pseudo wisdom 33

"The creative act is a letting down of the net of human imagination into the ocean of chaos on which we are suspended, and the attempt to bring out of it ideas.

It is the night sea journey, the lone fisherman on a tropical sea with his nets, and you let these nets down - sometimes, something tears through them that leaves them in shreds and you just row for shore, and put your head under your bed and pray.

At other times what slips through are the minutiae, the minnows of this ichthyological metaphor of idea chasing.
But, sometimes, you can actually bring home something that is food, food for the human community that we can sustain ourselves on and go forward."

-Terence McKenna

absurd panels 2

Spider-Man using web ping pong paddles to swat away fire balls.  Need I say more?

postcard from sector 2814: 5

From NASA's Astronomy Pic of the Day:

pseudo wisdom 32

"Every fact of science was once damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation was denounced as fraud and folly. The entire web of culture and ‘progress,’ everything on earth that is man-made and not given to us by nature, is the concrete manifestation of some man’s refusal to bow to Authority. We would own no more, know no more, and be no more than the first apelike hominids if it were not for the rebellious, the recalcitrant, and the intransigent. As Oscar Wilde truly said, ‘Disobedience was man’s Original Virtue."

-Robert Anton Wilson

absurd panels 1

The Flash built the pyramids?

Reviews: 6/22/11

Ultimate Spider-Man #160: Death of Spider-Man, written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Mark Bagley

I don't really like the premise of Marvel's "Death of Spider-Man" crossover event.  I think it's somewhat morbid and exists only because "The Death of Human Torch" was so successful.  Marvel has pretty much admitted that they are killing off characters because it consistently bumps up the sales, and I find that to be a little hard to swallow.  Even though the premise and the marketing strategy are distasteful to me, I still think Bendis and Bagley are turning out some of their best work in this issue.

I remember when the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man came out.  It was a wildly successful and fresh take on Spider-Man, a character that had been held back by confusing continuity in the 90's, and in many ways it was at the start of a renaissance in the comic book industry.  Now, here we are at the death of Ultimate Spider-Man.  A character that was meant to be a teenage fresh start for a grown up Spider-Man dies before he reaches drinking age.

That's really my problem with this "Death of Spider-Man" event.  I thought the whole point of Ultimate Spider-Man was to retell Spider-Man stories free from decades of continuity.  Doesn't it defeat the purpose to kill off Ultimate Spider-Man so early in his career?  Why kill off Ultimate Peter Parker before you can send him to college in a modern era, or have him join The Ultimates?  It just seems a little premature to kill off your fresh start so early in the game, and there are still many more Spider-Man stories to be told in the Ultimate Universe.

Still, both the art and writing are incredible in this issue.  Bagley's action scenes are dynamic and fluid.  He illustrates Spider-Man's final battle with the Green Goblin extremely well, and he conveys the appropriate level of brutality and destruction.  He has great full pages of the Green Goblin and Spider-Man fighting to the death, and I think the issue is worth the cover price for the art alone.

Bendis lends the characters the right amount of emotion for the situation.  Spider-Man is fighting for his life and to save the lives of his loved ones.  His words and thought captions really get across the idea that he is pushing all in; if he has to die to save Mary Jane and Aunt May, then that's what he'll do.

Bendis wrote the final moments of Peter Parker's life so well that I couldn't help but be a little sad to see him go.  He wraps up Peter Parker's life and brings it full circle as he dies.  Yes, he failed to save Uncle Ben when he let that criminal run past him.  Yes, he has been fighting crime these years in a futile effort to make up for that fatal mistake, but Peter Parker realizes right before he dies that he has saved Aunt May and atoned for Uncle Ben's death.

The issue is worth the read, but as I said before, it comes across as a premature end for Ultimate Spider-Man.  Part of the appeal of Spider-Man is that he endures.  Despite the crushing weight of debt, supervillains constantly trying to kill him and his family, and the fact that the public at large fears and hates him, Spider-Man relentlessly continues his fight against injustice.  You could argue that Spider-Man's refusal to quit is his most defining quality.

JMS's version of Spider-Man's last stand

I remember a J. Michael Straczynski story depicting Peter Parker's last stand in the future.  He is up against an army of police officers at the graves of Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and Mary Jane.  There is a sense of inevitability to the scene, as if he always knew it would end this way, but Spider-Man gives them hell before he dies anyway.

That seemed like an appropriate end to Spider-Man.  "Death of Spider-Man" does not...here, Spider-Man is a young man who has barely started his career, not a tired old man who has fought a lifetime of battles.  Ultimate Spider-Man gets fucked from every direction in "Death of Spider-Man" and then he's killed by the Green Goblin.  What was the point of this story?  Was it that you sometimes get screwed again and again, the bad guy wins in the end, and then you die?

That's what it seemed like to me, and I personally don't think that's a Spider-Man story that needed to be told.  Still, this issue is enjoyable for what it is.

4 out of 5 pseudo stars

postcard from sector 2814: 4

From BBC:

pseudo wisdom 31

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

-Albert Einstein

postcard from sector 2814: 3

From Sky Image Lab

pseudo wisdom 30

"I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me, but for most of the cultures that have had a concept of magic, then the manipulation of language, and words, and thus of stories and fictions, has been very close to the center of it all."

-Alan Moore

Reviews: 6/15/11

Grodd of War #1, writing by Sean Ryan, art by Ig Guara and Ruy Jose

This issue was an interesting alternate universe take on the obscure supervillain Gorilla Grodd.  Grodd, a Flash villain, is a super intelligent gorilla with mind powers from a secret city of gorillas in Africa.  He's bent on ruling both Gorilla City and the world.  Instead of being the B-list at best supervillain that he is in the normal DC Universe, he is the warlord ruler of Africa in the dystopian Flashpoint Universe.

In the beginning of this issue, Grodd himself acknowledges that although he has conquered the entire continent of Africa "most people don't even know his name".  I found that to be an appropriate sentiment; if you ask a random person on the street, I think there's little chance that they would know who "Gorilla Grodd" is.  If Gorilla Grodd's Twitter account @GorillaGrodd is any indicator, it makes a certain amount of sense to characterize Grodd as a self deprecating villain.

The issue opens on Grodd sitting on a throne of bones and established as the President of Africa.  This seems like the ultimate wet dream for Grodd as he's been characterized in the regular DC Universe.  Yet this alternate President Grodd seems despondent and bored even though he has fulfilled all of his greatest desires.

Grodd has his second in command/servant "Malivar" arrange a fight to ease his crushing boredom.  The fight is with an alternate version of Ultra-Humanite (an extremely similar gorilla themed villain with mind control powers, he is actually a human mad scientist's brain in an albino gorilla's body), and Grodd brutally rips his head off.  This is a pretty violent comic...there could be an argument to be made that some sort of graphic violence warning should be on the cover.

In the next scene, President Grodd is driven in a limousine caravan to the site of the last human resistance in Africa.  This should be a triumphant moment for Grodd...instead, he finds that his final battle of victory is against a bunch of little kids armed with AK-47's and rocket launchers.  Of course, Grodd easily defeats them by using his mind control powers to force one child to gun down his comrades.  Again, this is a violent comic.  Grodd literally slaughters children.

He spares one child so that he will "grow up to hate him" and prepare for the rest of his life to one day kill Grodd.  This is a Grodd who never had an arch enemy.  There was no Flash in this backwards Flashpoint Universe.  President Grodd has everything he ever wanted, and without any difficulty or serious opposition.  Characterizing President Grodd as a bored tyrant looking for an enemy that will challenge him for once in his life was a clever idea.

Ultimately, President Grodd's boredom inspires him to declare war on Wonder Woman and Emperor Aquaman.  These dystopian versions of Wonder Woman and Aquaman are mortal enemies and have divided up a war destroyed Europe into their respective territories.  President Grodd is initiating what promises to be a world war between the forces of the Amazons and Atlantis.

I am enjoying the dystopian alternate reality of Flashpoint so far.  President Grodd is an interesting twist on the obscure supervillain Gorilla Grodd.  Although this comic is pretty graphic, I think it is a good first issue.

4 out of 5 pseudo stars

Avengers #14: Fear Itself, written by Brian Michael Bendis and art by John Romita Junior

Despite the fact that I don't really care for Marvel's latest Big Event "Fear Itself", I think that this is an amazingly good comic because Bendis and JRJR are masters of the form and this is some of their greatest work.

This issue starts with a grid of the "talking heads" panels that is Bendis' trademark style.  It is a "The Office" style documentary interview with all of the classic Avengers.  Bendis imbues these iconic characters with so much life and personality in these one on one candid interviews that you feel like these are real people put in extraordinary circumstances.  His talent for dialogue and characterization is impressive...he can go from a gruff Wolverine, to a neurotic and sarcastic Spider-Man, to a responsible and fatherly Captain America, all without losing the distinctive personalities of these archetypal characters.

JRJR might be my favorite artist of all time, and he does not disappoint in this issue.  Almost every page has an amazing piece of artwork on it...I could say something about nearly every action packed panel.  He draws a Nazi robot attack on NYC in an awesome double page spread.  On the next page, he illustrates The Thing from the FF possessed by a Norse Hammer and destroying an entire city block in incredible detail.  You can see the cracks on the shattered pavement as The Thing stomps through the smoking ruins.

The majority of the issue is a city shattering fight between the Red Hulk and this evil Norse God possessed Thing.  JRJR carries page after page of wordless panels depicting a fight between two of  the strongest and most durable beings in the Marvel Universe.  No pithy comebacks, no trash talking, just a sky scraper toppling battle to the death between two freaks that can lift mountains with their bare hands.

If you've read World War Hulk you'll recognize this kind of fight immediately.  Both the Red Hulk and The Thing could destroy NYC on their own.  JRJR illustrates their fight with the right amount of devastating destructiveness, and the issue is worth it just to see a master comic book artist at work.

I am not fond of the Red Hulk.  He's a lame derivation of The Hulk, and hopefully he won't be a permanent fixture of the Marvel Universe.  I also am not the biggest fan of Marvel's Fear Itself event.  However, this is an undeniably good comic book.  The art and writing are both top quality.

4 out of 5 pseudo stars

postcard from sector 2814: 2

From Sky Image Lab

postcard from sector 2814: 1

From NASA:

pseudo wisdom 29

"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
  Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die,
Lift not thy hands to It for help - for It
Rolls impotently on as Thou or I."

-Omar Khayyám

pseudo wisdom 28

"The real secret of magic is that the world is made of words, and that if you know the words that the world is made of you can make of it whatever you wish."

-Terrance McKenna

pseudo wisdom 27

"Animals outline their territories with their excretions, humans outline their territories by ink excretions on paper."

-Robert Anton Wilson

Reviews: 6/8/11

Citizen Cold #1, art and writing by Scott Kolins

I enjoyed this alternate take on Captain Cold as the hero of Central City rather than one of it's most notorious villains more than I thought I would.  Maybe it's because I haven't read that many stories with Captain Cold, but he seems to be somewhat obscure and characterless.  He's certainly not as iconic as the Joker or Lex Luthor, but I think he still carried this issue well on his own and I am liking this parallel version of Central City where there is no Flash and "Citizen Cold" is the resident superhero.

This issue opens on Mr. Freeze breaking into Star Labs to steal equipment that could save his cryogenically frozen wife.  On the second page of this comic, we get an impressive double page spread from Scott Kolins of Citizen Cold and Mr. Freeze shooting their respective cold guns at each other.  This is a match up that seems obvious, but I've never seen it before and I've often thought about how a fight between DC's two major ice-themed villains would go down.

I thought Kolins illustrated this fight really well, and I liked his pseudo scientific explanation that Citizen Cold would win this showdown because his cold gun was designed as a weapon, whereas Mr. Freeze's cold tech is based on cryogenics technology.  He also has Mr. Freeze try to escape in a novel and interesting way that I won't spoil here, only to be killed by Citizen Cold.

Citizen Cold reveals that he fed Freeze the false intel that prompted him to break into Star Labs, right as he crunches his glass helmet with his boot and then freezes him to death in front of cheering fans.  Kolins portrays Citizen Cold as an icy hearted bastard who has gained the adoration of Central City but does not necessarily think of himself as a "good guy".

In the next scene, we see the Flashpoint version of Iron Heights, DC's maximum security metahuman prison, which has a ward called "The Freezer" populated by Citizen Cold's Rogues Gallery.  For some reason, Citizen Cold has his supervillain enemies (and colleagues in the regular DC universe) locked up in an icicle coated, below freezing section of Iron Heights.  I assume that this was just more evidence of Citizen Cold's sadistic nature, but there was never any explicit explanation for why these villains would need to be uncomfortably chilly while in captivity.

In this scene, we learn not only that Citizen Cold has imprisoned Flash villains like Weather Wizard and the Trixter in this arctic prison, but also that the public at large thinks Citizen cold killed Mirror Master when really he just trapped him in the mirror universe.  This was a cool concept that was executed well by Kolins; he has Mirror Master telling the newly incarcerated Weather Wizard that he has a plan to defeat the tyrannical Citizen Cold through the mirror in his frost covered prison cell.  This was a good step up for the conflict between Citizen Cold and the Rogues in issues to come.

In the final scenes, we see a reporter attempting and succeeding to spy on Citizen Cold and discover his real identity while the antihero is at home.  By spying on an unmasked Citizen Cold from afar, the reporter finds out that he is actually Leonard Smart, "two bit hood with a mile long rap sheet".  This reporter is spotted by Citizen Cold and he tries to call Iris West to give her his information, but he is killed by Citizen Cold in a dramatic cliffhanger where we learn that this reporter was Wally West.  Wally West is the Flash in the regular DC Universe, but apparently he's just a frozen corpse in Flashpoint.

I enjoyed this alternate reality version of Captain Cold as the sadistic superhero "Citizen Cold".  Scotty Kolins illustrated and wrote this issue very well, and I found myself caring more about this B-list supervillain turned superhero than I had anticipated.

4 out of 5 pseudo stars

Ultimate Spider-Man #159: Death of Spider-Man, part 4 of 5, writing by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Mark Bagley

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but I don't like the entire concept of killing off Ultimate Spider-Man.  Wasn't the whole point of the Ultimate Universe to free the Marvel universe from decades of continuity...if you kill Ultimate Spider-Man, aren't you sort of defeating the purpose?  It also comes across as unnecessarily morbid and I think that the only reason this storyline exists is because every time you kill a major superhero, you are all but guaranteed both media attention and a spike in sales.  Even though I have an admitted bias against the story arc and I've been critical of it in the past, I can't deny that this issue has stellar writing and artwork.

The first thing we get in this issue is a double page spread of an unmasked Spider-Man standing his ground against half of the Sinister Six.  This image alone of Spider-Man attempting to bluff Sandman, Electro, and Kraven while he bleeds out from a gunshot wound makes the issue worth it.  Bagley's Ultimate renditions of Sandman and Electro are excellent modern takes on these archetypical Spider-Man villains, and his art at its finest in this issue.

What follows this double page spread is a well drawn and dramatic fight between the mortally wounded Spider-Man and Sandman, Electro, and Kraven.  Bagley draws an amazing shot here of Electro exploding in a blast of electricity that disintegrates Sandman.  Next, we see that everyone who lives on Peter Parker's street has been watching him fighting these supervillains and revealed as Spider-Man.  One of the spectators is recording the unmasked Spider-Man on his camera phone.  This little lull in the battle where peter Parker is caught on camera phone pleading for someone to call an ambulance and exposed as Spider-Man was an entertaining touch.

The battle resumes with a truly amazing sequence of an amorphous Sandman attacking Spider-Man like a tsunami made of sand.  Sandman is trying to bury the injured Spider-man alive, and Bagley illustrates this sequence of panels like a master of the form.  Bagley's illustration of Sandman as a barely human force of nature is the scariest version of Sandman I've seen.

Bendis has Aunt May driving away from the scene with Gwen Stacy but she decides to turn back when she realizes that the nephew she raised is probably going to get killed by the Sinister Six.  This moment of a scared parent deciding to head back into what is practically a war zone, just to protect her child, was a convincing and touching character moment.

The issue ends with Aunt May rescuing Spider-Man.  I think that this is the first time that Aunt May has saved Spider-Man's life in the comics, and certainly it is the most dramatic; she shoots Electro in the chest multiple times with a revolver.  This was a shocking way for the fight to end, and one that makes a certain amount of sense.  Electro was threatening Peter Parker with deadly force...why shouldn't his legal guardian shoot him down?

Overall, I enjoyed this issue despite its horrible premise.  It's a story arc that seems solely inspired by a marketing machine, but I'm still really impressed with Bendis and Bagely's work here.

4 out of 5 pseudo stars

pseudo wisdom 26

"It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure."

-Joseph Cambell

pseudo wisdom 25

"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."

-Philip K. Dick

Beyond Man #4

Beyond Man #4


PAGE 1


Panel 1: We see LAVA MAN, a lumpy red and black monster that looks like a person shaped pile of molten lava.  He is in the middle of a busy city street and has flipped over a car.
Lava Man:  Lava Man's time to rule has come!  You will all kneel before my terrible power!

Panel 2:  Lava man starts melting the front of a car with his hand, we see two frightened women through the windshield.  In the background, we see Beyond Man in the sky.
Lava Man:  Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!

Panel 3: Close up on Beyond Man's hand tapping Lava Man's shoulder frmo behind.
Beyond Man (OP): Excuse me.
Lava Man: Eh?  What?

Panel 4: Over Lava Man's shoulder, we see Beyond Man pulling his fist back to punch him.
Beyond Man:  You know I was trying to eat my breakfast?  You couldn't wait ten minutes to pull this crap?
Lava Man: Kneel before--

Panel 5: Same shot, Beyond Man punches Lava Man in the face.  His head whips around so the viewer can see his globular, almost liquid face splattering with the punch.
Lava Man: Ah!  Not the face!

Panel 6: Pull out, Beyond Man punches Lava Man in the stomach, Lava Man coughs up molten lava.
Beyond Man: Now my food's probably cold.  Thanks for that.  Hope this was worth it.

PAGE 2

Panel 1: Now, we have a large shot of Beyond Man in the street next to Lava Man's unconscious body.  We see that Lava Man has disrupted traffic, melted a car or two, maybe a minor fire, and left a scene of disarray.
Beyond Man: Sorry about this, folks.  Believe me, I'm as annoyed as you are.  I'll have this mess cleaned up in a few seconds.

Panel 2:  Same shot, we see Beyond Man as a superspeed blur all over the scene.  He is "cleaning up the mess", righting cars, putting out fires, clearing debris, and generally straightening out the chaos.

Panel 3:  Same shot, we now see that the street is completely pristine.  Beyond Man is waving and taing off to fly away with Lava Man on his shoulder.
Beyond Man: Have a nice day!

Panel 4: Beyond Man descends with Lava Man to a police station, we see cops milling around outside.  They are surprised to see him.
Beyond Man: Hey, guys.

Panel 5:  Beyond Man drops Lava Man on the ground in front of the policemen.  Some of them draw their fire arms, one drops his coffee, one approaches Beyond Man.
Cop: Nice work kid!  What is this, the fourth baddy you've dropped off this week?
Beyond Man:  Thanks, it's not really a big deal though.

Panel 6: Close up on the cop and Beyond Man.  The cop is talking to Beyond Man.  Beyond Man looks very distracted.
Cop: Listen to you, you're hilarious.  I'm a huge fan by the way.  I mean, you were kind of a jerk as Beyond Boy, but since you cae back you're really turning that around.  Hey, can I get an autograph for my son?
Beyond Man: What?  Yeah, sure.  Listen, I gotta go, you got that guy handled right?

Panel 7: Same shot, but Beyond Man takes off into the sky in a blur.
Cop: Of course, but it'll just take a second, here, sign my gun--
Beyond Man: No time sorry!

PAGE 3


Panel 1: Large panel, Beyond Man flying over NYC and towards the camera.  We see speech balloons all around him simulating his "Beyond Hearing".  Balloon 7 is the largest speech bubble.
Cop: What a jerk...can't spare two seconds to sign something for my kid...
1: Help!
2: Put your weapon down!
3: This man needs an ambulance!
4 Put the money in the bag and no one gets hurt.
5: Please...no...!
6: Look out!
7: Help us!  We can't get out!

Panel 2:  Beyond Man stops in mid-air, as if he is changing directions.  We see two circular slices that represent "Beyond Vision", in those slices we see an apartment building on fire, people leaning out of the windows.
Person: For the love of God, someone help us!

Panel 3:  Over Beyond Man's shoulder, we see that he is flying down towards the burning building which is now directly below him.

Panel 4: Beyond Man floating in front of the windows, we see the people leaning out of their windows, smoke is pouring out of the building.
Beyond Man:  Everyone try to stay calm!  I'll have you out of there before you know it.  I need all of you to stay perfectly still...seriously, don't move at all.

Panel 5:  Same shot, we see Beyond Man as a superspeed blur around the entire building, he is at all of the windows at once.

Panel 6: Same shot, beyond man is now hovering outside the building and carrying about 10 people on each arm in huge dog piles.  They are squirming and struggling to keep from falling off of Beyond Man.
Beyond Man:  Stop squirming!  I said don't move, do you want me to drop you?

PAGE 4


Panel 1:  Cut to a street level view outside of the burning building.  We see a fire engine has just arrive, fire men are jumping of of it and running towards the building, prepping the hose, etc.  Beyond man is descending to the street with his arms full of people.
Beyond Man: Everyone's out of the building.

Panel 2: Beyond Man standing on the street, a fireman has come up to him, in the background we see the people he saved on the ground, some are on top of each other, others are getting up.
Beyond Man: You guys got it from here, right?
Fireman: We should be good, thanks Beyond Man!  You just saved a lot of people, there's no way we could have evacuated them all in time before this building collapses.

Panel 3:  Behind the fireman and over his shoulder, we see Beyond Man flying away into the sky from the fireman's perspective.
Beyond Man:  Don't worry about it, you guys are the real heroes!

Panel 4:  Beyond Man flying straight up into the sky and towards the camera, we see the firefighters spraying firehoses at the burning building on the ground below.
CAP: Now, maybe I can finish my breakfast--
1: Get down! He's got a gun!
CAP2:--or not.

Panel 5: Cut to the interior of a city school cafeteria.  A young kid is standing on a table with an uzi.  Kids are hitting the deck and running away.
Kid: Oh, now you're afraid of me?  Now you respect me!?

Panel 6: Tight shot of the kid spraying bullets at the camera with his uzi.
Kid: Well, it's too late!  Eat lead!

Panel 7: Over the kid's shoulder, we see that no damage has been done.  Everyone cowering on the ground of the cafeteria looks fine, and somewhat surprised.
Kid: What the hell?

PAGE 5


Panel 1:  Same shot, but pull out a bit.  Now Beyond Man has appeared in front of the kid.  He is floating at his level and holding his palms out, almost as if begging for alms.  His cupped hands are full of the bullets that the kid just fired.
Beyond Man:  Looking for these?

Panel 2:  Beyond man stuffs the handfuls of bullets into the kid's mouth with one hand, and crushes his uzi with the other.  The kid looks surprised.
Beyond Man:  My dad wouldn't approve of this, but I don't care.  Come one, eat up!  Eat the lead, Mr. Tough Guy!
Kid: Mmmmph!

Panel 3:  Beyond Man is flying to leave, some kids have tackled the kid with the bullets falling out of his mouth.
Beyond man:  Just be happy I cooled those bullets off with my Beyond Breath.  Next time, I won't be so generous.

Panel 4:  Beyond Man flying over the city.
CAP: Finally, back to breakfast--
1: Well, we were supposed to have a live interview with Beyond Man, AKA Matthew Wylie...
CAP: Great.  I knew I was forgetting something.

Panel 5:  Cut to the interior of a news station recording studio, we have the camera man's view of an anchor woman "Lucy Linus" sitting at a desk and speaking to the camera.  There is an empty chair next to the desk.
Lucy: ...but it appears the former Beyond Boy is living up to his reputation for unreliable and erratic behavior, so instead we'll--

Panel 6:  Same shot, Beyond Man has appeared in the interview chair trailed by blurry super speed lines.  Lucy looks surprised, her hair blows in the gust of the super speed air.
Beyond Man: Sorry I'm late, Lucy, I was a little preoccupied this morning, but I wouldn't miss our interview for the world.  What were you saying about my erratic behavior?


PAGE 6


Panel 1: Close up on Lucy
Lucy: For one, people haven't forgotten your carer as Beyond Boy, despite the impressive work you have done in the past month as Beyond Man.  In your final years as Beyond Boy, you were seen intoxicated quite frequently.  A lot of pundits are suggesting that you may still be a highly functioning alcoholic.

Panel 3: Close up on Beyond Man.
Lucy(OP): ...would you care to address your substance abuse issues?
Beyond Man: Yeah, I would.  I'll level with you Lucy.  I've had serious problems with alcohol, and also drugs, since I was sixteen.  I made mistakes in my final year as Beyond Boy that I know this city will never forgive.  I'll never forgive myself.

Panel 4: Cut back to Lucy.
Lucy: You're referring to your flying under the influence incident, when dozens were injured and three people died.
Beyond man: Yeah.

Panel 5: Cut back to Beyond Man.
Beyond Man:  I can't turn back time and bring those people back.  I wish I could.  All I can do is try to make it up to the world.

Panel 6: Pull out, we see beyond Man sitting next to Lucy.
Beyond Man:  So, I've been sober for over a month, and I'm never going to have a drink or put drugs in my body for the rest of my life.
Lucy: I'm sure the public will hold you to that...
Beyond Man2: I hope they do.

Panel 7: Close up on Lucy.
Lucy: Right.  A lot of people still think it was your arrest and disappearance that caused your father, the original Beyond Man, to retire to outer space.  What would you say to those people who claim that you drove the first and greatest superhero to abandon Earth?

PAGE 7


Panel 1:  Cut back to Beyond Man.
Beyond Man:  You're really putting the guilt trip to me today, aren't you?  Well, I honestly don't know what to say to people who think that.  Maybe they're right.

Panel 2:  We see Beyond Man sitting next to Lucy again.
Beyond Man:  I really don't know.  I'm just trying to fill in for my dad until he comes back from his vacation.
Lucy: You believe the original Beyond Man will return at some point in the future?
Beyond Man2: Sure.  I have faith in him.  You know, the world cherished him as Beyond Man, but he was my dad.  I loved him.  I still do.

Panel 3:  Close up on Lucy.
Lucy:  We contacted The Mysteries and we were informed that you have not been invited to join the super team.  In fact, it appears that your usage of the Beyond Man likeness is not sanctioned, and some say is illegitimate.

Panel 4: Cut back to Beyond Man.  He is chuckling a bit.
Beyond Man: Not gonna toss me a single softball, huh?  Well, I admit it: The Mysteries own the rights to the Beyond Man persona, and I'm wearing this uniform without their consent.
Lucy(OP): You don't see a problem with that?

Panel 5:  Cut to Beyond Man, he looks flustered.
Beyond Man:  What can I say, Lucy?  I'm just as powerful as he was, if not more so.  He left me this costume and expressed his wish that I wear it.  The Mysteries can sue me for copyright infringement, I really don't care at this point.

Panel 6: Cut to Lucy.
Lucy: But that sort of attitude is exactly why a lot of people think you shouldn't replace Beyond Man.  People seem to think that you are irresponsible and impulsive, you've been accused of having a low attention span--
Beyond Man(OP): Low attention span?

Panel 7: Cut back to Beyond Man.
Beyond Man:  I wish people could understand what it's like to live with extradimensional senses.  You can't even imagine the sensory overload I experience at all times.

PAGE 8

Panel 1:  Zoom in a bit closer on Byond Man's face.
Beyond Man:  About 150 people die every day in New York City, and I can hear every one of them go.  Just a moment ago, I heard a bike messenger get hit by a bus across town.

Panel 2: Pull out to show a view of a tv screen, depicting Beyond Man and Lucy as viewers would see them at home.
Beyond man:  Someone watching this program just said "That Beyond Boy kid is such a jack ass".
OP: ...oh my god, that was me!  He heard that?

Panel 3:  Back to our normal view of BM sitting in the interview chair.
Beyond Man:  If it seems like I have a low attention span, it might be because I can see and hear everything.  I doubt that people have any clue what it's like to be omniscient.

Panel 4:  Pull out, show Beyond Man sitting next to Lucy.
Beyond Man: That's why I gotinto drugs and alcohol in the first place...to try to shut out some fraction of the constant noise in my head.  It's not easy for anyone, let alone a teenage boy, to deal with.

Panel 5: Same shot.
Lucy: That's interesting, your father never discussed his experience with his extradimensional senses...
Beyond Man:  Well, he was a private man.  He didn't discuss his emotions.  I don't tihnk I ever heard him complain about anything--

Panel 6: Tight close up on Beyond Man's ear. (There are multiple "zzzzzt"s scattered around his ear.)
1: Zzzzzzzzt! 2: Look, up in the sky... 3: Those are just birds... 4: Are you kidding?  They're not birds, they're firing! 6: Are they terrorists?! 7: For god's sake, take cover!  8: Aaaaah!

PAGE 9


Panel 1:  We see Lucy and Beyond Man again, but Beyond Man is standing up to leave.
Beyond Man:  I'm sorry, I have to go.  There's an emergency across town.  Thank you for having me.

Panel 2:  Same shot, we see Beyond Man leave as an indistinguishable superspeed blur.  Lucy's hair is blowing in the gust of wind, papers on her news desk are disturbed.
Lucy: Well, there you have it.  The "new" Beyond Man can't sit still for more than five minutes...

Panel 3: Behind shot of Beyond Man flying quite fast over a major NYC street.  In front of him, we see two circular slices that represent "Beyond Vision".  In the slices, we see exoskeleton wearing terrorists wreaking havoc.  These exoskeleton terrorists (ETs) have winged jetpacks, armor, and ray guns built into the arms of  their hydraulic robotic suits.  They are flying over the city in an erratic formation, firing energy blasts at buildings and fleeing civilians.  It is a scene of chaos.
CAP: Terrorists in jetpacks?  Well, that's new.  Nothing too challenging though, should be an easy fix.

Panel 4: Cut to a shot of a ET still fyling but near street level and firing an energy blast at an old man who has dropped his cane.  He is cowering in fear.  We see the energy blast in mid-air as if it is frozen in time.  In the background, we see Beyond Man as a small dot in the sky heading toward the scene.

Panel 5: Beyond Man is now standing in front of the old man who has falled over, the energy blasts arcs off Beyond Man's chest harmlessly.

Beyond Man: Gunning down an old man?  Seriously?

PAGE 10


Panel 1:  Beyond Man grabs the ET, who just fired on the old guy, like grabbing a fly out of the air.  He also cuts off one of his jetpack wings with his blue heat vision.  Even as Beyond Man is holding the ET, we still see exhaust shooting out of his jetpack.  In the background, we see the other ETs causing chaos and firing on everything and everyone.
Beyond Man:  I mean, really, what is your thought process?  What could you possibly hope to accomplish here?

Panel 2: Close up on an ET higher up in the air, he has noticed Beyond Man's arrival and he is speaking into his heaset.
ET1: The eagle has landed, assume attack formation alpha-seven!

Panel 3: Now we see that the ETs are gathering around Beyond Man who is on the ground.  Some are firing energy blasts at him.  Beyond Man is shrugging the blasts off and holding his ground.
Beyond Man: Attack formation alpha 7?  Could you guys be a little more cliche please?

Panel 4:  Over the shoulder of one of the flying ETs, we see that they have formed a flying circle around Beyond Man and are all firing their energy blasts at him.  Beyond Man is now hovering a foot off of the ground, absorbing their fire, and he has thrown a mail box at one of the ETs, knocking him out of the sky.
ET1: Power up your B-wave generators!  Don't give him an inch!  This is what you trained for!

Panel 5: Street level view of Beyond Man brought to his knees on the ground.  He is being blasted by "B-waves", distinct from the energy blasts, from every direction.
Beyond Man: B-waves?
ET1: We got him boys!  Close in!

PAGE 11


Panel 1:  We see Beyond Man on his knees and struggling to get up.  The ETs have tigthened their circle considerably, they are really pouring on the B-waves now.
ET1: He's down...don't let up!  Keep concentrating your fire!
Beyond Man: B-waves?!?

Panel 2: Close up on Beyond Man struggling to his feet now and consumed with b-waves.  He looks like he is in agony, but he is pushing through the pain.
Beyond Man:  I was getting high off B-waves when I was still in highschool!

Panel 3: Pull out, Beyond Man stomps on the ground with incredible force and creates a shockwave which throws all the ETs in every direction.  Some hit walls, most tumble through the air uncontrollably.
Beyond Man: I'm actually a little buzzed now, my sponsor is gonna be pissed!

Panel 4: Large shot of Beyond Man attacking many of the ETs at once with beyond spieed.  He knocks out one with a punch that shatters his helmet, he throws another very far away, eh freezes another's jetpack rockets with beyond breath, he cuts the wings off a few others with blue heat vision.  We see that the NYC street they attacked is deserted now, and it looks like a war zone, damaged buildings, turned over cars, and destruction everywhere.

Panel 5: Front shot of Beyond Man getting shot from behind by an ET with a powerful b-wave blast.  Beyond Man is thrown forward by the blast.
Beyond Man: Ahhh!

PAGE 12

Panel 1: Beyond Man is now on his hands and knees.  An ET is kicking him in the face, 2 or 3 ETs are firing B-waves on him in the background.
ET(kicking): Don't let him up again!  Formation beta 17!
Beyond Man: Guh!

Panel 2: Same shot, but close up on Beyond Man.  He spits blood on the ground, he is still being blasted with B-wave energy.
CAP: Pain...haven't felt that in years...

Panel 3: Pull out, Beyond Man has ripped up the asphault like a carpet and thrown the ET who kicked him off his feet.  He is still getting hit with b-waves by flying ETs in the background.
CAP: Can't let them pile on me again...

Panel 4: Same shot, Beyond Man has turned around and let loose a blast of Beyond Breath which blows away the flyinig ETs in a strong gust of wind.  More ETs are urhsing in around him to resume their attack.
CAP: There's so many of them...

Panel 5: One of the ETs that was rushing in punches Beyond man in the face with a fist that is radiating B-waves.  Blood splatters off Beyond Man's face and he is now off balance.

Panel 6: A couple ETs manage to tackle Beyond Man to the ground.

PAGE 13

Panel 1:  Now the ETs dogpile onto Beyond Man, several are blasting B-waves right into his face.
ET1: It's over, Beyond Man!  Stop struggling!

Panel 2:  Close up on Beyond Man's face, his face is bruised, battered, and bloody.  His nose and ears are bleeding, he looks like he is in significant pain.  His face is glowing with b-waves.  His eyes are shut.
CAP: I think I'm in trouble...
ET1(OP): Give up and we'll make it quick!

Panel 3: Same shot, but Beyond Man's eyes open.
CAP: Give up?

Panel 4: Pull out, Beyond Man has sent the dogpile of ETs flying in every direction by throwing them off himself.
Beyond Man: #@$* you!

Panel 5: Beyond Man throws a nearby ET into another ET.

PAGE 14


Panel 1:  Same shot, Beyond Man takes off into the air, nearby ETs on the ground see this.
ET1: He's on the move!  He's weak, he can't get far...initiate airborne attack gamma nine!

Panel 2: Beyond Man hovering above the city buildings and surrounded by flying ETs.  They look cautious, as if they are hesitating before they resume the attack, a momentary break in the fighting.
Beyond Man:  Well?  I don't have all day!

Panel 3:  They are fire b-waves at him, Beyond Man dodges one blast but is still hit by many of the energy rays.  One ET dives in to attack and Beyond Man uppercuts him away as he is dodging.
Beyond Man:  Let's do this!

Panel 4:  Beyond Man is still taking heavy B-wave fire from behind as he sprays a couple ETs with a wide, diffuse blast of blue heat vision.
Beyond Man:  Is that all you've got?  Come at me!

Panel 5:  We see a line of Ets, almost like a firing squad in the air, and they are pointing their arms at the camera.  We see that several small missile attachments on each of the ETs arms have popped out of their armor and are ready to fire.

Panel 6: Behind shot of Beyond Man in the air, we see the line of ETs and many missiles all headed straight at Beyond Man and about to strike him.
Beyond Man: Oh shi--

PAGE 15


Panel 1:  Pull far out, we see a large explosion over the city, and Beyond Man is blasted towards the ground.

Panel 2: Beyond Man is getting up out of a small crater on the street.  He hit the ground with great impact and shattered the street.  We see ETs landing around him and closing in.
Beyond Man: Ow...

Panel 3: Cut to a television screen.  We see a news helicopter view of the battle taking place, a ticker box at the bottom of the screen reads, "Beyond Man battling airborne terrorists".  The bird's eye view looks like a war zone.
TV: We have our news copter on the scene as Matt Wylie aka Beyond Man is engaged in a brutal battle with what appear to be exoskeleton clad, flying terrorists...

Panel 4: Cut to Leo Machiano JR at his desk and watching the broadcast.
TV(OP): ...the former Beyond Boy does not seem to be fairing well and in fact it looks like he may be injured...
OP: Now, Leo?
Leo: Not yet.

Panel 5: Cut to a street level view of the fight, Beyond man takes a lunging swing at one of the ETs.  The ET easily leans out of the way.
ET: Ha!

PAGE 16


Panel 1:  The same ET hits Beyond Man in the stomach.  We see a surprised look on Beyond Man's face and he lifts off the ground a bit with the punch.
ET: This kid is supposed to be the new Beyond Man?

Panel 2:  The ET brings Beyond Man's head down onto his knee.  Other ETs in the background fire b-wave blasts at him.
ET: You should have stayed out of NYC and kept drinking, kid.

Panel 3:  Ground level shot of Beyond Man on the ground, we see the legs of multiple ETs closing in.  Beyond Man looks severely hurt.
CAP: Got to get up...
ET(OP): At least you were good at drinking.

Panel 4:  Cut back to the TV screen. We have the helicopter news footage again, a bird's eye view of Beyond Man on the ground and surrounded by ETs.
TV: Beyond Man is down!  I repeat, Matt Wylie is down!

Panel 5:  Cut to Leo at his desk again.
TV(OP): Is this the end of the new Beyond Man?
OP: They're killing him...
Leo: I wish.  They don't have the firepower to kill him, they can only wound him.  He's aout to get his second wind.
OP2: How can you be so sure?
Leo2: Trust me, I've done the math.

PAGE 17


Panel 1:  Same shot of Leo at his desk.
Leo: Alright.  move in, but make it look believable.  Give them a show.

Panel 2: Pull out, we see SIEGEL next to Leo's desk in his superhero get up.  He is punching his purple glowing fist into his hand and striding to leave.
Siegel: Will do, boss.

Panel 3:  We have Beyond Man's ground view perspective of the ETs standing over him.  They are all pointing their glowing energy blaster arms down at him.  We can see the news helicopter in the sky (if you can fit it in the shot).
CAP: Is this it?
ET1: Say goodnight.

Panel 4: Same shot, one of the ETs has been thrown off panel by a blast of purple energy.  The other ETs look surprised and they are looking off panel at someone who has just arrived on the scene.
ET1: What the--

Panel 5:  Behind shot of Beyond Man getting to his knees.  We see Siegel descending towards him and blasting the remaining Ts that are standing near Beyond man with purple energy.  We see that the rest of the ETs in the barea are scrambling to regroup against the unexpected newcomer.

PAGE 18


Panel 1:  Close up of Siegel helping Beyond Man up with one hand while looking at him with a smile.  He is blasting an approaching ET behind him with the other hand without even looking.
Siegel:  Looks like you could use a hand buddy!

Panel 2:  Beyond Man is standing behind Siegel as he shoots down several ETs flying at them with his purple energy blasts.  He also has a purple forcefield up that blocks incoming B-waves.
Siegel: B-waves don't bother me, gentlemen!
Beyond Man:  Who are you?!

Panel 3: Cut to the TV screen view again, we have the helicopter bird's eye view of Siegel taking out a lot of ETs quite quickly and Beyond Man taking cover behind him.
TV: This is unbelievable, a superpowered newcomer has arrived and is taking out the terrorists that almost killed Matt Wylie--

Panel 4:  Cut to Leo at his desk.  He looks quite pleased as he watches the news footage.
TV(OP): --he just saved Beyond Man's life!

Panel 5: Back to Siegel and Beyond Man, Siegel is dropping the flying ETs like flies.
Siegel: I'm John Siegel, and I'm here to help!

Panel 6: Large shot now, we see Beyond Man and Siegel in the middle of the panel and surrounded by an almost completely destroyed city street that is covered with the many downed ETs.

PAGE 19


Panel 1: TV shot again, we have the helicopter bird's eye view of Siegel and Beyond Man and the surrounding destruction, the dust is clearing, we see that all the ETs are defeated.
TV: This strange new metahuman has defeated all of the armored terrorists that Beyond Man couldn't handle with what looked like barely any effort--

Panel 2: A bunch of police cars pull up to the scene along with a couple news vans, a swat team van...we see Siegel and Beyond Man looking to them as they arrive.
Siegel: Don't worry, you can thank me later.

Panel 3: Cops are rushing towards them now, swat teams are pouring out of the vans, some reporters are making their way towards them as well.
Reporter1: Beyond Man, who is this new superhero who saved your life?

Panel 4: Close up on Siegel.
Siegel: I can field that one.  My name is John Siegel, and I was just helping Beyond Bo--I mean, Beyond Man here.

Panel 5: Pull out, Siegel is now surrounded by press and Beyond Man is standing apart, somewhat ignored.
Reporter1: Where did you come from?
Reporter2: How did you get your powers?
Reporter3: Do you know what the source of this attack was?
Siegel: Woah, take it easy, slow down...

PAGE 20


Panel 1: Wide shot.  Siegel is levitating all of the downed and unconscious ETs with his glowing purple energy.
Siegel: I've got to deal with these would be terrorists before I can answer your questions.

Panel 2: Wide shot, Siegel is floating all the ETs into a line in front of him.
Siegel: These men led an assault on our city.  They tried to kill innocent people.

Panel 3: Wide shot.  Now, Siegel has all the ETs lined up in front of him.
Siegel:  They must pay for their crimes.

PAGE 21 AND 22: Double page spread

Siegel explodes all of the ETs in a big, purple energy explosion.  Beyond Man looks shocked, as do the reporters who are getting the whole thing on camera, cops are taking cover, some are drawing their fire arms. There is a small panel by the bottom right corner of the last page, we see a close up on Beyond Man's outraged face which is bruised and bloody from the attack.
Beyond Man: You...you killed them!

pseudo wisdom 24

"What's hard, in hacking as in fiction, is not writing, it's deciding what to write."

-Neal Stephenson

pseudo wisdom 23

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing knowledge."

-Albert Einstein

Reviews: 6/2/11

Fear Itself #3, written by Matt Fraction and art by Stuart Immonen

The art and the writing is impressive in Fear Itself, but I am seriously underwhelmed by the premise of Marvel's latest Big Event.  We are three issues into the Fear Itself crossover, and almost nothing has happened.

This issue sees more classic Marvel characters getting their hands on Uru hammers.  I admit that seeing the Thing pick up his evil Thor hammer and transform into a black, molten rock version of Ben Grimm was a very cool character redesign.  Immonen's double page spread of the evil Thing smashing up Yancy Street, the street Ben Grimm grew up on, was an amazing drawing, and I think this kind of outstanding art makes the issue worth it.

However, the series has very little substance.  The entire premise of the story is that the evil Norse god of fear is possessing familiar characters (Juggernaut, Hulk, Thing, Titania, Absorbing Man) by sending them cheap knock offs of Thor's hammer.  There seems to be no deeper level to the premise than "Let's see Tron-eqsue versions of our physically strong characters and give them all clones of Thor's hammer because it will look cool".

Let's compare Fear Itself to Marvel's Civil War.  Civil War involved an epic battle between two halves of the superhero community.  A group of poorly managed and trained superheroes caused a team of supervillains to destroy a school of innocent children and because of that tragedy a Superhero Registration Act is passed.  Half the heroes favor giving up their secret identities and regulating superheroics, and the other half rebelled against the law.  There is a lot of substance here.

In Fear Itself, an Asgardian bad guy, who we've never seen before and don't really care about, is sending out copies of Thor's hammer, and we get to see some fan favorite characters use Faux-Mjolnirs in neat costume redesigns.  That's really all there is to this series.

Fraction and Immonen still do great work in Fear Itself.  I am just not that interested in the premise of Marvel's Fear Itself event.

3 out of 5 pseudo stars

Flashpoint #2, written by Geoff Johns and art by Andy Kubert

I am really enjoying this series.  Flashpoint is DC's answer to the Age of Apocalypse, and I like all of the changes they made to the DC Universe in this dystopian alternate reality.

This issue opens on Deathstroke the Terminator living a different life as a captain of a modern day pirate ship. He is leading a team of pirate meta humans who man his ship.  He's got an electric themed supervillain "Electric Eel" down in the brig and shocking a restrained "Sonar".  Sonar is using his sonic powers to image the ocean floor and detect "sunken banks or Museums".  This is a very cool alternate life for Deathstroke to be living, and we see Captain Deathstroke arrive in the ruins of Europe.  Aquaman destroyed Paris, and we get an amazing double page spread of the toppled and mostled submerged Eiffel Tower.  Andy Kubert's art is really good here.

Emperor Aquaman

Deathstroke and his pirates are attacked by Emperor Aquaman, a villainous and brutal conqueror who is very much the opposite of the King Arthur-esque Aquaman we know.  Emperor Aquaman is an awesome character redesign;  he has an outfit similar to the classic Aquaman costume, but with a red scaly shirt instead of orange, and black gloves and pants instead of green.  I think the red scaly shirt works very well.  He also has a blonde military crew cut instead of Arthur Curry's long blond hair, and a cool silver trident.  I like the idea of a warlike "Emperor Aquaman".  It is a good mirror image of the traditional "King Arthur" Aquaman.

In the next scene, we have a depowered and confused Barry Allen confronting this alternate world's Batman in the bat-cave.  In this world, Bruce Wayne died and his father Dr. Thomas Wayne became Batman.  I think that his alternate vision of Batman is very interesting.  Instead of Wayne Industries, Thomas Wayne runs a slightly more sinister Wayne Casinos.  His Batman has red eyes, a red belt, and a red circle incorporated into his bat symbol.  It's a good costume redesign, and I am enjoying the idea of a more corrupt, violent, and bitter Thomas Wayne as Batman.

We see an evil warlord version of Wonder Woman who has taken over parts of Europe with her Amazonian Army.  This was another cool twist on a DC mainstay, but it might be a bit too similar to the Emperor Aquaman idea.  Wonder Woman interrogates Steve Trevor in a twist on their classic meeting, and it is a cool little scene that exposes more of this backwards world to us by revealing that Trevor was attempting to recover Lois Lane.  Lane has been spying on the Amazons, and Wonder Woman learning of this betrayal nicely foreshadows things to come.

We learn in the next scene that the Reverse Flash is probably responsible for this skewed world.  When Barry tells Thomas Wayne that his son survived in the "real" reality, this is enough to motivate Flashpoint's sinister faux-Batman to help Barry Allen right the wrong that created this bizarre alternate world.  Johns has created an interesting reason for Thomas Wayne to care about what Barry Allen is saying...he doesn't want to live if he could change it and make it so that he died instead of his only son.

Barry thinks the Reverse Flash is responsible for whatever created this backwards reality because Reverse Flash has a history of this kind of history altering shenanigans.  The Reverse Flash also put a yellow Reverse Flash costume in Barry Allen's Flash ring, which Barry thinks is a deliberate move to taunt him.  Barry decides to build an electric chair rigged with certain chemicals and hooked up to a lightning rod.  This was a really cool idea...essentially, Barry is trying to replicate the accident that gave him his powers so that he can regain the superspeed he doesn't haven in this alternate reality.

This was a good issue.  It ends on an exciting cliffhanger that I won't spoil.  So far, I am thoroughly enjoying the world of Flashpoint.

5 out of 5 pseudo stars

Abin Sur: The Green Lantern #1, written by Adam Schlagman and art by Felipe Massafera.

This new series is set in the alternate world of Flashpoint.  Abin Sur never died and Hal Jordan did not become the first human Green Lantern in this reality.  I don't know if it's because I have been very uninterested in the recent Green Lantern comics which all revolve around the stupid "Rainbow Corps" idea and this new series seems like a breath of fresh air from that crap factory of a storyline, but I really enjoyed this first issue.

I always kind of wanted to learn more about Hal Jordan's alien predecessor Abin Sur.  This issue gives you an interesting insight into the character when we see a world where Abin Sur did not die and continued to be the Green Lantern of Sector 2814.  Sinestro is still a Green Lantern and is Abin Sur's confidante.  The Black Lantern Corps (again, I hate the multicolored Corps idea) has claimed over 800 of the 3600 sectors protected by the Guardians of the Universe, and Sinestro wants Abin to help him fight them.  Sinestro is asking Abin to disobey the Guardians orders with him in the name of preserving order in the universe..this is an action that is completely consistent with the traditional Sinestro's personality.

The Guardians order Abin Sur to retrieve a precious "Life Entity" hidden inside of Earth because of its inconspicuous and backwater location in the universe.  The "Life Entity" is another idea from the terrible "Blackest Night" and "Rainbow Corps" storyline, so I am slightly annoyed by its presence in this issue, but the precious and fragile nature of the life entity serves a plot purpose.  Flashpoint's alternate Earth is engulfed in war...the world is a chaotic dystopia split up into the kingdoms of Grodd, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman.  This life entity could be destroyed in such a dystopic environment, which would presumably threaten life everywhere.  Again, I am not a fan of the whole "entity" idea which Johns has made such a central facet of the Green Lantern mythology.

The Guardians tell Abin Sur to focus only on retrieving the entity and order him to allow the Earth to be destroyed if necessary.  Abin emphasizes that he believes all life is sacred and he will disobey the Guardians in order to preserve life on Earth.  This was a nice characterization of Abin Sur and it develops our idea of what kind of person he is.

I noticed that the style of this comic is obviously influenced by the design of the upcoming Green Lantern movie.  Abin Sur and Sinestro's costumes look just like their sinewy movie versions.  Oa looked like the Oa from the trailer, and the Guardians as well as their citadel were practically pulled from the trailer.  It's an interesting marketing strategy that DC has chosen here in light of the fact that the Green Lantern movie comes out in a couple weeks.

I enjoyed this first issue of Abin Sur: The Green Lantern, but I am slightly annoyed by the inclusion of the "entity" concept.

4 out of 5 pseudo stars

pseudo wisdom 22

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any."

-Orson Scott Card

pseudo wisdom 21

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough”

-Albert Einstein