Post-Crisis Comic Book Previews for 07/15/09

Light outing for me this week, but for what it lacks in numbers, it more than makes up for in quality. Biggest book of the week, no, make that year, has to be Blackest Night #1. You may have heard of it. Both Ryan and I will be picking up this event and you can look for both our reviews on this one. Book to watch out for this week is Superman/Batman #62. Rafael Albuquerque is coming on board as the ongoing artist for the title and previews for the issue look great. I'm sure it'll get overshadowed by all things Blackest Night, but if you've got a few extra dollars lying around, you should take a look at it. Hit the jump to find out what Ryan and I will be picking up this week!

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #2
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs
Co-feature written by Marc Andreyko
Co-feature Art by Georges Jeanty and Karl Story

In this second issue by the dynamic duo of Paul Dini (DETECTIVE COMICS) and Dustin Nguyen (BATMAN), Commissioner Gordon teams with the new Batman to combat the fiery threat that Firefly has spread across Gotham City. And to make matters worse, the mysterious adversary known only as Abuse makes his presence felt!

Meanwhile, in the Manhunter co-feature, now that Kate Spencer is the new District Attorney of Gotham City, will she use her legal power or her Super Hero identity to find the killer of the previous D.A.?

Kirk: First issue of Streets of Gotham was a bit of a mixed bag. I enjoyed it and Nguyen's art was top notch, but nothing really happened. I'm not even sure what the series is about. We jumped between cops, random villains, Batman,Robin and even Hush. I'm hoping it will establish itself more and actually clue me in to what the book is about this time around.


BETA RAY BILL: GODHUNTER #2
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Kano

Is Galactus...worried? Even…scared? Does he think the last of the Korbinite's unprecedented plan may succeed? That would explain why, on his approach to another idyllic world, the ever-hungry one sends his mightiest servant to stop Beta Ray Bill from interfering. But it'll take more than the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic to make Bill turn back now...

Kirk: Missed out on the first issue, expecting a less than stellar outing with how Beta Ray Bill has been treated over the years, but scans online showed off a Bill that hasn't been that good in over a decade and prompted me to get my shop to order in a copy of the first issue and put the rest on the pull list. Here's hoping it continues the pace set by the excellent first issue.


BLACKEST NIGHT #1 (OF 8)
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert

Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis raise the dead in the most anticipated comics story of the year! Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War of Light rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends upon us, with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps at the center of it all.

Don't miss this 8-issue epic taking the DCU beyond the grave!

Ryan: The recent successes of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps have set the bar high for the debut of the summer’s most-anticipated miniseries. This one has been brewing for a long time and if Geoff John’s previous Green Lantern epics—Rebirth and the Sinestro Corps War—are any indication of how this will turn out, readers are in for something amazing here. I can’t wait.

Kirk: It's Blackest Night. We've been running a primer on it in case you missed it. We don't just do that for every little storyline that comes out either. DC has a lot riding on this book and it's quite possible, combined with Batman and Robin's success (it took the #1 spot in sales for June, even beating out the much hyped Captain America #600 and took in over 150k in sales), that this event could give DC the shot in the arm it needs to close the gap on Marvel in marketshare (Marvel commands about 50% each month while DC is ~30% on a good month). Add in the fact Marvel has no real event for this summer and, if DC plays its cards right, they could do some real damage and tell some fantastic stories all at the same time.


BLACKEST NIGHT: TALES OF THE CORPS #1
Written by Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Rags Morales, Chris Sprouse, Ivan Reis, Doug Mahnke and others

In this 3-issue miniseries, writers Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi (GREEN LANTERN CORPS) reveal the secrets behind the Lanterns of BLACKEST NIGHT! Bear witness to Blue Lantern Saint Walker's pilgrimage of hope, Star Sapphire Carol Ferris' sacrifice for love, Green Lantern Kilowog's courageous beginnings, Red Lantern Vice's source of rage, Orange Lantern Blume's bizarre creation, and the first appearance of the mysterious Indigo, leader of the Indigo Tribe!

Kirk: Unlike the Tales of the Sinestro Corps specials from the Sinestro Corps War, these don't look like editorially mandated tie-ins rush solicited to cash in on an event. With both Johns and Tomasi involved, I'm expecting some good things here and looking forward to the introduction to the Indigo Tribe, as well as the various other one-shot stories planned.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #601
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Gene Colan

A special double-sized issue featuring art by the legendary Gene Colan! Bucky and Nick Fury uncover a lost tale from Cap and Bucky's days in WW2 - a tale of horror and war and brothers-in-arms.

Ryan: It looks like this series could be spinning its wheels while waiting for Reborn to complete, but I won’t let that bother me if it means we get to see the all-star team up of Ed Brubaker and the legendary Gene Colan. I’m glad to see that Marvel is offering this in black-and-white, as Colan’s great shadow work always looks better without color.

Kirk: Another double-sized, higher priced issue of Captain America on the heels of the disappointing Reborn has me seriously contemplating, for the first time ever, dropping Captain America from my pull list. This will make 3 straight issues of non-story, flashback tales - all at $3.99+ pricepoints - making this an even harder pill to swallow. Might just switch to trades and wait this one out.


DARK AVENGERS #7
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Mike Deodato

"UTOPIA: CHAPTER 3" The DARK AVENGERS/UNCANNY X-MEN crossover continues! San Francisco teeters on the brink of absolute chaos and the X-Men keep getting in the way of Norman's vision of law and order. So Norman takes his game to the next level: who are the DARK X-MEN? And will Norman's Avengers play nice with Norman's X-Men? Here's a hint: no.

Ryan: The Utopia one-shot was a solid opening for the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men crossover, but the last issue of Uncanny X-Men left a crummy taste in my mouth by essentially rehashing the one-shot’s events. The first Dark Avengers installment is going to have to deliver the goods to make up for it.


SUPERMAN/BATMAN #62
Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson
Art by Rafael Albuquerque

When the inmates take over Arkham Asylum, it's a job for the World's Finest duo – Robin and Supergirl! Rafael Albuquerque (BLUE BEETLE) joins the series as regular artist for a story we could only call "Sidekicked!"

Kirk: To be honest, I've missed Rafael Albuquerque's art since Blue Beetle ended and have been looking forward to seeing his work again for a while now. His last outing on Superman/Batman (link to Nerdy Bird's scans and commentary) saw the hilarious and entertaining mini-Justice League, brought over to our world by Mr. Mxyzptlk, and their interactions with Superman and Batman. The early previews for this one looked equally good, so I'm going to grab the first issue, if not more, of his run on the title.

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The Blackest Night Primer - Star Sapphires

Continuing the Blackest Night primer we kicked off last week comes the third corps spotlight, this time featuring the Star Sapphires. These corps primers will cover the basics of each corps, from their oath to their leaders to their homeworlds, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and noteworthy members heading into the event.

If you missed any of our Blackest Night primer, make sure to check out the index post for basic information, links to all the other posts and the schedule for upcoming posts. When you're ready, hit the jump for everything you need to know about the Star Sapphires.

Corps Colour: Violet
Emotional Spectrum: Love
First Appearance: Green Lantern #18 (as a Corps)
Homeplanet: Zamaron (Sector 1416)
Leader: Queen Aga'po
Key Stories: Mystery of the Star Sapphire, Ring Quest, Sins of the Star Sapphire
Oath:

"For hearts long lost and full of fright,
For those alone in blackest night,
Accept our ring and join our fight,
Love conquers all -- with violet light!"

Origin: Millenia ago, when the Guardians of the Universe first decided to abandon emotions and begin policing the universe, a splinter sect of females vehemently opposed them. Unable to resolve their differences, this group of females left the Guardians and travelled the cosmos until they came across the planet Zamaron. There, they found the source of the violet light of love - the Star Sapphire.

For many years, they used the Star Sapphire, a possessive and powerful jewel, to take control of women yearning for love and use them to mate with the person who spurned their love. Once they mated, the Star Sapphire would crystallize the entire planet, 'preserving' their love forever.

In recent times, the Zamarons, after one of their own became possessed by the Star Sapphire gem in Mystery of the Star Sapphire, decided that it would be prudent to create their own set of rings and lanterns and form a Star Sapphire corps to help spread love. It would also curtail many of the possessive and self-destructive properties of the original jewel. Thus, the Star Sapphires were born.


Initiation: The Star Sapphire ring seeks out those with great love in their hearts or a deep emotional loss, such as the death of a loved one or rejection by someone they love, similar to how Green Lantern rings seek out those with no fear and great willpower. Unlike other corps who's rings seek out new recruits, the Star Sapphire ring actually asks if you would like to join.

Also, it has been shown that the Star Sapphires can convert other corps members to their cause by imprisoning them in a crystal conversion chamber. Currently, Sinestro Corps members have been the only ones shown in these conversion chambers. Whether they work on other corps or if it is some weakness yellow has to violet light has yet to be revealed.


Powers: Star Sapphires harness love from the emotional spectrum to create violet light constructs. The Star Sapphire rings can also show people their greatest desires, as evidenced by Miri Riam's showing Kyle Rayner and Soranik Natu theirs, which ended up being that they both loved each other. Can also detect where love is in jeopardy anywhere in the universe.


Weaknesses: None so far. However, violet is on the far end of the emotional spectrum and Johns has said the extremes of the spectrum are more dangerous and difficult to control.


Notable Members

The Zamarons (Sector 1416)

Led by their queen, Aga'po, the Zamarons are a faction made up entirely of females that split off from the Guardians of the Universe millenia ago after the Guardians decided they would lead a life without emotions. The Zamarons believe a life without love is blasphemy and searched the universe for a sign of their faith before stumbling upon the planet Zamaron, where they renamed themselves the Zamarons and began harnessing the power of love from a mysterious crystal, the Star Sapphire, that they found in a cave between two crystallized aliens wrapped in an embrace.


The Predator

Similar to Ion and Parallax, the Predator is the entity for love and the violet light part of the emotional spectrum. When it was first introduced, it was presented as the male, animus component of Carol Ferris's personality and, eventually, separated off, taking on the traits of Carol's ideal male counterpart.

In Green Lantern #43, Scar named the Star Sapphire entity, which had not been seen up until then, as The Predator, which is most likely a retconning of this past character/entity to serve as the embodiment of love. Whether Carol Ferris will become its host again or the more fleshed out Miri Riam or even someone different remains to be seen.


Carol Ferris (Sector 2814)

Carol Ferris was, at one point, the love of Hal Jordan's life. Over the years, their relationship has soured on several occasions and, most recently, she had been married to another man, whom she went on to divorce. She has been shown to still be in love with Jordan, but he no longer loves her as he once did. This has created a void in Ferris's heart and made her an ideal candidate for the Star Sapphire ring, which Ferris readily accepted. Ferris has been possessed by the Star Sapphire jewel in the past and was once possessed by the Predator, which is now being retconned into the embodiment of love. It is speculated Ferris will once again join with the Predator.


Miri Riam (Sector Unknown)

The first recruit of the Star Sapphires, Miri Riam was a recently married woman travelling with her husband for their honeymoon when Mongul attacked their ship in search of supplies. While Mongul did not attempt to harm them, Miri's husband approached him requesting he let them live. Mongul flicked him away, breaching his space suit in the process and killing him. Miri, unable to live without her greatest love, decided to die with him and turned off the life support of their ship. When approached by the Star Sapphire ring, she accepted and joined the corps.

She has been fleshed out a great deal since then and even aided the Green Lanterns at one point, saving them from the Sinestro Corps member, Kryb. She then took Kryb back to Zamaron for conversion and 'rehabilitation'.


Fatality (Sector 1313)

Captured Sinestro Corps member. She was recently converted to a Star Sapphire through the Zamarons' conversion chambers. Once sought revenge on any and all Green Lanterns as a bounty hunter due to the perceived crime of John Stewert failing to prevent the destruction of her homeworld. She eventually joined the Sinestro Corps, but was later captured by the Star Sapphires. Once she was converted to the Star Sapphires, she made peace with John Stewert and apologized for her misguided hatred and blaming of him and the Green Lanterns for the destruction of her world.


Kryb (Sector 3559)

Captured Sinestro Corps member. Currently shown being converted to the Star Sapphires like Fatality. Was last seen crying in a conversion chamber due to hearing the cries of the babies she has stolen over the years, which are kept hidden on a remote planet. The Zamarons mistook this as the process working. Whether this results in the conversion failing, the premature release of Kryb or something else remains to be seen.


The Lost Sapphire (Sector Unknown)

Revealed in the Star Sapphire corps summary in Blackest Night #0, nothing else is known of the Lost Sapphire outside of her shadowed figure. She could be related to the Lost Lanterns, those defeated and left to die in space by Hal Jordan during his time as Parallax, or, my guess, the original, Golden Age Star Sapphire, who was banished to the 7th Dimension by Queen Aga'po and had tried to use Carol Ferris to destroy the Zamarons. Her banishment could represent the 'lost' aspect of the name. However, nothing is really known and these are just theories.

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Bought/Thought - Wednesday Comics #1

Bought/Thought is a relatively new feature here at the Weekly Crisis. It basically amounts to me gathering links to various reviews of noteworthy comics, Wednesday Comics #1 in this case, picking some quotes from the reviews and presenting them to you here for a macro view of the book and how people viewed it. As an added bonus, I've been asking people following me on Twitter to send me replies and let me know what they thought of the book. I then spotlight as many of those replies as well, giving a short, "real world" answer from readers just like yourself. Hit the jump to see what other reviewers and your fellow readers thought of DC's newest and most ambitious project.

Robot 6

CBR's Robot 6 took a rare crack at reviewing and Chris Mautner's enthusiasm and passion while describing Wednesday Comics was nearly enough to change my own mind on the book:

"This is a book designed expressly to revel in the joys of serial reading, and the pleasures it offers are simple but vast. There are some missteps (the coloring job on the Titans page seems muddy and gray), but overall it’s hard to to see the debut issue as anything but a success. I can’t even begin to guess if regular DC readers will latch on to a book of this nature — the superhero audience is much too fickle for me to gauge — but if they value artistry, originality and good design, they’ll pick it up in a heartbeat." - Chris Mautner

Best Shots Extra

While a tad hyperbolic, Newsarama's Best Shots Extra reviewer, David Peposeo, sung praises of how great the newspaper/comic came out and heralds it as a groundbreaking series that will do great things for the industry as a whole:

"With some breathtaking art and with some other stories -- such as Kyle Baker's cinematic Hawkman and Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook's epic Kamandi -- looking like they will soon explode off the page in the coming weeks, DC and Mark Chiarello have really done a great thing for this industry. While it remains to be seen if the series will continue to improve or struggle under the weight of its own ambitions, based on the first issue of this groundbreaking series, I only wish that every day could be like Wednesday." - David Peposeo

SpeedForce.Org

SpeedForce.Org's Kelson Vibber was surprised at the retro feel each of the stories gave off, but seemed to be happy with the final product.

"I wasn’t expecting so many of the strips to have such a retro feel. Green Lantern was outright set in the early 1960s, Metal Men was clearly the 1970s, Metamorpho and Flash had the feel of the early Silver Age. (Flash even brought back the logo from the 1940s. And the one from the 2000s. Using both next to each other looks a little awkward.) And everyone seems to be comparing Kamandi to Prince Valiant. I guess it makes sense, given that nostalgia is one of the driving principles behind the series. (That and DC’s quest to keep people coming into the comic shop every week.)" - Kelson Vibber

mike sterling's progressive ruin

Longtime comic shop owner, Mike Sterling, of the self-titled mike sterling's progressive ruin, had a lot to say about the book from a comic shop owner's perspective, mentioning how the book brought in new faces, people were buying multiple copies to give away and so on, but also had some kind words of his own to say, such as:

"It's beautifully done, with a variety of styles showcasing a good sampling of DC's adventure/super hero characters. I was going to note a couple of favorites, but I can't really narrow it down. All the entries grabbed my interest, and I certainly look forward to future installments. (But I have to note that Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's Metal Men looks just as fantastic as I was hoping, even with the characters appearing (with one exception) in their human costumes. So, so good.)" - Mike Sterling

Broken Frontier

Lee Newman, of Broken Frontier, couldn't stop singing praises about Wednesday Comics, from the quality of the product to DC's marketing, it all worked for him:

"This is an anthology done to perfection. It is also an ingenious package calling yesteryear to memory but clearly standing out as bold in today’s market. Not only that, DC has put its best foot forward in marketing this one. USA Today is reprinting the Superman tales in its Wednesday editions. Pages have been uploaded on DC’s website. Shops were sent a full size version of the Batman page from this issue. The convention panels have been abuzz with the format and the talent.

Wednesday Comics is hype done right and most importantly backed up not only in the comic community but to the wider public as well. Now it remains to be seen if the consumer noticed. This reader thinks that anyone who misses out is just plum crazy." - Lee Newman

In 140 Characters or Less

And, finally, here's what everyone was saying about the book on Twitter:

"My son after reading "Wednesday Comics": I wish it was just normal comic book size." - Tim Callahan

"I keep trying to come up with an opinion about Wednesday Comics, but all I can think of is how beautiful the whole thing is." - Erin Kelly

"I enjoyed Wednesday Comics for the most part, I bought a copy for my father as well. Flash was the best and WW was the worst." - Rawnzilla

"I thought it looked interesting but because of how the stories are split up I'm going to wait for the trade to read it." - ComicBookLegacy

"Wednesday Comics is a gorgeous design object... but in terms of actual story content, it's anorexically thin." - Andy Diggle

Conclusion

While there were a few dissenters, myself included (mine was more to do with the format than actual content), the reaction to Wednesday Comics was overwhelmingly positive. As far as content, many pointed out the Silver Age tone to the stories, as well as the similarities in each of the stories' first outings, which all amounted to basically an intro to the hero and setup of the plot before a cliffhanger ending. Most agreed this was a minor complaint and hardly worth mentioning, though.

Also, there wasn't a single reviewer that was not wowed by the artwork on display, with many pointing to Kyle Baker's Hawkman, Paul Pope's Adam Strange and Karl Kerschl's Flash as stand out stories. That's not to say the others were bad, as everyone seemed to have a favourite of their own, but those names kept cropping up in almost every review.

All in all, few comics seemed to garner as much critical acclaim, especially the nostolgic, hushed reverence, that this project seemed to elicit in most people I've spoken to or read reviews of. I know many have commented on our reviews already, but feel free to discuss Wednesday Comics again, other reviewer's reviews or even those comments from your fellow readers on Twitter.

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Cover of the Week - Elephantmen, Dark X-Men & Ms Marvel

Some great covers accompanying this week's comics made it difficult to pick just one cover for the Cover of the Week, so Matt, Ryan and I all have our own choices on hand. Matt and I went with two of Marvel's decades variants, his being Ms Marvel and mine Dark X-Men: The Beginnings, while Ryan with the Elephanmen: Yvette - War Toys cover. Hit the jump to see what all the fuss is and why we chose each cover.

Matt's Cover of the Week - Ms Marvel #41 Variant

Matt: I'm not sure who did the art for this (it doesn't say in Marvel's site), but I really like this cover for a lot of reasons. The pastel-like colors, the outfits and the poses all make for a very different cover. The deciding factor, however, has to be the font used to spell out Dark Avengers.

Ryan's Cover of the Week - Elephanmen: War Toys - Yvette #1

Ryan: This cover is incredibly well designed. The softness of Marian Churchland's art contrasts well against the rigidity of the main fonts. This is a fine example of how a great cover doesn't begin-and-end with just the artwork; a great cover is the culmination of the entire design--fonts, artwork, layout.

Kirk's Cover of the Week - Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1 Variant

Kirk: This has to be the crowning achievement of these decade variants from Marvel. It's just a stunning piece that captures the 60's hippy vibe and even gels with the X-Men's current move to San Francisco. The amount of detail put into this cover is staggering as well, from the bubble fonts to backgrounds and even the colouring used. Wouldn't mind a poster of this one.


Runners-Up: The Unwritten #3, Green Lantern #43 Variant & Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1

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Comic Book Moments of the Week for 07/08/09

Going to have to rename this the Green Lantern Moments of the Week as there's almost nothing here but Green Lantern related moments. I won't bore you with the details, so hit the jump for the moments!

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36

Brand New Day - where Spider-Man is a 30 year old loser that lived with his aunt, has no job, no prospects, no girl friends and wants to bang his cousins. Gotta love the new story possibilities here.

All Bostonians have speech impediments and hate the Yankees. Got it.


Batman #688

Based on upcoming previews, I assume Two-Face uses this knowledge of Dick as Batman (he doesn't outright say that, but he knows based on the lead up to this scene) to dress up as Batman himself? Kinda continues with what Tomasi was building upon in Nightwing before Battle for the Cowl. All except the upcoming Two-Face Batman costume thing.


Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1

That is the best depiction of being mind wiped ever.


Green Lantern #43

With how Johns is portraying him, having Black Hand's costume constructed from a body bag actually makes a lot of sense. Creepy, but makes sense.

Everyone saw this when it was teased by DC's The Source blog, but it warrants a repeat showing. The pages, taken out of context, make it appear like each of the deceased in the image are going to be Black Lanterns. In the actual issue, the mystery voice is just rhyming off dead people and follows it up with people that cheated death, claiming he "wants them all". We know we'll be seeing a few of the suspects, but I'm guessing several won't be used, such as Vic Sage, Sue and Ralph Dibney, Dr Light and so on. I'm going with the logic that no corpse means no Black Lantern for many of these and, on top of that, anyone that is useless/non powered/has no tie-ins scheduled won't be a Black Lantern either.

The other list of people the mystery voice wanted included those that came back to life, as seen above. Surprised Kilowog was included. Seems out of place, even though this is a Green Lantern comic. Also, I thought the retcon/explanation for Superman was that he just plain didn't die. Wasn't it a matter of him in a coma-type state and that's why he was able to be revived?

Blatantly stolen from Bleeding Cool, this is marketing at its finest. I don't think I have to explain this to anyone either. Regarding the mind blowing moment, it's rare for me to be as shocked as I was upon seeing that. I was under the impression Black Hand would stay alive and just act as the herald of the Black Lanterns, not actually die and join them that way.

Here we have the announcement of not one, but two new emotional entities. The first is the Black Lantern entity, which is either supposed to be Black Hand, himself, which doesn't make much sense in context of other entities but is how Scar words it, or whatever is possessing him that remains unnamed. The other entity is the retconning of the Predator into the Star Sapphire's entity.

Just a creepy looking image of the Black Lantern version of Black Hand.


Ms Marvel #41

Ms Marvel is alive...somehow. Had to do with magic babies in jars, multi-coloured light versions of her merging together and Spider-Man, Deadpool and Wolverine were there, too.


REBELS #6

I'd been hearing some really good things about REBELS and was planning to check out a trade for it based on everything I was seeing, but it looks like it's turning into a complete rip off of Annihilation: Conquest.

Starro, the collective Phalanx villains, has started creating its own 'selects', which have limited personalities and control to execute Starro's commands. Then there's a new big bad leading the Starro's instead of just the big starfish, similar to how Ultron took over the Phalanx. Finally, this issue and moment shows that they are now closing off the entire sector of space to contain the Phalanx, er, Starro's inside. There's coincidences and then there's just outright copying.


Red Robin #2

Is that what Europe looks like in the DC Universe (the map)?


Superman: World of New Krypton #5

After putting Superman on trial for treason, bribing someone to set him free in hopes Superman would flee, hence further incriminating himself and becoming a fugitive, and then doing a complete 360 and begging for the council to spare Superman's life and set him free, Zod gets assassinated by someone in the crowd. I don't even want to try and figure out how this works or if it's a staged death or whatever.


Wednesday Comics #1

While many of the single page stories in Wednesday Comics were entertaining or looked fantastic, no panels really stood out as 'moments' to me with the exception of this Adam Strange one.


X-Men Forever #3

So, Storm is evil (possessed by Shadow King maybe?), kills Wolverine with a lightning bolt and then...

...gets stabbed in the face by Kitty Pryde, who has a single Wolverine claw and claims Logan is her family. Riggghhhttt. I wonder if this is blood related or just metaphorically a family tie.

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Comic Book News Round-Up - Bendis on ASM, Baron Zemo & More

There was a lot of news this week that, with most of my focus spent rolling out the Blackest Night primer, meant I just didn't have time to do up some proper news posts. There was the announcement that Brian Bendis would be tackling the 616 version of Spidey over in Amazing Spider-Man, Joe Quesada announcing the return of the original Thunderbolts to combat Osborn's "fake" ones in his Cup O'Joe, Ryan Reynolds announced as the actor for Hal Jordan and a few other odds and ends that I want to discuss now. Hit the jump to find out what I thought about these and more.

Bendis on Amazing Spider-Man

On Thursday, Comic News announced that Brian Bendis, along with art from Joe Quesada, would be tackling an 8-page back-up story in Amazing Spider-Man #601. While only a back-up story, and one described as, "Peter and his old classmate Jessica Jones reflect[ing] on their life together in high school", which looks like something ripped out of a New Avengers story, this is the first time I've been interested in actually picking up Amazing Spider-Man since first trying out Brand New Day earlier this year when it launched.

Bendis has always impressed me on Ultimate Spider-Man and, even if you disagree with Spidey being on the New Avengers, he's clearly someone Bendis just gets in any universe and I hope this back-up story is a springboard to an eventual arc on Amazing Spider-Man by Bendis. You can view a sneakpeak of Bendis's and Quesada's upcoming backup work over at Newsarama.


Ryan Reynolds is Hal Jordan

FirstShowing.Net reported that, despite rumours of a Justin Timberlake casting, Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) has been chosen to play Hal Jordan in the rumoured $150 million budget Green Lantern movie. Combined with the upcoming Blackest Night, this is truly a great time to be a Green Lantern fan.

However, as far as casting choices go, Reynolds wouldn't have been my pick. It's not that I don't like him or think he's a bad actor, but he's charasmatic, funny, sarcastic and witty and Hal Jordan is, well, cardboard. Green Lantern comics have been amazing lately, but not on the strength of Hal's personality or character, as evidenced by his complete lack of a supporting cast or personal growth.

Reynold's actually reminds me more of the smart mouthed Guy Gardner or even a Kyle Rayner more so than Hal Jordan, but, as far as choices go, Reynolds is good and has the look, at least. As an aside, I wonder if Scarlett Johansson will play Carol Ferris?


Baron Zemo & The Original Thunderbolts Return

In this week's Cup O'Joe, Joe Quesada put a smile on my face and has me giggling like a schoolgirl in delight over the following quote:

“Old school T-Bolts fans rejoice! Songbird is actually going to begin to assemble the original TBolts in issue #134. Her mission basically is to destroy Norman Osborn and his crazy pack of killers who have taken the good name of the original T-bolts. And yes, Zemo has been discussed internally, so stay tuned. We haven’t decided just yet… or maybe we have and I’m just not going to tell you. [laughs]”

Best news ever or bestest news ever? As a longtime fan of Thunderbolts (I have the entire series up to that abysmal Deadpool crossover recently, minus the 'Fight Club' nonsense during the Jemas era), this is the best news I've heard in a while.

Baron Zemo went from purple sock wearing joke to Dr Doom level in my eyes with Busiek's and Fabian's runs on the book and I've solely missed him since his last miniseries. Was honestly hoping he'd be in The Cabal with the other big names and possibly leading Osborn's Thunderbolts, but this reunion of sorts will make up for his omission and then some. Thunderbolts just went back on my pull list and I'll be tracking down the last couple issues I skipped out on after I dropped the title.


Kirby Krackle's Newest Single

Andrenn, who's been pulling double duty on his own blog and over at Rokk's Revolution, brought to my attention that Kirby Krackle, an indie band with a comic book focus, has been putting out more and more new content (I last spotlighted them when their first single debuted back in Aug 2008). Their newest single, Ring Capacity, is amazing and a must listen for anyone. Hit up their MySpace page for a free listen and I'm sure you'll agree.


What Does Wednesday Comics Look Like?

Didn't make it to the comic shop or see any copies of Wednesday Comics? DC's The Source blog has images of people reading the newspaper comic for those curious about what it actually ended up looking like. I've already expressed my dislike of the format and how uncomfortable I was with reading something so large in my review, but don't let that stop you from checking out one of the most ambitious new projects from DC.

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The Blackest Night Primer - Sinestro Corps

Much like the Green Lantern Corps primer post from our primer for Blackest Night yesterday, this second corps primer deals with the second corps we were introduced to - the Sinestro Corps. These corps primers will cover the basics of each corps, from their oath to their leaders to their homeworlds, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and noteworthy members heading into the event.

If you missed any of our Blackest Night primer, make sure to check out the index post for basic information, links to all the other posts and the schedule for upcoming posts. When you're ready, hit the jump for everything you need to know about the Sinestro Corps.

Corps Colour: Yellow
Emotional Spectrum: Fear
First Appearance: Green Lantern #10 (as a Corps)
Homeplanet: Qward (Sector -1 of the Anti-Matter Universe)
Leader: Sinestro; Renegade faction led by Mongul
Key Stories: Sinestro Corps War, Rage of the Red Lanterns, Emerald Eclipse

Oath:

"In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light.
Let those who try to stop what's right,
Burn like his power -- Sinestro's might!"

Origin: Originally a Green Lantern, Sinestro was removed from the Corps by the Guardians for misconduct and banished to the Anti-Matter Universe as punishment. There, he came upon the planet Qward and the Weaponers, who crafted a yellow ring for him.

It would be years before Geoff Johns explained that the yellow ring actually harnessed fear from emotional spectrum. The culmination of all this came with Sinestro's realization that to combat the Green Lantern Corps, he would need his own corps to be on even footing and, thus, the Sinestro Corps was born. Recruitment began shortly after Johns rebooted the Green Lantern franchise with Green Lantern: Rebirth and saw Sinestro's new corps expand rapidly, seemingly rivalling the Green Lantern Corps in numbers overnight and resulting in their debut at the onset of the Sinestro Corps War.


Initiation: Unlike Green Lantern rings, which seek out people that can overcome great fear, the Sinestro Corps rings seek out those that can instill great fear. Furthermore, the Sinestro Corps rings literally gangpress new recruits into the corps and immediately teleport them back to Qward in the Anti-Matter Universe so they can be "subjected to psychological and physical reconditioning".

Finally, each new recruit, once trained under Arkillo, the Sinestro's drill sergent, must undergo a final trial whereby they are placed in an isolation chamber in complete darkness with their new ring, which is drained of all power, and forced to either harness fear to light their ring or die trying.


Powers:Sinestro Corps rings harness fear from the emotional spectrum to create yellow light constructs. With the exception of harnessing fear and being yellow, Sinestro Corps rings appear to be all but identical to Green Lantern rings in strength and function.


Weaknesses: Sinestro Corps rings are weak against Blue Lanterns, who can drain their power. Combined with the fact Green Lanterns are weak against red and orange light, the two emotions farthest from them on the spectrum, it is possible that yellow, also in the middle with green, is weak against violet (Star Sapphires) and/or indigo (Indigo Tribe). Kryb was easily taken down by the Star Sapphire, Miri, where several Green Lanterns failed, and they are already shown to be weak against blue, so it is very likely these weaknesses may be shown during Blackest Night.


Notable Members

Sinestro

As touched upon in the Green Lantern Corps section of this primer, Sinestro is a former Green Lantern and was, at one time, viewed as the greatest Green Lantern ever. When it was revealed that he actually used his Green Lantern ring to instill fear in the populace of his sector as a would-be dictator, the Guardians stripped him of his ring and banished him to the Anti-Matter Universe planet of Qward.

There, Sinestro met the Weaponers of Qward, who fashioned a yellow power ring for him. Sinestro would use this ring to fight back against the Guardians and Green Lantern Corps and, eventually, it was the inspiration for forming an entire corps of yellow ring users.

Sinestro has only considered two people to be his friends over the years, Abin Sur and his eventual replacement, Hal Jordan. Despite everything that has happened, it appears that Sinestro still respects Hal Jordan and considers him a friend.

It was recently revealed that Sinestro has a daughter, the Green Lantern, Soranik Natu, whom he has kept hidden and watched over for all these years. When Atrocitus revealed he knew of his daughter, Sinestro was forced to confront her and reveal his identity as her father. Natu outright rejected him, but has come to accept the knowledge that he is her father.


Anti-Monitor

Long thought dead at the conclusion to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Anti-Monitor was reborn during the creation of the new Multiverse in 52 and became the Guardian of Fear of the Sinestro Corps. Seeking the destruction of the positive matter universe, the Anti-Monitor led the Sinestro Corps to Earth, where he attempted to wipe out the new cornerstone of the Multiverse, which would have cascaded and destroyed every other Earth, leaving only the Anti-Matter Universe.

Through the combined efforts of the Green Lantern Corps, Guardians of the Universe and even Superboy-Prime at the conclusion to the Sinestro Corps War, the Anti-Monitor was defeated and Prime threw his dying body into space, where it was then captured on the dead planet, Ryut, in Sector 666, the same place as the Manhunter Massacre of Sector 666 took place, and imprisoned inside a giant black lantern, where his powers now serve as the Central Power Battery of the Black Lantern Corps.


Parallax

Parallax is the emodiment of fear. Long imprisoned inside the Green Lantern Central Power Battery on Oa, Parallax was revealed to be the source of the yellow impurity in the Green Lantern rings, which prevented them from being used on anything yellow.

When Sinestro was imprisoned in the Central Power Battery for his crimes, he learned of Parallax and developed a plan that would see it corrupt and possess Hal Jordan, who would go on to destroy the previous encarnation of the Green Lantern Corps.

During the Sinestro Corps War, Sinestro used Parallax to possess Kyle Rayner, who then became a herald of the Sinestro Corps and fought many of his fellow Green Lanterns before being defeated. Parallax was then extracted from Kyle and separated into four pieces, each piece residing inside one of the four Earth-based Green Lantern's personal power batteries, where Parallax has remained since.


Mongul (Sector 2811)

The current Mongul, who is attempting to take over the Sinestro Corps, is the son of the first Mongul, who destroyed Hal Jordan's hometown, Coast City, which eventually led to Jordan's breakdown and possession by Parallax. Despite having some run-ins with Hal Jordan early in Johns' relaunch, this Mongul didn't clearly establish himself as a Green Lantern villain until recently when he came upon a Sinestro Corps ring. He quickly began 'collecting' (aka killing Sinestro Corpsmen for their rings) rings and has in his possession at least six, if not more, rings for his own personal use.

Using these rings, he went about establishing his powerbase within the leaderless Sinestro Corps faction post-Sinestro's capture at the end of the Sinestro Corps War. Recently, he attempted to take over Daxamite. After enslaving the local Daxamite population and defeating Arkillo for control of this faction of the Sinestro Corps, Mongul was forced to fight Ion, who had come to aid his former people and home. Ion sacrificed himself in the Daxam red sun, where he used the Ion power to convert it to yellow, which gave his Kryptonian-like people Superman level powers. This allowed them to easily fight back against their oppressors and forced Mongul to issue a retreat command. Mongul was last seen stating he had another planet in mind for a base of operations.

Also, Sinestro is aware of Mongul's actions and has plans to deal with him at some point in the future, most likely during Blackest Night.


Hal Jordan (Sector 2814)

While not technically an actual member of the Sinestro Corps, much like he did with every other corps he's run into, Jordan did, in fact, use the Sinestro Corps rings. There was also his lengthy time as Parallax, which, while predates the Sinestro Corps, consisted of him championing their cause and spreading fear.



Other Notables:

Amon Sur (Sector 2814)

The son of Green Lantern, Abin Sur, Amon was murdered during the act of surrender to the Green Lanterns by Green Lantern, Laira. This act, combined with the new laws initiated on Oa, caused the creation of the Alpha Lanterns and Laira's expulsion from the Green Lantern Corps and eventual induction into the Red Lanterns. As Amon is the son of the famous Green Lantern, Abin Sur, and recently died, he is all but a lock for a potential Black Lantern.


Arkillo (Sector 674)

Sinestro Corps drill sergent, similar to Kilowog of the Green Lantern Corps. When Mongul attempted to take control of a faction of the Sinestro Corps, Arkillo was the only one to stand up to him. During a one on one battle for control of the Sinestro Corps, Arkillo suffered a humiliating defeat in which Mongul ripped out his tongue. Left to live with his shame, Arkillo currently wears his tongue as a necklace and, while he still serves under Mongul, continues to plot his revenge.


Cyborg-Superman (Sector 3601, formerly 2814)

The former Superman villain was responsible for the destruction of Hal Jordan's hometown, Coast City, and its millions of inhabitants. This act drove Hal Jordan insane and allowed him to be possessed by Parallax.

At some point before the Sinestro Corps War, Cyborg-Superman became the leader of the Manhunters and was eventually captured by the Green Lanterns. Freed of his imprisonment by Sinestro during the Sinestro Corps War, Cyborg-Superman pledged loyalty to the Anti-Monitor in exchange for his own death. He had become tired of life and his immortal existence and where every other attempt at dying failed, he believed the Anti-Monitor would succeed.

While he appeared to die during the Sinestro Corps War, the epilogue showed the Manhunters finding several parts of him and reviving him. He has not been seen since, but his connection to the Sinestro Corps and the Manhunters, whom have a storied past with the Guardians, Atrocitus and the Massacre of Sector 666, along with Cyborg-Superman's desire for death, it is believed he may return at some point during the Blackest Night.


Fatality (Sector 1313)

Former enemy of John Stewert and Kyle Rayner, Fatality was briefly a Sinestro Corps member before being captured by the Star Sapphires. The Star Sapphires placed her in a conversion chamber, which she recently emerged from, and she is now counted as one of their members. Whether the conversion will prove temporary or if her former Sinestro Corpsmen will seek revenge on a perceived traitor is left to be seen.


Kryb (Sector 3599)

Deadly and powerful Sinestro Corps member that instilled great fear across the universe through the theft of babies, the babies of Green Lantern parents in particular, and murder of their parents, Kryb was recently subdued and captured by the combined efforts of a squad of Green Lanterns and the Star Sapphire, Miri. Miri took Kryb back to Zamaron where Kryb was last seen in a conversion chamber, where they were attempting to covnert her into a Star Sapphire, similar to what they did to Fatality.


Lyssa Drak (Sector 3500)

Lyssa Drak served as the keeper of the Book of Parallax, which is similar to the Book of Oa for the Green Lanterns, but was captured at the conclusion of the Sinestro Corps War. Recently freed during the riots in the Sciencells on Oa in Emerald Eclipse, she sought out the Book of Parallax only to stumble upon Scar's Book of the Black, which was hidden deep below Oa. While looking through the book, Scar grabbed hold of Lyssa and pushed her into the book, where she was shown trapped inside the very pages she sought to steal. Her fate remains unknown since then.


Superboy-Prime (Sector 2814 of Earth-Prime)

Prime was freed from his imprisonment on Oa by the Sinestro Corps during the Sinestro Corps War and went on to become their herald. However, he did so only as a means of getting close to the Anti-Monitor, whom he blamed for all his hardships, and eventually turned on his fellow corpsmen and, in the end, helped defeat the Anti-Monitor. He then took the dying corpse of the Anti-Monitor and threw it into space, where it was found and turned into the Black Lantern's Central Power Battery. While Prime is not expected to play any part in the Blackest Night or with the Sinestro Corps any time soon, he was an instrumental part at one point and deserves mention.

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