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ink-logging · 6 years ago

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Detective Comics #1000, Chris Conroy & Dave Wielgosz, eds.: I bought this on impulse because it was on the new releases shelf and people were talking about Batman online. It’s a 100-page anthology tribute for the Batman character’s 80th year and the one thousandth issue of “Detective Comics”. I don’t think anyone is ever at their best in a tribute anthology, but that makes them kind of interesting to look at, you know? There are eleven stories, which I will now spoil in their entirety.

1. “Batman’s Longest Case”, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia, Tom Napolitano: The first of two stories in which Batman is doing something that looks grim, but is actually happy and anniversary-ish - both with similar titles, and both from major Batman writers. This is the better one, because I think Capullo is an interesting artist. He’s comparable to Jae Lee, in that he’s someone who had some work in comics under his belt prior to being ushered into the second ‘generation’ of popular Image artists, and has continued to evolve quite vividly over the years. The Capullo of today dials up the use of shadows and silhouette that used to sort of decorate the folds of Spawn’s flowing cape and such - here, they’re used more to focus attention on storytelling fundamentals: geography; gesture; etc. I also generally like the colorist, FCO Plascencia, who’s done some Varleyesque color-as-mood work on earlier comics with this team, though the story here is subdued... very classy, dressed for the gala.

Hints of ‘90s grotesquerie only pop up once Batman has solved a large number of flamboyantly abstruse riddles and discovered that the titular Longest Case is really an initiation test fronted by wrinkly old Slam Bradley, the original Siegel & Shuster-created star of “Detective Comics” back in 1937, who welcomes Batman to a Guild of Detection. This is clever of the writer, Scott Snyder, because Batman as a basic concept is hugely derivative of earlier pulp, detective and strip hero characters - and, if you’re being honest about paying homage to the character’s origins, you might as well play up lineage as your metaphor.

2. “Manufacture for Use”, Kevin Smith, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, Todd Klein: In contrast, this story shoots for the quintessential. Smith, of course, is the filmmaker and longtime geek culture celebrity who’s written comics off and on, so maybe it’s his distance from the continuum of superhero writing that has inspired a short story that could have run as a backup in any Batman comic since the 1970s, give or take few cultural references. Matches Malone (Batman, when he is being an undercover cop) descends into the secretive world of true crime memorabilia to buy the gun that killed Bruce Wayne’s parents, which he then melts down to form the metal bat-symbol plate Batman wears on his chest, verily steeling his heart with the memory of this tragedy to fortify him in his neverending battle against crime! NANANANANANANANA BATMAAAAAN! Jim Lee and his usual crew makes everything look like it’s ‘supposed’ to, provided you see this type of statuesque posing as the best sort of superhero art, which many DC comics readers presumably do, given how a lot of these things look.

3. “The Legend of Knute Brody”, Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs, John Kalisz, Steve Wands: Dini has written tons of comics, with not a few of those drawn by Nguyen, but this feels mostly like DC1k (acronym’s resemblance to “DICK” a purely innocuous reference to Nightwing, I assure you) acknowledging the extensive legacy of “Batman: The Animated Series”, on which Dini was a writer and producer. The story takes the form of a biography of an infamously clumsy hired thug for supervillains, whom even the most novice reader will have figured out is a Batman Family asset about halfway down page 4 of 8, leaving a whole lot of laborious and narration-heavy slapstick to wade through. Admittedly, this might work better as an animated cartoon, with voice acting leavening the pace of the gags, but I’m also not sure ‘this would be better in a different art form’ is the impression superhero comics should be giving right now.

4. “The Batman’s Design”, Warren Ellis, Becky Cloonan, Jordie Bellaire, Simon Bowland:

Most of the drawing in DC1k is the kind of stuff you can easily trace to a few popular and fairly narrow traditions of ‘realistic’ superhero art. Becky Cloonan is the only woman to draw an entire comic in here -- Joëlle Jones co-pencils a story with Tony Daniel later on, and Amanda Conner does a pinup, mind -- and her work is the only place in this book where you catch glimpses of a global popular comics beyond the superhero provinces in the Hewlettian wild eyes of the hapless human opponents of her Batman, lunging through velvet layers of cape and smoke, lipless mouth parted on a shōnen ai jaw. It is really very impressive.

The writer, Warren Ellis, does a pathos-of-the-hard-man story, in which Batman explains his combat strategies via narration while carrying them out, occasionally making reference to the medical bills his prey will incur and their timely motivations as terroristic white men who feel ignored by the world, and at the end Batman asks the last guy U WANT TO LIVE IN MY NIGHTMARE, LITTLE BOY and the guy is like n- no dr. batman sir, and gives up because Batman’s is too dangerous and scary a life model. It is made clear from the text that Batman has programmed himself into a system of reactionary violence that he inevitably reinforces, but this message is so heavily sugared with cool action and tough talk that the reader can easily disregard such commentary, if so inclined, which has been a trait of Ellis’ genre comics writing since at least as far back as “The Authority” in the late 1990s. It fits Batman as naturally as the goddamned cowl.

5. “Return to Crime Alley”, Dennis O’Neil, Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser, ‘Andworld Design’: I was surprised that there weren’t other writers from across the Atlantic in DC1k, given the extensive contributions of Alan Grant and Grant Morrison to the character. I was maybe not as surprised to see Dennis O’Neil as the lone credited writer to pre-date the blood and thunder revolution of Frank Miller et al. in the mid-1980s, as that commercial shadow is far too long to escape. Of course, O’Neil was one of the architects of superhero comics as a socially relevant proposition and Batman as a once-again ‘serious’ character in the 1970s, and it may be a reflection of his standing as a patriarch that this story contains no sugar whatsoever: on the anniversary of his parents’ death, Batman is confronted by a childhood caregiver who has figured out his dumb secret identity, and castigates him for doing stupid shit like dressing up as an animal and punching the underclass when he could actually do something as a wealthy man to improve the world. Then Batman starts beating the shit out of young masked teens who have stolen a gun, after which Batman, who is also a masked thug, is told that he is, at best, a figure of pity. The end!

What emerges from this story, to my eye, is that Batman is a terrible fucking idea if examined with any sort of serious realism - and Steve Epting draws the story as close to photorealism as anything in this book gets. I also think it is not insignificant that O’Neil, the writer here most unplugged from superhero comics as a commercial vocation, is the one to make these observations; to believe in superhero comics is to understand that there is play at the heart of these paper dolls, and to make your living from these things is to contemplate new avenues for play. Maybe Batman is dark, obsessive! Should he... kill? Sure, Bill Finger made him kill. The Shadow killed lots of dudes. So did Dick Tracy. Ramp up the verisimilitude too much, though, and you’ve got a guy wearing a hood going out by the cover of night to scare the shit out of superstitious cowards who’ve been taking from the good people of society, which, in terms of motivational narratives, is the same origin as the Ku Klux Klan. To play nonetheless, is the craftsman’s burden.

6. “Heretic”, Christopher Priest, Neal Adams, Dave Stewart, Willie Schubert: Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, is veteran Batman artist and frequent Dennis O’Neil collaborator Neal Adams. And while Adams is not credited as the writer on this story, it bears all the hallmarks of his 21st century work at DC: whiplash pacing; uneasy expository dialogue; and eager callbacks to Adams’ earlier work. This is the Batman comic as a continuity-driven adventure, and I found it largely incomprehensible as a story, not unlike Adams’ recent “Deadman” miniseries. I still like his husky Batman, though.

7. “I Know”, Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, Josh Reed: Hey, did you know Brian Michael Bendis, writer of approximately ten and one half zillion Marvel comics, is writing comics at DC these days? Here he teams with longtime collaborator Maleev for a story that brings to mind the old line from Grant Morrison’s & Dave McKean’s “Arkham Asylum” about Batman being the real person and the guy under the mask being the mask. The Penguin, of all villains, figures out Batman’s secret identity, but elects not to pursue Bruce Wayne in his private life, because destroying Bruce Wayne would create a pure Batman far too dark and twiztid for anyone to handle. Or, maybe that is all just an image the perfectly sane Batman has deliberately encouraged as part of his umpteenth contingency plan. I would argue that this is a gentle spoof of people taking Batman too seriously, which clicks with what I’ve read of Bendis’ idea of the character in those 100-page comics they sell at Walmart: a globetrotting detective-adventurer, appropriate for all ages. Bear in mind, I’ve read maybe 0.2% of all Brian Bendis comics.

8. “The Last Crime in Gotham”, Geoff Johns, Kelley Jones, Michelle Madsen, Rob Leigh: Whoa, now we’re talking! Kelley Jones! Just look at this:

Such totally weird stuff, coming from the artist who drew all those classic ‘90s covers with the huge bat-ears and wildly distorted musculature, the cape this absurd, unreal shroud. It looks like he’s working from photo reference with some of this comic, but also just tearing out these drawings of huge jawlines and shit, this total what-the-fuck-is-going-on haze, which perfectly matches Geoff Johns’ furiously ridiculous story about an elderly Batman and his wife, Catwoman, and their daughter, and Damian, and a dog, who all investigate a mass murder that turns out to be the Joker’s son committing suicide, and then Batman unplugs the Bat-Signal because crime is over in Gotham forever, and then we find out it’s all the birthday wish of Batman, who is blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, in costume, in the Batcave. Is “Doomsday Clock” like this? Should I pirate it??

9. “The Precedent”, James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez-Bueno, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson, Sal Cipriano: Inevitably, we come to the story that argues that Batman is actually a great guy, and his pressing of children into action as vigilantes under the cover of night is an amazingly positive thing. This is what I mean by “play” - it doesn’t literally make sense, we all know that, but if you buy into the superhero idea, you can buy into this universe of metaphor where the Batman Family is a vivification of finding your company of people, and belonging, and being loved. Lots of talk in here about snatching young people out of the darkness and forging them in light, and helping them find a better path - it sounds like Batman is signing these kids up for the Marine Corps, which is one of several organizations that recognizes the power of these arch-romantic impulses.

10. “Batman’s Greatest Case.”, Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Joëlle Jones, Tomeu Morey, Clayton Cowles: This is just unbearable. Oh god, what absolute treacle. It’s the second story in this book about Batman being serious and mysterious, but it turns out something nice is going on - he really just wants a photo of the whole Batman Family, because he lost his family when his parents got shot, but then he cracked his greatest case by finding a new family, which is the Batman Family!

All of this is communicated via clipped dialogue in which various Batman Family superheroes trade faux-awkward quips and cutesy ‘moments’ that are supposed to embody the endearing traits of the characters, but read as the blunt machinations of art that is absolutely desperate to be liked. This is art that is weeping on my shoulder and insisting I am its friend, and I want to get away from it, immediately. Tom King is the most acclaimed superhero writer of this generation, and I can only presume his better work is elsewhere.

11. “Medieval”, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, David Baron, Rob Leigh:

Finally, we have the obligatory story-that-leads-into-next-issue’s-serial, thereby demonstrating that Batman endures. It’s done as a series of 12 splash pages, depicting Batman in battle with his greatest foes, and it benefits immeasurably from the presence of artist Doug Mahnke (some inks by Jaime Mendoza), whose been a favorite of mine since those early, blood-splattered issues of “The Mask” at Dark Horse decades ago. Broadly speaking, Mahnke is working in a similarly muscular vein as many contributors to DC1k, but his sense of composition, of spectacle -- that boot-in-the-face energy the British call thrill-power -- adds an important extra crackle, and an element of humor; his Batman looks like a hulking maniac dressed in garbage bags, beating the shit out of monster after leering monster. What we are seeing is the fevered imagining of a new villain, the Arkham Knight (a variant of a character introduced in a video game), whom writer Peter J. Tomasi characterizes via the old trick of having the villain narrate to us a bunch of familiar criticisms of the hero, which the hero will presumably react to and overcome, or acknowledge in an interesting way, or something, in future installments. This probably would have worked better if other stories in this book hadn’t already made a lot of the same points in a manner that is not an advertisement for the rebuttal of those points... or if I were even capable of reading a story like this without imagining a final dialogue bubble coming in from off-panel going “SIR, THIS IS A BURGER KING DRIVE-THRU.” But something’s gotta go in issue #1001.

-Jog

#JogList

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asecondglassofcinnamonwine · 3 years ago

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Cinnamon Reads of 2021: A Tag Retrospective

Total: 134 read (Every year, I say I’ll read fewer books and do another hobby or make a friend or get a new job. And here I am. Still on the same bullshit.)

Virgin Reads: 60 books Rereads: 74 books (!!!)

Average pages: 385

Fantasy: 43 books Scifi: 21 books Historical fiction: 16 books Romance: 16 books Horror: 10 books Literary fiction: 10 books Classics: 8 books History: 5 books Religion: 3 books Mystery: 1 book Memoir: 1 book (Kay Redfield Jamison, longtime defender of the title of “only memoir I read”)

Hall of Fame Inductees:

The Dark Archive - Genevieve Cogman Delayed Rays of a Star - Amanda Lee Koe Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Talents / Wild Seed - Octavia E Butler The Sugared Game/ Subtle Blood / Band Sinister / The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting - K. J. Charles* The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy** The Fitz and the Fool trilogy - Robin Hobb*** One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories+ / The Hidden Girl and Other Stories - Ken Liu The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton Anathem - Neal Stephenson++ Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell+++

* I’m giving in. I’m gonna read everything Charles ever wrote **Winner of the “Holy Shit I Was Not Expecting To Like This Book So Much” prize *** Winner of the “GODDAMN YOU HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME FEEL THINGS” prize + If I had to pick an absolute favorite, this would be it. ++ Winner of the “Well Now Let Me Open Up Your Bibliography In A New Tab And Start Clicking” prize +++ Winner of the “I Thought This Book Was Just Okay When I Read It, It’s Been Weeks And I’m Still Thinking About It” prize

Returning to the Hall of Fame:

Wyrd Sisters / Pyramids / Guards! Guards! / Moving Pictures / Witches Abroad / Small Gods / Lords and Ladies / Maskerade / Feet of Clay / Hogfather / Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett The Secret Chapter - Genevieve Cogman The Secret History - Donna Tartt Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad Kushiel’s Dart / Kushiel’s Chosen / Kushiel’s Avatar - Jacqueline Carey The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley Ilium / Olympos - Dan Simmons The Magpie Lord trilogy / The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal - K.J. Charles The Red Tree - Caitlín R Kiernan Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston An Unquiet Mind - Kay Redfield Jamison

#cinnamon reads of 2021 #a tag retrospective #should really talk to more flesh and blood people and spend less time with my nose in a book #but yknow panopticons and such keep happening #really I’m getting this out tonight complete with hideous mobile formatting #because I want to record the next book #on the proper day that I finish it

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thebibliomancer · 7 years ago

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #192: Steel City Nightmare!

February, 1980

Weirdly my first thought was that this could be a Superman cover. Because Wonder Man is very red and blue and I somehow overlooked Iron Man at first. And punching a big glowy guy full of kirby krackle is just the kind of nonsense Superman would get up to.

And later in this issue, Wonder Man ends up in a situation that reminds him of “an old Max Fleisher cartoon” and takes a page from the unnamed hero thereof.

So I wonder (ha!) if its a coincidence or if I’m picking up on an intentional homage.

Anyway.

Last time: the Avengers won their freedom from Agent Gyrich’s restrictions by ditching their senatorial hearing to go fight Grey Gargoyle. There’s more to it then that but basically the very short time when Gyrich had much sway on the Avengers is over.

This time: A steel city nightmare.

We actually start with Wonder Man and Tony Stark touring a steel factory.

And the narration reminds us of the easily forgotten fact that Wonder Man aka Simon Williams and Tony Stark were once competitors. Until Simon Williams got in huge amounts of trouble for embezzling money and then agreed to let a Nazi scientist experiment on him and then died.

But this steel factory belonged to Wonder Man back before all of that and Tony Stark asked him to come on the inspection to help him decide whether or not to add the factory to the holdings of Stark International.

I might be a kind of insensitive gesture if Wonder Man gave a crap about his life as a businessman, which he doesn’t. He just seems kind of amused by the blast from his past.

Meanwhile nearby, some of the workers ooh and ahh over getting to see a real superhero like Wonder Man from so close.

The foreman, Joseph Conroy, brags about seeing Thor use this very factory to repair Mjolnir a couple years back. Conroy even found a chip of Uru afterward and made a good luck charm/keychain out of it.

One of the other workers says something weirdly threatening though.

One of the other workers: “Maybe you’d better switch to rabbit’s feet, Conroy. That lucky charm don’t seem to be workin’ too good lately... does it?”

Conroy nervously excuses himself to get Wonder Man’s autograph for his daughter.

Aww, Wonder Man actually has fans. Children fans.

But later as Conroy returns from getting said autograph, another worker jumps out of concealment and smacks him with an ore spoon.

Knocking him over the railing and sending him falling right into the furnace.

Where he just. Vaporizes. Eesh.

Alas Conroy. You cameo from a Thor comic, you.

Unfortunately, in addition to the tragedy of a man being murdered, him falling into the vat of molten metal also spilled some molten metal on the cauldron operator.

Who obviously runs off screaming, suffering terrifying injuries.

But the cauldron continues on its automated way, operating on a pre-set rate of flow which pours molten metal all over the manufactory floor.

Less than good.

There’s no time to get all the workers to safety so the crucible has to be stopped.

Tony tries to slip away to become Iron Man but Wonder Man grabs his briefcase from him and throws it across the factory to hit the control panel.

Leaving Tony Stark just sadly watching and thinking “Aw, geez. My armor...!”

Its like a brief but effective example of how secret identities can backfire. I love it.

And the gambit works. The crucible stops pouring.

But the already spilled metal is still flowing towards workers so Wonder Man jumps off the catwalk to go save the day.

Wonder Man: “Somebody’s got to stop that molten steel! And since I’m the only Avenger around, it looks like I’m elected!”

I do like Wonder Man sometimes. Despite his insecurity and self-doubt, when the moment comes he almost always steps up.

Anyway, this is the moment where Wonder Man takes some inspiration from not-named-but-totally-Superman cartoons, grabs some I-beams, bends them into U-beams, and dams up the molten flow.

And it works! You’re two for two on good ideas, Wonder Man!

Then he hears someone calling for help and he rushes in.

One of the workers tripped and someone got his fool ankle stuck in the stamp press.

He begs Wonder Man to turn off the press but Wonder Man doesn’t know how to do that.

Despite once being an inventor businessman, he thinks best with his muscles. So he decides to muscle this problem.

So he jumps under the press and holds it up, gloating that he once fought Thor to a standstill!

A steelworker: “But no one can hold a stamp press back! It’s set for fifty thousand tons!”

Wonder Man: “Don’t worry, friend -- I’m Wonder Man! I once fought Thor to a standstill! And if I can *ung* do that... s-surely I can *ghk* ... can *urf* f-fifty thousand, huh? HHEELLPP!”

Thankfully Tony Stark shows up, a sentiment some would say they never thought would be expressed.

He pulls the worker free and tells Wonder Man to jump clear.

Buuuuuuuuut.... Wonder Man accidentally.... stripped the threads on the thing.

If he jumps out head first, he’ll get a flattened bottom. If he jumps out feet first, a flattened head.

Tony Stark thinks of a third option though.

Grabbing Wonder Man by the belt and pulling him out in all one go so he clears the press.

Good job, Tony Stark.

Yet another sentiment that blah blah et cetera.

So here is part of why I find Wonder Man so endearing I guess. He sure does goof up a lot, often related directly to him bragging about how strong and cool he is. He’s a very human character for a character that’s no longer strictly human.

Wonder Man: “*Whew* That’s what I get for being cocky. Guess I still haven’t had enough experience as a super hero to anticipate all the angles. Thanks, Tony.”

MEANWHILE, AT THE MANSION OF AVENGE

A man approaches Avengers Mansion and tries to gain access with a card.

REJECTED

The security tentacles grab him and then a net is dropped on him, and then laser cannons activate.

So I guess the security system is working.

Agent Gyrich bursts out of the mansion and demands to know who this guy is and why he’s skulking about.

Sid Bloat: “I-I’m Sid Bloat, sir. I-I live down the street an’ I got this neighbor who’s been playin’ his stereo real loud, y’know? My landlord won’t do nothin’ about it, but since the Avengers are good-guys, I thought, well...”

Henry Peter Gyrich: “You mean you’ve attempted to breach a top security installation to solicit some of the most powerful beings on this continent... for a noise complaint?!”

Also the card he tried to use to gain access when prompted for a clearance card was a credit card.

I’m just flabbergasted by that.

I don’t know whether the line of thought was trying to unlock the high tech front door lock like you could with a less advanced lock using a credit card. Or whether he was trying to pay an entry fee. Good lord.

The Avengers all come out to see what the fuss is and Captain America tells the guy that the Avengers are a specialized organization and don’t reeeeeeeeally handle problems like noise complaints.

Gyrich tells the guy to go to the police.

Vision floats out through the wall and says he’s heard that the huu-man method in this situation is hitting a broomstick against one’s ceiling “can be an effective mode of communication in cases such as yours.”

Sid Bloat leaves to maybe take some of these suggestions into consideration but really is thinking he should have gone to the Fantastic Four.

I’m not going to look it up because I don’t want to be disappointed but if the concurrent Fantastic Four comic this month or the following month didn’t have Sid Bloat show up with his noise complaint then comics are a failed medium.

With that little nonsense over, Gyrich is satisfied that the security on the Avengers Mansion is adequate and that some random asshole off the street can’t just walk into the place like he did that one time.

He doesn’t like their newly won autonomy but orders are orders and he’ll be checking up on them from time to time. But for now, GOOD BYE.

And the instant he’s gone, the Avengers go ‘welp time to expand our roster just because we can.’

To be fair, they’re only going to ask Hawkeye and Yellowjacket. Two additional people plus I think Ms Marvel is sticking around because Scarlet Witch is still planning to take some ‘me time.’

Falcon actually suggests Hawkeye because he thinks it might ease the bad blood between Hawkeye and himself which-

Look, Falcon. I appreciate that you’re a nice guy who would think of Hawkeye when this opportunity came up. But the ‘bad blood’ is entirely on Hawkeye’s shoulders.

He’s blaming you for a thing you didn’t want to do but were emotionally blackmailed into by Cap to fulfill restrictions set up by Agent Gyrich. But Hawkeye took the brunt of his anger out on you, the Falcon.

Fuck ‘im is what I say.

Not that it matters. The contact number that Hawkeye left with the Avengers is out of service now that Hawkeye has a better gig and better digs working at Cross Technological Enterprises.

Meanwhile, Janet calls Hank “Giant Ant-Man Yellowjacket” Pym and lets him know that he can rejoin the team as a full-time Avenger but he’s enjoying having time to do pure research.

Also some chemicals are boiling over and he doesn’t want to be the jackass that spills chemicals on himself and gains superpowers. Nope, he’s the jackass that tested chemicals on himself on purpose without doing any kind of other testing on living matter first.

But me calling back to Grey Gargoyle and also throwing my hands up in defeat at the lack of safety protocols in comic book science aside, Hank hangs up on Jan to go deal with some chemicals that are boiling over.

Janet van Dyne, aka the Wasp: “Hank! What do you -- Hank? Hello? Ooo, Henry Pym, you’re infuriating! Just wait’ll I get home! I’ll show you! Or worse, I won’t show you!

Given what I know is coming, her trying to get him to rejoin the team has a foreboding feel to it. Geez.

Its true what they say. Not all of wisdom brings joy.

Later, after Wasp has gotten out of her superhero outfit to put on a nightgown to make a phone call to Hank and then gotten back into her superhero outfit to have a house meeting, uh, there’s a kind of house meeting.

Captain America: “Terrific. When we can’t add Avengers, they’re running out of our ears. But when we can add Avengers, everyone’s busy. Makes sense.”

Hah. A common problem to many in different permutations.

Beast suggests re-inducting Wonder Man. And I’m surprised it took so long for someone to make the suggestion. He was very recently with the team and verbally regretting that he’d have to leave it soon.

I guess they didn’t want to add too many people all at once and they wanted to soothe Hawkeye’s crybaby feelings and also wanted to let Jan hang out with her husband during superhero stuff.

But after that fell through, I’m surprised someone didn’t go ‘oh hey Wonder Man’ before Beast did.

But then, they’re besties. And I hope the X-Men never takes Beast back. Only bad things happen to him there. Or happened by him. I don’t think Beast would have broken the space-time continuum just to be a petty dick if he stuck with the Avengers.

Anyway, as we’ve seen, Wonder Man is in Pittsburgh with Tony Stark so why not bop over and surprise him with the offer?

But Vision notes that not all of them would be able to make the trip, seeing that Scarlet Wanda has her bags packed for her vacation time.

Vision: “Are you certain you must leave, Wanda?”

Scarlet Witch: “Yes, Vision. There are things I have to sort out. Things I’ve got to settle... on my own. Please try to understand.”

Vision: “Your decision is perplexing, my wife, and very human. I do not understand -- but I do accept.”

Vison + Scarlet Witch: “I love you.” -kiss-

Aww.

Geez. I’m really angry at John Byrne all of a sudden for no reason. Huh. Weird.

MEANWHILE, Pittsburgh.

The steelworkers set up a memorial for Joseph Conroy.

Since there’s nothing left of anyone who falls into molten slag, its tradition that the last ingot poured from the steel someone died in is set up on the grounds as a kind of tombstone. Tombsteel. Non-grave marker.

But the steel mill owner Vince Paretta is quick to reassure prospective buyer Tony Stark that this doesn’t happen often, swearsies! This plant has an A-1 safety rating! He then drags Tony off to finalize negotiations.

As the workers and executives leave the yard, the sky fills with dark roiling clouds. The recently placed ingot begins to quake and smoke and finally

OH YEAH

A giant naked flame man bursts out from within it.

Obviously, this kind of pyrotechnic makes some noise and inside the office, Stark, Paretta, and Wonder Man have heard it and see the fire man heading towards them.

Wonder Man tells Paretta to get his security team scrambled while Wonder Man goes to slow the thing down. But he tells Tony to stay right where he is, in the soon to be abandoned office.

Which conveniently gives Tony the opening to change into his armor.

Outside, this monster gets named in the most logical way possible. Some random thing that someone shouts at it, yelling "H-holy Hannah! That thing looks like a living inferno!” and thus we will call this creature Inferno. As the caption box lampshades “The description fits.”

Wonder Man rushes forward to fight the shambling mass of man-shaped slag. He just runs right up and puts all his strength behind one mighty THRAM of a punch.

“But Inferno takes that punch, and -- almost politely -- returns it!”

FWOBOMM and also a SKABASH as Wonder Man smashes through a wall, headfirst.

Iron Man flies up from behind the creature and attempts to take it down with a blast of repulsor. But the creature shoots some of its own molten slag substance at the armored Avenger.

He’s protected from the heat by the refractory coating on the armor but the extra weight from the cooling slag throws off his balance and he SPUTCHs to the ground.

And now that both he and Iron Man have been made fools, Wonder Man concludes that this Inferno is big trouble. He decides to activate the emergency beacon he was given when he became a backup Avenger.

But as he does, Inferno ominously looms over him.

IN THE RECENT PAST AT AVENGERS MANSION.

Jarvis is happy that the loosened restrictions on the Avengers means that he is allowed to perform monitor duty now. That way the Avengers are free to do the Avengersy stuff.

Makes sense.

You don’t have CEOs personally manning call centers. You probably don’t need a superhero to watch a bunch of monitors.

But maybe we should and do.

Anyway.

Just as Jarvis has said all of that, the emergency beacon goes off. Shortly, Ms. Marvel reports to Captain America that Wonder Man has activated his top priority emergency beacon.

Captain America: “But what could possibly be in Pittsburgh that could threaten Wonder Man?”

He was knocked out by a stone man once. Hell, he was knocked out by Beast once. Lets not act like Wonder Man’s durability isn’t highly arbitrary.

But here’s an additional thing. The beacon was designed to keep pleeping until shut off at the mansion OR if the beacon itself is totally destroyed.

And Wonder Man’s signal just stopped.

DUN DUN DUN!

Next issue: Battleground: Pittsburgh!

This is a two-parter and we’re only half done so I’ll have more to say when we finish that other parter.

One thing though: if the Avengers were going to end up going to Pittsburgh because of Wonder Man’s emergency beacon then why set up the plot point that they were considering visiting him to offer him membership on the team?

One or the other would have sufficed, comic!

Either they go visit and coincidentally end up there just when he needs help with a living inferno or they decide to offer him membership when he gets back from his trip.

I don’t know why this bothered me enough to comment on but that’s the world we live in now.

Hey, follow @essential-avengers. Not only for great content like this but older. BUT ALSO: I just remembered that I’d promised to cover some alternate Avengers if I hit 20 followers and we’re at 13. Which is more than half of 20 by at least three. If we hit 20 followers you can ask that I look at one of these significant alternate Avengerses. You could even ask me to take a peep at the Mangaverse Avengers or United They Stand Avengers, you bastards.

#Avengers #Inferno #Iron Man #Wonder Man #Scarlet Witch #the Vision #they are delightful #Beast #Falcon #the Wasp #Captain America #Ms Marvel #Carol Danvers #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #Jarvis #so i guess the supervillain de jour is the tortured spirit of a man who died in horrific agony #y-yay comics

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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The Horrific Return of John Constantine to the Sandman Universe

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John Constantine returns in the appropriately titled Sandman Universe: Hellblazer. Si Spurrier tells us all about it.

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John Constantine is on his way back to the Sandman Universe. Simon Spurrier (The Dreaming, X-Men: Legacy) will be writing a John Constantine book for DC’s Black Label imprint with art by Marcio Takara called The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer, which arrives on Oct. 30. Neil Gaiman kicked off his curated Sandman Universe label last year, and since then The Dreaming, Books of Magic, House of Whispers, and Lucifer have been continuing the tradition that Gaiman and his bevvy of dream-come-true-artists started decades ago in the pages of Vertigo's Sandman. And now everyone's favorite con man, chain smoking wizard is going back to the dark realms of a DC mature label imprint. Writer Si Spurrier told us about what dark dreams await John Constantine...

Den of Geek: So what drew you to Hellblazer? It kind of feels like you should have already written the book. And it’s going to be very difficult not to say the word "Vertigo" during this interview.

Si Spurrier: People will understand what we’re talking about if we accidently Vert. Hellblazer, it’s the character I fell in love with when I first started reading comics. There was a time when I was a teenager that any sufficiently ambitious British writer of comics would sort of expect to get a go there. But I never got my chance, and I felt cheated for many years. I never expected to get my opportunity.

read more: 13 Essential Horror Comics

But John is a character I’ve accidently written in other places. What I love about John Constantine, and this will sound strange, is that he’s extremely honest. I don’t mean that in the sense that he’s an honest person when he deals with other people, because he’s not; he’s a liar and a cheat and a con man and a nasty piece of work. But he’s honest with himself. He’s self-aware. He knows who and what he is and doesn’t pretend to be a hero. He doesn’t pretend to be good as gold. He’s utterly guilt ridden because he knows he’s done all the wrong things for all the right reasons and he will continue to do so because he can’t stop. So he’s a bastard with a conscience, and I feel like that describes me (laughs). So, that’s what has always drawn to the character.

You’re not going to pick my pocket or turn me into anything, are you?

Maybe. No. (laughs).

So talk about how you got the Constantine gig. He was on the DC side of things, now he’s on the, well, not Vertigo side of things. Were you involved in pulling him over to the Sandman Universe?

So the Sandman Universe is four titles based on ideas that Neil had when he decided that there were more Sandman stories to be told. So he handpicked four writers, myself included, to come up with the directions. A new editor came in to what was at the time still Vertigo, and part of the demand, this was Chris Conroy, amazing guy, his dream was to bring back Hellblazer. That was part of the deal. In doing so, they asked Neil if he had any thoughts on that. And Neil, quite rightly, identified that as a result of the character and the continuity he went through, like Hellblazer #300 which ended many years ago on an ambiguous note, the character shows up in many different versions and different forms in the DCU and in many series that might or might not be in the DCU. And it’s very difficult to, if your stated goal is to launch a Hellblazer series that returns to traditional Hellblazer continuity, which is mature, horror-centric, character led, nuanced fiction…

British.

Yes, British with all the swear words and grimy as fuck. If you want that, than you have to start accepting that there’s a whole lot of hurdles to jump over first. There’s a real tangle of continuity. So Neil’s idea was: he recalled that over 20 years ago Neil did a book called Books of Magic. In one of those issues, a young character named Timothy Hunter, a young wizard, is taken on a tour of the future. In one of the visions, Tim encounters a magical war to end all wars. Tim found out it’s sort of his fault. It’s a future version of himself causing all this. In the midst of that, he finds an older, angrier, more exasperated version of John Constantine who is dying. He’s sitting in a puddle of his own blood, blaming this little kid for causing all this chaos. Neil realized that what this particular potential version of John Constantine represents is the same John Constantine that was in all those amazing Hellblazer issues. A little bit older and going through some stuff which sidesteps all continuity, if we just take that character, pick him up, and pop him back into our world. So that’s what the special does. It’s my attempt to acknowledge and untangle some of the tangley continuity of Constantine’s life, and then move, in quite a neat way, into the ongoing tone of the book, as we said, back in London, with a nuanced horror theme.

How does this new title fit into the Sandman of it all? It seems that Hellblazer was Hellblazer, Neil used John in one memorable issue of Sandman, and Joanna Constantine was kind of a recurring character in Sandman.

They’re all quite incestuous and interrelated, all those titles. There’s not a really overt Sandman to the new Constantine series inasmuch it spins out of the Books of Magic which is very part of Neil’s world. It’s very much a mechanism to get John back to where he was. I have ideas about how Hellblazer might end up in some of the stuff we’ve been doing on The Dreaming and other Sandman Universe books, but it won’t be straight away. I feel like we need to focus on what John does best which is short, self-contained arcs of John investigating strange goings on in London while a bigger picture grows in the background.

Can you talk about the artists on the series?

The special is drawn by Marcio Takara, who is art royalty. He’s got this amazing job of reconciling the Constantine that many readers have been reading lately, the DCU version, with our grimy and dirtier version. The nature of this 48 page special is to take him from one extreme to another which Marcio handles beautifully.

read more: The 13 Scariest Moments in Afterlife With Archie

The ongoing series is drawn by Aaron Campbell who was just born to draw this stuff. He did a book called Infidel which won a bunch of awards; it’s a really good book. He just typifies the buttoned down, something not quite right sinisterness of Hellblazer. He draws London like I imagine London. Living there for years and years, you can’t go out in the drizzle without suspecting things are hidden just out of your sight. That’s what you feel when you see an Aaron page, you’re seeing just the surface there, something haunted for eons of horror and agony.

Are there any other writers or projects that inspired your Hellblazer?

Not directly. Obviously I’ve done a deep dive on all the previous Hellblazer. There’s some great stuff in there. The Ennis run and the Delano run that gets me every time. Mike Carey did a great run.

How has Neil contributed to the project other than the lead in from Books of Magic?

In the first Sandman Universe Presents, the first four titles, he was quite hands on with inciting events from which are books spun out. With this, Hellblazer, he’s provided the idea that we can have our cake and eat it. We can steal the future version of John from a hero quest 20 years ago. Other than that, he has left me to it. I was extremely honored. Having this conversation with Chris, I had no idea what was going on. Chris went to Neil and said he wanted to relaunch Hellblazer. He asked Neil if he had any ideas, and Neil said, “Funny you should ask; I do.” They both immediately asked for me to write it.

That must feel good. Are there any other Vertigo characters you would like to get your hands on?

Oh, endless. DCU, Vertigo, my problem is that I have more ideas than I’ll ever be able to do. I can bore you. Things like Unknown Soldier. Haunted Tank. A daft title, but I can do so much extraordinary stuff with that. Name a DCU character.

This isn’t the question you asked me, but years ago I wrote a book for Marvel called X-Men: Legacy with David Haller, Legion. And as a result of the nature of that character, it became a story of mental illness, and, in my view, it became a sensitive and clever story about mental illness, and I’m hugely proud of that. By the way, I’ve never been to one of these shows like New York where someone hasn’t come up to me and thanked me for changing their life. The answer to that is, I didn’t change your life, you changed your life. It’s a story. it’s about empowerment.

read more: 14 Times Dracula Fought Marvel Superheroes

As a result of doing that story, I think I sort of became the cerebral weirdo guy who wrote thoughtful stories rather than heroes punching each other. So I’ve never really been given a chance and I love that stuff and can do that stuff. So that’s sort of the next journey. I’ve got my hands on John Constantine; that’s all my Christmases at once and I’ll write it as long as they let me. But I’ve also got the need to go to a place with the more hopeful and heroic stories.

Can you talk about how Hellblazer starts off, what’s next for The Dreaming, and the future of the Sandman titles?

So, the Hellblazer ongoing opens, what’s different about it, is that where previously, one of John’s main characteristics is that he has this endless supply of old friends, allies, and lovers whom he can call to get help or seek favors. He usually ends up betraying them or throwing them under the bus. When our story starts he doesn’t have that. He’s almost a stranger in a strange land who doesn’t know anybody. We have to watch him start from scratch, to start collecting people, and he’s not very keen on doing it.

At the same time, there is a mysterious something happening. In the best traditions of Hellblazer and the "American Gothic" arc, the way it works is small doses of horror, three issues, two issues at a time, all of which contribute to the macro arc. The first three issues is a story called “A Green and Pleasant Land.” It centers on a gang of drug dealers whose home turf in London is haunted by what seems to be a group of angels who skin people. The gang calls in John who doesn’t want anything to do with it, but he’s compelled to investigate and do something about it.

In The Dreaming, there’s a big beat coming where all the stuff that I pitched when I get that gig is sort of coming together and congealing, all the dominos are being flipped. I can’t say much more than that without spoiling a lot of stuff.

For the future of the Sandman Universe, it’s just sort of ticking away. There are more ideas than we’ll ever get a chance to use. Neil is a benevolent overseer who drops in and says, “You should dial that bit up, or dial that back down,” but absolutely trusts us to just get it done and run with our ideas. It’s the best sort of curating you could ask for.

The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer arrives on Oct. 30.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Interview Marc Buxton

Oct 25, 2019

DC Entertainment

John Constantine

Hellblazer

The Sandman

NYCC

NYCC 2019

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outcast-ofredwall · 5 years ago

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Victoria Rebels

Title: Victoria Rebels

Author: Carolyn Meyer

Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster 2012

Number of Pages: 274 (K)

Read: 9/12-15/19

Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis: Queen Victoria most certainly left a legacy—under her rule as the longest reigning female monarch in history. But what was she really like? To be a young woman in a time when few other females held positions of power was to lead in a remarkable age—and because Queen Victoria kept personal journals, this historical novel from award-winning author Carolyn Meyer shares authentic emotional insight along with accurate information, weaving a fascinating story of intrigue and romance.

Review: This was better than the other two books by the author I read. I was right with Victoria the whole time her mother and Conroy were abusing her. I’ve always thought something was going on with those two. I especially liked that the author used Victoria’s real diaries to write in her voice.

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hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff · 6 years ago

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https://ift.tt/2RJepmT This is, by far, the biggest crossover the Arrow-verse has ever pulled off. Five hours of TV, an unfathomable number of DC Comics superheroes making appearances, and an entire multiverse facing destruction. Warning: The following contains spoilers for the first three hours of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. If you haven’t watched and don’t want to be spoiled, look away now. The first three hours alone are littered with Easter eggs and references to not only newly-discovered corners of the Arrow-verse, but old DC TV shows and movies, as well as nods to the comics that are responsible for all of these properties. There are so many, it would be easy to miss a handful of them. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about that. We’ve paid very close attention to all three hours of the crossover so far, documenting all of the Easter eggs for you. Take a look at them all below while you prepare for the final two episodes when they air January 14 on The CW. 1. What a headline The first thing we see in Crisis is a glimpse at Gotham City on Earth-89, otherwise known as the Gotham that Tim Burton’s Batman films exist in. Batman was released in 1989. Get it? It’s hard to see the date on this newspaper, but given that Joker (Jack Nicholson) died in the 1989 film, either this is the next day or that Gotham is being hassled by a successor to the original Joker. Either way, we want to know more. Interestingly, the Gotham City Gazette is not the newspaper featured in Batman (1989). In that film, it was the Gotham Globe. 2. Oh, hey Knox And who better to serve as an introduction to this version of Gotham than Alexander Knox, the journalist played by Robert Wuhl in that Batman film. 3. Meanwhile, on a streaming Earth After jumping to another Earth, we are greeted by Hawk (Alan Ritchson) from the DC Universe original series, Titans. His appearance wraps that show’s continuity into the larger Arrow-verse, even if we only see him briefly. 4. But that’s not all We also see a brief glimpse of Jason Todd (Curran Walters) in his Robin gear, as he and Hawk face down the destruction of their Earth. 5. And over on Earth-X We also catch a glimpse of The Ray (Russell Tovey), who was first introduced as a hero in the 2017 Arrow-verse crossover, Crisis on Earth-X. 6. Holy Robin, Batman We knew this cameo appearance was coming, given that it was teased at Comic-Con. Still, seeing Burt Ward–the original live-action Robin–appearing in the Arrow-verse is a special treat. He even has a typically outlandish Robin line, exclaiming, “Holy crimson skies of death!” 7. This technically counts as two Easter eggs Look, kids. It’s Wil Wheaton. The former Star Trek: The Next Generation star has done voice work in a number of DC animated shows and movies, but this is his first live-action appearance on a DC project. What’s more, the sign he’s carrying is a replica of one that appears in Superman II. 8. Superman does dirty diapers Our first glimpse as Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) as a Superdad is a funny one, in which he takes care of a super dirty diaper. Not only is this a nod to Superman being a dad in the comics, but it’s also a look at what the potential Superman and Lois Lane spin-off that’s being developed could be like. 9. Quantum towers are not pretty Yes, the quantum towers are pulled from the comics. They were constructed by the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) to slow down the progress of the quantum wave destroying the multiverse. 10. The next Green Arrow We know that Arrow is coming to an end and a female-centric spin-off is in the works. It looks like when all is said and done, Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara) will be the next Green Arrow, based on the costume her dad had made for her. 11. Yet another Wells Tom Cavanagh rarely plays the same version of Harrison Wells for more than a season. This time, though, even that’s been cut down. His latest incarnation–Nash–has now become Pariah. In addition to the new name and fancy costume, this character–which also appeared in the Crisis comics–can travel between Earths to collect heroes. 12. The death of the Green Arrow Sure, Oliver’s only “kind of dead” when all is said and done, but the death of the Green Arrow is another story twist pulled from the pages of the Crisis comic book. In the miniseries, Earth-2’s Green Arrow–the Golden Age version of the hero–died during Crisis. 13. Luke Fox returns to his comic book roots On Batwoman, Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson) is essentially Kate Kane’s (Ruby Rose) nerdy Alfred. He’s portrayed a bit differently in the comics. On Earth-99, though, Luke resembles the version comics fans should recognize, as the nerdy persona is nowhere to be seen. 14. Batman’s gotten old While we see Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) in an exosuit that definitely conjures images of the character’s appearance in Kingdom Come, that’s not who this particular Batman is. Instead, this Bruce takes a cue from The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman has turned cold and killed off several of his enemies. 15. The Death of Superman This quick glimpse at a TV recreates imagery from the Death of Superman comic. Thankfully, the Arrow-verse’s primary Superman is fine. 16. Hey Constantine Yes, John Constantine is a regular character on Legends of Tomorrow. However, he’s also a character that ties yet another DC show–the defunct Constantine on NBC–into the Arrow-verse. 17. Somebody save us Talk about a blast from the past. Tom Welling reprising his role of Clark Kent from Smallville was a special moment. Even more interesting was learning he gave up his powers to live a normal life with his wife Lois (Erica Durance) and their kids. 18. Speaking of Lois The Smallville-set scene also provided an appearance by Durance as Lois Lane. 19. Yet another Clark Kent Hey, he looks familiar. Not only does Brandon Routh star on Legends of Tomorrow, but he also played the Man of Steel once upon a time in Superman Returns. Thanks to Crisis, he gets to suit up as Clark Kent once more, but this time a different take on the character. 20. Anyway, about those people Batman killed Naturally, Bruce Wayne keeps trophies of the enemies he’s killed. The first we see is a Joker card. At long last, the Clown Prince of Crime finally got what was coming to him. 21. Two-for-one We then see a shot of Riddler’s cane and what looks like Mr. Freeze’s snow globe, meaning Batman has definitely killed them both off. 22. But not this We also see Clark Kent’s glasses as it’s revealed that Batman actually killed Superman on this Earth. 23. Lots more dead people Back on the Earth of Routh’s Clark Kent–which resembles the Kingdom Come storyline from the comics–we see all those the Man of Steel has lost, including Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and his wife, Lois Lane. 24. Thanks to the Joker, of course Clark reveals that it was a psychopath from Gotham that played a “prank” on the Daily Planet because they weren’t writing about him enough. 25. And Kingdom Come Superman was born At that point, this Clark puts on his Superman costume, revealing the iconic Kingdom Come design that was previously teased. 26. Superman vs. Superman It’s not Batman v Superman. It’s actually better as Routh’s Superman, under Lex Luthor’s control, attempts to destroy Hoechlin’s Superman. 27. Another familiar face The Legends have plenty of experience with Jonah Hex, but not this version. Johnathon Schaech reprises his role in the Arrow-verse, playing another Earth’s Hex. 28. Another super baby We learn that Routh’s Superman either has or had a son named Jason. This is a nod to Superman Returns, where it’s hinted that the son of Lois Lane–Jason White–is actually Superman’s child. 29. Enter the Anti-Monitor At long last, we meet the Monitor’s arch-nemesis–the Anti-Monitor. It’s a terrible name and, yes, it’s pulled from the comics. 30. A true Bird of Prey It may have only lasted 13 episodes, but it’s exciting to see Ashley Scott reprise her Birds of Prey role as Huntress. Like most of the cameos, though, it ends quickly. 31. The All-Star Squadron Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) is justified in being blown away by seeing all of these superheroes assembled. The All-Star Squadron he mentions, though, is an actual team of superheroes. They were introduced in a 1981 issue of Justice League of America and have included a long list of different heroes over the years. 32. Who is Ryan Choi Believe it or not, Ryan Choi is a character in DC Comics mythology. In fact, as in Crisis, he’s a big fan of Ray Palmer in the comics. In addition to that, though, he also becomes the Atom in the comics. 33. The devil, you say Everyone’s crossing over this year. Even Lucifer (Tom Ellis), from Netflix’s Lucifer, made a quick appearance, pointing Constantine in the right direction to track down Oliver’s soul. 34. Welcome back, Barry John Wesley Shipp returned as the Flash from Earth-90–otherwise known as the Flash from the 1990 TV series. It’s always fun to see that old suit. 35. Black Lightning’s back For the first time, Black Lightning was officially acknowledged as part of the Arrow-verse. Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) arrived to help out the rest of the heroes and learned that his Earth was wiped out by the anti-matter wave. 36. Batwoman v Supergirl Thankfully, this didn’t turn into an actual fight. Still, seeing these two come face-to-face, ready to battle, was a special moment that hopefully gets explored in the future. 37. A nod to Gail Simone Ryan Choi was co-created by Gail Simone. With that in mind, it’s nice to hear the prolific writer get a small nod with Choi’s daughter being names Simone. 38. Flash vanishes in Crisis It’s been promised since The Flash first premiered on The CW. In the end, though, it wasn’t Earth-1’s Barry that was destroyed in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Instead, it was Earth-90’s. 39. Poor Tina Before his demise, though, Earth-90’s Barry flashed back to a moment with the woman he loved, Tina (Amanda Pays), from the original Flash series. 40. The Spectre While tracking down Oliver’s soul in purgatory, Constantine and company happen upon Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo), the Spectre. He wants Oliver to become a Spectre, rather than being resurrected. It’s interesting to note–which Constantine does–that this is not the Corrigan that John knows. On NBC’s Constantine, the role was played by Emmett J. Scanlan. 41. The Vanishing Point The place where our heroes are sent to is pulled right from the comics. The Vanishing Point exists in a dimension outside of the time/space continuum. 42. A Crisis reversal This shot of Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Superman (Routh) puts an interesting spin on the cover of the Crisis on Infinite Earths comics. On the cover, Superman is holding a dead Supergirl. from GameSpot - All Content https://ift.tt/35oaAYl

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