Comic Book Resources

Blackest Night vs. Siege: Place your bets!

Blackest Night #7

Siege #2

They say nice guys finish last, but when event comics will finish is anybody's guess. The demands of a high-profile series around which entire shared universes revolve can play havoc with scheduling. Naturally, editors and publishers love to maintain the artistic quality and consistency (and sales levels) provided by the big-name writer-artist teams that tend to lend such books a sense of "this is a big deal." On the other hand, they need to get books out on time so that other series whose storylines depend upon what happens in the event can proceed as planned -- and so that they don't end up alienating retailers and readers. But these same readers and retailers can end up just as irritated if they get the sense that the creators are being rushed, or if fill-in artists aren't up to snuff. It's a tough row to hoe.

With his front-row seat for a variety of events this decade, including Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, and Secret Invasion, Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort knows this better than anyone. So it was with an obvious mix of boldness and trepidation that he made the following prediction on his Twitter account:

It's height of hubris time: I'm willing to bet that SIEGE will wrap up before BLACKEST NIGHT does.

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Your Mileage May Vary: Green Lantern Corps #42

Of this week's comic haul, Green Lantern Corps #42 seems to have gotten quite a reaction. Mostly due to the end, of course.

(I'm betting he'll be back in a month.)

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Straight for the art | Blackest Breakfast

Blackest Breakfast

Jeremy Wojchihosky creates the greatest super hero/cereal mash-up since the brilliant Breakfast of the Gods ... Blackest Breakfast, featuring various cereal mascots as DC's various Lantern characters.

As Caleb Goellner points out, the no-longer-produced Quisp mascot is the Black Lantern, while the Trix rabbit -- who did whatever he could to get a hold of his precious, precious Trix cereal -- goes orange. The Lucky Charms leprechaun also would have filled that role well. My favorite is probably the mascot of Fruit Loops as the head of the loopy Indigo Tribe.

Arby's unleashes JLA paper toys on humanity

JLA bobbleheads

And the papercraft kits just keep on comin'. This time it's a set of JLA-themed bobblehead dolls, created by Matt Hawkings of Custom Paper Toys. Better yet, these will be available in Arby's restaurants this week for a limited time with the purchase of a kid's meal. The dolls include Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Bizarro (not pictured). You can see more detailed pictures of the figures on Matt's Flickr page.

(found via the Ephemerist)

More Lantern Corps rings on the way

Black Lantern ring

Remember those Black Lantern rings that DC Comics offered to retailers to help promote the comic? If you missed yours, or if you had misgivings about supporting the bad guys, you're in luck. DC is going to create rings based on all of the other colors of the various Lantern Corps., so you'll have the opportunity to show your support for Sinestro and his the devious Yellow Lanterns, Saint Walker and his boys in blue, or even the mysterious Indigo tribe.

Show your true colors, or sell them on eBay ... your choice.

Here are the details on how retailers can get a hold of the rings, per DC's Direct Channels email to retailers ... each bag of rings costs $8:

• For every 25 copies of Doom Patrol #4 ordered by the order increase cut-off date, retailers may order one bag of 50 yellow promotional rings, scheduled to arrive in stores Nov. 4.
• For every 25 copies of Booster Gold #26 ordered by the order increase cut-off date, retailers may order one bag of 50 orange promotional rings, scheduled to arrive in stores Nov. 18.
• For every 50 copies of Justice League of America #39 ordered by the order increase cut-off date, retailers may order one bag of 50 red promotional rings, scheduled to arrive in stores on Dec. 2.
• For every 50 copies of Blackest Night #5 ordered by the order increase cut-off date, retailers may order one bag of 50 green promotional rings, scheduled to arrive in stores on Dec. 16.
• For every 50 copies of Adventure Comics #4 ordered by the order increase cut-off date, retailers may order one bag of 50 blue promotional rings, scheduled to arrive in stores Dec. 30.
• For every 25 copies of R.E.B.E.L.S #10 ordered by the order increase cut-off date, retailers may order one bag of 50 Indigo promotional rings, scheduled to arrive in stores Jan. 13.

Blackest Night to be read all over

Adventure Comics #4

If you've been following DC's Blackest Night crossover so far -- and by that I mean reading everything related to the story, from the mini-series to the monthly tie-ins -- it's been relatively inexpensive to follow, compared to most crossovers, anyway.

There's the main mini-series, of course, named after the event, plus three tie-in minis focused on Batman, Superman and the Titans. There was also the Tales of the Corps. mini-series, which gave some background on some of the players. And there are the regular issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps. that tie into the story.

According to the checklist that's been running in various DC titles, it's set to go at that same pace through October. In November, though, it looks like the flood gates are opening.

According to IGN, eight monthly titles will cross over into the story in November, including Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Justice League of America, Booster Gold, Superman/Batman, R.E.B.E.L.S., Teen Titans and the Geoff Johns-written Adventure Comics. Expect to see lots of Black Lanterns in these titles, including Ted Kord, Dr. Light and a whole lot of Titans who have died over the years.

I was a little surprised to see all of these tie-ins, but Dan DiDio said in July that there would be "some crossover that will be taking place in certain series."

And speaking of IGN and Blackest Night, today Johns revealed the identity of the main bad guy behind the Black Lanterns. Spoiler warning, of course; if you'd like to know who it is, click here. Apparently the big bad will also be on the cover of the next issue of Previews.

Abin Sur was only a few days away from retirement: A review of Green Lantern: First Flight

Green Lantern: First Flight

The new DC Universe Animated movie, Green Lantern First Flight, is basically a cop movie with a sci-fi setting. Its cast includes a wealth of strange-looking aliens and fantastic action scenes that defy the laws of physics (more on that later on) but the basic plot of the film comes out of a million other TV and movie police procedurals, right down to where the hotshot rookie is blamed for a crime he didn't commit and forced to turn his badge in.

And really, that's as it should be. That basic premise -- "space cop with magic ring" -- is one of the most appealing things about the character (really the most appealing thing if you ask me) so to focus on that aspect makes sense. What's more, it remains a pretty sturdy premise, despite its age. You have to be either really lazy or incompetent to foul it up. Thankfully, the makers of this film are neither, making First Flight an entertaining, if somewhat shallow and unoriginal, film.

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What are you reading?

Modern Masters: Kyle Baker

Comic-con or no comic-con, gods or no gods, we aim to keep What Are You Reading up and running every Sunday regardless. Our special guest this week is none other than the one, the only Abhay Khosla. Abhay's a regular contributor to Brian Hibbs' Savage Critics Web site, but can also usually be found lurking about here.

To see what Abhay and everyone else is reading, click the little linky ...

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SDCC '09 | Quote of the day

Geoff Johns

“I think the Green Lantern mythology has the potential to be one of the biggest franchises in the world, superhero or otherwise. It’s as epic as Star Wars and as deep as Lord of the Rings. I think it could rival every other superhero out there if explored, supported and executed right. ... I think the success of films like Iron Man and The Dark Knight has shown us that good comics films can rule the screen. ... I have immensely high hopes for Green Lantern.”

-- Geoff Johns, on the Green Lantern live-action movie

What are you reading?

Kurosagi Delivery Service Vol. 9

Is it Sunday again already? Time for another What Are You Reading then. Our guest this week is blogger and Bleach fanatic John Jakala. Has John been reading Bleach this week? Click on the link to find out. Oh, and don't forget to tell us what you are reading in the comments section below.

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Back, in black

Grumpy Old Fan

Lisa: Dad, you shot the zombie Flanders!
Homer: He was a zombie?

To paraphrase Milton Berle, of all the universe-shattering events DC Comics has published over the years, Blackest Night #1 (written by Geoff Johns, penciled by Ivan Reis, and inked by Oclair Albert) is certainly the most recent. At the risk of being unfair to the various bits of Green Lantern lore Johns and his collaborators have been outlining over the past five years, Blackest Night is essentially a zombie story. A mysterious, malevolent force "recruits" its members from among the universe's deceased, giving them black power rings and bidding them to "rise." Now the Green Lantern Corps, and their colleagues in the superhero community, have seven more double-sized issues (plus ancillary tie-ins in other titles) to stop the Black Lanterns.  I thought issue #1 was promising, and I'll tell you why.

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Send Us Your Shelf Porn!

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another edition of "Send Us Your Shelf Porn." This week we're pleased as punch (and that's pretty pleased) to be presenting the collection of one Mr. Michael Naugle. Michael's quite the Green Lantern fan, as you might gather from the photo below, and he's eager to give everyone the guided tour. So let's get started, mmmkay?

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SDCC '09 | Thursday programming schedule released

Comic-Con

Comic-Con International has released the programming schedule for Thursday, July 23, as well as some special programming for preview night. You can check out the entire day's worth of activities right here for yourself. Here are some of the highlights ...

• During preview night on Wednesday, Warner Bross Television will show some of their pilots for upcoming TV series -- Human Target, Vampire Diaries and the remake of V.

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D.C.'s onslaught of superhero candidates

Green Lantern for Mayor

This post on Ecocomics left me scratching my head over why Kyle Rayner was running for mayor of Washington, D.C., or why someone would set up a snazzy-looking website for him. I mean, sure; I'd pick Kyle over Hal or Guy (but not John Stewart) any day for mayor, and like I said, it's a snazzy-looking site, and he does have the endorsement of the Flash, but what's up with the site? Is it some kind of viral marketing thing for the upcoming Green Lantern movie, or maybe an ad for a sequel to DCU Decisions?

Then I find out Kyle's not running unopposed. It appears Spider-Man is also in the race. As is Superman. And the Atom. Even Batwoman, who is apparently for bird equality in D.C.

As it turns out, the sites are part of the New Organizing Institute's BootCamp, where attendees are tasked with running their own mayoral campaigns for fictional characters as part of their training. You can find a full list of the sites they've created here.

And while I was hoping I could throw my own endorsement out there for Batwoman, her stance on bird equality sounds just a little too crackpot for me. So Kyle it is -- Green Lantern gets my vote.

Stunning sagas, alternate realities

Grumpy Old Fan

Marvel tends to revisit its past with a specificity that DC doesn't duplicate. In projects like World's Greatest Comic Magazine!, What If?, the current X-Men Forever, and (apparently) the upcoming Clone Saga miniseries, Marvel not only spins new stories out of particular points in continuity, it attempts to give particular creative teams the second chances at closure which the fates denied them. Of course, DC does quite a bit of looking back itself, but most of the time it's not facilitating such second chances. Still, there are certain points in DC's publishing history which seem to ask for their own "what if" moments; so I'm going to talk about a few of those today.

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