OK- a bit of a rant- sorry, but let’s talk about variant covers for a moment… Wha? huh? Are we back in the 90’s? We are in a time in which, it seems, the comic book companies are back with a new scheme to increase sales. It isn’t a new scheme it’s a retread of an old scheme. Publish the same comic but issue it with multiple covers. This has been going on for a while. It causes retailers to purchase more comics than they really need in order to get those 1:25 or 1:1,250 exclusive variants. Fortunately I’m not a completist…I don’t need 13 copies of the same comic just so I can have all the covers. Every once in a while I may want a specific cover, but for the most part, I really don’t care. Combine this with sketch covers (covers you can bring to a Con and have an artist do an original cover for you) it is now hilarious. First of all, I don’t mind a couple of options, but in some cases, it has gotten to be too much. Should companies have alternate covers? Sure. Should some of them be more exclusive? Sure. Should artists have the opportunity to draw on blank covers? Again, sure. Look at Frank Cho’s sketch covers, they are hysterical. I like the idea of giving more artists the opportunity to share their talents, but more than 10 different variant covers? Like I said, fortunately, I’m not a completist, I don’t need to have every version. I just find it amusing and sometimes frustrating when I’m going through and trying to figure out if I have that specific issue… I used to rely on the cover image to jog my memory… Fortunately I now have my collection catalogued and I can go in and pull it up on my phone.
The last comics of 2023 –
Action Comics Annual 2023 – So we finish out “New Worlds” in which all the plot lines are tied together, except for the ones that aren’t. Spoiler: the world is once again safe for everyone and Superman is once again a beacon of hope. Next time I might be able to bring in more details since we will be starting a new arc and there aren’t as many spoilers.
Detective Comics #1080 – Batman Outlaw Part 5… ummm Gotham is… Gotham… murder betrays, and batman escaping the hangman’s noose. Now what will happen next? When will Batman return how will he defeat this group that were fated to take over Gotham since ancient time… when there wasn’t even a Gotham to take over?
Alan Scott Green Lantern #3 – Green Lantern teams with the Spectre as we continue our gay romp through the Golden Age trying to find out more about the “Red Lantern.” The story that actually has something to do with there latest Justice Society of America issue… Read to find out about things that could never have been published in the 1940’s.
The Flash #4 – I’ve been a fan of the Flash since I was in at least 3rd grade. I remember watching him in Super Friends on Saturday morning. One episode he’d talk really fast, the next episode he’d talk really slow… no reasoning, just cartoons of the 70’s I’ve been a fan forever and even shed a tear when Barry’s wife “died,” and when Barry “died”: in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. His was the one death I figured was like Uncle Ben, proof that comics don’t always bring back dead characters on a “whim.” I was wrong. Now Wally West is back and things have just gotten strange. I don’t mind having a “Flash Family.” Here Wally is trying to figure things out and I miss the simpler times when heroes fought crime and not existential issues dealing with the “Speed Force.” It was nice to have Jessie Quick or Liberty Belle and Irey West or Thunderheart trying to figure things out. The art work is good, I just think I may need to go back and reread this once the story is over to see how it all fits together, currently, I’m just a bit confused.
Batman Santa Klaus Silent Knight #4 – So is possession 9/10 of the law? Damian Wayne, figures things out and saves the day… after the other heroes have to fight a lot. I liked the story, I liked that everyone was so normal when dealing with Santa, but also not. That sudden understanding that stories that Batman may have told to the young Robin about adventuring with Santa may have a shade of truth. While not the caliber of Grant Morrison’s Klaus. This was an excellent way to celebrate the season with the DC Heroes.
Justice Society of America #8 – OK, where to start? In 6th or 7th grade my math teacher took “Secret Origins of Superheroes” comic from me- something about not paying attention in class. She never gave it back (as a teacher, I understand) it was the origin of the Huntress. Earth -2’s daughter of Batman & Catwoman. Fast forward- Due to x, y, and z she ends up now on the current Earth saving the JSA and now trying to recruit her version of the JSA who all happen to be lost causes, villains who will (in her world) become heroes. There have been a few failures and pseudo-successes, we won’t know until the dust settles… I remember Terra in the Wolfman/Perez run of Team Titans. So she is currently looking for… Red Lantern (See Alan Scott Green Lantern above). Of course Green Lantern (See Above) gets into the mix.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #14 – Gang War Continues… ’nuff Said.
No/One #7 – Great mystery… still trying to figure it all out. Serial Killer, Copy Cats, Nosey Journalists… Since we are on issue 7 I suggest doing what I’m going to do and listen to the podcast associated with it.
Beyond Real #1 – Wait… I get to actually start a series?!? This one was given to me as a freebie to try out, so I tried it out and I like the premise. Young couple in love… (it happens sometimes, even in this crazy world of ours!) Contemplate existence… are we real? Are we just part of a program? (Was the program created by a race of hyper pan dimensional beings who created a computer to solve the ultimate question of the “What is Life, the Universe & Everything?” Did this computer then create a planet where living organisms were part of the programming matrix? That’s not this story… After a terrible accident one of our young lovers is in a coma, the other is having trouble and it seems the world is just a bit unreal. Only to discover <Spoiler> that she is part of a program and after that set up she goes to save her sweetie and maybe discover the secrets to Life, the Universe… everything!
Sorry for this being late… I understand there was a holiday and I was on the road.