Wonder Woman #30: Contrary to widely-help opinions, Diana’s rage makes perfect sense in this issue, and the Genocide storyline has in no way run its course and should not be ended. In the aftermath of Genocide’s merciless attack on the Princesses of Themyscira and the Justice League and the kidnapping of Etta Candy, it makes perfect sense she would “declare war” on the Cheetah and her pawns. And even though she says it in anger, I really think she regrets the necessity of cutting off the Cheetah’s tail in order to extract information form her of Genocide’s whereabouts. I have to admit though that there must also have been a certain satisfaction to that last bloody bit of violence to say nothing of kicking the ass of everyone in the DMA. Of course, I may be projecting. She is, after all, a comic book character. The Olympian is still a minor concern here, but once he’s revealed, I wonder if he’ll be getting his little boyfriend back anytime soon. Yay gay Greeks! A

Superman #686: Apparently parallelism has hit the halls of the Big Two as yet another title does simultaneous contrasting. I have to say, it’s better here than it was in last month’s Wonder Woman and last week’s Uncanny X-Men, but it’s already in danger of becoming over-used. In this issue, Princess Diana goes undercover as a special super-human policing agent in a department that is mistrustful of super-humans in general and Amazons in particular. She somewhat awkwardly adopts a human life, but is always at the ready to transform to Wonder Woman when an emergency arises. Wait. Strike that. Replace it with “Mon-El.” B

X-Infernus #4: I saw Neil Gaiman speak in Austin for the release of his book Anansi Boys. He was in a bitchy-gossipy mood that day and gave the crowd some insight into the Beowulf movie (“In a fit of typecasting, Angelina Jolie will be Grendel’s mother.”) and MiracleMan (“”So I asked Todd if he would just do what the court told him to do and he said, ‘I’m fuckin’ Todd McFarlane, man, fuck. I don’t gotta. Fuck.”) and how he’s always surprised by how expensive American comics are when, essentially, nothing happens in each issue. Funny guy. In essence, this is what the conclusion of X-Infernus suffers from – a whole lot of nothing. I counted 22 pages of a rather uninspired End-of-the-World scenario that actually occupies about five pages of actual action. Illyana has feared the release of the Elder Gods since 1982 and they get almost no panel time and certainly don’t seem to be the threat they’ve been made out to be. The last page shows the new New Mutants cover, but with Rahne, Doug and Warlock in the ranks. Retcon or Retro-chic? We’ll find out in May. D

Supergirl #39: Supergirl’s failure to capture Reactron and bring him to New Krypton earns her harsh (and ironic) criticism from her mother (delivered non-ironically). Kara finally wakes up to the idea that maybe her mother isn’t as Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters as she’d like to believe. This Kara Zor-El isn’t the same as the one that died ages ago, but she’s starting to grow on me. Insanely tight asses on women aside, the art is pretty good as well. B

Ultimatum #3: Ugh. More splatter porn. When did Jeph Loeb become Mark Millar’s apprentice? C+

Uncanny X-Men #507: Last week’s Wonder Woman and this week’s X-Men should be viewed as cautionary tales about parallel storylines and how not to do them. There should be a seamless, almost cinematic cut between the panels of the respective stories, and certainly parallel action and words. Sadly, while Matt Fraction’s words were close to the mark, the Dobson’s artwork was not. The overall effect was somewhat herky-jerky, and distracted from the flow of the plot (not that very much happened in the first place). Oh and shocker, Magneto is back. Can;t move on from him in the movies; can’t move on from him in the comics. Guess Jean Grey will be lighting up the Universe again pretty soon. C-

…about Frater Mine. The guys over at Comic Book Queers discussed FM during this week’s podcast. It’s towards the end after an excellent discussion of Cloak and Dagger (my tied-for #2 characters after Magik). Give a listen here:

I’m really embarrassed about the reference to the “Mary Janing” I did in the book. I try to own it, but looking back it just seems like lazy writing. Like Twilight. I know I’m not the only one to do this, but I’d like to think that I’m not a lazy writer. Well, at least I’m working to make the characters less like people in my world. Even if Matt does have a twin brother and adorable nephew…

dipsomania

Normally, I try to get “That’s My Bag!” weekly, but I’ve let it (and my grading; sorry, students!) slide for more… personal matters. I’m catching up in a few weeks of comics here, so everything will be brief. I hope to make this feature regular again, especially since this week is SPRING BREAK!!!

Supergirl #38: She’s on Earth; she’s on New Krypton. She’s an outlaw; she’s a bad daughter. I see another “Who is Supergirl?” story arc coming up soon. B

Superman #685: I’ve always loved Mon-El (though not as much as Kal-El does, apparently), so I’m glad to see him taking on a new Kent identity. I didn’t like to see him leave Ma Kent in the hands of another care-taker. A

Action Comics #875:Well, it’s not Conner (dammit) but the new Nightwing’s identity is still a great surprise, as if Flamebird’s. I’m going to like seeing these two in this title over the next year or so. A

World of Krypton #1:

Justice Society of America #23: Oh naughty Isis!! A

Justice Society of America #24: Shizzman! Mary Marvel goes Dark. Again. So, is JSA caught up with the Final Crisis timeline while the rest of the DCU isn’t? A-

Wonder Woman #29: Sadly, Zeus plays too large a role in this story for being as large an assdancer as he is. However, without these scenes we wouldn’t know how dangerous the Olympian is going to be. A

Madame Xanadu #8: Green Lantern. The Demon. Who else will be shaped by Madame X and the Phantom Stranger’s machinations? The story is still fun, but I’d like to see more “the future has taken root in the present” moments. B+

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #23: Who is driving this story??? Because we’re off-roading here. D

Uncanny X-Men #506: The issue is totally transitional and not necessary to buy. C

• 8:02 AM Sean McGrath - Sean says: Muppet woke us up at an ungodly hour for outside privileges. Rose was equally vocal about wanting breakfast. Looks like we’re up and slothing!!!
  <p>
  Ben says: Sloth_off got off to an inausbicious start as bitchy pets rolled off their list of demands: “Potty! Food!”
• 8:22 AM Sean McGrath - Ben off to Minnow to get tranquilizers not prescribed to him.
• 8:28 AM Sean McGrath - Ben set his hair on fire during the ceremonial “Lighting of the Virgins”.
• 8:30 AM Sean McGrath -
  
• 8:30 AM Sean McGrath -
  
• 8:31 AM Sean McGrath -
  
• 9:02 AM Sean McGrath - The Book Exchange is complete – five new novels each to read. WIll read for a little while before beginning Alias. Dogs seem curious about all the inactivity.
• 9:48 AM Sean McGrath - The Sloth-Off was interrupted by a crack whore who needed money and/or sandwiches for her and her starving children. Gave her bananas and a dollar. Ben calls the transaction “judgmental yet hopeful.”
• 10:14 AM Sean McGrath - Back to bed. Books in tow.
• 12:49 PM Sean McGrath - Sean awoke to hunt for food. He remembers seeing some wild frozen pizzas near the hometead yesterday, which is unusual this time of the year. He hopes he can catch them.
• 12:50 PM Sean McGrath - Sean is impressed by Ben’s ability to sloth (if indeed “sloth” can be a verb, a word of action). He has Olympic levels of sloth ability. He’s like the anti-Batman.
• 1:11 PM Sean McGrath - Sean has successfully captured two pizzas and has put them in the oven. In the meantime, he is drinking wine (from a screwtop bottle!!!!), and eating cheez-its and lemonheads. YUM!!!
• 1:36 PM Sean McGrath - Ben says: Cross-continental Sloth-Off communique to Garrett and Anthony concerning our choice of Sloth-Off DVDs: “FRANCIE DOESN’T LIKE BUTTER PECAN!!!”
• 3:11 PM Sean McGrath - The Alias marathon is in its second hour. This is a good show! How did I miss it before?
• 5:53 PM Sean McGrath - Nap Two just finished. Will watch Dr.c Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog before beginning next Alias disc. Not hungry, but can’t stop eating Laffy-Taffy. Ben is drinking 4-hour old coffee.
• 6:16 PM Sean McGrath - Bens says:Like the proverbial old gray mare, my sloth stamina ain’t what she used to be. Thankfully my addictions to nicotine and caffeine remain unaffected.
• 7:18 PM Jonathan Keebler - It was great for the first 2 seasons, then the wheels came flying off
• 7:20 PM Sean McGrath - Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog = sad. What is wrong with Joss Whedon and his killing off women?
• 7:21 PM Sean McGrath - We’re breaking off from a traditional Sloth-Off and heading to HEB for hot dogs and facial masques.
• 10:02 PM Sean McGrath - Sloth-Off has been canceled due to raging need for tequila. Thanks for following along!!!

• 5:21 PM Sean McGrath - It’s a bit early as the Sloth-Off doesn’t begin officially until Saturday morning, but it doesn’t hurt to prepare (however contradictory it is to prepare to be slothful).
• 5:47 PM Sean McGrath - OK, I’m going to finish putting the kitchen together (new tiles!!!) and then shower. When Ben gets here it’ll be a trip to HEB to buy junk food, then BSG. More as the evening progresses!
• 6:54 PM Sean McGrath - voila!

salad days

upspeak