Michael Cray #1

This would be my reaction to seeing Green Arrow too.

Oh man. I hope Green Arrow dies in this series! I know it won't be the real Green Arrow who dies but I'll still masturbate over the scene anyway. Wait. Did I type that out loud?

The best moment in DC Comics' entire history was when Green Arrow couldn't disarm that bomb while Superman watched. The worst moment was when Kevin Smith brought him back to life. I know some people are now angry at me for not thinking the worst moment was when Kevin Smith made it canon that Batman pissed himself. To those people, I say, "Let he who hasn't pissed himself piss the first piss."

I just realized that if this comic book isn't about Michael Cray trying to kill Green Arrow like I think it is, everybody is going to be confused by my previous statements. "Why is this Lobo loving mental midget talking about Green Arrow?" Twat Lobo loving Anonymous will probably ask. That guy is the worst at relaxing and just having a good time! And I don't mean "guy" as a non-gender specific term! Somebody that didactic and lacking in whimsy is almost certainly a dude. How dare you suggest my reviews are biased?! I am the most objectionable reviewer on the Internet! I mean objective!

Michael Cray has been tasked with putting together a task force. That sounds like the first line to a dirty limerick where some boy sucks off a horse in the final line. I don't have time to work out the middle details!

Let me start over! Michael Cray has been put in charge of something called Executive Protection Services. That sounds like the code name for a sexy escort slash bodyguard business. I think Terra from Deathstork works for Michael Cray.

I can't remember which secret Wildstorm organization Michael Cray is working for now. Skywatch, maybe? Is that one of them?

Luckily for my introduction to this non-biased review, Michael Cray's first assignment is to kill Oliver Queen. That's Green Arrow's secret identity, for people who didn't know that and somehow are reading a comic book blog review about some guy named Michael Cray. Who are you people? Weirdos.

Michael Cray reminds everybody that the reason he's working with this new agency was because he refused to kill people without any good reason. Isn't big bucks good enough reason, you equivocating bastard! I don't even know what "equivocating" means but it sounded like it worked there.

Some people out there might be thinking, "How do we know we're nearing the End Times?" Probably because I'm getting angry at the way people use the word "selfie" for regular pictures of people taken by other people! You ignorant fools!

Oh, I'm sorry! Some of you Wildstorm fans who accidentally thought they were reading an actual review of this comic book might be surprised to find that I constantly interrupt myself with thoughts that are too long to Tweet which I don't have time to cut down to 140 characters. And nobody is going to give me, Grunion Guy, a 280 character Twitter account! Although they should because that's only about 80 characters longer than most of my novels.

That's not San Francisco! As if you could see that many stars from The City.

That's Oliver Queen waking up after having a nightmare about that time he crashed on a wacky island. Having been raised in the lap of luxury without ever having to fend for himself, he of course becomes an expert bowman and survivalist through sheer force of will. It's important to see that Oliver Queen may have been born rich but he was still the type of man who could make something of himself without his parents' wealth and privilege. Also he remembered how Bruce Wayne left behind everything to become the greatest detective the world has ever seen so Oliver was all, "I need that kind of secret origin too! But a little bit different so that people don't just think I'm Batman with a bow and old fashioned facial hair!"

Michael Cray moves to Oakland where he meets the world's least skittish mouse. He touches it and it blows up. I guess that's Cray's superpower? I might have been mistaken as to why he was called Deathblow. Was that blow job joke subtle enough to pass for a G Rating? I wonder if the three people Michael Cray hires for his team will sometimes tell people, "Oh yeah, I'm out in Oakland working the Deathblow job." Then those people will never talk to them again.

Michael Cray's dad plagiarizes my Green Arrow origin story. Is that how plagiarism works? Probably!

Michael Cray's dad explains that Oliver Queen is a rich asshole. He apparently "helps funnel narcotics and guns into the 'wrong' neighborhoods. Crime goes up. Then he privately funds political efforts to hammer down on them with the police." That's almost exactly what Bruce Wayne does! He drives criminals into certain sections of Gotham. Real estate prices fall due to increased crime. Bruce Wayne buys up all the cheap properties and then Batman drives the crime out of the area. Later, Bruce Wayne jerks himself off on the way to the bank!

In a scene setting up the reader to despise Oliver Queen so we don't feel icky backing a government assassination attempt, Queen treats a woman who seems to love him like she's a prostitute. Now we all hate his guts! Kill him, Michael Cray! Kill him! Oh wait a second. I already hated his guts!

If that wasn't enough reason to hate him, he also makes his sister clean his sex sheets. And if that wasn't enough, he then quotes John Donne! But he doesn't just quote him! He quotes a section of Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions in an odd way. The quote's the bit about the bell tolling for everybody (but mostly for him!) and then ends with an ellipsis to simply finish the quote with "no man is an island." He basically yada yada yada'd a huge section of Donne's pain! Fucking monster!

It's also possible Queen just went from a Donne quote to a Bon Jovi quote. "They say that no man is an island. But good things come to those who wait. But the things I hear are there just to remind me. Every dog will have his day! The spirits! They intoxicate me! I watch them infiltrate my soul! They try to say it's too late for me! Tell my guns I'm coming home! I swear! I'm gonna live forever!" Ha ha! You are not, Oliver Queen! That was a stupid thing to quote because you're going to die!

Dammit. I just realized that Michael Cray might find out that Oliver Queen is actually Green Arrow and he's really helping people so he'll have to let him live. Although why show him to be such a disgusting piece of shit if that's how the story will work out? I imagine that's how the story would work in the actual DC Universe. But in the Wildstorm universe, we're allowed to think the worst of Oliver Queen and watch him die messily.

I hope she can change his mind with some sweet, sweet government lies!

Ms. Trelane tells Cray that Oliver Queen hunts people. Why not? They're the most dangerous game! But mostly he hunts veterans so that makes him super bad. If he only hunted, say, criminals and pedophiles, people might be able to get behind him. But he hunts the nation's heroes! What a sick bastard! Ms. Trelane doesn't really care that he kills homeless people. I mean veterans! She and Skywatch (or whatever company she works for. Remember how I don't remember?!) just want his technology and market share. But she's up front with Cray about how she's manipulating him to do Skywatch's dirty work. So at least she's honest?

Oliver Queen quotes some more Donne while hunting veterans. It's a good metaphor that Queen chooses to use quotes from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions because the book is a meditation on pain and being sick. I think that means Oliver Queen knows he's a sick bastard causing people pain!

Michael Cray #1 Rating: Three stars our of four! That might only be a C Average but it also sounds like I really liked it. That way I can defend the score no matter who attacks me on it. If someone is all, "You thought this was that good?!", I can be all, "3 out of 4 stars is 75%! That's average in the ratings system of United States schoolchildren!" But if people are all, "75%?! You hardly liked this at all?", I can say, "But three stars! Out of four! That's practically all the stars!" Nobody's going to challenge me on my comic book rating of this book!

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #19

Hal Jordan and His Army of Penises #19.

This is all you need to know to understand the GOP: the only way they could get enough votes to repeal Obamacare was to make the Trumpcare law even worse than their first terrible, incomprehensible version. Fuck all y'all bitches supporting these selfish, evil motherfuckers. Get the fuck off of my blog.

"But the unborn babies of sluts and my guns to protect me from minorities!"

I said get the fuck out of here!

The Review!
Last night I saw Patton Oswalt at the Arlene Shitzberg Auditorium. He asked where there was a comic book store within walking distance of downtown so he could get comic books today. I figured that would mean he wouldn't be stopping in at my local shop, Excalibur, like he usually does. But guess who I saw in there getting his comic books for free?! Wow, you guessed! Good job!

At first I didn't recognize him because I don't look people in the eye and — let's face it — he really was just another fat white guy in a comic book store.

Oh, did I hurt your fat fucking feelings?! Well maybe you should have thought about that before you refused to vote because Bernie wasn't the Democratic nominee, you dumb piece of shit. Get off my blog!

I actually don't mind if people who disagree with me read my blog. But from experience, I've noticed people have no tolerance for being told they're stupid motherfucking idiots.

Okay. Now The Review!
Rip Hunter recently came out of a "rip" in time shouting, "The Green Lanterns are gone! They're gone! How could you have been so stupid?!" So Soranik, being a totally fake fucking doctor, is all, "Get him on a gurney, stat! I need to jerk him off to save him from time dilations!"

Oh yeah! Right there! Time dilations subsiding!

I'm so angry about the direction our country is headed right now that I'm sort of willing to die in a nuclear holocaust just so my last words can be, "I told you, you fucking garbage morons!"

Obviously Soranik can tell the race of an alien by touching its genitalia. She determines Rip Hunter is human and that he likes smooth jazz. I'm assuming that's the only kind of music that comes out of Yellow Light Construct Headphones.

Hal Jordan screams, "Human?!" My guess is Rip is uncircumcised so Hal didn't recognize the massive sea cucumber between his legs. "Where is the little mushroom cap?!" he pondered. Actually, Hal's main concern is that Rip stole the Green Lantern ring from another human. Hal is stupid. We've had decades of comic books detailing just how stupid Hal is. People like to say he's brash or stubborn or pigheaded but he's really just stupid. Do you want some evidence? Everybody now knows Rip Hunter came out of a temporal anomaly (the rings said so!) so there's really no reason to think this human stole this Green Lantern ring from another human. He could be a future Green Lantern, you fucking asshat. I was calling Hal Jordan a fucking asshat but if you thought I was calling you one, just hang on. I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later. Everybody cares about something that I don't give a shit about and sooner or later, I'm going to tear into your favorite thing.

Hal fails to "rip" the ring off Rip Hunter's finger so John steps in and says, "Let me do it, Hal! As you know, the Green Lantern Corps is a despotic, fascist, authoritarian organization which means I have the ability to remove the ring from any fucking piece of shit lantern I deem a fuck up and a waste." He then says the override code and steals Rip Hunter's ring. Fuck the Green Lanterns. Although I bet even these cumsharters have health care coverage through their organization.

"Oh shit! So that's what temporal anomaly means!"

Rip Hunter's message from the future is that time has been corrupted and 2047 isn't the way 2047 is supposed to be. But there's still a chance to fix it here in 2017!

How many fangenders reading this comic book have just scooted out to the edge of their seat and possibly stuck a hand down the front of their pants at this revelation? If you did, get the fuck off my blog! I am tired — oh so very fucking tired — you know, exhausted — with people traveling through time to fix time. Just knock it off! If the 2047 Rip visited is different than the 2047 that Rip expected then Rip needs to realize he's just in one of the infinite numbers of timelines. You don't go back in time to fix the timeline you're not happy with. You sidestep into a different timeline! One where everything is how you expected it to be! Being that there are infinite numbers of timelines, you're always going to have the timeline that needs fixing. Because it exists right next door the timeline you're happy with. It also exists two timelines down from the timeline where women are allowed to walk around topless.

When Rip discovers that it's 2017, he points out that there's still time to fix the future. A few panels later, after only discovering the year, he declares they have one day to save all space and time. Or maybe just the Green Lantern Corps. It's really a toss-up as to which it is since superheroes basically only deal with two kinds of problems in the modern age: save the entire everything or save themselves.

Meanwhile, Space Ape and Gorin-sunn aren't as dead as I expected them to be. They have been thoroughly trounced by Prism Beasts and now must suck the dick of some guy with an evil beard and an alternate timeline Nightwing costume. He says he's from the future and that he's going to mend it all. So I guess he's a good guy like Rip just trying to save time! His name is Sarko because Venditti was having a bad day in the imagination booth when he came up with it.

Sarko gives Space Ape and Gorin-sunn a future lesson. Apparently the Yellow Lanterns will eventually lay down their rings to pick up Green Lantern rings. That makes sense because who wants police who utilize fear to do their jobs? But apparently Sarko doesn't like that the Sinestro Corps have become antiquated symbols of disgrace and failure. So he's kind of like a guy who sews a Confederate Flag onto his jean jacket. He's proud of a heritage he really needs to think twice about.

So Sarko has come from a future that he thinks needs changing and Rip has come from an apparently different future that he thinks needs changing. I mean, I suppose this comic book wants the reader to believe that Sarko has already won and the future has been rewritten simply because Sarko came back in time but since Rip came back in time to fix it, why wasn't the future fixed already? Oh, because time travel stories almost always suck logical dick.

And don't you dare start explaining it to me in the boring, normal way you're supposed to understand it! I know how writers use time travel and the way they think it works! I don't need your fucking Actually Nerd interpretations to set me straight. I'm reporting the way things should be but they never are because writers write the way readers expect! Or something. Just...just...get off my blog!

Sure, that's how time works. But that's just the way time works! Whatever you do now will be the cause of whatever happens in the future. And guess what? You can't change it! You never did anything except react to Rip Hunter coming back from the future. You never had a different present! So the future is and always has been the aftereffects of whatever you choose to do now thanks to Rip coming back from the future and telling you that you need to change the future. Which can't really be changed since it's just a present that hasn't happened yet.

Look, Kyle brings up the perfect movie to understand time travel. In Terminator, there are no time paradoxes. There are no alternate timelines. There are no futures that can be changed by going into the past. What happens in the future happens exactly because the robots sent a robot into the past and the humans sent a human back to stop it. Without that happening, no John Conner. But it happened in order to kill John Conner. That's not a paradox. That's a perfectly knit time quilt. Everything always happens the way they happen. One timeline perfectly in sync. So knock it off with all these people from terrible futures coming to the past to fix things and then having the things fixed. It's fucking stupid bullshit.

Although! These stories have their own internal logic as well. It's just that they matter a whole lot less than you would think. And when you realize how they work, you realize it's all wasted effort. If Rip Hunter traveled to the past from a 2047 that sucked, he didn't wind up in the 2017 of that particular 2047. His arrival caused a split timeline which changes everything and veers off on its own direction. Which means the 2047 that he came back in time to save still exists and still sucks and will never be saved. But at least they don't have to worry about that asshole Rip Hunter anymore! So see? If time travel works this way, why bother going back in time at all? I suppose to save yourself, if you're not a Time Master who just gallivants all over time creating offshoot timelines like so many bastard children. I mean, sure! If I were in a sucky 2017 (which I totally am), I would absolutely go back in time and arrive in a totally new timeline that will change simply because I'm now a part of it. Although I might have to kill my other self if I want to seamlessly fit in. I suppose that would depend on how far back I went. Suddenly trying to be a twelve year old me probably wouldn't fool many people at this point.

The time travel nonsense was over pages ago so I'll stop ranting about it. Eventually, the Prism Beasts descend on Mogo. Hal says to John, "You're a grower, John, but I'm a show-er!" Then he flies off into the sky with his army of penises in an attempt to destroy the Prism Beasts. But as was shown earlier, they're immune to Spectrum Light. So they're like about 95% of everything else in the universe? Immune to the greatest weapon in the universe? And of course the other 5% that is susceptible to Green Lantern light usually get lucky and the rings lose all their charge during the battle.

Unsurprisingly to everyone (and especially to Carol Ferris), Hal's penis army fails at its intended job.

The Ranking!
No change. I'm not sure why I continue to read comic books when a majority of them use common comic book plots that I despise. It's like writers think it's okay to just shorthand every script. "Readers like familiarity! Also it's easy to write a story they've read five hundred times already!" So here we go again. Somebody from the future wants to change the past and somebody else from the future drops by to tell the people of the present, "Hey! There's this future that currently sucks and there's this guy who's the reason for it. You should probably stop him." Then everybody in the present goes, "Okay! Sounds legit!"

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #18

The Green Lantern Corps are cursed to play imaginary keyboards!

Before reading this issue, I have a question about the ending to the last issue. Kyle's white ring separated into seven different rings which all took off to find a new host. One of those rings was an Orange Ring. But there's only one real orange ring, isn't there? Does this mean DC's going to be publishing a Larfleeze civil war type comic book where he goes to battle with whoever winds up with the new orange ring? Or will the orange ring simply rush off to Larfleeze because he's just that greedy? I hope it goes to Scrooge McDuck.

The Review!
This issue begins by reminding me of the main reason I can't stand the concept of the Green Lantern Corps. Gorin-Sunn and Space Ape respond to Gorin's ring's notification that a "universal criminal code statute" is possibly being violated. So they rush off to the scene of the crime to do their police work. I despise the idea that the Green Lantern Corps are simply universal cops on patrol busting people for breaking some mysterious set of laws put in place by who the fuck knows what. I suppose the Guardians? Anyway, I'd rather they simply patrol the universe searching for people or planets in distress that need help. They should be more like EMTs and fire fighters than beat cops. This whole police shtick is way too authoritarian for my liking.

Space Ape and Gorin-Sunn encounter a planet full of willpower and angry, sharp crystalline creatures. The scene shifts after the creatures attack so I'm going to assume Gorin-Sunn and Space Ape are dead now.

Rings don't kill people. Alien freaks wearing rings kill people.

I feel like the Blue Lanterns might take umbrage with calling their rings "guns." I would say the same of the Violet Lanterns but I've heard the Bon Jovi song.

Speaking of the guy with the penis on his head, Saint Walker is sent off to recruit more members to the Blue Lanterns. It's probably poor timing to find any members on Earth.

After a big brawl between the Green and Yellow Lanterns which ends when Guy and Arkillo stumble onto the scene to proclaim that they're Green and Yellow Jesus and they beat each other up so the rest don't have to, Rip Hunter cracks time and stumbles into Salaak's base of operations. He's wearing a Green Lantern ring and he's got a message to get the plot moving: The Green Lanterns have been erased from the future! Wait. Is that against the law? If it's not against the law, the Green Lanterns probably shouldn't investigate it.

The Ranking!
No change! Here is the plot progression of this comic book: Prologue to the plot! Stuff that doesn't matter to the plot but needs to be expressed so that Fangenders don't keep going on and on and on in forums about how the Green Lanterns and Yellow Lanterns are getting along way too eagerly. Lanterns ready to investigate the prologue to the plot to get the plot moving in the way stories usually work. Rip Hunter shits all over everything and yells, "Shortcut to plot! Danger! From the future!" The end.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #13

This is the men engaging in the sports variant cover.

The Review!
This story takes place sixty Earth years in the future but on the planet Xudar. If it told us how far into the future it was in Xudar years, the reader would be confused because most of us don't know how to do math. Also we don't have the proper conversion tables. But mostly the math thing. If you can do math, you aren't a real comic book fan. Everybody should have fond memories of reading ROM tucked into their Algebra books while trying to conceal the surprise boner that's come for a visit. Just randomly and not because I have a thing for spaceknights.

Sixty Earth years in the future, the Xudarians all have jet-packs! Luckies! Can you imagine how things would be different if we had jet-packs right now?! Every other case on Judge Judy would be about a jet-pack mishap instead of about an exorbitant phone bill on a phone somebody lent to their "friend."

The stupid story doesn't remain in the future so I guess I won't be seeing any more jet-packs. Instead a big fat old Xudarian tells a story about the past to her stupid needy grandchildren. So instead of just telling a story about Xudar in the present, Venditti decides to tell a story about Xudar in the present except through the perspective of somebody from the future. I guess that's so he can play fast and loose with the truth. That'll teach those continuity-concerned fangenders a thing or two about something or other!

The story is about the attack by Starro that just happened a few issues ago. What a rip-off! I already paid money to read that story! This is fucking stupid. I hate comic books.

The English word you're looking for, Xudarian, is not saliva.

The teller of the tale describes how she, only eleven cycles old (I don't know how many Earth years that is because I can't math, remember? Stop hassling me about it!), first set eyes on the Green Lantern Corps. She looked up in the sky and saw straight up Arisia's skirt. It was a sight to behold! She also saw all of the other Green Lanterns and decided the way to make her story most exciting was to introduce all of them. Or at least the ones that mattered, like the human ones. And I guess the Xudarian one. And the one that says "Poozer!" all of the time because that's hilarious. She never introduces the one that looks like an onion fucked a pair of sweat socks.

The story continues past the defeat of Larfleeze and into territory that hasn't been written yet. At that point, the old lady gets really vague with the details. If I were one of her grandchildren, I would boo the fuck out of her. BOO! HISS! Terrible story telling!

Apparently in the future, the X-men will get their own Lantern Corps. Unless these rings are for the Pornographic Lanterns.

Then the old lady glosses over a huge battle for the fate of existence between all of the Lantern Corps, as if that happening once isn't enough. But at least Dex-Starr makes a guest appearance. He's all, "Boo! Hiss! Terrible story telling!" Then he scratches the shit out of Indigo-1's vagina. It's her own fault for only wearing a skimpy little loincloth. Can't the Indigo Staves create full uniforms?

The old lady Xudarian is all, "Okay! That's enough of my stories!" And her kids are all, "Dafuq?! You barely told a story!" And the old lady is all, "Go to sleep, you bastards."

After the story, the grandmother teaches her kids a lesson. She's all, "All those emotions on the spectrum? Stupid! They're all stupid and dumb. You know which one isn't though? Will! The Green Light! It's so cool. Don't you think it's cool, kids? You should totally think it's cool because it's the best!" Then the kids are all, "Yay! We love will!" So the old lady leaves them and then goes and puts on her Green Lantern ring. Way to brainwash your grandchildren! This is why, if I had had kids (which I didn't because I don't know how to do it), I would never let them anywhere near my mother! She'd ruin them.

The Ranking!
No change! I'd give it a -1 Ranking for barely telling me a story but I'm not always that petty. I sort of liked the story even though I called it fucking stupid and it forced me to declare that I hate comic books. Sometimes I get a little too emotional when I think a comic book company is stealing my money by selling me the same old shit. But this wasn't completely the same old shit. Just mostly!

Wonder Woman #51

What is it with Wonder Woman posing with allegorical penises on the cover of her comic books lately?

The Review!
Zola dies at the end of this issue. That's not a spoiler because I don't know if she's really dead or not. Plus I don't think anybody needs to read the rest of this issue only to eventually get to that revelation. The story spends a lot of time reminding the reader that Wonder Woman loves too well and that parents can sometimes fuck up their children. But none of that matters because everything that gets Wonder Woman to contemplate love and children and parents was a lie. By the end, Wonder Woman can forget all of the philosophical bullshit she's been contemplating since she met Hecate because Hecate turned out to be an evil liar. Although maybe it's still pertinent to the theme since Hecate was supposedly working for Gaia and thus is an allegory for how mothers manipulate their children. Fucking mothers! What jerks! Meredith Finch sure nailed that one in a totally not sexist way at all! It's also possible I'm projecting my own childhood onto the story at this point. Anyway, Wonder Woman learns that maybe she shouldn't trust people she doesn't know and has no reason to trust instead of not trusting the people she loves and trusts. I think there was some lesson about monsters being the most human of us all as well but it was so trite that I barely noticed it. This continues to be a pretty sexist comic book about the greatest feminist icon in comic books. What the fuck is DC thinking?! Just go read The Legends of Wonder Woman instead if you care about Wonder Woman at all.

The Commentary!
Wonder Woman is currently on a quest to save Zeus. Why she wants to save the symbol of the patriarchy, I don't know. No, wait, I do know! It's because he's currently a cute little toddler which is the one form he's ever chosen in which Wonder Woman is pretty sure he can't rape. Plus he's so cute and googly and drooly! To save the Patriarchy, Wonder Woman must help the Matriarchy. So she's on a quest to rescue all of Gaia's children. Apparently Meredith Finch decided the greatest role of Wonder Woman's life would be as an au pair to the Olympians.

Wonder Woman is currently in Tartarus to free the Hecatonchires when she remembers the last time she visited when Slade freed Iapetus. Oh, sorry. She still remembers the titan being named "Lapetus." I guess Meredith has decided to stand in solidarity with her husband who completely fucked up the Titan's name in Douchéstork.

Wonder Woman doesn't mind freeing these monsters from their prison because she's learning that not all creatures who look like monsters truly are monsters! What a fucking revelation! Although she's now gone too far to the other side and seems to believe that all creatures that look like monsters aren't monsters. So I hope she's surprised when she finds out the Hecatonchires are just super grabby assholes.

Wonder Woman continues to insist on thinking of Zeke as somebody separate from Zeus. That's mostly so she can keep up the theme of children being damaged by the conflict between their mothers and fathers. But since Zeke is also Zeus, it seems a bit of a stretch to keep thinking of him as being hurt by Zeus.

Wonder Woman runs into Zombie Zola and Dead Baby Zeke in Tartarus because it likes to torture people. Tartar must mean torture because tartar sauce is disgusting.

Zombie Zola accuses Wonder Woman of killing Zeke because Wonder Woman didn't save Zeke fast enough. That's a tried and true philosophy in DC Comics! If somebody failed to save somebody else, it's always the fault of the failed savior and not the person who actually caused the problem in the first place. So good job, Tartarus! You're just like every other jerk in The New 52 stemming back to that cop in Gail Simone's Batgirl #1 who pointed her pistol at Batgirl instead of the bad guy and blamed her for the death of some other person. I don't remember all the details! And I can't go back to remind myself because I took a black Sharpie and blacked out the offending panel.

Wonder Woman remembers being teased and called Clay by the other Amazonian girls. Dang Hippolyta and her lies! Diana suffered because of her mother's actions! Ew! I'm so angry at parents right now! They ruin everything! Except for those parents holding up their toddler at an outdoor concert which everybody on Tumblr tagged as "Parenting. You're doing it right." I guess those were good parents and they weren't harming their child at all by turning it into an accessory.

Diana runs into Superman next and remembers how she's always wanted to be a mother! Of course! What woman doesn't constantly yearn for motherhood! Even Wonder Woman can't escape the call of her uterus!

I can't stand stories or articles or people who cannot believe that some people simply do not want children. There's too much projection going on in society. Just because you couldn't imagine a world without your precious shitty bundle of noise, it doesn't mean everybody else would feel the same way about having one. I've never wanted a child for any reason ever. Got a reason for wanting a child? I don't have that reason. Got a reason for not wanting a child? Just add it to the list of mine. Don't fucking care. Some people think I have some kind of obligation to be a father. I admit, I'd be a great father. Probably. I mean, I'm the best uncle and although there's a vast chasm between those two jobs, I'm fairly confident that if I had accidentally become a father at some point, I would have done the job well. But being fairly responsible in my choices, it has never happened (almost once! But, thank Jesus, he took care of that problem on his own! Who needs doctors when Jesus provides the most spontaneous abortions of anybody ever?!). But even if I were a great father, the Non-Certified Spouse, who doesn't want children as much or more than me (I only say "more" in that I don't want them at all and she doesn't want them at all even more somehow. It's weird math and I don't have a calculator with the proper buttons to explain it correctly), would be a terrible mother. Just awful. I don't think she'd be offended by my saying she would just completely suck as a mother.

Next Hera runs into the Mother of Olympus because the theme! Remember the fucking theme!

This is really Hera. Really, really!

Characters in comic books constantly mistrust the people they've grown to love and trust as soon as some Iago whispers any fucking thing in their ear. Everybody loves too well! Is this something people actually deal with on a constant basis? I'm guessing they do since Othello remains a popular story even though I read it and thought what I think every time I read the same ploy in a DC Comic book, "Why the fuck is the protagonist believing somebody they barely know over somebody they completely trust?!" I think I'm too full of esteem to understand that this is a thing. What's really going on is the bad person tugs at a string of self-doubt already inherent in the hero and carefully pulls it until everything unravels. So Wonder Woman already mistrusts the Olympians so when a stranger tells her somebody she loves is in danger from the Olympians, she decides to fuck everything up. Another option would have been asking the people she trusted if any of it was true. But, of course, she had to save Zeke in secret for plot reasons.

Anyway, now Wonder Woman knows she was set up by Hecate! Hecate is in for it now!

Is Batman as afraid of Wonder Woman as he is of Superman? Because Superman can destroy the Earth if he's possessed or magically controlled or given Joker Venom or infected by the Doomsday virus or mind-controlled. But Wonder Woman simply needs to have her emotions manipulated and WHAMMO! She's turned against everybody! That statement may be sexist but it's not my sexism. That sexism is courtesy of Meredith Finch and this story of hers!

Wonder Woman and Hera escape from Tartarus but find it was too late! While they were gone, Hecate escaped with Hera's "orbs", Zola has died, and Zeke is missing! Whoops!

Poison Ivy #3

Poison Ivy is about to breastfeed this man.

Rating: Worth reading if you're a Poison Ivy fan. I think. I mean, obviously Poison Ivy fans are going to pick this book up. And if they love Pam, they'll mostly ignore the plot. I'd say the next issue should be fun because Poison Ivy will be working with Catwoman. But in an earlier issue, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn hung out and it was a total cock-up. They wound up yelling at each other and deciding to take a break from their relationship. I don't think that's something Poison Ivy fans would find worth reading! It was probably infuriating! I know I hated it when DC decided to make Power Girl and The Huntress enemies in one of those horrible Earth-2 books. And what about that movie at the theaters right now? Where Batman and Superman are battling! Why are so many characters in the DC You not allowed to have a friend?!

• Poison Ivy has recently hatched a few babies from a plant. I would love to say I didn't think there was a market for this but I grew up during the Cabbage Patch Kids craze. I know this market is insatiable.

• Some other stuff was going on but I can't remember what it was because I haven't been finding this story very interesting and I haven't been keeping careful notes on the comic books I've been reading the last couple of months.

• How do you take care of a plant baby? Splash a little water on it and leave it out in the sun?

• Poison Ivy is proud of her hybrid babies instead of disgusted. I find that an odd reaction because I'm disgusted by all babies.

• The babies might not be where Poison Ivy rakes in the cash. She also developed some Plant Nannies to take care of the babies. Now those would probably sell out in minutes! Just shove your baby in a flower and leave it for the day? Who wouldn't want one?

• Poison Ivy murders the guy who's been sexually harassing her at work. Apparently you can't have a female lead in a DC Comic without having her kill or beat the shit out of some sexist pig. Pretty soon there won't be any guys left in the DC You!

• Ivy needs to get into a secret lab at her work because somebody stole her research plans. Somebody is always stealing her research! She should stop working for the man and just start her own business. Catwoman can fund her.

• Speaking of Catwoman, she arrives to help Ivy break into the lab. Too bad she pissed off Harley in a previous issue. The whole gang could have been back together.

Action Comics #47

Obviously Wrath should be called "Fivefingers" or "One-Face."

Last issue, Wrath tried to convince Superman that her plan to infect everybody with Black Angry Heroin was benevolent. I'm assuming that this issue, Superman gets out a dictionary and reads the definition of "wrath" to Wrath and then suggesting some names she could have considered that would have made her more trustworthy. I don't know what those words would be because it was really the way she secretly went about her plan that mostly proves she's a lying butthole. Especially the part where all the Black Angry Heroin Shadow Warriors were trying to destroy Superman rather than trying to feed the hungry or hand out blankets and free feminine hygiene products to the homeless. But I get it. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is burn shit the fuck down without worrying what anybody else thinks or what's going to replace the now burnt down shit. I mean, it's not really productive and it's actually more like a tantrum but you have to admit that sometimes tantrums work!

I also forgot that last issue ended with Superman about to battle Frankenstein! That's like the battle everybody has been waiting for!

Swing your sword and not your fist, dum-dum!

Oh! That's why Superman is suddenly battling Frankenstein. For the "monster" metaphor! See how it works? Superman looks human so everybody thinks, "Oh! He's a good guy! He's white and male and he protects us because we can't protect ourselves! Go Superman!" I mean, not currently. Currently everybody thinks Superman is a monster. But let's pretend Wrath is still trying to convince the world that Superman is a monster and that her job wasn't already done for her by Lois Lane (or, more probably, some kind of mass mind control). Frankenstein looks like a decaying corpse stitched together by a madman which is pretty much the definition of monster especially when you take into account all of the assholes screaming at me right now that it's not "Frankenstein" but "Frankenstein's Monster" which--as you can see!--has "monster" right in the name! But here's the even deeper twist that you probably didn't have time to think about because you tore straight into the comic book to see who wins the battle. Wrath's point is that Frankenstein looks like the real monster here but guess what?! He's actually a sensitive poet! Can you believe that?! Something so hideous can actually be super emotional and into writing poetry?! If that's the case (and it totally is because remember junior high, you poetry writing monster?) then that means Superman could actually be a sociopath (and it totally probably is because he's a white man in a position of power!)!

If you say something enough times, it becomes proof of itself! I totally believe Superman is a monster now!

Because Superman hasn't heard he's a monster enough times to believe it yet, Wrath decides it's time to tell Superman her secret origin. Then maybe he'll believe all of the stupid bullshit she's been spouting!

Wrath's story is how she grew up in poverty which drove her to become a lawyer so she could help people. But then Brainiac took part of Metropolis and put it in a bottle and she couldn't do anything about that. Only Superman could and yet he didn't (For dramatic purposes, we'll forget that he recovered the city later) which totally means he's a bad person because her mother was killed in the incident. To be fair, Wrath doesn't become a super villain at that moment because she still wants to work with Superman when she becomes mayor. But that's when Superman contracted the Doomsday Virus and, once again, defeated Brainiac. But he was much scarier this time because he physically looked like a monster which is probably when Wrath's brain said, "Hey! Look at that! He's a monster!"

To be fair to Wrath, I've been screaming about this for a long time now. When writers can't figure out a way to challenge Superman, they turn Superman against himself via mind control or magic or Apokolyptian energy or an alien virus or a Joker toxin. Writers might think they're just providing an exciting story for a few issues but they're really damaging the character. Because now stupid fucking story arcs like this one can come along where idiots who think Superman is an actual monster and not a hero have proof that Superman is dangerous. Superman should be a beacon of hope and trust. Stop fucking turning him into the bogeyman because now I have to read stories where bad writers continue your fucking thought for you. And the people now afraid of Superman aren't wrong to be afraid of him because he's always out of control! I hate that Batman's idea of Superman is constantly proven correct! Knock it the fuck off. Who do we have to blame for this? Is it Miller's Dark Knight Returns? Whatever the case, I'm sick of it.

I bet I'll be bored with Superman in just a few months if he's written as a beacon of hope though!

Supergirl did have a penchant for punching people in the face. And Superboy was created by NOWHERE to be a living weapon. And the other guy is...Zod, I guess? He was a threat in Superman Loves Wonder Woman for a bit!

See? Kryptonians are jerks who need to be stopped by any means necessary! I'm totally on Wrath's side now! Thanks a lot, past writers of The New 52 for making her horrible argument make sense!

Wrath finishes her argument by explaining how she got her power from Vandal Savage which completely ruins everything she said previously! If Vandal Savage is your Yoda, you're the bad guy!

Superman continues to fight against Wrath and her plan to turn everybody into raging Black Angry Heroin Shadow Warriors. So Wrath's next move is to prove to him that he's a monster by showing how his friends react to him!

Oh yeah! Look at that! Superman surprises the shit out of Jimmy by suddenly materializing in his apartment and Jimmy is shocked! Superman is scary! Point to Wrath!

Superman's plan to beat Wrath is to stop trying to fight Wrath and just accept his rage or something. I don't know. It's the same plan he's been using in every fucking story Greg Pak has written. Embrace his fear. Embrace his anger. Embrace his sadness. Hey Greg? Next time, can you at least jerk me off with a different hand?

Superman absorbs all of the shadow power everywhere and saves the day angrily! Vandal Savage happens upon the scene and doesn't like that his Angry Black Semen is being used for good so he takes it all back and puts it into his little box. He shoves Wrath in their for good measure because she failed him. And Superman is back to normal! I mean, normal in that he still has no powers and no spit curl and no cape and no character and no likeability factor and no reason for existing.

Action Comics #47 Rating: No change. The art was horrible. It was the worst part of this comic book! Oh, it was definitely a photo finish between the writing and the art but I'd have to give with win to the art. And by win I actually mean loss. Although the real loser is me because I paid $3.99 for this shit. I hate myself.

Batwoman #40

Bye bye, best super hero team ever!

Batwoman and her gang of hoodlums only have one issue left to get into space so that they can catch up to their story where they fell out of space. I don't think it can be done in twenty pages! Maybe this issue will end with everybody boarding a rocket! Which could mean that they all really did burn up upon reentry way back in Issue #35. Then they probably went to hell where Etrigan can put them up for a year or so until they can all find their way out.

If getting into space and then resolving the story from the point where the team returned from space seems like too much to cover in just twenty pages, then how is there going to be any room left over for more sexy creepy, passionate emotionally abusive relationship scenes between Kate and Natalia? I'm pretty sure they need to fuck break up this issue once Kate realizes she's horny she's been hypnotized by short robes and lacy under garments a vampire all of this time. Such a cute gross relationship, amirite?

While Morgaine realizes she needs to get her powerful pet rock into space where it can transform the world into a new Avalon, Kate learns that Natalia's step-daughter has been found murdered! And by step-daughter, I mean the daughter of the man that Natalia married and murdered for his money and who probably would never actually want to be referred to as Natalia's any kind of daughter. Kate suddenly begins having flashes of images that seem to indicate she killed this woman. Of course she's being set up by Natalia and it's all part of the Vampire Hypnotism game (aka rape if you're not a standard issue Universal Monster. Although the Mummy has always been vocally against monsters committing acts of "Vampire Hypnotism." It's just nobody can understand him with all the bandages in his mouth. Frankenstein, too busy trying to quiet the rumors of pedophilia, never had any comments on the subject). Kate needs to find out some answers so she visits Natalia to get this whole thing resolved before getting to the space fight against Morgaine.

Red Alice follows along because she loves her sister and wants to save her. Contrariwise, she might just hate Natalia and wants to ruin her. I don't have a coin nearby with a scar on it (I left it in the other room), so I'll have to remain indecisive about Red Alice's motivations. In the end it doesn't matter because she's going to break up the relationship or become a vampire trying.

Wait. Is this sex or violence?

While Beth tries to convince Kate that she isn't really a vampire or into Natalia's hot little body in the least, Morgaine breaks into STAR Labs to steal a rocket ship. But that's boring so let's get back to the big break-up!

Kate refuses to bite Beth in the neck. Or maybe she tried for a second off panel while the scene was following Morgaine and she realized her normal human teeth have a much tougher time biting into neck arteries than nice, pointy vampire teeth. So, due to the scene cut, it's kind of ambiguous when she says, "I can't!" Unless it isn't. I'm not very good at reading comic books. I still think Kate and Natalia are a super adorable couple!

Vampire Hypnotism Apologist! You're just contributing to Vampire Hypnotism Culture, Beth!

But wait! The real break-up scene is yet to come! That's the next page where Marc Andreyko decides to write a scene defending his story to the critics instead of writing an actual break-up scene between Kate and Natalia!

Marc: "See? It wasn't rape, you twits! It was just all part of Kate Kane's horribly damaged psyche! Readers on the internet are so dumb!"

Well, that explains that! Can't argue with the Vampire Hypnotist telling her victim that she wasn't Vampire Hypnotized at all! "You wanted it, Batwoman! You were begging for it!" Totally sounds consensual and not anything like Vampire Hypnotism to me. I'm sure glad the alleged Vampire Hypnotist put it all into context like this and pointed out how the victim was...I don't want to say "to blame"...um..."responsible" for the alleged act of Vampire Hypnotism.

This scene would have been so much better if Kate had just been, "You Vampire Hypnotized me? Why you fucking bitch!" Then she could have clawed out Natalia's eyes and scooped out her ovaries through her vagina. No wait. That's probably going too far! Although what happens next is kind of close!

I think Andreyko should have just gone from the "You hypnotized me?" to this scene and skipped that whole part where he gave voice to the Vampire Hypnotist's excuse.

Kate leaves Nocturna pinned to the wall with the police on the way since Red Alice used a cell phone to stream Natalia's confession to Maggie Sawyer and/or some other cop like Bullock or something. Natalia continues to blame Kate as Kate walks out horrified at the entire ordeal. Maybe going into space and beating the shit out of some other woman will do her some good. Poor Morgaine is in for some serious projected aggression!

Beth and Kate have a heart-to-heart sisterly chat before Ragman appears and tells them they have more important things to deal with! So stop crying, forget about what happened, digest your sister's Through the Looking Glass quotes and get into space already!

Oh, an annual! That makes sense! I knew twenty pages weren't enough to end this thing. It took nearly that many to deal with the, ahem, alleged Vampire Hypnotism!

Batwoman #40 Rating: No change. Now that I can be a bit more serious in tone here in the Limbo area where my real review of the issue supposedly takes place but rarely does because I don't really care about legitimate reviewing, let's go back to that scene where Kate learns she's been hypnotized by Natalia and she realizes that she was hypnotized into having sex with her. Confused and still processing the event, Kate asks her rapist point blank, "You forced me to have sex with you?" Obviously Kate should realize at this moment that she was manipulated and raped and she doesn't need confirmation from her attacker. Natalia's comments are exactly what you would expect to hear from the rapist which makes her all the more terrible. This scene, without the outside controversy, actually makes sense and portrays Natalia as the monster Kate declares she is. But with the controversy and Marc Andreyko going on Twitter way back when to explain that Kate doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do and that the encounter wasn't rape, Natalia's comments just come across as Andreyko trying to explain away the rape. So a scene in which a woman's attacker piles blame onto her victim, a scene that I could believe would happen, just comes across as a petty attempt by the writer to prove that the rape never actually occurred. It's kind of mind-boggling. If I had any stake in Andreyko's writing, I'd say he wrote this scene correctly and it doesn't have anything to do with the outside controversy. But since I'm not his mother, I can't help but read it as a desperate attempt at damage control. Of course it's coming way too late! Most people that were disturbed by the rape scene dropped the book then and there, if not a few months earlier.

Anyway, I hope Batwoman can return soon without all of this drama packed up in her suitcases. Let's clean the slate and get her back to fighting crime alongside The Unknowns as soon as possible! Please?

Batwoman #39

Red Alice is finally here to murderfuck every face in the room!

Red Alice has that super hot look that says, "I'm not into men and even if I were, you'd be way beneath my standards." So irresistible!

Previously in this comic book, some fucking crazy shit was going down all over Gotham. A bunch of crazy characters were involved. And Kate Kane was having mega-sexy sex with Nocturna right on panel! Well, kind of on panel. Maybe I fantasized it. Let's see if this issue contains any more lesbian sex that I can male gaze up as much as possible, making it all about a man's erection!

I know! I pointed out how you're here to murderfuck! That's totally different! And sexy! And illegal in most European nations!

Kate is probably more worried about what Red Alice did to their father anyway. Murderfucking him would be wrong and icky. That might not even turn me on! No wait. I've thought about it for a second and it totally would.

Kate comes out of her bedroom looking so fucking adorable that it breaks my adorable meter. She says, "B-Beth? Its impossible." I guess she lost her apostrophe in Nocturna's sweet vanilla scented sphincter.

Is this Red Alice's schtick? She quotes Through the Looking Glass and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland all the time? Although I'm not sure "I'm not here to kill you" is a line from either novel! Although I can think of several occasions where Alice might have said it.

Next Nocturna comes out in an incredibly short robe and I have to take a masturbation break. Just kidding! I'm not into lesbians! I respect that their love making is not meant for my benefit and that it is an expression of love between two people just like everybody else's sexual exploits. Although all the other sexual encounters turn me on, so I'm just being myself when I wish for an on panel shot of Kate's face between Nocturna's thighs! I mean, if they were guys, that would be totally different because I was only into that during college that one or two or three times. Or however many times before I lost count. I mean, before I realized I totally wasn't into that because I was super heterosexual!

What's with the question mark shape on Kate's back?! Is that a shout out to Renee Montoya?!

This has always been my explanation for Kate and Nocturna's romance. Kate was just looking to cut loose after having her heart broken by Maggie. Or by herself, really, but whatever. Except all you naysaying jerks that wanted to ruin this adorably hot relationship had to run around with your hair on fire yelling, "The sky is raping! The sky is raping!" You guys are always looking for a reason not to have fun and to get to be righteously angry at somebody! Well no more! Kate and Nocturna are consenting fuck partners and that's the end of it! I mean, Nocturna did turn her into a vampire against her will and is manipulating her through the immortal blood but that's different somehow! Just shut up! I like seeing them kiss!

Nocturna and Red Alice start a whole daytime talk show drama filled screamfest until Kate yells at them in her vampire voice to knock it off. The art also takes a hit around this point. I think the inker might have changed! Anyway, Nocturna and Red Alice don't trust each other but they decide to play nice for Kate's sake. At least for now. Or at least in front of her.

Meanwhile, Clayface uses Ragman's computer to Google himself since he's lost his memory after being used as a mold for Morgaine. He discovers he was an insane murderer and doesn't like it much. I guess Ragman doesn't know Clayface's real name or else Clayface could check out his credits on IMDB while he's at the computer.

Showoff. He's just a Diet Spectre! Oh man. Jelyde is gonna be pissed at me for saying that!

This must be the part where the story catches the reader up on all of the other characters. So let's see what's happening with Jason Blood next.

Radhu! I didn't recognize you without the turban! I bet I won't recognize Uncle Harry either if he's not a pillow. Or Glenda without that thing she was known for.

It turns out Morgaine is waiting for Jason in his apartment with Etrigan gagged and bound at her feet. Are they almost in space?!

Morgaine has come in search of that rock that she winds up sticking in a satellite. But Ragman must have sensed injustice happening because he and Clayface call Batwoman to join them in staring into Jason Blood's rear window. At least the gang is finally all together. Now they just need to find a spaceship.

Morgaine practically said "fart."

Etrigan is so shaken up that he rhymes "blind" with "blind" while making no sense anyway, and then rhymes "death" with "death." Anybody can rhyme like that! Actually, anybody can rhyme anything. What is people's fascination with rhymed words? Rhyming is like the first thing you learn in school!

Anyway, Jason Blood disappears and Morgaine runs off to Slaughter Swamp to raise her army of dead mud creatures. Etrigan points out that they should probably chase her down or else the world is going to end and nobody wants it to end. That was a rhyme!

Batwoman #39 Rating: +1 Ranking. I get that this isn't anywhere near the same level of great that Batwoman was when it had those other people writing and drawing it. You know, whatever their names were. Blackguy and Prince William the Third. But I'm thoroughly enjoying this version of Batgirl as well. The other version was deep and profound and intimate and emotional. This version is simply fun super hero adventures. And as we all know, DC needs as many fun super hero adventures as they can get. Too bad it was at the expense of Batwoman the Urban Legend Killer.

Batwoman #35

Whoops, Kate! Your fly is down!

Oh! Oh! I know who all of these unknowns are!

"Feet of Clay." Wonder Woman!
"We're all mad here." The Cheshire Cat!
Batwoman!
"The clothes make the man." George Zimmer!
"Hell breaks loose." Who cares? What I'm wondering is how many internet fuckdummies are confused by the phrase "Hell breaks loose"?

Internet Fuckdummy: "That doesn't make any sense? Hell breaks doesn't win? What looser let that mistake make the cover!"

Now when I call somebody an "internet fuckdummy," realize that I'm not calling out young people who have learned to read on the internet from other people with a scant hold on the English language themselves. My cousin who is in her fifties, who constantly posts on Facebook about grammar pet peeves and spells well and types beautifully coherent sentences, still invariably types "loose" when she means "lose." I have a feeling we've seen the last generation to spell "lose" with just one "o." At this point, it seems like one of those natural changes that the majority take as fact and thus the language is changed forever. The extra "o" is in the saddle and rides mankind's ass until it's raw and bleeding and mankind screams, "Okay! Okay! OOKAY!"

Also, should ye be one of those internet fuckdummies and think I'm being ridiculously harsh on you, remember this: we're all internet fuckdummies in our own way. Just, you know, some of us know how to spell "lose." Also, some of us know on which side of the quotation mark that previous period should have been. I, sadly, am not one of those people. Stupid interent fuckdummy. This issue begins with Batwoman in a space suit gazing on the most miraculous site she has ever sighted.

"My God. It's full of 'O's!"

Seeing that last issue ended with Batwoman, while wearing frilly little panties, being sexily bitten by a vampire, it makes sense that this issue begins with Batwoman in a space suit orbiting the Earth battling demons with a hodgepodge assortment of heroes and villains. Unless it makes the opposite of sense? Perhaps it's a mystery! A "MYSTERY IN SPACE!" That's the title of this issue although I think I'd quibble about calling where they're located in orbit as "space." Maybe "MYSTERY IN EARTH'S ORBIT" would be more accurate. Sure, you can call that space! I won't argue with you! But when somebody calls their comic book "MYSTERY IN SPACE," I'm expecting an adventure on alien planets in far off solar systems! Then you'd be able to argue that fighting in Earth's orbit is more of a "MYSTERY IN SPACE" than being on another planet even though that planet is located in a different part of space than our planet is located. That comic should probably be called "MYSTERY ON AN ALIEN PLANET."

Jesus Christ. I'm even beginning to annoy myself. Let's just find out why Etrigan is back, shall we?

I'm sure he does.

For those who don't know the poem, here's how it appears in Immortalia: An Anthology of American Ballads, Sailors' Songs, Cowboy Songs, College Songs, Parodies, Limericks, and Other Humorous Verses and Doggerel printed in 1927:

"There was an old man from Nantucket,
Whose cock was so long he could suck it;
He said with a grin,
As he wiped off his chin,
'If my ear was a cunt I could fuck it.'"

Here's another one from the same book that I rather enjoyed:

"There was an old lady named Tucket
Who went to hell in a bucket;
When she did get there
And they asked her for fare,
She lifted her skirts and said, 'Suck it!'"

Here's another classy bit from the book from a story called "The Night of the King's Castration":

"He had Daniel cast unto the lions. Any man would have died of fright but not Daniel, who boldly strode forth, grabbed a lion's left nut very tight, and mightily squeezed all his worth. Then the lion cried, 'Ouch, it tickles.' 'May I ask what tickles,' said Daniel. Said the lion, 'My dear boy, testicles,' and he laughed 'til he was dead."

Maybe I should change my blog name to Eee! Tess Tickles Chai Tea. Hmm, that might need a little work.

Wait! This story about the King's Castration is too good to not quote a bit more:

"And the king went to the locker where his private crapper stood, and he shit three pounds of butter--And earned the name of King Dairyass."

Why am I reading comic books? This story is so much better! Although the ending is rather weak:

"So then they had a foreskin race, where length and trigger-speed both counted. "Daniel! Come forth! said the king with his face--And Daniel came came fifth and lost the race!"

I don't get it! "Daniel came came fifth"? I think there is some kind of innuendo about Daniel coming on the king's face? Maybe?

Anyway, before I get back to Batwoman, how about one more of these artistic limericks, hmm?

"There was an old lady from Grott,
Who lived on green apples and snot;
When she couldn't get these,
She lived on the cheese
She scraped from the end of her twat."

Ah! American Literature at its finest! And now back to our regularly scheduled comic book!

Well, this might explain why Etrigan is involved. Although that doesn't explain why Etrigan called this Batwoman's quest.

Morgan le Fay manages to reduce Etrigan to a skeleton (which never finished him before!) and explode Clayface into millions of spheroids of mud (which never finished him before) while trying to place a green glowing rock into a satellite. She probably should have added the rock to the satellite before it launched. That's the easier way to send payloads into space. But then, she's a witch so she doesn't properly understand technology.

Batwoman stabs her with a piece of the satellite she vandalized while Clayface reforms and helps Ragman and Alice back on the shuttle. Batwoman retreats into the shuttle with the rest of them and they flee back toward Earth, running over Morgan le Fay on the way who manages to hold on to the windshield, cracking it up as they reenter the atmosphere. The issue ends with Clayface and Ragman covering Batwoman and Alice (Elizabeth?) with their bodies to protect them against the heat of reentry.

Although, I think they forgot to remove the glowing stone from the satellite. That might be a problem! Although if it is a problem, we won't know about it for at least two issues since it looks like next issue will explain what the fuck just happened here.

Batwoman #35 Rating: No change. It gets lots and lots of pluses for the cast and the adventure! But it gets lots and lots of minuses for telling the story the way it was told! I don't totally mind having a story begin like this and eventually get around to explaining how things led to this point. But it's a bit weird to have it done after the way Issue #34 ended. It's too jarring having one story end with a vampire bite cliffhanger only to have another story begin in mid-space (orbit!) battle! Traditional ways of telling stories are traditional for a reason! Because white, straight people made them that way and we should all try to be more like white, straight people! Unless it's for some other reason. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Here, have another limerick before I go:

"I love her in the evening gown,
I lover her in her nightie;
But when moonlight flits
Between her tits,
Jesus Christ, almighty!"

Justice League United #2

Hawkman grew his arm back already? Now I want to shoot up with Nth Metal.

I've been watching Season One of Young Justice on Netflix right now. I'm impressed. I'm not surprised that I'm impressed because DC seems to have a way with cartoons that they don't have anymore with comic books. I've missed a lot of DC's cartoons simply because I find it hard to care enough to be awake on Saturday mornings. The last time I watched a Saturday morning cartoon regularly was in 2002 and it was Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm only about eight episodes or so into Young Justice but the part that got me most excited (aside from realizing Winnie Cooper was the voice of Martian Teenagegirlhunter) was when Teekl appeared and ran inside to Klarion the Witch Boy. Jack Kirby created a lot of great characters but Klarion the Witch Boy might be my all time favorite. I do own the original Demon comic book where he first appeared but I really fell in love with him when Alan Grant was writing The Demon.

That has nothing to do with Justice League United but then when does anything I say ever have anything to do with the comic book I'm supposed to be reading? If you want organization and coherence, might I suggest Comic Vineyard or Funny Book Resources?

The issue begins with Miiyahbin and her friend Heather poking around the alien base where Adam Strange found his rocket suit.

Oh yeah. She's screaming for a fucking nickname. I'll never remember that! Why couldn't Heather be the new First Nations superhero?

Justice League Canada are currently on Rann according to the not-funny-at-all DC version of the Encyclopedia Galactica. Although the Encyclopedia Galactica might never actually have been funny. It could just be that whenever a writer for the Hitchhiker's Guide referenced it, they took some liberties with it to make the entry sound more interesting. Sort of like what I do with DC's comic books!

Damn. He can pinpoint the galaxy they're in just by looking at a few moons in the sky?! Martian Manhunter is even more amazing than I already thought he was!

I'm surprised Martian Manhunter even took Ollie's question seriously. How dare Green Arrow expect the alien to know all alien things! I guess Ollie never went fishing with his grandfather when he was younger, so he never learned the meaning of the word "prejudiced."

The Elemental Creature was Zeta Beamed to Rann with the JLC, so they need to spend a few more pages battling it. Luckily Supergirl shows up for some reason. She's not a Red Lantern anymore so she must be lonely again and looking for another surrogate family. She doesn't save everybody from the creature because some Rannites arrive to contain the creature with their superior technology and greater knowledge.

On a Thanagarian moon, Hawkman and Twat Lobo continue to scuffle.

While two characters I hate with the burning intensity of twenty rebellious sons, Byth gives birth to Ultra the Super Baby, Slayer of Worlds. That's putting an awful lot of pressure on the kid before it even awakens for the first time. What if it wants to be an actor or a poet? Just because Byth couldn't fulfill his own dream of slaying worlds that doesn't mean he should force his child to pursue the same goals.

The Rannianite that brought the Justice League Canada to Rann gives a brief explanation of the wars that plague the Polaris and Vegan systems. He points out how Thanagar and Czarnia are at the heart of the conflict which would mean that DC has decided to run with Rob Liefeld's earlier mistake of claiming the Czarnians are still alive. I suppose that's also a reason for Twat Lobo as well. Original Lobo must be schizophrenic and believes that he committed genocide against his own people but in actuality, they're all still healthy enough to commit war atrocities against a bunch of other races. I think I hate DC just a little bit more by giving in to Rob Liefeld's bullshit.

Sardath of Rann explains that Project Super Baby Ultra was a peaceful project where they would create a monster bearing the DNA of all the races in the universe. The grotesque and misshapen barely alive mess would be loved by all. It would also live in incredible pain from all the genetic problems fucking up its system. But at least it would bring the universe together! Except for those races that hate babies or hate children of interracial couples or just don't like changing diapers. The plan probably could have used a few more brainstorming sessions to work out all the kinks. But before Sardath and his scientists could finish creating the freak, Byth stole the baby for himself! Now Sardath needs the Justice League Canada to clean up his shit.

Oh fuck you, J'onn. Enough with this "playing God" bullshit. Why is creating a hybrid baby playing god? Science is science! Why is there suddenly an imaginary line between all the science that is done without J'onn judging it and then making a hybrid baby? I think you're playing God, J'onn, by judging these scientists and their actions! You dick. Go fuck an Oreo.

The Justice League Canada crash Byth's birthing party but they're too late. Super Baby Ultra wakes up with eyes full of stars, says "Greg?" and then pisses a fiery hole right through the wall of Byth's headquarters.

Meanwhile, Hawkman and Twat Lobo take their fight into the vacuum of space with the winner to be determined later.

Justice League United #2 Rating: No change. I didn't feel the writing was quite as snappy as the previous two issues but I still like this team better than any of the others. Okay, I like Justice League Dark the best but their roster is in such flux right now, I don't know who will be on it and if I'll like them or not. So right now, this is the best team. Although Supergirl's introduction was a bit unexplained. She heard a beast roar from light years away and came to investigate? Like she isn't hearing roars from all over the universe? She just decided to investigate this one? Okay, whatever. I'll buy it! I mean, comic books, right?

Joker's Daughter #1

I have never read a Joker's Daughter story before. I'm glad it's going to be written by such a skilled auteur.

Here's my prediction about this story: misfit, rebel, outside society's norm girl hates her parents and everybody and stomps around in big boots being angry. She finds The Joker's Face floating in the Gotham Reservoir, puts it on, and gains her new identity! Nobody is going to tell her how to live her life now! Fuck 'em all! Plus, she decides to go live underground because why the fuck not? At least nobody down there will keep asking, "Why are you wearing a mask made out of human skin?"

Score! Girl that didn't fit in in the suburbs runs away to the sewers. That was an easy one, though. Cliché and Nocenti go hand in hand.

At least the artist on this one is attempting to make Ugly Cat look ugly! Although it might be a bit too Gollum-like here. And where the fuck did she find a C-3PO head? Is it actually a Star Wars figure carrying case? I preferred the Darth Vader head carrying case myself. But that's because nobody ever bought me the AT-AT so I could just shove them all inside that.

Even though I already knew Ann Nocenti would be writing this issue, I would have been able to guess just from her writing style in the dialogue between Joker's Daughter and Ugly Cat. I'm not sure how to describe Nocenti's dialogue style except as "not human." It's as if somebody programmed a Commodore 64 to try to make small talk with strangers and it's really doing it's best be understood.

I'm not sure The Joker's Daughter actually knows the real history of The Nethers or she just believes the rumors she's heard. She seems to believe that The Nethers was flooded to make way for the Gotham Reservoir while citizens who refused to move were still just going about their daily lives. Although it is Gotham. I suppose if I wanted to believe it, I could easily believe some corrupt officials gave the go ahead knowing that people were still living down there. But it just feels like The Joker's Daughter is the kind of person that lives their life via their confirmation bias. Flooding innocent people is the sort of thing Up Worlders would do because they're shallow, selfish assholes. She wants to believe she doesn't fit in not because she's regularly snotty and a jerk to most people but because they're clique-loving dicks that have never given her a chance.

My confirmation bias is that I don't like Ann Nocenti's writing so I'm not going to give The Joker's Daughter the benefit of the doubt with regards to the truth of anything she says. She's just a spoiled brat that probably got grounded from Facebook for a weekend and she wasn't going to put up with that! Fuck them all! They'll see how wrong they were when she disappears underground with her ugly cat and they never see her again!

Score! Big boots! But what rebellious young girl doesn't wear big boots, right? I love them!

Only Ann Nocenti could get me to turn on an anti-social young teenager just trying to escape the system and stick it to the man. I'm not even giving The Joker's Daughter a chance because I can't stand Nocenti's writing! Although I do like Ugly Cat. But I hate that The Joker's Daughter calls it Ugly Cat! I thought she was above judging things by their appearances?

Score! She hates her parents! I wonder if Nocenti believed she was writing a character that would be a Champion for Young Girls everywhere who didn't feel like they fit in. As if anybody feels that way.

After Joker's Daughter surfaces, some kids throw rocks at her and call her ugly. The Joker's Daughter believes that they'll stop being cruel to her if she finds a mate. Then nobody will think she's ugly! But for once, one of Ann Nocenti's female characters doesn't want a partner in her life! Maybe there's hope for The Joker's Daughter after all! Unless she decides that she wants Catwoman as her partner so that she'll be accepted among the shallow, rock-throwing assholes.

And, lastly, score! These correct speculations all feel so hollow, though. They were all just so obvious.

One thing I'm glad to see is The Joker's Daughter didn't disappoint me with just how shallow she is. Rejecting conventional society does not automatically make a person more profound, more insightful, or smarter than those that don't reject it. Sometimes it just makes you a different kind of asshole. There's a difference between being oneself and acting in a rebellious manner. With The Joker's Daughter's declaration that "ugly is the new beautiful," I see that she is just another shallow twat.

The Joker's Daughter was just coming up to the surface to trade or look for some food or books. But now she's suddenly ready to hold a bloody revolution because she sees one dick treating his partner like shit. Obviously that means everybody else acts in the same manner because she's the only person capable of breaking out of society's shackles and thinking on her own.

I hate her so much!

But not as much as I hate Nocenti's plots!

So now apparently enough fairly normal people escape Arkham on a continual basis to create this tribal society where women are handed out like gift bags.

I have a feeling that the editors gave Ann Nocenti this mythical Gotham Underworld to fuck around with so that she wasn't fucking up Gotham at street level with her stupid Penguin and Rat-Tails Gang Wars. Once Ann Nocenti stops writing for DC, Gotham can have another cataclysm which will collapse the Underworld for good and destroy anything that Nocenti had created.

The Joker's Daughter's story that she's going to tell this man is The Lysistrata. I think that means she's going to institute some kind of plan that results in the men walking around with gigantic erections and the women going out of their mind from lack of sex. Or something. But the first part of her plan is to use her half-moon to burn a gigantic smile on the man's face. So that was why she just had to pick up the crescent moon on the way to the surface! It was awkwardly placed in the narrative that I really didn't know what the fuck to say about it.

The Joker's Daughter tries to overthrow Charon the leader but winds up being beaten by him because he's good looking.

Christ. It's like Nocenti is making excuses why one sex should rule over another.

Patriarchy. Matriarchy. Who fucking cares? Nocenti has already set up the history of this place as if the women couldn't possibly have built the tunnels or done the hunting or fixed everything up. "Naturally" the men did that! So now they get to sit back and relax and have the women wait on them. How about not switching from the rule of one sex over the other but just allowing people to do the things they're best at and the things they want to do. Can a guy cook in this society? Can he raise the children? Why can't a woman go about fixing things? Who the fuck cares who does what? Stop with the pendulum swinging, Charon! It doesn't have to be one way or the other.

Fuck it. I don't know who to be angry at anymore. I think I'm just mad at Ann Nocenti for constantly writing stereotypical, cliché bullshit.

The Joker's Daughter (Duela is her name. I remember that from somewhere. But damned if I can remember any previous encounters in my comic book life with The Joker's Daughter) lies to Charon about her childhood. She was a lot like The Ventriloquist in that she was ugly as a baby and it shocked everyone. I have no idea how people tell when a baby is ugly. They're all fucking ugly for the first few weeks. Maybe longer! But she did weird and impossible things like trapping spiders in light bulbs. So it was off to the insane asylum to try to make her normal! Goddamn fascist parents trying to cure her of her mental illness where she believes she can trap spiders in light bulbs! Crazy! She also loved to cut up her face and that's not really very healthy. She also brought in stray dogs that probably had more rabies than love. So I guess her parents were assholes because they wouldn't allow her to keep putting her own life in danger. Jerks.

Duella's mom was twelve years old.

None of Duella's story matches up with her first declaration that she only survived her idiot parents by hiding in books. I know she's offering lies to Charon but it feels like these are lies that she tells because she wants to believe them (and maybe even does believe them). Which make her earlier statement about her parents being idiots incongruous.

Oh, it's probably just me and my Anti-Nocenti bias! I bet this is actually a really terrific story on its own!

The Joker's Daughter gives Charon his Joker Face after he goes all Jesus on her. And then the men appear to declare they want the women to run things because they're tired of fighting to hold on to their power. Oh bullshit. They just want the women to do more work! Now they'll all just sit around and shrug their shoulders and say, "Hey, you're in charge. You fucking deal with it." And The Joker's Daughter thinks she's changed things! Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha!

I hate this comic book.

The Joker's Daughter #1 Rating: I already told you I hate this comic book! Now leave me alone!