I'm late to the party as always and to be honest, I'm not sure it was worth attending at all.
I've had pile of DC books gathering dust on my shelves, some times as long as 15+ years ago (and even longer), and many of them were left unread or only read once upon publication.
I recently started reading through them - at times it was like wading through a quagmire - and I wanted to share some observations and particularly questions with you.
Because I'm confused by what laughingly goes for continuity at DC for the last 20 years.
The questions are in red italics so you can easily identify them.
Identity CRISIS HC by Brad Metzler & Rags Morales
No confusion here, just a very bad taste in my mouth.
The premise was ridiculous, and everyone seemed completely out of character.
I found it vile and venial, but I loved Rags Morales' artwork, so I can't bear to part with this one.
Countdown to Infinite CRISIS: OMAC Project by Greg Rucka & Jesus Saiz
Great opening issue with Blue Beetle's last bow with gorgeous artwork by Rags again.
Q. Was this really the last appearance of the one and only Blue Beetle, Ted Kord. I've always had a soft spot for him, ever since the Steve Dikto daze, although I never really liked the JLA buffoonery.
The rest is okay. I like the revamped Checkmate's role, but once again, the general premise seems pretty far-fetched.
When did Batman ever get the technical and financial resources to create a project as big as Omac. I also disliked the degree of Batman's near-raving paranoia.
Countdown to Infinite CRISIS: Day of Vengeance by Bill Willingham & Justinano
I've already almost forgotten this potboiler whose only redeeming features are some iconic covers by Walt Simonson and some quirkly artwork by Jusiniano and that it didn't offend my tender sensibilities like the previous two entries.
Seemed pretty superfluous and a bad use of the Spectre.
Q. Was this between the Hal Jordan and Crispus Allen incarnations of the spirit of vengence.
Q. How does it fit in the Spectre continuity?
Infinite CRISIS HC by Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez & others
WtF!?! I mean really, WTF!
I managed to struggle through this out of some misplaced sense of loyalty, but it just seemed like a jumbled mess of gobbledygook.
The only thing I liked was Wonder Woman twisting Jonathan Lord's (sic) head off. About freaking time!
Q. At the end of the story Superboy Prime is trapped somewhere. And I know that later on he caused major havoc by punching whatever.
But I can't for the life of me remember what the kooky concept was or what ramifications it had on the DC Universe.
Perhaps it's best I don't know, but I'm a glutton for punishment so someone please enlighten me.
CRISIS Aftermath: Shadowpact tpbs Vols. 1-4 by Bill Willingham & various
I actually remember enjoying this series at the time, but I think my judgement must've been clouded by my love of Willingham's Fables at the time.
The series has its moments, but not many. I liked the characterization of Nightshade, who I always liked in John Ostrander's great Suicide Squad, and the Enchantress.
Etrigan is always fun too. There's also a nice issue illustrated by Bo (or Scott) Hampton, which is always a treated, but otherwise this series can be relegated to the limbo whence it came.
CRISIS Aftermath: Tales of the Unexpected featuring the Spectre tpb Vol. 2 by David Lapham, Eric Battle & Tom Mandrake
So Crispus Allen is now the Spectre.
Q. When? How?
The story seemed gratuitously violent and sadistic to me, which is saying a lot for a Spectre comic.
Nevertheless, it was nice seeing Tom Mandrake on the mag again. His collaboration with John Ostrander on the Spectre in the 90s was one the best mainstream DC mags of the era.
CRISIS Aftermath: The Question in the Five Books of Blood tpb by Greg Rucka & various
I feel like a lot of this story was told elsewhere. All of a sudden Renee Montoya, who I loved in Batman and Gotham Central, is the Question.
Q. When, where and how is the question? Aye there's the rub.
I hate Renee's transformation and her personality also seems vastly changed, which surprises me because Rucka (and Brubaker) did such a fine job of fleshing her out during her time at Gotham Central. When did she become such a facetious, smart a$$?
Sorry if all these topics have been dealt with previously.
And questions would be muy appreciated.
More observations & questions to come.
Confused?
You will be....
I've had pile of DC books gathering dust on my shelves, some times as long as 15+ years ago (and even longer), and many of them were left unread or only read once upon publication.
I recently started reading through them - at times it was like wading through a quagmire - and I wanted to share some observations and particularly questions with you.
Because I'm confused by what laughingly goes for continuity at DC for the last 20 years.
The questions are in red italics so you can easily identify them.
Identity CRISIS HC by Brad Metzler & Rags Morales
No confusion here, just a very bad taste in my mouth.
The premise was ridiculous, and everyone seemed completely out of character.
I found it vile and venial, but I loved Rags Morales' artwork, so I can't bear to part with this one.
Countdown to Infinite CRISIS: OMAC Project by Greg Rucka & Jesus Saiz
Great opening issue with Blue Beetle's last bow with gorgeous artwork by Rags again.
Q. Was this really the last appearance of the one and only Blue Beetle, Ted Kord. I've always had a soft spot for him, ever since the Steve Dikto daze, although I never really liked the JLA buffoonery.
The rest is okay. I like the revamped Checkmate's role, but once again, the general premise seems pretty far-fetched.
When did Batman ever get the technical and financial resources to create a project as big as Omac. I also disliked the degree of Batman's near-raving paranoia.
Countdown to Infinite CRISIS: Day of Vengeance by Bill Willingham & Justinano
I've already almost forgotten this potboiler whose only redeeming features are some iconic covers by Walt Simonson and some quirkly artwork by Jusiniano and that it didn't offend my tender sensibilities like the previous two entries.
Seemed pretty superfluous and a bad use of the Spectre.
Q. Was this between the Hal Jordan and Crispus Allen incarnations of the spirit of vengence.
Q. How does it fit in the Spectre continuity?
Infinite CRISIS HC by Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez & others
WtF!?! I mean really, WTF!
I managed to struggle through this out of some misplaced sense of loyalty, but it just seemed like a jumbled mess of gobbledygook.
The only thing I liked was Wonder Woman twisting Jonathan Lord's (sic) head off. About freaking time!
Q. At the end of the story Superboy Prime is trapped somewhere. And I know that later on he caused major havoc by punching whatever.
But I can't for the life of me remember what the kooky concept was or what ramifications it had on the DC Universe.
Perhaps it's best I don't know, but I'm a glutton for punishment so someone please enlighten me.
CRISIS Aftermath: Shadowpact tpbs Vols. 1-4 by Bill Willingham & various
I actually remember enjoying this series at the time, but I think my judgement must've been clouded by my love of Willingham's Fables at the time.
The series has its moments, but not many. I liked the characterization of Nightshade, who I always liked in John Ostrander's great Suicide Squad, and the Enchantress.
Etrigan is always fun too. There's also a nice issue illustrated by Bo (or Scott) Hampton, which is always a treated, but otherwise this series can be relegated to the limbo whence it came.
CRISIS Aftermath: Tales of the Unexpected featuring the Spectre tpb Vol. 2 by David Lapham, Eric Battle & Tom Mandrake
So Crispus Allen is now the Spectre.
Q. When? How?
The story seemed gratuitously violent and sadistic to me, which is saying a lot for a Spectre comic.
Nevertheless, it was nice seeing Tom Mandrake on the mag again. His collaboration with John Ostrander on the Spectre in the 90s was one the best mainstream DC mags of the era.
CRISIS Aftermath: The Question in the Five Books of Blood tpb by Greg Rucka & various
I feel like a lot of this story was told elsewhere. All of a sudden Renee Montoya, who I loved in Batman and Gotham Central, is the Question.
Q. When, where and how is the question? Aye there's the rub.
I hate Renee's transformation and her personality also seems vastly changed, which surprises me because Rucka (and Brubaker) did such a fine job of fleshing her out during her time at Gotham Central. When did she become such a facetious, smart a$$?
Sorry if all these topics have been dealt with previously.
And questions would be muy appreciated.
More observations & questions to come.
Confused?
You will be....
statistics: Posted by deejay-away — 12:09 PM - Today — Replies 2 — Views 114