Reign of the Supermen #78: Super-Squirrel

Source: Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew #14-15 (1983)
Type: Alternate EarthBonus Thursday of Two Worlds!
Hailing from Earth-C-Minus, Earth-C's answer to Earth-2, Super-Squirrel is the most powerful member of Just'a Lotta Animals (JLA). With his Chiptonian powers, he defends Muttropolis from the likes of Lex Lemur and Brainy-Yak. His only weaknesses are chiptonite and a certain jealousy regarding Captain Carrot when their two worlds get caught up in the "Crisis on Earth-C".
In the end, the pompous Squirrel learns that it's not a competition. In fact, it looks like funny animal superheroes HAVE to stick together.
Birds of a feather, and all that...

Great Easter Liveblog Challenge: Good Friday

A four-day weekend, and I see it as the perfect opportunity to get through my immense stack of comics. Even putting aside series that could suffer their own liveblog because I'm so late with them, graphic novels, sundry trades and books I've given up on with a couple issues lying fallow, I still make it out to be well over 100 comics. Gah! That got away from me fast!
But Siskoid, wouldn't it be faster if you didn't Liveblog them? Why yes, pesky voice inside my computer, but Liveblogging gives me a MOTIVATION.
Added difficulty: It's Easter weekend, and I also have to do Easterly things, like clean up the appartment, eat copiously, have friends over for mucho Guitar Hero, craft some Doctor Who cards, cripes! WATCH THE NEW DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL and take care of the usual blogging. So consider the post live and open until I actually go to bed, but there may be large gaps as my so-called real life intrudes.

Let's start with the least anticipated book of the post-Final Crisis season...
Flash: Rebirth #1: It may be fitting to start Easter Weekend with a resurrection story, and you know, once you get past the politics of it (i.e. that you considered Barry Allen's death "permanent"), it's not a bad one. I liked Flash's reflections on his fellow heroes and on how the world has changed, I liked the Rogues' reactions, I liked the Black Flash stuff, I liked the nods and winks at continuity, and I'm a total sucker for a Flash of Two Worlds homage:So while not mind-blowing, I'm ready to add the word "yet" to that phrase. On the Power Girl preview... Fun art, but nothing to really make me care.

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade #4: I just now noticed this was a 6-issue mini-series. Boooo. And this one has it all too. Supergirl blowing her secret identity in front of Lena Luthor, evil Streaky the Supercat, a Doctor Who reference... This one deserves to be ongoing!

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade #5: Graduation Day Part I has a nice mirror/Bizarro cover to match Supergirl #1, Streaky the Super-Saber-Toothed Tiger, Comet the Super-Horse, a Legionnaire Supragirl, Supergirl's classmates being turned into Bizarros, and the evil principal is WHO?!? Can I already start hoping for Cosmic Adventures in the 9th Grade?

Supergirl #39: In actual continuity, Supergirl's after Superwoman who's working with Reactron. It's the continuation of the New Krypton storyline, which I'm enjoying. Bit of a slow chapter.

Superman #686: So like Action Comics, Superman ALSO doesn't feature Superman. So much for what it says on the tin. Well, he's there, but in a series of flashbacks where he sets up Mon-El's new life as Metropolis' protector. James Robinson has always been good at creating a life for the environment, and that's what he does for Superman's hometown here. Seeing Bibbo again fills me with delight, as does the idea that Steel is the city's anti-Luthor now.

Superman: World of New Krypton #2: And Robinson does the same thing with New Krypton. There's a Labour Guild revolution brewing and while Superman - sorry, Commander El - runs his military unit as he sees fit against thought beasts, how is he going to fare against revolutionaries he agrees with? WNK takes Superman into uncharted territory, and yet he's still himself. Maybe those 15 Superman-less months aren't going to be that painful.

Tiny Titans #14: Features a product for The Aquaman Shrine.Charming as always. Especially the chocolate cake recipes.

Green Lantern #39: The Orange Lanterns make their arrival known. I love the "War of Light" arc, and Johns does a good job of giving the emotional spectrum an allegorical bent (Hope is nothing without Will, so of course the Blue Lanterns can't do a blasted thing with out a Green Lantern around). I do think the art's a little confusing at times, especially when alien anatomy is so radically different. Not always sure who or what I'm looking at sometimes. Pretty though.

Invincible Iron Man #12: Iron Man vs. Namor. The Controller. Oh my, Madame Masque! Despite the Dark Reign connection, I'm loving this series. Pepper's Iron Maiden helmet does take some getting use to though.

GUITAR HERO BREAK!

Secret Warriors #3: May I just preface by saying the Wolverine Art Appreciation variant covers are totally gratuitous, irrelevant and STUPID, no matter how many Wolverine movies come out this year? Anyway, Secret Warriors? Pretty cool. The Contessa and Dum Dum spare an appearance, and while the Warriors aren't quite up to snuff yet, Nick Fury......is frickin' cool.

Frank Castle the Punisher #69: In an effort to pad the trade, I think this thing's just a chapter too long. And this chapter is the padding.

Black Lightning Year One #6: A nice finale, especially BL's narration. Plus, Tobias Whale becomes Tobias Whale (I was worried there for a minute). This is another of those Year One minis that I wish were an ongoing reboot. This is a Jefferson Pierce I could read every month. I really don't care for him in team books, or for his contemporary set-up, for that matter.

Batman: Gotham After Midnight #11: The penultimate chapter takes the battle with Midnight to Gotham historical village. Still great art, though I do think Jones' Catwoman is a little wonky.Batman Confidential #28: Speaking of great Batman art... The Garcia-Lopez/Nowlan team is one that really should be on a regular Batman book (if they still existed). I still say the King Tut introduction was only okay, but what a great Riddler DeFilippis & Weir have given us!

VERVOID BREAK!
Ok, that was scary... In all the wrong ways...And now...
Amazing Spider-Man #588: John Romita Jr. draws the HELL out of Spidey's jail break and the ensuing climactic fight with Menace. Pete's last thought: A highlight. So much stuff gets wrapped up, I have to wonder where the series will go next. Thankfully, I'm late enough to have a few more issues to read.

Amazing Spider-Man Extra #3: I still don't know why we need an Extra when the series is already thrice-monthly. So why is the epilogue to the latest story arc NOT in the series proper, for example? That first story by Guggenheim is pretty depressing, to tell you the truth. Joe Kelly's makes me realize that the trademark Osborn hair doesn't work in every art style. Dale Eaglesham's, for example.
Doesn't look normal, does it? As for the Phil Jimenez Kraven Girl story, it's not bad, but largely irrelevant. Sigh.

Amazing Spider-Man #589: Whooo the Spot! I used to have his original appearances in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, but traded them away for my missing issue of Son of Ambush Bug. I'm not sorry, but I am, y'know? I don't remember him being so violent though. Anyway, cool story by Fred van Lente, with a great nod to the Batman movies. Oh! It's Friday, isn't it? Let's call this the Friday Night Fights portion of our liveblogging.
Amazing Spider-Man #590: So did this adventure in the Macroverse really happen on paper? Or is Slott making it all up? Uatu Protocols, heh. While I don't care much about the Macroverse stuff (except how much Ben Grimm wants to clobber giant lizards with cannons), Slott is actually addressing the fact no one remembers Spider-Man's identity. Looks like Mephisto's spell is wearing thin!

R.E.B.E.L.S. #2: Vril Dox betrays just about every ally he has, and that's just the way I like him. And hey! Is this the first appearance of the 21st-century version of Dawnstar's people? Bedard's surprisingly badass in this thing, and I'm actually excited about Vril freeing all the planets under L.E.G.I.O.N. domination. Unfortunately, his ship looks like a toilet seat. It's not just me, is it?

G.I. Joe #3: The Pit is under siege by Destro's robots, and quite cleverly, they're after G.I. Joe's servers. Meanwhile, Destro and the Baroness are fighting, making me believe we're seeing the origin of their relationship (and Destro's mask?). Never though I'd be excited about a G.I. Joe comic.

G.I. Joe #4: Still a ton of fun.

G.I. Joe Cobra #1: So I thought this one would finally feature Cobra Commander, but no dice. Unless he's Chuckles' meet. And for a while there, I thought our main character would turn out to be IDW's version of Zartan, which would have been really cool. But no, this is Joe story first and foremost, and I have a new favorite G.I. Joe.

G.I. Joe Origins #1: Larry Hama returns to G.I. Joe! Nice stuff too. I loved the initiation episodes of The Unit, and this is basically Duke's and Scarlett's, with Snake Eyes thrown into the mix. And a really creepy former Green Beret who wears part of a Goya painting as a mask.
Brrr.

G.I. Joe Origins #2: Roadblock makes an appearance on his own "try-out". A lot of cool bits, including Snake Eyes' funeral.

G.I. Joe Movie Prequel #1: Duke: So another "origin" story, this time for the movie continuity. I don't know if the movie will be any good, but this adventure starring a pre-Joe Duke is a good special ops comic. I'd read stuff like this on a regular basis, no Cobra needed.

G.I. Joe Movie Prequel #2: Destro: Now if the movie has something to offer, it's Christopher Eccleston as Destro. I AM going to have trouble not thinking of him as Doctor Who if this is how he dresses though:
Destro has some cool tricks and weapons, but the issue's quality drops dramatically if you know how to read French. Wow is there a lot of bad French in this thing! Here's a small sample:
I'm not sure what the first guy is going on about, but the second is saying "Send in the units" in Babel Fish. At best, it's word for word literal translation thanks to the magic of the Internet. At worst, the dialogue is completely incomprehensible. And there's a LOT of it. Entire pages where Destro is the only English speaker. EPIC FAIL!

OK TO BED!!! See ya tomorrow!

Supergirl of Nine Worlds

Ok, ok, one last volley of Supergirl deaths and then I'm done. I promise, we'll leave one alive.







I guess I was wrong. But maybe Mary Marvel can sub in...?
Oh.

Bad Taste of Two Worlds

Some worlds will live, some will change, but some will most definitely die. And if the Monitors are too slow about it, Siskoid's gonna step in. He's especially sensitive to Earths of Bad Taste and those are all going. Imagine a multiverse without the Mary-Jane-Doing-the-Wash statue, without Hentai Heroes for Hire, without Bloody Mary Marvel or Kitchen Floor murders.

Here then, just before going in a ball of flame, the offending Earths doing the Death of Supergirl cover. First up, Earth-Z.Oh Earth-Z, how tedious you've become. It's not so much that all the superheroes are zombies that offends me - that's Earth-Z's whole premise - it's the apple. If it's not too late, avert your eyes. YER GONE!*

And another way NOT to do that cover, from Earth-9-11:
What offends me here is not that it's "too soon" (though I don't do jokes about the Alamo for the same reason), but that it's a reference to a comic book cover in the context of 9/11. Really they're saying "Hey geeks, remember how you felt when you saw Supergirl die? Well this is exactly like that?" YER GONE!!**

*Unfortunately, these events may happen in some unknown future when Marvel has finally driven its Zombies fad well into the pavement.
**Probably taking with it a most snarling iteration of G.I. Joe.

Mice of Two Worlds

After Mice on Infinite Earths...
After Secret Rats...
After Chinchilannium...
After Hamstergeddon 2001...
After Gerbil War...
...Earth-M finally takes a loss:Siskoid's Crisis: There's no stopping us now.

Major Bummer of Two Worlds

Siskoid's Crisis continues to pile up the bodies. Hey, the Monitors made me do it. This Thursday's casualty: Major Bummer.The Major Bummer of Earth-D had a really fun series at about the same time DC Comics decided "really fun" meant "up for cancellation" (see: Young Heroes in Love, Chronos, Chase, et al.). So I didn't kill Major Bummer, DC did. YOU did, you unappreciative, cheap non-buyers, you!

"Two Worlds, Siskoid?" You say, totally ignoring my righteous anger. "That's just one world."

Well I hear AiT/PlanetLar plans to republish Arcudi and Mahke's Bummerful work in hardcover. Both these guys have garnered more attention since the late 90s, so could a revival be far behind. Could we be seeing the Major Bummer of Earth-A/P?

Crying Superman of Two Worlds

Been a while since a Supergirl was killed in this incessant Crisis. Gotta give the people what they want. And I'm fresh out of bread and circuses.Just goes to show that Superman's a cryer in any reality.

With all the dead ends and restarts suffered by Wonder Woman, Supergirl and even the Flash, are the Monitors trying to tell us something through this cover by well known Monitor shill, Alex Ross?

Firestorm of 52 Worlds

Every Thursday, the Crisis rages on within this blog's code through the magic of something called HTML. Oh, and quantum mechanics may be involved as well (they don't just fix your car by before you brought it, they'll change the oil on your multiverse for free). You know what those mechanics told me?

Even if someone gets killed, there's always 51 other versions waiting to take their place.Like poor Jason Rusch, the latest iteration of the nuclear man. New Earth has just lost its Firestorm and we're having open auditions! And look who's shown up...
-Good ol' Firestorm of Earth-1, the Ronnie/Stein two-fer;
-The post-Crisis fire elemental;
-Firestorm of Earth-El, who's given himself to the cult of Superman (bottom left);
-In the first issue of Fury of Firestorm I ever bought, he was turned into a were-hyena, but on Earth-Z, he stayed that way;
-Near the top right, there's Firestorm of Earth-23, who's never been able to contain his nuclear flame very well (cancer for everyone, yay!).

Who else can you spot?

Valor of Two Worlds

Whether you were an "S" or not, if you're in the El family, you're fair game in Siskoid's Crisis.Nooooooooooooooo. That wasn't Mon-El, that was Lar Gand! The Post-Crisis Valor!

Well, in a crossover like this, even with 52 Monitors on the job, mistakes are bound to happen. I mean really. It's Legion history. Who can keep it straight? Even within a single timeline, you might have to contend with two of them. Like in the back here? Grieving? That's the SW6 Legion, younger clones of the 2996 Adult Legion. Oh wait, maybe the adults are the clones. See what I mean?

Crisis wipe slate clean... NOW!!!

S-shirt of Two Worlds

When it comes to dying in Siskoid's Crisis, the Superman Family is more than unusually vulnerable. Maybe because they're such crybabies.Supergirl deflects a bullet this week, but Draaga bites it.

Shouldn't have worn that shirt, man. Shouldn't have worn that shirt.

Funny Animals of Two Worlds

Just to give Supergirl a break from all the dying...On what Earth does Hoppy the Marvel Bunny live? And is it the same as Super-Turtle? Hoppy is a funny animal version of Captain Marvel (from Earth-S), but Super-Turtle is obviously a take-off on Superman (Earths-1 and -2). HOWEVER, Hoppy has interacted with Cap, while Super-Turtle has never done so with any variation on Superman. So they might be from the same world and Turtle just never met Cap (always late to the Marvel Family potlucks). Or he might be on his own Earth somewhere, along with other slow-moving superheroes like Bat-Snail, Wonder Sloth or the UnFlash.

I guess we'll never be able to ask the little guy now... Damn you Siskoid's Crisis!

Supergirl of Two More Worlds

Siskoid's Crisis continues, and the body count piles up. The good news is, only Supergirls have turned up dead at this point, so all the other heroes are safe. The bad news is, the Animated Universe's Supergirl has been counted among the dead. But wait! Isn't there a white-shirted Supergirl on Earth-1 now?The Monitors have decided that there can only be one, and it has to be the Supergirl of Earth-Skank.

Truly, there is no God in the Multiverse.

Supergirl of Two Worlds

Well, you voted so you're to blame. Siskoid's Crisis has escalated and 36% of you think Supergirl has to die (again). A further 31% want someone to die, just not Supergirl. And the other 31% are just sick of all the violence. To them I say:Aww, she's dead again. But it would have happened anyway when Earth-Olivia-Newton-John was wiped from the multiverse (and the Xanadu pocket dimension along with it).

Good thing we still have Animated Earth's Supergi--BAM!
Oh nooooooooooooooo...

Be afraid Supergirls, be very afraid...

Megaton Man of Two...umm Three, No! Four... Whatever... Worlds

We've been lied to. They say there are only 52 Earths, but we know better. Each of those 52 Earths is the "first among many" for 52 more Earths, and those are too, and so on. Earth-F (the Fiascoverse)'s Megaton Man just learned that lesson all too well.Coming chin-to-chin with a counterpart, he failed to see all the other counterparts waiting in the wings. And the Tick hasn't even shown up yet. Who will win this Cosmic Chin-Off? Worlds hang in the balance!

POLL

Is it about time Siskoid's Crisis started racking up casualties?
Click to answer the poll

Adam Strange of Two Worlds

It's always Earth-This and Earth-That, but what about those other planets? Rann-12 for example, where world wars are waged with a giant magnifying glass...Oh yeah, yeah, there's an Earth-12 in there too, blowed up good in World War III (no, the OTHER World War III).

But wait, what's this? The same story told on Earth-Not-Prime has a very similar Rann-12 and Earth-12.
I know I may be biased, but our Earth has much better depictions of nuclear strikes, don't you think?

Archies of Two Worlds

Worlds live and worlds die... but what about the children? Or rather, what about the eternally teenage Archies gang! Well, in the last Archie Comics Crisis, their Earth was split in twain, with Betty on one world, and Veronica on the other. Each with their own Archie. Perfect right?As you can see, on Archie-Earth-1, women's basketball is incredibly popular. On Archie-Earth-2, Veronica has a full grown son in the crowd. Well, both these absurdities are begging for Archie-style Monitors (sometimes known as Hall Monitors) to wipe their respective histories.

And so... an Archie Crisis:
As both Earths start to merge, the thin orange line between them is about to find out the meaning of DATING HELL! (Again.) (And all will be right with Archie-Earth once more.)

Legion of Two Worlds

Worlds live, worlds die, worlds merge, and some worlds? Some worlds BECOME. And there's no world that becomes more often than the 30th-century world of the Legion of Super-Heroes.In the 30th century, Earth-60 and Earth-90 jockey for control. Is there a numerical pattern there? It doesn't quite have the current coolness of "52" or the Hitchhikery ridiculousness of "42", or even the pump action of "24", but there's a Crisis on, so who knows what's going on?

Which 3rd Millenium will reign supreme? A future of flat colors, pink costumes and treating Superboy like a chump? Or a dark and gritty future of cannibal transgendered Daxamites (that last word sounds way dirtier than I remembered) in dirty trenchcoats? Only the Monitors know for sure, but I know which one I want to live in!

Green Lantern of Two Worlds

"Oh Siskoid's Crisis! Why you go and make us cry?"

Well, my little citizens of Earth-Prime, because worlds must live and worlds must die, and I enjoy the occasional (read: eternal) crossover once in a while (read: at all times). This week, it's all about the Big 2 - the two original Earths.On Earth-1, Hal Jordan is Green Lantern, facing with a yellowish monster (will his ring be able to help him?). His biggest advantage is liberal rabble-rouser Green Arrow, so you know they're gonna leave a trail of illegitimate children behind.

On Earth-2, Alan Scott is Green Lantern, facing a similar monster with silly putty scale armor (silly putty isn't a wood product by any chance?). His biggest advantage is a bad case of gas. No? That's not an advantage you say? Ok, how about this: His biggest advantage is that he DOESN'T hang out with Green Arrow.

As the monsters merge into their Earth-1.5 amalgam, our two GLs must band together (with Green Arrow in the role of the nosy neighbour). Let the new multiverse begin! (As soon as the Monitor Committee approves my funding.)

Blue Beetle of Two Worlds

The final Crisis is coming... FINAL, you hear that? But in the meantime, the Umpteenth Crisis rages on at the Blog of Geekery (AKA Multiverse-Prime/apple/alpha-1). This week, the Blue Beetle of Earth-4 fights for his very existence against the Blue Beetle of Earth-..., uhm, Earth-...Ok, now they're just putting these alternate heroes out there before they're ready...

Mantra of Two Worlds

Like on every thursday, worlds live and worlds die and heroes cross over to the great beyond or a new Earth. Have we checked in with Earth-U yet?This week, the Mantra of Earth-U is shocked to see the Mantra of Earth-U90 has an impossible bust size. Ironically, she's fine with the "broken back" posture she's already exhibiting.

Multiversal truism: The Monitors can tell which Earth's Power Girl they're looking at by bust size alone.