Green Lanterns #17 (April, 2017)
"Darkest Nights, Part 2"
Writer - Sam Humphries
Pencils - Eduardo Pansica
Inks - Julio Ferreira
Colors - Blond
Letters - Dave Sharpe
Assistant Editor - Andrew Marino
Editor - Mike Cotton
Group Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Yesterday, we discussed the first half of this Darkest Nights team-up between the Lanterns and Batman, and upon sharing it on the medias of social, I received a few (very few, this is still me) responses. The issue was called it out as having weird characterization, rough dialogue... it really wasn't the reception I was expecting (despite mentioning issues with the characterization and dialogue in the piece myself!).
It made me wonder why I came away from the issue with a "net-positive" reaction... and then it hit me... did I really let the mere mention of Blackest Night (read: something from pre-Flashpoint) dull my more critical/analytical side?
As a fan of a certain ilk/age... am I willing to give a pass, consciously or not, to stories that might not be all that great... so long as they drop a few "continuity breadcrumbs"?
We'll put a pin in that for now... and meet back up after the spoilery synopsis.
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We open with the Scarecrow rambling on about how much he loves and needs "fear". I mean, this goes on for three pages, which is good in that it brings everyone up to speed on what happened last issue... but is kinda "ehh", in the fact that it took three entire pages to do it! If you read yesterday's piece, you'll know he's got a bunch of Gothamites in cubicles watching fear-infused "Bad Batman" videos online. Speaking of Batman, right now he's watching as his butler, who is also "infused wit da fear", holds a gun up to the dome of Green Lantern, Simon Baz!
Batman leaps toward Alfred, and spouts a "precautionary post-hypnotic trigger phrase" to diffuse the situation. That might be up there with "Bat Shark Repellent" in the list of very convenient remedies. Alfred is back to normal, though probably has a bit of a headache... and Batman glares at Simon for daring to bring a gun into his cave. Now... I get that Batman really can't get Baz to "not carry" when he's out in the world... but, is there ever a situation where he'd allow a firearm into his own Batcave? I guess if he hadn't, we wouldn't have gotten our cliffhanger, so there's that.
Batman doesn't even yell at Baz, which makes him feel even worse. This is the one element of this whole "partnership" I'm actually liking. Simon spouts out that he only carries the gun because he's scared the Ring won't be good enough. Batman corrects him, claiming that Simon doesn't think he's good enough. Then he (and we) look on while Batman does his thing, and it isn't long before he's deduced that these videos all have that one cubicle farm in common.
After staking the place out for a bit, the heroes decide to make their move. Well, Batman decides, and the other two follow suit, but why split hairs when that's the way it probably ought to have been all along? Inside, they see the spooked cubicle farmers... and their "supervisor", the Scarecrow!
Batman and Scarecrow wrestle around a bit, when the baddie turns his attention toward the Lanterns... he fills them both with fear, which appears to be especially tough on Simon (as compared to the girl with the crippling anxiety, of course).
Simon must act, and naturally goes to reach for his pistol. Ya see, he's scared the Ring will flake out on him in the best of times (though doesn't appear to have much of a problem letting it carry him through space...), now that he's been infected with fear, he doubts the ring (and himself) even more. Batman calls out to him to fight his temptation, and to use the ring instead.
And he does! Simon uses the ring to take down the Scarecrow and his machine. Jessica wraps the baddie in a construct somethin'r'nother until the police can arrive. Batman checks in with the folks who were watching the videos and assures them he's here to help... he's always here to help.
We jump ahead to the crew closing out their mission atop the GCPD Building with Commissioner Gordon. He thanks the Lanterns on behalf of the city... but tells them to get their weird rings outta there just as soon as possible. That seems a bit extreme considering the stuff Gordon must deal with on a daily basis... why would Green Lantern Rings be a "bridge too far"?
Jessica wonders aloud about what ought to happen to Crane... Batman excuses the baddie's behavior by stating that he's an addict. That seems a bit "off". Anyhoo, Simon uses this moment as an opportunity to announce that he's off the "gun habit"... he'll never carry again. He goes to hand his piece to Batman... who doesn't want it, Gordon winds up taking it.
Before parting company, Batman asks Baz to stick around for a minute. While he normally doesn't like Lanterns (he and Hal never saw eye-to-eye, and Guy is... well, Guy), but he can see himself working alongside Simon again in the future... and so, he prepares him to be ready for that eventual call. Gotta ask... Batman has met John Stewart, right? Also, Jessica is like right there, and she's been nothing but helpful during this adventure! This is like Gerry Conway-writing-Firestorm levels of "Veteran Hero Endorsement" here.
We wrap up with the Lanterns being called away by... a rather gaudy Guardian!
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Alright, so Gotham City is saved... and, most importantly, Simon Baz gets his Bat-Endorsement. All told, as much as I'm telling myself I shouldn't dig this (and I did have a bit of fun with it during the synopsis), I come away from this with another "net-positive" reaction.
Now, that's not to say it was perfect... or, honestly, even all that great. That said... I'm left sitting here, wondering to myself whether or not I'm giving this little arc a "pass" because it refers to pre-Flashpoint continuity? I mean, I'm the idiot who spent hundreds of dollars on Convergence back in 2015 simply based on the "promise" of pre-Flashpoint stories being told. No joke, I bought the entire thing! I even weighed it!
So, to the question... and it's a question I wanna pose to anybody who might happen across this blog, present and future. Do fans of a certain age or ilk maybe give a pass to lackluster stories if they adhere to (or even hint toward) our idea of proper continuity?
I'm not a fan of "number scores" when it comes to reviewing comics... I've seen too many "retweet baiters" (they know who they are) toss their analytical integrity away and dispense with 10/10 scores willy-nilly, but if this were a book I was reviewing for a site that used a number-system... would the briefest mention of Blackest Night bump my score up? Ya see... I'm kinda scared to answer that, because I'm not sure.
We, those fans of a certain age and ilk, have been dragged along so such a long time by the "big two", through reboots, relaunches, and restarts... that we hardly know which was is up. I feel like we react to things that are "comfortable"... and for me, if we're talking about DC Comics, "comfort" comes in the form of the pre-Flashpoint status quo. Since the Fall of 2011, everything has been so nebulous... some months Doomsday did kill Superman, other months it never happened... some months Blackest Night happened, other months it didn't. Hell, I might be giving them too much credit when I say "some months", I'm sure there were probably contradictions in the same week!
So here... it's confirmed (at least for cover-date April, 2017), that Blackest Night was a thing that happened. Ya know, it's not like I'm asking for an All-New History of the DC Universe or anything... I just need breadcrumbs like this every now and again. Besides, a book like that would probably be a terrible idea, because I guarantee within the first couple of months it'd be contradicted six-ways to Sunday... and any fan who dares point it out will be mocked by the pros (and those fans desperately seeking pro-retweets) for caring.
Oh, yeah... we were talking about Green Lanterns, weren't we? I had the same issues with this chapter as I did the first... characterization is unsubtle to the point of perhaps being a bit "severe", and the dialogue comes across as unnatural. I see no reason why Batman would choose Baz as "his" Lantern, when Jessica was right there... really feels like a hollow and forced endorsement. That said though, I kinda enjoyed it... and whether that's because something about the story resonated for me... or the callback to the pre-Flashpoint DCU, I suppose at the end of the day... we oughta just chalk it up as a "win" and leave it at that. Available digitally (at full price).
I'll throw this two-parter up on our Collected Editions Page too.
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Green Lanterns #16 (April, 2017)
"Darkest Nights, Part One"
Writer - Sam Humphries
Pencils - Neil Edwards
Inks - Jay Leisten & Keith Champagne
Colors - Blond
Letters - Travis Lanham
Assistant Editor - Andrew Marino
Editor - Mike Cotton
Group Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
Ya know, being a "content creator" (if you were to call anything I create "content") sometimes has its disadvantages. For one, I'm often too busy working on a post or a show to actually read new books as they're coming out.
Being a completionist (read: really bad with my spending money), I've bought upwards of 90% of DC's offerings since DC Universe Rebirth... and I might've read, a few dozen of 'em?
And so, in an attempt to... I dunno, familiarize myself with things going on "these days", and maybe get a little bit of a "return" (in enjoyment/entertainment) on my "investment"... let's take a look at a series I'd collected in its entirety... but never even bothered to look at!
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We open in Gotham City, where this one fella appears to have lost his mind. He's wildly swinging a baseball bat, fearful that "he" is coming to get them. The "he" he's worried about is... Batman, and wouldn'tcha know it, he was right! Batman swoops in, and tries to calm the situation.
Just then, Green Lanterns, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz burst onto the scene (though, if you were to ask Batman, they're late). They snare the mad fella in a construct glob so he can cool his jets... and not get his butt beat by the Bat.
After the dust settles, Commissioner Gordon pops in to expound on Gotham's present crisis. It would seem that the most recent crime wave is rooted... in fear. People would go from even-headed to maniacally panicked... as though they'd just had the stuffin' scared out of 'em!
Simon's all "Psh, okay... let's go get the Scarecrow!" However, Batman's not so sure... actually, he's pretty much convinced it's not the Scarecrow they're after. He thinks this is more rooted in the Sinestro Corps (he references the yellow rings from Blackest Night... so, I guess that means Blackest Night was still a thing that happened now?). I guess the supposed Sinestro-ness of it explains why Batman enlisted the aid of a pair'a Lanterns.
As the Bat and Baz bicker, Gordon takes note of Simon's sidearm. He's not sure why a Green Lantern would ever need to pack heat. Simon explains that it's his "backup", just in case his ring were ever to fail. He calls it the "Robin" to his "Batman". Batman does the whole "Not in my town" thing... and before we know it, we're waist-deep in another argument.
Baz points out that so many of Batman's toys and gadgets are dangerous... and finds it laughable that a pistol would be the "bridge too far". He then suggests that Batman might just have a "problem with guns". Wait, we're not really gonna go there, are we? Oh, c'mon.
Yeah, we really went there... the graves of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Uh, they were shot dead, just in case you didn't know... and if you didn't know, how in the world did you wind up on this site? Anyhoo, Jessica turns her attention to the laptop the mad-fella was looking at before losing his marbles. After using her ring-a-ling to work out his Windows password, she discovers that he was watching a "Bad Batman" video on a YouTube-alike. Not sure if this is a commentary on all of those "Bad Cop" videos that pop up... whatever the case, these videos depict Batman as a threat.
The ring detects a disturbance in the Emotional Spectrum... coming from the laptop itself. Batman suggests that this could be useful information... especially when the screen begins to glow yellow.
We jump ahead to the Batcave, where Simon and Jessica act like kids in a museum. Batman continues his research, when suddenly Alfred (who is seeing one of the Bad Batman videos over Bruce's shoulder) goes nuts! He smashes a coffee cup into Baz's dome and sucker punches him in the much!
Simon's sidearm flies out of its holster... which really doesn't say much for the holster, now does it? Alfred picks it up and holds it against the Lantern's head. He says if he sees even a flicker of emerald energy, he's going to pull the trigger. He demands no one get in his way of... killing the Bat!
We shift scenes to a Call Center located in some abandoned retail/office space. A bunch of folks sitting in cubicles are being given the "Batman is a threat" treatment via their computer monitors, and it looks like their Supervisor... might be a little overqualified for this job.
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Alrighty... this was pretty good!
Fear has come to Gotham (again)... but this time, there's something more to it. Excellent callback to Blackest Night... and more importantly (to me), the confirmation that the event even happened in the first place! I'm still not sure where it fits in the miasmatic flow of DC Continuity... but it's there somewhere, and sometimes that's all it takes for me to call it a "win".
The Scarecrow as an "agent of fear"... almost makes too much sense. Never cared for the Scarecrow on his own, seemed kind of a one-trick pony, but this could be interesting.
My only complaint, and I suppose it might just be me... but, the dialogue feels a bit, I dunno... unsubtle? The argument between Batman and Baz is almost so blatantly passionate that you could mistake it for a pair of old friends pretending to be mad at one another. Just struck me as unnatural... I've been in plenty of arguments, with friend and "foe" alike... and, in my experience, they're never "zero-to-sixty" situations like it is here. I mean, these two just lit into each other... and it didn't feel genuine in the slightest.
Also... did we really need the callback to the gravesites of Thomas and Martha Wayne? Did we really? I mean, it was a tiny little sliver of a panel, and I'm sure any writer working at DC (or with aspirations of ever working at DC) gets goosebumps at the idea that they'll be able to write "Panel 1: The gravesite of Thomas and Martha Wayne", but... c'mon. If you don't know Batman's origin, chances are you're not going to be reading a Green Lantern spin-off book, right? An unnecessary refresher, which actually managed to pull me out of the story. It might've actually made me take notice of how unnatural the back and forth between Bat and Baz was too!
While I'm kvetching... can we get a "style guide" on what these oft-depicted tombstones even look like? Feels like they're different shapes and sizes every time we see 'em... and, as mentioned, we see 'em a lot.
The art here was pretty fantastic, though Edwards' Alfred does look a tad on the spry side. I get being maddened by fear, but that ain't gonna turn a frail body into an Olympian.
Overall, had fun with this... and I feel like this issue could be a really good "gateway issue" if you were interested in getting to know the new Lanterns, but weren't sure whether or not you wanted to dip your toe in on the series. This issue is available digitally... though, still at cover price!
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Dark Claw Adventures #1 (June, 1997)
"Face to Face"
Writer/Breakdowns - Ty Templeton
Finishes - Rick Burchett
Colors - Linda Medley
Letters - Tim Harkins
Associate Editor - Darren Vincenzo
Editor - Scott Peterson
Special Thanks - Dan Slott
Cover Price: $1.95
We've brushed up against the Marvel/DC co-promotions of the late-1990's from time to time here at the ol' blogstead... but never actually discussed an honest to goodness Amalgam comic.
And there's a reason for that...
I wasn't (and I'm still not) a fan of 'em! We'll ramble on about why in the "down below"... but, for now... heeeeeeeere's Dark Claw!
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We open with Patch Malone taking in his weekly poker game with a bunch of nogoodniks. He doesn't get to play long as he's approached by a pair of Cyber-Ninja Assassins... and before we know it, a fight is on. During the fracas, Logan is shot in the shoulder... however, he manages to win the day. Ya see, Dark Claw ain't no killer... but since these creeps are mostly-machine, he doesn't have to worry so much about holding back.
After taking care of business, he heads outside where his Clawmobile (don't call it that!) is waiting for him. In the driver's seat is, Sparrow... an amalgamation of Robin and Jubilee.
As the heroes take off into the night, we can see that their progress is being tracked by a woman called Lady Talia, an amalgamation of Lady Deathstrike and Talia al Ghul. Ya see, she's ticked off at Logan for the murder of her father... wait for it... Ra's-a-pocalypse.
We flash back to a desert duel between Logan and Ra's... that has something to do with a scorpion, but it's not really clear exactly what. Anyhoo, while Ra's-a-pocalypse makes his exit via jet, Logan grabs a conveniently-placed bazooka... and blasts the baddie out of the sky.
While Lady Talia admires her new Adamantium limbs, we shift scenes over to "The Burrow", which is, naturally, kinda like Dark Claw's Batcave. One neat touch is, instead of the giant penny, there's a giant Canadian Nickel.
Logan deduces that it's Lady Talia who's after him, and suits up for action. In order to prepare for battle, he initiates a training sequence in the Danger Cave, an amalgamation of... oh, you know. He faces off against the Two-Faced Goblin (Harvey Osborn), Cybercroc (Cyber + Killer Croc), Bloodcrow (Bloodscream + Scarecrow), Spiral Harley (oh, c'mon), and the Omega Beast (Omega Red + K.G.Beast).
Suddenly, the lights turn out. Dark Claw assumes that this is just the next stage of his training... that Sparrow kicked it up a notch... but, no... it's Talia. She claims that she knows him well enough to use his secrets in order to find him. As the wrestle around, Dark Claw pleads with her to cool off... Ra's gave him no choice but to kill him.
Finally, she backs off long enough for him to plead his case. He begs her to control herself, and expresses how important she is to him. Then he holds his hands out, and tells her that whatever her next move might be... he's not going to stop her. And so, she guts him!
As Logan lay dying, Talia heads over to Sparrow... she chooses to spare her, as she's nothing more than an innocent.
In her final act, Lady Talia decides she'll plunge her claws into her own heart... the only part of her that she still considers human. Before she does so, however, she soliloquizes about how much she regrets everything that's gone on between she and Logan over the past few years... and what she wouldn't do to have him back with her now. Uh, lady, are you really forgetting about the healing factor?!
Oh course dude ain't really dead. Talia rushes to his side, and they make nice.
Unfortunately, nobody ever untied Sparrow. Some say she's still there to this day.
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You familiar with "strain theory"? For a quick 'n dirty, it's a sociological concept having to do with why crimes might be committed... has to do with classism and racism, and it's predicated on the assumption/perception that resources (material/tasks/opportunities/capital) are limited. The "strain" is on resources, which leads folks to do whatever they can (legal or not) to get those resources. Ya follow?
Now, to completely bastardize and trivialize the subject, I can't help but consider talented creators and popular characters to be (relatively) limited "resources". I look back at the late-90's as a very small window where Marvel and DC were willing to "play nice" and put equal amounts of "skin" in the game in order to create something special. And what we get... is this.
Naturally, I'm not talking about crimes being committed or anything... but, look at the "resources": the talent involved in Amalgam... and look at the wonderful characters. This is really the best we can do? We get all the big brains at Marvel and DC together in a room, and "Hey, let's just mash 'em up!" is the best idea that comes out of it?
Amalgam Comics, while perhaps still to this day a novelty to some, and I'm only speaking for myself here, just reeks to me of a missed opportunity. Nothing more than a throwaway to fill a Fifth-Week, when (theoretically) any other kind of Marvel and DC co-promotion could've meant so much more. I mean, this looks like it took the same amount of care as Marvel Mangaverse... or Marvels Comics... just low-effort fluff. Time and shelf-filler... the fulfillment of a contract.
I compare it now to the DC/Looney Tunes or DC/Hanna-Barbera crossovers. Meaningless books that occupy creators and shelf-space that could be better used. I'll concede that they make for really good "retweet bait", but really... to me, with the "limited resources" we have, it's such misdirected effort. Heck, maybe I'm just "anti-fun". I've been accused of that a time or two.
With all that being said... it's hard to be objective about something like Dark Claw Adventures. For what it is, it's a "funny, ha-ha", and not much more. The art is strong, and (naturally) evokes the Batman: The Animated Series style well enough. People who aren't me, might get a giggle or two out of it.
Unfortunately, all I can do when I look at the Amalgam Age of Comics, is think: What could'a been. Of course, I'm coming at this as just a fan... I don't know what the legalities were, or the logistics of "reprint rights" or anything like that... but, speaking as "just a fan", I know I wanted something more special than this.
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