IC and GL

Green Lantern 7
Lovely cover with the green guys, GA and GL. I thought this guest pairing would make me more emotional than it did, given that GL/GA was one of my all-time favorite comics. Ah well. You really can't go back to some things and recapture the feelings. Nostalgia is funny that way.

I am loving the slick paper, covers and inside pages. Makes for nice, vibrant colors. The banter between Hal and Ollie was well done and there were nice character bits, but I was a bit disappointed that Ollie's dream included Connor and not Roy. hmmmmm.... Anytime Roy's ignored, I get a bit peeved, so that's not a complaint about the comic, just my bias getting in the way. But still.... Nice start for the story, though, so I'm hoping the next issue is as good.

Infinite Crisis 4
This just gets better and better. So much so, it's actually tempting me to go back and actually read Crisis on Infinite Earths. All of it. Fortunately, I keep coming to my senses. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. I loved the multi-verse. As a kid growing up reading DC comics, I never had trouble telling everyone apart or what Earth they were from. I loved alternate realities in books and TV shows, too. The Mirror Universe on Star Trek, for ex. And now Stargate has been playing with the concept. Frederick Pohl's The Coming of the Quantum Cats and many other science fiction novels. I happen to think parallel time is cool. So, if we end up back to one timeline, one universe, I'll be disappointed, but I also know that the theory goes thusly: Every decision point can lead to an alternate reality. So from some point in the DCU after consolidation, more universes can be spun off once more as decisions are made, with all the alternate decisions and their ramifications. Some realities will be very similar, while others will be very different. Consolidation does not mean it has to be that way forever. I take solice in that, even if DC never follows up.

Okay, on to IC 4. This is a wonderful look at how even the noblest heroes can be corrupted, how good people can end up doing bad things for what they think are justifiable reasons. Superboy's battle with uh, Superboy (Conner) is a case in point.

A lot was packed in here. There was a lot to read, which is why I didn't read it right away (as in on the subway ride home), but saved it for when I had time to concentrate. The tying up of a lot of incidents to Alex and the Psycho-Pirate filled in a lot of gaps and snipped loose ends. Now we know for certain why OMAC went rogue and the true intent behind the Society of Villains, the attack on magic, and what happened with Shazam and with the Spectre.

We also took the big step to a new Blue Beetle and Spectre (the latter set in motion by the Day of Vengeance Special), so things are starting to come together in a big way. Of course, had I realized just how this month's Nightwing fit in with IC, I would have read it after, or at least, the events in Bludhaven wouldn't have been so startling when I read NW on the subway ride home on Wednesday.

Stuff I loved:

• The delicious art. It really doesn't get better than this. Every character is drawn as an individual, which in a crowded book like this, is no mean feat.
• Bruce and Dick's conversation. Bruce: "You've put an importance on keeping up relationships that I neglected. You care." YES! And Bruce: "The early years. I've forgotten if...They were good for you, weren't they?" Dick: "The best."
• Spectre resisting entering his new host, begging for another chance.
• The pitiable and pitiful Superboy after he's killed: "You're ruining me!" So unheroic to put blame on others. Too immature to see the evil that he's done.
• Jay admitting he's not fast enough, followed by Linda grabbing the babies and heading into the speed force: "Wherever you're going-- your family's coming with you."
• Bart's: "Grandpa?"
• The montage of Lois and Clark's life together (don't they number pages anymore so I can cite them?)
• And finally, Supes 2: "We're here, Lois. We're home."

I can't wait for IC 5.