Thursday Night Thinking #162

I tried to find an image of Earth-Man thinking for today's post. After all... This is Thursday Night Thinking!

Unfortunately, such an image was not forthcoming. So you'll have to settle for a classic Adventure Comics cover featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes!

Remember: the Legion election is still going on. Make sure you vote.

Vote

There is still time to vote for a new Legion Leader, friends. I've already told you who I think you should vote for. In my eyes, the obvious choice is Earth-Man.

He's a dick, yes. But he did something I thought nobody could do: he made me interested in the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Now, I suppose it's true that Paul Levitz is the one who actually did that. After all, he's the one who decided to put Earth-Man on the team. But here's the deal: I've never been a big fan of the Legion. I've dabbled in bits and pieces and I always catch their interactions with the Super-family (because I do love Superman).

Along came Geoff Johns, Action Comics, and "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes." I read it, of course; I read all the Super-books religiously. And with Superman standing alongside them I finally started to see why people think the Legion is so interesting.

A big part of what made that story great were the villains. I could really believe the motivations of Earth-Man his "Justice League." The final bit where Superman gains back his powers and takes out Earth-Man is one of my favorite scenes that Geoff Johns has ever written.

When it was all over they sent Earth-Man and his cronies off to prison and I figured that was that; I was done with the Legion until the next time they showed up in the pages of Action or Superman. A new Legion book was announced not long after that, but I didn't give it much though.

But when Paul Levitz said that he was putting Earth-Man on the team I suddenly became very interested. How exactly was he going to manage that psycho in the Legion? How was he even going to get him on the team? The very concept intrigued and interested me... And it got me to buy the book.

Sometimes it takes writers doing unexpected things to bring new people in. Paul Levitz (and Earth-Man) got me hooked on Legion of Super-Heroes. For that along, they get my vote.

Vote Earth-Man

What, you thought I was joking? In fact, I was deadly serious. If you haven't already voted I'm asking you to throw your support behind Earth-Man.

Now, I'm sure you're asking why I would support Earth-Man for Legion Leader. That's a very good question. After all, you're probably also thinking that Earth-Man is a narcissistic xenophobic A-hole. And that I'm not the kind of person who would vote for someone like that. All of these things are true. The difference here is that none of this is real.

If this were a real thing then I would absolutely vote for someone else. Earth-Man is a terrible jackass and no one like him should be anywhere near elected office. But as Glenn put it over on his blog, voting for Earth-Man makes the most story sense.

Stories are driven by dramatic conflict. And since being foisted on the Legion Earth-Man has done nothing but drive conflicts. I'm not someone who's usually all that interested in the Legion. But watching how the other Legionnaires interact with Earth-Man has been endlessly fascinating.

What happens if one of the other active members is elected leader? They'll get a new leader and things will continue pretty much as normal. But Earth-Man is elected leader? Conflict.

An Earth-Man win would be a huge upset, and I for one would love to see the current creative team tackle just such a story. So once again: vote for Earth-Man.

Vote for Legion Leader

It's that time of year again, friends. It's time for us to look forward to the future and choose a new leader for our Legion of Super-Heroes!

There are many members to choose from. Some have held the position before; others would be new to a position of leadership.

But in these troubled times the Legion can ill afford the tired leadership of the past. Nor can it thrive under the stewardship of an untested leader.

No, the Legion needs both fresh eyes and proven leadership. There is only one man who is both new to the Legion as well as an experienced leader. You know him well, my friends. You know him as...

Yes, the only real choice for Legion leadership is Earth's native son, Kirt Niedrigh... Better known as Earth-Man!

Though new to the team, Earth-Man has proven himself time and again to his fellow Legionnaires. Furthermore, he has a record of experience as leader, something few of the other candidates can claim.

Now, it's true that Earth-Man has had his ups and downs. And he's made some mistakes. But who among us hasn't done things of which we are not proud? Earth-Man has done his time and is a better man for it. Instead of looking back, he's looking forward... Forward to the future and the Legion of Super-Heroes!

So vote early. Vote often. And vote for Earth-Man!

Thursday Night Thinking #161

Thursday Night Thinking returns with more covers from Strange Adventures!

Would the frog really call it an "undersea city" if he were unfamiliar with the "ocean of air"? And aren't frogs amphibians anyway?

Omega Effect

Dang... I did it again. I missed a day of posting right after I'd affirmed my desire to post more regularly. To be fair, yesterday was a terrible day. Absolutely dreadful. But that's neither here nor there; today is a new day. Specifically Comic Book Day!

I particularly enjoyed this weeks Justice League of America. I feel like James Robinson is finally hitting his stride here. I read an interview recently where he talks about trying to create new villains. Usually I'm a little leery bout that; there are plenty of great villains out there already.

But I'm not always adverse to coming up with new bad guys. After all, this is a new league. Why shouldn't it have new villains? And when you get ones who looks a cool as the new "Omega," you're not going to get me to complain too much.

Looking Ahead

I'm going to be honest: I'm a bit embarrassed by this blog.

Now, I'm not embarrassed that I read and write about comic books. Or that I lend space to a supervillain. No, I'm embarrassed because I don't post enough.

I mean, honestly; four days out of seven? You would think I could do better than that. I enjoy writing this blog, but sometimes time gets away from me, especially during the weekends. And Doctor Polaris and Azrael can't shoulder a burden that is mine alone to bear. I'll try to get things in a shape a bit more, but as a graduate student I can no promises.

Anyway: Cassandra Cain! She got mentioned in a comic last week! By name. By Batman. Does this bode well for the future? I do not know. But I can tell you this: the explanation Batman gives for her disappearance (retcon though it may be) really helps said disappearance make more sense.

Cassandra was always the surrogate child who tried the hardest to please Batman. She looked up to and idolized him a way similar -- but still very different -- to the other bat-kids. She wanted to make him proud of her in the way her real father never could.

As such, if he told her that he wanted her to do something in the case of his disappearance or death she would follow those instructions. Because as much as she always idolized him she also trusted him. And because she -- like Tim -- probably never believed that he would stay gone.

I'm also happy to hear (again, retcon or not) that Tim has maintained contact with Cassandra. Though the two of them are very different people, they share a lot in common. Though they were never close during their time together they are kindred spirits of a sort.

I'm hoping that Cassandra gets some serious face time in Red Robin. I hope the dangling plot-threads left behind by her disappearance can be tied up. But most of all I hope she finds a place where I can go back to reading about her every month.

Thursday Night Thinking #160

Sorry there was no post yesterday; I had a big exam today and spent all day yesterday in my office. So I didn't get out to the comic shop.

But today is a different day. Today is Thursday. That means Thursday Night Thinking!

Batman is back. Will his thinking be as good as it was in the old days?

Brightest Day #13 Cover

Check out this cover for Brightest Day #13:

Is that my old favorite Resurrection Man I spy? I think it is! I can't imagine who else it could be in that hat.

Thank God for Geoff Johns and his love of obscure characters...

Read Freedom Fighters

Let me guess: you're not reading Freedom Fighters. That's okay; I forgive you.

But you really should be reading Freedom Fighters. Somehow over the past few years Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have turned into some of my favorite writers. I don't know how it happened. But I'm glad it did.

Anyway, Freedom Fighters is shaping up to be a really fun book. And "fun" is something we don't find nearly as often as we should in our comics these days. Not only does the book have some delightful fight scenes and some fantastic dialogue -- "I am a God killer!" -- but it's got a fun mystery as well.

I love the concept of "The Hidden History of the United States" as a hook for Freedom Fighters. There's a lot of really great material to mine there, and our humble hosts seem ready to hit the ground running. Why, in the most recent issue the mystery villain was revealed to be this guy:

And we find this out in the second issue. Let me tell you, that's a hell of a lot more satisfying than waiting some six issues to find out that the mystery villain is Solomon Grundy in a suit.

So, to sum up: Freedom Fighters is shaping up to be pretty awesome. Go read it.

Thursday Night Thinking #159

We return again to the eternal Thursday Night Thinking! Tonight: another strange cover from Strange Adventures! Ever since finding these things I've been a bit obsessed with them.

I don't care if it's going to take over the world; I want a mustachioed bouncing green ball as a pet.

No Energy

I had to go to a symposium on medieval Japanese Buddhist today. It was exactly as exciting as it sounds.

As a consequence I'm somewhat fatigued and didn't get the chance to read my books for the week. So I'm regrettably without real content for the night. So here's a random cover from Strange Adventures:

Pop-Up

When I saw this DCU pop-up book my first thought was this: "I have got to get that for my niece."

Now, she's too young to appreciate something like that right now. But in a few years when she starts looking at books and appreciating the pictures I want her looking at a pop-up book with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

You've got to hook them when they're young, you know. I don't want her to eventually fall in with a bad crowd. The type that appreciates Spider-Man or the X-Men. That would be disastrous.

It's important that children be exposed to good influences. Most modern comics probably don't fit with that. But there's no question that some are appropriate for kids. And even if they can't appreciate the Superman comic, they should at least appreciate Superman.

I'm just trying to be a good influence.

Superman Director Found?

Here I was, looking for something to blog about when lo and behold they announce who is directing the next Superman movie.

Here's the thing, though: I don't know anything about this Zack Snyder guy. The only thing of his I've seen was the Watchmen adaptation. I mostly liked it, but that's just one movie after all. He's done other stuff as well. Is he a good director? Bad? Fair to middlin'?

I haven't seen a lot of movies in the past few years. So, to anyone out there more familiar with Zack Snyder's work than I: should I be worried?

Of course, a big part of any future Superman movie will be the script. And I haven't heard anything about that yet. Baby steps, I guess...