gig, and I fell in love with your pencils. The character design, the backgrounds…I found it more impressive then most colored works.

Thanks. My backgrounds are something I get a lot of compliments on. That anthology story I mentioned was actually all about brick buildings, so I suspect the detailed backgrounds were a major selling point.

Q&C earned you a nomination for the Russ Manning award for Most Promising Newcomer, didn't it?

Yeah, that was an awesome nomination. We actually won the Eisner for Best New Series and had a couple other nominations but the Russ Manning nom may have meant the most to me, since it was based solely on my contributions to the comic.

Did you rest easy thinking, "Alright, I made it," or was it really time to go to work now?

Somewhere in between. It definitely validated the path I'd chosen but it's not like I could kick up my feet. "Most promising newcomer" kind of means you're expected to improve and get REALLY good. I hope I met at least some people's expectations with my next projects.

You did Pounded, with Brian Wood. How did that collaboration go?

Pounded was a fun one. Bri gave me a lot of freedom with the storytelling and let me really fill it with shots of Vancouver, the city I live in. I just realized the other day that a good chunk of my favourite comics right now are written by Bri. Maybe I should talk to him about teaming up again some time.



Pounded even had a soundtrack. Did you have much say in that, or were just along for the ride?

I got the ball rolling with the soundtrack and then left it in Avi Ehrlich's capable hands. I'd been drawing some covers for his punk label Springman Records, so it was a no-brainer to do some kind of tie-in project. So yeah, Avi was the one to line up the bands and do all the real work but I did request we use tracks from Pain and King Monkey. Comics connection: Jamie McKelvie, artist of Long Hot Summer and the forthcoming Phonogram, is the drummer for King Monkey.

And then you penciled Mek, with Warren Ellis. Tell me about your design theory here. What was it like working with Ellis?

It was a good challenge, working on Mek. A lot of visual concepts completely different from my previous books. And I doubt I'll ever get tired of drawing stylish cyborgs. Aside from those described in the script, I think most of the mek designs came straight from my head. But some of the clothing was inspired by various fashion mags and the photo book FRUiTS, which covers street fashion in the Harajuku district of Tokyo.



I mean, your first official gig is with Greg Rucka, then Brian Wood and Warren Ellis…how do you do that? Luck? Did they beg for your linework?

Luck didn't hurt. But I like to think doing a decent job on Queen & Country was a major factor. Warren was always a strong supporter of Q&C. So when I was looking for something to follow up Pounded, I let him know I was interested in working with him. I think I'd started talking to Brian Wood because one of us thanked the other for linking to their website. I was a fan of Channel Zero and he dug Q&C, so we looked for something we could do together.

The big dream: you finally achieved your solo project, in One Bad Day. Was everything building up to this, what this your dream the whole ride? How long did it take? What inspired the story? Are you eager to do more solo work?

Doing solo projects was always part of my dream. However the story for One Bad Day wasn't born until after I started talking to Oni Press about doing a graphic novel. There were a couple stories I'd been kicking around in my head for a few years but it just wasn't the right time for those, in terms of both my abilities and the available format.

So I thought about what type of story I felt like doing at the time and realized it would be in the crime genre. I think I wanted to create something in the same realm as comics like Stray Bullets and movies like True Romance. I have a huge file of ideas I write down on scraps of paper whenever they hit me. So I sifted through that file, looking for something that would fit the mood I wanted. I found two ideas, or moments, that I could work together. One was the initial dramatic moment in OBD that introduces all this badness into Marie's average life. The other was a scene about how a character might go about getting a gun. With these two moments in mind, I set about filling in the rest of the story, figuring out what events would drive a innocent person to such desperation.

I wrote the script for One Bad Day over the course of several months, starting while I was still penciling Mek. Drawing it took about ten months. So that was pretty much a year of my life. That's what made me realize I need to draw faster -- an ability I'm still working on.

And I'm definitely eager to do more solo work. That idea folder just keeps growing. Part of the trick is deciding which story I want to and can afford to spend a year or whatever working on. Of course, I also want to balance that with more collaborations. There are plenty of brilliant writers in comics I haven't teamed up with yet!

And now you've got Brian K. Vaughan and the Escapist. How does this compare to your other works?

I couldn't be happier. Brian's weaved a great story with a lot of clever transitions and thematic cues. It's also very much up my alley in terms of characters I enjoy drawing and the types of talking sequences I've developed a knack for. And coming in as Philip Bond's replacement has pushed my art in a good direction. I think my sections will contrast nicely with J. Alexander's pages.

Same question for your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stint.

The issue of Tales of the TMNT that I'm drawing is a cool departure from my other work. Unless my previous comics included some ninjas getting abducted by alien robots and I just didn't notice. Stephen Murphy's script is a fun one. And I get to continue one of my own trends of drawing characters drinking in a pub.

You teach a part time course, Introduction to Comic Book Production, at the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts. You clearly have a love for the medium, and anyone who's seen your work doesn't need to ask why you decided to spread your knowledge. This is your plug space. Plug away. Make the kids all fly to Vancouver.

Well, I doubt I can convince many people to fly here just to listen to me ramble for 3 hours each week. But it's definitely a useful class for anyone in the area who's interested in the process of creating comics. Over the course of 12 weeks my students create four sequential comic pages as I walk them through each step -- scriptwriting, thumbnailing, penciling, inking, lettering and adding greytones. I show them commonly used tools, techniques and everything else I had to learn the hard way. I also put a lot of focus on storytelling; showing them one-on-one how their pages could be made more clear and effective by using different angles, composition, pacing, etcetera.

If anyone in Vancouver is reading this, they should come down to the VanArts Open House [ http://www.vanarts.com/ ] on Saturday, May 6th (which happens to be Free Comic Book Day as well). I'll be signing comics and answering any questions about my class.



You've even done work for videogames, handling art for Marvel Nemesis. How did you come across this project, and was it a return home to your animation roots, or a whole different animal?

That's right, I spent four months at Electronic Arts working on the cinematic sequences within the game. They had already hired my friend Didier Arpin, writer and colourist of the recent comic Rash. They wanted someone with comic book sensibilities to do the storyboards, so he told them to hire me. At the time I was sort of twiddling my thumbs, unable to turn any of my comic pitches into paying gigs.

It was an enjoyable experience. Maybe not for everyone on the project. I was sort of an anomaly: the guy off in the corner drawing storyboards and prop designs. While the EA campus is much more impressive than any of the small animation studios I've worked in, there were similarities. Having to actually commute to work was an interesting shift to my lifestyle. And having actual co-workers and meetings and structure. I liked it... but only as a short-term deal. One of the other similarities to animation is that I really was just a tiny cog in a giant machine. There's no way someone could look at the finished product and recognize my work. That's why I'm grateful to be back to comics. Although I would be interested in doing freelance design work for video games in the future. You just won't see me in a permanent spot there.

You had a Spider-Man pitch for Marvel, complete with character studies that were some of the freshest takes on the Spidey family I've seen. Would you mind sharing the pitch? Any explanation for why Marvel shot themselves in the foot and didn't do it?

I think that pitch was called Spider-Man High. It was part of an attempted collaboration between Marvel and Oni Press that didn't work out. That pitch was written by Sarah Grace McCandless and was to focus more on a teenage Mary Jane and all the drama of high school and teen love. It turns out Marvel was soliciting similar pitches from some other teams and they settled on one by Sean McKeever and Takeshi Miyazawa, which became the current Mary Jane title.

You also did design work for Electric Girl, the TV show. How big a hand did you have in that?

The designs I have in my website's gallery are pretty much all I did on that. Cartoon Network wanted to see my take on re-designing Mike Brennan's characters. They didn't go with my style but it was fun to give it a shot.

Are there any upcoming projects you're involved with?

Aside from The Escapists and Tales of the TMNT, I'm doing a 5-page comic for Bottle Rocket, a new magazine about comics, art and pop culture. It's launching in July and should be awesome. There's gonna be interviews with Mike Allred, Bruce Campbell, Drive By Truckers, The Briefs, Brian Ewing and Jim Mahfood. It'll also have comics by Shannon Wheeler, Jose Garibaldi, Marc Ellerby, Dean Trippe, Travis Fox and tonnes of others.

What would your dream project be, whether solo or with a writer of your choice?

I guess one of my dream projects would be a comic written by Joss Whedon. A story involving Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer would be best but I'd be pleased as punch working on anything that came from his brain.



Stay tuned for Part Two, as I go more in-depth on Queen & Country, Pounded, and...uh...whatever else comes to mind.

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