Saturday, January 30, 2010

Week of 27 January 2010

(SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers. Don't read it before you've read the comics.)

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #41 (3/10)
"Team History"
ROLL CALL: Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Dan (Tomahawk's scout), Mon-El, Tomahawk, Wildcat

There are two covers to this issue. One features Mon-El's right leg and part of his cape; the other shows the rest of him.

Mon-El fights Atomic Skull, then Doctor Light invites him to join the Justice League. She appeals to Mon's desire to do everything that Superman did, saying "You want to to be like Superman? Superman was in the Justice League." Oh, good, now Mon can cross "Was in the Justice League" off his numbered list of things that Superman did.

Oh, wait, that's Conner Kent aka Superboy who has a list of things that Superman did, not Mon-El. Whoops.

Mon's dialog sounds rather pathetic, but he doesn't say much so I guess that doesn't really matter.

The very best thing about this issue, though, is that it includes a two-page recap of the ending of Justice League: Cry for Justice. This is a great public service: it means that when the last issue of Cry for Justice finally appears (sometime in the next few months, perhaps), nobody has to waste another $3.99 to find out how it ends. If the gods are kind, it might even mean that DC will be able to avoid publishing the last issue of Cry for Justice at all, thus saving enormous amounts of paper and ink that would otherwise be totally wasted.

(Of course, if the gods were truly kind, they would retcon Cry for Justice out of existence altogether, and return the money and hours that readers have already spent on that worthless series.)

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JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #35 (3/10)
"The Boxing Match Part Two of Two"
ROLL CALL: Mordru
CUTE BOYS: Doctor Fate, Mister America (with his shirt ripped, and later with it entirely off, ooo baby)

A pretty neat story that rings new changes on the old storytelling method of splitting up the JSA and having each hero fight a different threat. The nature of Mordru's spell (pocket universes in cardboard boxes), and the ultimate solution, is pretty kewl -- an a nice twist on getting rid of Mordru by imprisoning him in an enclosed space. One almost expects to see Professor Farnsworth and the rest of the Futurama crew come popping through at some point.

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SUPERMAN #696 (3/10
"Man of Valor Part Three"
ROLL CALL: Chameleon Boy or Chameleon Girl (?), Mon-El
CUTE BOYS: Chris Kent (aka Nightwing), Mon-El

So "Control" wasn't Duplicate Damsel at all...she was Yera all along. (Unless that's Cham...but the ear, eyebrow, and lips suggest Yera.) [Later addition: Check the comments. I'm now leaning to the "Cham" side of the argument.] [[Later later addition (2/22/2010): Yeah, it's definitely Chameleon Boy.]]

A really great bondage/S&M flashback to Major Lane's lab, where the gorilla surgeon is working on Mon: "I have long looked forward to medically experimenting on a male Daxamite's reproductive organs." Well, duh! Who hasn't?

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3 comments:

Brainy Pirate said...

I had the same thought about Light's reference to Adventure Comics....

I thought Yera was still in the 31st Century (were the missing Legionnaires missing during the Action/Earthman storyline, or just during Lo3W?). Whereas we know Cham was missing, right? I'm also confused by the fact that the Durlan has a mini-skirt but not a woman's breast.

The part about Mon's genitals was a bit creepy -- I wonder how they're going to pay it off later? What storyline could hinge on something happening to Mon's genitals? Will Tasmia dump him if he can't father children?

Paul Newell said...

It's Cham...Where you see costume it's different to Yera's and Yera doesn't have big bushy eyebrows...The character also has one breast...On the "Control" side. Looks like He's just stuck in mid switch. The mini skirt is still there, but one leg has pants and the other doesn't.

Great blog, by the way...I look forward to your reviews every month. :)

Meerkatdon said...

Paul: Thanks for the kind words.

Cham? Yera? I dunno...I guess all those Durlans look alike to me.

But Brainy Pirate is right: We saw Yera in both Superman & the LSH and L3W, but Cham is officially listed as missing. So I'm revising my original opinion. It's more likely that Control is Cham, not Yera.