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Mars Will Send No More

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Mars Will Send No More

Tag Archives: Green Lantern

Bryan Hitch on Justice League

11 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Atom, Bryan Hitch, Green Lantern, JLA, Justice Leage, Justice League of America, Laura Martin, Mark Waid, paul neary, Rao, Superman, Wonder Woman

While everyone else was obsessing over “The Snyder Cut”, I skipped all that and dug up some Justice League issues featuring Bryan Hitch, whose work I loved on The Authority, The Ultimates, and Fantastic Four. Here are the highlights.

In 2000, DC published a “100-Page Spectacular” called Heaven’s Ladder, written by Mark Waid and brought to life by the comic-art dream team of Hitch on pencils, long-time collaborator Paul Neary on inks, and the incomparable Laura Martin on colors. The story begins on the microscopic level as The Atom does microsurgery on viral DNA, then expands to truly epic scale as the most massive spaceship I’ve ever seen steals Earth from its orbit.

Bigger than big, as only Bryan Hitch can render it.

The epic scale is why I recommend reading this book in digital format instead of the perfect-bound paperback format. In the paperback, too much of the art is swallowed by the gutter, the area of book pages that “disappears” near the spine—not just Hitch’s masterful two-page spreads, but even some of the dialogue. It would have worked much better in print if DC broke it into smaller issues in standard, stapled comic-book format so we could open the books all the way to see everything.

Still, the visual splendor is undeniable. What is there not to love about Wonder Woman being a total bad-ass and taking on a fleet of spaceships, wrangling one with her lasso and steering it on a collision course with a planet where it explodes, leaving her to emerge from the flames with a look that wordlessly says, “Is that all you’ve got?”

Lassoing a spaceship?! Go, Diana!

This tale has many great moments like that. I especially love Superman’s line of dialogue as the team goes into combat, where only three words lend all the emotional punch that’s needed on a perfectly rendered double-splash page.

“We’ll handle god.” Nuff said!

Without giving away the plot, I’ll say that Waid’s script includes many thought-provoking concepts, including how different sentient races conceive of the afterlife in different ways. It’s a “thinking man’s” Justice League story, but if you think about it too hard, some of it makes no sense. For example, members of the League are forced to become exposition machines to explain to the reader what is being seen on the page, even when it seems improbable that they would understand the crazy cosmic stuff they are looking at.

Thanks for the exposition, Atom! Where we would we be without you?

Plus, Waid’s use of “science” concepts conveniently ignores plenty of science in service of the plot. For example, a bunch of planets are held in place by some kind of hand-waving gravity thingies, but if planets were really as close to each other as depicted, their gravities would rip each other apart. Worse, the Earth is removed from its orbit and *spoiler alert* gets put back in place at the end. But what about the moon? I can suspend my disbelief to think a giant spaceship took Earth away, even without the ship being crushed into a sphere by its own massive gravity. But I can’t believe that the moon would be waiting for Earth when it got back. The moon would be long gone!

If you can kick back and enjoy the spectacle without overthinking it too much, if you’d love to see the Justice League in a cosmic-level battle drenched in glorious color and eye-popping art, give Heaven’s Ladder a shot.

I looked into more of Hitch’s work on Justice League, and my favorite story is a multi-issue drama where a legendary Kryptonian god named Rao comes to Earth with wonderful gifts and apparently benevolent purposes. He turns out to be a scumbag, and the conflict is not just interplanetary but involves a bit of time travel, too.

Cue the arrival of more god-level starships by Bryan Hitch!

Even with Hitch writing and penciling, we get “sciencey” stuff that ends up making no sense. The thing that bugged me most was how it’s clearly stated that part of the evil plan involves genetically altering humans, but the plot conveniently sweeps that detail under the rug by saying the solution to stopping Rao’s control over humans is an electrical blast. I am willing to suspend my disbelief in favor of the old trope that electricity can do anything—and look awesome while doing it—but you can’t genetically alter the human race then just ignore that.

So, like Heaven’s Ladder, the Rao storyline is one to be enjoyed for its epic scale of conflict and jaw-dropping artwork, just so long as you don’t require your science-fiction to be consistently scientific when it might get in the way of advancing the plot.

Finally, I read the first arc of Justice League that Hitch wrote after the “Rebirth” nonsense at DC. I call it nonsense because DC realized they had screwed up some things with the New 52 and decided the solution was to reveal that Dr. Manhattan from the totally unrelated Watchmen had been altering DC history, leading once again to a complete overhaul of the hapless “DC Universe”.

“Excuse me while I try to talk Superman into doing Superman stuff.”

This is such a stupid idea and such a horrible use of Watchmen characters that I get angry just thinking about it. Back in the 1980s, DC revamped their whole universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it seemed like a decent idea at the time—even a dramatic, exciting, and original one. But now, every time DC sees declining sales, the big bosses decide they need to do some pointlessly convoluted mega-event to give all their comics a simultaneous makeover. Let’s have an Infinite Crisis! Let’s have a Final Crisis! Let’s have a New 52 relaunch! Let’s have a Flashpoint! Let’s have a Rebirth! Let’s reboot everything all the time!

Let’s give me a frickin’ break, DC. All you need to do is write awesome stories with awesome art about awesome characters. The constant reshuffling of the DC Universe every few years is garbage. I don’t usually rant on this blog, but this is a major flaw that Hitch needed to deal with in the pages of Justice League. Suddenly, we have a new Superman who is really the old Superman from an alternate universe, and he doesn’t want to do his world-saving job because he is married or something, so the League needs to talk him into it, despite Batman not trusting him because it isn’t the right Superman. Please, make it stop. Even Marvel has been infected by this mentality now. Stop revamping and smashing “universes” together!

It was cool the first time. Now cut it out!

To Hitch’s credit, he did the best he could with the flaming pile of dog crap that DC management left on his porch. The result is a bunch of characters who don’t talk or act like the characters we’ve known for decades, but more like they are in a vintage Authority story using different costumes. Batman acts like Jack Hawksmoor. Wonder Woman acts like Jenny Sparks. It kind of worked for me because I loved Hitch’s run on The Authority, but I felt like this “Rebirth” version of the League wasn’t really the League at all.

Still, the story looks absolutely amazing even though Hitch didn’t draw it. One of my favorite moments is Wonder Woman’s first scene in the adventure, where once again she is portrayed as an absolute bad-ass, a goddess you do not want to mess with. Behold.

“I’m here on a mission of peace… which involves kicking major ass with a lightning bolt!”

Hitch ignited a fanboy crush on Wonder Woman I didn’t know I had! And even the new/old Superman gets some awesome moments, too. Is Hitch’s work on Justice League an indispensable part of my collection? No, but it looks so damn good that I can’t avert my eyes, and it includes memorable moments for these characters in the kind of grand conflicts that made The Authority such a joy to read. It’s a mixed bag, but one worth looking into if you want to see the League save the universe in style.

Collector’s Guide: JLA: Heaven’s Ladder appears in the 2011 reprint or digital format. Hitch was working on JLA (1997) around the same time. The Rao storyline in Justice League of America is in single issues or hardcover. Justice League after the “Rebirth” appears in single issues or TPB.

green lantern 195: guy gardner gets the ring

19 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, Joe Staton, origin of Guy Gardner, Steve Englehart

green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (2)

Wow, do we love that cover. We always have. Boldly simple yet powerful, it’s our favorite piece of Staton artwork. We bought it right off the newsrack in the 1980s, at the local Walgreens. Crisis on Infinite Earths was out, and a new Green Lantern with a pissy attitude was shaking things up.

green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (3)

Green Lantern #195 details for us how this surly new GL was chosen to wear the ring, ran into some major problems, and got his ring back in the midst of all hell breaking loose. What Guy Gardner lacked in tact and human decency, he made up for in will power — and staying power. Gardner became a mainstay at DC Comics and even survived the New 52. But it all started here.

green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (4)
green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (5)
green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (6)
green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (7)
green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (8)
green lantern 195 guy gardner origin (9)

in blackest night by alan moore

12 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Alan Moore, Annual, Bill WIllingham, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, Terry Austin

tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (3)

You can find this brief yet ingenious tale of the Green Lantern Corps in the single issue Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual 3, or in the highly recommended collection DC Universe by Alan Moore.

tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (4)
tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (5)
tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (6)
tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (7)
tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (8)
tales of the green lantern corps annual 3 alan moore (2)

Dan-Thing Archives: Green Lantern Green Arrow #89

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 2 Comments

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and through him save a world, DC Comics, Dennis O'Neil, Denny O'Neil, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, green lantern 89, green lantern crucified, green lantern final issue, Jesus, Neal Adams

Up from the primordial muck slithers… the Dan-Thing! In his oozing fist, he clutches a time capsule: Marvel comic books from 1972! Our muck-stomping friend the Dan-Thing asked that we share these bronze-age beauties with you for education and inspiration.

green lantern green arrow 89 -021

Today we have the final issue of Green Lantern. It concludes the Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams run where Green lantern and Green Arrow go on all sorts of socially relevant adventures. Historically relevant, too: This run often receives credit for ushering in the bronze age of twentieth-century comic books. It would exert a powerful influence with Adams’ realistic approach to figures and O’Neil’s topical focus.

green lantern green arrow 89 -024

Green Lantern would one day reclaim a title of his own. Once shamefully shuffled off to back-up stories in The Flash, Lantern would rise again. Geoff John’s Blackest Night and Brightest Day mega-crossovers brought Lantern back into the spotlight in recent years.

Back in 1972, Green Lantern went out with a bang. He and Green Arrow got crucified on planes with a full-on nature jesus. Then, GL skrags a jet, angry that his woman reveals herself as a shallow industrialist who cares nothing for the loss of life and habitat in the name of profit. Whoa, dude.

Collector’s Guide: From Green Lantern #89, 1st series; DC, 1972. Cover uses Green lantern / Green Arrow as the title. Reprinted in Showcase Presents Green Lantern TPB #5; DC, 2011. Reprinted in Green Lantern / Green Arrow Collection Vol. 2











Insect Trust – Part 2!

28 Friday Jan 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Green Lantern, Insect Trust, Kevin O'Neill, Todd Klein

Here’s part two of Insect Trust from Green Lantern #190. If you missed the first half, just click Insect Trust Part One to render yourself an insectovorid!

You gotta love the freaky edge that artist Kevin O’Neill brings to the alien cast of characters in the Green Lantern Corps. O’Neill was responsible for the look of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law, an occasional Judge Dredd story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and so on.



Insect Trust – Part 1!

27 Thursday Jan 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Green Lantern, Insect Trust, Kevin O'Neill, Todd Klein

Here’s part one of Insect Trust from Green Lantern #189. When you’re done, click Insect Trust Part Two for the rest of this oblangata-obliterating sci-fi epic!

You gotta love the freaky edge that artist Kevin O’Neill brings to the alien cast of characters in the Green Lantern Corps. O’Neill was responsible for the look of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law, an occasional Judge Dredd story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and so on.



Tygers: Alan Moore’s Legendary Empire Of Tears!

19 Wednesday Jan 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction, superhero

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Abin Sur, Across the Universe, Alan Moore, DC Stories by Alan Moore, Green Lantern, Kevin O'Neill, Legendary Empire of Tears, Tygers

It doesn’t take a power ring to figure out that if you have Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill teaming up to do a Green Lantern story that it’s going to be good!

Today we share Moore & O’Neill’s twelve-page medulla-mutilating story Tygers. In case you just woke up from a hundred-year space mission in suspended animation and have no idea what’s happening, Tygers is the story of Abin Sur, the alien who came to earth and died before making Hal Jordan the Green Lantern of Earth!

This story has repercussions for Geoff Johns’ recent fan-favorite Blackest Night storyline in Green Lantern. For a thorough exploration of why this is true, click over to Alan Moore: The Architect of the Blackest Night at Write Club. Their article also credits another Moore tale of the Green Lantern Corps for influencing Blackest Night. You can read that story on the Savage Tales site: Mogo Doesn’t Socialize!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2, DC Comics 1986.
– Reprinted in Across the Universe: DC Stories by Alan Moore; 2003.
– Reprinted in DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore; 2006.

Strange World Named Green Lantern!

09 Sunday Jan 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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DC Comics, Gil Kane, Green Lantern, Strange World Named Green Lantern, Tiger Shark

2022 Update: Way back in January 2011, this was one of the earliest posts on Mars Will Send No More — maybe even the second, after that Lizard Men ordeal. Since then, the scans I painstakingly made for it have become completely FUBAR. So, I pirated a few scans from the glorious Internet to restore this post to its full glory.

It has a special place in my heart, because one of my oldest grade-school friends sold me this issue along with a box full of others when he moved to Finland, and I have the best memories of us laughing our butts off on the school-bus, riding bikes like maniacs through the park between our suburbs, discovering the Red Hot Chili Peppers on cassette, and several more adventures I refuse to share with you.

But I will share with you this post, now restored to its complete, archival, and former glory.

Green Lantern #24 is about bridging communication gaps to make friends. Sometimes the key is just finding the right langauge and method of communication. My copy — before I sold it on eBay long after this original post appeared, but not so long ago that I didn’t grow to love it and display it on my walls — was badly beaten and re-stapled.

Anyway, Green Lantern is zipping about space one day and sees a planet that has a giant continent shaped like him. It fires yellow missiles at him. G.L. is powerless against yellow for a really goofy reason I cannot even get into right now. When he touches down, the land and water attack him. He is haunted by ghostly projections of his foes and friends.

Suddenly, a voice speaks to him from the green beam of his mighty lantern ring, using it like a radio beam to communicate.

It turns out the whole “attacking” scene was just a misunderstanding. The planet itself was trying to communicate. (The planet also re-tells all the pages I left out, but from its point of view.)

Like they do in dreams, things happen fast in the comic-book universe. One minute you’re making friends, the next minute disaster threatens the entire planet.

You gotta love a happy ending, especially after the existential angst of an organism, alone, isolated in its thoughts. This was the stuff of Camus and Hemingway. Usually we learn about literature like this from really dense, old books. Imagine how many more young students could grasp adult literary themes by learning them from an engaging and entertaining medium like comics!

Besides the cover story, Green Lantern #24 is best-known as being the first appearance of Tiger Shark. Here is the three-page origin showing how atomic disasters create super-powered evil.

All I can say is: Great origin, terrible panties. Marvel’s Tiger Shark has way better shark undies! Get a clue, dipshit!

Early G.L. issues are heavy on the psuedo-science. This issue covers molecular bonding, magnetism, atomic energy, evolution, and much more. But DC liked to include real science tidbits for kids, like this page below. I give early G.L. a thumbs up for being entertaining and educational.

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