Stir Crazy

Stop complaining, Dick and let Batman be Fabulous.

It's official: I'm going completely stir-crazy without a car. I have no car. Noooo car. None. No driving for me. No freedom of the open road. No road rage.

Sob.

Instead of sulking, I am going to do several things this week, and to keep myself honest, I'll post my list.

• finish up those three sample articles for freelance submission portfolio
• firm up proposal and those eight sample pages and email them to artist in potentia
• pad resume. like woah.
• betray The Stop and hit LCS tonight
• work on that Stephanie Meyer Analysis
• write 15,000 words in that story you've been ignoring in favor of Twitter

So there. Keep me honest, internets.

Saving Up For Future Therapy One Penny At A Time

Children are very funny creatures.

Both of mine are still quite young (5 and 1, for those keeping track), and the oldest, Bug, is showing an excellent imagination in things that May Or May Not Be Real.

This suits our family atmosphere fairly perfectly, we love monsters and creepy of all shapes and sizes and are pleased to see this carry onto our children.

He likes to make up monster stories at bedtime and is constantly curious about why their mothers let them run about at night. I have attempted to explain that monsters just prefer to sleep during the day, but he remains unconvinced this is the case.

In Bug Land, there are dozens of monster children running about at midnight with their monster Mamas hot on their trail, eager to put them into time-out. (As a note to other parents out there, I highly recommend My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck.)

Cut to yesterday at roughly noon.

A high-pitched scream breaks into my serene Google Reader check and interrupts baby Lyn Hippo's studious lunchtime nom-nomming (comparable to a massacre of epic proportions). I hear the sliding glass door slam determinedly closed and Bug announce, with no small amount of panic, that they're going to get inside and get us. He proceeds to lock the back door, put the bar down and close the curtains.

I half-expect him to run to the sewing machine to craft black-out curtains or run to the kitchen and arm himself.

I'm trying not to snicker, because I am horrible and haven't ever heard such a panicked, high-toned scream from my son. He's yanking me to the back door, pulling the curtain aside a mere half an inch to stab at the glass in a frantic manner. When I attempt to open the door, he dives for the couch and crawls up to safety, nearly hyperventilating and informing me once more they're going to get in.

The look I get from him makes it clear that in the afterlife, he is going to be blaming me.

"What's going to get in, Bug? I don't see anything."

"The slug, Mama. The SLUG."

". . . what slug?"

His mother's death-inviting blindness trumps fear, and he scrambles off the couch and grabs my hand tightly, braving the potential slaughter and pulling me towards the grass.

"THIS slug," he says, pointing into the grass before climbing up for safety.

The Slug

Bug's never really shown a fear of other bugs/insects/creepy crawlies before, so I frowned down at the slug in question, hefting him higher on my hip as I tried to figure out if this breed had mutated teeth or, perhaps, was brandishing a weapon of some sort. Perhaps it had stolen his Capri Sun and was mocking him with the straw.

". . . it's just a slug, buddy," I told him ruefully, patting his back and heading back to the patio after placing the threat level at Oscar.

"Mom," Bug insisted, expression clear in his belief that he was being raised by That Teenage Girl in the horror movies. You know, the one still wearing her heels in the forest and keeps looking over her shoulder. "Like Slither. It starts with one."

In Bug Land:

=

And, because I am that parent, I give him a solemn look and reply, "You're right. It does."


Never let it be said my children won't be prepared for the invasion.

Various Rumblings

“What we’re doing coming out of ‘Final Crisis’, and I’ll say this here, and I’ll say this everywhere is that we’re locking our characters down. We’re going with a good interpretation, and we’re staying with it. That’s why you don’t see Aquaman right now, because we want it to be clear what it is, who he is and what he’s all about.”

-Dan Didio, DC Nation Panel at Toronto Fan Expo

The entire article is pretty interesting, with some topics coming up that the fans needed addressed on at least some small level. And it got addressed on a level a bit bigger than small and after not hearing from Didio for a few weeks now, to hear him come out of Fan Expo with some strong statements regarding how characters are being handled is really nice.

Here's another bit, when a fan asked why DC was constantly second to Marvel in sales:

Didio took the question as an opportunity to address what he thought was one of his company’s problems over the past few years, which in his words was “My problem with us is that we reboot the characters too much."

“What happens is that if a character doesn’t work, we go, ‘We got a brand new direction to put him in! We’re moving him into something new! We’re going to try something brand new and different! We’re going to throw everything out and start over again!’ We make that mistake, but what that does is, it alienates fans.

“Our biggest mistake is that we don’t continue and build on…what we should be doing is let it sit for a while and then come back with a good strong story with what’s going on. That’s what Geoff [Johns] does. That’s Geoff’s secret weapon. He doesn’t throw it all out and start all over. He builds on what’s existed and makes it better…We get too worried about the minutia…all we should be doing is telling great stories with our characters.

And he's exactly right when he says 'all we should be doing is telling great stories with our characters'. It's precisely right and it is why I like Geoff Johns so much.

So, here's big hopes that we're going to be seeing some follow through in the next year on all the great big story lines coming out of DC--and not just Final Crisis. Seeing DC recognize the great characters they already have and attempt to cut out the shenanigans in favor of stronger writing is exactly what the franchise needs, if you ask me. (Not that, of course, anyone officially did.)

And this, kids, is how you properly quote an article. When things get a nice, thorough read, we can see exactly what Dan was talking about!! It's amazing what a little intelligence can get you.

As for Aquaman . . .

All the ladies love him. He took this as proof for Hal.

Moving on, to another panel coverage article, this time from the Fan Expo DC: A Guide To Your Universe.

Didio confirmed there is not one but two weekly series in the works to follow “Trinity,” that James Robinson is working on a “Justice Society of America” project and that Matt Sturges will be penning a villain centric series that will be announced soon.

What what? What? A villain-centric series? Oh? Yes? Will that give us two villain series for me to read?

Yes, yes it will.

Awesome.

While Trinity has definitely been picking up, the idea of two weekly series terrifies me. But I'm going to be a sucker and go for it, I know I will. There is no hope for me here.

The panel also delved deeply into the Flashes, into how there could be room for all of them and more words regarding Bart's status. Personally, if they handle Bart like he should've been handled from the beginning and fix him, I'll be so very happy. I like all the Flashes, why does there need to be just one(twothree)?

And onto the movies . . .

This concept of banking on fewer, bigger movies from Warner is a great, great idea. Finally, they're saying what smart fans have been saying for years. Darker DC movies is a concept I'm happy to see emerge. I have approximately a little over half a blackened soul, so I quite enjoy Really Dark Things. They don't tend to lose me (brain cells, woot) and I find it a bit more stimulating than the average popcorn flick.

Perhaps I can get an eventual villain-centric movie out of this deal! . . . hm, does Watchmen count?

Regarding the presently nebulous state of the Superman film franchise, Robinov said, "['Superman Returns]’ didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had 'Superman' worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."

-CBR, via Wall Street Journal

Okay, I liked the damn film. Shut up. But this makes perfect sense to me--it didn't set up Superman as anything more than an interesting personal drama with one bad-ass villain. Yes, shut up, I liked Lex too. But really, hopefully this relaunch goes right into the meat without giving us the bones. We've seen the bones, we want meat! And real meat, please to not turn Superman into an emo kid. Take it from Nolan, there is a brilliant way to utilize dark moods. There is also a very, very terrible way to do it--in other words, don't emulate Smallville.

Pointless picture. I know, but it's funny. Cows eating chickens!

Maybe Kal-El conflicts?

I really wish we could get a Superman/Batman film now, but that's going to have to wait at least four or more years now. Which is the suckage, but at least Warner is attempting to take control of their movies. They want darker and grim, to combat Marvel's set of movies that, while owning serious notes, are definitely not deep thinker films.

It's a smart move--there's merit to both film aspects, as sales for both Iron Man and The Dark Knight evidence. And Warner shouldn't attempt to go head-to-head with Marvel, I'm glad that they see there's no point in pitting their stories. There's no point to it, it's the same thing with the comic book companies.

They each have a niche, and of course the popcorn is going to be more popular, but there's a place for both. (Note to self: think of a metaphor that compliments 'Marvel Popcorn'). Going from Marvel's lead in developing strong character movies and then blending them together in a team movie is smart, and dancing to the left to darken it all up is even smarter. They are sure to release their movies in the same summers, and by tweaking their tone, Warner's making sure that fans will want to see both without feeling like they've been inundated with the same concepts.

Reading the CBR article proves I sometimes have the sense of humor of a twelve year-old boy thanks to me snickering at the phrase 'tent-poles releases'. Unfortunate phrasing meets an immature brain.

As for the Ollie prison flick? Yum. I am looking forward eye-molesting to some sexy, muscled arms in the theater. Oh, uh, on a not-shallow level, the discussion in this article is heartening and both worrying, but writers/producers/et cetera tend to summarize things differently for a non-comic-geek crowd, so consider my fingers crossed for that being the case of a few comments throughout.

"But Batman is about his equipment and is about his theatricality and about his detective skills. And Green Arrow is a guy who’s really just the sort of MacGyver type,” Marks said. “In his hand, anything can be a weapon.”

This is completely true, and my twelve year-old chops surface again, this time with my imagination running with Batman's theatricality. Batman, you old drama queen you.



Another note, in these movie lines: Wonder Woman has some information up on IMDB, as we all know. The current writer is Matthew Jennison, whose only other movie credit is Beerfest. I'm really hoping this is just old bullshit and not . . . true. Um, pssssst, Warner? This is probably not the way to go.
Anyone have any solid information on this one for me?


Wired has an awesome article up on comic book tattoos, with some great pictures for you all to enjoy.

And courtesy Technogreek, AppleGeeks has this to say on the subject of Moody Character Films:

-AppleGeeks Lite #346

GameTrailer has some more game clips of the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, including Joker's fatality. Neeeeeat.



I'll say it again. Neeeeeeeat.

And to end this post on the best note possible, here's a follow up on the Convention Harassment Issue, Girl Wonder has done an awesome thing and organized the Convention Anti-Harassment Project. Take part. Let them know that gathering their forces together so quickly and getting this off the ground is an awesome, inspiring thing.

Good job, ladies!

Kirby Krackle Debuts!!

So, I've been really excited about this project from the moment my very awesome and very talented friends, Jim Demonakos and Kyle Stevens told me about it. I've been waiting very, very patiently for it to launch so I can pimp it out like nobody's business.

And lucky for my exploding patience, Kirby Krackle has gone live with their debut song, One Of The Guys. They're calling it Geek Rock and I'm in love with not just the fantastic songs they're putting out--lucky me, I've gotten to hear a few of the ones that aren't finished yet, and let me tell you, they just keep getting better and better--but as well the entire concept of Geek Rock and having music that isn't just rock-worthy, but totally serves to the geek crowd.

Built off their mutual long-lasting love for comic books and music, Kirby Krackle is going to put Geek Rock on the map. When Kyle and Jim combine their insane talents, we end up completely lucking out--these lyrics are so solid, so geek chic I can't get over it, with music that takes it right to the next level and makes Kirby Krackle more than just a novelty listen, but something you're going to want to put on your iPod and hear throughout the day.

Kyle puts the history of how this awesomeness came to be on his blog, so I'll just excerpt from his blog:

Fast forward to Winter of 2008 when COMIC STOP co-owner Jim Demonakos and I sat down to flesh the idea out and to see how it would really work, if at all. Maybe there was a reason it hadn’t been tried before? At first I found it really hard to wrap my brain around a completely different way of writing, but it seems that in the last few months we’ve hit our stride. Jim and I are so excited to be writing and recording songs about a subject we’ve loved our whole lives, and if you’re a fan of comics, movies, and games we know you’ll love these songs as well. It’s bizarre that it’s an almost completely untapped corner of music and if it’s true when they say they say write what you know, then between Jim and I we know A LOT of geeky shit.

Jim and Kyle are in the middle of recording an EP that you can look forward to seeing at the end of the year. So head over to their MySpace and give One Of The Guys a listen. Four listens, dammit, and then be sure to tell them how awesome they are, then please to pimp them out on your own blogs.

(And oh my God, Kyle and Jim, you totally need to sneak peek a few lyrics or whatnots to taunt them).

Lowest Common Denominators

If you haven't read it already, John DiBello wrote an essay addressing the issue of SDCC not having a sexual harassment and brought up a few incidents he witnessed at the convention. Rachel Edidin, of Inside Out, has her own story about a dick with a 'Free Hugs' sign--an incident that also occurred at SDCC. She also posted yesterday, 'Blogging Isn't Enough' which I wholeheartedly endorse a thorough read of (I read it sometime during the writing of this post, then realized she said what I'm saying so, so much better. I'm going to say it again anyway.).

And there are a plethora of stories exactly like theirs, which shouldn't shock/surprise anyone. If it does, promptly dislodge your head from your ass and start over at the beginning of this level, you have failed.

Moving onto my point.

Between movies, video games, advertisements, comic books, so on and so on, we're becoming more and more used to and/or inundated with sexualized images of both women and men. It is becoming the average. Which is fine--so long as we're not disrespecting a sex (hey, shocker, there's an empowering way to look at sexuality??), engaging in Women In Refrigerator syndrome, etc--we're sexual creatures, we have base instincts and desires and I both recognize and encourage. Safely. Politely. Consensually, if incorporating another person into the mix.

But there is a group out there--let's call them the Lowest Common Denominators--that doesn't seem to understand that appreciating this:

Does not equal to assaulting women behind counters at comic book conventions.

Even this, which would have been so, so much better (read: less clearly a 'Jerk Off To This Later, Boys, hurhurhur') if they'd done both men and women costumes:



Does not mean yelling at a woman for not wanting a free hug is okay.

Our wonderful, ruining it for everyone Lowest Common Denominators don't actually understand that while whatever they'd like to fantasize about in the privacy of their mother's basement is fine, taking that fantasy and applying it to assaulting, either physically or verbally, real women is not fine. Women going to conventions in whatever costume they want is their business--it does not give you the right to grope them, even if they're Power Girl. It does not give you the right to walk up to them and touch them. You have to ask first because those women aren't their for your personal fetish. Even if they were hired for non-stripper entertainment purposes, you are not entitled to them.

And okay, if the first response your ape-like brain can muster is, 'But, but they're in skimpy outfits!! Clearly they want attention!!', you're a fucking idiot. Go outside and ask someone to punch you.

Spending a lot of time on a costume is not an invitation to harrassment. Looking pretty? Not an invitation for harrassment. Dressing up? Not an invitation for harrassment.


Attention and Harrassment are not the same thing.

"What an awesome costume, you look great!" is not the same as "I'mma touch me some biiiiig boobies, hurhurhur."


And it's responses like the latter that earn people the Lowest Common Denominator tag.

Enjoy yourself the pictures of the sexy girls, enjoy the girls in costumes on a inner level that might range towards the wee bit naughty--again, it's okay. I enjoy the hot men, after all. I'm not ranting against sexualized people or having a fantasy life--I have a huge problem with over-sexualization, blatant misogyny, images that are clearly Women In Refrigerators, but with sexuality in general?

Not so much.

Sexuality is important and I think it's a thing we all need to be so much more comfortable with, for a myriad of very important reasons. But I hope you get my point on this, and if you leave a serious comment about me hating sexuality in general, I'm going to sic the dogs on you.

But if you're going to write/draw/enjoy this, you need to take responsibility. Yes, you. Yes, me. We need to take responsibility for these Lowest Common Denominators because we're letting it stay out there. We need to understand that this problem is our fault and that we need to step up in a very big way.

Lowest Common Denominator Fanboys don't know when to stop. They do not know where to draw the line in their fantasy, so much so that they are harrassing women at conventions in order to get a little more of that fantasy fulfilled.

And that sucks for us, doesn't it? What a damn damper on our party.

Am I saying this means we shouldn't have sexuality in any form in our books?

Uh, hell no. Why let creeps dominate what we have? Why let them take away something that most others can enjoy without taking it to that level?

What I am saying is that this barrier of silence has to stop, that allowing these undersexed over-fantasizing assholes to run rampant around conventions is tired, old and only holding the industry back. You know what people think of when they hear Comic Book Geek? Yeah, they think of that guy. And that's going to kill any chance of our industry making it into something that's respected outside of our circles.

It's an understanding that these morons are out there at conventions--how many jokes are cracked about the Typical Basement Comic Nerd? We know that some people, for whatever reason, don't know where to draw the line--be it pure uncultured idiocy or purposeful assault.

What we don't seem to know is how to stand up for each other. How many people witnessed that Ghostbuster's girl ass being grabbed? Probably a lot.

How many actually said something? Probably no one--and the one person that did go to do something about it found that there wasn't anyone to tell. What the hell?

Seriously, in all the years SDCC has been going on, someone's going to honestly act like this hasn't ever happened before? And John is the first person to check? That just can't be right.

These girls aren't telling anyone? Witnesses aren't stepping in with a 'hey, man, that's not okay.'?

This is bullshit, and I am calling a goddamn shenanigans.

So, here's what I'd like and here's my challenge to everyone. Stop talking big on the message boards, stop being full of shit where it doesn't count. The next time you're at a convention--the next time you are anywhere and you see something you know isn't okay, step up. Say, "Hey man, that's not okay". And get them thrown out.

Be more like those fictional heroes we all love so much. (Uh. Not like Punisher, though, thanks, you don't need to get arrested.)

You do it. I'll do it. That guy over there will do it and that chick over here will do it. And then, our Lowest Common Denominators are going to find that there's no one left to pick on. That, in our awesome comic book industry, there is no room for them. That they can no longer infest something that is becoming more and more awesome with every year that goes by. Go figure.

Enjoy your sexy. I'll enjoy mine (even if there should be more). I don't mind the sexy camp in my books, so long as it's all in the spirit of appreciation and not manipulation, but what I do mind is how almost everyone just lets this sort of behavior slip by. It being written off as 'Those Comic Geeks' isn't okay.

And massive props (are the kids still doing those these days?) to John DiBello for stepping up, for using Bully's blog as a microphone to get this gone.

ComiCon Internationals contact information, courtesy Rachel's Blogging Isn't Enough post. Polite correspondence only--while it's highly remiss of them to not have something regarding harassment in their rules, it isn't their fault that these guys are out there.

EMAIL:

cci-info@comic-con.org

SNAIL MAIL:

Comic-Con International
P.O. Box 128458
San Diego, CA 92112-8458

San Diego, CA

HOTLINE: 619-491-2475
FAX: 619-414-1022

Now go tell a friend and then have yourself a soda.

Sexual Harrassment at SDCC

John DiBello, the caretaker of Bully, calls out a huge problem at SDCC (and I suspect others) and calls for change in the following essay that's written much more intelligently than I know I could manage (I would descend into frequent obscenities in all caps, for one).

Among the bullshit, the utter bullshit of this, I'm really pleased by this essay and the other people coming together and cross-posting it at their own blogs. Harassment isn't ever okay and not considering the possibility of it or making room for it is nicely ideal, but very foolish.

Cross-posted from his site.

---

Overheard at San Diego Comic-Con while I was having lunch on the balcony of the Convention Center on Sunday July 27: a bunch of guys looking at the digital photos on the camera of another, while he narrated: "These were the Ghostbusters girls. That one, I grabbed her ass, 'cause I wanted to see what her reaction was." This was only one example of several instances of harassment, stalking or assault that I saw at San Diego this time.

1. One of my friends was working at a con booth selling books. She was stalked by a man who came to her booth several times, pestering her to get together for a date that night. One of her co-workers chased him off the final time.

2. On Friday, just before the show closed, this same woman was closing up her tables when a group of four men came to her booth, started taking photographs of her, telling her she was the "prettiest girl at the con." They they entered the booth, started hugging and kissing her and taking photographs of themselves doing so. She was confused and scared, but they left quickly after doing that.

3. Another friend of mine, a woman running her own booth: on Friday a man came to her booth and openly criticized her drawing ability and sense of design. Reports from others in the same section of the floor confirmed he'd targeted several women with the same sort of abuse and criticism.

Quite simply, this behavior has got to stop at Comic-Con. It should never be a sort of place where anyone, man or woman, feels unsafe or attacked either verbally or physically in any shape or form. There are those, sadly, who get off on this sort of behavior and assault, whether it's to professional booth models, cosplayers or costumed women, or women who are just there to work. This is not acceptable behavior under any circumstance, no matter what you look like or how you're dressed, whether you are in a Princess Leia slave girl outfit or business casual for running your booth.

On Saturday, the day after the second event I described above, I pulled out my convention book to investigate what you can do and who you can speak to after such an occurrence. On page two of the book there is a large grey box outlining "Convention Policies," which contain rules against smoking, live animals, wheeled handcarts, recording at video presentations, drawing or aiming your replica weapon, and giving your badge to others. There is nothing about attendee-to-attendee personal behavior.

Page three of the book contains a "Where Is It?" guide to specific Comic-Con events and services. There's no general information room or desk listed, nor is there a contact location for security, so I go to the Guest Relations Desk. I speak to a volunteer manning the desk; she's sympathetic to the situation but who doesn't have a clear answer to my question: "What's Comic-Con's policy and method of dealing with complaints about harassment?" She directs me to the nearest security guard, who is also sympathetic listening to my reports, but short of the women wanting to report the incidents with the names of their harassers, there's little that can be done.

"I understand that," I tell them both, "but what I'm asking is more hypothetical and informational: if there is a set Comic-Con policy on harassment and physical and verbal abuse on Con attendees and exhibitors, and if so, what's the specific procedure by which someone should report it, and specifically where should they go?" But this wasn't a question either could answer.

So, according to published con policy, there is no tolerance for smoking, drawn weapons, personal pages or selling bootleg videos on the floor, and these rules are written down in black and white in the con booklet. There is not a word in the written rules about harassment or the like. I would like to see something like "Comic-Con has zero tolerance for harassment or violence against any of our attendees or exhibitors. Please report instances to a security guard or the Con Office in room XXX."

The first step to preventing such harassment is giving its victims the knowledge that they can safely and swiftly report such instances to someone in authority. Having no published guideline, and indeed being unable to give a clear answer to questions about it, gives harassment and violence one more rep-tape loophole to hide behind.

I enjoyed Comic-Con. I'm looking forward to coming back next year. So, in fact, are the two women whose experiences I've retold above. Aside from those instances, they had a good time at the show. But those instances of harassment shouldn't have happened at all, and that they did under no clear-cut instructions about what to do sadly invites the continuation of such behavior, or even worse.

I don't understand why there's no such written policy about what is not tolerated and what to do when this happens. Is there anyone at Comic-Con able to explain this? Does a similar written policy exist in the booklets for other conventions (SF, comics or otherwise) that could be used as a model? Can it be adapted or adapted, and enforced, for Comic-Con? As the leading event of the comics and pop culture world, Comic-Con should work to make everyone who attends feel comfortable and safe.

---

Taking an idea from these guys, I'm disabling comments. But only because if you want to talk about it, you should very much be doing that--on your blogs, message boards, or with your friends. This is not okay.

No Books For You

Okay, well, maybe just me. No books for me, thanks to the husband's car assaulting itself. What a fucking terrible week to be left with only one vehicle and not have the 9-5 job. Batman . . . tie-ins . . . Welcome to Hoxford . . . Runaways/Young Avengers . . . god DAMMIT.

I hate all of you a little this week, just so you know.

Our 99 Neon has been suffering some emotional issues since the purchase of our 01 Civic a few years ago, we've worked really hard to keep her feeling good about herself--spiffy new tires, new brakes, engine flushes and regular baths, but the old black mare just ain't what she used to be. (I think I just burst into flames writing "ain't", so let's never do that again, mm?_
Then, Sunday, in her finest move of acting out, her hood clasp snapped while Co-Creator was on the freeway, slamming it into the windshield while he was going 70.

Everyone is fine. Me especially, as I wasn't actually in the car at the time (thank God).

Well . . . almost everyone. Yes, that's my girl, shut away in the garage while she works out her emotional issues in a way that doesn't have the potential to kill one of her owners.

The husband would appreciate me taking a moment to inform my readers that the flowery seat covers are mine. I would appreciate me taking a moment to inform my readers that the flowery seat covers may be mine, but it's been nearly two years since I've driven the car and they are still there.


Let's do a mess of links and some random rambling, then pretend it's a post.


The Most Awesome That Ever Did Awesome From A Company You Haven't Heard Of:

Batman: Arkham Asylum the video game. No, really! They'll be utilizing the Unreal Engine 3 (WOOT!) and the 'they' I'm speaking of is Rocksteady Studios, a company in London who'll be developing it. Warner Brothers and Eidos is involved and the game is a third-person action game with a mood and story to match that of the magnificent trade and the style of play/setting is purported to be comparable to Bioshock.

Worried about the story? Shut your mouth--Paul Dini's writing this baby. The storyline as reported so far by WorthPlaying has the player-as-Batman delivering The Joker to Arkham, where an impressive amount of other villain characters have set a trap for him. With a setting of Arkham Asylum--and all the varied characters--the graphics damned well better be magnificent. And I'm hoping for an excellent, creepy score instead of cheesy movie knock-off music.

Martin Tremblay, President of Warner Bros. Interactive entertainment had this to say regarding the game, “Batman: Arkham Asylum offers players the chance to battle Gotham’s worst villains with Batman’s physical and psychological strength in a graphically distinct and story-driven game. We look forward to working with Eidos on expanding DC Comics’ world-renowned character Batman in the game space with a noticeably different feature set in an incredibly dark interactive environment."

Keep an eye on the Rocksteady website for more information--hell, keep an eye on it for the awesome countdown graphic that's occupying it right now. Due out in 2009, this baby has definitely hit my preorder list. I should be done with Fallout 3 by then.

Random Fallout 3 note: You will not see ANY PART OF ME the first two weeks after this bad boy is released. Bethesda goddamn guaranteed to give me the video game of my wet dreams. I remember playing Fallout when it first came out. I may cry and start caressing my console (not a euphemism) when I pop that baby in.


Anyone notice a whole lot of Levitz and a whole nada from Didio? Is it really just me--am I just magically noticing Levitz? Is this akin to learning a new word when you were little and then hearing that word all. day. long?

Well, Paul Levitz has an article here, he's talking about Watchmen here and it was Levitz we heard from regarding SDCC. All Newsarama, but CBR doesn't have any Dan Didio at all that isn't panel coverage.

Lionsgate has an upcoming DVD, Next Avengers that'll be out September 2nd. There's a sneak peek of it up on Newsarama, here. "Hawkeye's name is Francis??" Adorable. Looking forward to this.


Watchmen hits a million. Hot damn.


I'm very excited about a local company that's getting press here and gonna take a moment to pimp them out here, as they're taking an awesome approach to raising awareness for several different causes. Five Humans was founded in 2007 by Dan Grunvald and Lee Fine, who had the idea of making hip and interesting t-shirts with slogans and facts regarding different diseases geared towards raising awareness and breaking the silence barrier. They're called Disease Tees, which is awesome, and one of the most interesting and devoted campaigns against ignorance I've seen in a while.

This company has a big heart, great stories and an excellent product. I'd really love to see these shirts on everyone. Right now the causes are diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and the newest one--and an important one for me--autism. They are always expanding, though, and are in the process of designing a new Disease Tee. Ten percent of your purchase goes to the cause it's for and with prices ranging $20 to $35 dollars, this is well worth it. Also? The clothes are totally quality and look awesome. So not only are you supporting a great cause of your choice, but getting cool gear in the process.

Go visit their site and take a look at their products and mission.


Another company is doing an awesome, awesome idea that I'm totally in love with. The site is a little obnoxious, but you'll want one. We Are Numbers.

!!Final Crisis In-Depth Olympics Coverage!!

Final Crisis #3
Writer: Grant Morrison
Art/Cover: JG Jones
Colors/Sliver Cover: Alex Sinclair

Well, this issue certainly provoked some reactions, didn't it?












Reviewing Final Crisis is hard, dammit. Let's do a . . .

Catch-all of the First Two!!

Issue One.

Metron sparked knowledge, giving fire to Anthro, the first boy and we get a lot of cavemen being evil monger scenes. Cut to present day. Danny Turpin finds Orion dying. Orion's last words warn "He is in you all". The Question turns Turpin onto the Dark Side Club. John Stewart gets there first (with the Black Racer hovering behind him) and contacts Hal Jordan--who has been alerted, but ring is not responding at this time. John and Hal lock up the scene of the crime, the Guardians send out a Special Operations Alpha Lantern.

Some expendable good guys, including the unfortunate Mas y Menos, get taken out terrifyingly easily by the Doctor Light/Mirror Master team. Then we see a single a panel interruption of a villain protest march on the streets, where Arsenal, Black Canary, Hawkgirl and Red Tornado rounding them off under threats of lawyers. How random.



Cut back to Doctor Light and Mirror master getting a fancy-pants Metron chair for Libra. Doctor Light needs viagra, or something close, for a big (weeeak, self, weak) date with Giganta.

Libra holds court. Luthor is Very Dubious of his proposition, as is Vandal Savage--who is not averse to the taste of human flesh. Libra, though, is not only possibly not human, he also claims to be the 'balance'. If they team up with him--the Super Secret Society of Villains (apparently a cool name didn't come with those Dalek boots and gloves) and follow his orders, he's going to give them their hearts desire. He wants to 'end the age of superheroes'.

Try This Site, Libra!!

Libra demonstrates his point and awesome, awesome power by giving the Human Flame his heart's desire--a dead Martian Manhunter. A drugged Martian Manhunter is brought out, and then Libra sucker-stabs him through the chest with his neat flaming balance spear (oh, oh, spear? Interesting) thing. Human Flame records it on his cell phone (clearly someone has a very important blog post to make later).
Reverend Good is preaching about the doomed Bludhaven and Turpin is not-really watching it on television as he waits in a bar for an informant about the Dark Side Club. It's a trap. Of course. Apparently Turpin's mama raised a bit of a fool.

Turpin expected someone younger when he met Boss Dark Side. Dark Side discusses how bodies wear out hard in here and how he was hurt in a fall. Turpin wants the kids and Dark Side gives them to him--he'd given them to Granny Goodness. Dark Side discusses how the kids are humanity's best hope for the future, it's 'life force'. And then he takes his glasses off, is red-eyed and wrinkly and claims to have won the war in heaven (was this a last God standing match?).
Dark Side reveals they taught the kids how to say the equation (maybe it's 'Paris Hilton Is So, So Smart). Dark Side calls the kids the 'new model human', and the children come forward, red-eyed.

Cut to a round table of the JLA, in which the conversation is dominated by Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. They discuss the Gods, how powerful they are, and how they need to find them before they strike. The JLA goes to Condition Amber, which--as you can see from the chart below--is likely equivalent to going to Condition Elmo.


Multiverse Monitor Nix Uotan is being punished after what happened to Earth 51 in Countdown. He claims sabatoge but no one cares--he's stripped of his duties, powers and word of attention. Weeja Dell is very, very upset about her boyfriend. She gets comforted by Monitor Zillo Valla, who explains (mostly for the reader) that the Monitors now have names/stories/personalities and that Ogama fears they've been contaminated by their contact with the other worlds (Guardians, anyone?)
We cut to Anthro, being thoughtful against a picturesque sunset over the ocean, serenely drawing symbols in the sand. Kamandi thoughtlessly interrupts this beautiful, Look How Sexily We Have Evolved moment (!!) by demanding the weapon Metron gave him so it can be used against the Gods. Antrho suddenly has face markings (?) like Metron.

We end with Nix Uotan waking up, human, on Earth Ground Zero.

Similarities, anyone?

Thus ends, D.O.A. and the God of War

Now? Issue Two.

The issue opens with the young Japanese superheroes outside a club, waiting to get in. Then it cuts to news flashes insulting them and praising the Old Timers. The youngsters are insulted, protesting and vowing that they'll save the world in their own way. One of the best lines so far, "When will he realize that being fantastic is a superpower in itself?".

Sonny Sumo wants water. Ice. And a tall glass. Possibly combined. His water-ice-tall glass combo is rudely interrupted by a fight proposition, to which he tells the guy to talk to his manager, pisses off Megayakuza (best name evar), gets set on fire (insert flamer joke here) and then jams his fist through Megayakuza's chest.

And then, in the koolest Kombat Fatality ever, he leaves the heart on the tall glass. Woah.



And then, as Sonny is braced over the sink and emoing at himself in the mirror, Mister Miracle rolls into the club, Motherboxxx in tow. Mister Miracle tells Sonny about the war, about how evil won and about how he needs to put a team together because they (the powers of evil) are among them now.

Cut to newly human Nix Uotan, who seems to be searching through a dictionary for a power word. He's totally lost and talking like a crazy person at his shitty job.

Best sign ever is here, "It's OK to have a BIG BELLY". Ahahaha. Excellence.

Words not the power word: bedazzle, bedlam, cathexis, cathode, criminal, crimson, crinkle. possibly all the A words, as well as B (I don't know, though, it happened off panel!!!)

Cut to Danny Turpin--he escaped the Evil Children!--beating the hell out of Some Guy in an attempt to find the kids. Some Guy made prototype mind control hats. Turpin reveals his turn-ons aren't just walks on the beach, but also the sound of breath whistling through smashed cartilage.

He thinks something is wrong with him, but that's not stopping him from beating the fuck out of Some Guy. He doesn't feel good, the bathroom's covered in blood and he jets to Bludhaven.
Slip to a page of our superheroes mourning and speaking above J'onn J'onzz's casket.

Cut to Libra, asking his Round Table Of SSSV's and potential SSSV's if they're convinced. Luthor? Not so much. "Hurt Superman, perhaps I'll take you more seriously". Clayface is a fanboy and apparently next on the Libra Gift List.Libra takes Luthor up on his condition. Luthor and Vandal Savage are hanging out outside, getting their rides and discussing making an alliance with Sivana The Reptile Thing against Libra. Savage is too bored, apparently, and Libra is offering up more amusement than anything else.

The Human Torch is quick to reassure Libra, calling him 'Boss' which Libra rejects (someone prefers 'Daddy'). The Human Torch tells Libra he owes him big time, which Libra replies (a little ominously, if you ask me) "Why don't we go back inside and talk about . . . well . . . about what you owe me."

Back to Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and others. They discuss everything that's already happened, then the Special Operations Alpha Lantern Kraken is introduced. She's entirely unimpressed by the JLA, and unimpressed by Jordan and how much attention he gives Earth.

It's revealed that Orion was shot. Batman gets snippy. Kraken is snippy. Batman doesn't remember voting the Guardians in (it's those benders, my friend) and Kraken thinks they're all idiots. Especially Jordan.

On to John Stewart, who is guarding the scene of the crime and Opto is with him . . . and hearing sounds, apparently. There's a trace of something Stewart's ring is detecting, that has been there for fifty years or so and, according to Stewart, makes it a pretty unlikely murder weapon. Opto leaves to find that noise again. Stewart digs up the object, which seems to be a bullet, the ring warns of unidentified theotoxic trace material, discusses that it's found in the Guardian Archives, says it's Radion, calls an emergency and then totally runs out of batteries.And then he gets attacked by an arm who has a ring, gets stakes thrown at him (more Jesus here). They say, "Say goodbye to your eyes".

Cut to Hal Jordan's bedroom, where Alpha Kraken and Company invade, place him under arrest for the attempted murder of Orion and John Stewart. Over to Batman and Superman, discussing the arrest and knowing Jordan didn't do it. Batman doesn't trust Kraken. Superman needs an hour or too, tells him Doctor Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman are with John Stewart, healing him. Superman apparently needs to let Clark Kent out of the bag too.

"Hh. Superman, Superman."

Batman goes and confronts Kraken. That is the opposite of how it went, which just proves once and for all that old Kirk vs Batman debate. Before Kraken seems to be taken over, she says "Help me! She's eating my mind alive . . . tell them our weapons don't work . . . tell them . . ." Batman calls for a Black Alert and for the Hall of Justice to be secured before Kraken puts him in a boom tube, apparently sending her to Granny.

Black Alert?

Turpin arrives in Bludhaven, which looks like a warzone. Reverend Good is there and calls him over. Cut to inside a lair, and some excellent lines from Reverend Good. "See how selflessly we prepared this pit of human suffering and sickness as a cradle for your rebirth. We've already won. And they don't even know!"

Turpin asks about the kids. Good tells him he already met the kids. Turpin is confused, complains about the air screwing with him and finally, goddamn finally says the question half the readers had been screaming since Anthro got fire: "What the hell's going on here?"

"We, sir, are the Gods of Apokolips, manifesting in all our bleak majesty to bring about the final crisis of man. Come in, come in. All is begun. They've even grown a new body for your son, Kalibek The Cruel."


Kamandi is in a cage, yelling to Turpin that they're making slaves--we see dozens, possibly more, people trapped in cages. Good says they're destined to become 'subhuman degenerates, living, breeding joylessly, and dying in agony to serve the eternal, all-consuming firepits'.
The Evil Factory is open for business, and we get a panel of people strapped to operating tables, people trapped in what appear to be stasis chambers, Batman trapped in . . . whatever the hell that is and blood and guts on the floor.

Good tells Turpin, "Where the New Gods fell, what chance have Earth's primitive strongmen against all the armies of Apokolips? See, we started rounding them up already!"



Turpin says there's someone in his head and Batman tells him that they're coming to get them all, to warn the Justice League and, as a helmet drops down on his fine, fine skull, to warn everyone.

To Clark Kent, talking to Perry White and clearly not focusing. He's looking at Jimmy, who, runs downstairs and we see him slide into Clayface in the elevator. Uh oh. As Clark puts two and two together, the Daily Planet explodes. Lois doesn't look good.

The Flashes, Wally and Jay. Wally discusses how that Overlord Batman told him to read through the internet, looking for unusual activity around the time J'onn was murdered. He asked Jay to tag along and they end up at a strip club--Jay reveals that this is where he met Barry. Note: It used to be a city community center. Jay laments Barry and J'onn as Wally reveals that a seismic pulse, around the time J'onn's heart exploded, originated from this location. He found traces of J'onn's blood and the crime bible. And Metron's Mobius chair.

Wally runs with Batman Crazy Theories and is working on a theory of a bullet fired backwards through time. Jay TOUCHES THE CHAIR and gets struck by lightning.
Wally wonders if this is where the God-Bullet breaks into time. He guesses, "the shell travels through time, kills back through time, kills Orion, and passes through him into the past where it finally buries itself in the concrete fifty years ago. And that thing there is the scope of a higher-dimensional gun."

Then, the chair lights up and probably makes a lot of noise and definitely has some vibrations attached to it ($499.99 at your local Linen and Things, 10% discount with Linen and Things credit card) and Jay recognizes the good vibrations.

And enter one of my favorite all time splash pages in a comic book: Barry, Black Racer and a Speeding Bullet, with Barry yelling, "Run!"

Wrong Bullet. Sorry ladies.

Thus ends Ticket to Bludhaven.

Issue 3. Finally.

We open with S.H.A.D.E. Agents busting into the Dark Side Club, with Frankentstein. Let's all have a Moment of Awesome for Frankentstein.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwesome.

Dark Side's body is mummified and The Question is there. The S.HA.D.E. Agents yell that Frankenstein already told her to freeze, she stole some of Batman's awesome kit and smokebombs her way out of there--but not before asking about what happened to Danny Turpin (*cough*newDarkSide*cough*). Lightning in the sky. Frankenstein examining the body. Montoya walking down the street. Lightning turns into fiery ball. An electronic cursor magically appearing next to the mummified corpse, Frankenstein asking Father Time if he's seeing that the magic cursor thing is writing something.

Father Time puts Frankenstein on hold and tells Taleb that his New York team just found the Ark of the Covenant. Taleb says he's ordered a crate, the fiery ball of person falls through buildings, the cursor writes "Know Evil". Taleb tells Father Time about Bludhaven--where a warlord has set himself up in the weapons bunker and killing anyone who gets close. Americans don't need to know about this and he needs Father Time's most expendable agents.

. . . after he has explained to Montoya their plans for her in the Global Law Enforcement! Because now is the perfect time for that.

The fiery ball has landed and it was a fiery ball of German Supergirl, with Montoya first on the scene. German Supergirl tells us that she's the German Supergirl (thanks), that Hell has won and heaven is bleeding, which we've totally heard before! Nothing like a redux--thanks for nothing!

S.H.A.D.E. Agents abscond (possibly) with Montoya.

Cut to Nix, who gets fired for being That Creepy Employee. Graviton is a dirty word--but the impact fields are increasing, if you ask Nix.

Nix is moping on the street and stops at a window to watch the news. The symbol Anthro drew in the very first issue makes a second appearance in the New York Subway Extension. Apparently crop circles of the same order are appearing in England. And, as Nix watches, he's being watched by Monitor Zillo Valla.

The news carries us from Nix and Valla to the Flashes, where Jay is telling the family what happened. They ran. And ran. After the Bullet--but none of them could catch it, and we get a shot of Orion getting shot with the Black Racer right there with them.

Cut to Black Racer standing over Orion with Turpin there. To Flashes reflected in his helmet. TO Barry and Wally outrunning the Black Racer. To Jay telling the women the story and confirming that it was Barry.

Cut to Libra and the Human Flame, in some shell looking place. The Human Flame establishes his idiocy with a worried homophobic comment about how generous Libra's being to him--it's a new digs and an outfit, apparently, that pushes him over the edge. Libra says that the new hideout and uniform is the Human Flame's commitment to a higher purpose and asks him to try it out. He goes for the helmet and hears a voice.

Libra asks him to listen closely.

And Libra slams the helmet down on Human Flame's head, "That's the Anti-Life Equation, you pathetic, ignorant little failure!". Which was awesome. And totally interrupted by I-Can't-Be-Bothered-To-Make-An-Appointment Luthor, who is way, way early for the SSSV meeting.

God, Libra doesn't even have the decoder rings ready yet!

Libra says Mike, The Human Flame Slave, almost choked to death, but he's much better now and asks if Luthor's taking him seriously yet. Luthor . . . well, he's impressed, because Superman's been out of his . . . er. Eyebrow hair for 18 hours.

Not that impressed, though, because after Libra says Luthor owes him, Luthor denies it and admits Libra's a threat. That needs to be neutralized.

Libra reintroduces Mike The Human Flame Slave--and fuck if Libra doesn't have some of the most bad-ass dialogue, "You remember Mike, don't you? 'Halfwit' Mike, 'Nonentity' Mike. The 'Human Flame'."

And then, Mike, who is part of something much bigger now, says, "Judge others. Enslave others. Anti-Life justifies my hatred."

And Libra delivers the ultimate goods to Luthor, an offer good for less than a day: Join. Be like Mike or "renounce science, swear an oath on the Bible of Crime and pledge your service to the Master of All Evil. The day of Apokolips is at hand, sir, and I am only its Prophet." (Personally, I find the specific, "renounce science" comment particularly interesting when put to a man like Luthor.)

Wrong Mike.

Now we're at Metropolis Memorial Hospital, where Clark is with Lois and Jimmy Olsen. Lois is fucked. up. Perry's on life support and two red shirts got it even worse. Jim leaves him alone with Lois, off to try and find Superman. Clark reveals that his heat vision is the only thing keeping Lois alive. He apologizes to her and says he'd do anything to take the pain away. Anything.

Anything?

Reveal Monitor Valla, spying again, and telling Clark Kent she knows who he really is. She knows everything and he must come with her if he wants one chance to save her, but they must leave now.

Cut to Hal chained by the Alpha Lanterns. JLA members are adament he didn't do it, Kraken is mocking the existence of 'Evil Gods' and Hal can't remember where he was when Orion was killed or John was attacked. He'll go clear this up with the Guardians, everything'll be A-OK.

No, really!

Wonder Woman and Company surmise the situation, yet again in a useless two panels, and then discuss how they need an army. How they need . . . Article X.

Cue music.

Alan Scott, fabulous cape and all, gets on the horn to Oracle, who'll be the new hub of communications for the superhero community. They tell us where they've set her up and reassure her of being indispensable (useless panel).

In cool news: There's a new Aquaman, who looks awesome as a whale (?) informs him of Article X. We interrupt Shazam's moping, then he 'shazams'--thank god. Supergirl asks her at to not pee in her laundry basket while she's gone and is apparently doing some outfit redesign. Tawny needs a jet pack. Black Canary and Green Arrow's sex life is healthy and GA thinks the man is after him.

But still gets bossed around nicely by the wife.

Cue Alan Scott, looking at all the assembled superheroes and dares anyone stand against them!

Cut to Mister Miracle and Sonny Sumo, headed to an airplane. Mister Miracle gives a bit of information about how he crawled out of the grave, only due to Motherboxxx. They have apparently convinced Sumo, or at least convinced him enough, though he's really dubious as to whether or not a Sumo Wrestler and an escape artist are going to be able to fight this. Mister Miracle says no one has a choice.

Then, their plane explodes and it looks like the Human Helmet Slaves are after them and they're in a terrible terrible position.

And, in one of the greatest rescues ever, the Super Young Team drive in (because they were stalking after them) and Mister Miracle, Motherboxxx and Sonny Sumo hop in, with the Human Helmet Slaves hot on their tailpipes. The Super Young Team fan at the three, Mister Miracle warns them off and says they can't be involved and Superbat--who has clearly been taking How To Be Cool lessons from Robin--says, "Excuse me. We are the Super Young Team. We've done this sort of thing before." And the car totally takes off.

Cut to Wonder Woman in Bludhaven, carrying a little girl out, escorting the mother and discussing that they need to get out and stay out of Bludhaven. We're introduced to the Atomic Knights that S.H.A.D.E. has set up for patrolling.

Wonder Woman wants to go in.

Atomic Knights are--ahahahhahahahahhahahahaha--required to accompany her into contaminated territory and ask her if she wants to wait for back-up. Wonder Woman declines.

Command-D is brought up and identified--a gene weapons test site they build under over of the rubble at Chemo Ground Zero. Man, if Nightwing saw this shit . . .

A local crimelord is holed up in there, airstrikes are out of the question so they're sending in Super-Soldiers.

Their pony dogs, which are awesome, are the result of the Command-D research. Marene Herald, one of the knight's, introduces herself (RED SHIRT ALERT) and tells Wonder Woman what an honor it is and what an inspiration she is. Wonder Woman says she's proud and then they're rudely interrupted by dead bodies. What. Ever.

Wonder Woman asks what happened and Marene Red Shirt tells us it was S.H.A.D.E. operatives, the guy said his name was Replika, that they were all him and then they get rudely interrupted again, this time by . . .

Mary Marvel.

Wonder Woman masters the obvious, with "You look different. . ."

No shit. She looks like she got attacked by an S&M Fetish Designer armed with a razor.

I think it's ridiculous. And awesome.

Mary tells WW that she couldn't stand to be so plain and boring one second longer (clearly and hey, Mary? Problem totally solved) and recommends the Flesh Farm at Command-D for WW.

And then they fight. And it's kind of awesome and not long enough. Mary beheads a pony dog and slices Marene Red Shirt in half. Maybe she shouldn't have introduced herself.

Wonder Woman somehow gets Mary on the ground, tells the remaining knight not to fire--"No! Your weapons can't harm her! She's not a killer!"

. . . uh. Really? Wonder Woman?

I'm no doctor, but I think she's dead, Jim.

Mary says she does what Darkseid tells her now. She says they've been hiding in human bodies and that superheroes are too late. Wonder Woman is shocked. Mary tells her in five minutes Anti-Life Equation goes global and they're all fucked.

But not to worry, Wonder Woman, you'll be working for Darkseid too. They need a carrier monkey, and you're it!

Times you don't want to win 'Eenie Meenie Miney Moe', I suppose.

She infects Wonder Woman.

Cut to Mokkari, who identifies himself and his cause before pushing the should've-been-a-red button to send out the Equation.
Mr. Terrific is at the castle and asks Oracle to check something. In true Bat Fashion, she's way ahead of him. Someone in Bludhaven has just sent an e-mail to every single person in the entire world. It's opening itself. Oracle wants to shut it down. She has to kill the net and yells, "Pull the plugs! Oh God. Pull the plugs before it--"

Next panel is a screen shutting down.

Cut to Barry and Wally, finally done running. Wally says they've run a few weeks into the future. Barry laments they couldn't save Orion and he doesn't know why he came back and all around them, the world is trashed.

We see a boot, clearly Wonder Woman's, as he asks why he's back, what they've done to the world.

Last splash page, another great one imo.

Boar Head Wonder Woman on Evil Pony Dogs. "Superheroes. Kill." Wonder Woman clearly didn't take Mary's earlier fashion device and opted to go with the Hell Pigs line instead. It's a . . . choice. Certainly.

The Anti-Life possessed Wonder Woman, Elasti-Girl, Bat-Woman and an oddly normal looking Catwoman. Perhaps because she's a villain?

And so ends Know Evil.

So? After I spend four hours rereading everything, going through it for everyone panel by panel and finding funny little pictures, what do I think?

. . . well, I like it. I like it a lot. I think a lot happens. I think a whole fuckload happens in this series--compare this 3 with Secret Invasion's. People complain there's too much fighting there, not enough explanation and over here it's the opposite.

Combine forces for . . . er. The Skrull Anti-Life Equation?

I think this is fascinating--the mythology Morrison is bringing in, everything from Christianity to old-school Pantheons is fascinating. Science vs. Magic and Good vs Evil where Evil has totally already kicked your ass.

I'm bummed I have to wait two months, but the tie-ins look really, really promising.

I think where the plot fails the most is with the main superheroes--I love everything else, the villain talk, the Super Young Team, Mister Miracle, Turpin, all of that. But as soon as it gets to Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, the plot falters--most especially and noticeably with Wonder Woman in Bludhaven and readers getting a little lost as to why, how and what's going on with S.H.A.D.E. But, the fail isn't even that much, I honestly don't think so and especially not with Batman and Kraken scene, it's just where the writing hits its weakest point.

And off-panel events are a matter of taste--and writing. Morrison does a lot of it, I'm used to it from him and I think it was done well enough. Over at Nightwing, for example, it was done terribly, but that was slack that wasn't picked up in Nightwing's book.

I don't think criticisms are necessarily off with this book--again, Morrison is a definite love-or-don't writer, but what I do think is how everyone forgets it all makes sense in the trade. Which is why I opted to do this long ass coverage of the first three issues. See how everything's tying in together? See the things that are relating, the overlaying themes?

Mary Marvel, check back with me. I think her outfit is hysterical and eight pounds of awesome, but I'm also not sure why the fuck it had to be her. Got a reason?

Tell me what you think--agree, disagree, where, all of it. Inquiring minds and I spent too damn long on this not to get any discussions.

Any mistakes made are ones born of hours spent writing all this up--note to me via Twitter or in a comment and I'll fix it when I get back from grocery shopping. Also, let me know what you think of my In-Depth review, I quite liked doing this and think I'll start doing one a week in the future for various events.

And? Thanks for reading all this. Very much.