Review of Tedium, By Johnathan

Hey, all. Remember how I said that the posts would come fast and furious once I finished that SARLSH malarkey? We,, I probably should have added an "unless I get tied up in the longest and thired-most-hellish move of my life" caveat. Because that's what happened. On the up side, it's done, I have a new cat roommate, and the Internets are back in town. I guess I could have written some stuff while I was offline for later posting, but that smacked of effort, man. One thing, however, did stick in my tired, bitter craw: last week's Action Comics No. 864. Well, one aspect of it, at least (Lightning Lad vs. Batman was great). Let's watch:

So the big-reveal surprise villain in Action Comics this month was a) not a huge surprise and b) the friggin' Time Trapper. I hate the friggin' Time Trapper. He was an interesting villain for all of three Silver Age stories, I swear, back when he was basically just a reason that the Legion could go into the past but not the future, even with all of their Mighty Technology. In fact, he was entertaining for exactly one story, the one that also introduced the equally-hateful Glorith, when he managed to turn a third of the Legion into irritating babies and kicked Invisible Tot around. Ever since then, the Time Trapper has functioned almost exclusively as a gigantic, nigh-unbeatable threat, trotted out to shake up the status quo with a few shocking deaths or resolve some continuity point with a time quake or something. He's featured in more angsty, dreary storylines than the entire cast of Dawson's Creek. And no matter how many times he's tediously defeated, he just keeps coming back - which isn't much different than, say, Darkseid, but at least Darkseid is fun.

BAH! NOT APPROVED.

Well! I was certainly filled with vitriol, hey? Needed a little more sleep? Well, I'm well-rested now, but I basically agree. Every time the Time Trapper shows up in a story I heave a little sigh and prepare to slog through some boring comic book. It's like... like reading a late-eighties crossover event. Or 8 out of 10 early Image comics. Don't get me wrong, I'm not writing this story off just yet. I'll be the first one to applaud if anything interesting is added to ol' TT's story - I just ain't holding my breath.

This is what I meant when I was talking about him kicking Invisible Moppet. Kicking Silver Age DC toddlers = comic gold! This one instant of the Time Trapper's life is:

JOHN APPROVED

Charlotte, Here I Come!


I am officially going to Charlotte, NC for HeroesCon in June! I am very excited. Not only have I never been to North Carolina before, I have never been to a comic convention before! I hear this is a really good one.

The nice boys from The Dollar Bin invited me down, so I'll be hanging out at their table (I believe) when I'm not running around the convention centre totally overwhelmed and exploding with nerdy glee. Or when I'm not eating as much pit BBQ as humanly possible.

So if you are going to be at HeroesCon, let me know and we can meet and chat and stuff. Or drink beer. I like beer.

I have a limited knowledge of Charlotte. I basically associate two things with the city: BBQ and Charlotte Hornets Starter Jackets:

Stylin'! I picture every resident of Charlotte wearing this at all times.

I can't wait!

IRON MAN DAY!

The day that Iron Man opens is finally upon us. I'm sure most of you, like myself, saw the movie last night at an advance screening. It's AWESOME.

The Invincible Iron Man #172 is also awesome. Check it out:

With a cover that romantic, you know it's going to be good!

It opens with a drunk Tony Stark in a museum, wearing a suit of armour and being crazy:

Oh man I love it!

The cops take him down:

Tony Stark is drunk and sweating mayonnaise. He gets taken into a holding cell, but is quickly released on bail. This is pretty sad:

Oh, Tony.

Fortunately, James Rhodes is doing a great job being Iron Man while Tony is busy drinking it up.
I really appreciate the contrast between those two pages.

Ok, so now Captain America enters the story, and someone is very romantically describing him in the narration:

"The way his muscles flex and lock to give him a purposeful lope." I don't know who's doing the talking there in those narration boxes. I like to think Tony. Or maybe it's just Denny O'Neil who has the crush on Cap.

Anyway, Captain America finds Tony in a seedy motel room:

Oh come on, Cap. Just join him in a drink. It would be a such an entertaining comic. Obviously this is a very cool party that you've just walked in on.

Now it's Cap's turn to get romantic about Tony:

Tony doesn't have any answers, which makes Cap more angry. Get ready for a very special episode of Iron Man:

Oh come on, Cap. Your dad was an alcoholic? It was the thirties! Everyone was an alcoholic.

During all of this, Firebrand has decided to make a comeback. He wants to burn down the very motel that Tony is staying in. Since Tony isn't going to save himself, Cap has to do everything:

Rhodes is also there to help out (and say funny things):

When the flames are out and the people are saved, Cap and Rhodes go to get their pal Tony. Only Tony, even totally hammered Tony, has managed to outfox them:

Lookin' good, Tony!

Oh, and the OTHER thing going down in this comic is that, because Tony hasn't been around, Stark Industries has fallen apart and has now been sold to...

LEX LUTHOR!

No, wait. Obadiah Stane I mean. Yeah.

This comic is great. And so is the movie. It was worth the wait!