Thursday, September 24, 2009

Because I Don't Talk Often Enough About How Much I Love the Arrow Family...

I completely forgot to post about something that did make me happy last week, especially considering how unhappy I've been with Green Arrow/Black Canary lately: Speedy is back!

Yay! And not only is she back, she's changed her costume, too, and I completely approve. Now she's black and yellow, and it's very striking... and it just so happens to match Dinah's look!

I love Dinah and Mia's sister/mother/daughter/friend relationship (remember when Mia was super pissed and wouldn't talk to Ollie when she found out he cheated on Dinah?) and I like to think the costume change is a nice little nod to the fact that Mia loves and respects her.

Friday, September 18, 2009

I've Got My Eye On You, Indigo-1.

Minor spoilers for Blackest Night #3 below. Nik nak nok!

I'll just be blunt: I don't like or trust the Indigo Tribe.

To be fair, we haven't seen much of them yet. For a long time all we got was a sketch or two, and I'll admit that part of my dislike probably stems from the fact that, when we first got a glimpse of the lady we now know as Indigo-1, I was underwhelmed with her character design. I've seen more than one fan talk about how hot she is, but to me she just looks like yet another generic sorta-bald alien chick like something you'd see on Star Trek. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, of course. I'm just constantly disappointed with the lack of good female characters in the main Green Lantern title (GLC is much better with the additions of Soranik, Iolande, the return of Arisia, adorable and interesting Star Sapphire Miri, etc.) and the fact that, of the leaders of each of the colors of the spectrum, the only other female just so happens to be Hal Jordan's long-time love interest. And of course a main female character being the woman that the main male character is, or once was, or wants to, "get busy" with is about the oldest female character cliche in comics. So I had high hopes for a Corps led by a woman, and it disappoints me a little that I don't like her look, or her personality. (Strong woman is great, but she strikes me as being one of that other type of female cliche -- the strong woman who's sort of cold and aloof). I might yet be proven wrong about that.

And I do like the character designs of the other Tribe members we've seen. Even Skrull-chin guy. But especially little squid guy.

But if the Indigo Tribe's definition of "compassion" is suffocating a wounded Lantern to put him out of his misery without bothering to ask him first (like they seemingly did in Tales of the Corps), I'm not sure that I want what they're pushing. That, coupled with the way they snatched Hal and left his allies alone and willpower-less here in Blackest Night #3 makes me really question what compassion is supposed to be. I assume they took him to go start gathering the other leaders of the other Corps, which would explain how he ends up in space with Carol and Sinestro in his next slated appearance in Green Lantern #46, and that is a very important mission. Yes, I suppose the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But... a little compassion for the group of people you just left behind to be totally farked, guys? You just told them that they need a Green Lantern and another color in order to have a hope of defeating those Black Lanterns... and then you proceed to not only remove their Green Lantern (push comes to shove, they might be able to find Alan Scott, right? Assuming his ring even works the way they need it to), but you remove yourselves from the picture as well -- and the other spectrum colors are a little harder to find! I guess these days you can't throw a rock in space without hitting a ring-wielder of some color (I like to think that Guy would put it that way), but things are a little different on Earth. There aren't any random Sinestro Corpsmen, or Blue Lanterns, or Red Lanterns, or... well, anything, really. Couldn't they have at least left one of their tribe behind to help, in case the heroes somehow managed to get ahold of Alan?

Nope. They kidnapped Hal and left Ray, Mera, Barry, and company to what should be (from Indigo's point of view, anyway), an almost certain death. Maybe they'll have a little moment of silence for them -- that would be compassionate, I guess?

My other question is... is compassion really that rare of an emotion? Because despite what a lot of people like to think about the ugliness of the world, I think that most people have quite a bit of compassion in them -- though occasionally they have to be reminded to slow down and think for a minute before they realize what other people are going through.

I dunno, if compassion is that amazingly rare, I think everyone is in trouble. It sounds like something that fits more with Sinestro's view of the universe than I'm comfortable with. After all, isn't he the one that thinks the universe is a horrible, twisted, unforgiving place that needs to be fixed?

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Zoomneto, Master of Flashetism

Have you ever been reading a book or comic, or watching a movie, and enjoying it quite a bit, when one simple little detail that shouldn't be important at all just... totally ruins it for you? Or maybe not ruins it, but pulls you momentarily out of that place your mind goes when you're in the middle of following a story?

I was reading the newest issue of Flash: Rebirth the other day, and that happened to me. I've been really enjoying the series so far. It doesn't feel as "epic" as Green Lantern: Rebirth did, and I'm a little leery of the little retcon about Barry's childhood, but I've still really liked most of the developments within and I can't wait to see where it's going next. This issue was no exception.

It's nearing the climax of the series, and Barry and Zoom are having their confrontation at last, which makes me happy. I always liked Zoom as a villain. He's delightfully insane and obsessive, and being from the future, he has knowledge of the past that makes him a serious threat to the Flash family. He reminds me of Sinestro in a lot of ways (and apparently Geoff Johns feels the same way): they're both obsessive (to varying degrees), they both have a lot of history with their respective nemeses, and they're both more intelligent than the hero that somehow constantly thwarts them, too. Barry is a genius, of course, but he's also hopelessly oblivious sometimes, as Zoom points out. And Hal, well... we all know he's got fluff for brains most of the time.

So I'm reading along, all on the edge of my seat, enjoying myself, when something that totally shouldn't bother me happens: Zoom whips his mask off, revealing... medium-length curly white hair.

GAH!

I know, I know, it's silly. There's nothing wrong with hair like that. It makes Magneto look exceptionally hot, after all, and I am a firm believer that the Master of Magnetism is pretty much the sexy standard to which all villains should hold themselves.

But for some reason, it just... seemed wrong. It looks like something you'd see in a comic from the 90's, and not the sort of haircut you'd see on a guy like Zoom. It just doesn't fit with how I envision him. And that tiny little detail was enough to actually drag me out of my reading experience for a moment.

But the rest of the issue was awesome. MAX MERCURY!