Paul Dini is a shiny golden GOD
Most human beings have dreams of flying: of soaring trough the heavens like a bird. It's the reason why there have been attempts to make airplanes since the time of the Ancient Greeks. It's the reason why we have heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. Some people when the have flying dreams are turned to birds, others soar like the previously mentioned heroes.
I kinda falter and fall back down again, like I've been weighed down. Whenever I have a dream of flight, it's more like I'm Supergirl, and I'm trying to fly, but I've been exposed to Kryptonite or Red Sun radiation or something else is stripping my powers. It feels like I'm having to try really hard to stay aloft. I suppose this is some sort of subconscious inadequacy on my part. It's really frustrating though, cause when I have flight dreams I know that I should be able to fly and I'm constantly looking for the cause of the thing that's weakening me. I need to find my kryptonite.
Ok, enough of the philosophical. On to the comic rant.
52 #31: I try and I try, but I really find myself not giving a damn about anything happening off earth. I really don’t. I feel like I'm seriously missing why I'm supposed to care that Adam Blake has been tortured and destroyed by some aliens or that one cute blonde green lantern and one weird bug one were killed. Aside from the fact that Thormon Tox is really freaking hot, I don’t care. DC: Please stop wasting story time you could be using to talk about Infinity Inc or Ralph Dinby or Batwoman and The Questions with dumb outer space things. I love Infinity Inc stuff. Natasha means so well, and I'm sure most of her team do too, but at their core they are flawed by Luthor's schemes. This weeks stuff certainly shows that. I hope Natasha makes it through 52, hopefully to reconcile with her uncle, maybe even to continue under Team Superman. The frames of the tributes to Superboy made me cry. I will be iconing these. I love Ralph and Dr Fate. Cassie is back to being normal. And GODDAMNIT SUPERNOVA ISNT KON. ::Cries::. ::Cries some more::. Ok, so back to the drawing board. Now I'm pretty sure it's Booster. Booster from the future, even further in the future than he was before. The device that generates the powers is the stuff he boosted (ha) off LOSH Braniy. Next week we get Teen Titans and Osirus! Yay! Yay!
History of Robin: I'm giving this it's own thing because *gasp* Timmy is full of the cute. Freddie E Williams II does a great job in showing how much Tim has grown since he first wore the suit. Seeing him in the short pants makes me squeee. The two pages oddly never mention Jason Todd, but it is all forgiven when you see Wee!Timmy's play area: Half eaten pizza, magnifying glass, book on forensics, Nintendo controller, glass with ice, Robin action figure, and a clipboard of doodles. Oh so Timmeh. Also, Williams draws Tim HAWT.
Nightwing #127: This issue feels like filler. It gets nothing done except recap the last two issues. Dick comes to no realizations of what is going on at large. Nothing is solved. Kind of a bummer, except where Dick is incredibly cute and has the most awesomest inner monologue as he's trying to dig himself out of being buried alive. He thinks to himself how much his love life sucks. Page 11 really just hits it home: "Women... womenwomenwomen girlsgirlsgirls... How can I have known so many of them and not know any of them at all. Somehow I can clearly see how one thing fits into another even if they dont seem to be compatible. I can find patterns no matter how obscure. Put on my uniform and I've got it worked out. But lately... when it comes to my personal life... idiot savant. What happened... What happened to me?"
10 words, Dick: Dan Didio, Devin Grayson, and a slew of Bad Writers. That's what happened to you.
Also, this issue contains a fair bit of Manservice. I love how Wolfman and Jurgens realize that Dick is *the Hottest Man in the DCU*. I think he's had at least 3 panels in each issue since they took over where he is wearing only a towel. Bloody brilliant.
Robin: Nature's Bride: Because I was sick on Wednesday, I went to Gen X Comics in Euless instead of driving all the way to Dallas to go to Titan. Gen X is closer to my house, but is smaller, focuses a lot of store space to DVDs and D&D Gear, and has a really hard to navigate back issue section. However, I did manage to find a couple of good things. One was the 80 page giant Robin issue from 2000. Very uber cute. In this book, Robin and Spoiler get into a fight over how Spoiler is jump first ask questions later and Robin is ultra cautious. Spoiler decides she'd rather be Black Canary's trainee and teams up with Canary and Wild Cat. Meanwhile, Tim's dad is getting married to his therapist, Dana, and gets her an amulet from one of his archeology digs as a pre wedding present. Turns out the amulet gives the wearer the ability to control all wildlife, and a sorceress who was knocked out of her body by the Society back in the 40s has been looking for it all this time. She takes over Dana's body and uses the amulet to attack Canary, Cat, Spoiler, and Robin. They all team up to save Dana, who marry's Tim's dad. Reading this made me really miss the days where the Robin book had supporting characters that you actualy care about. Ah... the pre-Willingham days. Lets all say a prayer that the current Robin team does better than Willingham. Oh, who am I kidding... a room full of monkeys with a typewriter could do better than Willingham.
Harley & Ivy: I found this at Gen X and sqeed. I've been looking for it for a while. It is the cutest thing evar. Judd Winnick on story and Joe Chiodo on art. And I say art because it's a beautiful prestige book that's been marvelously painted. The art style is very much in the Animated Series style: "Batgirl" (Who's really Harley in disguise) and Ivy are both in their animated series style costumes. However, Tim is Robin, and wearing the comic style Robin costume, not the animated Tim costume. Also, the people at the party Bruce and Tim go to don’t seem to recognize him as Bruce's ward Tim, so I have no idea which universe this takes place in. Not that that actually MATTERS. This, however, does:
Reporter: This is Raquel Perez reporting from the Helping Hands charity fundraiser at the Branaco building. It's a packed crowd that comes to tonight's thousand dollar a ticket event--. Only Gotham's elite have made it here this evening, but they have made it here in droves. ::Spots Bruce and Tim on red carpet:: Hey, Mister Wayne! Who's the kid? Couldn’t you find a date?
Bruce: ::billionaire playboy smile plastered on face:: His name is Tim, and I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to go more than him!
Tim: They're premiering the new Cave Fighter video game tonight!
Bruce: ::Through is Brucie smile, whispers to Tim:: We're leaving by 8:30.
Tim: ::Smirk:: You are such a blast, man.
Bruce talks to the industrialist hosting the party while Tim goes to find a game station to play at. As Tim is walking along, he passes a suspicious looking pair of girls in a rockstar's entourage, a blonde and a redhead, who are trying to break away. The blonde drops something, which Tim picks up and frowns at. He goes to find Bruce, who has a busty blonde bimbo wrapped around him her face in his neck. They might be dancing, but it certainly doesn’t look that way. Tim inturupts:
Tim: Bruce? Is this what I think it is?
Bruce: ::Looks, blonde still there:: It's a blasting cap. ::pause, frowns in a "cant you see i'm about to get laid" kind of way:: Where did you find this?
In the end, since Harley and Ivy kind of blew up the party, Bruce lets Tim play Cave Fighter (Which I assume is some Tomb Raider rip off) on the Cave computer. There isn’t too terribly much Harly/Ivy in this, but there is some. I mean, they are the first lesbian couple of villainy, after all. Just a super cute book.
Detective Comics #826: Oh. My. God. Paul Dini is a shiny golden god. His whole run on Detective has been classic, from the Batman/Riddler team up resulting in the knowledge of how Eddy found his henchgirls and the fact that Batman personally knows the Madame of an S&M club, to the issue with Poison Ivy hitting on Tim (And Tim walking on his hands on railings like his animated counterpart) to Bruce dating Paris Hilton and taking her to Penguin's nightclub and her dog getting eaten by a leopard seal. The last one with Dr Phosphorus wasn’t brilliant, sure, but it was tons better than the stuff we're seeing in Batman or Legends of the Dark Knight.
This issue, however, is pure holiday MAGIC. I've been waiting for it since DC posted the description of it on the Detective page. Seriously, everyone needs to own this comic. It (rather inexplicably) happens before Joker gets his face blown off in Batman 655, and yet at Christmas time with Tim in his OYL uniform, which is a little confusing, but no one cares once they start reading. Dear lord it's good.
Quick rundown: Robin's stake out of a gang was interrupted by an outbreak of gang warfare, with him caught in the cross fire. As he was running, someone in a minivan opened a door and called his name. He didn’t have time to think, and instead just jumped for cover in the van, away from the gunfire. Unfortunately for Tim, the van's driver is none other than everyone's favorite psychopathic clown, The Joker. Joker knocks Robin out, and when the Boy Wonder comes to again, he's been tied to the passenger seat with Christmas decorations, gagged with a Christmas ball ornament, and Joker has the heater in the car cranked up to 90 and the seat warmer on. Joker proceeds to drive through Gotham, hitting anyone who gets in his way (And several people on the sidewalks). Reading this, and hearing Mark Hamill's Joker voice in my head makes this feel like it's the best Animated Series issue ever.
I think I'm a bad person for finding the stuff Joker does hilarious. Like going to what is clearly supposed to be a Jack in the Box, and shooting the manager for the window attendant's incompetence.
In the end, Tim outwits the Joker through clever use of the Marx Bros, then overpowers him by "go[ing] batman on his ass". He defeats Joker by using Joker's own joke against him. In the end, the clown gets away (of course) but Tim still earned Batman's praise.
Robin: ::Sitting on hood of Batmobile while police process the scene:: Any point in hoping they found his body on the street?
Bats: Doesn't look like it.
Robin: Thanks, Santa.. and here I thought I had been so good this year.
Bats: I'm proud of you, Tim. You took the worst Joker could give and you beat him. That may not make you feel better about his victims, but he wont' be hurting anyone else for a long time.
A little weird, as Bats calls Robin by his real name in the middle of a crowded crime scene. However, that's the second time this year in comics that Tim has easily defeated one of Batman's major villains (The first time was Scarecrow during the Batman OYL Face to Face arc) and done so with relative ease. Tim really is going to be Batman one day, and I think Bruce realizes that.
I will probably post scans of this later, cause I love it so much.
My toes are cold! I seriously want to find a Batman RPG. Or maybe a Titans one. Or maybe start one. lesigh. Nothing else interesting happened this week.. oh wait, yes it did.
Smallville was new this week: The eps only had two things going for it: The fact that Clark is the ultimate illegal alien and I think this is the first Superman incarnation to ever cover that fact. And FUCKING GODDAMNED JUSTICE LEAUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111oneoneone!1 Oh my god, I have to wait until Jan 18th to see but omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg.
OMG!
Aquaman! Green Arrow! Cyborg! Impulse! Oh sweet Jesus, they even have COSTUMES! I'm going to have to watch that episode with a gag in my mouth or else I'm going to be screaming the whole time.
I kinda falter and fall back down again, like I've been weighed down. Whenever I have a dream of flight, it's more like I'm Supergirl, and I'm trying to fly, but I've been exposed to Kryptonite or Red Sun radiation or something else is stripping my powers. It feels like I'm having to try really hard to stay aloft. I suppose this is some sort of subconscious inadequacy on my part. It's really frustrating though, cause when I have flight dreams I know that I should be able to fly and I'm constantly looking for the cause of the thing that's weakening me. I need to find my kryptonite.
Ok, enough of the philosophical. On to the comic rant.
52 #31: I try and I try, but I really find myself not giving a damn about anything happening off earth. I really don’t. I feel like I'm seriously missing why I'm supposed to care that Adam Blake has been tortured and destroyed by some aliens or that one cute blonde green lantern and one weird bug one were killed. Aside from the fact that Thormon Tox is really freaking hot, I don’t care. DC: Please stop wasting story time you could be using to talk about Infinity Inc or Ralph Dinby or Batwoman and The Questions with dumb outer space things. I love Infinity Inc stuff. Natasha means so well, and I'm sure most of her team do too, but at their core they are flawed by Luthor's schemes. This weeks stuff certainly shows that. I hope Natasha makes it through 52, hopefully to reconcile with her uncle, maybe even to continue under Team Superman. The frames of the tributes to Superboy made me cry. I will be iconing these. I love Ralph and Dr Fate. Cassie is back to being normal. And GODDAMNIT SUPERNOVA ISNT KON. ::Cries::. ::Cries some more::. Ok, so back to the drawing board. Now I'm pretty sure it's Booster. Booster from the future, even further in the future than he was before. The device that generates the powers is the stuff he boosted (ha) off LOSH Braniy. Next week we get Teen Titans and Osirus! Yay! Yay!
History of Robin: I'm giving this it's own thing because *gasp* Timmy is full of the cute. Freddie E Williams II does a great job in showing how much Tim has grown since he first wore the suit. Seeing him in the short pants makes me squeee. The two pages oddly never mention Jason Todd, but it is all forgiven when you see Wee!Timmy's play area: Half eaten pizza, magnifying glass, book on forensics, Nintendo controller, glass with ice, Robin action figure, and a clipboard of doodles. Oh so Timmeh. Also, Williams draws Tim HAWT.
Nightwing #127: This issue feels like filler. It gets nothing done except recap the last two issues. Dick comes to no realizations of what is going on at large. Nothing is solved. Kind of a bummer, except where Dick is incredibly cute and has the most awesomest inner monologue as he's trying to dig himself out of being buried alive. He thinks to himself how much his love life sucks. Page 11 really just hits it home: "Women... womenwomenwomen girlsgirlsgirls... How can I have known so many of them and not know any of them at all. Somehow I can clearly see how one thing fits into another even if they dont seem to be compatible. I can find patterns no matter how obscure. Put on my uniform and I've got it worked out. But lately... when it comes to my personal life... idiot savant. What happened... What happened to me?"
10 words, Dick: Dan Didio, Devin Grayson, and a slew of Bad Writers. That's what happened to you.
Also, this issue contains a fair bit of Manservice. I love how Wolfman and Jurgens realize that Dick is *the Hottest Man in the DCU*. I think he's had at least 3 panels in each issue since they took over where he is wearing only a towel. Bloody brilliant.
Robin: Nature's Bride: Because I was sick on Wednesday, I went to Gen X Comics in Euless instead of driving all the way to Dallas to go to Titan. Gen X is closer to my house, but is smaller, focuses a lot of store space to DVDs and D&D Gear, and has a really hard to navigate back issue section. However, I did manage to find a couple of good things. One was the 80 page giant Robin issue from 2000. Very uber cute. In this book, Robin and Spoiler get into a fight over how Spoiler is jump first ask questions later and Robin is ultra cautious. Spoiler decides she'd rather be Black Canary's trainee and teams up with Canary and Wild Cat. Meanwhile, Tim's dad is getting married to his therapist, Dana, and gets her an amulet from one of his archeology digs as a pre wedding present. Turns out the amulet gives the wearer the ability to control all wildlife, and a sorceress who was knocked out of her body by the Society back in the 40s has been looking for it all this time. She takes over Dana's body and uses the amulet to attack Canary, Cat, Spoiler, and Robin. They all team up to save Dana, who marry's Tim's dad. Reading this made me really miss the days where the Robin book had supporting characters that you actualy care about. Ah... the pre-Willingham days. Lets all say a prayer that the current Robin team does better than Willingham. Oh, who am I kidding... a room full of monkeys with a typewriter could do better than Willingham.
Harley & Ivy: I found this at Gen X and sqeed. I've been looking for it for a while. It is the cutest thing evar. Judd Winnick on story and Joe Chiodo on art. And I say art because it's a beautiful prestige book that's been marvelously painted. The art style is very much in the Animated Series style: "Batgirl" (Who's really Harley in disguise) and Ivy are both in their animated series style costumes. However, Tim is Robin, and wearing the comic style Robin costume, not the animated Tim costume. Also, the people at the party Bruce and Tim go to don’t seem to recognize him as Bruce's ward Tim, so I have no idea which universe this takes place in. Not that that actually MATTERS. This, however, does:
Reporter: This is Raquel Perez reporting from the Helping Hands charity fundraiser at the Branaco building. It's a packed crowd that comes to tonight's thousand dollar a ticket event--. Only Gotham's elite have made it here this evening, but they have made it here in droves. ::Spots Bruce and Tim on red carpet:: Hey, Mister Wayne! Who's the kid? Couldn’t you find a date?
Bruce: ::billionaire playboy smile plastered on face:: His name is Tim, and I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to go more than him!
Tim: They're premiering the new Cave Fighter video game tonight!
Bruce: ::Through is Brucie smile, whispers to Tim:: We're leaving by 8:30.
Tim: ::Smirk:: You are such a blast, man.
Bruce talks to the industrialist hosting the party while Tim goes to find a game station to play at. As Tim is walking along, he passes a suspicious looking pair of girls in a rockstar's entourage, a blonde and a redhead, who are trying to break away. The blonde drops something, which Tim picks up and frowns at. He goes to find Bruce, who has a busty blonde bimbo wrapped around him her face in his neck. They might be dancing, but it certainly doesn’t look that way. Tim inturupts:
Tim: Bruce? Is this what I think it is?
Bruce: ::Looks, blonde still there:: It's a blasting cap. ::pause, frowns in a "cant you see i'm about to get laid" kind of way:: Where did you find this?
In the end, since Harley and Ivy kind of blew up the party, Bruce lets Tim play Cave Fighter (Which I assume is some Tomb Raider rip off) on the Cave computer. There isn’t too terribly much Harly/Ivy in this, but there is some. I mean, they are the first lesbian couple of villainy, after all. Just a super cute book.
Detective Comics #826: Oh. My. God. Paul Dini is a shiny golden god. His whole run on Detective has been classic, from the Batman/Riddler team up resulting in the knowledge of how Eddy found his henchgirls and the fact that Batman personally knows the Madame of an S&M club, to the issue with Poison Ivy hitting on Tim (And Tim walking on his hands on railings like his animated counterpart) to Bruce dating Paris Hilton and taking her to Penguin's nightclub and her dog getting eaten by a leopard seal. The last one with Dr Phosphorus wasn’t brilliant, sure, but it was tons better than the stuff we're seeing in Batman or Legends of the Dark Knight.
This issue, however, is pure holiday MAGIC. I've been waiting for it since DC posted the description of it on the Detective page. Seriously, everyone needs to own this comic. It (rather inexplicably) happens before Joker gets his face blown off in Batman 655, and yet at Christmas time with Tim in his OYL uniform, which is a little confusing, but no one cares once they start reading. Dear lord it's good.
Quick rundown: Robin's stake out of a gang was interrupted by an outbreak of gang warfare, with him caught in the cross fire. As he was running, someone in a minivan opened a door and called his name. He didn’t have time to think, and instead just jumped for cover in the van, away from the gunfire. Unfortunately for Tim, the van's driver is none other than everyone's favorite psychopathic clown, The Joker. Joker knocks Robin out, and when the Boy Wonder comes to again, he's been tied to the passenger seat with Christmas decorations, gagged with a Christmas ball ornament, and Joker has the heater in the car cranked up to 90 and the seat warmer on. Joker proceeds to drive through Gotham, hitting anyone who gets in his way (And several people on the sidewalks). Reading this, and hearing Mark Hamill's Joker voice in my head makes this feel like it's the best Animated Series issue ever.
I think I'm a bad person for finding the stuff Joker does hilarious. Like going to what is clearly supposed to be a Jack in the Box, and shooting the manager for the window attendant's incompetence.
In the end, Tim outwits the Joker through clever use of the Marx Bros, then overpowers him by "go[ing] batman on his ass". He defeats Joker by using Joker's own joke against him. In the end, the clown gets away (of course) but Tim still earned Batman's praise.
Robin: ::Sitting on hood of Batmobile while police process the scene:: Any point in hoping they found his body on the street?
Bats: Doesn't look like it.
Robin: Thanks, Santa.. and here I thought I had been so good this year.
Bats: I'm proud of you, Tim. You took the worst Joker could give and you beat him. That may not make you feel better about his victims, but he wont' be hurting anyone else for a long time.
A little weird, as Bats calls Robin by his real name in the middle of a crowded crime scene. However, that's the second time this year in comics that Tim has easily defeated one of Batman's major villains (The first time was Scarecrow during the Batman OYL Face to Face arc) and done so with relative ease. Tim really is going to be Batman one day, and I think Bruce realizes that.
I will probably post scans of this later, cause I love it so much.
My toes are cold! I seriously want to find a Batman RPG. Or maybe a Titans one. Or maybe start one. lesigh. Nothing else interesting happened this week.. oh wait, yes it did.
Smallville was new this week: The eps only had two things going for it: The fact that Clark is the ultimate illegal alien and I think this is the first Superman incarnation to ever cover that fact. And FUCKING GODDAMNED JUSTICE LEAUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111oneoneone!1 Oh my god, I have to wait until Jan 18th to see but omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg. Omg.
OMG!
Aquaman! Green Arrow! Cyborg! Impulse! Oh sweet Jesus, they even have COSTUMES! I'm going to have to watch that episode with a gag in my mouth or else I'm going to be screaming the whole time.