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Post by Action Ace on Feb 25, 2015 18:59:04 GMT -5
 JLA #10 On sale July 30, 1997 Written by Grant Morrison Penciled by Howard Porter Inked by John Dell III Edited by Dan Raspler Cover by Howard Porter ROLL CALL: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, J'onn J'onzz, Green Lantern (Kyle), Green Arrow (Connor) and Aztek and now...." ROCK OF AGES PART 1: GENESIS AND REVELATIONS!" Our story opens in Star City where a beautiful day is interrupted by people and places being destroyed by dark twisted versions of the JLA. Their Superman announces," All the good you have done, we will undo. All the lives you have saved, we will destroy. All that you stand for we will mock, and trample in the dirt. That's unless you want to try to stop us!" Up at the JLA Watchtower J'onn is monitoring the situation, when Aztek says there's something else the Martian Manhunter needs to see. J'onn only has time for one crisis and he's mentally linking up the JLA. Kyle mentions that Wonder Woman is dead and Flash is injured so this isn't the JLA. J'onn says it is until the last man drops. These two missing and Superman stuck in that stupid new power set and costume, this is why continuity can burn in Hell as far I'm concerned. Back to making lemonade... Kyle's concerned that it is just himself, Electric Superman and Batman against these seven, but J'onn says there are five already on the scene. Aquaman is at the surface smacking his evil double and encouraging the new Green Arrow that he can hit evil Flash. Connor is sucessful and Aquaman figures they are some sort of constructs that learn during battle. He tries a telepathic probe and knocks out the evil Aquaman. Batman figures out that they are holograms made of hard light so they are solid. He mentions that a genius created them and it seems a madman is pulling the strings. Do you know any evil geniuses or madmen Batman? Batman in his plane takes down the evil Batman in his plane and we shift scenes to a hideout. Seven figures are seated around a table and seem to be controlling these creatures with virtual reality helmets. One man is reeling in pain as if the construct he was controlling has been hurt. Another mentions that Aquaman recognized him during the telepathic probe. Back in Star City, the evil Superman attacks, but Electric Superman absorbs him with his control of energy. It seems that those behind these creatures are unaware of Superman's new power set. Green Arrow is being chased by evil J'onn and Wonder Woman and is out of arrows. Kyle provides a bunch with his power ring and takes out the last 2 evil holograms. Batman tells him good thinking and Kyle falls over from shock. Back at The Watchtower, Aztek gets J'onn to see what's headed for Earth. It's coming at us faster than the speed of light and from everywhere at once. J'onn takes a ship from the base to investigate. He'll resume mental contqact with everyone when he arrives at the wave. He tells an unsure Aztek that he has very impressive light powers and that he's already taken down the Parasite, Amazo and the Joker. The JLA trusts him with the equipment. (Well, probably not Batman) In Star City, Connor is mad that they couldn't stop the destruction. Superman and Batman think about how much he's like Ollie. Superman is worried that he's still trying to fight with his old powers. Aquaman felt something familiar about his opponent and then launches into his speech about the need to get Wonder Woman, Flash and J'onn back before these evil constructs return. Kyle suggests Captain Marvel and then gets into an argument with a local citizen about the damage. Batman tells Kyle to go into space to see if he can trace where these holograms are coming from. Kyle flies up into space and finds nothing. That's because, even though he's right in front of a very nasty looking satellite, his visuals are being rerouted by an alien on board the satellite. On board the satellite we see some of the evil backers of the holograms revealed, Dr. Light, Ocean Master, the Joker and Lex Luthor! The evil JLA holograms have been doing scout work for this new Injustice Gang. Dr. Light wonders why they don't kill Green Lantern right now. Luthor tells him that they are using a corporate strategy to take out the JLA this time. They will observe, plan, identify weakness, destabilize figureheads, headhunt young up and comers and Luthor also has a surprise in the form of some sort of red crystal. J'onn reaches the wave and feels an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, meaninglessness and sadness. He starts crying and tells the team it's headed for Earth! To be continued! And continued in Genesis #1. If I draw that as a read, I'M the one that will start crying! JLA Mailroom: Readers are very happy with JLA #6 and the new character of Zauriel. One of them is future comics writer B. Clay Moore. STORY: A- It's just a taste of what's to come, but I'm already anticipating the new Injustice Gang. Luthor's new strategy is very interesting. Rock of Ages would go one to be an outstanding JLA story. ART: C+ This was one of Porter's better efforts. COVER: C+ An evil mirror to the cover of JLA Secret Files #1 HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: B New Injustice League debuts, one of the best anti-JLAs ever assembled. up next...DC SHOWCASE TIME! it could be from volumes S-W |
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Post by badwolf on Feb 25, 2015 19:39:25 GMT -5
A great issue! I picked it up because I'm a sucker for villain teams and it got me reading the series regularly (and giving superheroes another look after a long hiatus.) |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 25, 2015 22:24:46 GMT -5
I suspect I'm alone here, but I kinda liked Electric Blue Superman... he would have been a pretty cool character if he was a new character, instead of Superman.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2015 22:36:25 GMT -5
Action Ace - Rock of Ages is one of my favorite JLA Series in the Grant Morrison Era and I just loved the new character Zauriel. I have the complete six issues set. I often read it for fun because of the villains in that series. Story was unreal.
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Post by Action Ace on Feb 25, 2015 22:58:06 GMT -5
 WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #157 On Sale March 10, 1966 Written by Edmond Hamilton Penciled by Curt Swan Inked by George Klein and Sheldon Moldoff Edited by Mort Weisinger Cover by Curt Swan and now..."THE ABOMINABLE BRATS!" In this imaginary story, Superman is married to Lois Lane and has a son named Kal Jr. Batman is married to Kathy Kane and has a son named Bruce Jr. This version of the "Super Sons" first appeared in issue #154. Batman returns from a case he had with Superman and learns that his son is at a law enforcement lecture in Central City given by The Flash. However, we then see Bruce Jr. drag racing in the streets of Gotham City with some pals. They are about to hit a hover bus with their air bikes when a visiting Kal Jr. pushes it out of the way. Later he confronts Bruce Jr. who says he's tired of being a goody goody and tells Kal Jr. if he stays a square he'll miss out on all the kicks in life. Bruce Jr. returns home, but Batman states he saw his little escapade on tv. Bruce Jr. says he was in Central City, but Batman claims he's lying. A few days later they are sparring in the Batcave when Dick Grayson stops by. He works for Spyral, oops I mean the FBI, now and tells Batman to have Superman keep an eye on Bruce Jr. when he can't. Batman flies to the Fortress of solitude and Superman agrees to keep an eye on Bruce Jr. Superman thinks Kal Jr. is off in a nearby system studying space geography, but when he uses his telescopic vision it seems Kal Jr. is tossing around a meteor swarm for kicks. This has produced a deadly cloud that is drifting toward a nearby planet. Superman flies into space and inhales the cloud. When he returns home, Kal Jr. arrives and claims he really was studying space geography elsewhere. Superman claims the Kal Jr. he saw had the right set of fingerprints, he's sure it was him. He tells Kal Jr. when he was a kid he helped his parents with chores around the farm not galavanting around getting into mischief. Superman forgives him since he's only a boy and they set off to raise an old battleship for a memorial. He tells Kal Jr. to go get some steel plates while he sets the ship on a nearby island. When he gets to the surface Superman is unhappy to see his son riding cowboy on a whale. Kal Jr. arrives with the plates a few minutes later, but Superman is fed up with him. With a long set of tongs he traps Kal Jr. in his room with bars of green kryptonite. That's about a 9 on the Bing Crosby scale. Bruce Jr. stops by since the boys were about to go camping. He tries to get Kal Jr. out, but Lois sees them and uses her signal watch to call in her husband. Bruce Jr. leaves and Superman vows that one more prank and he'll "lower the boom" on these two brats. In Gotham City, Batman confronts a pair of murderers that are on a boat trying to get out of town. They threaten to gun him down, but he tells them he has a vial of nitro that he holds over the engine room. Kill Batman and he'll blow the boat sky high. It's a standoff until someone falls asleep. The criminals take shifts for naps as Batman gets sleepy. He clearly did not think this plan through. Just as Batman is about to fall asleep, Superman arrives and takes care of the hoods. Batman drops the vial and Superman reveals that it really only contained colored water. Superman takes the hoods to jail and asks Batman why he didn't call for help with his JLA communicator. Batman says he was just being stubborn and wanted to take these two by himself. A modern day Batman fan would probably set this issue on fire if he got this far. Superman says the boys have been behaving themselves. What??? So the four of them will go on the camping trip so Batman can get some rest. The kids head off to explore the woods while Batman takes a batnap. The kids return and set off firecrackers and toss frogs and snakes on Batman waking him up. They run off snickering, but return a few minutes later acting as if they had no idea what happened. Superman and Batman are going to crack down, but the kids walk off fed up with the bullying and unjust punishment. However, by the next day they are back in the Batcave asking to come on a mission with the heroes. They agree and Bruce Jr. seems happy that the "saps fell for our suggestion." Batman and his son fail to stop a crook and Superman and his son fail to stop a dam bursting. The sons make it appeatr they were mistakes, but they were really sabotaging the missions. They dcide to go on a joint mission when an armored car appears trying to break a criminal out of prison. The foursome arrives and they notice it is giving off a green glow. Kal Jr. flies toward it and he doesn't feel any kryptonite rays. Superman and Batman charge in, but the car grabs them with robot arms. Even worse, the green glow IS kryptonite. Even worse than that, their sons are laughing at this predicament! It turns out the real sons are miles away working on their own HQ when they hear a radio report about this event. They fly to the scene. Kal Jr. lifts up the armored car from a distance with a long cabke, while Bruce Jr. cuts the wiring underneath. Bruce Jr. drags away Superman while Batman nabs the crooks. The Super Sons grab their imposters, but it is impossible to physically tell who is the real boys are. Bruce Jr. reveals he wrote his real middle name on a piece of paper and only the real Kal Jr. could read it with his X-Ray vision. One Kal Jr. comes forth and reads the name "Kltpzyxm." Kal Jr. suddenly changes into a young looking imp and disappears back to the 5th Dimension. Bruce Jr. then reverts to his real form of Bat-Mite Jr. Mxyzptlk Jr. had brainwashed him and forced him to do those mischievous deeds. Bat-Mite Jr. returns home and everyone finally gets to enjoy that camping trip. The End! In the regular issue, the second story was "The Secret of Cell Sixteen" from Tales of the Unexpected #1 STORY: B+ It gets a bit clunky in the middle with the Batman case, but it's a very good issue. The guest villains were a rather good idea and it was nice to see what became of Dick Grayson as an adult. ART: A Swan, Klein AND Moldoff? Awesome. COVER: A- I love the art and it looks like hijinks will ensue. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: C+ That's it for this version of the Super Sons, but a new version will arrive in the 1970s. up next 2000s DC, looks like there's some Geoff Johns in there |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 26, 2015 20:31:29 GMT -5
That sounds pretty awesome!
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Post by Action Ace on Feb 26, 2015 23:25:30 GMT -5
A great issue! I picked it up because I'm a sucker for villain teams and it got me reading the series regularly (and giving superheroes another look after a long hiatus.) I've heard of people returning to superhero comics because of Morrison's JLA quite a few times, Busiek's Avengers as well. I think most of them left in the early 1990s and came back when these two teams went back to "square one" with good writers. (and Perez in Avengers) |
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Post by Action Ace on Feb 26, 2015 23:31:21 GMT -5
I suspect I'm alone here, but I kinda liked Electric Blue Superman... he would have been a pretty cool character if he was a new character, instead of Superman. DC did eventually bring in Livewire from Superman Adventures into the main DCU. She sort of took over the role once he returned to "normal." |
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Post by Action Ace on Feb 26, 2015 23:32:29 GMT -5
Action Ace - Rock of Ages is one of my favorite JLA Series in the Grant Morrison Era and I just loved the new character Zauriel. I have the complete six issues set. I often read it for fun because of the villains in that series. Story was unreal. I don't know which Morrison JLA arc is my favorite, but Rock of Ages is near the top. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2015 23:44:05 GMT -5
Action Ace - Rock of Ages is one of my favorite JLA Series in the Grant Morrison Era and I just loved the new character Zauriel. I have the complete six issues set. I often read it for fun because of the villains in that series. Story was unreal. I don't know which Morrison JLA arc is my favorite, but Rock of Ages is near the top. Thanks for letting me know! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 27, 2015 7:42:23 GMT -5
I suspect I'm alone here, but I kinda liked Electric Blue Superman... he would have been a pretty cool character if he was a new character, instead of Superman. DC did eventually bring in Livewire from Superman Adventures into the main DCU. She sort of took over the role once he returned to "normal." Yeah, that's true...I kinda remember that. |
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Post by badwolf on Feb 27, 2015 9:20:10 GMT -5
A great issue! I picked it up because I'm a sucker for villain teams and it got me reading the series regularly (and giving superheroes another look after a long hiatus.) I've heard of people returning to superhero comics because of Morrison's JLA quite a few times, Busiek's Avengers as well. I think most of them left in the early 1990s and came back when these two teams went back to "square one" with good writers. (and Perez in Avengers) That's exactly what happened with me. I can't remember which series came first, but it was those two that played the part. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 27, 2015 10:05:16 GMT -5
Same here...those were the two books the put me all in for the Big 2... before that, I was reading mostly back issues, Astro City, a few bits of Image, and Vertigo.
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Post by Action Ace on Feb 27, 2015 22:03:24 GMT -5
 BOOSTER GOLD #7 On Sale March 12, 2008 (if the dice blunder into it, I will be reviewing comics from the last decade) Written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz Penciled by Dan Jurgens Inked by Norm Rapmund Edited by Michael Siglain Cover by Dan Jurgens and now..."BLUE & GOLD CHAPTER 2: OMAC'D" In a bubble in the time stream we find Rip Hunter, Booster's ancestor Daniel Carter, Rose Levin a reporter and possible Booster ancestor and Booster's trusty droid Skreets. Booster has gone back in time to save his friend, Blue Beetle Ted Kord, from being killed and Rip Hunter is not happy about it. He's afraid Booster's actions will destroy time and the universe. Meanwhile, in the present day, Booster and Beetle are on the run from a squad of OMACs. Booster tells Beetle what the OMACs are and they are confused as to why saving Ted's life hasn't stopped the OMACs from taking over the world. Booster figures out he's changed history. Beetle calls in his backup bug and they hop aboard. The OMACs start attacking it, but Beetle is able to break into their systems and make them think that the bug is a giant OMAC. They are now left alone and Booster calls Beetle "Batman brilliant." In a castle in the Swiss Alps Max Lord is looking at a board of all the heroes he's killed to take over the world. In a late breaking bulletin, he's told that Kyle Rayner has just been killed and his ring recovered. Brother I has also eliminated the Amazons and destroyed Paradise Island. He then tells Max of the events from earlier and he exclaims, "those two idiots are still alive?" He wants them found immediately. Our heroes find an old JLI signal emanating from the old London Embassy and make their way there. They sneak in and are set upon by Power Girl's cat. Catherine Colbert is alos there and she fills the two of them in about recent events as the OMACs took over the world. The Watchtower is destroyed, Batman is presumed dead at the hands of OMAC Alfred and even the Secret Society of Super Villains has been eliminated. She reveals that much of this has happened at the hands of Max's secret weapon, Superman! Uh Oh! The scene shits to a cave 250 million years ago, where Booster's father and his droid are hiding out. He gets a visit from the Black Beetle and he tells Mr. Carter that the rest of their "team" is gathered. Back in London, Catherine tells our heroes that there may be a resistance cell out there. Beetle wants to get out of there and try to restore time to the way it was. Booster doesn't want to do that, but the discussion is interrupted when Catherine reveals herself as an OMAC! Booster protects himself, Beetle and the suddenly grateful cat with his forcefield as they are blasted through a wall. Near the fallen statue of G'Nort, Beetle finds the power baton of the Beefeater. He blasts the OMAC with it, but it's still not powerful enough. It grasps Booster and Beetle in its claws. Suddenly, the OMAC's systems are fried by specialized arrows and the OMAC is taken down by a thrown mace. Booster observes things must really be bad if Green Arrow and Hawkman are working together. At the Vanishing Point Black Beetle and Mr. Carter arrive to meet the rest of their team, Ultra Humanite, Per Degaton and Despero. Together they are the Time Stealers! To be continued! STORY: B+ Johns and Katz really had a good run on Booster Gold and this was a good sample. Booster is risking a lot for a friend and there's prospect of even worse on the horizon. Even among all of that, there's still a little humor. ART: A- Dan Jurgens is still going strong here and this is one of Rapmund's better inking issues. COVER: A- Good art and those wishing for a Blue and Gold reunion should be drawn in. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: C+ It seems like big things are afoot, but Flashpoint is going to bury it all. up next...more 2000s DC, this box looks like a lot of Superman and Batman (is that an All-Star something I see?) |
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Post by dupersuper on Feb 27, 2015 23:49:01 GMT -5
Kyle suggests Captain Marvel and then gets into an argument with a local citizen about the damage. I loved Supes talking down the guy in the background. |
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