Tag Archives: JSA

Uncanny Greenvengers

by windiebird

(Cover by Mauro Cascioli, DC Comics)

What’s that sound you hear? Would that be the pure, unadulterated joy of my heartstrings stringin? WHY YES IT WOULD BE! Because we have an actual, awesome Green Arrow series going on RIGHT NOW! Green Arrow 5 continues the wonderful as Oliver Queen finds himself battling the dead in Star Forest, the super-de-duper creepy Nix & the encroachment of the Queen on his domain. If you’re still on a J.T. Krul hate-train I will personally build you a replica of the Star City Bridge so you can get over it.

(Cover by Terry Dodson, Marvel Comics)

Uncanny X-Men 529 brings us the fourth and final installment in Hope’s Five Lights arc and it focuses on the Fourth light in the Ukraine! One of these lights is supposed to end up being made up of pure villain extract but who’s it gonna be? We also get some more of Emma Frost’s plans for Sebastian Shaw. Will uglies be bumped? Will ponytails be tied with ribbons? We’ll see today!

(Cover by John Romita, Jr., Marvel Comics)

Avengers has been a big ball of fun so far and Avengers 6 will surely continue the pattern. Kang vs. Ultron vs. the Avengers from every time period? Yeah, it’s going to be another action-focused book alright! A new threat is slated to appear and it’s anyone’s guess how the Avengers will ultimately set time right. The art is a fine piece of work and the writing has been completely enjoyable. Get it!

(Cover by Stephane Roux, DC Comics)

Zatanna 6 puts our heroine in mortal danger as her soul is vulnerable for the taking! For someone so magickally potent and capable, that’s quite a scary statement. It’s up to the other living Zatara to get her back in the fight but let’s just hope Zachary is up to the task!

(Cover by Don Kramer and Michael Babinski, DC Comics)

Wonder Woman 604 pits Diana against the shadowy leader of the paramilitary organization who killed her mother! Say what you will about the costume but JMS is writing a great story with an interesting way to sell it to us. She’s still a badass, she’s just making a pit stop so that new readers like myself can jump on the Amazon Express. Don’t make the mistake of skipping this!

(Cover by Shane Davis and Sandra Hope, DC Comics)

We’re getting a new creative team on Justice Society with JSA 44 and I’m looking forward to it. While I haven’t read anything of Marc Guggenheim’s I have always enjoyed Scott Kollins’ pencils! It’s the JSA against an escaped government experiment gone wrong…in Washington, D.C.! If that’s not the setup for an awesome Society story, I don’t know what is!

(Cover by Cliff Chiang, DC Comics)

Another stellar cover to an exciting title, Justice League: Generation Lost 12 has Ice unleashing her inner elemental against the crazed Metal Men! Can Fire melt this new leap in Ice’s powers with her lesbian kisses hot, hot heat or will a new Ice Age dawn?

(Cover by Felipe Massafera, DC Comics)

Rueben brought The 99 to my attention last year and I’ve tried to keep the name on my radar since then. I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet. However, with the release of the JLA/The 99 1 I can happily get a taste of these Teshkeel Comics heroes alongside a few of my other favorites! What better way to get the whole world involved but a planetary invasion? I’m crossing my fingers that this gets some real love in the comic stores, get out there and give it a go!

-windiebird

DC Wednesday

by windiebird

 

(Cover by Rodolfo Migliari, DC Comics)

 

Emerald Warriors 3 continues the new Green Lantern tale as Guy Gardner and the Throbbing, Red Rockets continue their stop on the Blue Lantern Corps home planet. Brother Ganesha Warth has a special task for our ginger-flavored protagonist but let’s hope it doesn’t delay his arrival in the Unknown Sectors.

Generation Lost 11 splits the newly-minted (and totally lovable) JLI into two groups to track down leads on Maxwell Lord. It’s Beetle, Booster & Atom chasing down a secret OMAC cell while Fire, Ice & Rocket Red take on the Metal Men! Did you know Mercury is the only metal that’s a liquid at room temperature?

 

(Cover by Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy, DC Comics)

 

Green Lantern 58 is so full of hope, you guys. BRIMMING WITH HOPE! Good thing Marvel can’t copyright an emotion, right? Anyways, the Hope entity finds a human host! Whether that’s a good thing or a bad one we’ve yet to see but the Corps continue to settle around the earth and the White Lantern. Hopefully, the human host isn’t fried to cinders since Hal Jordan is going on some kind of spiritual quest? AND the Spectre is about to lay some serious hurt on the Rage entity. A jam-packed week for the Lanterns!

 

(Cover by Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

 

I can never get enough JSA and the JSA 80-Page Giant out this week hits that sweet spot! It’s seven stories about Cyclone, Doctor Fate, Jesse Quick, Mr. Terrific, Obsidian, Sand and Tomcat bein’ all familial and junk. Seriously, these are always a bunch of fun and a good way for even non-readers of the main series to get a glimpse of these characters.

 

(Cover by Fabrizio Fiorentino, DC Comics)

 

Titans 28 has the team of anti-heroes (which is a generous term) breaking an Arkham inmate onto the streets of Gotham! Osiris also gets closer to discovering how to finally free Isis. As pretty as the art has been I would suggest this title to Brightest Day completionists only, I’m sorry to say.

 

(Cover by Tyler Kirkham, DC Comics)

 

Untold Tales of Blackest Night boasts some pretty awesome ideas that never made it into the main Blackest Night storyline (or the the countless spin-offs generated from it). Ragman’s suit of souls is under attack from Black Lantern rings, Scarecrow gets suuuuuper-creepy as he explores the possibilities of wielding true Fear, Donna Troy finds herself unwillingly taken hostage by the dark light of Death and Animal Man has to deal with the crushing emotional weight of the dying planet! A great October treat!

-windiebird

Black, Green, Metastasized & Gold

by windiebird

(Cover by Shane Davis & Sandra Hope, DC Comics)

It’s another exciting week here at MaD and I can’t apologize enough for slacking in my preview posting! Who doesn’t love a pretty picture to start a Wednesday off right? Let’s get to it with JSA 43! There’s magic on the dark side of the moon (mysterious as the dark side of the moooooooooooon! Anyone? Anyone? Mulan in yo face!) as Alan Scott and son must deal with the aftermath of the Starheart’s possession of the original Green Lantern. We’re left with what looks like a shining, emerald city where the magical and elemental folks of the DCU are mysteriously drawn to. Obsidian is a character I’d love to see back in full swing with the JSA and this tail-end of the Dark Things storyline provides plenty of angst to fuel his shadowy return!

(Cover by Mauro Cascioli, DC Comics)

Green Arrow 4 continues straight out of Brightest Day 9 (and Compton) as Oliver Queen and J’onn J’onzz deal with the revelation that the forest MM is meant to destroy is on Mars and not Star City! We also continue to learn that the Star Forest is one completely insane place. I don’t know, I’m really digging Brightest Day and all the twists and turns but I’ve started to look forward to the day we just have a regular, ol’ Green Arrow story. J.T. Krul is doing a bang up job for real, though.

(Cover by Mike Fyles, Marvel Comics)

One Month To Live 5 is the end of a fascinating idea from Marvel. I admit that I’m missing out on a lot of probably awesome Marvel stories (Thanos Imperative, Chaos War, etc.) simply because I feel out of my element but this one took my fancy and has paid off in spades four issues into the five-part series. Dennis Sykes has been given incredible matter-manipulating superpowers at the cost of his life. He only has one month in which to make amends with the ones he loves and to try to make his mark on the world. Could it all be a fever dream in the end? Will he actually die? Pick the eventual trade up if you’ve missed this series!

(Cover by Don Kramer & Michael Babinski, DC Comics)

Wonder Woman 603 pits our panty heroine against the Keres! Looks like they’re similar to their mythological counterparts (death demons, basically) but I couldn’t tell you if they’ve showed up in the DCU before. I’m starting to get the genius of this Wonder Woman storyline, especially as a new reader to the Amazonian Princess myself. Her eventual return to the regular continuity (plus a few thread changes) should equal a larger readership for her and hopefully a re-energized loyalty in the longtime audience. The changes have certainly ruffled some feathers but I think that’s ultimately a good thing.

-windiebird

Arrows On The Brain

by windiebird

(Cover by Mauro Cascioli, DC Comics)

What can I say, I’m a little biased! But for good reason since J.T. Krul has done a bang up job on Green Arrow two issues in. Really, I think he and editorial had differences on Rise of Arsenal causing some of the odd scripting choices. Everything else he touches I’m in love with! It’s green on green this week as the Martian Manhunter descends upon the new Star Forest! More mysteries of the White Lantern trees reveal themselves as well and Ollie might not belong as much to the forest as he originally thought. Plenty of good comic right here!

(Cover by Mark Bagley & Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

The Dark Things concludes in this week’s JLA! Will Jadesidian and Alan Scott be stayin’ alive once the JSA/JLA super team tames the wild Starheart once again? A connection to the Brightest Day events crops up here as well and it might not be the obvious threat to the earth causing the real harm. Very fun way to get the teams re-energized for this brand new direction. Definitely check this one out.

(Cover by Tony Harris & J.D. Mettler, DC Comics)

Who could mention the Justice League without talking about the shaky new (and perfectly penned!) incarnation of the International team? With everyone on board and gunning for Max, you’d think they’d finally get to the bottom of the mystery…but alas, our Checkmate king is no foolish prey. Are they playing into his game or beating Lord to the punch? Judd Winick has really hit a sweet spot with these characters, get in on this!

(Cover by John Romita Jr., Marvel Comics)

It’s a multi-publisher post as Tony Hawk stares into your eyes, smoldering and angry. Yes, future-Tony-Stark may be a grumpy gus but no one reading the new Avengers title should be! Bendis is definitely doing it like Beckham for this series and putting out exactly what a team-up story should be. No place for much individual characterization here but SO much humor and exciting group dynamic that it isn’t required. Time may be broken but that won’t stop the Avengers from getting Kang and the evil Avengers babies that sent him! Absolutely a must-buy.

Other noteworthy but less eye-catching titles:

X-Campus #3, another successful re-imagining of the X-Men! This has my attention more than the vampire stories, to be perfectly honest.

Namor: The First Mutants #1, assholes and fish! Fun combo or the MOST FUN combo?

X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Storm & Gambit, everybody’s stealing stuff, y’all! It’s for the greater good though, so bow to the goddess, mon cheri.

-windiebird

Just J(anet)SA

by windiebird

(Cover by Mark Bagley & Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

It’s the Justice Conglomerate versus the Starheart in JSA #42 this week! Even their might won’t cut it, though, so who better to lend a light-sucking hand than Shade? If you’ve been hoping for a point to catch up with the current JSA OR the JLA I’d start with this crossover. Well drawn and both books are well scripted.

(Cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez & Dave Gibbons, DC Comics)

The Teen Titans are taking over in DCU Legacies #4! The Silver Age had babies and they’re kicking ass…in green faerie boots! Seriously, I couldn’t be happier to watch DC discover the greatest love of all. It’s all about the in-house love and it’s splendidly done.

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

Brightest Day #8 not only features one fine, feathered lady as the A cover but a host of delicious answers as well! I won’t spoil the turning points in issue 7 but let’s just say that this stuff got some serious kinds of real! Who is the White Entity (I mean…let’s not do those jokes, I guess?) and is Boston Brand Deadman enough to make things right? The Hawks are getting bloody on Hawkworld, Firestorm is…an unstable nuclear disaster waiting to happen, J’onn is hot on the trail of the Martian murders & Aquaman is plumbing Mera’s depths. And the mysteries of Mera’s depths. In all honesty, this series is completely worth it now! To all the naysayers, I promise things have been made right.

Batman Beyond #3 puts us squarely halfway into the new mini-series. I would say that this might be a better trade purchase than individual issue purchase if you haven’t bought into it yet. Plenty of enjoyable action but neither the story or art is making me jump for joy. Worth the money if you’re a fan of the show, though, of course.

(Cover by Ardian Syaf, DC Comics)

Cyborg Superman and the Qwardians! If you didn’t think Brightest Day meant “Silver Age redo”, you weren’t following along! The Alpha Lanterns have been corrupted in Green Lantern Corps #51 and it’s up to Hannu to save our beleaguered Lanterns from cyborg-erization. For not having read more than an issue of this series, I’m surprising myself with how excited I am to follow along. A nice comic with some interesting Brightest Day connections.

-windiebird

Mylant(ern)

by windiebird

(Cover by David Finch & Scott William, DC Comics)

Brightest Day #6 grants us some damn answers! Well, that’s the idea anyways. The full price of the resurrections (if all those deaths and Black Lantern drippings weren’t a clue) will become clear to the Returnees. Deadman learns more about the White Lantern and it looks like Martian Manhunter gets some special attention this issue. The series has turned off many but I think there’s still plenty of hope left in the Brightest Day.

(Cover By Mark Bagley & Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

I am way too excited for this crossover! Justice Society of America #41 is part two of the REAL Lantern crossover and the Starheart is making the Scott’s go bonkers! Please get in on this JLA/JSA event, there isn’t a better time to jump on board. Magic, mayhem and some of my favorite characters all in one book. Love it!

(Cover by Stephane Roux, DC Comics)

It’s Night vs. Zatara in Zatanna #3! The bad Brother is targeting Zatanna’s closest friends and she won’t take that lying down (in her amazingly plush bedding). A magical battle is going down in the sexy streets of San Francisco and it’s sure to be breathtaking.

Batman Beyond #2 has Terry getting up in Catwoman’s (well, a Catwoman’s) grill about the old Batman’s foes becoming the targets of his mysterious foe. I have yet to be grabbed by the story, honestly, but very nicely drawn so far.

The Silver Age is upon us in DC Universe Legacies #3! The original JSA and co. have stepped down and now the heroes more commonly loved nowadays come to the forefront. Not to be missed for any fan of DC. Really a beautiful, simple tableau of the DCU timeline.

-windiebird

Pesky Lanterns

by windiebird

(Cover by Mark Bagley & Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

Justice League of America #46 is the big one this week as the five-part JLA/JSA crossover The Dark Things kicks off! The Starheart has gone berserk causing magic on Earth to truly run wild. Strange weather patterns and randomly appearing metahumans are just the tip of the glowing, green iceberg that is the power of the Starheart unleashed! A trip to the Shadow Lands is in the future for the Lantern family but where will it leave them once the dust is settled?

(Cover by Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

Justice Society of America #40 finally catches up our favorite Society to the present day! Mr. Terrific’s plan to save the past and the future comes to its crashing conclusion with plenty of nazi-punchin’ action! A teammate returns to save the day but we can only wait to see if they all make it back whole. Just in time for Alan Scott to go bonkers!

Batman Beyond #1 starts us off once more with Terry McGinnis’ tale as the future Batman! As we’ve mentioned before, an unknown foe is targeting Bruce Wayne’s villains and it’s up the NeoGotham Knight to find out why. Looks like it’ll be all-gorgeous & all-genius creatively, don’t miss it!

The Flash #3 has Barry Allen facing down an all-too-familiar scene, his own death! The Renegades are still after him for the murder of Mirror Monarch but what could it all mean? Plenty of mystery still lies ahead (as is Geoff Johns’ way) but it’s sure to be a wild ride.

Green Lantern #55 pits Lobo against Atrocitus! Nothing good can come of these two hotheads beating up on each other but it’s up to Hal Jordan to save them from themselves (not to mention the rest of us). Hector Hammond returns to the scene so that he might join the New Guardians. Who can say what’s going on in the gigantic brain of his? Nothing good, that’s for sure.

(Cover by Mark Djurdjevic, Marvel Comics)

Secret Avengers #2 continues this space spy story as the team digs deeper into the mystery of the Roxxon Mars drill site and the connection it has to the secret society revealed in the first issue. No one likes to have their mind-controlled and it’s even worse when it’s Nova going rogue! Let’s hope our heroic Avengers can save the day. Quietly.

Don’t forget that Mindfield #1 actually comes out today as well, absolutely a promising series if ever I’ve seen one!

-windiebird

Wednesday is for Nazi-Punching!

by mutantaday

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

Time is all out of whack in real life this week, as well as the DCU and 616 on account of the Memorial Day weekend here in the United States of America. Most of DC’s titles are slated to come out today while Marvel has listed tomorrow as the release for their titles. ANGST ANGST ANGST!

In any case, since my DC bias is showing quite a bit this week anyways, I thought I’d post our weekly rundown today!

The big one for me this week is Brightest Day #3 because I feel like the event is getting past the exposition in general and into some more involved plot. The last issue of Green Lantern made it clear that though this might be a brand new day, the light that’s shining could prove to be too intense for the universe to handle. In the same way that Blackest Night was a crisis of emotion, the death of feeling, maybe Brightest Day is a crisis in its own way, that which happens when there is an overabundance of life and sensation. And how can anyone not be excited for Aliveman v. Anti-Monitor?!

(Cover by Jesus Merino, DC Comics)

Okay, so we all know how this ends because they ‘spoiled’ the ending two months ago in JLA but Justice Society of America #39 on sale this week should be a BLAST as Mr. Terrific’s Nazi-smashing plan comes to fruition! Who will fall and how will they manage to save Obsidian and get back to the present, reversing all the atrocities the Fourth Reich has committed? We know they will but the journey is always what makes the story count. JSA = love(, actually).

Then we have the newer team of JSA members dealing with the death of Damage during Blackest Night in JSA All-Stars #7. While certainly not the most popular book I feel like this team could go to amazing places after they have finally sloughed off the weight of Magog’s character. With the new event going on and this low point happening, I think it’s high time for an All-Stars revival! The title is worth picking up if only for the co-feature, such a wonderful formula having Liberty Belle, Hourman, Icicle & Tigress forced together for a common goal.

A new title I’m glad to have given a chance to is iZombie. The second issue should provide the answers and clarity that weren’t quite there for me in the first issue but hey, with art this gorgeous and a story this quirky, I’m willing to buy quite a few issues no matter what. It’s just that refreshing. It’s like the fourth Fantana or something and well worth your time and coinage.

-windiebird

By Odin’s beard!

by mutantaday

(Cover by David Finch, DC Comics)

What’s that month-old fish smell? Why, it’s Aquaman! Here to save the day with some seriously fetid calamari! It’s Brightest Day #2 and we’re delving deeper into the mysteries of the white light of ~*~Feelings~*~ once again this week! Firestorm on the fritz, Aquaman commanding the dead, forests popping up in city ruins and 12 living once-dead folk, I’m hoping we start really getting to the meat of the story. The art is pretty, the story compelling (if vaguely and arguably racist at points) and it’s giving me a Green Arrow story. Heaven!

(Cover by Adi Granov, Marvel Comics)

Bastion is cooking up even more pain and anguish for our favorite X-people this week in X-Men Legacy #236 (Chapter 8 of Second Coming) as his plan to trap the mutant race on Utopia becomes a frightening reality! The X-Club trapped outside, Pixie stuck in Limbo and hardly any help on the way it’s looking damn bleak for the team. I’m sure they’ll manage a win by the end but I can’t fathom how. Be reading this if you haven’t been!

(Cover by John Romita, Jr., Marvel Comics)

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, Age of Aquariuuuuuuuuuuus! Earth-616 is getting all bright and shiny itself with a brand new Heroic Age! If you haven’t heard, the end of Siege is giving the Marvel universe a re-haul (as well as four new Avengers books). With this Wednesday bringing us the first in the promised quaternity, Avengers #1! Kang the Conqueror is back from the future for a mysterious purpose sure to put the newly ASSEMBLE’d team through their paces.  We’re also getting a backup feature of the oral history of the Avengers which will be…pleasurable.

I’m also excited uptown, downtown & midtown this week for the new DC Universe: Legacies series starting up, a 10-part book covering the entire history of the DCU! From the earliest masked heroes of World War II (where this issue begins) to the current day’s generation of super-people, we’re slated to get it all. Quite an undertaking but the previews up so far have my hopes up.

We also have the prologue to the new JLA/JSA crossover this week in JLA #45. Supergirl and Power Girl are locked in battle and no one knows why. With Alan Scott and his daughter clearly in trouble with the Starheart, that can’t be a good thing. Should be a great read. Then of course we’ve talked about the ongoing Zatanna series starting up, be sure to give it a go! Dini, Roux & Story, what could go wrong?

If you haven’t picked up an issue of American Vampire yet then you’re missing out on some beautiful horror. Issue 3 is out this week and both Stephen King and Scott Snyder are hitting their stride for their 5-part run together. The characters are real and their tribulations are visceral. Can’t ask for more in this flapper-era vampire masterpiece!

We also have the second part of X-Factor’s story during Second Coming and it’s sure to be bloody fun, the conclusion to Pixie Strikes Back (with one amaaazing cover!) & the second volume of Girl comics, a grab bag of amazing talent that you should absolutely pick up if you can afford to.

Don’t forget the abundance of Heroic Age comics that will provide extra background and clarity for the new books (bam, bam & bam!).

The Legion of Super-Heroes is back with another 1st issue, a Green Lantern tie-in and the destruction of a major planet are all promised in this one, check it out.

And lastly, the War of the Supermen rages on in the third installment of the series, sure to shock and amaze the world.

Phew, quite a lot of comics this week but be sure to check them all out at your local comic shop!

-windiebird

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

by windiebird

BDAY1
(image from DC, Brightest Day #1)

Man, Hal Jordan must be passing one hell of a shiny kidney stone! I jest, of course, for we are truly & megaman excited for the events of Brightest Day today! While the zero issue was tantalizing in its exposition, finally getting into the meat(substitute) of the story will be much appreciated. Now that we’re all set up with our main players, we can finally discover what this new white light means for the DCU now that it seems to have mostly coalesced on earth. With a story title of “Second Chances”, anything could and would (and wood) happen. Here’s the Brightest Day checklist if you’ve been missing it.

Uncanny 524
(image from Marvel, Uncanny X-Men #524)

It’s too early for me to spoil the major death that occurred in the last chapter of Second Coming but HOLY COW! If the preview is any judge, this issue will mostly be the fallout from the loss and how the team handles the death as well as Hope’s bloody entrance to Utopia. Emotions will be tipped past the boiling point and let’s just hope the mutants can hold it together long enough to fend off Bastion’s baddies! Follow along with our Second Coming checklist if you haven’t been!

Hellbound 1
(image from Marvel, X-Men: Second Coming – Revelations: Hellbound #1)

Sorry for the picspam here but come on, how can you say no to Magik’s magickal vibrator getting some cover play? It looks like the cracks in Utopia are deepening and widening (X-moisturizer is nowhere in sight!) as Bastion continues his assault on mutantkind. How can a brother let his sister to the deadly forces of Limbo alone? The answer is, of course, that he can’t. Piotr and a few willing compatriots will make their way to Illyana’s hidey-hellhole to save the day or die trying.

They don’t get their own cover in the post this week but I love me some JSA All-Stars! We’re finally getting the shocking conclusion to Constellations with the promise of much pain and anguish dished out by Johnny Sorrow. The Subtle Realms are sure to be dispelled by Fate Girl (Fate Lass? Fatea? Doctora Labia? The possibilities are lame and endless) but what will it mean for the team? I’m all atwitter for where the youngest Society members go from here.

And of course, let us know what you think of War of the Supermen!

Quite a week for comics (when isn’t it, really?) and another glorious Wednesday! Get out there and support the comics biz (who lives in Oz)!

-windiebird