The Future of Green Arrow

Go here. And read this.

I'm still smarting about the comment about how Ollie was only important because of his connection to other characters. False. I do feel that he had some great relationships going on (how dare they talk about pairing him with a Green Lantern OTHER than Hal?) but he was more than that. (And I LOVED him with Black Canary, as we are all aware. I thought it was a well developed, realistic relationship that had plenty to work with after they were together. The will-they, won't-they that happens so often in comics ((COUGH COUGH BATMAN AND CATWOMAN COUGH SNORT CHOKE)) gets old real quick.) Plus, the realistic nature of those relationships cannot be overlooked.

And what about that whole "the core of the character is self-doubt" thing? I'm not sure I buy that.

I don't know.

Thoughts? Reed? Anyone?

Not even Wonder Woman supports this

Yes. I mean this:

You're as horrible as I remember.

I was rereading GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY: THE WEDDING ALBUM

You were so happy once.

remembering how characters used to be together after years and years and years of character development and, after the announcement of Ollie's impending marriage to Dinah, we get this little gem of conversation between Superman and Wonder Woman:

Wonder Woman: It'll weaken them.
Superman: Marriage weakens people?
WW: That's not what I... Clark, I didn't mean to imply --
SM: Then what?
WW: I don't doubt that they're meant to be together. But it doesn't mean that they should be together. It just worries me is all. I'm not sure people like them... People like us... should marry other people like us. We should be with people who are an oasis. Who live outside this life. Like what you did.
SM: I think they're going to great.
WW: Of course you do, Clark.

I included the last two lines cause I love how adorable Superman is.

BUT DID YOU READ THAT? WONDER WOMAN JUST SAID WHAT I SAID IN THAT POST I MADE ABOUT HOW MUCH I HATE SUPERMAN AND WONDER WOMAN BEING TOGETHER. I totally agree with her. She knows what up. Clark belongs with Lois. End of story. Thank you. Have a good day.

You never get any prettier.

Yet another reason I'm not liking the new 52. Maybe I should make a list of reasons. Somewhere near the top:

 Red Robin. YUM! (Except no because I hate this.)

Tim looks so freaking stupid in this it makes me feel physical anger. Cool. NOT. I HATE YOU.

Is this an Arrow recap?

Currently watching Arrow. Convinced more than ever that mysterious blond woman is China White. Or just an evil white/blond assassin of doom. Not impressed by Oliver's attempt at doing a Batman voice. The Green Arrow I know and love doesn't try to sound gruff and intense. He comes off sounded like he's bad at acting. That thing at the beginning with the fan blades and the dude's face: Oh, hello, Bruce, I didn't see you there.

This is the best I could do.

I'll be back next commercial break.

Back again! "Applied Sciences Division." That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that?

Thanks Lucius.

I know it's probably, like, a term or whatever but I can't help pointing out the similarity. ALSO why does Oliver's mother act like he WASN'T JUST ON AN ISLAND ALONE FENDING FOR HIS LIFE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS. His irresponsibility is less charming now? HE CLEARLY HAS PTSD, WOMAN! GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF! I like being on the island with Ollie way more than being in "Starling City." That part with his father and the seagulls in the boat seriously broke my heart. HELLLLOOOOOOOO CHINA WHITE.You're sinister. And your hair looks fake.

It has to be.

See you in a few!

Hello again. Scars = battle with Deathstroke.

Ta da! Does this mean Ollie won?

Stop getting mad at Oliver for not wanting to talk to you guys because he is seriously traumatized and it takes more than a WEEK to get over all the emotional scarring someone's been through. OMG THEA STOP COMPARING THIS STUFF AND SERIOUSLY YOU THINK IT MAKES HIM FEEL NOT HORRIBLE WHEN YOU TELL HIM YOU KIND OF STILL WISH HE WAS DEAD BECAUSE LIVING OLLIE SUCKS MAJOR MONKEY BALLS? It's okay Dinah, I couldn't say no to him either. Dinah, you're being really mean... I SHIP DINAH AND OLLIE SO HARD RIGHT NOW OMG I love you now Laurel. This scene has redeemed you in my eyes. BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

This show just got more enjoyable.

Dear Ollie, I think Diggle (You know Andy Diggle? He wrote GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE) is your Alfred.

He's not nearly as cute thought.

Also, shouldn't more people make the connection between Oliver's return after five years and the "hooded vigilante"s sudden appearance? P.S. GET AWAY FROM ME NEW 52 COMMERCIAL YOU WRECKED GREEN ARROW AND YOU WRECKED TIM DRAKE AND WE NEED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM EACH OTHER FOR A LITTLE WHILE OKAY?

Later...

Why are the captions in all caps? Also, I just can't get the hang of Green Arrow's intimidation tactics. They make me giggle a tiny bit. That fight with China White seemed kind of pointless and stupid. Are you just trying wet my appetite CW? OH SHUT DOWN LAUREL'S DAD GREEN ARROW SO TOTALLY WON YOU THAT CASE. The person they need to see you as? You mean Bruce Wayne 2.0? Wait, so Tommy doesn't want Laurel? He's loyal to Oliver? For now. NO OLIVER I HATE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW. IT'S ALL A LIE IT'S NOT REAL AND STUPID AND IT'S MAKING ME WANT TO SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM. Okay that part about Walter being his new dad made me giggle. Didn't we just do this whole "I'm not what you want/think/whatever" thing last week with Laurel? I kind of want to cry, like, a lot right now. I hate you Arrow for making me care.

"He's going to jail Emily for the rest of his life because Green Arrow got us a confession. I'm not totally sure what I did here." Wouldn't Laurel still need some protection because wouldn't China White and Co. go after her? Green Arrow's an anarchist... That's not really but kind of the closet we've gotten to the real Ollie I know and love. Still, I can't make myself hate this show. Curse you, CW, curse you. OH LOOK, more treacherous momma Queen crap. The yacht was sabotaged?!! What's that weird symbol mean. WHY IS HIS MOM EVIL?! Oh, Ollie, you're breaking my heart right now with the grave and the speech and the waaahhhhhhhhh. Wait, did Green Arrow just shoot Green Arrow? PLOT TWISTS OR SOME OTHER CONFUSING STUFF.

OOOOOOHHHHHHH DEADSHOT IS IN NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE. That makes it kind of exciting, right? Whatever. I'll keep watching this show and I'll probably hate myself a little more ewith every new instance I like. Meh. I still miss the real Oliver Queen.

Hello beautiful.

Edit: I just read a recap of last night's episode and the recapper kept referring to not-Ollie as "Arrow." Does that mean CW's dropping the "Green"? Unsure how I feel about this... 

Edit Edit: I've been watching (why?) and they call him "The Hood" like Robin Hood or the hood he wears or how about that is so stupid OMG why?

Superman: Brainiac

I bought a bunch of Superman comics off of Amazon a month or so ago because I just really like Superman. I hate when people hate Superman. Seriously. It is one of my biggest pet peeves and let me tell you why, Reed. People can have their own opinions, of course and if those opinions are different than mine then, well, wonderful! We can an interesting and exhilarating discourse on why you think what you think and why I think what I think. But I cannot have discourse with most of the people I meet who hate Superman, Reed. This is why. This is how the conversation usually goes.

Me: Yeah, I love Batman. He's my favorite. Superman's a close second.
Them: Oh, I hate Superman.
Me: Really? Why?
Them: He's way overpowered.
Me: Have you read a lot of Superman comics?
Them: I haven't read any.

ANY?! NOT A SINGLE ONE?! Then why, imaginary "them" do you have ANY right to give such a rock solid opinion? Why does your opinion end in an a period? It should end in a question mark! Like, "I hate Superman? Maybe?" because you don't know ANYTHING about him. If you don't know anything about him, how can you give an opinion?

I used to be like them, Reed, I used to hate Superman without knowing him. I used think he was stale and overpowered and his stories were bland. I mean, I didn't really start reading comics until I was around sixteen or so, seventeen, maybe, and then I just read Batman comics. And I started on good Batman comics, like THE LONG HALLOWEEN, HUSH, YEAR ONE, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, that kind, like, super legitimate and awesome Batman comics. So, of course, how oculd Superman with all his powers and his indestructableness possibly compare to Batman whose stories had mysteries and a question mark at the end because you don't know if Batman's really going to win this time. Okay, I mean, we know he's going to win but the question you have to ask is "what's he going to lose for winning?" I guess that was a confusing sentence. Sorry. What I mean is, while Batman is focused on solving this murder or finding that criminal, what is going to fall by the wayside? Who's going to get kidnapped or die or disappear while that Bat-attention is focused elsewhere?

I didn't think that question really applied to Superman. I mean, he has SUPER HEARING and he can, like, move faster than the Flash (arguably) who is supposed to be the fastest man alive (and Superman is an alien). So I'm thinking, how on Earth is Superman supposed to ever leave anything to chance? How is Superman ever supposed to be too late?

Let's bring this post back to focus by answering this question. That answer is found in SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC

 

by Geoff Jones and Gary Frank (whose art I love more and more with every issue I read). This was one of the graphic novels I got offline a month or so ago (disclaimer: because I can't find any comic stores near me that I like and also because I just prefer the graphic novels, that's what I read. As a result I have to wait forever for the new 52 issues to be out in volumes, poo poo. Also I will say comic book even if they're not technically comic books. I'm sorry, Reed, but when I hear "graphic novel" I think of manga) and it took me forever to read it. I got, basically, almost every single volume that was from Geoff Jones working on Superman. I don't care what anyone else says, I think Geoff Jones is a really creative, interesting story teller. Already today, I'd read SUPERMAN: LAST SON (so good so good so good, plus, RICHARD DONNER!) and SUPERMAN AND THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES (really really really good as well, plus Gary Frank!) and so I capped it all off with SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC. Best decision of my life, really. Not really. I don't know.

So, anyway, SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC is all about how the true Brainiac has been trying to find Suerpman all this time but he's been failing and Supergirl is all freaked about him because of what he did to Kandor so Superman's like "Imma take the fight to him!"

FOREWARNED! SPOILERS AHEAD!

But what's cool here is this: Superman keeps losing. He'll break out of whatever trap Brainiac puts him in and then he'll knock Brainiac down or whatever and then Brainiac'll be like "foolish Kryptonian you are stupid because you lived amongst the humans on their stupid planet and their culture is primitive and disgusting" (he must have just watched an episode of the Jersey Shore - har har har! you didn't think you'd be getting jokes too, did ya, Reed?) and then he'll trap Supes all over again. And for me, as the reader, I was seriously wondering how Superman was going to pull this off. Because not only did Brainiac keep beating him and sticking painful looking metal needle things in his skull, but Metropolis had been turned into a bottle city and Supergirl was out of action at the moment. So then I'm wondering "how is he going to do this?" Brute strength wasn't doing much good because Brainiac just kept coming back. And I guarantee that any of his "way too many" powers would have had the same effect. So that leaves Superman with the greatest power of all....

Can you guess what it is, Reed?

...

That's right... HIS BRAIN! I've only really seen (in my limited Superman reading experience) Grant Morrison truly utilize the super smart aspect of the character. Most people are like: "Have him punch it really hard or fly really fast and then make some philosphoical rant about do-gooding!" But Geoff Jones did that too in making Superman use his brain to defeat Brainiac. He kicks Brainiac out of the space ship and into a swamp - because Brainiac's been in a mostly sterile environment for at least five centuries, you can imagine this was not good for him in the slightest. So then Superman saved the day!

But none of that is why I cried. And yes, I did cry while reading SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC, but I cry when I read things I find particularly moving. And comics usually move me. Sometime I'll have to tell you about ALL OF THE FEELINGS that overwhelmed me when reading BATMAN AND ROBIN: BORN TO KILL (so much Batfamily goodness).

No, the thing that got me was the answer to the question mentioned above: "How is Superman ever supposed to be too late?" Well in SUPERMAN: BRAINIAC, he was too late. And it cost him big time. Part of me doesn't want to reveal it to you but at the same time... I don't know, Reed, what do you think?

...

...

Okay, listen, MAJOR SPOILER! (And yet it came out in, like, 2008 or something so it's not really a spoiler but whatever)

Superman is too late to save Jonathan Kent. Clark is too late to save Pa. And Pa Kent dies. And I'm, like, what do I do now? Because then they show some funeral pages - just art, no dialogue - and BRUCE IS THERE. See, what you will learn about me fast is that I love the Batman/Superman-Bruce/Clark bromance almost as much as I love the individual characters. And seeing Bruce there, hidden in the shadows granted, showing his best friend support just kills me (like in IDENTITY CRISIS when Clark is one of the few people who attends the very small funeral of Jack Drake). And THEN Clark goes home and he looks through his father's memory chest of all this stuff that made Jonathan think of Clark as he was growing up and this line repeats itself in Clark's memory:

"...if there ARE people that need help, you do what you always do. Don't let ANYONE or ANYTHING get in your way."

And the last page is just a picture of Clark on the ground, head in his hands, crying.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, REED? SERIOUSLY?

It's just beyond words in its complete and utter fabulousness. Like, people hate on Superman and I want to say "read BRAINIAC, read ALL STAR SUPERMAN (please, it's amazing), read GROUNDED." Read any actual Superman story and you'll see why this character is the FIRST and the OLDEST superhero in history. He started the genre, for goodness sake! Superman is amazing (maybe not Bat-mazing, but as close as you can get!) If you don't believe me, you really just need to pick up a comic - but let me recommend you a good one, okay?

Reed, remind me to tell you about ALL STAR SUPERMAN sometime. Oooh! I have to tell you about the new ACTION COMICS: SUPERMAN AND THE MEN OF STEEL. That's just, like, beyond good. When Superman is in the right hands, it's not hard to understand why he's an international symbol of complete and utter awesome.

It's just one of the reasons I love comic books.