I did it. This week, every title I purchased was in digital format. By choice. I abandoned my weekly trip to the comic book store and bought everything online, because...
It's New Comic Book Wednesday!
Green Lantern Corps #1
While I love Green Lantern and the Corps, two of my least favorite GLs are Guy Gardner and John Stewart. Since they are at the forefront of these storylines, I was torn about this series. Hal is "de-ringed"
(see GL#1), Kyle is a "New Guardian, leaving only Kilowog, Sora and Arisia to carry me through.
SPOILER ALERT: This book opens with violence (which I secretly love). Two Lanterns have captured a criminal and are holding him prisoner. Within the first three pages though, all three are slaughtered by an invisible enemy. The killings are akin to the opening scene of the sub-par horror film
Ghost Ship, but I just love watching people sliced in half by razor sharp wire.
Trying to fit in to normal life on Earth, Guy Gardner applies to be a high school football coach, but the school can't "afford" to have him around. While waiting for his interview, Guy explains Oa, Space Sectors and Corps numbers (Lantern Basics 101) to fans in the waiting room.
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A quiet, reflective, bromance
moment in space. |
John Stewart on the other hand, on the job site as a consulting architect, explains how the ring works converting thought into energy (more 101). But what his mind crafts is far too costly for the builder. In an effort to promote more safety, it turns out John Stewart is fighting the same type of business corruption Superman is fighting in
Action Comics #1. The notariety and liability of these guys keep them from being able to find "real jobs" and simply fit in. Was it a good idea they never hid their identities?
A force in the universe is committing mass genocide (destroying the water world Nerro) and killing any lantern who comes to the rescue. Of course, with nothing to do and feeling down, these two take a team to investigate the radio silence in sector 3499.
Not sure why there was a need to build the Earth backstory with John and Guy and provide the inevitable basics course. I suppose to readers not familiar with a "green lantern" it's good to have that info, but it wasn't done as much in other titles, so it seemed a bit forced (kind of like when tv shows to stupid plot summary episodes to catch you up on what you missed). I did like that there is another petty "close to home" topic at hand here: mass genocide. It keeps the "army" ideal of the corps and the political nature of the story line from ever letting the reader forget this isn't too far from reality.
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He may not be my favorite lantern,
but take a look at that... detail.
(click to enlarge) |
The art in this book, pencilied by Fernando Pasarin, is pretty frikkin awesome. One reason why I like to follow big titles is how amazingly detailed the art can get, especially when you can see every bulge of every muscly mass on the characters. That is some sick detail.
I'm loyal to this army because it's the corps. I'm glad I decided to go digital with it though. I can zoom in on detail and I don't mind carrying it around with me to re-visit at any point (OK, to look at John's butt). It's a good start to a series, but can they keep up FOUR GL series in this relaunch? I'm wondering when some will eventually merge.
Wonder Woman #1
My loyalty to Wonder Woman goes back to the 70s with both
Lynda Carter and the
Superfriends. For the longest time, she was the only really fierce woman I knew. Strong, smart, and willing to put up a fight and win every single time. Maybe she's the reason I love heaving breasts; maybe she's the reason I love confident women who speak their mind and pursue their goals; maybe she's the reason I was called a queer for spinning in circles on the playground. Whatever the reason, I couldn't ignore her in the relaunch and pants or not, I'll always love my Princess.
SPOILER ALERT: The story opens in Singapore with three young women in the penthouse of a seemingly wealthy, attractive young man, but he's not quite what he seems. Aren't these women suspicious of a guy whose eyes and mouth glow orange?
The story then jumps to rural Virginia where Hermes is protecting a young farm girl, Zola, from some centaurs born to hunt her. Using a magic key (very Harry Potter portkey-like), Zola is transported to London where she meets Diana who agrees to protect her and they return to VA.
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Look, Ma. No pants!
(on either of them) |
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Do you know
how I know you're gay? |
For some reason, the biggest concern on most of my friends' tongues is if WW is still wearing pants. I reassured you a few weeks ago, after
JL#1, and I'll say it again. WW has her traditional briefs. Her boots have changed color, and the body looks somewhat like Spiderman's, and she's all silver now instead of gold. But she's the same old WW. The one thing I'm not sure I get is the armband. Its a little to leatherbeargay for me. I don't want to see you at The Wrangler, Diana. It would taint my perfect image of you.
Until I read the name Hermes, I forgot Diana's world revolved around Greek Mythology. The Centaurs, and so many other allusions began to come clear to me. I think Wonder Woman's storyline began to stray some the origins of her culture, so I was glad to see the villains in this issue be mythology based. Kudos! One element I love about reading, and reading comics, is I can always go back and see some of the literary elements (both visual and textual) I missed before. There was so much of that here, so I give credit to the writer, Brian Azarello (who gets credit even if it wasn't his idea).
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Diana, you're beautiful
even just waking up. |
I wasn't initially a tremendous fan of the artwork by Cliff Chiang. It reminded me too much of that classic, maritime tattoo design style. While I appreciate that work, and I think the art is good, I don't think it's appropriate for a comic. And I'd never get that style actually etched on my skin. It gets considerably better after the initial exposition though to a point where we see Diana as we expect to see her. as a beautiful goddess. And we see tremendous detail in the unusual characters of the story.
I really liked this story, so I'll continue to pick it up. Digitally. The more I read digital, the more I'm enjoying them. However, I fear if too many people go digital, it might be the death of the comic book store. Yikes. I'd hate to see that happen.
Watch out for this week's mini-digis: Legion of Super Heroes #1, Nightwing #1, Birds of Prey #1
Next week: Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 and
Teen Titans #1
