Tue Reviews

Originally run as part of the Best Shots column at Newsarama.


Justice League of America #46 
Published by DC Comics
Written by James "hey, wasn't my Starman run great" Robinson
Art by Mark "I'm not gonna blame anyone" Bagley, Rob "I don't even want to comment" Hunter, Norm "ditto" Rapmund and Ulises "aren't the Northern Lights purty" Arreola
Edited by Rex "don't blame me, I was writing a 'Second Feature' elsewhere" Ogle, Adam "don't blame me, Eddie's the boss" Schlagman & Eddie "it's totally the fault of my subordinates that this had three editors and still sucked" Berganza


I'm a sucker for the JLA/JSA crossovers, so I picked up this issue despite feeling Robinson's run thus far has been a major disappointment. While hoping that this may have been an example where he stepped his game up for a special event, I was confronted with a book where the severity of the writer's flaws were multiplied instead.

One of the major problems is Robinson's insistence on attempting multiple character narration. Switching back and forth as often and as rapidly as he does is jarring on its own, but his tendency towards maximum verbosity sets him up to fail. The brain-numbing amount of exposition used to spoon feed everything to the reader is clunky and serves to frustrate/insult the reader at every turn. The dialogue suffers for reasons beyond that, though.

Robinson writes a scene where Jesse Quick seems like she just stepped out of Gone With The Wind and leaves me expecting Hourman to step in and say, "frankly, Jesse, I don't give a damn!" Towards the end, he writes Mikaal's narration as if this Starman is trying to channel the worst William Shatner delivery into something that fits a tweet.

The art is NOT strong. Bagley looks rushed and his pages with many costumed heroes shoehorned in (read: much of the book) look terrible. He's not helped by his inkers or a colorist that decides to have the JLA & JSA discussing tactics inside the Aurora Borealis (judging by the background they created). Issues like this will no doubt lead readers to look back and say, "you know, JL Detroit wasn't so bad."

Death of Dracula #1
Published by Marvel Comics
Written by Victor Gischler
Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Onofrio Cattachio, Frank D'Armata
Edited by Daniel Ketcham & Axel Alonso 

There doesn't seem to be a real purpose to this book. It is heralded as the starting point for the new X-Men book debuting Thursday, but has no X-Men present or any mutants. What bits it might help set up about the vampires here is likely to be restated early and often in the actual X-Men series. I mention this not only because it can factor into how much one enjoys the read or feels satisfied in their purchase, but because this lack of point or purpose seems to be reflected in the quality of the story. The story lacks a soul and serves to put forth info about this group of characters as dispassionately as the protagonist reacts to his father's demise. It certainly doesn't bode well for what is to come from Gischler's X-Men vs vampires storyline.

Worst Con News EVAR!

Rucka leaving DC? Nah, because it is hard to call a creator moving on to prevent stagnation the "worst news". Sad that he leaves before he got to do everything with Batwoman that he wanted, but not the worst news.

This, though?

Will Robinson be on Justice League for a while? "I have ideas now for at least two years, maybe more. I can stay on the book until they drag me off," Robinson said. Sattler: "He's not going anywhere."

-shudder-

Terrible.

Steaming Pile Part Deux

You know how, when you taste something terrible, you are sometimes driven to tell a friend "you gotta try this"? So it was with JLA #41. I convinced a friend to locate a copy and give it a read. I told him it wouldn't be pretty going in. What you see below is his running commentary, pulled from a chatroom of mutual friends.

[23:56] Frankie/OP: ok!
[23:56] Frankie/OP: here goes
[23:57] Frankie/OP: "America's Dream. Turned nightmare." starting it off classy
[23:59] Frankie/OP: "And some who did survive, MAYBE wished they HADN'T." DRAMA
[00:00] Frankie/OP: is this really Bagley? seems like he's trying too hard to channel Benes, irksome
[00:03] Frankie/OP: i wonder how Vixen can go on about how much she thinks and recalls about Prometheus
[00:03] Frankie/OP: how long*
[00:05] Frankie/OP: "Don't go! Not now!" "I must." EXTREME CLOSEUP, VIXEN'S DETERMINATION TO QUIT IS OVERWHELMING IN THIS THE SMALLEST OF PANELS
[00:05] Frankie/OP: /reading from Robinson's script
[00:07] Frankie/OP: lol
[00:07] Frankie/OP: "Help us, Wonder Girl!"
[00:07] Frankie/OP: "Its Ms. Troy, and fuck off, i don't help people anymore."
[00:07] Frankie/OP: "But the children!"
[00:08] Frankie/OP: "CHILDREND?! OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIII"
[00:08] Frankie/OP: -d
[00:08] Frankie/OP: "So here I go. Again." ON MY OWWWWN. GOING DOWN THE ONLY ROAD I'VE EVER KNOWWWWN
[00:10] Frankie/OP: Robinson, you are a master of characterization and subtlety. i mean, the way you just TELL us how Donna's feels? GENIUS
[00:11] Frankie/OP: ok, no, really, this art is grating on me
[00:13] Frankie/OP: "The Justice League ails too, my sister." this is what people mean when they say Wonder Woman is (written as) stiff and uptight
[00:15] Frankie/OP: ok, i'm no expert on dialogue from frenchmen in the 1700's, but "a-boil with canker" ? pfffffffft
[00:17] Frankie/OP: i have absolutely no idea whats going on in this 1777 segment
[00:18] khuxford2: That's to be expected, Frankie
[00:18] khuxford2: and to be echoed for almost every scene, regardless of period
[00:19] Frankie/OP: HAHA
[00:20] Frankie/OP: i understand he's recording himself
[00:21] Frankie/OP: but why is this guy talking to himself as though Robinson is talking directly to him
[00:21] Frankie/OP: its like he's found a new form of exposition
[00:22] Frankie/OP: and who is this 90's Image reject?!
[00:22] khuxford2: That scene reads like Robinson realized how terrible his dialogue was but, rather than fix it, he decides to just have the character own up to it as if that makes it good and meta.
[00:23] Frankie/OP: exactly!
[00:23] Frankie/OP: and it just ends up so much worse
[00:24] Frankie/OP: did Damian just call Donna a harlot? HAHAHA
[00:25] Frankie/OP: now i see
[00:25] Frankie/OP: Robinson's inspiration comes from badly translated Shakespearean plays
[00:25] Frankie/OP: "Kid, yes, Drama Queen, Double yes." and Diablo Cody
[00:26] Frankie/OP: "Al Ghul's grankid" IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW, GUYS
[00:29] Frankie/OP: "Judging from your appearance and the tone of your voice, I deduce... you want me in the Justice League." HOW DOES HE GET ALL THAT FROM TONE?!
[00:29] Frankie/OP: oh
[00:29] Frankie/OP: because apparently Dick's some sort of smartass
[00:29] Frankie/OP: are they fist-bumping?
[00:29] Frankie/OP: BAT-FISTBUMP
[00:30] Frankie/OP: RESPEK KNUCKLESSS!!
[00:32] Frankie/OP: so wait, does Donna convince Kimi with just... "But we NEED you."
[00:32] Frankie/OP: "You can't go."
[00:33] Frankie/OP: seriously
[00:33] Frankie/OP: did she just convince her to stay by WHINING?
[00:33] Frankie/OP: if thats how she sets up the Justice League, i don't have high hopes for this team
[00:34] Frankie/OP: oh good, Mon-El zzzzzzzzzz
[00:34] Frankie/OP: i'm sure Mon is only here because he'll need someplace to go after Superman returns to his OWN DAMN BOOK
[00:34] Frankie/OP: the one that Robinson is "writing"
[00:35] Frankie/OP: lol
[00:36] Frankie/OP: i love her argument for why Mon should be in the Justice League
[00:36] Frankie/OP: "Superman did it! Don't you wanna be like Superman?"
[00:36] khuxford2: Argument? Aren't arguments normally longer than 1.5 sentences?
[00:36] Frankie/OP: all i'm saying is, if Superman jumped off a bridge...
[00:36] Frankie/OP: lol hux
[00:36] Frankie/OP: thats my next point
[00:37] Frankie/OP: when did this become "hey! we're making a club! wanna join?" "sure!"
[00:37] khuxford2: Superman ALWAYS ate the lead-poison-cure-reversing-sammich that I made him...
[00:37] Frankie/OP: LOL
[00:38] Frankie/OP: THE RAGE BURNING WITHIN
[00:38] Frankie/OP: THE RAGE
[00:38] Frankie/OP: BURNING
[00:38] Frankie/OP: WITHIN
[00:38] Frankie/OP: i'm not sure i understand how Ollie feels O_O
[00:39] Frankie/OP: wait, its over?
[00:40] Frankie/OP: i know it continues to the next issue, but the ending to this one could have at least been a bit more...climactic?
[00:40] Frankie/OP: instead we get "OLLIE, STOP WHINING AND JOIN US."
[00:42] Frankie/OP: everyone's going about Prometheus and especially that panel with Ollie holding Roy
[00:42] Frankie/OP: but WHO KNOWS WHY OLLIE IS ANGRY
[00:43] Frankie/OP: man
[00:44] Frankie/OP: that was hard work
[00:44] Frankie/OP: trudging through that
[00:44] Frankie/OP: i'm hungry!
[00:44] Frankie/OP: also
[00:44] Frankie/OP: i don't know if its the coloring or inking or Bagley himself or all things combined, but no, this art was not serviceable
[00:45] Frankie/OP: it wasn't eye-raping, like the writing
[00:45] Frankie/OP: but its offensive
[00:45] Frankie/OP: to me
[00:45] khuxford2: Well, I blame it more on the writing. I think what he was given to work with was shit. I think the raping that the script does to you makes you pre-disposed to think of the entire package as shit. So I gave him a pass.
[00:46] Frankie/OP: SO ENDS MY LIVE-TORTUR--I MEAN BLOGGING OF JLA 41
[00:46] Frankie/OP: tune in next time for JLA 42, where i will push electric eels into my eyesockets to save myself
[00:48] Frankie/OP: no i probably won't
[00:48] Frankie/OP: however, that was fun to bash the fuck out
[00:48] Frankie/OP: of
[00:48] khuxford2: LOL
[00:49] khuxford2: I knew you'd enjoy it in a "holy fuck, I can't believe they published this shit" way
[00:49] Frankie/OP: lol pretty much

Steaming Pile of Shit #41

On Sunday, I read a comic book that single-handedly soured me on reading the rest of the books I bought that day, kept me from placing an advance order on DCBS and has me in a shit mood.

That comic book? Justice League of America #41.

I've been disappointed with a lot of what James Robinson has written without a partner over the last few years. His Atlas arc in the Superman books, the first few issues of Justice League: Cry For Justice and other bits here and there were just terrible. Filled with cliche situations, bad dialogue and exposition measured in metric tons (it's so heavy, get it? I didn't say I could write better).

Why did I give this book a shot? A friend of mine tweeted to James Robinson that he loved the issue and felt it respected so many previous versions of the JLA. My curiosity was piqued.

The result was that I wished I could take not only that issue back for a refund, but the rest of my $33+ purchase, as well.

Where does it go so wrong?

1. It directly picks up from stuff that happened in JL: Cry For Justice. As stated previously, the writing on that long-delayed, "originally supposed to be an ongoing series but shrunk down to a mini" series was horrendous. The manner of introducing the characters was cringe-inducing, particularly the need to have them all boil their situations down to a "cry for justice". It was as if it was written to be what some writer "slumming it" in comic books thought a comic book was supposed to read like. It read like the worst of 80s/90s comics. And they spend several pages doing a bad job of trying to establish the weight of what went on in that mini. It gives the book a mediocre-at-best start (and, honestly, it can't see mediocre from where it's standing). They, also, have this spin out of Blackest Night, but just barely. Even still, it is a sounder move to have this work with aftermath of the biggest selling DC project, rather than an ongoing that got downgraded to a mini and started ridiculously long after it was initially supposed to come out.
2. You have heroes quitting. No, I'm not talking about Vixen talking about leaving the JLA. That sort of thing has been done to death, but you can't necessarily knock it. If the membership is going to change, you'll need scenes like this. No, I mean Donna Troy quitting being a hero. I don't just mean deciding not to gather with other heroes to fight crime. I don't mean not going on patrols or anything like that. I mean showing up at the scene of an ongoing crime and telling the police present that she won't lift a finger to potentially save lives. Has this been done before? Possibly. Has it rang false most of the time? Yup. Does it come off as unbelievable here? You betcha.
3. In about five panels time, we have Donna Troy convinced to not only keep going as a hero, but join the Justice League and start recruiting others to be a member of the biggest super-heroing-show on Earth. Let's see...on one page we have "those people might die? fuck those people" and "I'll go convince others to help me save the Earth from evil-doers" on the next. Holy shit, that's bad.
4. In this book that couldn't manage to properly make you feel the weight of past events on the characters and had Donna Troy go from "fuck everyone else" to top JLA cheerleader so fast that my head is still spinning, we're given several pages of a poorly written flashback to 1777? If there have been a less enjoyable or useful four pages in a DC Comic book in the last 5-10 years, I haven't seen them (and I'm glad, as I can't imagine what my reaction to THAT work would be). Like so many of the problems I have with this book, I don't think I can say it better than "it reads like the worst 1980s comic book you ever read".
5. So far, the only purpose the flashback served was to introduce us to some possibly alien artifact that a scientist at the Smithsonian delivers the clunkiest exposition while examining. How clunky? The kind you haven't read outside of the worst 1980s comic book. What's worse is that it tells you that it is bad. Robinson writes the scientist as recognizing how bad the dialogue is. It is as if he realized he was writing shitty dialogue and, rather than fix it, had the character acknowledge it as if it made it cool and meta, rather than lazy and shite.
6. Donna gets her cheerleading on. She takes a half page to recruit Starfire and the other half to recruit Cyborg. One of the biggest problems I have with this book is that it makes all the wrong choices with how it chooses to spend pages on the story. I get that you have to be efficient and economical with how you dole out space in a book where you're throwing together a whole new JLA. But you have to do that smartly...and that is where this book fails.
7. Donna then recruits Dick Grayson Batman. And in the five pages used for this bit, Dick calls Damian a drama queen. I know Dick is so much more lighthearted than Bruce...but drama queen? Really? It seems a bit out of character and oddly placed. I can't explain why it should bother me so much as to rate its own spot in this list, but it does.
8. Please don't make me talk about how terrible the dialogue between Donna Troy and Dr. Light was. I don't think I could survive having to read it again.
9. Mon-El Superman gets recruited. Two pages/four panels of showing how heroic and stoic he is, followed by a monosyllabic Guardian asking him who he captured and confirming that he captured him and tied together with a bow by Dr. Light recruiting him by simply pointing out that Superman was in the JLA. Really, because we needed a splash page and a three panel page establishing Mon-El Superman so he could be recruited by saying, "you want to be like Superman? Superman was in the JLA." Pages wasted on bullshit and Robinson having the characters having to TELL everything and show nothing. He wants to spend pages on "cool visuals" for throwaway scenes, painting himself into a corner where he has to give you microwave character development and terrible, exposition-heavy dialogue.
10. I was about to say the Green Lantern/Green Arrow bit was the only part I didn't have a problem with. But then I re-read and caught the "what do I do that'll make the rage burning within go away?" line. Holy shit, this book can't even manage to handle a two page scene without having something hack fall out of a character's mouth.

I'd really like to refine my points above more. At the least, I should really come up with a paragraph or two that sums things up and makes a bit more of a constructive statement than the griping you see above. But I just can't do it. I'm trying to put this issue behind me. What I've shared here is an attempt at catharsis. I'm hoping it will set me free and I can begin reading any of the other comic books (possibly mediocre, but undoubtedly better than this one) that I bought last night. Maybe I'll revisit this next week and try to dissect the book with more care and thought. But I need to try to get away from it now.

BleedingCool.com's JLA Scoop

Rich Johnston is reporting on DC planning to make Vixen the focus of one of the JLA titles, once they get to launch the Johns/Lee Justice League of America run (which will be the book boasting Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman).

 

My take, as posted in his comments section:

 

1. The previous times they had multiple JLA series, they were all filled with B Teams of heroes, for the most part. JL/JLI had Batman for a short time. They were successful despite having characters that generally couldn't keep their own series afloat (Booster, Beetle, Capt Atom, etc).

 

2. Other times when they have followed the "start with Big Seven, then begin diluting and replacing with minor characters", there was only one series and it became known to fans as JLDetroit. They had to add Batman back to the fold in a desperate move to boost sales, but it was too little too late.

 

3. This seems like, potentially, one of the best ways to try to popularize minor characters through the JLA brand. If Robinson stays on a JLA title after Johns gets his (or another writer that Johns has an excellent working relationship with), I can really see enough interweaving of stories and characters to help keep the B Team version from scraping the bottom of the sales barrel, much the same way that Johns/Robinson/Rucka/Gates have managed to have their tide raise all boats in the Superman titles.

 

I think this could work out really well, as I imagine even the title with the "Big Three" will have some "minor" characters peppered in. This bodes well for some underused characters that never really met their potential getting a chance to showcase in BOTH of the JLA titles. If Johns' run on JSA shows us anything, it is that he loves to reach back for old characters/legacies and reach forward for some, as well (Magog, Starman, etc). Robinson has shown a flair for the eclectic selection as well, given his Cry For Justice line up. Congorilla? C'mon...who can't get jazzed to see what off-the-wall pick either writer is going to strike gold with?

Robinson On JLA Part Deux

The more I think about this, the more I like his being on the book. Sure, Geoff Johns would have hyped me up a little more...and I'm sad at the revelation that Rucka was going to do a second JLA series but it seems dead.

But what was one of the worst things that happened to McDuffie? He had to keep changing his stories because of what other writers were planning for rather big events.

Robinson is in that inner circle. Changes won't be taking him by surprise as much. The product, therefore, will suffer less.

I will say, though, that what McDuffie went through seemed to be some old concerns coming home to roost. When the 52 writers were being given the reigns of DC with new status and titles, some said that anyone not up on the pedestal with them might find things unbearably restrictive. Look at a lot of the books out there and you can see where writers not in the clique are dropping off projects to some extent.

And look at Sean McKeever back at Marvel. McKeever had the misfortune of being tied to the anti-52, COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS. Certainly not a part of the in-crowd at DC, he's recently parted ways with the main TEEN TITANS book, gone off exclusive (which he claims was repeatedly offered to be extended) and is placed on a Marvel title that seems to be part of the constant event cycle over there. He, also, seems well suited to write it, given both his success with SPIDERMAN LOVES MARY JANE and GRAVITY.

I think one of the biggest mistakes DC has made in recent years is hiring talented writers and then pressing them into writing stuff that doesn't play to their strengths. McKeever on Teen Titans? Seemed like a no-brainer...until it turned out it had to take a darker turn for what management had planned. McDuffie on JLA, after his great work on JLU? Self-contained single episode stories from JLU meet only telling partial bits related to someone else's story and not being able to set a tone to stick to consistently.

One way or another, I think their recent moves will lead to better books. I can't tell you whether it is that the writers are being matched to their strengths or if DC is giving them more of a say in where the stories go, but the end result will be the same: general improvement. Shame they had to piss away and make miserable a handful of other writers before coming to this point, though.

Robinson/Bagley On JLA

The Source blog announced that James Robinson and Mark Bagley will be working on Justice League of America starting in August. While not my dream team, I can definitely see some great advantages in their pairing on the book.

Robinson is basically immersed in all the big events going on at DC through his collaborations with Geoff Johns on the Superman books and Blackest Night: Superman, not to mention always having the potential to put together something great.

Bagley is fast and still manages to turn out some of the better artwork out there. I wonder what his work would be like if allowed more time to breathe and grow, but I'll definitely take it as is.

It isn't a pairing that made my jaw drop the second I heard about it. But it is a pairing that my excitement for is growing as it sinks in.

DC Comics: Blackest Night In August

I've been slacking on the blog, lately. I can't really blame it on work getting in the way, because I've done more blogging with a much more hectic schedule. Regardless, I'm planning on making this a daily thing again starting now.

With that out of the way, I'm...at work. Waiting for the project to get under way, I figured I'd compose an entry via e-mail. Stupid internet filters keeping me from Blogger. Images will follow the text entry and be corrected to go with each proper entry later this evening.

In August, DC is dominated by Blackest Night. This brings no complaints from me, as I've been looking forward to it for a long time. As we're discussing solicitations, you don't want to read further if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Nothing outside of what is in the solicitations will be stated.

Blackest Night: Superman #1

The Shane Davis cover is a striking image and a bit unexpected for me. Jonathan Kent isn't THIS Superman's dad, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that would be a target of his. The interiors are going to be by Eddy Barrows, which isn't everyone's favorite choice, but I think he'll exceed expectations. For all the grief I've given James Robinson for his writing since returning, I've been converted to a believer again. The World of Krypton stuff is reading very nicely. I'll give him a mulligan on that Atlas arc from this point on and try not to bring it up again.

Blackest Night: Titans #1

While I'm not thrilled with the proliferation of tie-in mini-series for this event, JT Krul has supposedly been consulting Geoff Johns on this (meaning it may avoid being a completely unnecessary riff) and has shown a lot of enthusiasm in his interviews. I would have to say I'm more concerned about Ed Benes on the book. His habit of posing characters for excessive T&A shots can be very distracting. I'm hoping he'll avoid doing that with a Black Lantern Terra.

Blackest Night: Batman #1

This mini screams of cash-in more than the other two, despite it being Peter Tomasi handling the scripts. I've been very impressed by his past work and he's obviously deep into the Blackest Night plans, having handled the run-up on the Green Lantern Corps series. But Deadman, "cries of the dead rising" and Black Lantern Flying Graysons, while possibly making for a good story, don't seem like they'll handle an intregal plot point for the event or move it forward in any noticeable way. I've yet to encounter any Adrian Saef artwork that I'm aware of, so that's a completely unknown quantity. I'd like to assume that putting him on a Blackest Night AND Batman book means he's a great talent...but I've been burned by that sort of thinking before. I'll still pick this up on the strength of Tomasi's previous work.

Blackest Night #2

Yeah...vague solicitation. Almost no point in having one: it has nothing to sell the issue in it and, honestly, doesn't need to anyway. At this time, retailers are aware this is going to be something big and their existing customers have already communicated in some way what their level of interest is in the book. The only thing that would necessitate a solicitation would be to express that some Spider-Man unmasking or Captain America catching a bullet with his chest level stuff is going to happen. Maybe if this was Marvel, it would have just read "Nuff Said!" and been done with it.

Green Lantern #45

While the idea of seeing the non-green factions go at each other (rather than this being driven completely by the Guardians' gang) piques my interest, zombie Sinestro Corps cannon fodder doesn't. I'm not complaining, because we've certainly known that not every Black Lantern was going to be a marquee character. Just saying it does nothing to amp my excitement to see the issue. Then again, with Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke on it...I didn't really need to be amped further. The John Stewart/Katma Tui bit is worth looking forward to, assuming they can give it the space it needs to be effective.

Green Lantern Corps #39

In what may seem contradictory, I am excited by the idea of Green Lanterns being revived in Black to go at their former colleagues. The reason is this: we know and care about many of the living Lanterns and even a few of the dead ones. There's not nearly as much emotional weight to a fallen Sinestro Corps member fighting against a live one, since we don't know them or their relationships nearly as well. I know some of them have been given personalities as Mongul was establishing his control of the group, but that's still far from where we stand with the GLC and its diseased members. I think Tomasi and Gleason tend to do "all hell breaking loose" pretty well, on top of that.

Justice League: Cry For Justice

Gotta love whoever comes up with these titles. But here's the "prelim" cover (though the file is named coverfinal.jpg) for the James Robinson originally-announced-as-an-ongoing-series-then-mysteriously-made-a-mini-series Justice League book that feels about a year late. The art is by Mauro Cascioli, who finished up the Trials of Shazam after Howard Porter was pulled due to injury, I believe.

What's Going On At DC?

Rich's LitG this week seems to be pointing at Dan Didio as the source of a lot of disgruntlement for the writers at DC.

Making Grant Morrison change the ending to Final Crisis that is, supposedly, exactly what was approved at the beginning (have some doubts on that one)?
Writers having to put their own stories on hold because of the Final Crisis changes?
Having a stand-up shouting match with James Robinson (who, IMO, is writing like a guy back from Hollywood that thinks comic book scripts are kids' stuff)?
Winding up with Tony Daniel on your big follow-up to BATMAN R.I.P. (any bets on whether this winds up worse than Countdown: Arena?)?

I have no idea what is actually going on, but it doesn't look good for DC at all.

Dear Geoff Johns...

Geoff,

I'm sure you already know this, but I really dig your work. You've had relatively few misfires, by my count. Flash, JSA, 52, Green Lantern, Action Comics, Booster Gold and other titles you've helped shape have often been outstanding. You, also, seem to have a great eye when it comes to choosing who to work with, whether it be writer or artist.

That's why I'm writing to you about today.

No, I'm not coming to you about Sterling Gates. I'm willing to give him the chance to shine on Supergirl.

It's this James Robinson fellow.

Now, I understand he shares a name with an outstanding writer who used to do some great comics, but that's not enough reason to put him on the book. I've heard the rumors that he's actually THAT James Robinson, but I'm not stupid enough to fall for that. I mean...look at this Atlas arc. The dialogue is so stilted...paint by numbers, even. While I'm hopeful that this "military figure" in the shadows is going to be part of something you're all working on together, The way this Jim guy is writing it is turning me off the idea before it can be fully revealed.

I'm not willing to say the plotting is complete crap, but the execution and dialogue sure seem to be. This most recent issue was just terrible. Instead of the writer making you see what HE WANTS YOU TO SEE, you SEE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING HE WANTS YOU TO SEE, if you understand me. It almost reads like a blueprint or an outline, rather than a story. You never once get lost in it.

I was willing to overlook the problems when it was just the police and Atlas involved in the story. But when he throws Superman in the story and he doesn't raise his game enough to make the story sing? Ugh.

So, I was hoping you could let Jimmy down real easy, then place a call to the real James Robinson and ask if he'd like to work with you on the Superman titles.

Sincerely,
Kevin Huxford

James Robinson Is Doing What Now?

I was pretty psyched for the James Robinson Justice League project when they initially started hinting that he was doing something.

Then came WWLA.

Reported on Newsarama:

Robinson then announced that he's working on a new Justice League book called - wait for it - Justice League. "Hal Jordan decides that he wants a pro-active team," said Robinson. "They never go out and bring in people. This team will go after the equivalent of the FBI's most wanted list, sometimes in different countries, sometimes through time. It's a nice eclectic team of established teams and some oddball characters I've thrown in." Along with Hal Jordan, Robinson named Green Arrow as a member. When writing the two characters, Robinson said "I just imagine me and Geoff Johns talking to each other."

Robinson expanded on the lineup, naming Ray Palmer. "He's not The Atom, but he still has the costume, and he still shrinks," Robinson says. "That's not to say at some point he won't be The Atom but again, but for now, he's Ray Palmer."

Also on the team? Supergirl, Batwoman (DiDio: "Whoops, we weren't supposed to say that one. Just kidding!"), Freddy Freeman in "whatever name he's going to have" (which DiDio said was Shazam), and Starman. No, not the Jack Knight Starman that Robinson made famous in the '90s, but the blue, alien Mikaal Tomas Starman.

Robinson said the final member is an "old, 90-year-old man named Bill." "People are going to love this character by the time I'm done with him," Robinson said. The writer was about to name the artist, but no, DiDio cut him off and said they were going to hold off on that announcement.

"The difference is, the Justice League of America is all about the league, it's a family," said Robinson. "While this is about justice. It's all about bringing in the bad guys."

Yeah...OK...so much of that makes no sense. Forget about this "Bill" character...but Mikaal? Becoming a JL member after years of being nowhere, having no connection to anyone involved in the JL, and never really being established as much of a crime-fighter or justice seeker in the DCU?

Batwoman from virtually nowhere to the JL? It doesn't really seem to fit anything that has been done with the character thus far. Really...I don't get it.

Maybe Robinson will tell stories that are so good that you don't care that the initial conceit made absolutely no sense...but that's not a strong point to start from.

Worst Kept Secret: James Robinson on JLA

Really. I imagine they will announce it this weekend, but all the evidence points to that. Unless they only plan on having him do a Green Arrow/Green Lantern book.

But let's remember a few things:

1. Geoff brought Robinson back in.
2. Geoff wanted to have a writer he loved working with partnered with him on the Superman titles.
3. Geoff, I believe, expressed wanting to make the JLA/JSA crossover stories a semi-regular thing.

Mind you, the two working out some sort of Green Arrow/Green Lantern Hard Traveling Heroes thing could work, but it would seem to be more than the properties can support. Has to be Robinson on JLA after McDuffie's run ends.

I'm sure it will be great, but McDuffie has certainly gotten screwed over (albeit with a regular check) in the last year, becoming just a place holder for JLA and Fantastic Four.

Edit: D'Oh...while it wouldn't render my guess completely incorrect, THE SILVER AGE has been floated as something he might do. That would make a helluva lot of sense.