Here's the trailer for the next animated DC Universe direct to video film, Green Lantern: First Flight.

Looks like a must buy.  The release date is July 28, 2009.  Nuff said.

The great thing about the comics medium is the collaboration that happens between creators.  Sometimes we are lucky to see certain teams that just produce magical, unforgettable stories.  Lee/Kirby, Thomas/Smith, O'Neill/Adams, Moore/Gibbons, and Bendis/Oeming are just a few that come to mind right away.  After reading Detective Comics 854, I think Greg Rucka and JH Williams also belong in that roster as well.

I wasn't too sure about picking up this issue at first.  I haven't bought Detective Comics in ages and I wasn't too excited about the first few appearances of Batwoman.  After listening to Rucka's podcast interview with John Siuntres on Word Balloon, I decided to give it a read.

First off, the artwork by JH Williams is so unique, so beautiful, so other-worldly, words just can't describe it.  He's crafted the panel layouts in a very unique style.  Cinematic, but it definitely breaks through the stand panel grid layout when Batwoman is in action.  When she's back as Kate Kane (Batwoman), the panel layout changes to a more conventional format.  The color by Dave Stewart is just as important to the artwork.  The Batwoman scenes almost remind me of the old black and white magazines, that experimented with telling some stories using one color--Red--to add an element of danger to the story.  The color palette changes when Kate is in her civilian identity, full color, not garish, rich in browns and sandalwoods.  When the villain Alice shows up, she has a unique, lighter color scheme that clashes with Batwoman.  In Rucka's Work Balloon interview, he mentions that Williams and Stewart chose the colors very deliberately--for example, finding the exact right shade of red.

Enough about the art, how's the story?  One of the best that Greg Rucka has written in comics to date.  The plot is interesting, but I think he's also done a great job in carving out a section of Gotham City for Batwoman to inhabit.  She meets Batman briefly, but it's not stated whether this is Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson--Rucka very much wanted this story to be timeless.  (Although reference is made to Kate's injuries from Final Crisis.)  Instead of a Batcave, Kate operates out of her condo, with her ex-military father providing intelligence and armory support.  Unlike Batman, Kate does carry a gun.  All of this stuff gives Kate a really interesting background, and since Rucka is knowledgeable about these things, it gives the story a little more weight.  I expect this will shine through more as the story progresses.

The main mystery involves "the thirteen covens of crime" who have elected a new leader, as all Gotham scum know, since they've seen the white smoke.  It's really comforting to me to know that Gotham scum operate just like the Catholic church!  The new leader turns out to be Alice, a bizarre woman who speaks in literary allusions.  I am glad that Rucka chose to create a new villain for this initial story instead of just throwing Kate against the Joker.

I think they are many smart choices that Rucka has made here.  All of the above, certainly, but probably just as important--Rucka is not overly wordy here.  He allows JH Williams' artwork to really breath on each and every page.  That's really awesome, and it's also why I think this run on Detective Comics is going to be a classic.  Nuff said.

Gerry Conway's Last Days of Animal Man #2 continues Buddy Baker's descent into old age.  His powers are failing when he needs them the most, and in the cliffhanger from the previous issue, he needs help.  Who shows up to save Buddy?  Green Lantern.  But not any Green Lantern you already know.  This is an undetermined future in the DC Universe, and a cetacean GL is now in charge of our space sector!  I found this creature to be the most intriguing Lantern since Mojo (the sentient planet GL).  He has a similar problem to Mojo: how does he wear a ring?  In this case, it's embedded in his belly.

Chris Batista continues to do a superb job on the artwork.  I think it was challenging for him to figure out how this creature would operate the ring and use his powers.  The Mirror Master's daughter Prismatik shows up to kill Buddy, and she's quite a twisted piece of work.

Gerry Conway fans are going to want to check out his recent podcast interview with John Siuntres on Word Balloon.  I've been dying to know why Conway has returned to comics after years working in television, and the answer seems to be that comics just allow more freedom.  When Conway left comics over 15 years ago, he felt somewhat burned out on the medium.  Now he's recharged, as Last Days proves, he still knows how to tell a good story.  Siuntres also asks Conway about working with Roy Thomas on the early Marvel monsters books and the Death of Gwen Stacy story in Amazing Spider-Man.  Great interview.  Nuff said.

In the 1990s, Alan Davis did a series of covers for DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes series.  Davis captured the youth and high spirited nature of these characters in a way that perfectly fit them.  I thought I read in an interview that Davis did these covers in part because his inker, Mark Farmer, was a big Legion fan?

I saved a number of these Legion covers from various previews (was it DC Online at AOL?) sans any cover logos.

During this mid-1990s storyline, the Legion were divided.  One half was marooned on present day Earth, the other remained in the future.  The cover to issue #85 showed that the team was about to encounter Metropolis' most famous resident.  This version of Superman had little connection to the Legion--something that Geoff Johns has rectified lately.

The Metal Men guest starred in issue 95.  I love the look on Tin's face as Brainiac 5 gets ready for a closer look at his responsometer.

Deadman appeared in issue 87, to help rescue Phantom Girl from Limbo.

Looking back at these covers, I'm noticing how often Light Lass is featured prominently.  This issue resolved a love triangle between Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and Light Lass.  Of course, they had to fight over a man,.  Never mess with Saturn Girl!

Ferro Lad in this incarnation of the Legion was quite cute.  Issue 94 was about his crush on another team member.  I think this issue was published in February, given all the hearts.

This wonderful double page spread to LSH #100 shows the separate Legion teams being re-united when the "back to the past" storyline came to a conclusion.

This cover shows the Legion flying off into the sunset, carrying the Legion flag.  The founding members Cosmic Boy, Lighting Lad, and Saturn Girl are show front and center.

You can see a few more Legion covers here on Flickr.  Nuff said.

You may have heard that Captain America #600 was released last week.  Certainly Marvel and Joe Quesada tried very hard to publicize the return of Steve Rogers.  Issue #600 didn't really feature Rogers' return; merely the revelation that there was more to his "death" than first appeared in Captain America #25 two years ago.  For his actual return, you have to buy a five issue mini-series, Captain America: Reborn starting in July.

I'm not sure how the event went over with retailers.  But I do know this.  After reading the press release, I was thunderstruck by the need to possess Captain America #600.  With the cover by Alex Ross.

I can't really explain why.  I haven't bought a comic book monthly in years.  I'd become one of the walking dead who waited for the trades.  I thought I had given that up for good.  My back aches whenever I haul my long boxes around to locate my treasured copy of Giant-Size Defenders #1.  My comics collection has migrated to my garage.

I already knew the big revelation in Captain America was going to involve Steve Rogers.  It had to be.  Marvel wasn't going to let one of their first and greatest characters remain dead.  No way.  The past two years have all about bringing Bucky back and restoring him to greatness.

I know a few things about addiction.  Addiction is never really conquered.  If you're an alcoholic, surrounded by booze, one drink can start you tumbling down a rocky road.  A heroin addict's veins always crave for another fix.  A comic book collector can get enticed back by #600 anniversary issues.

It wasn't a thought that led me back to the comic book store last week.  It was animal instinct.  As a teenager, I had bought Captain America #100-#200, and a number of runs afterward.  Did I ever think as a kid that any Marvel title would have a #600 issue?  Only DC Comics series like Action and Detective Comics reached that milestone.  This was an event.  Captain America was still going 600 issues strong, and so was I.  We're both alive and kicking.

I went to Jeffrey's Toys in San Francisco and found one of the last copies with the Alex Ross cover.  The story looked just fine with a great selection of artists:  Ross, Guice, Chaykin, etc.  The backups were nifty, too.  Of course, I couldn't just buy one comic.  No. 

Now I had to buy all Marvel #600 anniversary issues. 

I found a lone retail copy of Thor #600 at a nearby shop, Comic Ink, in Dublin, CA.  Thor's anniversary issue has a great story and beautiful artwork by Olivier Coipel.  I have to confess, I already read this one, in another format.  I'll let you guess how I read it.  But let's just say my previous reading experience was nothing like holding the actual physical comic in my hands.  The detail in the artwork is much clearer and amazing in this form.  And even though you can see that in a trade (which I was planning on buying) the monthly has other alluring properties.  The smell.  The size, easily transportable to the bathroom.  Even the ads for milk, video games, and anti-marijuana propaganda are just cuter than heck.  But what's really sexy is how Cap and Thor 600 look when they are bagged and boarded.  It's like the orbs in Crackdown.  I've got two, but I gotta get a lot more.

The comic collecting urge flooded back in my brain the way that gamma energy overcomes Bruce Banner.  I bought Batman and Robin #1.  I can't miss that one, it's a landmark issue, right?  Hulk 11 and 12 feature the Defenders, my favorite Marvel super-team.  That is justifiable.  Ghost Rider is my current favorite Marvel title and Tony Moore's artwork looks even better on the printed page.  All three issues, ka=ching.  Suddenly I feel like the Joker in the Killing Joke.  I'm just going insane buying comics.

I stopped myself after I spent $65 in a week.  Not very much to some of you.  But more on monthlies than I have spent in a while.

Now I had to take some kind of action before things got out of hand.  The scene in Robocop 2 came to mind where the cyborg grabs an electrical conduit to give himself instant shock therapy.  That seemed a bit too drastic.

There's too much good stuff coming out in the next few months.  Wednesdays Comics from DC will be a totally different experience in the newspaper format than anything on the market.  I bought Batman and Robin #1, why not go for a complete run?  More Marvel Anniversaries, too: Amazing Spider-Man #600, Daredevil #600, Hulk #600.  I got hooked up with my crack dealer (M&M Comics) and ordered two months worth of comics in advance.  That takes some of the sting out of the $4 cover price for most titles.

I remember a few years ago, when the trade collection market really started to take off, there was an interview with an industry vet who said (something to the effect):  That's it, I'm done with floppies.  She was done with hauling around long boxes, trades were more convenient and easier to store.  Suddenly the comic book monthlies were referred to as floppies.  Maybe we a lot of us hit that point in our collective consciousness, as our closets filled up.

Trades are great, especially those Omnibus' and Absolutes, all shiny and new and digitally re-mastered.  But they are not same experience as the original monthlies.  I cracked open my copy of Amazing Spider-Man #121 the other day.  It wasn't just the story and art that gave you the silver/bronze age excitement.  It was also the ads, the letters pages, the editorial content, and yeah, even that sweet smell of newsprint. 

Nuff said.

Everyone's talking about Infamous versus Prototype, on blogs, podcasts, even TV shows like X-Play.  The consensus seems to be that Infamous wins that battle.

I'm playing Infamous right now, about a third of the way through the game.  It's great fun, but it's making me think fondly of the X-Box 360 game Crackdown.  I started thinking about that so much that I bought a used copy of the game (after foolishly selling it a few months ago) to answer the question: which is better, Infamous or Crackdown?

Character.

Infamous' lead character, Cole, is well defined and realized.  If you play him as a hero, he's a bit in the Marvel vein, misunderstood by the public, yet trying to do the right thing.  If you go the villain route, you're more like Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy, wrecking havoc for selfish gain.

Crackdown's lead character had no personality at all.  He's a super-cop with no personality, no friends, no cut-scenes where he talks to other characters.

Winner: Infamous.

Story.

Infamous has a story worthy of any Marvel or DC comic.  After a mysterious explosion wipes out half the city, we find out that Cole was at the center of it.  He awakens with electrical powers and immediately must decide how to use them, for good or evil.  No matter which route you choose, there's a mystery to solve which propels the game forward.  Who really triggered the blast and how did Cole get these miraculous powers?  The cut scenes feature artwork that really seems to pop out of a comic book page.

Crackdown doesn't have a good story.  It has three main goals with several sub-tasks.  Three main areas of the city must be rid of crime, each area has gang leaders that must be taken down to reach this goal.  The ending of Crackdown is pretty lame, just a montage of the city with a voiceover telling you what a good job you've done.

Winner: Infamous.

Powers.

Both games have a level up system for the powers each character has.  Cole's electrical abilities have several dimensions.  For each action you take in the game, whether it's taking down bad guys or saving people, you get XP.  You spend these points on new powers that Cole can use.  This helps motivate you to do all the side missions, so you can level up and do more fantastic things.

Crackdown allows the super-cop to level up in a different way.  The more the cop does a particular action--jumping, driving, shooting--he levels up in that area.  He has to level up in order to take down the bigger gangs.  But he also has to level up in order to climb the taller buildings, an important factor in attaining the orbs.

One thing that never levels up in Infamous is Cole's jumping ability.  The super-cop in Crackdown goes through quite a change--by the end of the game, you are jumping like the Hulk.Winner: It's a draw.

Crackdown also has a cool device that levels up the appearance and functionality of the cars as you level up the driving skill.  The cars actually morph into bigger vehicles when you get in them.

Winner: Crackdown, because leveling up affects everything.

City Design.

Infamous and Crackdown each have big cities divided up into different islands.  The city center, where you go in the beginning of the game, looks pretty cool.  The buildings in Infamous get repetitive after a while.  I've seen that same health clinic building in many different areas.  The city also looks quite drab to me.

Crackdown's architecture is much more unique and colorful.  It feels like a real city.  I can easily make it different buildings from far away by their unique structure and color scheme.

Winner:  Crackdown.

Transportation.

Cole gets around the city by climbing buildings and jumping like Sly Cooper (Sucker Punch did that game as well, of course).  Later he gets the power to ride the rails on electrical currents.  He also zooms across electrical wires strung along the rooftops.

Crackdown's main character does all of that, but the way he does it makes me feel like I am more in control.  Cole is really super-sticky whenever he gets close to things.  I guess it makes it easier and less frustrating, but I just feel it's too automatic.

Crackdown has one big advantage over Infamous here.  The character can jump around everywhere, but if you get bored of that, you can grab any car or truck you see and start driving.  The cars are really unique as well.  The DLC for Crackdown gives you some neat additions.

Winner: Crackdown.

Collectability (Gotta Catch 'Em All syndrome).

Collecting shit in games isn't a new innovation.  Yet when I see the blue shards strung around the city in Infamous, I really think that Sucker Punch was inspired by the orbs Crackdown.  Both games have a finite amount of shards/orbs that turn you into a collecting addict.  Sometimes you'll want to stop fighting the baddies in order to stop and collect one.

However, the shards in Infamous look shitty.  A little diagonal object that glows.  WTF.  Crackdown's orbs are bright objects with a unique design.  They have different XP values that you can recognize by the amount of dots above each one.  You won't get the higher value orbs without first leveling up your jumping ability.  Even cooler, the orbs emit a pulsating sound--my favorite sound effect in any game--that let you know if you're around one.

Winner: Crackdown.

Replayability.

Many gamers who have played Infamous want to play it again, taking the opposite path down good/evil to see what happens.  There's motivation in doing that, since Cole has a different power set for each branch.  The problem with the replayability aspect here is that Infamous' side missions are very repetitive.  I've saved about 6 water towers so far.

Crackdown doesn't have much here.  Once you finish the main objective of clearing out the entire city of crime, you can go exploring to find the remaining orbs, or complete the various side missions, like rooftop races.  But there's no gain in replaying it a second time.

Although I have to admit, when I popped the game back in, I was tempted to play Crackdown from scratch just to get those orbs all over again.  Maybe one day!

Winner: Infamous.

Four points to Crackdown, three for Infamous.  The XBox 360 game wins. 

Don't get me wrong, Infamous is a great game and well worth buying.  It does a lot of things better than Crackdown.  But in the end, Crackdown's city design, cars, orbs, and driving just make it more fun.  I was really pleased by the E3 2009 announcement that Crackdown 2 is in development.  Even better, some of the original Crackdown developers who recently left Realtime Worlds are working on the sequel.  Nuff said.

In the 1970s, I was hungry for any magazine that covered comics and the movies I liked.  Jim Steranko's Comixscene magazine was published through his publishing company, Supergraphics, starting in 1972.  He covered not only comics, but movies and TV shows as well.  I remember that Steranko painted gorgeous posters of the big movies that were coming out at that time.  Pop culture was the topic, and Comixscene later was re-titled MediaScene. 

These magazines had a lot of tantalizing merchandise for sale in the ads.  One of these items, which I dearly coveted, but could not purchase, was Steranko's Comic Collector box.  This was before I knew about long boxes.  Steranko had a solution to comic book storage: put your comics in a standup box featuring his wonderful artwork.  The first box, that you see above, featured Talon, Steranko's barbarian character.  I think we only saw this character in articles and pin-ups.  No Talon stories were ever published.  If I am wrong, please let me know.  If I am right, what a shame, Talon was a great design for a sword and sorcery series.

Doesn't Talon's face look like a young Steranko?

On the spine, you can see a number of Golden Age looking characters, with a Shang Chi type of dude below them.

The second box featured a jungle queen character, reminiscent of Sheena.  It's a great pose and she's sexy as hell.  Very regal too--even the Lion she's riding looks up admiring her. On the spine there are the classic monsters which were popular at Marvel during this period.

What stopped me from buying these to store my comics?  I did the math in my head as a kid.  I think I figured I had to spend $65 to store my entire collection.  That was a fortune back then.  If you bought these and actually used them, please leave a comment, send a Twitter or email.  Nuff said.

EXTRA!  Check out Steranko's Marvel covers:

Steranko's Marvel Barbarians, Thongor and Gulliver Jones.

Steranko's Shanna the She-Devil.

Feeling in the mode for some Kirby-esque women.  Time for Big Barda!

Art Adams is the perfect guy to execute this drawing.  Doesn't it look like she's meditating and a dragon comes along to disturb her?  I just hate it when that happens.  Nuff said.