expatNERD

Tag: Captain Atom

  • 14 – Comic Book Ninja II

    14 – Comic Book Ninja II

    Everyone loves a good flashback scene. And everyone loves a good origin story. So why not combine the two? Behold! The secret origin of Comic Book Ninja! The ultimate arbitrator that allows everyone to see reason and come to their senses. And last I checked he does not even carry a ninja sword to do so! I mean, if someone in a ninja costume suddenly appeared in front of you and told you to behave, I think you would have no choice but to do so.

    And this is a true story. Armageddon 2001 was frustrating. It took you on a path, introduced a new character called Waverider, and just when you cracked your knuckles and were about to revel in the big reveal, it was taken from you. And it was very obvious what they did.

    Also, if you were a Captain Atom fan at the time and you saw it going where it was supposedly going, I can imagine you were also a bit upset. Whether Captain Atom would turn to the dark side was already explored in his own book by John Ostrander who took the book to its end. Captain Atom literally battled against a dark Captain Atom and won. Or maybe he did not, because I guess you could say the ending was a bit open-ended. But I think good prevailed against evil there.

    But hey, that is comics. And I think the real moral of this story is that you definitely had to be a prick in real life if you had the ability to be rude and call people names to their faces. Now everyone can hide behind their fake names and fake avatars, which gives everyone the ability to be pricks. So why not use your real name when conversing around the internet? I know I sure do!

    I hope you enjoyed the comic and I really think Franka outdid herself with this one.

    -Marv

  • The Power of the Atom

    I must admit, I am still trying to figure out what these Thursday posts will be. But I think it might be wise to mention some current comics that have struck both my and those of my customers’ interest.

    This week, my sights are set on DC Comics and I would like to highlight two series that do have something in common.

    The first is Justice League: The Atom Project. I was a huge fan of Captain Atom in the 80’s by Cary Bates with a big chunk of that drawn by Pat Broderick and truth be told we have not seen much of the big guy as of late. So coming out of the events of Absolute Power, with a bunch of powers being transferred to different characters and others being quite different, I had my eye on this one. It basically brings all three atoms together: Ray Palmer, Ryan Choi and of course Nathaniel Adam. It has beautiful art by Mike Perkins with writing conceived by John Ridley and Ryan Parrott. My DC gang really likes it so far and the only fault I can attribute to it is that it has been announced as a limited series. I do hope it continues to have some legs.

    The second is Action Comics. If you are not in the know, Mark Waid and Clayton Henry did a wonderful twelve parter when the series went weekly for twelve weeks. It was riveting and if you are a fan of Superman do not sleep on those back issues. Plus, it had a Supergirl backup, continuing what Tom King and Bilquis Evely laid down but this time from Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge. That thing moved.

    So needless to say, with Action going back to monthly status, John Ridley and Inaki Miranda have some shoes to fill. And there you have the commonality between my two picks: John Ridley. I am very happy to see him again. He had a great run at DC, writing a lot of the Batman books and also the Other History of the DC Universe, a very thought provoking book that I can heartily recommend to pick up. He was absent for a bit, and dipped his toe here and there on some short stories, but now it seems he’s revving up his presence on the DC line once again. Thus, if you are hesitant on any of the two above titles, don’t be, because you and your money are in good hands with John Ridley.