I’ve been offline more lately than is usual.  Well, I say offline but really I am still online, I’m just staying focused on the tasks at hand and not doing as much Twitter as people are accustomed to seeing from me.  That’s because I’ve been writing.

A lot.

The whole point of this stuff is [...]]]> /begin random thoughts

I’ve been offline more lately than is usual.  Well, I say offline but really I am still online, I’m just staying focused on the tasks at hand and not doing as much Twitter as people are accustomed to seeing from me.  That’s because I’ve been writing.

A lot.

The whole point of this stuff is to write, get published, sell some books so I hope you’ll forgive my absence and silences as the muse takes me, roughs me up a little, and ties me to a keyboard.

* * *

I tend to be a planner when I write, but not a traditional planner – at least, not so far.  I plan in my head.  Sometimes, I will take months if not years to think about something before I put a single word down.  Other times, I will think about something for a few hours, know what I want, where I want the story to go and then I sit down and write.  Not particularly the best way to do things, but there it is.

This past weekend, for example, I just had this idea hit and there was no way it was going to stay in my head for any length of time.  So I sat down Saturday morning and started typing.  By end of day Sunday, I had 9800 words down and Cord Cahill, space cowboy, had been born.

More on that later.  Promise.

* * *

I have turned the daily Functional Nerd News Roundups over to the extremely capable Scott Suehle aka @8bitdad (twitter.com/8bitdad or http://8bitdad.wordpress.com/).  I offered and Scott volunteered.

You rock, dude.

Why turn that over to someone else?  I admit, it was my baby.  I started it back a while ago to help drive some traffic to the Functional Nerds site.  But spotty accessibility at work (I put those together during lunch and the firewall sometimes blocks me/times out when I try to access the site) meant that the posts were becoming few and far between and when I get home from work, my priority is to churn out entertaining writing with an eye on publishing.

So, something had to give.

Luckily, Scott was there to pick up my slack and has been doing a great job.  Thank you!

* * *

One icebreaker is enough.  You don’t need to eat two at a time.  Seriously.  Stop it.

* * *

A lot of people get pocket dialed.  I don’t know of many who get baby dialed.  I get baby dialed, have for years.

Quinn has let both of his sons play with his cell phones and as such, I get baby dialed.

The other night, I got a call from him, answered it, and heard his youngest ‘la la la’ ing while Quinn, in the background, said things like, “Who’s a baby boy?  Who’s a baby boy?” or some such.

It was funny.  I should’ve recorded it…

* * *

My aunt and uncle sent me a stack of comic books out of the blue.

You hear those stories, ya know?  About how people move into a new house, head up into the attic, into the crawlspace or the basement, and come across a dusty box shoved into a corner or nook.  They dig the box out, blow the dust and dirt from it and wonder what sort of treasure they may have uncovered (or whose dead pet).

Upon opening the box, they find a mint condition 1st appearance of Superman, or a copy of Amazing Fantasy #16.  Suddenly, they are rich.  All because of the box of comics left behind by someone who is probably kicking themselves.

…these weren’t those comics.  These were some Captain America’s from the early 90’s.

Sigh.

/end random thoughts

~P

Make me famous:

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty, “Hi Yo Silver! Away!”

With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now, to the thrilling [...]]]>

The Lone Ranger

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty, “Hi Yo Silver! Away!”

With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now, to the thrilling days of yesteryear – the Lone Ranger rides again!

The Lone Ranger’s Creed:

“I believe…..

That to have a friend, a man must be one.

That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.

In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

That ‘this government of the people, by the people, and for the people’ shall live always.

That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

That sooner or later…somewhere…somehow…we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.

In my Creator, my country, my fellow man.”

The Lone Ranger is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through six of The Lone Ranger comic book series as originally published by Dynamite.

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment (June 29, 2007)

It’s not easy being the little brother. For one thing, your older brother knows everything (or thinks he does) and what he doesn’t know, your father does – and neither one of them is even a little bit shy of pointing out when you’re wrong and they’re right. This means that you are forever trying to be like them, understand them and what they do.   Lessons can be hard earned.

Worse, it’s difficult to live up to what your father and brother stand for when they send you off to school while they stay behind fighting the bad guys.

Still, you manage. So imagine your surprise when you come home from school and you’re handed a badge and told to raise your right hand, say some words and mean em, and mount up!

You are now a bona fide Texas Ranger on the trail of law breakers, riding side by side with your family.

Exciting, right? This is what you’ve always wanted. This is the begin-gun shots ring out! All around you, men start to fall, even your father and your brother. You struggle as a bullet tears through your body, then another. You fall from your horse but still the shots ring out. They don’t stop until you and everyone around you stops moving.

It wasn’t the beginning, it was the end.

You wake up, surprised. An Indian is tending to your wounds.

He’s surprised that you’re awake too. No one else survived the ambush. You bury the men who fell around you, including your father and your brother. You add one more grave for yourself.

You throw away the name you were given at birth; that man is dead now.

You take up a new name, become a new man, a masked man. Who is that masked man? Not even you know that for sure just yet, but it’s time to find out who you are…

Well. What to say about this one.  It should’ve been longer.

I really wanted to like this and I wasn’t disappointed.  It started strong enough, telling the backstory of one John Reid, youngest son of a Texas Ranger who comes home and is accepted as a Ranger in his own right.  At this point – after the ambush, it did slow down – I think I would’ve liked the pacing to be quicker – they could have told much of the middle story in 20 fewer pages and not lost a bit of quality, imho.

I remember Saturday mornings watching WGN in Chicago – The Lone Ranger, Zorro and The Cisko Kid.  This brought back that memory of sitting cross-legged on the carpet, staring up at the tv and being a kid again, dreaming of being the swash buckling hero.

Having said that, this is a more modern telling of the story and as such, is much more violent, gritty and gory.  The art style is very dark and contemporary and it doesn’t have the overly buff and muscled characters you find so often in comics these days (the Mighty Marvel style) – which is a good thing.

It feels more like a movie than a comic or a tv episode.  We learn a lot about John Reid as he becomes The Lone Ranger, but very little about Tonto, which I hope is touched upon in another volume because they lay the foundation of a very interesting character.

The Lone Ranger will run you $20 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $15.

~P

Make me famous:

With a name like Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, how could you not become a Wizard?

At the tender age of six years old, Harry Dresden became an orphan.  His mother, Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay McCoy Dresden, had died giving birth to Harry and his father, Malcolm, died of a brain [...]]]>

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden

With a name like Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, how could you not become a Wizard?

At the tender age of six years old, Harry Dresden became an orphan.  His mother, Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay McCoy Dresden, had died giving birth to Harry and his father, Malcolm, died of a brain aneurysm leaving Harry all alone.  For a few years, he lived in foster care until he turned ten and his ability with magic manifested itself.  Justin DuMorne, a former member of the White Council of Wizard’s, adopted Harry and a young girl named Elaine Mallory and took them as his apprentices to teach them the ways of magic.

He was a harsh Master.

When he and Elaine were in their teens, Justin showed his true colors; he enthralled Elaine to his will and attempted to do the same to Harry, all so he could used their power, combined with his own, to do terrible Black Magics.  Harry resisted.  A lot.  He killed his ‘Uncle Justin’ and was taken to the White Council to be executed for using Black Magic, one of several Laws of Magic they take very seriously.

The Seven Laws of magic are:

1. Thou shalt not kill by use of magic.
2. Thou shalt not transform others.
3. Thou shalt not invade the mind of another.
4. Thou shalt not enthrall another.
5. Thou shalt not reach beyond the Borders of Life.
6. Thou shalt not swim against the Currents of Time.
7. Thou shalt not seek beyond the Outer Gates.

Due to the circumstances and a plea for leniency on his behalf (assumed, it’s never been confirmed), the members of the White Council did not execute Harry, they instead placed him under the care of one Ebenezar McCoy and held the Doom of Damocles over his head; a strict law that gives the powerful Warden’s the right to execute Harry on the spot should they find he has turned to the Black or used it or crossed any rule or law in any way.

All grown up, Harry sets himself up in the city of Chicago and advertises in the local phone book as:

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment

Which brings us to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.

Welcome to the Jungle is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through four of the Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle miniseries as originally published by the Dabel Brothers (subsequent titles are now published by Dynamite).  Chronologically, this story takes place prior to the first novel in the series, Storm Front.

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Del Rey/Dabel Brothers (October 14, 2008)

“Welcome to the jungle.  Like any jungle, it is a world of predators and prey. Some of the most dangerous creatures in the world live here.  Very few of them are in cages. And none of them are what they appear to be.”

This is the opening lines of Welcome to the Jungle.

There’s been a mysterious murder at the zoo.  Kind of a high profile case, too.  The son of a local official has been found dead in front of the monkey cages.  But its weird.  Weird means one thing in Chicago: time to call in Special Investigations.

Karrin Murphy, Lieutenant, head of the S.I. division and someone who likes truth and justice to go hand in hand, not always easy with ‘weird’.  Still, she does her job well and, for the most part, the higher ups leave her alone because she closes cases.  She’s a little over five feet tall and full of spunk – Harry’s words, not mine.

She closes cases because she’s not afraid to call in a ’specialist’ from time to time.

Harry Dresden; closer to seven feet and change, makes for the dashing, hero-type image.  Really, he’s a brawler, a bruiser, he’s the Wildcat to the Justice League’s Batman.  Yeah, he can bring the power but sometimes he lacks finesse.  Doesn’t slow him down one bit, though.

When Murphy calls, Harry answers.  And not just because it could mean the difference between paying the rent and not paying the rent, there’s also the helping people out thing, which Harry has to do.  Maybe it’s the whole ‘Justin tried to turn him into an evil thrall to doom the world so he has to atone’ thing or maybe it’s a deep seated need to prove to the White Council that he’s not the scum of the earth.  Either way, she calls, he answers.

Wizard’s have a lot of tools in their arsenal; one of them is the Sight.  It allows them to see for themselves the after images left behind by trauma and death.  It’s difficult to do because what they see can affect them, essentially allow them to feel the same fears, pain and anxiety of a victim.  Worse, it never goes away; once you’ve seen something with the Sight, it stays with you forever.  Still, it will give Harry an idea of what really happened at the zoo, so he dips into the Sight and takes a look.

Not everyone is impressed with Harry’s abilities.

Mockery aside, Harry sees that something from his side of the tracks is responsible for this death.  Everyone else assumes it was a gorilla who somehow managed to escape his enclosure.  They want the animal put down.  The only ones who think different are Harry and Murphy, but her hands are tied unless he can bring her evidence.

Now it’s up to Harry; find the real killer, exonerate the gorilla and try not to get killed himself while doing it…

So.  I have read all of the Dresden novels up to Proven Guilty, which is #8.  I’m a fan.  Unlike most fans, I did not read the books before watching the series on the channel formerly known as Scifi.  They made a lot of changes that angered people (no blue beetle, dark haired Murphy, short Dresden).  This graphic novel has none of that – it’s a more true representation of the characters than those were – by far.  That’s the power of the comic, of course.  No need for lengthy casting calls.

As a prequel to the novels, this is an excellent story.  It has its slow parts just as any story, but its a strong story and I like it.  Just like any Dresden story, this one starts off with a minor event of Harry doing something to help out a client, then getting mixed up in something larger – in this case, the murder at the zoo.  His ‘aw shucks’ demeanor helps him in his investigation but when he needs to, he can turn off the hick-charm routine and go right into brawler mode, whipping out his blasting rod or his runic staff to kick some butt.

The artwork is fantastic.  I really enjoyed the detail put in.  It wasn’t over-the-top, which I was glad for given the subject matter.  I cringe to think of what the Marvel hero factory would’ve done to Dresden.  Probably some super tall, massively built uber-Thunder God looking dude, which Harry is not.  He gets his ass kicked people.  A lot.

At one point we even get a glimpse at Harry throwing down with old Uncle Justin, Elaine already enthralled beside him.

So – we have Murphy who looks like Murphy, we have Dresden who looks like Dresden and we have the Blue Beetle – already doing better than the tv show, right?  We also have Bob looking like Bob.  And talking like Bob.  I half expected him to demand trashy romance novels in return for answering some questions (he does that in the books from time to time).

The last element to make any Dresden story complete?  Mister the cat, of course. (Reminds me of the new cat in my house: Dakota the lion)

All in all this was a great book.  I admit it, I’m a fan of Dresden as a character so I might be a little biased but if you don’t know the books, this is a great place to get started.  It’s an easy read and introduces you to the elements of the world very nicely, giving you a little stepping off point to dive into the novels if you so choose.

Welcome to the Jungle will run you $20 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $15.  It’s worth the extra rupees if you’re a collector/keeper because it has a nice jacket, thick hardcover and gloss interior stock paper.  Sorry, that’s the marketing guy in me shining through.

~P

Make me famous:

Dick Grayson was the youngest member of a circus highwire act known as ‘The Flying Graysons’.  When his family was killed right in front of him, it struck Bruce Wayne right where it hurts because it was like watching his own parents die all [...]]]> One of my favorite characters in the Batman universe is Dick Grayson.

Dick Grayson was the youngest member of a circus highwire act known as ‘The Flying Graysons’.  When his family was killed right in front of him, it struck Bruce Wayne right where it hurts because it was like watching his own parents die all over again.

Bruce felt such a kinship for the orphaned boy that he offered to take him in and become his guardian.  Dick became Robin, partner to Batman and a crime fighter in his own right.

He was 8 years old.

And that’s why I don’t want Robin in Batman 3.

Hollywood is enamored with itself and as such, likes to A) change things and B) play homage to its own past.  To Hollywood, Dick Grayson / Robin is really Burt Ward or, even worse (I know, how could anything be worse?) Chris O’Donnel.  If Robin appears in Batman 3, once again they’ll get some 30 yr old actor to portray him and then wtf was the point?

Robin is a KID.

Chris O'Donnell could have played Nightwing at his age, but not a convincing Robin.

Yes he grows up.  Yes he is replaced once in a while (what are we, on #4 right now?) but the point is still the same – he is a kid!  An 8 year old kid, and Hollywood doesn’t like that for a lot of reasons.

First and foremost – having kids on set costs more.  You can’t keep them up all day and night like you can an adult actor, and they have to go to school which means tutors.  That’s why half the time the kid you see on screen isn’t even really a kid, it’s some twenty-something who just happens to look young enough to play sixteen.

Second, I don’t think they really know what to do with Robin.  They like the silly Robin from the tv show, not the rebellious Robin struggling to figure out who he is from the comics.  Plus, you have this Dark Knight who strikes fear in the hearts of the bad guys and he’s running around with a kid wearing bright green and yellow?

They don’t know what to do with him.

And because they don’t know what to do with him, I’d rather not see him in Batman 3.

~P

Make me famous:

We had what became dubbed as the ‘creepy stalker Superman’ from actor Bandon Routh who, in my humble opinion, played the part [...]]]> Rumors abound regarding all of the comic books movies coming down the pipe and Superman 2 (or is it 6?) is on the list.  But the reboot of Superman didn’t do so well, remember?

We had what became dubbed as the ‘creepy stalker Superman’ from actor Bandon Routh who, in my humble opinion, played the part as stiff and unemotional as Keanu Reeves.  Who wants to see a sequel to that?

So there are a couple things I think they could so that would make the movie successful and, since I know the heads of DC and Warner Brothers are constantly trolling my little website (Uh… right.), I figured I’d lay out the changes they need to make if they want to see this next movie fly…

Get rid of silly Lex Luthor

The original Superman came out in 1978 and was great.  Christopher Reeves played the iconic part along side Gene Hackman as an over the top version of Lex Luthor as the ultimate silly supervillain.  Well, it’s thirty years later people.  Lex Luthor has been retconned into the CEO of a mega corporation and has even held the office of the President of the United States; the time for silly Lux running around in wigs and conning dying women out of their fortunes is over.  Play him straight or don’t play him at all.

Which actually wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.  Superman has other enemies just as Batman has other enemies.  Pull one of them out and dust em off for the movie treatment.  Let’s see Braniac or Darkseid give the man of steel a fight we’ll never forget.  Or better yet – since you love trilogies so much (Sorry John and Dale), let’s bring in Doomsday and do it up right, kill Superman in the first film, deal with the aftermath in the second and his rebirth/return in the third.  I’d pay to see that.

Start Fresh

Look, we love the Christopher Reeves movies, we really did.  Even 4.  Okay, not 4.  Or 3.  But we watched them because of Reeves.  They were great movies, but when Chris Nolan sat down to do Batman, he didn’t try to paint a homage to Tim Burton and look how utterly fantastic Batman and The Dark Knight turned out!  Do that with Superman.  If you want to draw from previous materials, draw from the comics, not the movies, not the tv shows, dear GOD not from Smallville – you can do it and do it well.  Chris Nolan proved it.

Drop Brandon Routh

I’m sorry, I’m sure Brandon is a great guy but when I see him, I see creepy stalker Superman.  His recent run on Chuck, one of my favorite shows on tv, was distracting because I kept thinking, “Don’t trust creepy stalker Superman! Don’t trust him!”

His portrayal of Supes was flat, unemotional.  If it was the intention of the powers that be for him to be emotionally detached then I suppose he hit the mark spot on, but it was a terrible thing to do to him and to us.  Give us some emotion in our Superman, some passion.

So.  That’s it.  My suggestions for a killer Superman flick; no more silly Lex, a different enemy for Superman to fight, a fresh break from the previous films and a new actor in the title role.

We’ll have to wait and see what they actually do, but not long.  I think they have the Superman film greenlit for 2011 or 2012…

~P

Make me famous:

Luke Skywalker; last of the Jedi.  Destined to return balance to the Force.  That’s a difficult legacy to be a part of.

Son of Anakin Skywalker and twin brother to Leia Skywalker, raised as an Organa, a lot was expected from Luke.  You see, the Empire had [...]]]> A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Luke Skywalker; last of the Jedi.  Destined to return balance to the Force.  That’s a difficult legacy to be a part of.

Son of Anakin Skywalker and twin brother to Leia Skywalker, raised as an Organa, a lot was expected from Luke.  You see, the Empire had overthrown the republic some years before and Darth Vader, a Sith Lord, had hunted down all of the Jedi and killed them – including Luke’s own father.  One Jedi who survived the purge was Obi Wan Kenobi, ‘Old Ben’ as Luke knew him.  He’d fought in the Clone wars, side by side with Luke’s father only to go into hiding when Vader started hunting the Jedi down.

When Luke comes of age, Obi Wan begins his training in the ways of the Force.  Before he can finish training young Luke, Obi Wan is killed, murdered by Vader.  Luke joins the Rebel Alliance against the Empire and, with the reluctant help of his new friend Han Solo, he manages to destroy the Death Star.  But that was only the beginning.  He soon found himself being trained by a second Jedi to survive the purge; Yoda.  With Yoda, he learns much more about the Force and, with his new power, sees his friends in danger on a city in the clouds.  Rushing forth, Luke falls into a trap set by Darth Vader.  He is forced to fight Vader only to lose his hand and learn that Vader was, in fact, his father and that his mentor, Obi Wan Kenobi had lied to him.

To add insult to injury, Han Solo, his best friend, is captured by the bounty hunter known as Boba Fett and taken off to Jabba the Hutt, a criminal kingpin who rules his organization from Tattoine, Luke’s home planet.  Along with his friends, they rescue Han and return to the Alliance only to learn that a new, more powerful Death Star is being built by the Emperor.  With Yoda dead, Luke is the only remaining Jedi.  He decides to confront Vader and his Emperor while the Alliance deals with the Empire.  In the end, he reaches that spark of humanity left in Vader, that little piece of Skywalker still beating deep within his heart.  Vader turns from the Dark Side, sacrificing himself to destroy the Emperor and save his son.

…the story doesn’t end there, nor does the Skywalker line.  After the Empire falls, Luke meets and falls in love with Mara Jade.  They have a son, Ben, who follows Luke into the new Jedi Order.  Luke’s sister, Leia, also has children strong in the Force who become Jedi.  The Skywalker line continues on until, 125 years after the events on the forest moon of Endor, Cade Skywalker becomes a Padawan…

Star Wars Legacy: Volume One-Broken is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through three and five through six of the comic book Star Wars Legacy originally published by Dark Horse Comics.  Apparently issue four was a stand alone that didn’t fit in with this story, which seems silly to me (for them to do in the middle of series) but, oh well.

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse (May 2, 2007)

You can’t keep a Jedi down.  Wipe them out to near extinction and they come back.  So do the Sith.  They are two sides of the same coin, Sith and Jedi.  Over a hundred years after the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, a new purge is underway and a new Empire is surging forth to seize power.

Darth Krayt has risen to power and, with an army of Sith following him, is striking out against the Jedi to purge them from the galaxy once and for all.  He sends his Sith to Ossus to destroy the last Jedi Temple and kill all the Jedi and Padawans.

Kol Skywalker and his son, Cade, are among those fighting to survive.  Master’s Skywalker and Sazen order their Padawans, Cade and Shado, to evacuate the younglings while they keep the Sith at bay.

When Master Sazen is cut down by the Sith, Cade rescues him and, enraged and afraid to lose his Master, uses the Force to heal him from the brink of death.

But using the Force this way somehow takes him dangerously close to the Dark Side.  Seeing his father cut down by the Sith sends him teetering over the edge.

He hops into a fighter to cover his Master’s escape with the younglings, eager to kill as many Sith as he can manage.  The last they see of Cade Skywalker is the destruction of his fighter.

Seven years later.  Darth Krayt is now Emperor of a divided Empire.

A second Emperor, Roan Fel, holds together a ‘loyalist’ Empire not sworn to the Sith.

The Jedi are hunted by Imperials, Sith and Bounty Hunters, a massive price on the head of each and everyone of them.

Master Sazen and Shado, two of the few remaining free Jedi, are convinced Cade Skywalker still lives and are determined to find him.

Elsewhere, Princess Marasian, daughter of Emperor Fel, travels the galaxy seeking loyal Imperials to serve her father so they can overthrow the Sith, unaware she is being hunted by Darth Talon.

She falls in with a band of bounty hunters, her only protection from the Sith hunting her.  They are good at what they do, but one may be more than he appears…

Well, what can I say about this one?

Tons of action, tons of adventure, tons of, well, everything.  You have the developing character of Cade Skywalker; part of a legacy he wants no part of, struggling to become something, but he doesn’t know what.  He’s running from his past and his future, haunted by memories and a destiny he refuses to embrace because he’s afraid that path will lead him to the Dark Side.

You have a compelling story of a galaxy in upheaval; the two Empire’s exist on top of each other with one Emperor on Coruscant and another constantly on the move.  Each is trying to solidify their position.

You also have tons of Jedi and Sith; the Empire has ‘Imperial Knights’, including the Emperor Roan Fel and his daughter, Marasian.

So even if all the Jedi are hunted down, there are still the Imperial Knights to deal with.  Gone is the ‘one master, one apprentice’ Sith rules, thrown out by Darth Krayt who sees strength in numbers as being more important.  Plus, it gives him plenty of Sith to throw around and into battle.

You can probably tell by now that I really enjoyed this.  The art was fantastic, the storytelling solid and engaging.  I’ve already bought the second volume in this series.  If you’re looking for a great Star Wars story, this is it.  You don’t really need to know any of the expanded universe stuff to get into it.

Star Wars Legacy, Volume One: Broken will run you $18 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $12.

~P

Make me famous:

Gone is the magically powered Alan Scott (the Golden Age Green Lantern), replaced by a fighter/test pilot named Hal Jordan who is the first [...]]]> October 1959; DC comics editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane introduce a new, Silver Age version of a classic comic character to the world – The Green Lantern.

Gone is the magically powered Alan Scott (the Golden Age Green Lantern), replaced by a fighter/test pilot named Hal Jordan who is the first human being enlisted by an interstellar police force known as the ‘Green Lantern Corps’.  Assigned to patrol sector 2814 by the Guardians on OA, Hal Jordan is a hero.  That lasts until the 90’s when stuff starts to go wrong for old Hal.  First he gives up the ring for Carol Ferris, his long time love, only to find out she’s been living a double life.  He finds he way back to the ring and, after the Guardians disappear for a bit, forms a new Corps on earth with some friends.  When that goes sour, he goes back to being just another GL until his home city is destroyed, the Guardians return and put him on trial and he decides he’s had it and becomes something new and different: Parallax.

As Parallax, Hal causes all sorts of trouble and becomes an enemy to just about everyone and everything.  Insane, he tries to rewrite history and it takes all the heroes around to stop him and kill him.  End of story, right?

Fraid not.

Hal’s spirit or soul becomes attached to or taken by The Spectre.  Normally a ’spirit of vengeance’, the Spectre likes that Hal wants to make up for what he did as Parallax, so he/it decides to let Hal continue to try and redeem himself, which eventually leads to why we’re all here:

Green Lantern: Rebirth.

Rebirth is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together the 5 issue mini-series by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver & Prentis Rollins.

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: DC Comics; Trade Paper edition (March 28, 2007)

Keep in mind that I haven’t picked up a GL comic since Kyle Rayner took over in the 90’s.  Rayner is not a favorite of mine at all, as I’ve mentioned before, and really all of his stuff came after I stopped with the comics on account I needed to pay my bills and my comic book habit was interfering with that.   So, when I decided to pick up ‘Rebirth’, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I knew the stuff above; that Jordan had gone nuts, that he’d died then come back, but didn’t know about the Spectre thing or that John Stewart was still running around with a ring.  Didn’t even know that Guy Gardner no longer had a ring and was, instead, some sort of ‘warrior’.

So no matter what happened, I had high hopes for something entertaining.  Sort of like seeing an old friend again after a long absence.  I wasn’t disappointed.

You can’t keep a good comic book character down

Comic book characters, like The Master from Doctor Who, just won’t stay dead no matter how many times or how many different ways you kill em.  That includes Hal Jordan.

A lot of times in comics, a ‘reboot’ of a character means they are either going to toss out the old mythology that you knew and loved in favor of a ‘new and reimagined’ version (Man of Steel, Ultimate Spider-Man).  With Green Lantern, they sort of already did that with Emerald Dawn 1 and 2.  A lot has happened since then so I was very happy to see that they weren’t just going to start over, they instead gave us a true ‘rebirth’ of the characters and the mythology but kept what we already knew, loved and in some cases, hated.

The first thing we see is Kyle Rayner doing his job, protecting the universe.  Not just his sector, all the sectors.  He is the only active Green Lantern left so it’s his job to protect everyone and everything.  Tough gig.

Then he gets a translated message from some locals on the very edge of the universe itself that makes him go, “Huh?!”

Yikes, right?!  I mean, that’s Hal Jordan! He was Parallax!

So now we see what old Hal is up to; he’s Hal, but he’s also The Spectre and there’s still a little bit of Parallax in there thrown in for good measure.  Kinda crowded in his head, really.

The first dozen or more pages are a walk down memory lane and a treat for those of us who’ve been around and reading forever.  We get to see the characters we’ve known while the new reader gets introductions and brief backstories.  We even get to see an Abin Sur-like crash landing to kick things off (Kyle crashing home to earth).

The little jaunt down memory lane reintroduces (or introduces, depending on your knowledge of the mythology) us to Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Carol Ferris, The Green Arrow (one of my absolute favorites), the Green Lantern Corps, The Spectre &, of course, Parallax.  If you aren’t familiar with the last ten years of mythology (like me), it’s a great quick and concise catch up that sets the foundation for the story.

We see that Hal still struggles with what he did as Parallax, that The Spectre isn’t content to just be a spirit of ‘redemption’ (he throws in some vengeance whenever he can), and that something bad is coming and coming soon.

The first clue is the message to Kyle Rayner, the second is when Guy Gardner’s new powers explode, the third when Coast City, Hal’s home town that was destroyed by Mongul after Superman’s death, suddenly reappears sans any people (something Hal tried to do but got blocked by the Guardians which lead to the whole Parallax thing in the first place).

Cameo’s from the Justice League show us that whatever’s afoot, Batman for one, is ready to blame Hal who, he says, “Always had an EGO.  He never worried when things came crashing down.  He never prepared.  He just flew in.  Damn the consequences.  We should’ve known back then a man like him couldn’t be trusted.”  This leads to one of the best moments in the book for me – John Stewart versus Batman that culminates in the following statement:

Brilliant.  That sums up the Dark Knight so well.

Meanwhile, we’re taking a walk down memory lane with Hal and Carol who’re remembering their past together.  Hal doesn’t seem to have any idea that anything weird is going on or that the Justice League is coming for him until they’re right on top of him.  At this point, John Stewart goes nuts and starts attacking people.  At this same moment, Hal Jordan’s old ring, now in the care of Green Arrow, activates and duplicate’s itself (which I didn’t know it could do!) and Guy Gardner’s condition changes and he becomes a Green Lantern again.

When John goes nuts and starts attacking the JLA, Hal tries to help but the Spectre says ‘no’ and takes him away for a chat where we learn the origins of Parallax (the ‘real’ origins).  I won’t ruin it for you.

We also learn that the big bad has returned and who is the biggest & baddest for the Green Lanterns?  Why, their greatest member, fallen into disgrace, of course.  Sinestro:

As an aside, can I just say – I love Green Arrow.  I love the smart-ass mouth, the attitude, the whole package.

I made a mistake when I bought this book; I thought they were resurrecting Hal Jordan which, really, they did – but that wasn’t the only goal here.  See, they were very smart and very cool and they really resurrected The Green Lantern; the Corps, the Guardians, the Enemies, the Mythos – and it’s fantastic.

You start to think that it’s going to be a JLA story (what with all the cameos), and for a while, as Parallax returns, it’s the JLA who hold him back.  But as Hal gets his ring on again, we see that it’s not about the JLA or Hal Jordan, but about the Green Lantern’s as a whole.  Oh, and he has it out with Batman which is priceless.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Bats, I do, but there aren’t enough people who just tell him to fuck off every once in a while.

He really should’ve seen that coming…

After this, the Corps gets the band back together to take care of business.

I’m being intentionally vague on these bits because I don’t want to be all spoilery on you.  But here’s a clue:

Overall, Green Lantern: Rebirth is a very entertaining book full of stuff for the long time fan but is also a nice starting point for someone just picking it up.  GL has always been full of scifi goodness and has a special place in my heart.  It’ll run you $18 (cover price sans any discounts you might have) at a brick and mortar store but you can find it online for $10 and it’s well worth your time and money.  The art and writing are fantastic but you won’t be able to read this one alone, oh no – you’ll find yourself wanting more…

~P

Make me famous:

In this weeks ATFMB podcast, I talk about scifi television, including the renewal of Fox hit Fringe for a 3rd season, Chuck’s ratings win that might mean a 4th season and how i09 has a list of 25 books Hollywood should be making movies out of, how HBO has greenlit a new series based on [...]]]> #11

In this weeks ATFMB podcast, I talk about scifi television, including the renewal of Fox hit Fringe for a 3rd season, Chuck’s ratings win that might mean a 4th season and how i09 has a list of 25 books Hollywood should be making movies out of, how HBO has greenlit a new series based on the Song of Fire and Ice fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, how Bruce Wayne, like every other comic book character who has ever died before him, is ‘coming back’ to the DC Universe and how Comics Should Be Good – which is the title of a new blog that I absolutely love.  In music, I share with you my thoughts on Susan Tedeschi, blues goddess and not so secret crush.

~P

Susan Tedeschi on iTunes

Comics Should be Good

DCU Bruce Wayne Returns

Susan Tedeschi

Make me famous: