But now that DR. HOUSE has finished I have some free time. Normally I'm watching MONK but they replaced the show with PSYCH so I'm watching Legion cartoons and continuing with the solicitation report.
LOST BOYS : REIGN OF FROGS TPB
This kind of keeps the Halloween theme going but really......am I the only one who actually remembers the movie LOST BOYS ? Weren't the two main characters two kids who would fecate upon themselves at the mere sight of a vampire ? Two snotnose kids who were afraid of their own shadow ? And now I'm supposed to believe that they became those two tough as nails monster hunters ? Looks to me like somebody wants to cash in on the SUPERNATURAL franchise.
REIGN IN HELL 7
Another Halloween kind of comic and again the word " reign " in the title. Coincidence ? A hidden message perhaps ? Be as that may it seems that the old DAY OF JUDGEMENT gang is back. While I went to Spain the SHADOWPACT series ended and I still have to read the final issues. I have to say it's kind of weird seeing Justiniano's pencils on the title after Tom Derenick's long stint on Shadowpact. Somehow I got used to his look.
From all the COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS books DAY OF JUDGEMENT was my favorite. Because as cool as SECRET SIX was with the six main characters going up against the combined supervillain society it was nothing against the magic characters from the bottom ofthe barrell going against THE SPECTRE - God's wrath on earth. And they had Detective Chimp ! Just can't beat the monkeys. It's what I'm always saying. Comics are better if you just add a monkey.
Now while Shadowpact had a good run DC never quite managed to put out a good follow - up series for the SECRET SIX characters. I bought the whole second mini series and, Man, when I'm streamlining my comic collection that book is the first one that´s gonna land on the chopping block. Maybe the reason why the characters never clicked with me aside from their initial mini series is the fact that after all these guys are still villains. Villains who fight against the right villains but still villains.
And it's not easy to come up with some interesting challenge after beating the united society of super villains. Tough act to follow. Anyway, so far REIGN IN HELL is not on my list but I think it's worth risking a look if I see it the next time in my comic shop. And it's got BLUE DEVIL in it. So how bad can it be ?
ROBIN 182
I'm not reading the title but I just wanted to say that ANARCHY always was one of my favorite Batvillains. If he really IS a villain. Because while his methods differ greatly from Batman his goals are ultimately the sames. And of course there's no denying that the whole idea of a better world through real anarchy - which is not the same as chaos - is extremely appealing to younger comic readers.
A quote from the original mini :
Everything you know is a lie.
Cast your mind back to when you were a child. Remember how life shone out from within? How everything was new and full of golden hope? And then " they " got to you. The politicians – the priests – the philosophers – the parasites! This is politics: " Do what you’re told or we’ll punish you. " This is religion: " Suffer misery now so you can be happy after death. " This is philosophy: " The universe came from nothing and will one day return to it. "
None of these doctrines stands up to rational analysis.
Since the birth of consciousness, hundreds of millions of human beings have been slaughtered by their fellows. Men – women – children ... snuffed out as if their lives meant nothing. Why? Because we look to leaders and priests and gurus and " stars " to tell us what to do instead of relying on the powers of our own sovereign minds. They charge in blood for the privilege of ruling us. Quoting Einstein out of context, they say that good and evil are relative; that there are no moral absolutes.
They lie. Only two laws are needed to change the entire universe: Never use initiatory force, and never cheat.
The people who run our world constantly break both. Aristotle believed that man is basically good, decent and noble. If left to his own devices he’ll seek individual happiness within an orderly society. For Aristotle, human life and sovereign consciousness were the universe’s greatest values. But Plato believed man is a wild and savage beast, incapable of self-discipline. To manage him for his own best ends, man needs rulers – kings, governments, priests, presidents. For Plato, human life is worthless, to be endlessly sacrificed to " higher " causes and ideals.
Which one do you think the world followed?
Mao Tse-Tung spouted a lot of nonsense, but he sure got one thing right: All (political) power comes out the barrel of a gun. You don’t believe me, do you? You live in a democracy. You vote for your leaders. So tell me – what happens if you want to disobey them? Say you don’t like the President. You object to paying taxes to support him, his family, his pets, his bodyguards and the friends he wangled jobs for. What do you do? Or say you don’t like your taxes being used to subsidize foreign arms sales for slaughter in the third world. How can you stop it?
Vote for somebody else, whose policy is the same? Don’t vote?
The government pretends to be there to serve you. In reality, it’s there to tell you what to do. If you refuse to obey, you’ll be investigated – arrested – criminalized. Your assets will be seized and given to the state. You will be jailed. Albert Einstein said that " The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhampered development of the individual. " But our institutions are the opposite. They enslave us – rule us by fear and deceit! They’d gladly bomb us back into the stone age! They don’t want the common man to be anything but a slave!
The world has gone wrong. But I swear by every breath in my body – I will put it right again! In harsh economic terms, there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who produce goods, services and values ... and those who don’t. And before you say what about the old, the young, and the sick – we look after them, right? That’s what makes us human. Intentional non-producers are parasites. To hide their parasitism, they employ the techniques of deception, coercion, and naked force. Parasites can never create. They can only destroy.
Today, for the first time in history, the parasites outnumber the producers who support them. They’re entering a final feeding frenzy, which will result in the ultimate evil – a totalitarian state. Where administration bigwigs view the world from stretch limos, while families sleep in cardboard boxes – Corrupt businessmen flourish, while honest men beg in the gutter – Crime explodes – while decent folk are afraid to walk the streets their taxes pay for. All human life is there – from the best to the worst, the kings in their fortresses to the scum in their sties. And all of them believe it has to be that way.
I’m going to show them that it doesn’t. The world is collapsing. Madness flares everywhere the animal mind reclaims the conscious mind. The religious slaughters – the inter-tribal massacres – the wars for oil – have turned our planet into a charnel pit. Grinding poverty affects half mankind. 20 million people die each year because they’re hungry. And who pays for the parasites who cause it all? The common man ... his wife ... their children. The elites have always won. The common man has always lost.
Until tonight.
I merely intend to hold up a mirror, and say – " See what you are, and see what you could be. “Mankind is poised between a future in the stars, and a future in the mud. So stop the killing – stop the lies – and let’s start living! " Imagine – you’re a child again. Filled with innocence, and wonder, and life. Remember how good it felt? That’s what the parasites stole from us. They bled us dry. And like sheep we lined up to give more blood. But we can have back all that they stole, and more. The information age provides a spotlight the parasites can’t squirm away from.
Identify them. Negate their evil. Ostracize them. Step with me into a better world.
The first Anarchy miniseries was really one of the best tie - ins to the regular batbooks not only because of the art by Norm Breyfogle. The ongoing was not as good if I remember correctly. I think I have a special in german that reprints the first mini but aside from that I'm not sure. All I know is that there were plans to make Anarchy the next Robin that got nixxed when Tim Drake took up the mantle. There was the idea to solidify Anarchy's place in the batuniverse by making him the son of the Joker but the whole idea just sounded bogus to me. For more about Anarchy just go here it's where I got the neat quote from.
As to Norm Breyfogle he is one of the artist I miss in the mainstream and the last thing I heard was that he has now gone independent with OF BITTER SOULS. That's another trade I have to remember to look out for. It seems that Norm is working on his next project THE DANGER'S DOZEN. For more information or if you want to buy original art or a submission just go to normbreyfogle.com . And once again that's all for Today.
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For every obstacle there is a solution.
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