Green Lantern #7 (Review)

When we last left Hal Jordan, he and Carol Ferris were enjoying a "romp in the hay" when suddenly they are interrupted by Sinestro....calling Hal to duty with his ring.  Geoff Johns is weaving another Green Lantern Mega-Event....involving the various emotional-spectrum Corps, the Guardians, & a Third Army (?).

You have to wonder how many GL "Events" Johns has planned, and when it may become too many? That said, we do have 4 Green Lantern Franchise titles coming out every month....so a one or two "Events" a year is probably a good thing to keep all the titles headed in the right direction.  It doesn't have to cover the entirety of the DC Universe, just the 4 GL titles is sufficient.  Enough speculation for now, let's move on to Issue #7's review.....

The "New 52": Six Months Later (Green Lantern Review)

One of two characters in the "New 52" that DC Comics decided not to "mess" with; along with Batman, Green Lantern has enjoyed unprecedented popularity since Geoff Johns brought back Hal Jordan from the dead in Green Lantern: Rebirth several years ago.  Since then we have enjoyed and been left jaw-dropped with The Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, & War of the Green Lanterns.  Johns has created several characters, & several Corps (based on the light spectrum).  The Green Lantern franchise has spin-off books Green Lantern Corps, GL: New Guardians, & Red Lanterns....it's own animated TV series, and a feature film starring Ryan Reynolds.  So...when the "New 52" began, fans of Green Lantern could just sit back and continue to read their favorite GL titles without worry. I've loved the title so far (actually going back to 2005), so....Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

"Not-so-New 52": Issue #5 Reviews (part two)

In our second installment following the "New 52" titles I collect on a monthly basis, we find Aquaman in the desert, The Flash thawing out prison guards, the New Guardians exploring planets within a mysterious vessel, and The Savage Hawkman dealing with the undead!


Which was my favorite of the month?
I'll give you a hint.......

On to the reviews.....and nevermind the mop in the background! lol.

"Not-so-New 52": Issue #4 Reviews (part two)

Continuing our Reviews of the #4's I've purchased and read...we come to the second half of the month's releases.  Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern: New Guardians, & The Savage Hawkman.  Just like part one of these reviews....the artwork has been great; in fact you could argue that these 4 titles have some of the best artwork of the month, and the writing superb.  All of these titles; except The Flash, finished up impressive story arcs and teased upcoming ones in 2012.

In Part Two of the #4 Reviews, you'll see Aquaman meeting the Queen, What happens when The Flash thinks too fast, Who is behind all the ring confusion, & some surprising revelations about The Savage Hawkman that should have all "Old-School" fans cheering!  On to the reviews.......

"Not-So-New 52" Review: #2's & #3's (part two)

Continuing with our Reviews of Issues 2's & 3's, I've come to see that Issue #3 has been the "Litmus Test" for the books I'm collecting or dropping from my Pull List.

I read an interesting article on Newsarama recently, entitled "Why NEW Characters, Concepts struggle", in which the writer explains the theory that although we talk a lot about wanting new concepts, new characters, etc......what we really want is more of the same, because it's familiar.  I would throw myself right into that category, especially with I, Vampire.  Although not a bad book; with decent writing and artwork, when it came to dropping one last month....the vampire, horror comic book was dropped to make way for the "more-of-the-same" Green Lantern: New Guardians. Although I've added several books from the "New 52" that I probably wouldn't have in the "Old DC Universe"....even titles like O.M.A.C. & Deathstroke really fall under the "more-of-the-same" category. I don't apologize for this, it's just how it is, I suppose.

On to the reviews.......Aquaman & The Flash....

The "New 52": Week Four.....(Review)

After skipping "New 52": Week Three, I am posting my picks for Week Four.  This week actually had the most pulls on my list, so I was excited and eager to Dive in to Aquaman, Race through The Flash, read something New in New Guardians, & Savagely tear through Hawkman! (puns ALL intended).....they did NOT disappoint!

Due to time and financial restraints, I wanted to collect no more than 10 DC Titles, so I was a little worried when I decided to drop Superman & Batman, to make room for Red Lanterns, New Guardians, Hawkman, Aquaman,  & Mister Terrific (who was subsequently dropped for Deathstroke)....but All is Well, as all the new pulls have impressed......and now Week Four's reviews:

Green Lantern: Brightest Day (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

Geoff Johns strikes gold once again with Brightest Day.  This volume is worth reading just for Larfreeze & Dexstarr alone. The "leaders" of the various Lantern Corps converge upon Earth in search of the missing Light-Spectrum Entities.  The interactions between Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, Sinestro, Atrocitus, Larfreeze, Saint Walker, and the mysterious Indigo-1 are explosive, intense, & sometimes humorous.  Doug Mahnke's artwork is perfect, especially the appearance of ____, who is angry!!

New Books....DC Revamp Continued

Some of the great new books that DC Comics has announced. 52 books starting at #1 in September! More to come, but these all look awesome, and I will be picking them up!

Top 5 Comic Book Writers (Updated...)

It's been over a year since my first Top 5 Comic Book Writers list was posted (See: Top 5 Comic Book Writers), so I thought I would update my list...They are ranked according to how quickly I’ll pull out my wallet whenever I see their name on a comic book title. Note: Previous "Rank" in parenthesis next to writer's name.

Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer (Review)

Brad Meltzer is a great writer, both in the Comic Book Industry and in Fiction Novels. He offers a great blend of emotions with action and plots that bring out the best and worst in his characters and captures your imagination. The only criticism from me about Meltzer's writing is he doesn't write enough.....we haven't seen his work in comics since he left the Justice League of America at issue #12. I would love to see him come back and work on some more JLA, or Flash, Superman/Batman, etc.....really, I'd buy whatever he decided he wanted to write.....the following are his three volumes of the Justice League of America.

Blackest Night (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The mega-event of comics in 2010, Blackest Night shocked the world and has changed the DC Universe forever! There has always been the green light of willpower, channeled into rings and distributed to those with the ability to overcome great fear by the Guardians of the Universe. These individuals who received rings are known as the Green Lantern Corps, and are the police force of the Universe.

But none of the Green Lantern Corps were aware that other colors in the light spectrum were capable of doing the same as their green light of willpower.....until Sinestro; the long-time nemesis of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, discovered Parallax and became the leader of the Sinestro Corps, whose yellow light of fear sought to maintain order in the universe. (see: Green Lantern by Geoff Johns review for details on the Sinestro Corps war and other volumes leading up to Blackest Night...)

Now there are eight corps of the light spectrum.....Green (willpower), Yellow (fear), Blue (hope), Red (rage), Violet (love), Orange (avarice), Purple (compassion), and Black (death). As the different Lantern Corps fight one another over which light is more powerful and pure, the Black Lanterns move secretly....watching, waiting, for the most opportune time to rid the universe of light altogether!

Flash: Rebirth (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Barry Allen has returned....but he's unsure why. The "Silver Age" Hero sacrificed his life in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event several years ago, and had been just a memory up until the 2006 Infinite Crisis event. As the Flashes pushed the evil "Earth Prime" Superboy into the Speed Force at full speed, they still needed help and no one could give it...except Barry Allen as he appeared from within the Speed Force, to aid in saving earth once again from beyond the grave.

The events of Final Crisis and Blackest Night serving as his launching pad, Barry Allen's return ushered in one of DC Comic's greatest heroes (Green Lantern Hal Jordan being the other), just as he is needed most....but he doesn't know why.

Superman: New Krypton (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, & Greg Rucka weave a masterful tale of the lost, "bottle" city of Kandor and the new civilization of Krypton. After Superman had saved both Metropolis and Kandor from the clutches of Brainiac, Kandor had "re-grown" to original size in the antarctic (at the site of Superman's Fortress of Solitude), Supergirl had destroyed Brainiac's missile fired at the Sun (which would have sent it Supernova), and Superman had beat down Brainiac. But all that came at a cost....as Pa Kent was killed because of a second Brainiac missile fired at the home of Pa & Ma Kent (See: Superman: Brainiac for the whole story).

As Clark Kent comes to grips with the death of his adopted Father, Superman must come to grips with the resurgence of Krypton...New Krypton.

Hawkman by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Geoff Johns created another masterpiece with his run as writer of the Hawkman series. He penned the first three volumes of Hawkman, which after he left faltered, was re-titled Hawkgirl, then cancelled after sales dwindled even lower.....but I loved this series and what Johns did with it. Saturated with Egyptian myth & history, delving into past lives and an undying love between a man and a woman, this series delivered great stories, enough action to keep you interested, and a different twist on some of DC Comic's most historic characters.

Superman by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

Geoff Johns is my favorite Writer, so when he began tackling the most difficult DC Comic's character to write; the iconic Superman, I had complete confidence that it would be great! I have not been disappointed. After years of average Superman stories (see: "O.K." Superman (Review)...), and a horrible movie (see: Conspiracy Theory.....How Marvel Comics tried to kill Superman)....I was just about ready to give up on Truth, Justice, and The American Way, but Geoff Johns has saved my love for The Man of Steel!

The following Volumes are in chronological order following the "O.K." Superman Volumes:

Green Lantern Corps monthly series (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

The Green Lantern Corps Volumes tell the stories and events taking place in the lives of the Green Lanterns, excluding Hal Jordan (the main character of the Green Lantern series). Based mostly around a few major characters, the book reads like a soap opera, sci-fi, action flick! I love this series so far, and so do a lot of other readers as well, making this the best-selling "spin-off" series in DC Comics. The plots often play off of what is going on in the main Green Lantern books, but from the perspectives of the thousands of other Lanterns. This makes for multiple stories and plots taking place simultaneously, as detailed in the Scavenger Review for Emerald Eclipse (there's not enough space here to detail all the multiple angles and plots going on in every volume).

Superman "new era" volumes 1-6 (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

I am a huge Superman Fan! That said, I will admit that a lot of times (to my great frustration) Superman comics are hit or miss. That is because the Superman character is so hard to write. Superman: Exile and SM: Strange Attractors literally put me to sleep, Superman: Red Son and Emperor Joker had me begging for more.....I suppose you have to put up with some of the lesser stories to get the great ones, but in my extensive comic book collecting, Superman is the only character like this. These six volumes; however, are definitely worth buying, and are some of Superman's best!

These six volumes collect the "new era" throughout Superman comics following his death and rebirth (and Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, & Roger Stern leaving the Superman titles). I loved this series, with great writers (including Jeph Loeb, Geoff Johns, Mark Millar, Greg Rucka, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, & Mark Shultz) and artists (including Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, Ian Churchill, Kano, Dale Eaglesham, & Tom Nguyen).

Batman "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

What is so interesting about these volumes (Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and the 3 volumes of Bruce Wayne: Fugitive) is that the story is based around Bruce Wayne, not Batman. A lot of twists and turns in what is basically a down-to-earth detective story.

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

I was never really interested in Green Lantern until Hal Jordan returned in Rebirth. Since then I am a huge GL fan, often left mindboggled by the jaw-dropping storylines and awesome artwork. Geoff Johns is a master storyteller, and his work often builds into mega-events (The Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, & Brightest day to name just the Green Lantern events). He has taken the Green Lantern character into never before seen directions (hard to do with Comic Book "Icon" Characters), and I wait with great anticipation for every volume as it becomes available.

Johns has worked with some of the best artists in the industry, my favorite being Ethan Van Sciver who implemented the idea that each Green Lantern's ring energy would manifest itself differently based on their personalities. Other Artists include Carlos Pacheco, Ivan Reis, Daniel Acuna, Patrick Gleason, & Philip Tan.

The Flash by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Impressive.

With the release of Flash: Rebirth, and the restart of the The Flash monthly comic...I thought I'd sum up the past run of The Flash by Geoff Johns. Johns wrote The Flash for years, and brought him back into the spotlight of the DC Universe. With great artists assisting John's great writing skills, these books were well worth the money! The review sums up the following Graphic Novels: