So, its been a while since I have written anything but I felt it was time to write again. I have read almost every of the DC titles on the shelf, some I dropped for various reasons, some I got turned on to stuff I never thought I would like. With that first wave we got a lot of great stuff (and some lousy stuff: Hawk and Dove, Mr. Terrific, and some other god-awful names) and with this second wave, I am very excited. So far we have seen the first issues of GI Combat, Dial H, Earth 2, and Worlds Finest. I'll just say my thoughts on each of these titles:

GI Combat: I am intrigued to say the least by this comic, cancelling "Men of War" and replacing it with a similar comic made me a bit hesitant. Don't get me wrong, I love war comics, they have a nostalgic feel, but what I want in a comic was not what I got from "Men of War", I honestly want a comic book fantasy experience, and the main story of "Men of War" got there eventually but it took far too long and with the odd appearance of Circe in issue 2 it made the whole series a bit hard to take in. GI Combat offers what any red blooded American wants, you guessed it, a war again dinosaurs in North Korea, I am excited to see where this goes. The short introduction story of the "Unknown Soldier" was good for guys like me who did not read his previous stories from Vertigo, I look forward to seeing some hardcore action out of that title. on a scale of 1 to 10, I'll give this guy an 8.5

Dial H: I have no experience with the old "Dial H for Hero" series so this was totally new to me, and I really liked it. I am a big fan of darker stuff, and the heroes of Boy Chimney and Captain Lacrymos hit those strings dead on. I am looking forward to something more from this title. so far, 8 out of 10

Earth 2: What more can be said for this title than "interesting". I am a huge fan of JSA stuff, but this was a JSA I had never seen before. With the death of the Justice League members, to see the early genesis of a newly told JSA was pretty exciting to me. getting to see a young Jay Garrick and Alan Scott was really very exciting, and from the preview images, the costumes are very cool. I cannot wait to see some more JSA members show up, but the little part about Al Pratt was cool. From me, 9 out of 10 (I must seem really generous, but really, I like these new titles)

Worlds Finest: So I read the 6 issue Huntress series, and enjoyed it, it was something I could shift to the bottom of the weeks stack of comics and read with no serious expectations. This issue comes right out of the events of Earth 2, with Powergirl and Huntress trying to form themselves into new heroes in the regular DCU. I can't complain too much, this was alright, but not great, Huntress is back to being Helena Wayne (which many people dislike) and she looks exactly the same as she used to so no costume reboot. Its the costume reboot of Powergirl that I get confused, her...well.... her appeal was all in her costume for many -primarily male- fans, so changing it, or at least not leaving the big hole over her...assets... was disappointing, the old design grew on me, and I kind of understood why she had that, its a perfect distraction technique, as a male, if I were a villain, sure, I'd get distracted. This one gets a 6 out of 10, its too early to be harsh and judge it, but it needs to improve.

So, I will see what the other new titles bring and write up some short summaries of my thoughts on those too. until then, we shall all have to wait to see what is to come.

So, it happened, Flashpoint ended with a bang of sorts, as the world of Flashpoint destroyed itself, it was explained that there have always been several different realities too close together, and that to save all of them, they had to be merged. This is just the same as the whole "there are 52 universes" thing, but instead of making them seperate, there are 3 that merged, to make this new earth. How will this work, well I am honestly not sure of how it will all fall out and make sense. The only thing so far I can go on is JLA #1 which was an alright turn for things, re-introduction of the Batman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, and Superman seemed alright, but some things don't seem to fit. First off, Batman seems mostly the same, and maybe even closer to his counterpart in the recent films, as he is being hunted by the proper authorities in the beginning, but when Hal arrives on the scene, I wasn't sure how to take it. He had an attitude, not like the Guy Gardner attitude, but like, well one that just didn't fit for me, it felt like they were going into an exploitation of the potential to allow for further films, by making him crack jokes like Ryan Reynolds could do in the films, this all felt like a setup to me, to make more of it. Superman, although he was there for a very short time, came across as a little territorial, which is understandable, but I certainly hope he doesn't end up being aggressive too much, he's the nice guy, the boyscout, not some edgy guy, I'd hate to lose that with him. Cyborg is getting a basic re-telling of a seemingly similar enough origin story to what he had in the previous incarnation, so not much has changed there. So, now lets see how some titles being released handle these characters, hopefully it will not be too hard on the old fans

So, for the todays post, I figured I'd give some opinions beyond just Green Lantern, so to not stray too far off my normal trail, I figured it would make sense to talk a bit about my hopes for Justice League, in its 3 books.
 
Justice League #1 comes out in 6 days, and is the kicking off point for the DCnU. The classic lineup for the most part is still on the team, with one new addition of Cyborg, but he has worked his way up the ladder since his appearances in Teen Titans, so its fine that he has worked into the new JLA. I is gonna put me for a bit of a spin admittedly trying to remember this story takes place 5 years ago, and that Hal is still a GL during this, but it should be a fun ride, and its been a while since Aquaman was on the JLA which should be a good re-entry after his new found popularity after Brightest Day
 
Justice League International is a comic I am 100% looking forward to. I loved the original team from the late 80's and early 90's, and it still has most of the basic members as it did then. Of course, being a huge fan of Guy Gardner, it will be good to see him back on a team other than just the corps, and after Justice League: Generation Lost I want to see where the members of Boosters JLI go, and more importantly, see if the clever Maxwell Lord makes another vie for power or if he is gonna play good for a bit.
 
Justice League Dark sounds absolutely awesome. I am a big fan of Deadman, and to team him up with Shade, Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, and anyone else who I might have forgotten sounds like an awesome team with just those few named. I have little to say beyond that I hope this team gets off the ground well, and I really wanna see them involve Doctor Fate and the Spectre

It was only today, this morning in fact, before my regular wednesday trip to the comicbook store that I was writing what I hoped to see in the DCnU, and one thing I was going to write was about how I don't want to see the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott forgotten, well now, after reading the final issue of Justice Society of America, I found out just what his fate would be. Sure, a comicbook death should always be taken with a grain of salt, but this is one I take rather seriously. Alan Scott, the Green Lantern since 1939 was the first hero to carry that title, and the basis for the other characters when the term Green Lantern would be revamped in the late 50's. Alan Scott had, to my knowledge, never had a death before, a very rare feat for a character who outdates most other characters who have been killed and brought back a few times. His powers came from the magic of the Starheart, his ring, but in the end, it proved his undoing, as he believed he killed his son accidentally, in a flash of light, he was gone, and Jay Garrick said in the final issue, with nothing left to bury, just a coffin, an insignia, and a legacy. To a Green Lantern fan, its like losing a grandfather figure, sure its not as heartbreaking as a real death of a real person, but this one hits a fan pretty hard. The best we can do is hope, and hope a lot that somehow, Alan Scott could have been ok through it, but I'd understand if they killed him forever, its just sad to think that it might be the end for a legend of a character

I figured to countdown to the release of Justice League #1 and the New DC universe, I'd make a post a day until the release of things I am looking forward to, things I don't look forward to, and things I hope to see, one of each a day. I figured my hopes for Lantern comics would be most appropriate to start with.
 
What I hope to see: 
Plain and simple, what I want to see is something new. Green Lantern titles are definately giving me what I wanted with 5 new titles, and new directions, I mean, yes I want to see the characters we all know and love, but to delve deeper into some characters will be fantastic. For example, Sinestro, it was pretty exciting to see him as a Green Lantern again, and is gonna shake things up in a serious way, I always loved Sinestro so this is gonna be a fun ride. Another great new direction for Lantern-ology is the creation of the Red Lanterns comic and New Guardians, to understand the Red Lanterns, a potentially violent or evil corps, will be made into something good will be interesting. New Guardians, well I just wanna see more corps action.
 
Later on: What I am not looking forward to! (jeeze, sounds pretty negative)

Sorry I have not been up on the reviews thing for a while, but things got moving in comics faster than I could write reviews. I decided rather than write one review per book, I would make a single review for the last few issues of Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors before the big renumbering comes about. Now as most people know, the Green Lantern War ended on a huge note, Sinestro is a GL again, and Hal got the boot. Sinestro having the ring, as the writers said, allows some new depth to be thrown into the story, but in my opinion, Hal having his ring taken away is going to be even more interesting, as he will need to learn how to live without his ring, and be something important without the power of the lanterns, something you can clearly tell when he says he is "nothing" when his ring is taken, needed to be done. I love Hal, I'm not gonna lie on that point, but his problem is obvious, he cannot feel important without his ring, thats not very admirable. As for our other dear GL's, Jon is in a personal battle, after being the one who murdered Mogo, he is feared and shunned by many lanterns, some lanterns even attempt violence against him, but he did what all soldiers do, he did his duty to save people, sometimes in combat, there is collateral damage, really, he did what had to be done. Guy Gardner seems to be doing what he always did, being the G: with attitude, and the last 2 issues of Emerald Warriors have been stand alone stories that for the most part were pretty cool. Kyle Rayner is being, as always, the teen angst GL, I am treading thin ice saying that, but he is the kid who cannot function without a girlfriend, even if it meant putting people in harms way when he lied to Sora and the Star Sapphire who saved him, he could take a page from Hal's book, he does not need to have a love interest every issue, all it makes for is a guy who is the teenage GL, I get more than enough angst out of Teen Titans with the whole Superboy-Wondergirl break up stuff, I don't need it in my GL comics.  On the note of the corps in general, the fact that the Guardians are scared silly by the fact that they can in fact be killed is pretty interesting really, they even told Saalak to back off, and locked themselves into their citadel, it is gonna be a bumpy road for the corps as I see it.   
 
Anyone who truly loves ALL the Green Lanterns though cannot just forget where it all started, like the fans of Secret Six who are sad for the ending of their favorite team of villains there (myself amongst them), I am sad to see the ending of the JSA series, and the loss of the Green Lantern who started the concept, Alan Scott, its gonna be tough to see him disappear, and I can only hope he appears somewhere in the new 52, or somewhere down the road, lets hope the JSA will not see its final days, its too great to see end, and the message the Green Lantern Alan Scott carries has always been about legacy, hopefully that will have some part in how that series ends, even if he retires, it is sad to see him go, hopefully he chats with Hal before he disappears. 
 
So, as the new 52 comes around, where will things go, well we have to wait and see, so far we know the JLA story is taking place 5 years ago, and Hal is still a GL, but the main stories will be focused in the Green Lantern titles on Sinestro, Jon, Guy, and Kyle, and with the New Guardians Series, and the Red Lantern series, I think the view of the corps will begin to become much bigger. Oh yeah, and Guy Gardner is headed back to join his old pals in JLI, which will be very fun to see him back with them.

Now I know my name suggests my main focus is Green Lantern comics, and it is, but I like to write a review every now and then, and Hellboy comics are a favorite of mine.   
 
HELLBOY: THE FURY Pt. 1: 
The book begins very well for those who have just jumped aboard, and after the last Hellboy story "The Storm" set up the events of this story, it was good to see a recap of everything in a "Our story so far" moment. The recap also allows us to know this is not just another short story, this will be a big event in Hellboy's story. After leaving Excalibur with his love interest Alice Monaghan in an old english Tavern, he seeked out Baba Yaga so he could pass into the tower where the evil Queen and self proclaimed goddess of war Nimue is preparing to destroy the world with the armies of all things that ever hated humanity. Oh, and did I mention, back at the cozy little inn where Hellboy's new gal is, there is also a standing army of the undead titled "The Noble Dead of England" or an army of those faithful to the holder of Excalibur. Hellboy trades in his eye to Baba Yaga at the end of the story "The Storm" thus allowing him to pass by the other witches on Nimues side (more like those being forced on her side). The real interesting part from how I see it comes when the story of George Washbrook, and his experience during WWI when a lady in white healed his mortal wounds by giving him water from the sacred cup, its safe to assume its the holy grail, to keep to arthurian legend. Washbrook is explained to be descendant from the same family of witches that attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria, and were thwarted by Edward Grey, thus leading to his knighting and the addition to the famous sir at the beginning of his title. It is explained that Washbrook lived far beyond his peers, and was waiting for something, after spending his life searching for a purpose, he settled in the very same cozy inn they were in at that time, just as his story was being finished, the very old man, helped down the stairs by the spirit of what can be assumed is the same woman who healed him and gave him a drink from the grail, to then accept Excalibur from the hand of Alice. Upon receiving the sword, in a bright light, he becomes King Arthur, and the spirit places the crown on his head, then he steps outside to the army of the noble dead, raises the grail, and in a bright light, restores life to his army in waiting. As Hellboy fights his way into Nimues tower, he encounters of course some heavy resistance, but the big shocker comes when he reaches Nimue, who is no longer as she was, and has become a vessel for the truly evil, and potentially arch-nemesis material of Hellboy, the Ogdru Ussep Jahad, the same beings Rasputin had tried to free on the day Hellboy was born. In the end, Nimue refers to herself as the Dragon, and the crown she once wore, having transmutated into a flock of crows, goes to her army of hatred and gives the orders to march on the world of man. A truly thrilling cliffhanger.  
 
All in all ,of course, it has the typical dark but beautiful artwork, and the writing is fantastic, even if you don't like to read a lot of Hellboy or haven't tried it, try this one out, its only 1 in 3 so its not a long term series, and will probably make one hell of a great story. Who knows, if you like it, read more, maybe I can get someone else into it.