Who's who in the Comics Bulletin Universe - Update 2009
Who is... Michael A. Diaz?
Michael Diaz lives in Michigan, but don't hold that against him.
There he works as a Sys. Admin. while fostering dreams of one day becoming a "real" writer.
Most importantly, Michael is seriously addicted to comics, something that his wonderful wife tolerates with the patience of a saint.
He also writes this weekly column that people occasionally read.
"[O]ne of the most positive
and entertaining columns going."
- Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Villains United)
WLG #278: Three Running in the Night!
It's a small week this week for me, making it a GREAT time for some of you to send me some more non-mainstream book suggestions. I know I need to cover some smaller titles, but I need your help people, because honestly, I don't know what other good books are out there.
I can't ONLY read Iron Man and books related to "Blackest Night" you know.
Hit me up on the message boards with your suggestions.
Cool?
Cool.
With that out of the way, let's jump into the handful of books that comprise What Looks Good...
BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #2 (OF 3) $2.99 (J.T. Krul / Ed Benes)GREEN LANTERN #46 $2.99 (Geoff Johns / Doug Mahnke)
Yeah, I'm focused on "Blackest Night" again this week. I was tempted to just show these books and say "yeah, you all know that I am getting these this week" but I couldn't bring myself to do that because, really, these two books have me ESPECIALLY geeked this week.
First we have Blackest Night: Titans #2; let me start off by saying that I have never been a fan of the Titans (teen or otherwise). That said, I was a HUGE fan of the new Hawk and Dove from the late 80's. I was too young to catch the duo's introduction (in the 60's, I believe), but a friend of mine had lent me a Teen Titans Spotlight on Hawk thinking I would like it. I don't remember much about the book other than there was a scene where Hawk (Hank Hall) threw some Latin American dude into the jungle (I think he was a drug lord, a military depot, or both). All I knew that at the time this was humorous and appealing to me as a young teenage boy, and fit in with my adulation of other anti-heroes like Wolverine and Frank Castle, The Punisher.
Soon after there was a Hawk & Dove mini-series that reintroduced the characters, albeit with a new Dove as I learned that the original Dove (Don Hall) had perished during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event. I followed the book for some time, but eventually went off to college and had to leave it behind.
I know that Hawk eventually became Monarch, and later, Extant, but the old Hawk and Dove that I remembered still had a special place in my geek heart. So, of course I am pleased as punch when I saw Hank's old partner Dove (the second one) with her new partner, the new Hawk (her sister), but mostly I was just happy to see Hank back again as Hawk, even if he was a Black Lantern. So for me, this story is touching on about 21 years of comic book nostalgia and love, which makes me geeking out all that much more extreme. The story involving the other characters is fine enough, but for me the real draw is Hawk and Dove...and Hawk.
SWEET!
Next we have Green Lantern #46; if you've been following along you know that the Sinestro Corps have been in disarray since shortly after the "Sinestro Corps War" (and if you haven't, well, now you know). First the evil, yellow Corps had to retreat after their defeat to lick their wounds and regroup. After the Guardians of the Galaxy changed the book of Oa to allow lethal force the Sinestro Corps saw their numbers drop, and it wasn't like the GL Corps had stopped searching them out after the conclusion of the "Sinestro Corps War." Some were dead and some were in Sciencells on Oa.Meanwhile a yellow ring lost its bearer and found itself Mongul, a bad dude that truly has the ability to instill great fear. This guy is about as strong as Superman as it is, so he really didn't need the ring to be a threat, he already was one, just now he was MUCH more so. Of course, Mongul being Mongul he decided if one ring was good, why not have more? So he started kicking butt and taking names and decided that the Sinestro Corps would be a good group of thugs to become his new minions, so he began pressing them into service, forcing them to either swear allegiance to him or die.
Now you know how he got so many rings.
A lot more happened, but the important thing to know here is that finally Sinestro decided to take on this challenger to his Corps, with Mongul already calling his faction the "Mongul Corps." Of course, this means that Sinestro now had to fight Mongul, and Hal Jordan is on Sinestro's tail, ready to fight him, only, Mongul is also Jordan's enemy. Does Jordan take on Mongul with Sinestro or Sinestro with Mongul?
Oh, and remember all of those Sinestro Corps members that died during the war, the Sciencell breakout on Oa, during the battle on Daxam, or during the infighting between the Sinestro/Mongul factions?
Yeah, they're all back as Black Lanterns and they're none too happy.
FRIGGING SWEET!!
RUNAWAYS #14 $3.99 (Kathryn Immonen / Sara Pichelli)Yeah, I used to absolutely LOVE Runaways but I've lost my way as of late; judging by just this cover it look like an old favorite of mine, Gertrude, is coming back, and that is more than enough to make me salivate and geek out.
Sounds like a good place for me to jump back on board!
What comics did you get geeked out about this week? Just stop by the WLG message boards (see link below) and share!
See you next week!
Peace!
-Diaz
Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.