Damnit. It's almost 2010, and I'm in the mood for a really awful movie. If I can't think of one, I might have to go rent In the Name of the King again, which is surprisingly boring for a movie that has Burt Reynolds.

And really, would it have killed someone to give Jason Stathem a damn name?

Ray Liotta was pretty entertaining though, as I recall.

So recommend me a good crappy movie to ring in the new year?

Reason #537 why Scott Summers Needs Therapy: Classic X-Men 41-42.

One of the most entertaining parts of the forty-some-odd years of X-Men comics is the propensity of writers to randomly add more fucked up things to poor Scott Summers's backstory.

I'm particularly fond of this back-up story from Classic X-Men 41-42, which features Scott, Mr. Sinister's orphanage, the only example of anything resembling a positive female mentor figure the poor kid's ever had, and some truly spectacular WTF-ery.

Chris Claremont, when he's on, is an INTERESTING fellow. (For the record, the main story was a reprinting of the Dark Phoenix Saga.)

Okay, so the story begins as all orphanage-centered backstory ought to: with a school yard fight. Nate, Scott's roommate (who is also simultaneously his headmaster, torturer, nightmare-figure, evil-scientist, and eventually his father-in-law) is being bullied. Scott is inexplicably red-haired in the fight scene that makes me think that it would be really fucking funny if they managed to loop around the family tree somehow to make him and Jean siblings. But I'm evil.

So anyway, Scott, as you'd expect, gets involved:



I chose this panel mostly for the line about the suicide complex. Oh, nameless bully, you have NO IDEA.

Anyway, Mr. Anderson, who is probably ALSO Sinister in disguise, sends the bully kid to the office and Scott, because he was unsurprisingly getting his ass kicked, to the new doctor.

Her name is Robyn Hanover and I think I love her, if only for her linguistic faculty:



"Sweet Science of Pugilism." Hee. Also, she calls Scott a Paladin, and while I think he veers a bit too close to Lawful Neutral sometimes for comfort, I'm still amused.

Also, her hair style reminds me of Jean a bit. I wouldn't put it past Sinister to have hired her specifically to engineer imprinting. (Though from profession and linguistic facility, I'm kind of surprised it didn't backfire and cause Scott to fixate on Hank.)

After that, Scott has a dream. It's...pretty fucked up. (Click to enlarge)



I would not want to live in that kid's head. However, there are some really interesting elements: in the way that Nate in trouble = a trap in which his parents are his primary tormenters. On some level he does seem to be aware of what's going on, which is VERY interesting.

So he wakes up, and I'm putting the next page up in entirety too because it amuses/horrifies me.



1) Nate seems to take a very 'hands-on' approach to comfort.
2) Nate does not like conveniently timed interlopers.
3) If Toby's "sittin' in a tree" comment is any indication, he thinks the relationship is as squitchy as I do.
4) Nate is not pleased by Toby.

Very not pleased:


Anyway, Dr. Hanover's curiosity is peaked so next we see her asking about Scott Summers. She gets told the whole plane-crash/brain damage story. Also, apparently there was exposure via landing in a prairie in a blizzard.

Dr. Hanover by the way gets the best line ever:



"Story is, he was almost kidnapped by space aliens."
"Of course. I should have guessed."

I love comic books.

After that, she has a creepy encounter with the chief administrator Pearson (Sinister). He disapproves of her shoes and the short length of her skirt. He's also creepy. She thinks so too, as she is not an idiot.



This panel is here just for reference.

So then she tries her hand at bonding with Scott who demonstrates his utterly surprising and out of character wariness and distrust of people in general...which lasts until Dr. Hanover reveals a heretofore unknown talent:



Gosh, you'd think she was chosen SPECIFICALLY to cater to poor Scott's personality and interests.

I love how Sinister makes for a perfect excuse for otherwise contrived coincidences. Of course he'd find a doctor who also was a pilot in order to provide Scott with something resembling a maternal influence!

Sadly, their bonding moment is interrupted. Toby (the bully from earlier) is on the roof. Scott's running up after him and Nate is as sympathetic as one can expect the alter-ego of a supervillain to be.



He does not seem to like Dr. Hanover much. And Dr. Hanover seems to be also aware of certain...awkwardness in the relationship.

I can't help but think Claremont is well aware of the creepiness of the relationship. I mean, a supervillain setting up an elaborate scenario to raise a powerful kid is pretty standard. But then disguising yourself as a ten year old boy in order to be his roommate?

That's a bit creepy.

Meanwhile, Scott's on his way to getting some new trauma:



Yeah. Bye Toby! This is what happens when you make jokes about Mr. Sinister's sick fixation on a twelve year old boy.

And now Scott is emo:



And has decided that if he were a better hero, Toby would still be alive.



Aw, Scott. Your issues are squishable. And if you can't tell, Dr. Hanover is kind of doomed.

In the next part of the story, Dr. Hanover decides to cheer Scott up by taking him to the local air force base to meet her friends Tricia and Rick and see all the cool planes. That goes really well until the sky divers start giving off smoke and sending the poor kid into a full on, three-page worth, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder flashback.




Ouch. And hey, Alex mention!

I'm kind of impressed by his ability to shrink enough that an average sized woman can lift him up like that without a hint of a stagger.

I also like how no one's actually turning around to look at the screaming child. Nebraskans are cold, man.

I'd credit Xavier's psychiatric skill in that this boy will eventually get past the PTSD enough to become the X-Men's primary pilot. But I think that's more a function of repression rather than mental health.

And not shown, Rick-the-Air-Force guy finds one of Scott's screams about a roman candle intriguing.

I will show you more of Nate being creepily possessive/protective though, because I can:



So the Doc ends up taking the kid BACK to the base, where he gets to bond more with Rick and Tricia. They note his surprising expertise with pre-flight maneuvers and fucked up memory patterns (such as being able to talk about his dad flying Blackbirds and Alaska being cold in one moment and then not remembering anything pre-orphanage the next. Which might be more of a symptom of an evil telepathic roommate/headmaster/torturer/father-in-law than brain damage...)

Rick and Tricia are intrigued by the mystery and like the kid and ultimately:



They apply to adopt him!

Oh yeah, this isn't gonna go well.

I kind of dig Rick's glasses and cocky smirk though.
Anyway, the Bogarts (Rick and Tricia) go fly off somewhere, but not before inviting the kid to spend Christmas with them.

Meanwhile, someone decides that Dr. Hanover has overstepped her authority... (Click to see it bigger)



I'm kind of wondering what she was doing before sleeping, as that's one swanky nightgown in my opinion.

So what happens next?



That's...actually probably one of the most gruesome fates I've ever seen in a comic book in a long time. Not the Bogarts, mind, though I really like the way the scene is intercut with the orphanage scene, but Dr. Hanover?

She looks very presentable, doesn't she? Right down to the decorous skirt and high heels. And completely without personality. And for all we know, she's still there to this day.

On the plus side, this ends up being the triggering event for Scott to run away! So...um...things will eventually get better?

In the sense that living on the streets and then running into Jack Winters = "better"...

Um. Yeah. Anyway!

Here's the end for you, with a couple of cameos:



Wherein we learn:

1) Professor X is still an asshole who sees an abused kid and thinks "Eh, I'll collect him later," and

2) Um. Apparently the Phoenix cares very little for age of consent laws?

Yeah.

Creepy.

And Xavier's a dick.

I saw it, I saw it.

I got to see Sherlock Holmes! (Finally!) I liked it! I expected I would, because Sherlock Holmes + explosions + fisticuffs make me happy.

Also, finally, a decent portrayal of Watson! Long-suffering Watson > Idiot Watson.

Though I think I understand now why a lot of films idiotize Watson. Because played straight and competent, he kind of comes across as Holmes's Victorian wife.

He's basically Charlotte Pitt with a revolver. And a sword cane.

Sword canes are hot.

Also, Jude Law doesn't do much for me normally, and Victorian facial hair downright annoys me, but somehow him + mustache = infinitely hotter than either alone.

RDJ was good too, of course. I tend to think Robert Downey Jr. pretty much just plays Robert Downey, Jr. in everything. But fortunately being an off-putting, yet charming, intelligent, ex-addict translates pretty well to Sherlock Holmes once you give him a British accent. He doesn't have a sword cane though, so he's less hot to me.

I have a thing for weapons, sorry. Also, sidekicks.

If the slash fandom doesn't explode after this movie, I will be very disappointed.

The female characters weren't bad, either, though. But let's be honest, I'm not watching Sherlock Holmes for the GIRLS.

So yeah, I liked it. Would totally see it again.

(P.S. Am totally amused they remade Clash of the Titans. Seriously, what the heck?!)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it and Happy Holidays to everyone! I'm having a good day and I hope you are too!

Hm.

Okay, I've got a dumb question. Does Uncanny X-Men come out twice a month or something? Because it seems like every time I turn around there's another one.

Or is it just that I'm not used to writers who actually get their books out on TIME?

Anticipation!

I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but the more I see purists complain about the new Sherlock Holmes movie (with RDJ and Jude Law), the more I really can't wait to see it.

I really fail to see how Sherlock Holmes (and Watson!) + Explosions is a bad thing.

Also, I'm glad to see someone finally remembered that Watson is both a) incredibly competent and b) hot. (And while Jude Law is not normally my type, there's something about the guy in a Victorian mustache and hat that works for me.)

And yes, Arthur Conan Doyle IS probably rolling about in his grave. But considering the man had serious issues with being remembered for Holmes as opposed to any of his scholarly work, I'm not sure he'd consider this any worse than the other movies.

I don't know whether I think it will be good, I do know I think it will be entertaining.

A Thought.

You know what I'd really like to see now that Toro is back from the dead?

I want to see Cyclops ask for his autograph.

I mean, seriously, Xavier would have totally milked that inspirational story: one of, if not the first, publicly recognized mutants. Respected. War hero. Very destructive power, but found direction through serving his country.

It seems like the kind of story Scott would totally take to. And it'd be nice to see a) Toro get some recognition for once, and b) Scott get to be age-appropriate for once and fanboy a little.

It'd be cute!

Guy Gardner: Still Awesomer than Hal Jordan

I kind of had my doubts about the whole Guy-as-a-red-lantern thing, but...was there anything more badassly awesome than seeing him carve through those Black Lanterns with red AND green constructs?

Guy Gardner remains awesome, even when working his christmas colors. Booyeah!

The Long-Threatened Amateur Analysis of Scott Summers's Girlfriends

Okay, so I've been intending to post this for a while: it's my rambling diatribe on how with every major love interest he has, Scott Summers is essentially dating stand-ins for his abusive (or at least lousy) father figures. This post can also be subtitled reason number #467 why Xavier should have realized his adopted son/pet general needed therapy for a long ass time.

So anyway, for the benefit of the less obsessed comic nerds in the community (is there a such thing), I'll do a quick run down of poor Cyclops's history. First, he had parents and a brother. Then there was a plane crash. Parents got kidnapped by aliens. Kids went splat, and essentially Alex bounced and Scott didn't.

After that, Alex gets adopted and Scott gets sent to an orphanage run by Mr. Sinister. It should probably be noted that orphanages of that type haven't been in vogue since the seventies. But Mr. Sinister is a batshit crazy Victorian telepath, so I'm thinking he doesn't care. So yeah, there's messiness involving brainwashing, torture, abuse, experimentation and at least one set of would-be adopted parents going splat on the side of a mountain. Eventually, sometime after having a weird dream involving a bald guy and a pretty red haired girl with a firebird motif, in which the bald guy is all "Hmm, nah, we'll collect him later", he runs away.

P.S. This is another reason Xavier sucks.

So anyway, he roams around the streets of Omaha (Nebraska has streets! News to me!) and hitches some trains and the like and eventually the powers kick in. This is awkward, and generally results in an angry mob. Fortunately, and by "fortunately" I mean "unfortunately", since this is Scott Summers we're talking about, he ends up getting taken in by a low life criminal, who is also telepathic by the way with a few extra powers (more on that later) named Jack Winters. A number of beatings and forced criminal endeavors later (which vary depending on the particular take on this part of his origin story), Jack ends up dead, and Xavier gets himself an abused teenager who he raises up to be his general.

Xavier is a dick.

So anyway, this totals to at least three telepathic father figures of debatable morality. And by "debatable", I mean "utter jerkasses." And I'm totally including Xavier in there. Dick.

Okay, so the first and most easily correlating girlfriend is totally Grant Morrison's fault. You see, Jack Winters, low life thug that he is, has a number of notable traits. 1) a last name related to the season directly opposite "summer". (Winters). 2) A code name related to a game. (Jack O'Diamonds). 3) Telepathy. 4) Additional powers including an "unbreakable diamond form."

And who's he dating now? A lovely upper crust lady who happens to have 1) a last name related to the season directly opposite "summer". (Frost). 2) A code name related to a game. (White Queen). 3) Telepathy. 4) An "unbreakable diamond form."

It's a bit awkward. And that's not even counting that the debatably healthiest portrayal of the Emma/Scott relationship involved her (granted under influence) basically spiking his brain like a volleyball and him THANKING her for it later. I'm just saying.

Sadly, I still think the Emma/Scott relationship is the healthier alternative to Scott and Jean.

-
And speak of the devil, we'll move on to scary correlation number two. It's not as overt as Emma and Jack, but let's be frank, Xavier has always been a creepy spectre within the Scott-and-Jean relationship since the very beginning (where he mooned over her himself, then decided to try to push Scott into admitting his own feelings.) And then there was all the times he lied to the team and faked impairment or even death to push them further. That latter, he'd roped poor Jean into lying to others for him.

Of course, I'm not equating Jean to Xavier in morals. Jean is not actually a dick. Even if a future version of her totally mind-whammied her husband into a relationship with Emma Frost after her death. (I know some folks see it as "encouragement" but when you look at how the scene from NXM 151 goes from this:page 1, page 2, to THIS in 154: page 1, page 2... Well, honestly, I'm not sure it's not the weirdest case of spousal rape-by-proxy-for-his-own-good-and-the-future I've ever seen. At the very least, she definitely overwrote his will and that's pretty dickish.)

But anyway, Jean, like Xavier, has a tendency, I think, to make "for your own good" type judgments. Granted, unlike Xavier, she seems to be right more often. But this is a post about the similarities, not the differences.

Beyond that, there are circumstantial ties: he only met Jean THROUGH Xavier and the team. She's always been kind of symbolic for him, in the same way that Xavier and the dream are.

(For the record, they're still my favorite X-couple. But they're kind of fucked up, regardless. When she inevitably comes back to life/ages up properly and yoinks back her husband, I suggest couples' counseling.)
-

The next one is even more of a stretch, but considering that he MADE her, I think equating Madelyne Pryor and Mr. Sinister is not completely unfair. (Which is why I tend to give Scott a pass for most of the Madelyne related dickishness. I mean, when the guy who raises you, clones the love of your life, and basically MAKES her specifically to appeal to you - including making her a PILOT, yeesh, you don't really have a prayer, even if you aren't completely fucked in the head.)
There may be an interesting comparison to make with Essex's transformation to Mr. Sinister and Madelyne's to the Goblin Queen, too, but the first part's probably enough alone.
-

Of course, there's a special exception for the only girlfriend/relationship Scott's ever had that could even remotely be classified as healthy. Lee Forrester, the shrimp boat captain. A relatively low pressure, low complication relationship with a woman who isn't even a telepath!

But I'm never one to drop a metaphor even when it doesn't really fit anymore. So I've decided shrimp-boat captain = space pirate. They both tend to be largely unconnected to the drama of the X-Men Universe (discounting the part where Corsair's currently dead, as far as I know, but he's a Summers. They'll fix that eventually. If they haven't already.) And really, Scott would be much happier/healthier if he just ran away to become a shrimp fisherman again. Or a space pirate (didn't Alex Summers visit a universe like that at some point?).

So yeah, basically the entire point of this post is to show that if you really want to sleep with Scott Summers, you apparently need to parallel one of his father figures. Or retcon/time travel a new one in. Or you know. Get the guy some actual, legitimate, psychiatric help. But how likely is THAT to happen?

The last of my non-comic rambling

Getting back in the swing of things is a bit harder than it looks. :-) But I'm working on it. I've got a plane to catch today, and said goodbye to some friends yesterday (We also watched the first Lexx movie. I love Lexx for all it's crazy Canadian-German weirdness. It says some interesting things about apathy and stagnancy and drive. And also, the gender dynamics are probably worth some analysis too.)

It's funny to think that I have one semester left. I'm trying not to panic about that (beyond a purely justified "Oh my god, I have to send resumes out ASAP!!!") and being marginally successful about that.

I'm about half a year away from the bar exam (scary enough) and real actual life. (MUCH scarier.) Not counting the year I spent studying abroad, and the year I was working at the toy store, I've been in college for SEVEN YEARS. That's...an obscenely long time.

On the plus side, I'm finally in a position to just sit back and relax with my beautiful comic books. <3 And maybe even write a recap or two! (I'm what three months overdue? Eek.) Or a meme. Or maybe an actual analysis post.

Or at least that post I keep threatening to do about how Scott Summers keeps dating stand-ins for his abusive father figures. They track pretty impressively! And given that he's got another origins coming out in January, I'm sure they'll find a way to shove more trauma in there. Maybe they can add a ninja assassin type foster father so the boy can finally date Psylocke. Or Wolverine'll show up. Wolverine shows up everywhere!

Oh, for the record, I passed my MPREs with a 103. That makes me officially 3 points more ethical than the average lawyer, I guess? I dunno. But it's high enough for Michigan and New York, so I'm happy.

So how are you? :-)

Hi!

I lived! Again! I don't intend to repeat THAT experience. (So, um, let's hope I passed, yeah? :-P)

Anyway, it's time for me to catch up on all the awesomeness I've missed. For example, that Marvel all-women anthology looks pretty interesting. Though I don't have THAT much to say about it yet. The talent line-up looks pretty neat. I don't know if any of my favorite characters will be involved, but I'll pick it up anyway. :-)

It's nice to be able to comment on nice things. :-)

I'm still on JSA-AS induced excitement, of course. Hey, I waited like five years, I'm allowed to drag out my elation for a few weeks damnit.

Now I'm off to clean the dorm room and go home for a few weeks. Where I'll be writing my paper. Damnit. :-P

Things that suck: when your computer dies halfway though compiling your final outline for your Constitutional Law exam today.

Thank god I have a back up computer. But it still took me ALL NIGHT to redo the work.

On the plus side, I'm quite a bit more familiar with the material now.

But anyway, my exam is in four hours or so. Not enough time to sleep, unfortunately, but I have all day tomorrow to crash. <3

Anyway, wish me luck!

Okay, I take it back

I know I was very critical about Freddie Williams's art in JSA All-Stars #1, but I think I have to apologize, because this is awesome: Please keep drawing pretty cover images of my favorite character! Thank you! And The Source gives me more reason to creepily declare my love for Lilah Sturges:

“When I saw Freddie’s cover for JSA All-Stars #4, I begged Alex to let us put it up early. For one thing, it’s got Sand on it. Sand is one of my favorite JSAers, and he’s been due for a resurgence for quite some time. Well, that resurgence begins in issue four. For another thing, unfortunately, it looks like someone else from the JSA’s past is resurging behind him. That can’t be good.”

(Entry edited on December 1, 2020 to reflect accurate names and pronouns.) 

Happy Birthday to Pretty Fizzy Paradise!

Well! My blog is officially 4 years old today! That's three and a half years of daily posts and then...well, not so much with the daily anymore, but still pretty frequent.

Still not too bad!

But yeah, I'm celebrating now. Because I love you guys! <3

And I'm totally hiding from Constitutional Law. Heh.

I'm Lazy, so here are some old posts!

I'm ALIVE! ALIIIVE!

In celebration of this, the fact that three out of four exams are done, and Sandy Hawkins has had actual panel time this decade, I'm linking some old Sand appreciation posts.

Also I'm lazy and want to sleep.

But anyway! For people who have forgotten why little Sandy Hawkins is awesome, behold:

1) He's a mouthy little bastard.

2) Also, he's a total asshole.

3) He's got a perverted villain with appropriate taste in movies.

4) He has style. And is pretty unflappable.

5) Also his seventies era resurrection story was priceless. (This post is Diamondrock's, not mine, but is still good! :-)) For added fun, my 60 second summation!.

6) He jumps into flying cars!.

7) And once got punched onto railroad tracks by a little person.

8) His mentor is a complete and total dick Also when he WASN'T a dick, he was a total goober.

Which meant, Sandy had to have brains enough for both of them.

9) He got to save Wes from his own stupidity. (Because Wes is an idiot.)

10) And Wes once used him as a fake chess robot.

11) His old costume looked strikingly like bondage gear.

12) He is also frequently naked. Sadly I can't link my friend's old lovely posts cataloguing this but here's a naked resurrection pieta style, and also, much advantage involved when your costume insta-forms.

13) He had style when wearing clothes, too!

So now that you obviously appreciate little Sandy Hawkins, you can join me in my hope that he'll actually get to do something in JSA All-Stars! I'm counting on you, Ms. Sturges! (Entry edited on December 1, 2020 to reflect accurate names and pronouns.)

Non-Comic: Rants and Rambling

If I ever schedule three finals in two days again, someone shoot me in the head. Clearly I'm not using it.

(Disclaimer: Not necessary, I have one semester left and already checked my exam dates multiple times. I'm a dipshit, but I LEARN, thank you.

That is, assuming I pass.)

Anyway, for the curious, the three finals I have are Immigration Law tomorrow at 6:00 pm (studying now, starting to get confident), Bankruptcy on Wednesday at 9:00 am (...less confident) and Future Estates Drafting on Wednesday at 1:30 pm. (Eeek.)

I'm actually best at FE, normally, and the test shouldn't be that bad. But I do have to make sure I brush up on all the special rules like Shelley's and Doctrine of Worthier Title, and fucking Wild's which I NEVER remember.

I'm actually okay with the CONCEPTS, but I have trouble keeping the names straight. Which will be fun considering the drafting portion of the test is all "Draft a conveyance that uses Shelley's rule."

Bankruptcy is my worst subject, and I totally didn't pay enough attention during class, but I spent the most time studying on it. (On advice of a friend, I studied for my worst, latest exam first, then the more recent. Seems to be working.) Also, it's open book and trusty friend/victim Matt also lent me his outline which is so much better than mine that it's pretty fucking sad. And the text book is red. This is meaningless to you, but I've found in my lawschool that the law text books range from brown (terrible, no explanation, drawn out cases), blue (case heavy, but some explanation) and red (awesome and actually tells you why this shit matters).

Immigration Law is somewhere in between. The exam'll be all multiple choice and closed book (blue!). That could be good, but it could also be bad, since I really don't know how he tests. But I've at least got a good memory for concepts. The closed-book thing may be a benefit as the INA (immigration statute) is scattered all to fuck. As an example, marriage fraud gets covered under 237 and 216. For no real reason that I can figure out, except that it seems like whenever Congress passes some new immigration law, they just shove the damn thing wherever in the code. Open book, meaning actually having to find/quote the requisite statute with no margin for error, would be a son of a bitch.

The Professor also actually practices, which seems like a rarity in law school professors. This means he's possibly not as organized a lecturer, but what he talks about is actually relevant.

I possibly know way more about quotas than I ever wanted to, but hey, at least it's interesting.

So yeah. That's what I'm up to. On thursday, I plan to sleep and do NOTHING ELSE. (Except study for my last exam, but that's Monday! Ages away!)

I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!
I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6 SWITCH!
Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, SWITCH!

(Translation: Finals suck.)

More Gleeful JSA-AS Joy!

Okay, so paper is turned in! I have three exams coming up, but I somehow still feel free enough to blog more in depth on my reaction to JSA All-Stars. Because there's nothing like the return of my other favorite character to make me happy.

So. Thoughts.

1) Johnny Sorrow's brought another precocious blond teenager to a broken down theatre. Um. Yeah. Well, at least he didn't kidnap Stargirl from her bed. And she's already in her costume. But, still. Ew.

2) I actually am starting to like Magog. It's really hard to explain, but I think it's a combination of me liking assholes, especially ex-military hardass types, and also the fact that I think he's flawed in a fairly realistic/understandable way.

I mean, he's just out of the military. Been transformed into god knows what. He's really not good with kids. Or people. He has no idea how to lead a group of young adults or a superhero team. He needs someone to pull his ass in line.

I kind of sympathize. It probably helps that I am of the distinct belief that he will not be leader of this group for very long.

3) SAND! If I'm reading my set up issue correctly, and I hope-I hope-I hope I am, I'm thinking that this storyline is going to end with Sand as the leader of this group. I mean, it's pretty clear he's joining up since he gets the angsty monologue and his best enemy just showed up, and Willingham hasn't used him really.

It'd make sense if he took over, because he's a powerhouse on level with Power Girl and one who she can trust to actually lead the group and not fuck it up. That'll free her up to lead the main team rather than trying to Wolverine them both. He's actually led the full JSA for a good 20-something issues without any real fuck-ups (unless you count letting Carter be an utter jackass.)

And really, Magog just isn't any good at leading them. I don't know if Sand's any good with kids, but he's been a kid superhero, so he at least gets that aspect. And he can probably keep Magog in line through either politeness or unexpected mouthiness.

4) It occurs to me that this set-up was totally what I wanted from the relaunch and never got. For so long, Sand was really the only JSA member in his particular age group. He was too old to really belong with Stargirl or Jakeem Thunder, but much younger, not counting stasis, than Michael Holt or Dr. Midnite. The only folks around the same age were the Infinity Inc. people and they weren't gonna be in the Justice Society.

I had high hopes with Rick and Jessie and Kara in the relaunch, but that didn't really work out except for one midnight pow-wow with Kara (which is more reason I think he's taking over. Possibly wishful thinking, but his demotion wasn't fair, damnit!). But Sturges actually USED him! Without it feeling like just a compulsory one panel a year, but seems to be going to bring him into the PLOT!

Into a team with Magog, Citizen Steel, and Hourman! All about his age! And kids too, but still!

5) Dude, I just realized something. This is totally more evidence that Blackest Night will fix all the deaths. Because I'm totally calling Jade as the All-Star's token Green Lantern. Actually, I think that'd be a really good role for her. She works best away from the Corps Lanterns, and connected to her father and his legacy.

6) I wonder if Sand ever learned Japanese from Tsunami.

7) Shut up, you get obsessed over your favorites too, and it's been YEARS for me. YEARS!

8) I kind of want Sand and Magog to bond over the whole getting scary monster powers that screw up your life thing. Citizen Steel can show up too, I guess, but he belongs more to the Scott Summers school of sucky powers, where there's pretty much no upside.

Also because I still think Sandy's taking Magog's job.

9) The art is even more wretched second time through. Thank god that I think Kara'll head out once the team gets handed off to a competent leader. I love Kara, but I don't need to see EVERY INCH of her, KTHX.

10) Aside from the art, I love everything this comic wants to be. Everything.

11) It'll be kind of funny if Sand moves in with this team and the other team gets the Brownstone though. Then again, it's probably not healthy to stay there anyway. Live a little!

(*On retrospect, the Brownstone is destroyed anyway. But then I'm pretty sure it's been destroyed at least once before so...)

12) <3

YAYAYAYYAY

For the record, I'm still plugging away at this god awful paper (due tomorrow!) but I took a teeny break to read JSA All-Stars.


YAY! My favorite character! Panel time! And my favorite villain! Also has panel time!

(Though why is Sand suddenly 90s era gigantic? He's always been slim, darnit. Oh well, I'll refrain from bitching about that for at least five issues out of gratitude.*)

*This is probably a lie.

Not sure what's up with the sudden obsession with Stargirl, mind. Unless Sorrow just has a thing for blond teenagers. Still! I'm in!

(The art is kind of terrible though. But then I DID read all of Warrior. I'll live.)

A Public Service Announcement

This semester, I have the miraculous luck of having three exams within two days at the beginning of next week. I am. NOT. Ready.

Needless to say, I may well seriously lose my mind. Thus, I will be completely incommunicado. Including this blog, I'd guess.

So, um, don't be alarmed by a very large period of nothing. (Or a post of just stress induced crying). I'll see you guys, next Thursday.

I have the utmost respect for any lawyer who actually had to do this shit without Westlaw. I'm just sayin'.

(Also, how on Earth did you old fogeys ever use form books without computers? It's all [Name of Plaintiff] and all instead of nice useful blanks! I have cut and paste, and the oh so happy delete key. I guess old folks had white out and a typewriter? *shudder*)

In case you can't tell, still no content on this blog. Sorry!