Blog Archives
The Green Lantern Movie Kinda Really Stunk
I spent the morning praising Green Lantern, so how about we spend the afternoon taking the piss out of him?
I’m still amazed that we live in a world with an actual, live action Green Lantern movie. Before making Wonder Woman or the Flash, much more popular and simpler characters, Hollywood gave us a Green Lantern film. And as much as I may praise Geoff Johns, not even his collaboration could steer Green Lantern the movie towards being a success. Maybe the problem is that the movie didn’t bother actually using the Green Lantern stories that made the character so popular. Seriously, even with Johns consulting on set, the filmmakers went ahead and changed most of his big ideas for no particular reason. Why would they do that? What possible gain did they foresee?
Now we’ll never get that sequel. At least the gang at CinemaSins can have some fun with it.
My 6 Favorite Things from Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern Mythos
Geoff Johns’ final issue of Green Lantern came out last week, and what better way to say goodbye than by praising his awesomeness? I barely knew anything about Green Lantern before I decided to give Johns’ comics a try, and now the franchise is easily one of my all-time favorites. I wish I was as creative as Johns. His ideas are the kind that nobody else thought of, but once he puts them on the page, you can’t help but recognize their obvious brilliance. And I’m sure he has other good qualities too. Like, maybe he rescues orphaned puppies or something. I don’t know, I’m really only interested in the comics.
Does anybody call it ‘outer space’ anymore?
It’s hard to explain to non-comics fans just how momentous Johns’ Green Lantern series truly was. The best comparison I can think of would be to the rise in Iron Man’s popularity when his first movie came out. Before that film, nobody knew Iron Man. He was a character from the comics, nothing more nothing less. But after the movie, after Robert Downey Jr.’s performance, Iron Man is a household name, and he has headlined three other multi-million dollar movies.
Geoff Johns did the same thing for Green Lantern, at least as far as the comics are concerned. He did it by taking the core Green Lantern concept and expanding it a thousandfold with new ideas and new characters that redefined the franchise. There is so much to love about Johns’ ideas, and here are my 6 favorite.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 5/25/13
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to DC writer Geoff Johns. Oh sure, he’s still going to be writing Aquaman, and a couple Justice League comics, but DC won’t be the same now that Johns is leaving Green Lantern after nearly 10 years on the title. This is a truly sad moment, because none of his other comic work as been as good as his stories on Green Lantern. And he has told some remarkable stories. Green Lantern was a minor character at best before Johns came along. This one guy with his brilliant ideas almost single-handedly made Green Lantern popular enough to warrant a live action big screen movie, in a world where DC only makes Batman and Superman movies. Johns made Green Lantern so popular that he was one of only two superheroes to remain unchanged in the New 52 reboot.
Johns work on Green Lantern is nothing short of spectacular. It’s no wonder DC eventually promoted him to DC’s head of creativity. The guy definitely made me a believer in the awesomeness of Green Lantern.
Fortunately for us all, Johns’ final issue on the series is as good as any other he’s written. Green Lantern #20 easily wins Comic Book of the Week for it’s sheer awesome audacity. Johns threw out all the stops with his final issue, bringing everything his fevered mind could think up to the final party.
Just look at that picture and tell me you don’t love everything about it.
Comic Reviews: Green Lantern #20, Justice League #20, Superior Spider-Man #10, Talon #8, and Uncanny X-Men #6.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/6/13
This week we explore the dichotomy of Brian Michael Bendis. He is one of the most popular comic book writers of our time, and has helped shaped the modern Marvel Universe in ways we can’t grasp now. He is a living legend in the comic book world. But sometimes he can be a really bad writer. I think I know now why Age of Ultron wasn’t given the hype or push of Civil War or Avengers vs. X-Men. It’s a terrible Big Event comic. If Age of Ultron really does rewrite any part of the Marvel Universe beyond just adding a Spawn character to the comics, I will be very disappointed. This may be Bendis’ worst Big Event comic.
But at the same time, Bendis has turned the X-Men franchise into one of the best comics being published today! His work on All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men is some of the best he’s ever written. Almost all of the characters involved are more dynamic than they’ve been in years, and the story itself is one for the history books. It just keeps getting better and better! All-New X-Men #10 easily wins Comic Book of the Week, and I eagerly await the next chapter next week.
Ptui!
Maybe Bendis just drinks a different kind of coffee on the days he’s writing X-Men vs. the days he’s writing Ultron.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #4, All-New X-Men #10, Green Arrow #19, Green Lantern #19, Indestructible Hulk #6 and Superior Spider-Man #7.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/9/13
This week kicks off Marvel’s new Big Event comic the Age of Ultron…but it’s kind of a slow build so far. We’ll have to see if it picks up in the second issue, which comes out next week. Talk about accelerated shipping. Beyond the big stuff, we’ve got a good collection of quality comics. I think I liked every single issue I read this week, everything from the important titles like Avengers and All-New X-Men down to the smaller stuff like Green Arrow and Winter Soldier. Though now that I think about it, I need to buy more independent titles. Seriously, can anyone recommend any good comics that aren’t Marvel or DC?
But until then, I’m going to stick with the big guns, and it actually surprises me to say that Comic Book of the Week goes to Avengers #7! Where did that come from? I have really had it in for this series since issue #1, but Jonathan Hickman really knocked it out of the park this week. He actually made me interested in the New Universe.
They look just as surprised as I am
Let’s hope he can finally write a solid superhero story.
Comic Reviews: Age of Ultron #1, All-New X-Men #8, Avengers #7, Green Arrow #18, Green Lantern #18, Superior Spider-Man #5, Winter Soldier #16.
Henchman-4-Hire 