Johnathan Presents: Another Review of Showcase Presents, By Johnathan

A while back I did a mass-review of all of the Showcase Presents books that I had purchased. Well, I just keep on buying those things - due to my overpowering weakness for the Silver Age - and so it's time for more of that.

Showcase Presents: Adam Strange

All of the old stories about Adam Strange getting zapped to Rann via Zeta Beam so that he can kick alien ass and score with alien ladies (well, lady). I'm pretty fond of the little pre-adventure that Adam always gets into whilst getting his ass to the site of the incoming beam. Also fun: the sheer amount of trouble that the Rannians get themselves into ("Adam Strange! In the month that you were away we were conquered by robots! Again!"). Finally, a true statement: Adam Strange has the best helmet in comics.

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: The Atom

Good fun. Ray Palmer gets into all sorts of scraps as a tiny man. Like Green Lantern, this comic made an attempt to pass itself off as hard science fiction, with plenty of super-scientific explanations for stuff like shrinking physicists, but readily flew off on crazy tangential plotlines to keep things interesting. The three basic plots of a Silver Age Atom story: 1) Ray Palmer shrinks in order to help his main squeeze Jean "will be evil someday" Loring solve a case so that she can become a successful lawyer and prove herself and then quit the law and marry Ray. 2) Ray Palmer encounters something weird whilst going about his daily business; shrinks. 3) Ray Palmer shrinks and travels into the past via his scientist pal's Time Hole. While in the past he fights injustice with a passion that makes lovers of causality cringe. Take that, historical figures! Take that, history!

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 2

Rachelle gave me this one for my birthday, whilst simultaneously foiling my plot to borrow Volume 1 from her by lending it to every other person in Halifax (this is a lie. It was just lent to Tiina [the Tea Devil]). I don't know if the first volume was a great as this, but I hope so. Featured were both the first appearance of the original Blockbuster, with his hatred for Batman yet love for Bruce Wayne, and the crazy-great saga of the Outsider. The Outsider, for those of you who have avoided 30 or 40 years of spoilers, was actually Batman's butler Alfred, who everyone thought was dead but who was only mostly dead and who was turned into a lumpy psychic monster by a well-meaning scientist. Ever since I read about this fantastic mishmash in Jeff Rovin's Encyclopedia of Supervillains I wanted very much to read it, what with Robin getting turned into a coffin and all, so thanks again, Rachelle!

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: The Flash

Good solid Silver Age tomfoolery. Nothing other that the extremely unlikely origin of Kid Flash really sticks out in my memory, but rest assured that it's full of crazy crimes and stupid plots and all of the rest of the good stuff. I grew up with Wally West as the Flash, but i gotta say that Barry Allen was a helluva character.

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: Green Arrow

A lot of the comics that are collected in this one are actually from the late 50s, so they have a really neat feel to them, like the Batman comics of the same era. You can almost see the Comics Code symbol hovering over every character's shoulder, watching; judging. Anyway, Green Arrow and Speedy fight the crime and drive around in a great car (it launches them with catapults!) and meet at least two clowns who use wacky clown arrows to make folks laugh and then to fight crime in a crazy clown fashion. Plus, remember the Batmen of All Nations? Green Arrow has some too! Dudes from all over the world show up for a convention in his honour and bring their lava arrows and so forth - it's a hoot!

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: Martian Manhunter

Haven't finished this one yet, but I'll tell you what my favourite thing about it is: that J'onn J'onzz isn't really a super-hero in his first batch of adventures, he's just a detective who happens to be an alien and have all kinds of crazy powers. I really wish that someone nowadays would write some comics focusing on that aspect of the Manhunter's personality. It seems like all of the J'onzz character development lately has had the effect of making him really alienated (ha!) from humanity, while in those early stories he had a whole lot of charm. I don't know. I just want a comic about a hard-boiled private eye who can turn invisible and is scared of fire and sometimes has a hound dog to hang out with. Oh! Also, his brother T'omm J'onzz shows up at one point!

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: Shazam!

This one's a lot of fun. They got C.C. Beck, the original artist for the character, to draw the DC comics revival, so everything looks fantastic. The stories are a bit child-oriented and entirely insane - my favourite character was Sunny Sparkle, the Nicest Kid in the World, who has it really tough because everyone loves him so much at first sight that they give him ridiculous and extravagant presents (and apparently name ponies after him). He just keeps donating the stuff to charity and declaring that he'll become a hermit when he grows up. I think that Sunny Sparkle Come Down Off the Mountain, with a tangled beard and a crazed look in his eyes and hordes of glassy-eyed, gift-bearing acolytes, is number 3 on my list of "characters that I wish would make an appearance in DC continuity", right after Carbon Monoxide Gangster and Parade Hater Horace. As for Shazam!, it's pretty great but it peters out at the end as the series hits hard times, but not before Dr Sivana goes on a crazy crime-spree road trip and Billy Batson and Uncle Dudley have to hop in their camper van and chase him all over the country. Whee!

JOHN APPROVED

Showcase Presents: World's Finest

I just got this one today, so I haven't read much of it, but what I have taken in is fantastic. Silver Age Batman and his pal Superman were each at least as concerned with keeping their secret identities safe as they were with, say, fighting crime, so when they got together all bets were off. Rachelle did a pretty great post about one of the messed-up adventures that resulted from this here. It's all Batman dressing up like Superman and then pretending to be Clark Kent while Superman's dressed up like Batman and also being Clark Kent and all to mess with Lois Lane's head... it's almost Shakespearian at times. Plus Superman and Batman are one of the most fun BFF pairs in comics, even without considering the subtextual homoeroticism - that's the icing on the cake!

JOHN APPROVED

I totally asked for many more of these things for Christmas, so there's certainly going to be more of these reviews, yay.

This Week's Haul: How Can So Many Great Comics Come Out on the Same Day?!

Every now and again, comic shops will experience a perfect storm of awesomeness all arriving on the same day. This Wednesday was one of those days. So many amazing comics that fans had been waiting forever for. I am, of course, talking about Gene Simmons' Zipper, Simon Dark #2, and the hardcover collection of Jodi Picoult's run on Wonder Woman.

No, of course I'm kidding. There was plenty of actually great comics this week. Even here in Canada where we didn't get League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier. Because the world is stupid.

I can't possibly write about everything good that came out this week. Obviously Scott Pilgrim was awesome. So were lots of things. It was a great week, people. Thursday should have been an international holiday to allow us to read all of these great comics.

Superman/Batman #42

Ok, before we get to the good comics, I need to talk about this. I'm not going to lie to you, of all the comics I brought home this week, this was the one I read first. I just couldn't wait for the latest installment of this porntastic trainwreck. It's really too insane to be believed.

So, just to summarize to this point, Batman meets Orion's wife, Bekka. She has a power that makes men uncontrollaby attracted to her, and she is uncontrollably attracted to them. The less love a man has had in his life, the stronger the connection. So with Batman, it's pretty strong. Even though Batman really, really wants to do her, he tells himself it's wrong and he can't. She's married, they are on a mission, etc. She gets herself killed in the last issue. Frozen to death, to be exact. Good riddance, I say. Unfortunately, that's not what Batman says.

In this issue, Batman is so upset that Bekka died before he could hit that ass, he decides to bring her back to life by stripping her naked and putting her in a steaming hot bath (it's ok...he's a scientist). It works, but while he's waiting we get THE GREATEST TWO PAGES IN COMIC HISTORY:

OH. MYGOD. WHAT THE HELL?! I was reading this alone and actually yelling at it. I would read two panels, throw the comic down and yell "SHUT UP! YOU ARE KIDDING ME!" I think that Alan Burnett has borrowed liberally from fanfic here. I am sure I have read those two pages before. Especially that first one. Holy hell.

You know, some other stuff happened in this comic too, but who cares? Here's some more porny goodness:

Wait for him for what?!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Please read the following page aloud:

Outstanding.

All-Star Superman #9

I went to see Final Fantasy play tonight. When I see him perform I get the same feeling that I do when I read an issue of this series: the amount of talent is disgusting. How can anyone be that good? It's simply terrifying.

The best thing about this issue is I had no idea what it was going to be about. It turns out, it was about AWESOME. The beauty of this series is that Grant Morrison doesn't need to come up with crazy new ideas for Superman stories. He is telling us stories we have heard before...he's just telling them better. But, of course, Frank Quitely deserves an equal amount of praise. His art really makes a lot of the jokes very funny.

Like this one, where one of Superman's robot's arm falls off after being handed the super-heavy key to the fortress:

Amazing.

Wonder Woman #14

Here's an idea...what if Wonder Woman was a well-written, compelling character with an interesting, fun-to-read series? Now, a lot of people have said lately that certain writers have "ruined" Wonder Woman. This is simply not true. Wonder Woman was NEVER GOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE. Please tell me when exactly the Wonder Woman title was good. The way some people talk, it's like she's the greatest character of all time, and certain recent Wonder Woman events have reduced her to a two-dimensional, boring character who can't stand on her own. People...this is what she has always been like. I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying it's the truth.

So a lot of people have been waiting for Gail Simone to come along and restore Wonder Woman. I've been looking forward to Simone to write the first-ever interesting Wonder Woman comic. I think the Heinberg run was really good, but it just came out so damn slowly. Team Dodson remains on the art, which is awesome, but also means that it could be slow again.

But it sure is pretty.

And Simone's writing does not disappoint at all. Already we have Diana fighting gorillas AND Nazis! Plus, the gorillas become her new roommates.

This comic was excellent. It's back on my pull list!

Booster Gold #4

If I hear one more person say that they don't want to read this because they don't like Dan Jurgens, I am going to beat them with the Death of Superman Omnibus. Because, sure, Jurgens has produced some unforgivably bad art, but not on this comic. This comic is fantastic, and if you aren't giving it a chance because you didn't like some other comic, you are only cheating yourself.

For one thing, you are missing out on hung-over Booster Gold:

I liked this issue, but I am really looking forward to the next one, where Booster Gold visits The Killing Joke to stop the Joker from shooting Barbara Gordon. I know they probably won't really do anything, but nothing would make me happier than if they fixed her spine and restored her to her Batgirl glory.

Green Arrow/Black Canary #2

I felt like the Winick was starting to be a little more present in this issue than the last issue. And by that, I mean Mia was making some clunky statements about being HIV positive and a former prostitute.

Actually, the writing was pretty clunky in general in this issue. But the art was FANTASTIC.

Everyone is so good-looking!

I really like that Dealbreaker teaser title for the next issue, because all it implies is that they are going to mention the underwear again.

World War Hulk #5

A very action-packed ending. Finally.

My favourite part, though, was this panel, when Hulk does his impression of a 15-year-old girl:

Leaving Iron Man and Reed Richards to wonder how they ever managed to raise such a disrespectful son.

Black Adam #4

This comic has crossed the line from being surprisingly good to being effing great. Seriously.

It's really violent, but the violence has this great black humour to it that I'm really into. Every issue you see several insane things.

In this issue, Black Adam stumbles into a veterinary hospital to fix up some wounds from a recent fight. It's pretty excellent.

They fix him up, but they aren't happy about it. I really loved this:

It's just a great series. I'll be sorry to see it finish.

Avengers - The Initiative #7

I'm glad that, in a time where The Amazing Spider-Man has been consistently terrible, there is another Marvel title willing to pick up the slack. This was actually some of the best Spidey storytelling I've read in awhile. Plus, a significant plot point happens to Peter Parker in this book, which is good because all we're seeing in his other titles is an agonizingly slow and depressing march toward Aunt May's death while Parker is a wanted criminal. That story is continued in this book, but in a way that is actually interesting and pleasant to read. And it gets resolved somewhat, which was a nice surprise. Also, Peter Parker was being cool again. I liked when he saw the Scarlet Spiders running around:

The identity of those guys gets revealed in this issue, by the way.

The spiders help Peter out by using their shape-shifting abilities to confuse the public. They all turn into Peter Parker and announce that "Spider-Man" is actually just a robotic suit, not a person. It's a pretty significant plot point.

Here's my question though: ever since Peter Parker announced to the world that he was Spider-Man, he's been on the run. But would any random person on the street really see him and say "Hey, that's Peter Parker! He's Spider-Man!" I mean, he just looks like some dude. There's nothing really memorable about his appearance. Sure, Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but who the hell is Peter Parker? If he really wanted to visit Aunt May in the hospital, couldn't he just grow a beard or dye his hair?

The Batman Strikes #39

I don't know how interested kids are going to be in a comic primarily about corporate sabotage and ethical business practices, but I certainly liked it. A lot.

Iron Man and Power Pack #1

All that I want to say about this is: Best. Cover. Ever.

Superman Confidential #9

While we wait patiently for the final issue of the Cooke/Sale run on this comic, we first suffered through two of the most horrible issues of anything ever, and now we have moved on to this wonderful little New Gods story. Seriously, this run, of which this is the second issue, is really great so far. It's telling the story of the first time Superman was introduced to the Fourth World, and it's really entertaining.

Wonder Girl #3

I am so happy that this comic has potentially ended the mourning of Con El by Wonder Girl. I was really getting tired of that shit.

Yay for moving on!

And yay for being done this post!

This Week's Haul: Too Many Kryptonians

I tried so hard to post every day this week, but I failed yesterday. I just can't find time to do anything anymore.

I did, however, get First Runner Up in The Coast's Best of Halifax reader's poll for Best Local Blog! So thanks to everyone who voted for me. I didn't even know that was a category this year!

I read a bunch of comics this week. Here's some of them:

Robin #168

The Ressurection of Ra's Al Ghul continues. I don't know why this is "Part 1 of 7" when there were two parts last week. Does that mean there are going to be 7 issues of Robin alone that tie into this thing?

So Damian isn't so into Ra's Al Ghul's plan to use his body as a host. So he hightails it to Wayne Manor to find his dad. Instead he runs into Robin, and Tim isn't happy to see him. They get into it.

Then Damian runs upstairs and finds Alfred, who is awesome. This is actually where I start to feel kinda bad for Damian. Maybe the kid isn't pure evil.

Oh, kid. How many times have I said that?

Tim wakes up after being knocked unconscious, and mistakes Damian helping Alfred up after he trips for Damian trying to kill Alfred. Oops!

Alfred totally tears a strip off of Tim. It's rad:

The comic ends with this exciting page:

Aw, man! Continued in Nightwing? I have to read Nightwing?! Sheesh. That's like "To Be Continued in Trigonometry Class." Boooooo.

Supergirl #23

Yet another creative team for Supergirl. I really like the art. I think the writing is good...but I had no idea what was happening in this issue. I read it twice. No idea.

But I still think the writing is good, because the characterization is good. And it kinda tied into Sinestro Corps, but not enough to put that on the cover.

It started off in Supergirl's apartment, which I thought was cool. She has a mysterious present on her coffee table. It's lead and soundproofed. She finally just decides to open it. This gets her a phone call from Batman.

And here is what Supergirl is good for: calling Batman on his creepy weirdness.

She's right, Batman. Who would actually tie a box up with a big pretty bow?

SG gets the call from Superman and soars into battle.

Overall, I think there's hope for this comic.

The All-New Atom #17

Oh man, this was great! Wonder Woman makes an appearance, giving us a taste of what's to come in Simone's upcoming run on WW. I'm excited.

Especially after this awesome Picoult dig:

Ha! You tell 'im, Diana!

She looks so dope on that motorcycle!

This issue gives us more of the Ryan/Giganta relationship, which, as it turns out, is still happening. Fantastic!

Short Guy/Tall Woman, Super Hero/Villain. I love it.

I also loved this misunderstanding:

What a great comic.

Justice League Unlimited #39

You put Batman and Elongated Man together, and you know you're going to have a good time. Throw Detective Chimp into the mix, and you have a party.

Also, as I've mentioned before, this is the only comic that completely ignores all the depressing continuity and offers month after month of fun stories about dead characters. I love it.

I mean, how can you not love this?

Batman feels the same way about Ralph's gross nose that I do. I'll add it to the list of things we could talk about on our date.

The ending of this comic was solid gold:

Metal Men #4

Another beautiful issue of Metal Men, which should win awards for the covers alone! This is going to make a gorgeous book when it's collected.

Just look at this crazy steam shovel that the Metal Men join together to build:

That's just awesome.

Gold and Lead have exchanged identities, and Lead (now Gold) is trying to cheer his friend up. It's pretty cute.

God, this comic is just so beautiful! I can't stand it!

Superman #670

The Third Kryptonian...again, a very confusing concept, considering there are five Kryptonians on the cover, none of which is the "Third Kryptonian."

I thought this was pretty neat:

Batman has the job of Fortress Keeper. He plays it like John Travolta in Get Shorty:

That is a suit that Superman designed and built. It is constructed to recognize Batman's biometric signature. So in love.

Actually, this comic did come dangerously close to Jeph Loeb-levels of Superman-crushing-on-Batman-through-obsessive-interior-monologues. Superman was thinking of him almost constantly throughout the issue.

So now the Third Kryptonian is gone. We hardly knew ye, What's-her-name!

Who Needs an MBA?

I can learn everything I need to know about business from World's Finest #99.

Financial Planning:

Strategic Investment:

Management:

IT Investment:

Basic Accounting:

Competition:

Executive Decisions:

Finance:

Conducting Meetings:

Asset Protection:

Middle Management:

And, finally, how to be a complete asshole to your subordinates:

PS - This comic can be found in its entirity in the fabulous Showcase Presents World's Finest, which, surely to God, you own by now.

Here I Am

So by the time Noel hit us, it wasn't a hurricane. But it was like a hurricane.

It probably would have been worse if it were Hurricane Liam. (ba-dum ching!)

So I have full power again, and full internet privileges. I know this blog has been neglected lately, and I am pledging, right here and now, to post something every day this week. New content...daily. For at least one week!

I'm going to start by posting some random Lois Lane panels that I've been sitting on for awhile. Because those never get old.

What Lois wants, Lois takes:

Superman gets weird when Lois gets forward:

He's hungry for love...and it's feeding time!

This is my favourite:

It's rare that you see Superman just lose it like that.

This Week's Haul: Before The Storm

Just a quick announcement before I get started. You might not hear from me for a few days (which isn't too unusual these days). The reason is because we are scheduled to get slammed by Hurricane Noel tomorrow. Last time we got hit with a storm this size, we lost power for quite a while. So that's what I'm prepared for.

Now I am thinking that this tree-top level apartment with a glass front, while nice, might not be the best location for this storm.

But enough of this unpleasantness. At least I have plenty of comics to read.

And here's what I thought of some of the ones that came out this week!

Action Comics #858

I was really looking forward to this, and I was not disappointed. Gary Frank's artwork is beautiful and Geoff Johns' writing is, as always, stellar.

It's a little confusing, in that it is a story set in current continuity, but borrows a lot from the past. It feels like a Year One story, mostly due to the emphasis on Clark Kent's loner status, and inability to relate to humanity. Of course, this has to ignore the fact that he is happily married, which this comic does.

But I'm not complaining. Especially not if we get delightful pages like this one, with classic grouchy Perry, awkward Clark and enthusiastic Jimmy:

That panel of Clark examining his tie kills me.

We also get some great flashback scenes of Clark as a lonely kid, when he meets the Legion for the first time. This was pretty adorable and heartbreaking, as a friendless young Clark thinks he's found someone who understands lonliness:

Awww.

I really liked this remark, as Superman faces who he believes is Brainiac, but is actually Brainiac 5 in an elaborate plot to get Superman's attention:

Hee!

It's nice to see Superboy and the legion. Especially with art this nice.

Superman ends up traveling to the future, just like the good ol' days, and finds out the hard way that Earth has a red sun in the 31st century:

Ouch!

Looking forward to more of this!

Batman #670

Ra's Al Ghul is back and he's effing terrifying!

Yargh!

This, along with this week's Robin Annual, more or less begins the big Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul crossover, which will be continued in Batman and in Robin. I'm not super pumped about it, just because I've been enjoying the non-event issues of both Batman and Robin. But Grant Morrison is still writing, so it's not going to suck.

I am also liking Damien more and more:

You tell him, kiddo!

On a similar note, the Batman and Son action figures were released this week, and they look great! There's a very awesome Tim Drake, and a sweet-looking Batman. If you want a Man-Bat figure, there's a nice one of those, and the Joker one is fun to pose. I'm surprised they didn't make a Talia figure. It would have made more sense than the Joker.

52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #3

This entertaining Big Three story continues to roll along, with Giffen's inter-hero banter getting increasingly silly:

I have a hard time believing that Batman would ever say 'Hello' in that manner. He may as well have said "Ex-squeeze me?"

One thing this issue is really good for is Snapper Carr burns. Batman really hates that guy.

And no wonder. He really is an annoying twerp.

Superman still has that bite on his arm, and it's bothering him. It's like Harry Potter's scar. It burns when evil is near:

Still fun, still exciting. I recommend. If you read only one 52/Countdown tie-in, make it this one. Or Black Adam.

But Black Adam doesn't give you this:

Justice Society of America #10

I re-read Kingdom Come this week in preparation for this issue. Every time I read that thing I notice something new.

So Kingdom Come Superman shows up, and he's all "When Kingdom Come, you ready? Not only NYC, I'm hip-hop's saviour, so after this flow you might owe me a favour."

This was great. I loved Starman's interaction with Kingdom Come Superman:

Ha! All out of the colour yellow! Man, I love that guy.

This Superman likes to talk a lot about regret and failure and mistakes and tragedy. And he does, for a really long time. Then he decides to up and leave, which results in a JSA dogpile:

Superman impresses me by overcoming Starman's gravitational powers:

There's tough, and then there's that. Well done, sad Superman.

Daredevil Annual #1

Man, this was so fantastic. I love annuals, and I love Daredevil, so I was expecting greatness. This went above and beyond. Totally my pick of the week.

The thing about Annuals is that it usually involves a guest artist, and sometimes a guest writer. Or it's several short stories. This was a Brubaker story, with an Ande Parks script and Leandro Fernandez doing pencils. My only worry going into this was "Well, after all the Brubaker/Lark issues, this might be disappointing." NOPE.

This comic was amazing. It opens with Daredevil struggling to fight off some Yakuza boys. He's struggling because he has the flu, which he continues to have for the remainder of the issue.

Now the cool thing about giving Daredevil the flu is that it messes with his heightened senses. He can't smell anything, and his congested head and his high fever are making things very difficult. So he's making lots of mistakes. Painful mistakes:

The art is beautiful, as you can see. No need to miss Lark on this book.

I liked how Matt slinks off after the fight to go pass out:

That's not what that's for, Matt.

So yeah, sick Daredevil. Very interesting, and kind of cute:

Aw, who needs soup?

Mainly, though, this is a story about Carlos LaMuerto, aka Black Tarantula. He has just been released from prison on parole. He got along well with Matt in jail, and he looks him up on the outside. Matt gives him a job at the firm, helping Dakota. Dakota is not into working with a violent ex-con. Carlos is not into her attitude:

LaMuerta gets frustrated by the uselessness of the legal process when it comes to actually helping people in the neighborhood. He takes things into his own hands, but with good intentions. Even so, Matt doesn't want to see Carlos go back to his old ways. He offers him a chance to suit up as Black Tarantula and help him fight the Yakuza. It works well, because Matt still isn't at 100%:

I love that scene.

Unfortunately, Carlos can't restrain himself from using extreme violence, except now he wants to clean up Hell's Kitchen, rather than run it. He feels responsible for a lot of the damage done to the neighborhood, and sets about making things right. Which involves killing a lot of bad people.

Matt is, needless to say, disappointed.

Like I said, this is a great comic, and it's extra-long. Do read it.

Countdown to Adventure #3

This issue opens with Buddy's son, Cliff, going nuts and attacking Kory with a knife. It's pretty intense:

Cliff is just one of many people all over the place to be infected with something that makes them worship Lady Styx. People are trying to kill each other everywhere.

In the middle of all this, Ellen is concerned about her marriage. She asks Buddy the question that's been on her mind ever since the scantily-clad space princess arrived at their door:

Sadly, this is all Buddy has to say for himself:

Ouch.

The Adam Strange Pages are all really great. I like his narration. He's tough.

I can't read the Forerunner back-ups at all. They make me sleepy.

Death of the New Gods #2

I finally got to read #1 this week. The store sold out of it pretty quickly. It's a pretty good series so far, even if poor Barda has been killed off.

Here's the JLA at the murder scene:

Here's what I like about this page:

1. Red Arrow isn't doing anything. He's just chilling, and looking as cool as possible.
2. Superman is like "Uh, what's Vixen doing exactly? Looking for cookies?"
3. Barda's outline, while not supposed to be funny, kind of is.

In the next panel Red Arrow has apparently removed his shirt. I approve:

I like it when colouring errors work in my favour.

I also like that Hal is talking like Batman. And Black Lightning is being a little inappropriate. "Are you sure she's in here? It's kinda light. I mean, she is Big Barda, right?"

Mr Miracle changes his clothes:

Poor guy. Sniff.

Superman accompanies him back to New Genesis with Barda's body. Orion takes one look at Superman and loses it. Man, that guy is just angry all the time.

Ooooo...you did NOT go there, Superman.

Unfortunately, he did. And this means a pointless fight between the two of them for the next few pages:

Yikes!

It lasts until Metron shows up. Then Orion wants to fight him.

Orion, you have got to chill, bro. You can't just beat up everyone who stops by. In three successive panels Orion is like "I'm gonna kill you, Superman! No, I'm going to kill YOU, Metron! No! I'm going to kill Darkseid!" It's exhausting being Orion. "Milkman! I'll kill you!"

I'm going to wrap it up there. And other comics can be discussed in the comments. Like the giant heaps of comics that count down to various things. But not that X-Men Messiah stuff. I don't read that.