Reilly2040's Blog

There’s been some new Blackest Night #0 tidbits courtesy of Andrew NDB at the Green Lantern Corps Message Board, as he’s posted up the checklist for the first few months of Blackest Night.

There seems to be a heavy Secret Invasion influence in the way they’re carrying out this event. In that the tie-ins are taking the form of mini-series separate from the characters’ regular books (for example Blackest Night: Superman). I’m a big fan of this idea, as it prevents big events from messing with ongoing storylines for other characters (which especially in the case of Superman and Batman could be very disruptive indeed). We also now know thanks to a Newsarama interview with Doug Mahnke that the mini-series will be 8 issues rather than 7.

I like the look of some of the tie-ins as well.  Specifically the three Tales of the Corps issues in July.  Presumably these will focus on all the Corps (probably partly as a primer to those who haven’t been buying GL and GLC) and it’ll be nice to see stories focusing on them.

I find it interesting that one of the three non-GL tie-ins is Titans. Superman and Batman getting their own is a no-brainer, but you’d have expected Wonder Woman to complete the trinity. I presume she’ll get her own Blackest Night mini in the following months, and I suppose there are a lot of dead Titans around to tell a story with

The Superman tie-in should be interesting. I’m guessing Clark will still be on New Krypton at this point, so does this mean it will feature ex-Kryptonians returning to plague the new planet of survivors? Or will it deal more with the supporting cast of Mon-El, Nightwing, Flamebird etc?

And of course, everyone’s waiting to see if Zombie-Bruce will turn up in the Batman tie-in. Although I’m hoping not to be honest.

From this checklist I can see me picking up all of those.  At about 6 issues a month, it’ll dent the wallet, but its still reasonably contained compared to some events.  My only worry is that the scope of this results in some delays.  DC took a lot of flack for delays to Final Crisis, so hopefully they’ll have it well in hand, but the sight of two issues of GL in July worries me slightly, as this series doesn’t have the greatest track-record.  Although with Phillip Tan doing the Agent Orange storyline, I guess Doug will have a fair headstart on the Blackest Night issues.  And in complete fairness, Doug did get Final Crisis wrapped up in January so he’s obviously a fast worker.  

The extra tie-ins should also help this event keep its momentum as well.  Final Crisis’ delays probably wouldn’t have been perceived so badly if there’d been a few direct tie-ins being released in the gaps.  The main series might’ve stuttered, but the event as a whole would’ve kept going (although I still applaud DC’s attempt to make a more affordable, scaled down event, its just that in retrospect, the tie-ins do help a lot to give things that “event” feeling).

Most people this week will be going bananas over New Krypton #1, but to be honest, I don’t think I can really afford to commit to a storyline that’ll be going through the Superman titles for the next year. Once the titles decouple a bit I’ll maybe pick up some of the books (I quite like the Nightwing and Flamebird mystery for example), but at the moment, its just too much of an investment to pick up a story that’s coming out 3/4 times a month for the next year. However, I have been really enjoying the Superwoman arc in Supergirl, since that’s been a nice standalone story using the New Krypton basis.

Instead, for me the big DC release this week was Strange Adventures #1.

Replaying the pages seen in the preview, Adam is on (Old) Rann scavaging supplies and technology needed for New Rann, before he and his team level all the cities on the planet to ensure that Thanagarians can get any of their technology. On Rann meanwhile, the vote to bring criminal charges against Adam for Rann’s destruction is shot down by the council, thanks in part to Prince Gavyn’s testimony that Adam had no choice, since Rann’s destruction was unavoidable anyway.

Not long after Adam returns to New Rann, a scavenger ship is tracked entering the system. Knowing that they have to convince people that Throneworld is still populated despite Lady Styx attacking them, Prince Gavyn and Adam use some of the remaining Throneworld ships to head off the scavengers, noting that they hope that once they head off a few more, world will spread that Throneworld was not in fact attacked (whereas we know that it was, and the residents are now the Rannians).

Meanwhile Comet (I still miss the Captain part) is back on hardcore station, but also runs into trouble. He’s approached by some local heavies who saw him at lunch with Tigor the previous day. Sadly it turns out that Tigor was scamming them, and led them to believe Comet was his cohort in obtaining some data for them. They manage to surprise Comet with their telepathic defenses, but fortunately his new teleporting ability allows him to retreat to the Hole once again (I wonder how long its going to take before his teleport power becomes common knowledge? He’s not been that shy in using them). With people tracking him on Hardcore, Comet once again discusses with Tyrone the possibility of heading away from Hardcore to lie low for a while.

Using the same format as Mystery in Space, we also have a backup story, that I’m assuming will dovetail with the main story as things go on. The focus here is on Deacon Dark, who is attempting to locate and learn about the Aberrant Six, as he knows they’re important to Synnar. However, the spell he casts goes wrong, and he instead sends Bizarro to another dimension, who is informed by someone who appears as Superman (I’m assuming its Synnar), that the timelines have been altered and Bizarro must replace Hawkman as the warrior in the Aberrant Six.

Its a great start to the series, and I’m glad to see the cast greatly reduced, as to be honest, Holy War really felt too busy, with its large cast. Here the Mystery in Space backup helps a lot, as it allows Starlin to develop the story as two separate (for now) plots, and keep the cast members separated. Which also means the main story is allowed to focus on Adam Strange and Comet, which I’m very happy about as they were my favourite characters from the previous minis.

It is a bit of a shame to see Comet being chased off of Hardcore so soon however. The same thing pretty much happened in Holy War, but I enjoyed Hardcore as a setting in the Mystery in Space mini, so I’d like to see it being used more. However I can also see that the situation with New Rann is possibly going to offer more story possibilities with both the rebuilding effort, and the attempt to keep the true nature of the population secret (and talking about the rebuilding, that’s a heckuva city that’s already sprung up – I was sure Throneworld had been virtually levelled).

The backup storyline follows up the Holy War threats with Deacon Dark and the Aberrant Six, but is possibly a bit less interesting than the main storyline.  However I expect this to change as the two plots crossover more (in the same way the Weird backups became more significant as he got more involved with the Church, and their prescence was more felt in the Comet main during Mystery in Space).   It is interesting to see how Hawkman has been removed from things however.  I felt Bizarro was much more interesting during Holy War, and the Hawkman special seemed to put off a lot of readers by muddying up Hawkman’s origin once again.  I’m guessing the events of that special will end up as Synnar messing with Hawkman’s head, and quietly forgotten.

So overall, a really good start.  The art’s really nice, and the reduced cast is very welcome.   Looking forward to issue 2.

Well, I say finale, but that’s not really the case, as it quickly became apparent that the New Krypton arc, was infact just the setup for the next year or so of stories.

Its not often I feel like this about most modern comic plots, but I really felt this could’ve been a bit longer.  I’d have liked to have seen more buildup to relations between the humans and Kryptonians breaking down.  As it was, the fact that Alura was a bit of a nutter just accelerated everything without the need for a gradual breakdown.

However I think this has been a really successful storyline, and I’m intrigued to see how things develop over the next year.  Obviously General Lane is as barmy as Alura, although I wonder if his resurrection will help explain this.  And the prescence of a planet of Kryptonians that Earth’s virtually on a war footing with opens up a lot of questions.

For me though, the interesting thing will be seeing how this all affects the character of Superman.  Ignoring how he’s really lost any special standing as the last son of Krypton over the last few years (and in fairness, its been done before: Lois and Clark back in the 90s had a planet of Kryptonian survivors as well), to me, a big facet of Clark’s personality has been his drive to keep alive Kryptonian culture, and his reverance (if that’s the right word) for it, with the fortress and the big statues of his parents.  That kind of thing.

However, in the post-IC DCU, Kryptonians are really not that great a bunch of people.  We know from Kurt Busiek’s Third Kryptonian arc that on discovering their powers under yellow suns, Kryptonians had formed a galaxy-spanning empire, which left them pretty unpopular.  Eventually they realised that having an entire galaxy hating you wasn’t a brilliant long-term plan, and came to the conclusion that the yellow-sun powers had perverted their race, resulting in them retreating to Krypton and becoming insular,  focused instead on science and arts, becoming the Kryptonian society we’re more familiar with.

However, memories run deep, and it was established that a lot of space-faring species still remember the Kryptonian empire and would be happy to see any survivors wiped out.  It strikes me that a planet full of them is going to eventually attract some unwanted attention.

We’re also seeing that history repeating itself.  With the powers of the yellow sun, Alura was pretty quick to declare Kryptonian’s superior to humanity, and that humanity ultimately didn’t matter by comparison.  And you can bet she’s not alone in that viewpoint.  The planet of New Krypton is a a powder-keg waiting to errupt, and I’m very interested to see how Superman intends to try to calm things down.  Especially with the reveal that Zod’s been freed from the Phantom Zone by Alura.

My point is, what is the impact of all this going to be on Superman?  To be blunt, from what we’ve seen in this arc, and learnt from the Third Kryptonian arc, you can imagine that he’d be a guy who’d be pretty ashamed to be a Kryptonian.   Granted, this is stereotyping (we know Jor-El, Zor-El, Lara and Kara Zor-El are fairly decent Kryptonians at least), but would Superman really be that proud of being the last son of a race known for intergalactic conquest, and who caused all those problems on Earth within 5 minutes of arriving there?

 It was one thing when we discovered Krypton’s history as an empire builder before realising the error of their ways, and I thought that added an interesting new element into their history.  But when we’ve got that history repeating itself in the current DCU, then I think that’s got further-reaching implications.

For myself, I’d like to see the upcoming World of New Krypton series allow Clark to explore the positive aspects of Kryptonian society.  We’ve seen so many negative aspects recently, let’s see Clark meet up with groups of Kryptonians that want to seek peace with Earth and share technology and the like.  Let’s hope it gives us a balanced view of their society, rather than just Alura and Zod foaming at the mouth, and let’s Clark experience some joy in being a Kryptonian amongst his own people for a change.

It’ll be interesting to see how long this lasts as well, and the ultimate fate of New Krypton.  Something obviously has to happen eventually that will see the number of Kryptonians in the DCU reduced once again.  Or at least, that New Krypton will be moved off to its own corner of the DCU where it can be effectively ignored until a writer has an idea for it.  

As for the events on Earth, well I have to admit, I’m not really interested in the Mon-El stuff, or the Legion turning up in Adventure Comics (despite DC’s current love-in for the Legion, I’ve never really gotten them).  The Nightwing and Flamebird stuff does look interesting though, although with Zod and co free, and Ursa turning up in Action Comics, you do have to wonder if the Connor stuff was a misdirection, and instead Nightwing’s going to be a magically-aged Chris Kent, which for me would be a bit disappointing.  Although I like the character of Chris and would like to see him back, the tactile-TK reference was just too big a clue to it being a resurrected Connor to back off from.  However I’m still interested to see who these two characters are revealed as.

So for me, I think I’ll probably be limiting myself to the World of New Krypton book and Action Comics (at least for a couple of issues until I see where they’re going).  Supergirl I’m still undecided on.  There’s no doubt the book’s definitely a lot better for its recent creative reboot, but I’m still trying to keep a handle on the number of monthlies I’m picking up, especially with recent price increases, so Supergirl may be a casualty of that.

We’re now past the halfway point in the big Superman event: New Krypton. And so far I’ve been really enjoying it.

I admit, I’ve been skipping the various one-off specials as they didn’t really appeal, but I have been picking up the three main titles. I really love how quickly things have gone south since Kandor appeared on Earth. Its an interesting aspect of Kryptonian society that I’m sure is a new post-Infinite Crisis addition. That Kryptonians are largely untrustworthy. During Kurt Busiek’s “Third Kryptonian” arc, it was established that before Krypton was the more isolated, peaceful haven of science we’d known, Kryptonians had actually established a galaxy-spanning empire.

Basically, once they’d realised that the yellow suns common throughout the galaxy gave them super-powers, they quickly started taking the place over. It was only as the years went on that the Kryptonians realised this was ultimately self-destructive, and so had removed themselves back to their homeworld, under their red sun, and barred themselves for venturing out again, lest the yellow suns tempt them.

We’re pretty much seeing history repeat itself here. A large number of the Kryptonians, having found themselves free and with super-powers have automatically set themselves up above Earth’s native inhabitants. The big shock being that one of these is Alura, Supergirl’s mother. Meanwhile things are spiralling out of control with Luthor and General Lane taking the fight to the Kryptonians, in the form of reactivating Brainiac’s ship, and even the rest of Earth’s super-powered community is banding together, having realised that the Kryptonians have gotten out of control.

Its a really enjoyable tale. And while I still like the idea of Clark being the last Kryptonian, as brought in during the post-Crisis Byrne revamp, I must admit I really like this fresh take. Forcing Clark to face up to the fact that his own people, may not be that great.

Another interesting point is the appearance of the new Nightwing and Flamebird. Specifically Nightwing, with some fairly unsubtle hints that he’s Connor Kent, somehow back from the dead after the events of Infinite Crisis. I know I can’t be alone in hoping this isn’t a fake-out. I’m really interested to know where they’ve come from as well. Clark was pretty tied up with his father’s death after Brainiac’s defeat, so I’m not sure he had time to arrange for this new Nightwing and Flamebird to guard the Phantom Zone projector from Zod’s troops. Nonetheless, it does make sense that they’re working with Clark.

Newsarama have just published some previews for March that drop some tantalising hints as to the post-New Krypton landscape in the DCU, and I’m very interested to see how this pans out.

A really solid week this week with DC’s releases. Green Lantern Corps means I’ll be reiterating my usual “Peter Tomasi rules”-type review.

We pick up with part 2 of the Sins of the Sapphires arc. However, the story actually opens with Kryb, the Sinestro Corps member being hunted by Kyle and co, and we find her claiming the child of her latest victims, one of whom is a Green Lantern. Kryb is a brilliantly creepy creation. Its a really terrifying idea that she’s going around snatching all these kids and killing their parents. I’m not sure what happens to the kids she snatches, but I suspect its not going to be pleasant. Seeing the GLs led by Kyle catch up to her is powerful, and you know they’re not going to be easy on her. Especially given that she’s just killed a fellow Corps member.

The main meat of this month’s story though lies with Guy, Sodam and Arisia leading the Guardians to Zamaron on a “diplomatic mission”. Of course, ulterior motives are abound, and the Guardians are quick to admit to Guy that this is also a spy mission to see exactly what the Zamarons are up to. Things get worse when later on Scar admits to Sodam that he’s there to level the place if things go wrong.

Of course, the Guardians are their usual selves, and are only there to get their own way: the Zamarons immediately ceasing tapping the love portion of the emotional spectrum. The Zamarons, unsurprisingly telling them to get stuffed. This, combined with recent events in the title involving Kryb and others, result in the Guardians passing their latest of the new laws, forbidding Green Lanterns to get involved in physical relationships. Yup, that’s going to go down well. The fallout from this one is going to make the lethal force law look like a walk in the park.

We also see that the Zamarons have been capturing the missing Sinestro Corps rings, along with a few of the female members of the Sinestro Corps (notably Karu-Sil, and Fatality) and are attempting to purge them of their fear and instill them with love. Its another plan that’s probably not going to end well. The fact that the Zamarons are basically brainwashing them is quickly picked up, and serves to underline how the “positive” side of the spectrum has its own dangers. We know from the previous Star Sapphire storyline that tapping a power from the extreme end of the spectrum will cause that power to consume you (something Atrocious and his Red Lanterns are actually relishing), so you wonder exactly how its going to backfire on the Zamarons.

Another great issue. This title goes from strength to strength, and is easily a match for the main GL book. I’m really looking forward to seeing this latest law from the Guardians blow up in their faces.

The other big DC comic of the week for me, was Action Comics and the latest part of the New Krypton saga. The action picks up where the last issue of Superman left off, with Doomsday (and the implication being that Sam Lane has purposely sent Doomsday into the fray) crashing the meeting Clark setup between the Kryptonians and the UN.

Of course, while Doomsday has fought Clark to a standstill in the past, this time he’s up against a large group of Kryptonians and gets summarily pulverised, and its announced Doomsday’s finally dead. However, given that Doomsday’s whole origin revolves around him dying, and evolving so it doesn’t happen again, I imagine the next time he turns up he’s going to be very nasty to go up against. Perhaps this is Geoff Johns laying the seeds for revamping the character, who’s been increasingly overused since his first appearance, and has as a result lost some of his impact.

There was a big shock in this issue, in the form of the new Nightwing and Flamebird. Specifically Nightwing. Back in the Fortress of Solitude, we find a few of Zod’s troops trying to find the Phantom Zone Projector, so they can release Zod from his imprisonment (you know the whole situation with Zod is just going to get steadily nastier from here on), however before they can get to it, they’re stopped by Nightwing and Flamebird. However, the most interesting thing, is how they’re stopped. Specifically, when Nightwing uses his tactile telekinesis to dismantle one of Zod’s men’s gun.

Tactile Telekinesis is, of course, not a traditional Kryptonian power. The only character who’s shown it before is Kon-El, Superboy. And he only had it because he was an imperfect clone of Clark (infact, his DNA was a splice of Clark’s and Lex Luthor’s, however his Kryptonian DNA seemed to be becoming more dominant, with him displaying more and more of Clark’s powers, especially during the Teen Titans run).

Is this signalling that Kon-El has somehow returned from the dead, after being killed by Superboy Prime during Infinite Crisis? I for one would be very happy if he is back, but his death seemed pretty final. However, if its not him, then I imagine a lot of Superboy fans are going to be very unhappy about this tease.

Can’t wait to see what happens next.

Lots of comics worth talking about this week.

Following Brainiac’s defeat in the latest issue of Action Comics, and Superman rescuing the not-so bottle city of Kandor, this special kicks off a major arc linking all three Superman family titles (Action Comics, Superman, Supergirl) together.

Very much dealing with the fallout from the Brainiac arc, we see Clark struggling to come to terms with his father’s death, before realising he has a job to do. In that, the bottle city of Kandor has been restored to full size in the arctic, and its up to Superman to try and ensure the 100,000 Kryptonians there can manage their powers and help them to integrate with humanity.

Its a great issue. The scenes with Clark at Jonathan’s funeral and its aftermatch are powerful, and played to show just how hard this is hitting him. We see him fantasising about killing Brainiac, and there’s an emotional page showing Ma Kent sitting alone down to dinner. Things then switch track to the arctic, where Superman speeds over before the Kryptonians absorb enough yellow sunlight and their powers kick in. We know from previous arcs that Kryptonians have had a decidedly dubious history with their powers, previously using them to become an all-powerful empire, before they realised the errors of their ways and went into a self-imposed exile on Krypton, away from the temptation of yellow suns.

There are some ominous hints right away. The Kryptonians are already refering to Earth as New Krypton, and you don’t really get the impression they’re listening when Clark tries to tell them that the planet is called Earth. One Kryptonian accidentally kills an endangered blue whale as he is unused to his powers. Clark’s experience on Earth means he knows this is going to be a big problem, but its obvious that he’s a lone voice in the crowd, and the reader can see that this is all going to go bady wrong.

We’ve also got Supergirl reuniting with her parents in a nice scene. Supergirl’s been a problem character since she was brought back, with a muddled history a 20 year old character would be proud of. This is a good creative team, so there’s real hope that they can finally give this character some direction.

With some of Zod’s troops also present in the city, you know things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. And we’ve also got the thought-dead Sam Lane recruiting Luthor to prepare for the inevitable problems with the Kryptonians. This is going to get nasty.

A powerful and ominous start to this arc. I may not be a regular buyer of the Super-titles, but I’m really looking forward to see how this plays out over the coming months. The bottle city of Kandor is a staple of the Superman mythos, so it’ll be interesting to see if the city ends up shrunken again by the end of this arc, and if so, what the circumstances will be.