And why, for fuck's sake, can't DC get decent artists? Does Marvel really pay THAT much more, to anyone who can almost draw? I was reading some Marvel tpbs over the weekend, and you can't help but notice how even their c-list miniseries about an obscure cosmic character still get really, really good art. Whereas DC struggles to retain the likes of Dale Eaglesham or something.

It's just so goddamned bizarre how badly and ineptly they've bungled the whole 'Death of Batman' thing, particularly when compared with what Marvel did with Captain America.

Christ. It sucked so bad.

http://tinyurl.com/m37lwl And you're right I'm in that damn Gen X - Gen Y middle ground...

I mean, I'd love to get into this whole "death of Batman" thing and start reading all the related comics, like "Battle for the Cowl" and the like. Except, it seems that everything surrounding Batman's "death" is so poorly written and executed, that it's just not worth it. Especially after I read the whole "Batman: RIP" comic. Utter confusion there.

I think I'll just quietly slink off to the side and reread Brubaker's run on Captain America. At least that death of a character was well-written and made sense.

Red Robin, something I want to really like but there are way too many things about it that are leaving me cold. First, I can't really get past the fact that they are calling him Red Robin or the costume. With the multiverse being brought back and characters from all over in the main DCU it doesn't make sense. They have introduced so many characters from Kingdom Come already, we've had multiple Supermen and even multiple Wildcats. Why would the KC Dick Grayson/Red Robin be excluded, he already exists. In KC thr RR costume was a combo of the old Robing and Batman costumes and it worked there and it was obvious what it was with no explination. In this new RR title there is no explination for why Tim is wearing it. Tim wore the old Robin costume, what one time before they updated it? There is no reason why he would wear a costme like that especially since his previous one was and is so much better. It was still red and black but more like Batman's than the KC design. If they just added a cowl to it it would make much more sense and be believable he would make that decision. It just doesn't fly that Tim would wear a pre-established costume that he doesn't know anything about.

Also the characterization for Tim has been so skewed. Tim has always been the most independant of the Batkids, he was the most logical and the best detecive. After IC when his dad died he wasn't very happy about Bruce adopting him and he struck out on his own. To do a complete 180 and want to be called Tim Wayne and refer to Bruce as his dad is just really bizzare. It doesn't mesh at all with the way Tim has been written for a long time.

Tim's motivation doesn't make sense either. Bruce got hit with the Omega beams or whatever they were in FC and that displaced him in time or whatever it did and we as readers all know that but there is no evidence inside the fictional world that Bruce has been displaced or is alive. Like I said Tim was depicted as the best detective, even Bruce aknowlaged his abilities more than once as being the best and with time being better than himself. To have Tim going off on some wild goose chase isn't in character for him. Granted he lost his current father figure and has lost a lot so far from his parents, best friend and at one time his former girlfriend (before the brought Spoiler back fro Africa WTF) but it just doesn't gel.

I really like the Tim Drake character and if they want him to go adventuring that's great, if they want to establish him on his own fantastic. But the direction so far, I can't get behind it.

I'm not done with it, but it's a completely different reading experience (obviously-- but this time it works A LOT better).

I totally get the Tim has been through his fair share of turmoil and I have no problem with his decent to a darker character and becoming more like Bruce than anyone else. And they have shown him going to extremes trying to recreate SUperboy and questing after the Lazarus pits and fight ing Dick. It just still seems a little out of character to me but maybe the back issues will fill in the shift.

I just really like the Tim Drake character, he was introduced when I was in jr high and really got into not just reading but collecting comics. Dick might be the original but he has been Nightwing most of the time I've read comics and Tim was Robin to me. I just want to see the character done right, maybe this new series will take him a good direction.

I still don't like the Kindom Come costume being used though.

This might echo Tim's horribly wrong characterization in Titans (cloning superkid), but since when is Tim Drake this Pathetic? He's like a deranged ninny. How hard would it have been to give Tim some credible motive for engaging in this quest? How hard would it be to insert some kind of plot machination to set all this moving? But there's none. Zero. Some of the laziest writing I've seen in a long, long time. 'We can't be bothered to actually set up this situation, or make it sync organically to the established characterization of this figure.' I like John Mcrea, but I think this artist makes George Tuska look like... um, Bryan Hitch. Yeah.

It's not Morrison, I think, but editorial mandates and back-tracking. For instance, a couple months ago, in an interview Didio explained that Hawkman and Hawkgirl died in Final Crisis. Then a month later he comes back and says that the Hawkwoman and Hawkman who died in Final Crisis were alternate universe doppelgangers. DC's entire universe is being cobbled together on-the-fly, without regard to logic or consistency, without any kind of plan (or without STICKING to a plan).

Daimen is Bruce's son by way of cloning from the Morrison run on Batman. Damien is not aware of this though.

So bring back Ted already, ass monkeys.

Ok, I got Ostrander's Suicide Squad series and the Blue and Gold arc of BG, but the Suicide Squad was where I first saw Ted in action, and, imo, is one of the best runs in comic book history. DC, typically, hasn't reprinted it yet, but do yourself a favor and track down Ostrander's original 65 issue SS run. It's fucking amazing.

And then over at DC, its all a bugaboo, with even the creators seeming vaguely confused about just what's supposed to be going on in their own backyard.

And not the flesh-eating kind.

Just another example of DC dropping the ball and kicking it onto a neighbor's roof.

Ra's will not fight you unless you're both topless.

Tim really had an appreciation for Ted when they were in Birds of Prey. In fact, the idea was that Tim was going to quit being Robin and become the new Beetle, with Ted taking an 'Oracle' position. DC nixed the idea after the seeds had already been sown, leaving Ted with an unnecessary heart condition that was promptly ignored in the DCU at large and ridiculed in ICBINTJL.

Which WAS supposed to be canon, until DC decided they were just going to start making shit up and ignoring whatever didn't fit with their new 'ideas'.

Fuck DC.

http://tinyurl.com/kwffox

Or you could go with 'Wah-wah nobody loves me, I'm going to search the world for no particular reason and with no discernible plan. Wah-wah."

That's a great explanation, that should be in a book somewhere.

I was at my LTS (local tattoo shop) talking some comics and I mentioned that I think Kirkman blows, that he is one-dimensional and can't (also doesn't) write women at all, not even in Marvel Zombies. I liked him in MZ1, but 2 sucked. Also, he destroyed Ultimate X-Men. Destroyed.It.

I have read 2 volumes of Walking Dead and find it very entertaining. But his characters are still not very well developed, again especially the women. Also, it is not very original. I think Kirkman is ok and that's about it. So he's fine when he isn't full of himself.

Finally, while being an old guy, I kind of like Pet Avengers, except that I HATE anything affiliated with Aunt May. Also, why are all the animals male? The art, I must say, is pretty great.

Every animal team needs a flying horse.

The only way this will work for me (and I have a feeling this is what Millar is planning) is if Doom defeats and destroys his Master in the end, proving that the student is now the master.

But truthfully, this is just a lazy way to introduce a new villain.

Red Robin's burgers suck dick and the new issue completely misunderstood Tim Drake. PERIOD.

Ambush Bug is talkin' out his ass 'bout Tim Drake (no PERIOD or he'll punch me when I see him in a coupla days)

Damian, Son Of The Bat? To quote the greatest Cubs pitcher of all time, "my fuckin' ASS!" Bullshit idea executed bullshittily. Fuck that kid and everything he does. EVER.

And in closing, let me just say that although I adore the work put in by Mike Kunkel, I loved the one issue of SHAZAM by Baltazar and Franco more than all of Kunkel's combined cuz they weren't so dense and didn't try so hard. Dude, Mike: don't include an issue's worth of stuff in the first five pages!

I'm a bigger fan of DC's characters, and I too have to say 'Well Done' to Marvel. I just can't fathom how it got this bad at DC, and every time I think things are maybe going to turn a corner and start working again, they get more and more fucked.

And they said it couldn't be done.

I gave up on Millar's Fantastic Four, and unlike X-Factor, I'm not going back anytime soon. The first storyline didn't do much for me, I thought it was very so-so. Then the Christmas story in April pissed of the little kid in me (insert pedo joke here).... So screw it. I love Doom, but have never been that big of a FF fan... What can I say, revoke my Marvel Zombie membership card if you must.

Mistake number one was like all things these days, they tried to play on nostalgia with FINAL CRISIS and it backfired horribly. Why, because it was a bastardized version of the original, founded in greed instead of coming from the heart just like Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky & Hutch and the list goes on.

The original CRISIS worked because it had never been done before and editorial committed to the event whole heartedly, plus it was only a year, which seems to be the average fan’s tolerance level for “events.”

This time around it was a fucking three year adventure that forced you to buy, buy, buy to even have a modicum of understanding towards the event. I’m not going to bash the main title again, because there seems to be some genuine love for it out there. Love it or hate it though, I think we all will agree the build-up titles were unnecessary and added nothing of value.

So, we finally get past CRISIS, but sadly the lobotomized chimp that’s running scheduling at DC decides to deliver the “fresh start” while CRISIS was going on in some cases and in almost every case the reboots seem to why to still leverage past continuity, making for a garbled god damn mess that we see across all titles.

If you’re going to end the world and recreate it in your image, you have to be fully committed Mr. Didio.

Let CRISIS blow everything (and I mean everything) the fuck up and then restart. Like I said before, we are kind of getting that now, but it just doesn't feel as grand as the first time around.

The pay off and how it changes the DCU seemed more cohesive, just simply more important.

The death of Supergirl and Barry Allen had lasting effects.

This "Is Bruce Wayne dead or isn't he shit" is simply absurd.

I didn't hold COIE in my hands at the end and go, "what the fuck just happened, did the rubiks cube save the world or not, where is Bruce Wayne, there's a multi-verse, but no monitors??????"

Maybe if you send Danny an FTD bouquet, you'll get his attention.

Didio: Eh, a little of both. I'll tell you in a couple weeks, after I attend this convention and find out what the audience wants us to write.

Thats like me pointing out the fact that you read funny books so you must enjoy the thought of fucking a child in his car seat.

Fuck off with this simple minded bullshit, you dull unoriginal twat.

Good day.

Read the post, you felching shit-stain. I was ribbing Series 7 about posting here, and now, what, you've got to high-tail it over to toss some insults? Christ, Dickblood, I understand that posting on Aint-It-Cool-News represents the high-water mark in your life's achievement, but nobody really cares if you watch Dancing with the Stars.

So eat 7's taint and fuck off to whatever talkback you're currently using as the only gateway for attention you'll ever have. Douche.

You should be ashamed. But obviously you have a higher shame threshold than most.

And if he doesn't call back, it means he's just not that into you? And you know what? That's fine. Plenty of fish in the sea. Chin up, buddy.

YES!!

Remember, 'When God closes one door, he opens another.' Even if that door's to the men's room.

Just kidding! My parents are dead.

Here's hoping he can do without getting overloaded or burned out first too.

I love the white ape Ultra, but that image just made people think he can't be all evil. Just look at his golden age appearances people - one of the evilest villains ever.

I think I would have found it more interesting if they weren't adjusting to the modern era but life after WWII. Publishing wise, it was a period where most super-hero comics died; comic book continuity wise, it was an era where they didn't have a clear enemy like the Nazis anymore.

Does anyone really think that Moon Man, Captain Terror or original Falcon are to big not to be killed? No one is safe.

Marvel, make this happen.

Meanwhile, I look over at DC, and their poor writers are wondering which of their characters are still alive to play with... and no one can answer them.

Posting while I was drinking in the middle of the day, I mean.

2) All teams will be required to use the same characters. List of characters will be established by popular vote amongst fans.

3) All teams will start out with the same basic premise.

4) Any team failing to meet a deadline will be disqualified (instantly eliminating team JMS). 5) Each teams series will be self contained and be told in just twelve 22-page issues.

6) At the end of each teams series, fans will vote for which one is the best.

7) The winning series will be included in comic continuity, the losers banished to alternate timelines or parallel earths (What ifs? & Elseworlds).

8) The winner will be allowed to wear the Comic Book Championship Belt until such time as he is defeated.

INT. BENDIS STUDY -- DAY Grimacing, Bendis sits at his word processor. Ambush Bug paces behind him.

AMBUSH BUG: "Blah, blah, blah. ZZZZZ. ZZZZZ. Blah, blah, blah."

BENDIS:"Grrrr."

AMB USH BUG:"Good idea. Mix it up a little."

I am fucking pissed about The Twelve. It trounced Superpowers (although I did like the first issue).

Right now Alan Moore, Jack Kirby, and Grant Morrison are in the lead.

On The Twelve you are kind of hurting yourself, it was really really good and JMS got soooo close to completing. Liek if I got that close on aproject I would only be suspended instead of fired.

1) You must include at least one new protagonist and one new antagonist who must play a major part in the series (to see if the writer is able to create new heroes and villains)

2) At least two of the characters given to the writers will be considered Z-Listers.

3) At least one of the characters have been created by Liefeld.

4) The Bikini & Evening Wear competitions will only account for 1/4th of the possible votes.

Z-listers are hitting below the belt; Liefeld is getting hit in the groin.