Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case Files #62: The Human Bomb

Bad guy fall down, go boom. Literally.

The Golden Age of comics was a screwy time.  All manner of publishers put out all manner of characters, and many superheroes, the ones that weren’t blatant rip-offs of other superheroes, had some really bizarre powers that they used mostly to fight Nazis and homegrown criminals.

That would be why we even had the Human Bomb.

Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case File #58: Baby Wildebeest

They grow up so fast.

Babies are many things.  They can be cute, gooey, smelly, and the apple of their parents’ eyes.  They also tend to be fragile.  Babies are the things that we may want to protect the most in any given situation.

So, what if the baby in question actually somehow becomes a superhero?  To answer that question, we come to Baby Wildebeest.

Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Hero Case Files #49: Amethyst

Superheroes have long been portrayed as a male power fantasy.  The majority of them tend to be male, and who wouldn’t want to be a powerful do-gooder who always saves the day?

So, what would a superhero designed to appeal to young girls look like?  The answer there may be found with Amethyst, the Princess of Gemworld.

Going Through The DCAU Part Eleven

After a long, unnecessary delay called “Tom’s vacation,” Tom and Jimmy are back with more DCAU chat.

This week, we cover Batman meeting an evil ninja, an evil guy giving diseases to stray dogs and cats, and an evil psychiatrist.

Slightly Misplaced Comics Hero Case Files #26: Obergon Kaine

Anyone lose a baby?

One of the more…interesting experiments in comics publishing that came out of the late 90s was CrossGen Publishing.  An ambitious company, CrossGen attempted to break into the market with a model of books that shared a combined universe, but where each individual title had a unique feel, and none of them were traditional superhero books.  The company hired various writers and artists, relocated them to Florida, and set them to work.

As it turned out, the company had the idea that while it wasn’t necessary to read all the titles, reading multiple titles could lead to a more rewarding experience for the fan who could see connections between books, not necessarily more than an Easter egg, but something that would pay off down the road when a bigger picture for the fictional universe was revealed.

Then the company went bankrupt and stopped work in the middle of its own version of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a mini-series called The Negation War.  And that’s why we don’t really know what happened with Obergon Kaine.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week Seven Part Two

Obligatory Aquaman money shot for Watson.

(Editor’s Note: Let’s all be kind to Jimmy and pretend it is the week of May 20th.  He really does try very hard to get his work done on time.  But for someone with commitment issues (ask Ms. Impossible) he can’t seem to say “No” to any project that comes his way.  So remember, it’s May 20th, Convergence is not over, and Jimmy is awesome.  Thanks from Gabbing Geek.)

Hey everybody!  A couple of clunkers in this batch of issues as we finish up the penultimate week of Convergence.  I’m looking forward to next week when the finale gets released.  I’m sure it will all start making sense at that point.  I’m sure nothing crazy and continuity shattering will occur and everything in the New 52 will be just as we left it two months ago.

Be sure to catch up on all the Convergence happenings with coverage of:

Week One: Part One, Part Two
Week Two: Part One, Part Two
Week Three:Part One, Part Two
Week Four:Part One, Part Two
Week Five: Part One, Part Two
Week Six: Part One, Part Two
Week Seven: Part One

Read on for Week Seven spoilers after the break for Convergence Justice League America #2, Convergence Green Lantern Corps #2, Convergence New Teen Titans #2, Convergence Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #2 and Convergence The Flash #2.

Jimmy Writing A Podcast Reaction Column? Well, It Was All About Comic Books.

I’m sure Tom Kelly could speak to this much better than I can, and probably will in his podcast reaction column, but there seems to be some misunderstanding around the DC Multiverse and what the end of Convergence sets in motion.

Ryan is right that the original Crisis destroyed the multiverse. However, it hasn’t remained that way for 29 years.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Convergence: Week Four Part Two

No Aquaman cover this week, sorry Watson.

Well, I’m officially behind on Convergence.  We’re already into Week Five and I still haven’t finished Week Four.  Things aren’t going to get any better any time soon as Secret Wars kicks into gear and I’m off on special assignment for a week starting Sunday to investigate the non-geeky phenomenon known as golfing where it is warm because Canada and go frack yourself winter.  So hang in there with me, I’ll get all this stuff covered eventually…

Be sure to catch up on all the Convergence happenings with coverage of:

Week One: Part One, Part Two
Week Two: Part One, Part Two
Week Three:Part One, Part Two
Week Four:Part One

Read on for Week Four spoilers after break for Convergence Crime Syndicate #1,  Convergence Infinity Inc #1, Convergence Justice Society Of America #1, Convergence Plastic Man And The Freedom Fighters #1 and Convergence World’s Finest Comics #1

Ten Best Deconstructive Superhero Stories of All-Time

 

Would this be a work of construction deconstruction superheroes?

I have a reputation on Gabbing Geek as a guy who doesn’t like comic books.  This knock is generally well deserved.  I don’t like much anymore.  But there is a certain kind of comic that even to this day will cause me to get dressed, get in the car, head to the comic shop, and buy a comic sit in my underwear, fire up the ol’ tablet, click Comixology on my browser, and download a digital file.  What are these amazing tales you ask?

Barry Allen: Why Exactly Isn’t He Still Dead?

He looks like he’s tripping over his own feet in that pose.

Crisis on Infinite Earths probably didn’t kill off anywhere near as many characters as its reputation.  But reputations are kinda screwy that way anyway, considering how many people are probably unaware how any “squeal like a pig” scenes make up so little of the movie Deliverance.  But there were really only two deaths in that story that really matter as far as DC was concerned.  Three if you count Prince Ra-Man, and nobody does.  One was Supergirl.  The other was the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen.  Both of those characters stayed pretty dead for a while, but Barry’s was actually remembered by the general public, or at least by his superhero peers.

The funny thing was, Barry dying may have been the best thing to ever happen to the character.