I must have been assuming that this wasn't going to be very good, because I just watched the first episode tonight. Turns out it was terrific - great jazzy theme song, cool character design, excellent use of Triplicate Girl, etc. I won't go on as I'm sure that every nerd and his nerd-dog have already done so, all over the internet. Just wanted to confirm it:
JOHN APPROVED
I can't quite bring myself to include this next character (and I do mean 'character') in the 'Superhuman Detritus of the 30th Century' series. See, way back in the day I loved me some comic books, even though I lived way out in the country and had no real way to get a regular fix. I had to content myself with reading the comics available through my local library as well as the few leftover scraps of my uncle's mid-seventies collection (Spider-Man and Nova vs. Some Guy! I loved it!). The real things that got me through until I had a job and a local comic bookshop were Jeff Rovin's Encyclopedia of Superheroes and Encyclopedia of Supervillains. And the Encyclopedia of Monsters, to a lesser extent. They were chock-full of entries on hundreds of super-folk, with exhaustive info on their costumes and equipment and great catty comments afterward.
Even as a youngster, the Legion of Super-Heroes brought out the super-nerd in me, so it was a pretty damn happy day in the McJohnathan household when I learned that Jeff Rovin apparently loved them too - basically every hero that had ever appeared in a legion tale made it into the Encyclopedia, if only as a three-line blurb in Appendix C. I grew up knowing, for example, that a lot of guys with interesting names showed up in "The Super-Stalag of Space" but had no idea of the circumstances behind their appearance, what they looked like or - at the time - what a Stalag was.
Then I grew up, got some cash flow goin' and started reading all of the comics that I'd previously only read *about*. And that, in an extraordinarily roundabout way, brings me to the subject of today's post:
Blockade Boy. Blockade Boy was the friggin' king of the three-liners. He had a great alliterative name, he had a great weird Silver Age power, and he appeared in the oh-so enigmatic "Super-Stalag of Space". Plus, Proty II felt the need to adopt the identity of Blockade Boy 2 in a later story, so that's saying... something. I was totally curious about Blockade Boy for upwards of fifteen years before I actually saw him, and I was not let down.
Blockade Boy was one of many Legionnaires and Weird Future Silver Age Heroes that were rounded up and imprisoned by the evil, red, three-eyed Nardo, presumably to keep them out of his (terrible) hair while he was being nefarious. A big chunk of the two-issue story arc was taken up with various super-heroic escape attempts and the horrible consequences thereof.
Par example:
Matter-Eater Lad chews his way to freedom! Presumably with many bathroom breaks along the way, as that is a damn roomy tunnel. I'd move away from that rear end if I were you, Blockade Boy.
Sadly, the writers weren't about to have Matter-Eater Lad and Blockade Boy succeed where Braniac 5 and Superboy had failed, so the two of them get caught basically as soon as they emerge from the tunnel. However, in ignoble defeat Blockade Boy attained his greatest success.
Obsoive:
In two panels we have:
a) The first full-length shot of Blockade Boy, showcasing his awesome belt and wristbands, questionable boots and adequate shirt/pants combo. Bonus points for the flattop!
b) Blockade Boy's crazy Silver Age power - he can totally turn into a steel wall! I really, really wish that he had gotten a chance to tell his origin story. I bet it involved falling in a vat of some sort of liquid wall sealant, or possibly being exposed to radiations from an experimental space wall.
c) Heroism! Blockade Boy sacrifices himself to save All Good Persons' Fave Legionnaire, Matter-Eater Lad. If I didn't love him before...
Here's Nardo, acting like a tool. Note the man-breasts and barely-contained gut. Don't worry, Nardo gets his eventually.
So Blockade Boy is JOHN APPROVED.
PS: If you were wondering about Blockade Boy II:
He came about as part of a fight that the Legion of Super-Pets were having with their parent Legion. Proty II and Comet the Super-Horse joined the Legion of Super-Heroes under the names Blockade Boy and Biron the Bowman. Comet pulls a Karate Kid and manages to get in without having any actual powers, while Proty:
Pulls an amazing save! His costume, by the way? I find it creepy - it's more thematic, with it's riveted steel and such, but does it really have to include a giant metal diaper? The answer is no.
The best thing is that after all of this effort, Comet and Proty stayed in the Legion for about two pages.
Blockade Boy II is NOT APPROVED.
It's my 100th post!
To celebrate, I invite you on a little tour of my favourite nerdy possessions! Follow me!
Here's a flower pot I painted and decoupaged myself a few years ago. I actually made a full set, but the Batman one is the only pot seeing any action these days. Next to it you see my Batman piggy bank. He reminds me that saving money is important, and not to spend it on foolish things. He is also empty and sitting on top of a shelf full of comic books.
This is my autographed picture of Mark McClure (Jimmy Olsen). Lots of people think it's an autographed picture of Christopher Reeve. Nope! Actually, one time I was showing my apartment when I was trying to sublet it and the girl asked if it was signed by "the real Superman." I had no idea what to say to that.
I made these picture frames myself. I went through a real crafty phase. It's over now.
Inflatable Superman!!!
Oh yes. He's awesome.
Here's a sketch of Batman that Darwyn Cooke did for me. It's, like, my favourite thing:
He also gave me this when I bought the Absolute Edition of New Frontier:
It's a sketch that ended up becoming this page:
I really like New Frontier. A quick glance around my apartment will tell you this.
I broke Green Arrow's bow, so I had to get a little creative with his posing. I think the "pulling-an-arrow-out-of-the-quiver" pose kinda works:
Bizarro crushed Hal Jordan's head!
Movie Batman and Movie Superman hang out:
It's the Superman that blows! Look at his face!
It's supposed to blow over a cardboard cut-out of Luthor, but it isn't even strong enough to do that. It blows all right, just not the way it's supposed to. Fortunately I bought it at the grocery store for $3.
Midnighter protects my hard drive. My Clark Kent trading card gives me something to look at while writing:
Clark and Lex are friends:
Lex is like "Look out, Clark! There's a big piece of kryptonite in front of you!" And Clark's like "I dropped my bookbag."
And Batman's like..."I'm on some stairs."
And R2D2 is like "I'm behind you, Batman!"
And Joe Sakic is like "I don't belong here." And Frank Miller Batman statue is like "I'm kind of an eyesore!"
I have some more little friends who hang out in my kitchen on a spice rack:
Yeah. That's weird.
Let's take another look at that inflatable Superman:
Awesome.
And finally...
...Cuddle Pillow Batman!!!
He's my best friend. He likes to watch Justice League episodes with me, and he never complains when I want to watch the Once and Future Thing episodes over and over again. He listens with interest to my complaints when I'm playing the Superman Returns video game, like "Why is this game so terrible?" "This is the least fun thing I have ever done," "Why does the Superman Returns game have dragons, robots and monsters?" or "So, have I beaten the game, or what? I don't understand."
BFF.
Ok, so there is a point to all this. To celebrate my 100th post, and to thank all of the nice people who read my blog, I am going to have a little contest. I want you to email me pictures, or post them in your blog, of your favourite nerdy possession. I will arbitrarily select my favourite in, say, one week. Extra points will be given if items are:
- obscure
- homemade
- crappy bootlegs
- confusing
- adorable
- amazing
You can send your entries to rachellegoguen at gmail dot com, or, post in your blog and link in the comments. I'll post them all at the end of the week in my blog. It will be awesome.
Oh! And the prize! I have a copy of the new Oni Press book, Shenanigans. It was written by Ian Shaughnessy and illustrated by local art superstar and all-around nice guy, Mike Holmes. This guy is going places. I can probably get Mike to sign the book, too. (Mike? You wanna back me up on this?). I just read it and it's really fun. The art, really, is fantastic.
Honestly, big thanks to everyone who reads this blog. I love writing it so much. It's come a long way since my first post, when we saw Superman Walk the Dinosaur. Originally this blog was supposed to be authored by myself and a couple of my gal pals, but they totally dropped the ball. I know I don't always get back to everyone who comments, but I really do appreciate all the kind words.
Urinals are great. They're easy to clean, they don't waste much water and you don't pee on your leg if you suddenly find yourself doing the old 'urinating at right angles' trick. Someday I'm going to have a house – or at least a long-term apartment – and I'm going to install a urinal. I'll be able to say, "I'm heading out for some urinal pucks – you need anything?" It'll be awesome.
JOHN APPROVED
Just a quick one today, and mostly because I've been thinking about this character for a while - he's one of the inspirations for this series of reviews, along with Storm Boy and Infectious Lass.
His name? Rann Antar.
Rann Antar appeared in Adventure Comics #317, way back in the day, in the same issue that featured the first appearance of Dream Girl. Ol' Rann always stood out in my mind for a few reasons and because I'm too lazy to string them together into a proper paragraph, here they are as a numbered list:
1. Rann Antar is a keener. He showed up with roughly one thousand times the number of feathers required to demonstrate his 'discovery'. I can see his plan now: "I'll throw the feathers up in the air, then spray them with my formula. The Legion will give me a standing ovation as heavy feathers rain down upon them. The boy Legionnaires will go out to plan a parade in my honor while the girls wrestle for the right to kiss me. It will be the best day of my life."
2. Rann Antar was rejected from the Legion in the less soul-crushing of the two methods that were commonly employed during these affairs. Note how Saturn Girl refrains from shouting "What? Your power is useless! You, sir, are ridiculous! Rejected!" (this is the more soul-crushing method) and instead makes up some lame excuse about Star Boy being able to do the same thing, like they'd let him in in a shot if they had no 'heavy feathers' guy.
3. Rann Antar is desperate to join the Legion. Look, you can see it in his eyes and his posture - he just lunged forward with that wok full of feathers and blurted his little speech out in one breathless rush. I'll bet he waited outside all night plucking chickens. Further, I'd wager that that perm is brand new, and that if we could rotate him ninety degrees we'd be able to see an insignia on his shirt, something like a black arrow pointing downward with a feather inside.
4. Rann Antar is ridiculous. For some ungodly reason he's JOHN APPROVED.
Civil War? Pffft. Whatever, Marvel. When DC throws a war it covers the whole damn world. And it lasts one week. That's right. Efficiency. Look it up.
Let's do this thing.
World War III #1-4
First of all, thanks DC for making me have to buy four issues in one week. I'm not made of money. But on the other hand...thanks for wrapping this up in one week.
WWIII was a real whirl wind. It basically showcased Black Adams kicking ass and...not so much taking names. Just ripping faces off and removing various limbs from people. Not important people. A lot of Infinite Crisis loose ends get tied up in these four books, and a lot of questions get answered. Such as:
Aquaman - saves city, gets turned into The Dweller. And I guess that means he's dead now.
Nightwing - oh, it's Jason
Batgirl - manipulated by Deathstroke
Martian Manhunter - sad, confused, hero, reborn in new ugly outfit
Adam Strange, Starfire, Animal Man - Zeta Beam mishap trapped them in space somewhere
Red Tornado - Exploded by Zeta Beam
Killer Croc - dead?
Booster Gold - up to something awesome
Donna Troy - "Well, someone's got to be Wonder Woman."
Young Frankenstein - killed by Black Adam
Terra - killed by Black Adam
Manhunter - takes job, shoves it
I can't really say that I was riveted by these four issues, but they did serve their purpose. They are certainly important reading. I liked this scene with Deathstroke and Batgirl:
Oh, Slade. You're so rad. Let's get a Deathstroke movie made, huh?
So, yeah. That's WWIII. I don't have much else to say about it, except you should read it before you read 52 this week.
52: Week 50
Technically the penultimate issue of 52 proper because issue #52 is going to be the first issue of Countdown. [EDIT: Nevermind. I don't know what I'm talking about. Although the first issue of Countdown will be numbered #51, it will in no way be set up in the last issue of #52.] This is just more WWIII stuff. Captain Marvel is now the Guardian of Magic and he has changed Black Adam's magic word to something he will never guess. What do you think it is?
And that's all I have to say about that. Let's move on to funner stuff, because there was a lot of that this week.
Aquaman #51
This was the first thing I read this week. I read it in the bathtub. I would recommend doing the same. It adds a whole other dimension to your Aquaman reading. It's like you're in the story!
First off, beautiful cover. Really nice. And inside is non-stop fun. I'm really enjoying this. All the more so now that World War III has answered some important Aquaman questions. In typical new series fashion (because, really, this is a new series), the Justice League all-stars show up in this issue. In their little oxygen masks. I like Topo getting stared down by Batman here:
And Wonder Woman hugging it out with Mera is nice. I don't think Superman needs that mask. He just likes it.
This comic has fun adventure, well-written characters, and a great quest-based storyline. It's really got everything going for it. I bought an Aquaman t-shirt today to celebrate how much I like this.
The Spirit #5
Well, that's not the cover we were expecting. But it's fun. I like it. This issue was hilarious, the premise being that a crooked businessman/vulture-loving lunatic named Carrion (nice) has devised a money-making scheme where he markets old Russian army rations (beans and pork) to children using The Spirit's likeness and name on the cans. The ads promise the beans have enough sugar in them to give kids their "fix" without mom or dad knowing. Fantastic! Carrion is a truly weird villain, and makes for some really funny moments like this one:
Man, that's a great expression on The Spirit's face in that last panel. Perfect.
Another great issue!
Justice League of America #8
The big JLA/JSA crossover gets underway. I like it when these two gangs hang out.
As I keep saying, I love this series. I proudly fly the Meltzer flag. You can't convince me otherwise. There are two many tasty nerdy nuggets in these issues for me to not love them.
I loved Batman being offended that Superman had rated Karate Kid a level 15 fighter, and Batman only a 12. He vows to prove Clark wrong as he starts to fight KK. We don't see the fight, but we get this panel a few pages later:
Seriously. That is so funny.
Also funny: Mr Terrific impressing Black Canary and Hal Jordan by playing both of them at chess simultaneously...while blindfolded (though, honestly, I could probably beat Hal at chess blindfolded too). Then Batman busting in and explaining to everyone how he's doing it, and informing them that Mr T stole the trick from The Amazing Kreskin. Awesome.
And that's why Mr Terrific will never be the #1 smartest person on Earth as long as Batman's alive.
Then there's the delightful double page spread with all the heroes, all paired off and having fun conversations. I loved it. Especially this one:
Aaaaand this one:
Y'know, I've never really thought about it before, but now I kinda want Power Girl and Batman to hook up. That could be good for both of them. He might even be looking her in the eye in that picture. Maybe not, though. Do you think Bruce went out and bought a china tea set for the headquarters?
I really like Power Girl and Black Canary as the two chairwomen. I can't wait to see them lead their teams over the next few issues.
Brave and the Bold #3
JLA and Brave and the Bold came out in the same week...as The Spirit. I almost exploded.
Still awesome. Might be my very favourite series. It's pretty damn perfect. I love the structure, and I love the characters that are getting paired up. Batman and the new Blue Beetle? Brilliant. Jamie is just as giddy and nervous hanging out with Batman as I would be.
There were several things that made me laugh out loud. For instance:
Oh please get Batman to write that note.
The lettering on Jamie is great. I picture his voice cracking and just generally being really panicky. Very cute.
Meanwhile, we check in on Supergirl back on Ventura as she tries to find a way to get to Raan:
God damn that's funny. See, I like Supergirl as an obnoxious character. She's not dumb, because she's clever enough to find a way to Raan. Even if it does mean teaming up with Lobo. She's just immature and self-absorbed...like, say, Hal. Anyway, I am looking forward to the next book because Supergirl and Lobo is going to be a fun ride.
Also, this issue ends with Batman being fused together with Tharok. That's going to be interesting.
Superman/Batman #34
Oh lord. Here we go with another six terrible issues. I can just tell. Maybe I can hypnotize DC: one-shots...one-shots...from now on this series should only be one-shots...
The art is really hard to look at. Superman looks like Harland Williams:
Sigh. The worst part is I will totally keep buying this thing. I don't want to live in a world where a comic called Superman/Batman doesn't interest me. Christ.
Let's get our minds off that unpleasantness with the awesomeness of...
Nightwing Annual #2
Woot! Now we're talking! A big ol' issue of hot Dick/Barbara action and adorable flashbacks. God I love those two.
Ok, there is a lot to enjoy about this book, but most of all...boner joke! It is not above going for the boner joke!
Flashback to young Robin and Batgirl trapped in a very cramped safe together. Robin's having a hard time keeping his cool when all smushed up against his attractive partner:
Aaaaaahhh!! DC went there!
Also, Barbara is funny:
And Tim is funny:
Delicious. When are we going to see a series about the boys' travels? I know Grant Morrison is going to touch on it in an upcoming issue of Batman, but I would really like a mini-series.
Robin #161
Tim Drake is awesome. Really awesome.
But he shouldn't dress so much like Robin when he's not being Robin. It'll really blow the secret identity thing:
I guess he takes after Bruce (see above panel of three boys on boat).
Oh, this comic was good. Full of detective fun. I'm just getting tired of writing.
Birds of Prey #105
Birds of Prey + Secret Six. That's a fun combo. I'm especially enjoying dreamy Catman and awesome Barda. And now Harley!
I haven't read Birds of Prey regularly for a long time. I'm in the process of getting caught up. The last two issues have been a lot of fun. I'm excited that Sean McKeever is going to be taking over. It will be in good hands. And Simone on Wonder Woman is going to rock.
Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #1
New series!
I love the cartoon, and the comic is a lot like it. It captures the sense of humour nicely. This is going to be a Free Comic Book Day comic, so if you didn't grab it this week, you should totally check it out next Saturday. You should also watch the show. And no, "I'm a grown-up and I don't have children" is not an excuse to not watch it.
Plus it has this fascinating story in the middle where Batman teams up with Cal Ripken Jr. They defeat the Penguin. And we learn the merits of Big League Chew brand bubble gum. I remember throwing that stuff up when I was a little kid. A whole bag of it. Good times.
Living Between Wednesdays is a place for people who love comic books and superheroes.
