This week I had some titles I wanted in print, so I headed on in to Mile High Comics in Glendale. After talking to the best Comic Book Guy I know, Aaron Tucker, I learned to call on Tuesday to have books held when...
It's New Comic Book Wednesday!
Green Lantern New Guardians #1
My second favorite Lantern of 2814 is Kyle Rayner. He was first introduced as I was entering college and exploring my creative, artistic side. I knew I could never be the cool, jocky, test pilot like Hal, but I was able to identify so much more with Kyle. He was an artist, I was an artist. He was about my age and living on minimal resources. If Kyle could be picked as a Lantern, I could have some of the same positive attributes.
This issue explores the birth of Kyle as a GL, but with the relaunch, they play with the idea a little differently. And I like it. Green Lantern, Sinestro, Star Sapphire and Black Hand have all been around for a while, but the rest of the Lantern spectrum was introduced in the
Blackest Night series. Because it was so successful, the idea of all Lanterns was incorporated into this relaunch.
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A pensive Kyle,
drawing for favors |
SPOILER ALERT: Kyle is so poor, he's trading drawings for drinks when he's out with his friends. When he sneaks out back to take a leak, he's accosted by Ganthet bearing the last Green Lantern ring of Oa. He has some trouble gaining acceptance from the rest of NYC who are used to seeing Jordan in the role, but in an epic rescue, he impresses the folks in Times Square. The "twist" to the story comes when Kyle is "chosen" by a ring from every color of the spectrum.
The humor in this issue is pretty characteristic of GL and somewhat self-mocking. As soon as Kyle saves the day, a tween bystander starts talking about "the brown haired" Lantern and asks why Kyle has on a bib. I also really like the twist of the story and the challenge presented with Kyle being chosen by every ring. It's a cool concept, even though it does raise some unusual questions, the strongest being, "Whenever has a ring decommissioned on an active lantern?" followed closely by, "When does a ring choose someone outside its own sector?" No wonder the other Lanterns are so pissed off and suspicious.
The art of Tyler Kirkham is actually pretty impressive. We see it in the details of Kyle's face, the bulges of strained muscles and the nooks and crannies of alien features. He even shows his range in style when Kyle forms an "anime Ganthet" but I think the true wonder is in a two page "rescue" spread.
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Absolutely love the beefy blue
collars saving the rig. |
The fun thing about Kyle is because he has such a different perspective, his "creations" have historically tended to be more artistic than Hal's much more concrete embodiments. In his attempt to rescue a massive crane falling of the top of a Time's Square building he creates some amazing, massive energy construction workers to catch and support the tumbling machinery. Quite impressive, Booth.
I was talking with Aaron about the New 52 and how some stories are minimal and some have too much. He referred to JL#1 as being like "a quarter of a cookie." I feel a little like that with this story. What was there was delicious, but it just wasn't enough. Luckily, I'll continue to follow. It is GL after all.
Teen Titans #1
I still feel like a teenager. Even though I'm pushing 40, I behav like I did in high school. Heck, I can't imagine that a day has even passed. How do I hold down a job? Granted, maybe thats why I ended up working with teenagers in a high school.
All that said, it's kind of why I have a tie to Teen Titans. They're kids. Life is awkward even if you don't have super-human abilities. When you do, it just compounds all those weird feelings you have of feeling out of place. So the misfits turn to each other, just like I turned to other misfits in high school. The result here is a powerful force.
SPOILER ALERT: Red Robin is trying to stay one step ahead of the evil agency trying to hunt super-human teams. His mission is two-fold. To protect them all and help them band together to form a solid team. He's the current target, but his research on meta-humans tells him who is next. Narrowly escaping his hunters in his Luthor Towers penthouse (big fireworks there), he seeks out Wonder Girl as the first of many he knows are also being hunted.
The story is actually pretty riveting and it feels like "a whole cookie" to me. There's enough exposition there, gets you right into some conflict and develops two strong characters throughout the 20 pages. While the cover is slightly misleading (most of these characters aren't in the mix yet), it's a fun and enticing foundation.
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Psyched for a gay hero,
but purple? Really? |
I admit, I've not been a "follower" of Teen Titans, but I was interested in reading this, but hadn't planned on picking it up in print. But then I read an interesting article on Bleeding Cool. TT is introducing a new gay character in this series named Bunker. I may not be a fan of his gaily purple costume, but the young, latino meta-human should provide a positive image for gay teens everywhere. I wish I had some positive image of other gay teens. Now if only he wasn't so stereotypically "Mondo-Queer." I guess progress is progress no matter how slow.
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Is she 17 or 40? Or are those just
man hands? |
The art in this book is great too. Brett Booth's got quite the handle on musculature and details in the humans and scenery. The one suggestion I would give him is to work on being able to correctly convey the age of his characters. Wonder Girl is clearly identified as 17, but in most panels, she looks much older. It's not about muscles, it's more about the aged look we all get as we get older the lack of elasticity in the skin. Red Robin has it, why not Wonder Girl? In one specific scene, I thought I was looking at a 40-something housewife of Orange County. The hands? Really? No wonder the poor teen can't get any dates.
This story ends with the same few pages that end
Superboy #1 which is a nice way to tie the two books together. But with a merge, I have to wonder how they'll run two parallel series. Of course I'll keep reading to find out.
Watch out for this week's mini-digis: Red Hood #1 (last week), Aquaman #1, and I, Vampire #1
Next week: Action #2, Green Arrow #2, Red Lantern #2, and Stormwatch #2
All images copyright DC Comics and used under guidelines of Fair Use
