Archive for October, 2011

‘What If There Wasn’t Only One?’

Friday, October 7th, 2011

07 October 2011
Newsarama posted the following earlier:

The second Marvel teaser of the pre-New York Comic Con Friday has arrived, this one promising answers in January.

The message is simple: “What if there wasn’t only one?” Given that the image consists of a star — similar to the one on Captain America’s shield — on a black background, the likely most obvious implication is that it has something to do with Cap. Return of Bucky? Something else entirely?

My guess: “What if there wasn’t only one Winter Soldier?”

Why do I think that? For a few reasons:

  1. Bucky/Winter Soldier was an interesting and complex character. A man in his 80s, with the body of a man in his late 20s/early 30s… who was not only Captain America’s sidekick – and replacement – but the brainwashed weapon of a foreign government.
  2. Bucky, after taking on the mantle of Captain America, became a popular character. Even though readers knew that Steve Rogers had to return to the red-white-and-blue, they bought issues of Captain America with Bucky carrying the shield, month after month.
  3. The most glaringly obvious thing, at least to me, is that Bucky/The Winter Soldier had a red star imprinted on his cybernetic arm.

    The ad doesn’t feature a white star – like on Cap’s uniform or shield… or even Red Guardian‘s uniform or shield. It’s red.

And, let’s face it: We’re talking comics. The realm of the hyperbole is the stuff of stories in comics. It would stand to reason that the people behind the Winter Soldier program would want more than just one “perfect assassin” in their army. It… makes sense… in a comic book kind of way.

What are your thoughts?

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DCnU: The New 52 – Week 1

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

I decided to pick up all fifty-two of DC Comics’ new #1’s, so that I could attempt to get a better feel for what they were doing with the DCU DCnU. I was not planning on continuing to read all 52 of the new books, but I figured that I’d give them a shot and see if there were any new/different titles that I might want to add to my subscription at my local comic shop. There were a number of hits, some misses and a fair bit of “that was a decent read, but I don’t think that I’ll be adding that title” along the way. In this post – and the three to follow – I will point out what I feel were some of the highlights of the past four weeks of DC’s releases.

  • Action Comics #1 – This was the book that started it all for superheroes and for DC, sorry… “National Comics,” back in 1938. With this reboot/reimagining, Grant Morrison brings us a Superman who’s a little less… well, “super.” Faster than a speeding bullet? More or less. More powerful than a locomotive? Well, he’s at least as strong as a tank. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Depends on the building. This Superman is still new to the game and, from first appearances, operating well outside the auspices of the law. But he still seems to be the Superman that we all grew up with at heart. We are also (re-)introduced to familiar faces such as Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, General Sam Lane and, of course, Lex Luthor. All in all, it was a fun read and I’m curious to see what Mr. Morrison does with this version of the Man of Steel.
  • Animal Man #1 – I started reading this book in its last incarnation, when… surprise, surprise… Grant Morrison was writing it. And it was a very good read. This time, it’s Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Superboy) at the helm. And his take on Buddy Baker seems to be that of a man who’s at peace with who he is and who he was — as a man, a hero and an activist. He also appears to be a man who’s willing to put the costume back on when there’s someone in need. Again. What’s different about this version is that Lemire seems to be introducing more of a horror bent to the story. While it’s a little too early for me to make a “Keep” or “Trash” call on this series, I’m intrigued enough to stick around for a few more issues to see where it’s going..
  • Batgirl #1 – It’s not Cassandra Cain under the cowl. Nor is it Stephanie Brown. It’s Barbara Gordon. The original Batgirl is back. We do know that it takes place after The Killing Joke. We don’t know how Babs got the use of her legs again. That, I guess is a mystery for another time.
  • Detective Comics #1 – Wow. This one hit the ground running. At a full sprint. And it didn’t slow down. It appears to take place early-ish in Batman’s career and among his early encounters with The Joker, an adversary whose motives have long eluded the Dark Knight… and it seems that The Joker has plans in the works. Big ones.
  • Justice League International #1 – The United Nations looks to assemble a multi-national superhuman team… and have it led by… Booster Gold?! YeahbuhWHAT?! Are they serious!?  (And I’m a Booster Gold fan.) There seems to be much more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. And Batman. Always Batman.
  • Static Shock #1 – Static is back… but this ain’t Dakota. The teen hero has moved to the Big Apple. And, he appears to have gotten a few new toys, courtesy of Hardware. And he’s already caught the attention of some people whom it seems have something to hide. I never read Static back when he had his original series, but I am appreciating the way that Scott McDaniel is writing him — as an intelligent young man… who… happens to have superpowers. I’ll be sticking with this for a few issues, at least.

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