Comic Geekery -- Infinite Crisis #5 & JSA #82

[kybearfuzz]

There have been a lot of discussions about what is going on in comic books of late amongst my friends. Most are not happy with what is going on at Marvel, the lack of continuity due mostly to the editors. I admit, I've dropped a lot of their titles from my collecting because they've become just too hard to follow and have too many cross-overs in an attempt to get you to buy titles you don't get normally. It's not really a tragedy as I've always been a DC guy for the most part. And with the Infinite Crisis storyline just getting more and more exciting, I'm tickled pink (no pun intended), especially with George Perez covers like this one:


George Perez Cover to Infinite Crisis #5
I am getting more and more intrigued by this storyline, the appearance of the multiple earths, heroes disappearing and reappearing on different earths, etc. I'm still wondering why Flamebird (the previous Bat-Girl before Barbara Gordon) got bumped to Earth Two.

I love how they alternated between Phil Jimenez' work on Earth One and Jerry Ordway's work on Earth Two. It was sad to see the Golden Age Superman lose his Lois. Another face I didn't think we'd see again appeared, the Earth Two Wonder Woman! Oh how I have missed her. She is also in the flashback story in JSA #82, which was pencilled my George Perez, so it's been a doubled-thrill this week at the comic book store. I admit that I thought the Hippolyta-JSA Wonder Woman storyline was interesting, but I never liked the idea that the JSA Wonder Woman wasn't Diana. It seems to screw up the history of Wonder Woman in my view as someone who had read those JLA/JSA team ups years ago.

From the promos and teasers, I am wondering if we'll end up with multiple earths again and I still am curious how they will reboot Wonder Woman ...again. It'll be an intersting year I think.

/comic geek

Comments

[book-of-daniel.livejournal.com]

Flamebird ended up on Earth-2 because in pre-Crisis history her Auntie was Kathy Kane, aka the Earth-2 Batwoman.

I have to admit that I thought IC 5 was the weakest issue so far. It was still good but just not AS good as it's been. I'm not a fan of Jerry Ordway's art. The green car/smash page was a GREAT homage to first Superman cover eons ago but I really wanted that fight to be extraordinary. The range and scope of the forces at play needed to be HUGE and instead it looked pretty typical.

I did like the leadership role that Nightwing is taking on in the fight. I'm happy to see the Flash come back. (Although they never did say that was Wally, did they? I need to recheck the costume.) I'd have liked to have seen WW-2's role take on a larger scope; at least going to the battle with Diana to talk some sense into her Superman. I think that would have made a touching scene as they reconnect over Lois' dead body. I think they missed a huge opportunity there.

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it would have been nice to see Earth 2 WW down with the two Supermen.

What's the costume difference between Barry and Wally? I've heard there is one..

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

The costume difference between the two is primarily the belt. The Barry Allen Flash had a continuous lightning bolt around his waist where the Wall West Flash had the lightning around his waist join to a downward point in the front.

.. my god I need a life...

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

I'd heard that the difference was in the belt, but I didn't know what...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I looked in #5 when I got home and it's the continuous lightning belt, so my money would be that it's Barry Allen in the end sequence.

[book-of-daniel.livejournal.com]

Barry has old style wings on his helmut and boots... Wally's is more lightning based. The lightning around Wally's waist points in where the buckle would be where as Barry's is a straight circle.

Godddamn I'm a geek for knowing this...

[kakiniry.livejournal.com]

the lightning belt comes to a point on one costume- it dips down. On the other it goes straight across...but who know what is what during a crisis...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Actually, there was an Earth-One Batwoman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batwoman) who was killed by the League of Assassins. This Batwoman was the aunt of Bette Kane, Flamebird. Flamebird was originally Bat-Girl, a member of Titans West. All of this was revealed in pre-Crisis, so I'm still puzzled why she was bumped to Earth-Two when she originated as an Earth-One character.

Though I like Jerry Ordway's work, I agree that they could have done more with the fight scenes and not including the Earth-2 Wonder Woman in the conclusion.

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

There's been lots of talk on the Gay League yahoo group/mailing list about the Flamebird thing. Nobody's been able to make sense of it *g*

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

Did you just pick up JSA 82? 83 came out yesterday.... JSA is one of the books I've decided to try, since I hear nothing but good about it. I started with 82. :)

I also picked up the new Aquaman, but I'm very on the fence about it. I know next to nothing about Aquaman continuity, but the concept sounded interesting and I like Kurt Busiek. However, this first OYL issue is rather confusing.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I picked up all my comics at once, it's been a while since I've been to the comic book shop (though I would have gone sooner if I had known JSA #82 was out).

I liked the long-haired, furry-chested Aquaman character better. I bought the first few of the new Aquaman series and dropped it.

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

I've never read Aquaman before, but I was curious to read this supposed new direction. Which sounds like a confused "maybe this is a time-traveled, maybe altered reality Aquaman" story now, which will probably make me yawn. I'll probably give it another issue or two to see if it gets better.

[boobooboy.livejournal.com]

I should probably revisit this area of my life at some point. Growing up comics were my link to the gay world. The X-Men taught me it was cool to be so different but so amazing. I sold my collection over 10 years ago and moved on. It became expensive, but it's a gift I'd love to give our daughter. Thanks for bringing it up on here. You brought back some wonderful memories.

Glad I hitched up with you Cosmic Boy!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Hey there!

I have often thought about giving up the comic book thing. I said that once the JLA/Avengers book came around I was going to do that, but I just can't seem to let go. Comics have been my escape since I was a kid. Even when I lacked the money to buy them, I would re-read the ones I had over and over, which is why many of my older comics are in near tatters. It's the reason I started drawing.

I'm sure your daughter would love comic books. Take her to the comic book store and buy her a few titles to see if there are any she'd enjoy reading again. My boss actually takes his kids to the shop and lets them pick them out of the bargin bin.

You probably meant "Comic Boy".. but I like "Cosmic Boy" better.. he has such cool powers :D

[boobooboy.livejournal.com]

Actually I meant cosmic boy. "Glad I hitched up with you cosmic boy" is an obscure reference my gay cousin (who I grew up and collected with) and I still say to each other to this day. It was in Teen Titans, one of my favs when I was young in the 70's and 80's and was said by Phantom Girl I believe.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes it even better with the reference :D

.. and Cosmic Boy was one of my favorite Legionnaires...