DC's The New 52- One Month Later

DC's the New 52 event kicked off at the end of August with the finale of Flashpoint #5 and the jumping on point for all of the #1s to come in Justice League.  As of yesterday all 52 issues of DC's first wave of books have hit the shelves so why not take some time in evaluating what has gone down in true DC fashion with an appropriately named One Month Later (clever play on the One Year Later event that DC rocked prior).

I will attempt to breakdown what we have experienced in the last 30 days through all of the elements that make up the comics industry.  Yeah, yeah I know that you might label things differently or have a few more components as to what "the industry" is-- just play along, for now.

Media: Being a proud member of the comics press community for the last 3 years I can say without question-- we have never seen anything quite as massive as The New 52.  Let's speak purely from how much DC has attacked the various media outlets be it traditional- store merchandising, TV, radio, print-newspapers/mags or via the interwebs and social media.  Every damn day whether it was on your morning news, a commercial during the football game, FB / twitter-- from your granny to the 13 yr old wannabe hipster on your block (we all have a few in the hood) #thenew52 was blasted into our realities, whether you were a comics reader or not.

DC has virtually owned the comics airwaves despite efforts from Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and other publishers looking to jump on the New 52 media circus.   Sadly, any noise that the rest of the market makes is less than newsworthy if it doesn't correspond to what the next #1 will be.

Poor Bucky Barnes (who has been Captain America for the last 2 years) got axed in Marvel's "big" event and nobody hardly took notice.  Along with visiting most of the major comics/film/entertainment sites/blogs (15-20 of em) on the daily-- I spent a good amount of time reading what was being picked up and reported by the New York Times, Forbes and other old-school Wasp(y) reads.  DC The New 52 owned em all.  I couldn't have been more excited to see how comicbooks were jamming the press feeds, not just the films (adapted from comics).

A shot from my LCS- Comics Conspiracy's DC New52 Midnight Party! 

Retail:  As a daily commuter across the Bay Area from home to work, I make efforts to hit up at least 5 to 6 of my fave shops during the week so that I can truly experience what stores in different areas are going through.  Only two of the comics shops I regular are DC vs Marvel shops so though I am quite biased as a DC reader-- what I saw take place in the last month at the shops is pretty damn objective.

Marvel stores that had low subscribers of DC books went with their business instincts and ordered conservatively on most new #1s.  On the regular these stores sold out of all DC books and regularly had to tell customers (many of which were new walk-ins) to try again when they get the 2nd or 3rd print.  The shops that stuck to their guns ended up flexing over Marvel and other indie books so that their DC section wasn't just completely bare or plastered with sold out shelf cards.  Most stores have informed me that they have adjusted orders but are still conservative being that the #1 "hype" and excitement usually dies out around issue 3 to 4.

The DC shops that went balls out on ordering-- I am talking 100 to 200 per book-- sold out on most titles, minus of course the few not so great reads (Batwing, OMAC, Mister Terrific).  There are some days where I spend over 2 to 3 hours in one shop and on the real, there are hordes of new readers popping in on the regular simply being that they have books to sell. 

Another aspect that DC may or may have not intended is the additional biz they have thrown towards retail with the digital books being avail on the same day as print.  Stores that have connected with Comixology for the digital store front program are making some nice coin as affiliates.  $$$

I am not the biggest supporter of variants but if there is an artist I enjoy that rocks an ill cover I will pick it up.  Again, the variants are usually issued on a ratio basis, ie- 1:25 -- I have enjoyed walking in on Wednesday and picking up the ones I liked at cover price-- while other shops are selling the variants for $15 and up.  Most shops with that MO say that market price is Ebay...don't believe the hype!!!  One other funny thing is many shop owners/staff that you would think read regularly--actually don't (someone has to order and organize the store!)-- have started to keep current so that they can umm...know whats up with this whole New52 and evangelize the ones they like.


Creators:  DC Comics executive team (Big5 pictured below) along with colorists, inkers, editors and everyone else that contribute to the medium have good reason to be shining their pearly whites.  Never before have creators been practically handed Geoff Johns/Grant Morrison level autonomy of dissecting and rejiggering (for you Brock) characters that in some cases have been protected from such change for over 50-75 years.  This was more than a shake up or reboot.  Didio went as far as saying this was about survival of the industry itself. With higher risk also comes the reward.

EVP John Rood, CCO Geoff Johns, Prez Diane Nelson, Co-Pubs Dan Didio & Jim Lee

We are all sharing in a complete revitalization of
the whole of the DC Universe.

The long rumored fusion of DCE properties- Wildstorm and Vertigo (most but not all for now at least) are now ingrained and woven into the DCU as if it has always been such.  Lee, Mark Chiarello, Cully Hamner and other creative teams helped to celebrate this by delivering books with fresh, newly minted, modernized logos (minus a few like Superman). And they didn't stop there.  Not only do heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman (The Big 3) have new duds but in most cases their history and characterizations are all new.

Obviously this has generated excitement with creators as they are all looking at eachother, meshing the worlds of Swamp Thing, Stormwatch, Madame Xanadu, Grifter and the Justice League for the first time ever-- while cheering eachother on (loved following tweets from Scott Snyder and Paul Cornell) and forming this kind of synergy that is bringing the best out of eachother.  Tony Daniel and Francis Manapul are showing that you can handle art/scribe duties and give us top-notch stories.  The long-held power center of the Big 3 is garnering less attention from us because of inventive, fabulous reads like Animal Man, Batwoman and Demon Knights.  Who woulda thought?  


Readers: Yes, that pertains to you and me, saving the best part for last of course.  There would be no industry if we didn't shell out our hard earned skrill.  It sure does make it easier to digest investing in the 33 books I started with of The New 52 being only $2.99.  That is for those that don't know one to three dollars less than many other price tags for books on the shelves.  Sweet! 

The buzz and excitement has driven many of my friends back into comics, those that never really picked up DC titles onboard and peeps like me with a nice entry point to books that I was always curious about.  Every Wednesday you can feel the love for comics with more and more shop talk centered on what was your fave #1, which was the surprise read and super fun to play Wheres Walda? (the name that some of us have called the shadowy, hooded-troll chick thats in every ish).

One of the regular Wednesday guys at the LCS- Scott, even admitted that he is talking/texting so much more than before with homies on the regular to see what others thoughts and impressions were on various titles.  You just gotta love it!

Here are my Top 10 of the #1s that I have read from the New 52:

10. Aquaman

9.   Fury of Firestorms

8.   Wonder Woman

7.   Green Lantern

6.   Detective Comics

5.   Action Comics

4.   Catwoman

3.   Batwoman

2.   Animal Man

1.   Justice League

And my bottom 5:

52.  Mister Terrific

51.  Voodoo

50.  Green Arrow

49.  Men of War

48.  Blue Beetle

Thank you to Diane Nelson and the rest of the DCE that have helped to create one of the best months in comics in my 20+ years of reading!  Can't wait for October!


PS.  Marvel please step up your game and make better comics not just films.  Kthxbai!



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SDCC 2011: DC- The New 52

Following David Finch was DC: The New 52 panel, which was moderated by Dave Cunningham and delivered by Dan DiDio, Eddie Berganza, Bob Harras and Jim Lee.  The group pointed out that with a New 52 panel everyday of the show-- today would be more on how they got to this point or-- a behind the scenes of the New 52 through their very insider points of view.  Dan commented that during what should have been a big month/quarter in comicbooks, things were not looking so good.  Rather than giving in to apathy they all

started having conversations with writers and artists on what would be the beginnings of conceptualizing The New 52.

The panel continued on how many of their top characters, with an emphasis on the World's Finest (Superman & Batman) have started to really show their age looking like they are in their 40's or 50's (Dan said there wasn't nuthin wrong with that..as the panel and crowd laughed), but this signaled how a refresh was needed to give more access to DC's iconic heroes/villians.

Berganza spoke on how that this wasn't a mere refresh as there are many historic events (that was composed by him and he calls it the 5 yr timeline) that have remained intact with many of the characters though many of the DCU will look more in their 20's or so. 

After going over some more tidbits here and there Jim Lee stunned the crowd by going into explaining the first seven pages of his (and Geoff Johns) book- Justice League. 

Obviously there are no word bubbles or narratives so Jim filled up the crowded room with riotous laughter by making ka-blam, pow and gunfire sounds explaining how this is a normal thing when he draws-- he also went into how he has to do most of this kind of work with his door closed late at night so his wife doesn't think he is nuts.

I looked at her (as she was sitting one row ahead) and she was looking at him and nodding her head that this is the case.  I suppose that he is crazy.  Not cause he is Korean or anything..just calling it like I see it.

Lee went on in jumping from his comedy act to real deets on how this is a much less battle tested Batman that was refreshing for him to take on and allowed him to do never before action shots like-- Batman's cowl getting knocked out of place from this unknown adversary.  Another first was the fire engine that is a construct of, yes you guessed it right!  Green Lantern!

If this preview art shows anything its that the JL book will be the real-deal and that some serious record-breaking sales figures are about to be hit hard.  No doubt.  Lee finished up his slideshow by acting like Batman and asking GL to turn off his light so they can just hang in the shadows.  That's one funny mofo!

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WTF moment of the Week- DC: The New 52

DC Comics has released a solid sizzle reel that was shown at the DC Retailer Summit last month at WB Studios.  The video showcase highlights a good amount of reasons to be pumped for the August 31st start date of The New 52-- as told by DC creators Grant Morrison, Bob Harras, Jim Lee, Eddie Berganza and Dan DiDio.  52 new books, 52 creators = $$$!  From looking at the compiled list I will be picking up at least 21 of the new releases and who knows if I will have the strength and discipline to hold out on the others.  Definitely going print vs. digital cos thats just how I do!!

After watching the vid the second time around I couldn't help but pull out the Justice League image above, scanning the fresh Jim Lee art and thinking just how ill it will be to have Geoff Johns and Lee bringing us a Justice League comic.


Thanks to BleedingCool for uploading the reel for all of us on YouTube.



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Overcome Your Fear!! Go Watch Green Lantern

A lot is riding on the success of The Green Lantern opening weekend, with it being the first big Superhero film not called Superman or Batman from the WB/DCE camp and with all of the stiff competition of other solid comicbook and genre films out now.  We all heard the talks of this being the next Harry Potter-like cash-cow for Warner-- from talks with friends at the shops yesterday-- I heard that most of the "critics" reviews were sucky, while most "comic" sites were on the opposite spectrum.

So when I walked into the theatre and sat down I tried to keep expectations marginal though I am obviously one of those geeks running around in those cool muti-colored Lantern shirts...the opening trailers ended and my fears of this film being shitty started to creep in more.

If there was ever a superhero film that gave me tingles (Dark Knight doesn't count cause well he is more an anti-hero)..I have to think back to Richard Donner's Superman back in the 70's.  From John Williams' goose-bump inducing score, to the on-screen magic of Lois & Clark that played so naturally between Margot Kidder and the immortal Christopher Reeve, to just any time we saw Kal-El in flight-- making us almost feel like we can do the same-- the film was unforgettably breathtaking.

15 minutes into Green Lantern, 30 minutes and then an hour later-- I was getting Donner-like deja va and I thought to myself-- how brilliant it was for Martin Campbell and crew to use that Superman-nostalgia in how GL was filmed.  Don't read on unless you want some SPOILERS.

What makes Hal Jordan such a compelling character is he is an everyman, powerless, flawed and just as heroic with or without his power ring on.  Reynolds captured Jordan's essence to the T.

Enough time was spent in the beginning of the film to reinforce the importance of Hal's deep connection to his father.  And how he has still yet to cope with his father's loss.   This was the source of Jordan's fear that made him go Maverick into a flat-spin that ended up making him lose his plane and nearly bite the big one.  Lively as Carol Ferris was spot on showing the fire, strength and grit that many modern women can identify with but also being a tether to Hal and helping to push him to be the hero he could be.  Her use of the AI craft missiles in saving Hals' life from near annihilation at the hands of Krona/Parallax rawked.   

Another homage to the Donner Superman films was the repeated use of intimate, romantic patio scenes were Hal flew in to visit with Sapphire..err I mean Ferris.  But damn let's all hope that Lively is signed on to the trilogy so she can get some ring-slinging on as the Queen of the Star Sapphires!

Everything OA was ill!  Sure there wasn't a lot of time spent in space but enough was provided to show how truly intergalactic they could get in the films to follow.  The Guardians character designs were slick, especially how their robes were flowing down each of the thrones in their Citadel.  CG-characters like Tomar-Re, Kilowog and the like were solid but some atmospheric shots were a bit low-tech looking but that's me being a lame internet geek looking for the flaws in things.  I was really pleased with how Thomas Kalamaku was written into the story as his best friend and a prominent cog of Hal's life as a pilot.  A far departure from the rascist "Pie-Face" shit going on in the 60-70's.

Parallax attacking Coast City was one of the more haunting imagery that will stay with us for awhile making us remember how crazy things were with footage of hundreds of people running away from groundzero during 911.

Intergalactic in scale but grounded in reality.   Martin Campbell didn't do it alone though..let's not forget that his Co-Producer, Geoff Johns was once an understudy to the legendary Richard Donner.  And the groundwork of this film is largely adapted from Johns' incredible retcon reboot of GL in Rebirth that also gets shine in the first of it's kind after the end credits.

Green Lantern is Superman: The Movie reincarnated in 2011 with all the fascinating use of CG, technologies but with the timeless quality of solid acting, strong directing and so on that leads to movie-magic.

I really couldn't have been happier leaving the theatre with thoughts that Green Lantern was created as an epic film experience first but treated as a comicbook movie with equality.

Actually I am about to head out to meet with some friends now to re-watch it in 3D! 

The above deviantart will eventually be replaced by the after credits final scene that shows Mark Strong enter his destiny of being Hal's greatest enemy as leader of the Sinestro Corps.  I literally crapped my pants that they jumped right into that!

Go check it out and tell a friend to do the same! 



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if you don't know, now you know- DC Reboot Post Flashpoint

So the last few weeks and for others, years (looking at you Rich and Ryan) has been a longtime coming with the official confirmation that DC Comics will be rebooting all 52 books at the end of their big Summer crossover event- Flashpoint.

Everyone and their mama in and outside the world of comics have since been throwing out their thoughts, opinions and so on in forums, feeds and tweets-- for a quickie recap here is what has been said today by DC:

We’ll be renumbering the entire DC Universe line of comic books with 52 first issues. We’re publishing innovative storylines featuring our most iconic characters helmed by some of the most creative minds within the industry.
Not only will this initiative be compelling for existing readers, it’ll give new readers a precise entry point into our titles. And on top of that, all of these titles will be released digital day-and-date across the board.
Yesterday was just the beginning. After all, we don’t want to spoil the many surprises we have up our sleeves. It’s so important to us to make sure you maintain those feelings of excitement and unexpectedness when you pick up a new issue of our books.
We’re energized and looking forward to have you come on this journey with us as we make history this September.
–Jim Lee & Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publishers

Today's round of shoptalk with my homies at Comics Conspiracy was no different--revolving around everything DC be it the fab collision of master-creators Jim Lee and Geoff Johns setting it all off with their new ongoing Justice League title.  On that, we all couldn't help but tinker with the notion of perhaps these aren't the same old classic heroes we think they are, being that the Wonder Woman pictured has quite a bit of silver that signals more to a Donna Troy colorway.  How about Flash and his much longer wingtips on the cowl...sure does have an Impulse kinda feel to it.  And one of the more obvious is Superman who looks straight out of the pages of one of Johns' Teen Titans arc titled Titans of Tomorrow.  A bit more bulkier than Conner is and no black in the S shield but this all has to make yah wonder.

One of our other Wednesday homies knocked this speculation down with how that would probably go against WB exec. Jeff Robinov plans of bringing all of the DC big guns together for the Justice League film slated to release in 2013.  Hmm...sure almost two years away but the films aren't necessarily ever a direct connect to what is happening in the books.

So far the Flashpoint tagline of "Everything You Know Will Change"...is definitely living up to the hype with more and more talks of major events never taking place in the DC mythos like first- Barry Allen not dying in Crisis, Barbara Gordon never experiencing the Killing Joke, Sue Dibny not being raped in Identity Crisis and so on. 

Major domo props to Diane Nelson, Geoff Johns, Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, Bob Wayne and the rest of DCE for being pragmatic and seeing the real opportunity to reclaim imaginations and marketshare in a time where the general public is so fascinated with the world of comics. 

This is by far the biggest, ballsy move we have seen since the purchase of Marvel by Disney.  Now it's your move Marvel. 



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toy collectwhore: Red Lantern Mera

I have never really been a fan of Aquaman.  I am not alone in that being Arthur Curry and every other iteration of the superman of the sea has been a book that was consistently killed off.  Things have changed in my love for Atlantean heroes since DC mega-events Blackest Night and Brightest Day-- because of the fabulous Mera (and ahem..Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis).

Red Lantern Mera

Artistic Integrity:   This fig is a thing of beauty.  So many reasons to love it-- the most obvious standout is the amount of incredible detail put into Mera.  From the nasty scowl to the protruding bones, a trident that looks identical to the books along with nearly every other aspect of the mold mimicking how she is illustrated.

DC Direct could have gone the easy route in making her costume a nice bright red as it is without all of the immaculate sculpting that looks as if each scale was placed on the fig individually.

But, oh no they didn't.

Take a look at the art below and we get the rare situation of the figure standing out even more so than the art.  Love Nicola Scott, but DC Direct really worked their toy-mojo on this one.




 4 out of 5 shakas

Fun Factor:  The redic craftsmanship that you see in every scale of her fit makes you all but overlook that there is less than 10 points of articulation.

Sure, Mera is quite limited in how she can be posed but when you put her on the shelf amongst the rest of the collection-- she pops right out.

I so appreciate how Geoff Johns helped to push having a bunch of obscure, C and D-level characters put to the plastic so that we can rock em in all of their fabulous glory.

How awesome is it that they included a Red Lantern Dex-Starr?!  Very, very cool yo!

4 out of 5 shakas

Fo-reals brah:

So can't wait until this Fall so that I can add a Red Lantern Guy Gardner to the rest of the Red Lanterns that will also be featured in their very own book around the same time via the scribework of Peter Milligan.  And let's hope that we get to see Mera revisit some of her rage in those pages.
 

4 out of 5 shakas








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Life Imitates Art- Green Lantern

Call me simple, but when it comes to being entertained I prefer being taking in by a writers prose and words, reinforced with an artists illustrations as they were imagined and intimately crafted by a small team (colorists, inker, editor, et al) that has an authenticity to it-- a signature that is easily recognizable after spending enough time with the source material-- by all of that I mean the comicbooks.

Flashback to 2004-06 when a bunch of creators you may have heard of...Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Peter Tomasi, Eddie Berganza, Dave Gibbons, Patrick Gleason, Dan DiDio, Ivan Reis and more helped to craft a world where this second string hero with a green power ring would be elevated to Batman-status.  I was sucked in around 2007-08. 

Alright so we are back to 2011, the world hasn't ended and my boxes of Green Lantern comics be it works of Gil Kane, John Broome, Neal Adams, Denny O'Neil, Alan Moore, Ron Marz, Doug Mahnke, Joe Prado, Tony Bedard, Fernando Pasarin and the aforementioned GL creators rivals my shelf space of all of my years of Bat-books from my childhood, so I guess that Johns and the rest of DCE would be happy with that success right?  Wrong.

So they got this movie coming out in less than a month, called Green Lantern.  The flick stars Ryan Reynolds, Mark Strong, Blake Lively, Angela Bassett, Peter Sarsgaard and a bunch of other fine actors.  Put your hands in front of you in a 90 degree angle, palms inward and bring them down to your waist in a waving motion chanting dududuhduh (via Waynes World-- this should make you forget about all of those other GL trailers, minus the Wondercon footage)...this is the only trailer you need to see.



The introduction of the vast, intergalactic scale of the Green Lantern Corps in this trailer made me think of how any book with the GL brand has become like coffee and cigarettes in my life.  A very, very bad habit to kick.  The production budget of Green Lantern is now at around $160 million, $20 mil less than Batman Begins and about $100 mil lower than the supposed Dark Knight Rises purse.

So GL is no Bats, but with Superman and Wonder Woman equating to small/big screen failures of late-- DC and WB Entertainment obviously has a lot riding on the mainstream success of the GL brand.  For me, I am definitely sold on it being a hit not only cause I am well, vested-- but the fantastic new footage rawks and if Geoff Johns says its good, well it just is. 

In Sinestro we Trust.


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Wondercon 2011 Edition: Green Lantern

Immediately after the DC Nation panel, Geoff Johns-- Chief Creative Officer of DCE and Green Lantern guru-- with a Green Lantern prop from the film in hand joined Eddie Berganza on stage and jumped right into everything GL.  Most of the crowd remained from the last panel and we were joined by many others to pack the room.

Despite it being the comics panel, there were many jumps by Berganza and Johns back and forth with attendees between the excitement of the film along with the book which made sense.  Started off with talks on War of the Green Lanterns and its focus on the Green Lanterns of Sector 2814-- Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan.  And more specifically who these guys are behind the rings.

For those of us that have read GL: Emerald Warriors #8, we know what they mean by that.  Especially between Guy and Hal.  Awesomeness that you just gotta read.

Most of the question portion was meh until Johns and Berganza announced that Ivan Reis and Joe Prado would be joining Johns on the new Aquaman monthly.  Obviously with a creative team like that-- I will be on it, though Aquaman as a character holds less interest for me versus the ancillary characters of Black Manta and Mera.  A fan asked Johns what Aquaman was to him if he can be summed up in one word and he replied "tough." 

A fan brought up to Johns how he felt about other creators using his creations-- he responded that it's really cool and talked on Peter Milligan's forthcoming Red Lanterns book that he can't wait to see.  The love fest continued and Berganza & Johns awarded many of the fans asking questions with White Lantern exclusives that were being sold by Graffiti Designs, GL trades and even holding the GL movie prop.  A funny moment took place when a Batman cosplayer was asked by Johns to come up and hold the Lantern...ugh guess you had to be there.

Being that I didn't make the GL movie panel-- why not take in 4 minutes of the exclusive Wondercon footage??



And of course some more of my choice cosplay interactions at Wondercon  ; P

 

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WTF moment of the week- Everything Changes in Flashpoint

DC Comics are putting all their bets on the Flash this Summer with their blockbuster crossover event-- Flashpoint.  If last year's Blackest Night epic proved anything-- it's that there can be top selling comics in DC that don't just bear the Superman, Wonder Woman or Batman logo, so long as it includes them at the party.

With Flashpoint, written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Andy Kubert-- we can expect some pivotal moments in the DCU history to be tampered with (most likely by the recently revived Reverse Flash) via the Speed Force.  And with that, we will have a DCU landscape that is vastly different from today.  The primary series will cover 5 issues with 15 3-part stories (and one-shots) to focus on the major/minor players through the mega event.

Many on the comics interwebs have likened Flashpoint to Marvel's Age of Apocalypse-- where the affected titles (how can any DCU title not be though?) will be completely refreshed to reflect the impact from the event. I don't think this is far off base, but the difference is DC promises this IS NOT an elseworld or other universe story-- and that it all happens here.

If the teaser above and names of the minis below tell us anything, its that they will be honing in on DC's fab five-- Supes, Flash, GL, Wonder-Woman and Bats-- and bringing an extra chair at the table for Aqua-Man.  Quite hyped that Deathstroke and Captain Cold are mainstays in this event too.  Now is it just me or did I only count 14 mini-books, what is the 15th???  Stay tuned!

 

Whatever Happened to Gotham City?                                                          FLASHPOINT: BATMAN KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN AND THE FLYING GRAYSONS #1-#3


Whatever Happened to the World’s Greatest Super Villains? 
 FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD #1-#3
 FLASHPOINT: DEATHSTROKE & THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER #1-#3
 FLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER #1-#3

Whatever Happened to the Aliens?
FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR THE GREEN LANTERN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: PROJECT: SUPERMAN #1-#3

Whatever Happened to Science & Magic?
FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN & THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: SECRET SEVEN #1-#3

Whatever Happened to Europe?
FLASHPOINT: EMPEROR AQUAMAN #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: LOIS LANE AND THE RESISTANCE #1-#3

Everything You Know Will Change in a Flash
FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST #1-#3
FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT #1-#3
 




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if you don't know, now you know- Atrocitus Gets His Own Book

DC Source just announced their plans on expanding the Green Lantern family of titles from 4 to 5 books (Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Emerald Warriors and Brightest Day) with Red Lanterns.  The scribe at the helm will be Peter Milligan (Greek Street, The Programme, Hellblazer) who was handpicked by GL guru Geoff Johns.  Milligan says-

But after Geoff Johns asked if I was interested in writing The Red Lantern Corps I started thinking about Atrocitus and his anger. Because it’s not just anger. It is RAGE. A crimson red rage that still consumes him after all this time. And when you think about it, the Manhunter massacre happened an awful long time ago. Eons ago. Okay, you’d never get over something like that. But Atrocitus’ rage hasn’t weakened. It is just as immense and awesome as it was all those centuries ago. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know how.

To me this sounds just like another cog of what was already a part of John's 5 year master plan at cementing GL right in the center of the DCU.  Look back at the beginnings of The Blackest Night-- where John's busted his Secret Origin of GL-- and we learn that not only is Atrocitus the killer of Abin Sur but also the instigator in making William Hand the eventual incubator of death for the Black Lanterns.

It makes perfect sense to have a Red Lantern book that can be unleashed throughout the DCU and further celebrate the many creations of the GL Universe.  Now...lets all hope for a pairing with the sick visuals of Ivan Reis!!!



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if you don't know, now you know- Booster on Smallville

Geoff Johns has been a busy guy as of late and well known for his tweet teasers on various projects-- he just dropped another one on his weekend plans that include being on set for Smallville to film Episode 17, titled "Booster." Back at SDCC 2010 we learned of how Johns would be introducing Booster Gold and Blue 

 

Beetle to the Smallville mythos and well...here we are!!

Johns has delivered with every collab he has made to the show by infusing more and more of DCU-realness whether it be the inclusion of the Legion-- who is pivotal to Clark Kent's maturation to Superman, or The Justice Society-- that pushed Smallville deeper and closer to the comicbook archetypes.

In the final season, Smallville has become in many ways a who's who of the DCU with appearances by Darkseid, Isis, Rick Flag, Deadshot, Desaad, Granny Goodness & the Furies and recently Mera.  Now add to this Booster Gold and most likely Blue Beetle.  In the books, Booster Gold got the same Johns-rebirth (like JSA, Teen Titans, the Legion, Green Lantern, Superboy and Flash) treatment through 52 and the first (was it 10) issues of a new Booster book-- that helped to revamp Booster from the lame, goofball, self-centered, ad-whore into a more grounded, self-less protector of the time-stream.  The question is, what persona of Booster Gold will be played out on in Smallville. 


It seems like yesterday that Blue Beetle test footage was released on the web in hopes to generate enough buzz at Warner Bros to get the green light to pilot.  Will we be seeing a Jaime Reyes appearance in this espisode to act as some foreshadowing for this potential television project?


How sick would it be for the death of the original Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) be played out in someway in the show, after all Smallville has already been graced with a Max Lord appearance, right?!




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New Trailer! Green Lantern - Summer 2011

So you say that you are not so pumped after watching the ET Green Lantern teaser from last Friday huh? Well...I can't say that the sequencing and initial low-quality res did it any justice.  But after some progressive-high-temporal Apple HD treatment and well an additional 2 minutes worth of footage-- you gotta love it yeah?!

 Ryan Reynolds as a young Hal seems like a perfect fit to the testosterone, fly-boy, GL recruit that is a far contrast to the more seasoned, heroic veteran that Jordan has grown into in the world of DC comics.  Blake Lively appears to be decent for the mere eye-candy role that we all know she is being scripted for.  Tomar-re, Sinestro and Kilowog floating around OA gave me goosebumps in their CG-laden debuts.  

And Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond looks straight scary.  So dope to have such strong actors to help balance the heavy-lifting this-- let's speak real-- new WB film franchise will be burdened with in the absence of the Harry Potter films.  Dope inclusion of Hal's classic fist-construct and gotta say it's a bummer Prop 19 didn't roll through cause you know that those Green Lantern Bongs woulda been a hit! 

I can't wait to see more and more of the concept art and footage as it is released, but as a die-hard Geoff Johns' era- Green Lantern head I can say that this trailer looks to deliver a finished product on June 17th that meets with what has become a fanatical interest in everything with the GL-logo.



I know you want to watch this over and over again, like I did so do yourself a favor and download it in HD and throw it on your phone so you can make all your friends jealous of your mad knowledge of all that is OA.

In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan. Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax...he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

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