Polite Dissent

Booster Gold #9 by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, and Dan Jurgens.
Frequent contender Maxwell Lord is back in this scene from Booster Gold #9 and telepathically dueling with J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Both have had their share of psychic nosebleeds, so there’s no way this duel wasn’t going to end up a two hanky battle.

This week’s moment of psychic nosebleed zen was first pointed out by Mike Sterling, lord of the Progressive Ruin.

All previous Psychic Nosebleed Zen posts

One of my favorite comic book clichés has got to be the traitorous hero who’s really a villain — but whose name makes it so obvious that they’re evil it’s a wonder the heroes never figured it out.

How about Nemesis Kid, who was accepted into the Legion of Super-Heroes but turned out to be a villain?

Then there is the Martian Manhunter’s brother Ma’alefa’ak. C’mon, his name means evil

Or how about Sinestro? Why did the Guardians ever think a guy named Sinestro would be a force for good?

My favorite example of this cliché is the villain from Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #91, where the gang leader named “Mr. Traitor” is — surprise, surprise — a traitor, and the entire gang is shocked at this fact.

That was an expensive mini-series, and pretty much a complete waste of time, money, and paper. For those of you who haven’t read World War III, it basically retells and expands the events of 52 #50. The series also briefly explains how most of the non-”Big Three” heroes achieved their one-year-later status. Some of the revelations were interesting (Aquaman, Manhunter), most were not (Hawkgirl’s “Oh by the way, Dr. Mid-Nite shrunk me back to normal size” and Donna’s off-panel decision to dress as Wonder Woman).

Speaking of 52 #50, it struck me as a little silly that Black Adam was subdued with a gag from Futurama (and it probably wasn’t original there, either). Sure, it’s clever, but now whenever I see Black Adam I’ll be thinking of Bender.

On a personal note, it was nice to Hawk and Dove in action again, even if the colorist can’t decide if Hawk is a blond or brunette. I wonder how they regained their powers, since the last time we saw them (in the Infinite Crisis: Day of Vengeance Special), they had lost their powers after the Spectre destroyed the Lord of Order and Lord of Chaos who granted them their power (though as I noted then, they had already died once before).

To save you money, here’s the key points from each issue of World War III so you can decide whether it’s worth owning:

World War III #1
Black Adam is pissed. Martian Manhunter is hurt.

World War III #2
Black Adam is pissed. Martian Manhunter is moping. Supergirl returns. Batgirl revelation. Aquaman revelation.

World War III #3
Black Adam is pissed. Martian Manhunter whines. The Teen Titans appear (are any of them teens anymore?) and do quite poorly. Manhunter (Kate Spencer) revelation.

World War III #4
Black Adam is pissed, then defeated. Martian Manhunter revelation.

Today’s example of of psychic nosebleed zen comes from JLA #84. In this scene, the Martian Manhunter is trying to access the comatose Lex Luthor’s mind. It starts with the standard bloody nose, but then proceeds rapidly to a full nose-plosion:

Scenes from JLA #84. Words byJ oe Kelly, Art by Doug Mahnke

All previous Psychic Nosebleed Zen posts

Tags: comics medicine nosebleed jlamartian manhunter

With the Daytona 500 this weekend marking the beginning of the 2007 NASCAR season, I thought this would be a good time to look at the history of NASCAR and comic books. What’s the point of being a vocal comic book and NASCAR fan if I can’t put it to good use?

Contrary to popular belief, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing — better known as NASCAR — actually has a fairly substantial association with comic books — both as a subject and as a sponsor — starting in the early 1990s.

Beginning in 1991, Vortex Comics published a number of NASCAR-related comics. There was The Daytona 500 Story, which related the history of the race of the same name. Legends of NASCAR ran for 16 issues, and each issue featured the biography of a different racing champion. The art was surprisingly good with pencils by artists including Herb Trimpe and Don Heck. There was also a Legends of NASCAR Christmas Special — and, true to the spirit of comic books in the ’90s — a hologram cover. Vortex also published NASCAR Adventures which, like Legends of NASCAR, profiled a different racer in each issue. It originally ran for 2 issues, but then came back with a #5, and a little later with a #7. To the best of my knowledge there was never a #3, 4, or 6. For the kids, Vortex published the one-shot Adventures of the NASCUBS, featuring anthropomorphic race car driving animals as well as the “Official Mascots of NASCAR.” The NASCUB characters have never been seen again.

In 1998, at the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (now known as Lowe’s Motor Speedway), Dale Jarrett competed in a special Batman themed car. His teammate, the late Kenny Irwin, raced in a Joker car.

In 1999, DC released Superman Meets the Motorsports Champions, a one-shot comic book starring Superman (surprise!) as well as 9 different race drivers including Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr (back when he was driving exclusively in the Busch Series). The comic was written by Chuck Dixon with art by Paul Ryan and was available only at K-Mart stores. Later that year, Jeff Gordon raced a Superman themed car in the Winston (the NASCAR all-star race) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced another in the Phoenix 300.

In 2000, Custom Comics of America released RaceWarriors (probably not the best name for a comic), which purported to tell the story of stock car racing in the year 2020. Each issue also featured a backup feature on a famous NASCAR driver. It was an ambitious project, as the initial covers stated “A new edition each week” and “Collect all 38 issues!” Presumably, they were going to release a comic for each week of the racing season, including the off weeks. However, by issue #9 the blurb on the cover had changed to “A new edition every 2 weeks” and issue #10 had “A new edition ever month.” There was no issue #11.

In 2001, Bill Elliot (#9) and Casey Atwood (#19) both raced special Spider-Man themed cars at that year’s UAW-GM Quality 500 in Charlotte. Ironically, both of them were driving Dodges. These were the best looking Spider-Man cars by far, much better than the ones designed to advertise the Spider-Man films.

In April 2002, at the Texas Motorsports 300 (a Busch Series race), Lyndon Amick raced a Spider-Man/Dr. Pepper themed car to advertise the upcoming Spider-Man motion picture.

Terry Labonte had a special Spider-Man 2 theme on his #5 car during the 2004 Pepsi 400 in Daytona to advertise the second Spider-Man movie.

In August 2004, Hot Wheels sponsored a Justice League Racing Weekend at the Michigan International Speedway with several Justice League themed cars racing on both days. In the Busch Series race on August 21st, there were Flash, Batman, and Martian Manhunter cars. The next day, at the main Nextel Series event, there were Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman Cars. There was also a general “Justice League” car showing all the heroes. The villains weren’t left out either; they were featured on the pace car. Appropriately, Greg Biffle in the #16 Flash car won the race.

Not content with his name on just a few cars, Batman had an entire race named after him. The June 19, 2005 race at the Michigan International Speedway was officially known as the “Batman Begins 400.” Mark Martin also raced a Batman Begins themed car in the event.

In 2006, Jeff Gordon raced a Superman Returns car in the July 1st Pepsi 400 at the Daytona Motor Speedway.

This year the NASCAR/comic book connection continues. We have already had NASCAR featured in Archie #572, and later in the year comes the NASCAR Heroes series by NASCAR Comics.

Tags: comics nascar

So when your mind is taken over by a hostile Martian, there’s the ususal psychic nosebleed. In addition, there’s oral bleeding as well as the rare eye bleeding. Ouch.

Scene from Martian Manhunter #2, script by A.J. Lieberman, pencils by Al Barrionuevo

The “control of their motor skills” the caption mentions is not what’s causing the bleeding, it’s just a set up for the next few panels when the mind-controlled guards gun down the other guards.

All previous Psychic Nosebleed Zen posts

Tags: comics medicine nosebleed lieberman barrionuevo martian manhunter

The Batman episode this weekend was “The Big Chill.” It seems that one of Batman’s friends from his hippy days has committed suicide, so he and all his other college hippy friends gather for a wake and funeral. Oops, wait. That was the movie The Big Chill.
That was a good movie; this Batman episode was not. It was like the last Shumacher Batman film staged as a cartoon. There was Mr. Freeze, way too many bad puns involving “ice” and “snow,” and way too many gadgets (the Batman had a special white snow outfit with pop-out skies). They even sucked all the pathos out of Mr. Freeze and made him a bank robber who had an accident in a cryogenic vault, not someone trying to revive his beloved wife. This episode is not recommended at all.
The medicine was suspect too. Hypothermia is more deadly than suggested, but can’t do half the things attributed to it by the story. And in answer to Mr. Freeze’s query, when you combine a strong electric current with low temperatures, you get a fatal heart rhythm — hypothermia is a set up for heart arrhythmias.

The Teen Titans was a repeat of the show “Wavelength.” I said it before and I’ll say it again: I like this new version of the Bumblebee and would like to see her more often.

“Dark Heart “was this week’s Justice League Unlimited episode. This one was penned by Warren Ellis and definitely showed his penchant for the alien and the technological. It was a good episode with many funny line (most courtesy of the Atom and Batman). Almost every hero was there. I saw (in no particular order): Gypsy, Black Canary, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Ice, the Crimson Avenger, Vixen, Elongated Man, Booster Gold, Steel, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Rocket Red, Martian Manhunter, Ray, Vibe, Crimson Fox, Hawk (but no Dove), Shining Knight, Captain Atom, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Supergirl, Dr. Light, Vigilante, Atom Smasher, Huntress, Stargirl, S.T.R.I.P.E., Aztek, Atom, Blue Devil, Wildcat, Dr. Fate, Starman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Obsidian, Bloodwynd and several assorted Justice League flunkies. There were two I couldn’t identify: one was in blue and red (Commander Steel, I think), and the other was blond with a dark outfit and holster, firing a pistol. A fun episode, in terms of the plot, humor and “Who’s Who.” I also like the fact that they mentioned Nellis Air Force Base, where I used to be stationed. The need to learn to pronounce Nevada correctly (or at least the same as the locals). It’s not Ne-vaw-daw, but Ne-va-da (with an “a” like in attack). Trust me; it’s how they prounonce it (just ask the Polite-Wife, who grew up there).

Make sure to check out what Mike Sterling and Johnny B. said about this JLU episode.

Another week, another good JLU episode. This one was primarily about Booster Gold, who stayed true to his comic book roots as a shallow “hero” interested mostly in fame and fortune. The humor quotient was high, with the recurring joke that everyone thought Booster was Green Lantern. His sycophantic robot pal Skeets was worth the price of admission all by himself (his best line: “I got nothing.”).

The backdrop of this episode was a battle with the supremely powerful Mordru. Hero after hero was called in to help, including – reluctantly (to J’onn that is, Booster was ecstatic) – Booster Gold. The episode was strongly reminiscent of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “The Zeppo” which focused entirely on Xander while the rest of the gang was off fighting an apocalyptic monster in the background. Similarly, this episode focused on Booster while the rest of the Justice League was in the background fighting the big baddy. While Mordru was beaten in the end, his defeat was just a minor part of the plot.

Elongated Man had a nice role in this episode as well. Initially he was assigned to help Booster with crowd control because Plastic Man was already in the front lines and they “didn’t need two stretchy guys.” He ended up saving the day in the end, though.

Heroes shown included Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Elongated Man, Booster (but sadly no Beetle), Fire, Ice, Hawk, Dove, Vigilante, Aztek, Vibe (!), Stars, S.T.R.I.P.E., Captain Atom, the Shining Knight, the Huntress and Plastic Man (mentioned, but not seen).

I also managed to catch the new Batman series this morning. It was not anywhere as good as Batman the Animated Series, but much better then the Batman cartoons from the 1970s. It was an enjoyable show, though clearly aimed at a less sophisticated audience than Justice League Unlimited. The way that Bruce Wayne was drawn reminded me too much of Jackie Chan from the Jackie Chan Adventures. The new Joker was quite imposing and much more physical than previous incarnations of the character; he was the first Joker to actually seem frightening. I liked the new look for Wayne Manor in the way it resembled a medieval fortress as opposed to the previously pictured stately manor.

The plot was fairly straightforward. Batman has been prowling the streets of Gotham for three years. The Joker, a previously unknown villain, breaks into Arkham Asylum and frees most of the inmates. He and Batman tangle but the Joker escapes. Batman tracks down Joker to his lair, but the Joker flees in a hot air balloon filled with Joker gas. Batman catches him, they fight, and Joker ends up back at Arkham, this time as an inmate himself. Meanwhile the Gotham City police are trying to track down this urban legend known as Batman…

I’ll certainly watch The Batman again, but I’m looking forward to the imminent arrival of my Batman the Animated Series DVDs more.

Here’s the complete list my friends and I were able to come up with for the Justice League Unlimited:

Aquaman, Atom, Atom Smasher, Aztek, Batman, Big Barda, Black Canary, Blue Devil, Booster Gold, B’wana Beast, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, Commander Steel, Creeper, Crimson Avenger, Crimson Fox, Demon (Etrigan), Dove (the first one), Dr. Fate, Dr. Light (the second one), Elongated Man, Fire, Firestorm, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Gypsy, Hawk, Hourman (the robot one), Huntress, Ice, Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt, Martian Manhunter, Metamorpho, Mr. Mircle, Mr. Terrific (the current one), Nemesis, Obsidian, Orion, Power Girl, Question, Red Tornado, Rocket Red, Sand, Shining Knight, Starman, Star-Spangled Kid and S.T.R.I.P.E., Steel, Supergirl, Superman, Vibe, Vigilante (the cowboy one), Vixen, Waverider, Wildcat, Wonder Woman, Zatanna.

I just spent a pleasant hour watching Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited on the Cartoon Network.

I don’t know if it was a new Teen Titans or not, but it was the episode I had expected ever since they introduced Terra. The Judas Contract ring a bell?

Justice League Unlimited has potential. It seems to be set up like Global Frequency, but with super-heroes (and J’onn as Miranda Zero). There were quite a few heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Green Lantern (sporting his new Avery Brooks look) were back as the headliners. Green Arrow, Captain Atom, and Supergirl played key roles in this episode as well. I also spotted Hawk, Dove (though I would have preferred the female Dove), the Creeper, Sand, Mr. Terrific, Atom Smasher, Atom, Gypsy, Aquaman (should keep Laura happy), Obsidian, Booster Gold (but no Blue Beetle), Vixen, Wildcat (should keep Dorian happy), Zatanna, the Question, Fire, Ice, Orion, Vibe, Black Canary and the Star-Spangled Kid and S.T.R.I.P.E. I’m sure there were some others I missed.

The episode was consistent with most past episodes. Good, but not great. The art and voices were good, but the plot had some serious holes in it (for instance: it only took one-half of a containment rod to stop a nuclear reaction of that size?) Green Arrow came off well, and this was the first time his boxing glove arrow actually made sense to me.

I didn’t like the new “rock opera” style muisc though. Bring back the old music!

Just because I have to, I did notice a few medical errors: John Stewart’s nasal cannula was drawn wrong, and what was that pump for? Accordion-style pumps are only used to breathe for a patient, and John was breathing on his own just fine.

UPDATED: Remembered three other heroes in attendance: The Elongated Man, Crimson Fox, and the Vigilante (the cowboy one).

UPDATED (2 Aug 04): Aztek was present as well (thanks to Johnny Bacardi)

UPDATED (2 Aug 04): Full list here.