The Doomino Effect for Oct 29, 2008

I set here writing this comic review in hopes it will take my mind off the impending election results.

Speaking of fearing a takeover of hate-filled creatures, I’ll start off with Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns. I almost chose this as our Book of Doom, but we have been doing so many Geoff Johns books lately (completely unintentionally, but consistently nonetheless) that I opted not to.

Right off the bat, this is probably my least favorite thing I’ve read by Johns, but it might just be Lantern fatigue. I realize this is dangerously early for Lantern fatigue, given what’s coming, but the Red Lanterns just didn’t click with me like the green and yellow ones did.

Doom DeLuise and I were both reading our copies of this over lunch last week, and he commented on how the Yellow Lanterns were so intimidating at first because the yellow rings assembled such an all-star cast of villains — Cyborg Superman, Superboy Prime, the Anti-Monitor and even Batman for a moment. The Red Lanterns just seem like such a group of b-listers by comparison, and it’s a comparison that isn’t aided by the fact that they have a cute and fluffy blue kitten of fury in their ranks. And then there’s their power. They fly around puking blood on people, which set their victims on fire. Sinestro is just airing reruns of his speeches from last year. By the time I got to the surprise revelation of the Blue Lantern, I believe my response was something along the lines of “Oh Jesus.”

There are two things I find slightly promising about this storyline — one being the mystery of this Guardian that seems to be pulling the spectrum strings, and two being what looks to be the beginnings of a possible Sinestro redemption. One thing the slow-moving Secret Origin storyline did was plant some tiny seeds of desire to see Hal Jordan and Sinestro fighting side by side again. Sinestro is a bad enough guy that he doesn’t deserve a full face turn, but I could see him going down fighting in a way that helped the universe, and I’d be cool with that.

Speaking of a bunch of super-powered scary people bursting on the scene, that leads me to Superman #681, chapter 2 of the New Krypton storyline. Earth’s heroes inform Superman they’re a little bit antsy about the sudden appearance of 100,000 Kryptonians, particularly after a handful caused so much damage not long ago. Superman is still stuck in the unfortunate position of having to lie to everyone — including himself — that he knows everything is going to be okay.

The issue ended really weird. It goes straight from a too-long George W. Bush parody (did he get elected after Lex Luthor was removed from office? I lose track of who the president is in the DC Universe) to the sudden appearance of Doomsday. It was so sudden, I checked a couple of times to make sure I didn’t miss a page.

That was a twist I sure didn’t see coming, but at the same time, Superman is just one Kryptonian and he killed Doomsday once; surely 100,000 Kryptonians can take care of this problem before dinner.

Speaking of villains that look like rocks, that leads me to Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch, which was this week’s Book of Doom.

I’ve actually re-read this issue a few times and I enjoy it more every time. It’s starting to get a little bent and banged up like my comics did when I was a kid.

I still haven’t picked up any more Hellboy comics, though; I’ve got some trades in a box down in the basement that I haven’t unpacked since moving two years ago. I also still haven’t gone exploring in Portugal yet.