Wednesday (coda)
The expedition to Dr. Volt’s was a success. I went back to work with my four-colored bounty and three (and ONLY three) pieces of plastic crack: Patriot, Stature and Sunspot. While I can understand why there’s no Iron Lad figure, I’m still a little unsure of why they did nor do a figure for Hawkeye (Kate Bishop). Oh, well… maybe they’ll put one in the next set.

Four-Color Coverage
Let’s get to it:

  • Action Comics #852 – It’s the Jimmy Olsen issue. Watch as Jimmy – and his reporter pal, Clark Kent – observe a release hearing for The Kryptonite Man. Also, we see what led to Jimmy getting his handy-dandy Superman hypersonic signal watch. And, what’s going on with those monkeys at the zoo…?
  • All Flash #1 – Wally West is back. And, he’s not exactly happy about the circumstances of his return. Here are the opening, pre-title, captions:

    My name is Wally West. I’m the Flash. The fastest man alive.

    And I’m still… too… late.

    I got super-speed back in grade school. Freak accident. Grew up running alongside my uncle, Barry Allen, the Flash before me.

    About midway through my adult career with the Justice League, I met Bart Allen, Barry’s grandson, who inherited Barry’s speed. The boy was flaky, unpredictable, and had the attention span of a bullet. He got codenamed “Impulse,” and it was probably the first thing that ever stuck to him.

    His grandmother, my Aunt Iris, brought Bart to me to train, and I spent months trying to figure out what I’d done to hack her off.

    I misjudged them both.

    Over the years, I watched Bart go from “Impulse the annoying” to “Kid Flash the amazing.” I learned to like him. A lot.

    When I decided to retire with the wife and kids, I had no hesitation about giving the Flash costume and identity to him. That’s what the Flashes do. We run our race, then we pass the baton to the next guy.

    I always figured I’d come back to check up on Bart–

    –not to catch his killer.

  • The Brave and the Bold #5 – Batman and the Legion. Supergirl, Green Lantern and Adam Strange. And, what’s this..?! Another (somewhat different) Batman/Karate Kid fight? And what happens when you put a Kryptonian on a planet in a trinary-solar system? Three guesses. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
  • Countdown: 41 – “Secret identities are such a pain…” Mary Marvel has a few moments of introspection. And, holy Titan A.E., Batman…. are Donna Troy, Jason Todd and Monitor #1 (I think) having a moment?:

    Donna: You deserve thanks, too, for helping our reality, and for helping Jason and me try to discover our places in it at last.
    Jason: She’s right. And we don’t even know your name.
    Monitor: Any gratitude paid me is irrelevant. My name is my mission– to maintain the balance in which you are elements and to prevent the coming of the Great Disaster.
    Jason: Then I’m gonna call you Bob.
    Donna: “Bob?”
    Jason: Because “To maintain the balance in which you are elements and to prevent the coming of the Great Disaster” is too much to say every time I want to ask you to pass the ketchup or something.
    Monitor: Mm. Very well, if calling me “Bob” will simplify matters for you, do as you will.

    And, , you’re going to want to pick this one up to see just who it was that kept Karate Kid from returning to the 31st Century.

  • Green Lantern Corps #12 and #13 – Two dead Green Lanterns. Guy Gardner… the prime suspect?! Kilowog on a rampage. What’s wrong with Mogo? What are all of those… yellow… spores on its surface?
  • Justice League of America #11 – First off, let me say how beautifully painted (or possibly drawn) this issue was; Gene Ha did some amazing work here. Brad Metzler wasn’t exactly a slouch either: Red Arrow and Vixen, buried alive. No signs of help on the way. And time is running out.
  • Martha Washington Dies – This is the closing chapter in a book that Frank Miller started nearly twenty years ago, Give Me Liberty. I never read that book, but having read this one, I think that I might have to track it down.
  • Superman #664 – Magic + Kryptonians = Not good (for the Kryptonian, that is). Arion apparently knows this. And using this knowledge, takes Superman down… Just before a newly-minted government team, dubbed “Squad K,” comes to kick Superman’s butt… Just before the Justice League comes to… well, you get the picture. And, as you can imagine, none of that does much to improve Superman’s mood.
  • Superman/Batman #38 – Someone’s going around inciting fear in some of the citizens of Metropolis. And their ultimate target: A certain high-flying Kryptonian hero. But, the instigator is not The Scarecrow. Nor is it Sinestro nor anyone in his newly-formed Sinestro Corps. But, once their – and their co-conspirator’s – identity is revealed, I don’t think that you’ll be surprised at just who it is.
  • Ultimate Power #5 and #6 – Irresistable Force (Nick Fury, along with the Ultimates, X-Men, Spider-Man and the FF), meet Unmovable Object (the Squadron Supreme). And… what usually happens when two groups of superhumans get together? That’s right: BIG. FIGHT. Knock-down. Drag-out. The only thing missing is hair-pulling. And, just who is that person lurking around the Helicarrier with Nick Fury? They look… familiar.
  • Ultimate Spider-Man #111 – I stopped reading this title (regularly) almost a year ago. I saw the cover of this issue and decided to flip through it. The few pages that I read made me decide to take a chance on it. It wasn’t a bad choice. This issue was aptly titled “The Talk.” May Parker. Peter Parker. The kitchen table. And the truth about Spider-Man. In the words of the Rush song, Force Ten:


    Tough times demand tough talk
    demand tough hearts

    Well worth the price. This issue also sees the end of Mark Bagley’s run as writer. He has been on the book since it began, nearly ten years ago – these days, you don’t find a writer who sticks with a title for that long, especially at one of the big publishing houses. I won’t say that Mr. Bagley saved the best for last – he had some good stories along the way – but he definitely goes out with a bang.

Stray Toasters

  • I have breathed new life into my LEGO and Bionicle LEGO watches! All thanks to the modern technology known as “new batteries.”
  • Unfortunately, my clear-backed Fossil watch seems to have suffered fatal deceleration trauma. I need to take it into a jewelry shop and see if it can be made whole once more.
  • Thanks to for sending me a link to this picture.
  • Acolyte Derek’s training proceeds nicely, as evidenced by this post. He also gets bonus credit for this post, particularly the second cartoon – the seventh bullet point on this list is why… and he wasn’t aware of that item when he created his blog entry.
  • : NPR is running a series called “Vocal Impressions: Hearing Voices,” where the commentator “…has been asking listeners to describe their impressions of famous voices.” They are currently on Round Six; Round Five apparently included “She Whose Sole Purpose On Earth Is for Me to Ridicule” (scroll down for the comments).
  • Guitar Hero fans should take a look at this t-shirt.
  • Down for the Count Profile: Karate Kid
  • and/or : Glow-in-the-dark cross-stitch
  • Tori Amos’ Big Wheel (video)

Namaste.