WLG #210: Seeing Green!

By Michael A. Diaz

Wow, what a week to return to a weekly column about comics that get one all fired up that week.

I say that with a hint of irony as this week there are only TWO books that really did it for me, but we'll get to that later.

First things first: it would seem that just about ALL of the internet comics community has SOMETHING to say about the conclusion of "One More Day", the arc that just finished running through the various Spider-Man titles.

Don't know what the conclusion was?

Well, if that's the case maybe you should skip down below (look for the SAFE notification down below if you don't want to be spoiled).

Now, in the interest of full disclosure I will say this: I have no finished reading ALL of the parts of this arc. As I think I've mentioned before now that I live with my significant other I find that I have a lot less time to sit around reading comic books. Now there's a dog to take care of, a lawn to mow, a sidewalk to shovel, and various other things I should be doing. Ah, the joys of home ownership.

But, being the fanboy that I am I went online to see how this thing was going to end up before I finished reading it for myself (I'm on part three, so I'm not THAT far behind).

My thoughts? Well, for what it's worth, I think that the story (so far) has been written fairly well. Over the past few years I've really grown to love J. Michael Straczynski's work; so much so that I even ran out and bought all five seasons of Babylon 5. More to the point, though, his depiction of Spider-Man has been a lot of fun for me. I really liked where he took Peter, as well as the supporting cast, like Aunt May and Mary Jane.

Aunt May found out about Peter being Spider-Man and guess what? She didn't die. She was cool with it and completely supported Peter.

Mary Jane and Peter went through some rough patches but up until the end their marriage seemed to be working out just fine. Was it work? Sure, but that is how marriage is SUPPOSED to be, at least that's how I understand it.

I could draw this on for a lot longer but there are people that are better at it than I am and come up with much more reasoned responses. So, I'll just say this: I thought Peter's marriage was just fine, that it wasn't a detriment to stories about Spider-Man, that it made him human. Being married doesn't mean that you're old. Plus, I think removing so many years of stories is just wrong. If you're overhauling an entire comic book universe I can see it, but overhauling just one character? Well, to me it just doesn't make sense.

Like I said, I could go on and on like so many others are doing, but in short, I don't like it. I'm not saying I don't like change, I'm good with that, but for me Spider-Man married was fine.

'Nuff said about that here. If you want to talk about it more be sure to stop by the WLG message boards (see link below).

Standard Disclaimer: For those of you new to the WLG experience, here's how it works: Every week I check out the release schedule from the Diamond Comics Shipping List and decide which comics that I am going to spend my hard-earned money on. Yep, my money. That's good, because it helps to maintain my objectivity. If I spend money on a comic book and it turns out to be crap I'm going to be upset.IT'S SAFE TO START READING AGAIN

Let's get back to the positive for a bit.

Right now everything Green Lantern related is kicking my butt!!!!!

Over the break I was catching up on some of my comic book reading and one thing that I really want to rave about right now are both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, so much so that I am sorry that I dropped the Green Lantern book sometime after its first year. Looking back now I can see that Geoff Johns was setting the groundwork for would become the next stage of the reinvention of the entire Green Lantern line. Yes, even two years ago he was laying the groundwork for what would become the "Sinestro Corps War." I see that NOW, after the fact.

Sometimes I'm not particularly bright, and this time I'm paying for it, quite literally as I now must have the last year or so's worth of Green Lantern books (I'm straight on Green Lantern Corps).

Luckily the various creative teams on these books have made it easy for guys like me that don't know a good thing before it hits by letting us all know that the "Sinestro Corps War" is but the second part of a trilogy of events that are going to affect not just the GLC, but the entire DC Universe. They do this not so subtly by making reference to the "In Blackest Night" storyline that is going to bring about the Black Lanterns in 2009.

So, not only have these creative teams made me salivate like a smelly fanboy for the last couple of months, they are stoking the fires by promising that this isn't the end and there is something bigger coming down the line.

In short, the Green Lantern books are the place to be right now as the stories are awesome and there's something HUGE coming down the line.

I couldn't be more geeked unless Ganthet himself showed up and handed me my own ring.

Now, enough about that other stuff, let's take a peek at this week's books and see What Looks Good...
DC

GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #4 $2.99 (Judd Winick / Cliff Chiang)

OK, I knew that there was no way that Ollie was dead following his and Black Canary's marriage, and sure enough in the first issue of the book we saw that he had been abducted with a doppelganger put in his place.

I mean, this book, and the Green Arrow title before it, has always been a family book. That is what I have loved about the book and continue to love it. It is the thing that brings me back month in and month out.

Another thing about the book I have loved under Winick has been his ability not only to accurately convey human interpersonal relations but also his talent for throwing in twists and turns when one least expects it. So when I got to the end of the last issue I was sure that there was going to be a happy ending when then entire GA /BC family got back together.

Then, quite literally BAM! and the family was shattered.

I won't say anything more than that because I don't want to spoil anything, but I so hope that this cover is wrong because I really don't want someone missing from this family. I realize that a story needs drama, but come on, I'm just one guy here.

Winick and Chiang, you two are killing me, and yet I love you for it.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #20 $2.99 (Peter J. Tomasi / Patrick Gleason)
Of course I'm going to pimp this book after raving like I did above.

Did you expect any different?

As comics usually do, I figured that immediately after a large crossover that things would calm down a touch and maybe the heroes would have some time to lick their wounds. Well, from that image it is quite obvious that Mongul is back. The dude was a threat to begin with, now we see him cherishing a yellow power ring?

Like I said, I knew that the Sinestro Corps would be around again. I'm not so foolish as to think that they were totally destroyed. Defeated? Yes, but I knew that they would be back. I just didn't think that we'd be seeing them again so soon.

That's not a bad thing. Seeing as Mongul was the one that destroyed Coast City to begin with, you know, the event that later made Hal weak enough for Parallax to come along and take over his body, starting the events that brought about the "Sinestro Corps War" to begin with. Normally I would say that Mongul showing up would bring things back around full circle, but imply that we are ending right where we began. But we haven't. There is so much more coming, so Mongul's return isn't so much coin around full circle but more just the next level of the spiral that the Green Lanterns are about to encounter.

This is the type of story and type of book that I have wanted to have for the GLC since 1987, so I simply couldn't be happier.

JOY!

Anything that looked good to you this week? Your thoughts on anything else to do with comics? Share them! Just check out theWhat Looks Good message boards (see link below) and spread the love, my friend, spread the love.

Until then,

Peace!

-Diaz