DC Comics Hates Racial Diversity (?)

Does it now?

Depends on who you ask. Superhero comics in general have always been caucasian/white-centric. The banner heroes of DC and Marvel have always been white caucasians, and mostly male. Marvel has Spider-Man, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Iron Man, and even the original X-Men as all being white. DC's "trinity" of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are all white. Their premier ensemble cast in the Justice League is mostly white (Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman). It's only of late that people of color have been seen in roles of greater significance, and one has yet to step forward into the realm of universal recognition that the big-league heroes enjoy.

This year, DC ended several comics that feature women and/or people of color, including Blue Beetle (hispanic) and Birds of Prey (featuring a rotating all-female cast). Conversely, Power Girl gets her own series, which is only half-good since she's also a blonde blue-eyed caucasian, a lot of the main Justice League members are now women or people of color (ex. Black Canary - caucasian female, Firestorm - black, Vixen - black and female, John Stewart - black Green Lantern, Dr. Light - asian female), and certain male heroes have now been replaced with female counterparts (ex. The Question).

Still not enough.

Today's rant was inspired by a teaser image on The Source, DC's official blog, and is entitled "I Am Batgirl."

Here's the image:


A quick summary for those of you unfamiliar with Batgirl in the present canon DCU. The original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, was paralyzed from the waist down when the Joker shot her (seen in the excellent work The Killing Joke). She moved on to become the tactical information and network genius known as the Oracle, a role which has done more good than she had ever done in the mask and cowl. When the No Man's Land event occured, Barbara passed the role of Batgirl to a new hero named Cassandra Cain.

Cass became my favorite Batgirl because of her tormented origins. I'm a sucker for pathos, and Cass had it in spades. Taught from infancy to be a killer by her father, the assassin David Cain, she never learned to talk, understanding only the language of movement. Her brutal training taught her to be fatal, merciless, and to ignore pain. And yet she rose above that to a higher calling, vowing never to kill again. Wonderful stuff. And did I mention that she's decidedly Asian? Certainly can't forget that fact.

So what's the issue here? That's her iconic costume in the pic above, supposedly a cover of issue 1 of the new Batgirl series coming in August. With one exception, the part of her cowl covering her mouth has been ripped out (hence the frayed stitchings), allowing us to see the character's subtly smiling lips. Problem there is that the mouthpiece of the cowl was very symbolic of Cassandra, representing her speech impediment and difficulties in social interaction. With the mouthpiece ripped out, and the eyes in the image being hidden, it's strongly suggestive that the Batgirl in the image isn't Cass.

A lot of people think that with Batman now "dead" (don't ask... blame Grant Morrison and the mess that's Final Crisis), there's gonna be a new Batman (likely Richard Grayson) and a new Robin, so why not a new Batgirl? Speculation is going that with the mini-series "The Cure" possibly repairing Barbara's paralysis, she will take up the Batgirl cowl again, leaving Cassandra high and dry.

How this transition will occur is anyone's guess, though there's some evidence that something horrible will happen to Cass (again). What saddens me is that that's more diversity gone from the DCU. Red-haired, white-skinned Barbara becomes Batgirl again, and the Asian female who's gone through so much leaves. Doubly sad given that I love Barbara as Oracle.

I'm hopeful that there will still be a role for Cassandra after this, but she'll always be Batgirl to me.

More comments come August. You can bet on that.

Bunch of Stuff

Some quick hits for now, just to offload all that stuff that's buzzing around in my head these past few weeks. There comes a time when due to my diverse interests, I supersaturate my brain, and I wanna write about everything.

Of course, there's no way I can do that, so I instead end up writing about nothing.

I suppose I'll be writing entries like these more often in the future.

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Secret Invasion - I'm holding off on writing a review of Secret Invasion 7. It's a brawl. The tiny bit involving Spider-Man is the only truly amusing bit in the whole comic, with the rest being a mindless, stupid, senseless fight with no sense of tension whatsoever. People, this is how NOT to invade another planet. Take notes. Given this, I'll wait till the final issue before rendering judgment, on the slight chance that this pointless charade is actually leading to something profound. I'm not hopeful though.

Gundam 00 (season 2) - Macross Frontier's wondrous mecha design and CG sequences have spoiled my brain, to the point where watching Gundam 00 is an arduous experience. The mecha design in Gundam 00 isn't bad, taken in a void. Problem is, I end up comparing it to both Macross Frontier and Gundam Seed/Seed Destiny, and by comparison, 00's mecha SUCKS. The only truly aesthetically pleasing mecha in both seasons for me was the Gundam Kyrios, and they stuck a knife in me by wrecking it at the end of season 1. The remaining mecha range from decent (Gundam 00-Exia Fusion), to hideous (Gundam Seravee and its giant Gundam head... don't get me started). Add the fact that Gundam 00 hosts a set of jaded main characters who are even more boring than Hiro Yui and Judo Ashita and we have ourselves a problem.

Star Wars, the Clone Wars - No, this is the CG series, not that disgusting second Lucas movie. It is shockingly entertaining. Likely because Lucas isn't writing the dialogue. Watch a few eps and see for yourself what a wonderful world Star Wars could be when its creator takes a few steps back.

Batman RIP - Is this bit of Morrison confusion over yet? Because I'm waiting for Neil Gaiman to take over. Seriously.

US Presidential Election - Congratulations, President Obama. You deserved it. You're inheriting a nation that's sliding downhill. I hope you realize you won because you're the only one capable of saving that country. Godspeed.

Super Robot Wars - Look! Bandai made something with CG mecha! Lots of CG mecha! Why is Gundam 00 so crappy then? Ugh. Here I am ranting about 00 again.

CSI - Both Grissom and Warrick are leaving now? Can Lawrence Fishburne really take over, or is this show finally jumping the shark? We'll have to see.

Next Generation Console - Yes, I still want a Wii, but I'm so caught up in retro-gaming at the moment, I probably won't bother yet. Besides, no one can find a Wii. All of them have been presold till next year. Someone said that right now, Nintendo could put its name on a bag of dirt and it will sell. I kinda agree. Ah, poor Sony, how far you've fallen.

Avatar - Have they cast Aang yet? PLEASE don't let it be some white kid.

On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One - The name says it all. I never thought a game co-developed by Penny Arcade would be so good. It's fun. Seriously. Play it. You can spare the 750php.

World of Goo - See what I mentioned about the game above? This is different. But still addictive. Horribly addictive. And sticky.

Hand-Made Greeting Cards - Wow. Our little home business is picking up. Orders are starting to come in. Must be the Christmas season. Anyone else want some handcrafted greetings?

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That's it. Back to watching Clone Wars.

Review: Secret Invasion 6

After suffering from a "Fantastic" overdose in issue 5, Secret Invasion 6 promises something much better from the cover alone. Tony Stark bashing aside, that's the original Avengers trinity seen on the cover, composed of Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man.

Okay, technically, it's NOT the original trinity per se. Iron Man is now pumped up by the Extremis virus. Thor now has the Odinpower and brought himself back from oblivion post-Ragnarok, and with Steve Rogers still dead, that's the Bucky Barnes incarnation of Cap we're seeing (hence the uncharacteristic gun). Personally, I don't care. The issue is worth it just seeing these three in the same place at the same time, and without being at each others' throats.

Most of the issue focuses on bringing everyone together for a grand confrontation in Central Park, an action largely evoked by Thor without prior consultation. This means that come issue 7, we are going to get a battle worthy of the record books. Earth's superheroes versus the Skrull invasion force. That's something to look forward to. The fanboy in me rejoices.

Of course, the tactical strategist in me is screaming bloody murder.

Imagine you're the Skrulls. You got all these metahumans gathering in a single location, metahumans bent on stopping your invasion plans, most likely by killing every single one of you. Does it make sense that you meet them on the ground, in a classic standoff, your warskrulls facing the heroes at speaking distance? Especially when you have these hovering around the city?


This doesn't even include the ships in orbit.

WTF?!

Whatever happened to the concept of orbital bombardment?

"Oh look, the heroes are all in Central Park."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, what do we do?"

"Tell all ships in range to bombard their coordinates. Heavy energy weapons only."

"Yes, my Queen."

I know that would kill everyone, yes. But you wanna invade a planet, you gotta do it properly. However, it seems to me that we're in slam bang surreal mode here. If Nick Fury, Bucky, Reed, and Tony can be stupid enough to expose themselves en masse in one place like that, I suppose the Skrulls can be that stupid too.

Universal stupidity is catchy.

Here's what's coming next month:

"Review:" Secret Invasion 5

So Secret Invasion 5 is out, and I have to say it's the most disappointing of the 5 issues that are out so far. Which means that it's the ONLY disappointing issue that has come out, as the previous 4 were amazing.

There were some nice highlights in this issue, like how Agent Brand performs very nicely after her spotlight in Astonishing X-Men, and how the Skrull propaganda machine makes its planetary announcements by revealing themselves as famous personalities who were disguised all this time (including Oprah, Tom Cruise, Bin Laden, and our very own President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). But all of that was overshadowed by one of my pet peeves.

Reed Richards.

Brand manages to free him, and you can anticipate that the series is going to go downhill from here. Mr. Fantastic is Marvel's equivalent of Deus Ex in a stretchable bag. The guy can work miracles using nothing more than a toothbrush, a pocket calculator, and a few rubber bands. You put Reed Richards into any scenario, and instantly, it transforms into "what MAGICAL device will Mr. Fantastic create to FIX ANYTHING."

Seriously. Put him in any situation, and that's what he does. He's so smart he can beat GALACTUS.

He makes me PUKE.

His presence takes out the effort other characters have put up to that point and throws it in the dust like so much garbage. "Don't worry. Everything you worked for will easily be fixed with no effort using the mystical properties of my Fantastic Dream Beam!"

In the case of SI#5, from the time that it takes to go from high orbit to the Savage Land, he manages to whip up a Skrull Revalation Ray using Skrull equipment. Yes. A Skrull Revalation Ray. You fire it, and every disguised Skrull in the area suddenly reveals his Skrull form.

Wow.

All that hype about "Who Can You Trust?" and now it's undone by Mr. Fantastic.

I am so disgusted I can't write anymore. Forget it.

---

PS. GMA is a Skrull. That explains SO MUCH.

Review: Secret Invasion #4

Secret Invasion issue 4 hit the stands last week, and the series is maintaining its pacing nicely. The Tony Stark "Is he, or isn't he?" mind play continues, with Queen Veranke / Spider-Woman pulling on one end and Natasha Romanova / Black Widow tugging on the other. I'm personally hoping that Tony's sanity snaps before either of the two ladies wins.

This comic also has Nick Fury and his new commandos temporarily repulsing the Skrull offensive just long enough to rescue the remains of the Initiative and the Young Avengers. We also see snippets of the invasion as events happened in other places. This is how you do a special series. Hey, DC! Are you guys paying attention?

Hmm... I think the greatness of this issue is best exemplified by the pics themselves...

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If you can provide a few panels of Reed Richards being tortured in every Marvel comic, I would buy them all. Okay. READ them all at least. Maybe not buy. Ehehe.


Same thing goes for Nick Fury blasting Ms Marvel. Like he said, "A Skrull's a Skrull." Give it to her Nick! She deserves it for siding with Tony!


Speaking of Tony, here he is continuing his lovely chat with Queen Veranke. Kl'riki Dulu. Nice name. He should keep it even after the invasion is over.


Phoenix and Beast are revealed to be Skrulls after Black Widow pumps them full of incendiary rounds. I could tell that "Jean" was a Skrull from the beginning, but I was hoping that we'd get the old Beast back. Hank McCoy as a cat mutant still doesn't feel right for me.


Woohoo! Go Jarvis-Skrull! What's Maria Hill supposed to do when even her own people are Skrulls? She should be happy it's raining. No one will notice her pissing in her uniform.

---

Oh, while Marvel is still teaching DC how to do a special series properly, they might as well add one more lesson. Guys, THIS is how you do a last page cliffhanger:


You know what this means? It's the Avengers trinity back in action, together, in Secret Invasion 5! Post-Ragnarok Thor, Buck Barnes Captain America, and finally, Kl'riki Dulu Iron Man! It's a veritable Avengers Rennaisance! What a mess!

I can't wait for the next one.

Quick Jabs: Disassociated Randomness

Some random rants and raves for now. Sometimes, there are just so many things in a guy's head that to focus on any single one is bad. Especially if he wants to sleep later. I might choose to write about any one of these in greater detail later, but for now, putting them down in text takes precedence.

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Avatar, The Last Airbender - The greatest, most entertaining animated series in the history of American animation is set to have its final DVD compilation, with the last several episodes, out at the end of this month. Why must I wait so long? Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?

*FLAILS*

*calms down*

Ahem. That doesn't happen very often. The flailing, I mean. Only happens with things 'm crazy about, of which this series is one of them. I have been waiting much too long to get my hands on the ending. Nickelodeon, for some insane reason, opted to release the DVD compilation BEFORE airing the final eps on television. So the soonest anyone can see the final bits of this excellent production are when the DVD is released.

Way to go boosting your DVD sales.

Only good thing about this is that it gives me time to save up some money.

Verdict: Rant + Rave

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I may have mentioned once that the 2008 movie season is so incredible that I have to forego watching certain movies to be able to fit the really good ones into the budget. Those must-sees include Wall-E, The Dark Knight, Hellboy 2 and Mummy 3. Unfortunately, Wall-E seems to be destined for a late release here in Asia, and my cinema watching bone is itching.

Should I watch one of the movies I previously decided to give up?

Wanted is getting great reviews, and is one of the highest ever grossing from-comics movies from a non-DC, non-Marvel publisher. Plus, it has Angelina Jolie. The action, guns, and cinematography seem top-notch as well, and I know the story isn't going to be as stupidly shallow as Jumper.

Did I mention Angelina Jolie? Seems like I did. But she deserves a second mention.

There's also Hancock, which is yet another superhero flick, but with a seriously sardonic twist to it. It stars Will Smith, which is almost a guarantee for something at least remotely entertaining.

There's also comedy movies. Is Don't Mess with the Zohan showing yet? And then there's that Rob Schneider movie whose name doesn't come to mind right now... Oh wait, I think it was called Big Stan. I know that one's trailer made me laugh almost to tears. But it isn't out yet. So should I wait for Wall-E, especially with Dark Knight around the corner? Or watch something now?

Mmm... Angelina Jolie...

Verdict: Rant + Rave

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No news yet as to when the second season of Spectacular Spider-Man will begin. Boo. Thirteen eps are NOT enough. It's like Heroes: Season Two all over again, but without an annoying writers' strike.

And where is the next episode of Ben 10: Alien Force? The torrents stop at episode 9. I am not willing to wait for an Asian release for that series. Give me my Omnitrix fix now!

Verdict: Rant

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Batman #678 hits the stands this week. Third part in the ongoing Batman RIP story arc. I'd be interested, but it's written by Grant Morrison. And I have certain opinions about that guy.

I'll wait for the next installment of Detective Comics instead. Seems a much safer option.

Verdict: Rant

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My downloads are focusing on Transformers: Animated and Macross Frontier at the moment. Both are entertaining so far, with certain episodes of TF:A being more enjoyable than the best I've seen of MF (up to ep 8), but with MF being the overall better series due to numerous "miss" episodes on the TF:A end.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of both. I suspect that MF will stay the overall better of the two transforming mecha series, for numerous reasons, the primary of which is my inner Macross fanboy beats my inner Transformers fanboy.

Sari beats Ranka in likability in my book, however. I actually like the former a lot, and I normally don't appreciate kids who fall into the perky-stubborn pseudo-brat genre. Of the later... I can write volumes of how many ways I want her to die.

Verdict: Rave

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Hybrid rules.

And opposing color hybrid rules further.

Magic: The Gathering players know what I'm talking about.

Despite the hubbub surrounding Eventide, I'm still looking for a copy of Oona, Queen of the Fae. Anyone got a spare?

Verdict: Rave

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Skrulls are still invading the Marvel Universe. The X-Men have moved to San Francisco. Joss Wheddon says goodbye to the Runaways, who are not only going to have their book continue, but are rumored to have a movie in the conceptualization stages.

All good, except that Michael Turner is dead, Chuck Dixon left DC in a major huff, and DC editorial still can't tell its right hand from its left.

Verdict: Rant + Rave

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Nothing left to see here. Moving along.

Speaking of Green: "Review" of Final Crisis#2 and Hulk#4

The green in the title refers to several things. But it mostly refers to the nauseous feelings permeating my body after having read these two comics one after the other.

What can I say?

I am an IDIOT for punishment. Not learning my lesson from reading Final Crisis #1, perhaps in order to give Grant Morrison a chance to make up for that horrid issue, I picked up a copy of Final Crisis #2.

BIG MISTAKE.

I had to read this mess of storytelling twice before I even got more than a hint of what was going on. And I'm still confused. It's like Morrison loaded all his scenes and ideas into a shotgun, along with a bunch of major and minor players in the DCU, from A to Z, then SHOT it into a comic. Even J.G. Jones' artwork, normally wonderful to behold, suffers, probably because the poor penciller also had no idea what the hell Morrison was getting at as he no doubt described panel after confusing panel.

Where in God's name were the transitions? Where and what is everyone doing? Did time pass between this scene and the next? Is it the same day? Why did every hero in the DCU suddenly take a sip of Stoopid Juice? Who are some of these characters? Should I even care? One scene was flowing into the next like the effluent of a third world sewage plant.

The only remotely coherent scene was a funeral held for Jonn Jonn'z... on the surface of Mars. Hooray for the Boom Tube. God-level teleportation in the DCU, once the province of only the New Gods, that now it seems everybody can now use. Whoop.

Forget it.

I was fair. I gave Morrison a chance. I am never picking up another title written by this guy. Chuck Austen, one of the most maligned authors in modern comics history, told really bad stories. But even he didn't make me scratch my head in frustration.

Bah.

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It's a sad, sad day when even Jeph Loeb fails me. Above is a picture of the Red Hulk smashing The Watcher's face. Yes, the same Watcher who helped humanity against Galactus, manifests himself at times of great universal change, and is counted as a cosmic being by many space entities. This is the comic equivalent of seeing the Pope tarred and feathered.

It gets worse. Not content to leave the ludicrous concept alone, Hulk #4 continues the pain, pretty much leaving the noble Uatu without any shred of dignity. I really wanna know what Jeph was smoking at the time he wrote this issue. I'd love to try some.

There's another thing about this new series which irks me. Why, oh why, did Marvel allow the Hulk (the original green one), to suddenly turn stupid again? He was so clever and awesome in World War Hulk and the preceding Planet Hulk story arcs. Now he's back to He of the Substantially-Challenged Cortical Neurons. I don't mind a good fistful of "Hulk Smash" and "Hulk is strongest one there is," but he'd gotten to the point where he could say that, be burning with righteous fury, and snap off a clever one liner on the same page. So why bring back the retard version? Doesn't he remember Sakaar, Caiera and his Warbound anymore?

They had better do some solid explaining or I'd be inclined to do some smashing myself.

Quick Jabs: Call Me Queen

What's with the number of Captain Americas floating around in the Marvel universe these days? For a guy who was assassinated and officially died, he's certainly manifested in different places. Let's see, besides the original dead one, we have former sidekick Bucky, aka. Winter Soldier being the pseudo-official replacement, aka. the Cap with a gun, with another possible Cap wannabe emerging from the Red Skull's present plotting. Then there's the Cap from the past in Avengers-Invaders. Then there's the Captain America that emerged from the Skrull vessel in Secret Invasion.

Am I missing any other Captain America? There may just be one or two more...

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And speaking of Secret Invasion, just for the record, she can be my queen any day...

Jessica Drew / Queen Veranke. You have to admit she looks good on a throne.

Secret Invasion - Nick Fury's Wall of Paranoia

Before we begin, here's the wall I'm talking about (image borrowed with thanks from the Wizarduniverse.com website since I'm presently too lazy to get my own scan):

It shows Nick Fury, when he was still in hiding, some time prior to the invasion, mulling over a wall of heroes. Obviously he's busied himself trying to determine who might be a Skrull, and who isn't. Thing is, he's got these circles around some pictures. Some are blue and some are red.

Now I know it's a tease from the author. But I can't help myself.

Let's take this wall from what we know so far up to Secret Invasion #3.

The ones encircled in red are: Wolverine, the Sentry, Hulkling and Doctor Strange.

The ones encircled in blue are: Daredevil, Spider-Man, Lockjaw, Namor and Stature.

First, let us try assuming the extreme, that one color represents identified Skrulls, and the other represents confirmed non-Skrulls. A Skrull version of Daredevil was recently seen in an issue of New Avengers just prior to the invasion, trying to get rid of and possibly replace Echo. Also, it was confirmed in Mighty Avengers 14 that the Skrulls were unable to copy Sentry's power set, and thus were unable to replace him. This would imply that Wolverine, Hulkling and Dr Strange are normal, and that Spidey, Lockjaw, Namor and Stature are Skrulls. Given the events of One More Day, this means that reality was altered and Spidey's marriage removed because Mephisto got tricked by a Skrull shapeshifter.

Seriously, highly unlikely.

If Spidey was a Skrull, then this would make OMD a hundred times more absurd, if that were possible. Besides, it's very possible that the real DD was very active at the time the fake one attacked Echo (as with the Invisible Woman as correlated between SI#1 and SI: Fantastic Four #1). Meaning the DD-Skrull was only temporarily taking DD's form to trick Echo that one time.

That brings us to our second interpretation of the circles, that red means confirmed normals, and blue means SUSPECTED Skrulls. This seems a more feasible and open interpretation of Fury's paranoia wall. Note that Fury could easily make errors. At this time, confirmed Skrull replacement Black Bolt is not even circled. Also, Fury himself confided in Spider Woman, even after observing her for days, because he believed at least in part that she was the original article. And we know by this time that she was actually the Skrull Queen, Veranke herself.

Thus, I wouldn't be too serious about the wall. If Fury can make an error, anyone can.

Final Crisis Mixup Clarified (?)

Grant Morrison, master writer of the grand, bizarre and ambiguous, was recently interviewed by Newsarama about the inner workings of Final Crisis 1. While the interview does nothing to exonerate Morrison from the rest of the failings of Final Crisis' first issue (aka. boring and lacking in impact, as well as being a burden to those not well versed in the DC universe), it does free him from the burden of being a continuity monkey.

In summary, DC editorial screwed up continuity by providing Grant Morrison with a 2-year project based on the events from 52 and prior, but was unable to provide proper overlap with both the Countdown to Final Crisis and Death of the New Gods, which, though they were created after Final Crisis, were inexplicably released before said mini-series. The result of which is a mess which can only be dismissed as "You would enjoy Final Crisis more if you didn't read the weekly series that was supposed to lead to Final Crisis."

What are we as readers supposed to do? If you read the continuity-related series that led up to Final Crisis, the continuity of Final Crisis confuses you, but the events and characters contained therein are okay. If you don't read the continuity-related series leading to Final Crisis, you enjoy Final Crisis more, but have to pull out a dozen Wikipedia pages just to keep up with who's who and how they got to where they are.

Congratulations to the DC editorial pool. Once more their inability to comprehend the meaning and impact of a continuity series gets in the way of enjoying what might have been a perfectly good book. Or at least a decent one, when you consider that Morrison is writing it.

Review: Secret Invasion 3 (Marvel)

Talking about this third installment of the Secret Invasion mini-series, I could discuss how incredibly potent the new warskrulls are as they take out the Young Avengers and multiple members of the Initiative. Or I could talk about the official return of Nick Fury and his attempt to turn the tide of battle, with his new Howling Commandos in tow. Or I could even mention how cool Jarvis-Skrull was when he asked Maria Hill for the unconditional surrender of S.H.I.E.L.D., while still dressed in his normal butler outfit.

But I'll leave those things as minor events, at least compared to this little zinger:




Jessica Drew, aka Spider Woman, aka Skrull Queen-in-disguise, coolly and casually performs in what is either the greatest reveal of the series (be it suspected or not by the readers), or what is definitely a solidly destabilizing mind-fuck on Tony Stark.

This totally blew me away. Besides being a great piece of writing, the scene has so many implications, even though the going theory of course is that Tony really isn't a Skrull, since that would be too easy an "out" for everything Tony has been doing from the Civil War onward. He's Marvel's biggest goat right now, the can everyone gets to kick, the jerk people love to hate. To make him into one of the sleeper Skrull agents would sully all the work the writers have done into making him the Marvel U's Greatest HEEL Ever.Even previous weasels like Henry Peter Gyrich have nothing on what Tony has now, and I doubt that simplifying his actions as part of his subliminal sleeper-Skrull programming would be the decision the Marvel bullpen would make to restore his hero reputation among the readership.

No. Tony's road to redemption is going to be hard, painful, and paved with broken parts.

But despite my beliefs, I tip my hat off to the Skrull Queen. A masterful stroke.

Indeed, who can you trust?

Filipino Superheroes in Invincible Iron Man 2

I find it difficult to express what I'm feeling right now as I write this. On a whim, for lack of anything better to download at the time, I grabbed a scan of The Invincible Iron Man 2, just to see if it was a comic that could hold my interest. I seriously doubted that at the time, since it was about Iron Man, a guy who I've considered a jerk since the events of Civil War.

I was shocked, then rather pleased, when the action in the middle of the book cut to a scene set in Manila, Philippines! It showed the following team of Philippine superheroes, being officially thanked for helping save lives when a tsunami hit Philippine shores:


And I thought, Wow! A Marvel writer portraying non-American, non-British heroes? That's incredible!

It wasn't just that these were Philippine superheroes. It was more that Marvel as a universe almost always portrayed its heroes entirely set in the United States. Even superheroes from other nations ended up in the US, so the feeling of a global superhero community in the MArvel universe is practically nonexistent.

This was a pleasant, if fleeting change, I mused.

Fleeting indeed. Because two pages later, we have this:


Nice. Introduce some new faces to show that other nations have costumed heroes too, then blow them up with human bombs dressed as local monks to demonstrate how badass the villain is. Buddhist monks! In the Philippines! A primarily CATHOLIC country! In front of a Catholic Church. Something does not compute here. I guess the local superheroes never noticed.

What doubly sucks is that this sets it up so that our white, mustached, armored hero can justifiably fry the villain's hide in some later issue.

Okay. I'm griping a bit. At least Matt Fraction did his research on the proper words to the burial rites. And he did give honor to at least one of the fallen heroes by having this guy show up for Anitun's funeral:


Thor even gave a nice verbal tribute to her right in Tony's face...


Still feels odd. Kinda like I've been indirectly slighted.

Rest in peace guys. Long live the Triumph Division (wonder how that translates in the local vernacular).

Review: Mighty Avengers 14

Mighty Avengers 14 is a tie-in to the greater Secret Invasion major continuity storyline of Marvel. This story is focused on the Sentry, after he freaks out when one of the opposing Skrulls shapeshifts into a semblance of his schizo-induced nemesis The Void.

The whole issue's core ideas about the Sentry can be summed up better by the characters themselves:

Skrull Queen: "If he's such a risk, why does Stark keep him around?"
Jarvis-Skrull: "Because he doesn't know what else to do with him."
Skrull Queen: "Well, we finally have something in common with Tony Stark."

Also, this lovely snippet from Doctor Doom in an earlier Mighty Avengers issue, also regarding the Sentry:

Dr. Doom: "Your friend is not well."

After seeing the following comic panels, I'm very much inclined to agree...


Do not waaaaaaant...


He runs away very quickly doesn't he? That's the moon...


That's the asteroid belt. Major freakout expression right here.


I think the penciller of this issue captured the Sentry's emotional and mental state perfectly, don't you?


The Crying Game in space. These images are simply beyond words.

Yep. Nothing more needs to be said about the issue. I don't know whether to laugh or feel disturbed.

Review: Robin 174

I may have to offer Dan Didio, DC's Editor-in-chief, an apology.

Let me explain.

I am among the many proponents of consistency in portraying characters, no matter who happens to be the writer, and no matter what the editorial fiat might lie behind continuity changes. This consistency stand of mine is one of the primary reasons behind my emotional and near-violent reactions to the Joe Quesada (Marvel's EIC) monstrosity known as One More Day.

Before OMD, I was among many who savagely criticized Dan Didio's decision not to have a memorial in the Batcave for Stephanie Brown, also known as the Spoiler. Even if you don't know who she is, suffice it to say that she was the latest member of the Bat family, had a friendship with Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), had a romance with Robin (Tim Drake), and even became the first mainstream continuity female Robin after Tim Drake quit for a time. She had a short term as Robin, since soon after she became the girl wonder, she was captured, beaten, tortured and shot by Black Mask. She was brought to the hospital of Dr. Leslie Thompkins to be treated for her injuries, but died. Among the first seemingly out-of-character decisions attributed at least in part to Didio was when the normally kindly and caring Dr. Thompkins was discovered by the Batman to have deliberately mistreated Stephanie, in order to teach the Batman an example. Then, even though she was Robin for a time, the Batman deigned to put up a memorial for her in the Batcave, an action many felt was akin to him dismissing her importance, value or sacrifice offhand.

For years after that, people were clamoring for her memorial. Dan Didio just smiled knowingly and kept saying no.

Fans, and myself, generally labeled him as a jerk for that.

Then the latest Robin story arc has a stalker dressed as the Spoiler following Robin around. Was it a deliberate insult? A tease? Clearly this wasn't the real Spoiler. Surely it was someone else dressed up as her. As the story arc wore on, there was anticipation for the big reveal of who this person was, along with the dreaded anxiety that came with the threat of a Superboy-Prime-Reality-Punch-resurrection, like they did with Jason Todd.

The grand unmasking came in Robin 174:


When the big reveal happens toward the end of this issue, we find to our surprise that it IS Stephanie Brown, alive, and briefly bringing to life the worries of a reality-retcon revival. Batman's expression here is priceless.


Of course, Robin has a much better reaction, after he'd gotten over his initial shock:

Yeah. Go Boy Wonder. Almost enough to make you forget that he also has existing hookups with two other girls. Still, excellent response.

She later explains that Leslie talked to her and together they faked her death, after which she stayed with Leslie when the doctor exiled herself in Africa. Batman of course states that he was suspecting this, which is why there was no memorial in the Cave. Good enough an explanation for me, at least for now. A faked death is so much easier to swallow than the various other back-from-the-dead garbage we've had to swallow recently.

So in one issue, Batman isn't more of a heartless bastard than he already is, Leslie isn't a vindictive witch, and Dan Didio redeems himself.

Did the DC EIC plan all of this from the start? Perhaps. It doesn't matter. Spoiler's back. Can't wait to see Batgirl's reaction.

Until we wait for that particular reunion, we have this to look forward to:

Final Crisis #1 - Other Takes

Seems many of my disappointed opinions are shared by other reviewers:

From Comic Book Resources

From Newsarama

To be perfectly fair, yes, the art is excellent. Salutations to J. G. Jones. Sadly, the greatest measure of a comic isn't its art, but the story behind it. And this issue is not going to be remembered for its good writing.

At least the book didn't leave as sour a taste in my mouth as Morrison's Genosha massacre storyline during his X-Men run.

Review: Final Crisis #1 (DC)

Against my better judgment, I picked up a copy of DC's Final Crisis #1. Why the initial bias against the book? The DC universe has had its share of cataclysm stories before, the greatest of which is probably The Crisis of Infinite Earths back in the mid 1980's. Since then, however, the entertainment value of these planet- or universe-threatening crises has dropped significantly.

Zero Hour? Confused people running around in time with Hal Jordan's existential angst mixed in. Identity Crisis? Horribly anti-climactic "the attention-deprived psychotic wife did it." Infinite Crisis (you might notice at this point that DC loves to use the word Crisis to death)? It might have been a worthy direct sequel to Infinite Earths, if only Superman (Earth-2) could make up his mind as to what he really wanted, and if they hadn't turned on Alexander Luthor's "evil genes," and if Superboy (Earth Prime) didn't "mature" into a hormonal teenage whackjob.

Even the otherwise superb Sinestro Corps War story arc of Green Lantern (hey, they didn't use the word Crisis... yipee) had an epilogue which made my head throb. If you're curious, I can sum up the hinted-at future events as: Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids Royal Rumble Throwdown Meets Dawn of the Dead. Bring your Skittles and Trix kids. And try not to let the colorful sparklies hurt your eyes.

So it's not like that there's been a very good precedent of late with DC's cosmic-changing events.

And then there were the vague rumors. Like how this was going to be the time when "evil wins," or how an A-List hero (Martian Manhunter?) would be killed by some Z-list "super" villain.

But like I said, I picked up a copy (not necessarily mine) of the title and read through it, trying my best to keep an open mind.

Then I read it again.

You know what? I'm still confused. Confused to the point where I don't know where to begin sorting my thoughts on the material.

I suppose it would be good to start on what seems to be the premise of the whole book. Grant Morrison, who had a decent run on several titles, gets overwhelmed by his own cleverness by writing two plots into the book. First, some suggestively not-so-human-but-human-looking-guy named Libra is gathering as many villains as he can, regardless of competence or quality, in order to grant them their "heart's desire" and to "balance the scales" (woo, my name is Libra and I balance the scales... catchy). Second, as heroes are called into high alert by the death of Orion of the New Gods, someone going by the name "Boss Dark Side" is kidnapping children, giving them to "Granny," in order to teach them how to recite the "equation" (sigh). I'm calling it two plots this early because there isn't the slightest hint that either of the two are connected.

Now we've got the straightforward plot (Libra. Make Evil Win. Woot.), and the mysterious plot (New God dies. Deities playing with children. To what end? Dun-dun-dunnnnnn...) vying for attention in the same book.

I'm pretty sure the two are connected in some way, or at least, will be connected later on. And in a suitably Grant Morrison-esque fashion. Unfortunately, not everyone will want to wait till the end of 7 issues to find out just how they're connected. There will be people who will say to hell with it from the first issue and will wait for the collected trade paperback before getting back into the story. I know I would.

I don't mind a single plot with multiple perspectives or fronts. But multiple plots? Tends to get confusing, and draws reader attention in two separate directions.

The first installment of Final Crisis not only confuses the reader as to which direction the story is really going, but also lacks the substance worthy of a title with "Crisis" in it. As first issues go in a limited series, you'd ideally want to draw the reader in immediately. In this case, the reader immediately wants to know "where's the universal uber-threat?"

The reader is looking for something worthy to keep his attention. Final Crisis 1 first offers the death of Orion, a New God. Dead god. Seems worthy right? Well, only if you're not someone who is up-to-date with DC continuity. This is a publishing outfit that has difficulty consolidating continuity with consistency. Two previous titles dull the impact of Orion's demise. The appropriately-named Countdown to Final Crisis had Orion finally defeating his father Darkseid in mortal combat, on Earth no less, but suffered grave injuries at the time, and virtually disappeared toward the end of the series. The battle was witnessed by or was known about by multiple heroes. Also, the mini-series Death of the New Gods had the Source being instrumental in killing all of the New Gods of both Apokolips and New Genesis, in order to end the Fourth World and begin the Fifth World, and selecting Orion as its instrument in the final slaying of Darkseid (a link to the end of Countdown). The events of this mini-series were witnessed by no less than Superman himself. So where's the mystery here? Why are they speculating murder when they should be thinking about "died from injuries sustained in his fight with Darkseid?"

The issue is made all the more confusing when Superman and other heroes seem completely clueless when the Justice League has a meeting. Another one of DC convenient "plot-induced senior moments?" You'd think Grant Morrison wouldn't make such an error.

The other draw? Libra granting villains their heart's desires? Here's a pic of Libra killing J'onn Jonnz with a flaming spear. Supposedly while said Martian was incapacitated with "pyro tranquilizers." Right. No buildup as to where, how or when he managed to do this. Just "drag the Martian in so we can kill him as a demo to the big guns." Why did Libra choose Jonn? Some overweight Z-lister going by the name of The Human Flame wanted him dead for capturing him once. Libra's more than happy to oblige it seems. Instead of being overjoyed at the prospect of someone possibly being helpful in killing Superman, Mr. Lex Luthor is profoundly skeptical. As am I.

Of course, no guarantee that IS J'onn. Seems all too simple. Martian Manhunter deserves better. So does the reader.

Don't get me started on the inanity of the whole "Boss Dark Side" part of the plot. You're not fooling anyone. The kids with the glowing eyes and sharpened teeth were a nice touch though.

Verdict: Save yourself the headache. Wait for the TPB. And while you're at it, read DC Universe 0. Otherwise you won't understand a thing. Better still, read Secret Invasion. Entertaining you without the need for a Tylenol.