Comic Reviews Week of 4/28/09

This column is dedicated to the Jesuits...they know why.

Written By Geoff "Why, God, Why" Johns
Art By George Perez

If this were a video blog, it'd be a safe bet that I'd make fun of the phonetic similarity between "Johns" and "Khan" and if you don't know how that works, I don't know why you're reading this blog.

Okay, now I know that the Time Trapper has had a rather flexible identity, he's been the personification of entropy, an alternate version of Cosmic Boy and the adult version of Lori Morning (a minor character in the reboot Legion that didn't even rate a cameo in this crossover). So his identity is flexible. Plus, we're dealing with three Legions and therefore alternate universes, so the Time Trapper is not necessarily THE Time Trapper.

However, let me just go on record as saying that there is no acceptable circumstance for any version of the Time Trapper being or even impersonating Superboy Prime for even a second. Okay? Everyone hates Superboy Prime, and not in the "Oh, man, I hope the Legion can beat this guy" kind of way so much as the, "Great, so the last time I see my version of the Legion they have to be fighting this tool?" kind of way.

Also, at this point, it seems like the only reason that the reboot and threeboot Legions get to guest-star is to provide cannon fodder so the Superboy-Prime can be threatening without making Johns sacrifice any of the members of his Legion, which is kind of adding insult to injury.

Oh yeah, and Kid Flash and Connor Kent return. I was never a particularly big fan of either character, especially once Johns got a hold of them in Teen Titans and basically made Kid Flash a boring non-entity and turned Connor Kent into the emo-iest member of the Superman family at the time.

Well, at least this Geoff Johns crossover is almost over....


Green Lantern (v4) #40
Written By Geoff Johns
Art By Phillip Tan

Agent Orange is still a profoundly stupid name, let's get that out of the way to start with.

And...you know, is anyone else getting tired of the seemingly endless build-up towards Blackest Night? (By the way, ten bucks says that there's a tie-in somewhere called 'Blackest Knight' that is about how Batman ties into all of this)

Anyway, here's been the general arc of stories for the last two years of Green Lantern stories

1. Green Lanterns encounter new corps
2. Guardians gather in secret chamber, speak ominously
3. Green Lanterns confront new corps
4. Guardians release new law that paints them in a darker light
5. Hal Jordan is troubled by the preceding events


Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine #5 (of 6)
Written By Damon Lindelof
Art By Leinil Franci Yu

This issue is pretty good, but it's probably not "Three years of waiting" good.

Also, if you can remember the names of the characters from "The Goonies" there is no way that you're claiming that Star Trek is for dorks, especially since Wolverine would have had to be in his seventies or so when "The Goonies" came out.

Okay, I thought too much about that one. At any rate, there's a good chance that this will be the last decent book ever released for the Ultimate Line, so enjoy it while you can, because God knows it's a sinking ship.



War Machine (v2) #5
Written By Greg Pak
Art By Leonardo Manco

It's kind of hard to put into words what I feel about this book. I mean, I think most people who read it would say that it's not very good, but on the other hand, you have to give the writers and artists credit for making War Machine looks progressively more ridiculous with each passing issue. Here's how Jim Rhodes looks by the end of the issue:


Now, you're probably wondering, 'wait, what the fuck is Dethlok doing in War Machine,' and the answer is....a poor choice of character design that has resulted in Marvel copying itself.

But in a world where Chuck Norris became an internet sensation, I suppose there's a place for this book. So sail on, you crazy...bird...okay, let's move on.

And now for a new feature micro-mini-reviews, because some times I don't even care enough to cobble together a couple of paragraphs:

Uncanny X-Men #509: Wait, so the first mutant in modern times was born in 1906 San Francisco? Does this mean mutants are caused by earthquakes?

Ms. Marvel #38: Meet the most unsustainable premise a comic has ever had!

Skaar, Son of the Hulk #11: Barbarians never, ever, ever need to learn about the power of friendship, okay?

Runaways #9: The Runaways win by Dragon ex Machina, as this series gives new and painful meaning to the phrase 'diminishing returns.'

Justice Society of America #26: Geoff Johns leaves JSA with a story that I can only imagine was designed to reduce my separation anxiety by making me hate him as much as possible. But I kid, I'm so glad that he took an entire issue to tell us how rad Stargirl is...and that's essentially all that happens. Apparently she's awesome, because she inspired both the old and young with her pluck, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and...

If you love, I really mean love, Stargirl, you'll love this issue. Otherwise, you'll wish Geoff Johns would take his fucking Mary Sue with him when he leaves.

X-Men Origins - Wolverine (by which I mean the movie): If your version of Deadpool is mute and functions like an automaton and is the most powerful antagonist in the movie, there's a pretty fair chance you've rather drastically missed the point of the character at every possible level. Congratulations.

Special "Heroes" Season Finale Update

Spoilers Ahead






Remember how last season Noah Bennett (the guy with the glasses) got shot in head, and then hours later he was resurrected, with no ill effects, by Claire's blood? So does season two and the first half of season three not count, because that's about the only way last night's resolution makes any sense.

On the one hand, if I thought that Sylar were actually going away for more than a few episodes, I'd be willing to accept this, but since I doubt that's going to happen, I just kind of feel depressed and sleepy.

If I were in charge of the show, you know who I would have killed? Claire, because no one would have seen it coming, it would have had more emotional resonance with the remaining characters, and plus it would avoid the rather prominent continuity problem discussed above.

I think Heroes may be the worst television series I currently watch regularly, and if I were smart, I'd probably stop.

Comic Reviews Week of 4/25/09

All right, another new week of comics, some good, some bad, all will be nit-picked unfairly, because that's just how I roll, as a hipper man than me might say.




X-Force (v3) #14
Written By Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost
Art By Clayton Crain

You know, there are certain characters that, if they form a central part of your story, ought to make you pause, reflect, and start over. Stryfe is one of those characters. I think the biggest problem with him as a character is that he looks ridiculous and doesn't have particularly interesting motivations for anything he does.

Anyway, this issue is part of a crossover the "Messiah War," wherein the X-Force and Cable must protect the possible mutant messiah from Bishop and Stryfe...also Deadpool's there, I guess because if you're bringing together everything else from early '90s X-books, you might as well pull him in too. In all honesty, it's not very interesting, if only because it features a bunch of characters no one particularly cares about fighting over the potential future, and since time-travel is involved, you can't help but wonder if any of it is going to count anyway.

But, hey, if you like your X-Men soaked in blood and dystopian landscapes, then this is the comic for you. As for me, I was kinding of hoping that they would leave this sort of thing in 1993, where it belonged.

Detective Comics #853
Written By Neil Gaiman
Art By Andy Kubert

Okay, so, if I understand correctly, this issue is about Batman, who had been "killed" by the Omega Sanction in Final Crisis, and thus condemned to die over and over again, and so that's how you'd square this story with normal continuity, I'd guess.

But anyway, I have to give Gaiman credit, because he is able to get to the core of who Batman is and is able to reconcile all of the myriad versions of Batman that have existed throughout the character's history.

Still, I can't help but feel that it's kind of weird to go to this much trouble burying Batman when Bruce Wayne will probably be back within probably about two years, and will most likely be basically the same character. Because of that, no one's going to see this story as the Batman equivalent of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow," which had a certain amount of gravitas because that version of Superman was gone and never coming back.

But this story was much better than I thought it would be.





Outsiders (vtoo many) #17
Written By Peter J. Tomasi
Art By Lee Garbett

Peter J. Tomasi is being credited for both "Story and Words" which kind of seems lame, but that's really neither here nor there.

I don't know why this comic exists. I mean, God...it's not that it's really bad, though it's certainly not good, but I don't think that's what bothers me.

In this issue the Outsiders fight their new archenemies....the Insiders. Incidentally, that na,me has been used by a group of villains fighting against the Outsiders, but that was way back in...2005, when Judd Winick came up with it. And when you're cribbing ideas from Judd Winick, man, it's not going to end well. (Note: The Insiders in the earlier story are different from the Insiders in this story, but still, not a great move)

Anyway, the Insiders appear to be some sort of shadowy cabal who are fighting some sort of secret war. Oh, that sounds like a rather derivative origin story for a groups of villains, but did I mention that they're immortal? Okay, that doesn't make them less-derivative, I suppose, but, well, I'm trying.

I also still hate Owlman, more than words can express.



Astonishing X-Men #29
Written By Warren Ellis
Art By Simone Bianchi

You know, House of M may have been one of the worst ideas that Marvel has had in a long time, if only because so many bad stories have come out of it.

This is not a particularly bad story, but still, any story where the X-Men get involved with a secret war between artificial mutants and mutants from parallel universe is kind of...well, seems like one or the other should be enough, and throwing the two together?

I guess the only reason I chose to review this issue is because it ends with the least exciting cliffhanger in comic book history. I mean, the entire issue is littered with characters saying, "Man, Forge is crazy" and "You know, Forge often did some pretty questionable stuff" and then the team heads to his lair which is full of ominous looking devices and weapons. And then the issue ends with this page, coming after Storm claims Forge has always basically been a good guy:




That's a bold way to end a comic in the middle of an arc.
Cyclops: Maybe Forge is the bad guy
Storm:But maybe he's not
Forge: But maybe I am!




Supergirl (v5) #40
Written By Sterling Gates
Art By Jamal Igle

Who is Superwoman? Apparently Lois Lane had a little sister, and now she's in the military and evil and whatever. And she's Superwoman. Boy, we really needed four issues to get to thats fucking reveal. There, now go spend your $3 on a better comic.

Retraux Revieux

Titans #17-41
Written By Jay Faerber
Cover Dates June 2000-July 2002

How to ruin a character in one step:

1. Have him/her sleep with his/her mother's fiance.

You see, Jay Faerber, taken out of his natural habitat of characters he has created and has full control over tends to be unable to curb his soap operatic tendencies, and then you end with superheroes doing unfortunate things like the aforementioned example. This run is probably the worst in Titans history, if only because not only did Faerber not create anything new worthwhile, but he also broke what was already there. I mean, his run had Jesse Quick sleeping with her mother's fiance. Argent involved with a guy who was really a twelve-year possessing someone else's body, and annoying super-powered orphans, really annoying super-powered orphans. And the Titans have to fight the government in order to keep custody. It wasn't a good time for the Titans

Anyway, it's so bad that Faerber's run ends in the middle of the story, leaving Tom Peyer to pick up the pieces.

I just realized that Faerber's run also included a story about Donna Troy that managed to gum up her continuity even more, which sounds difficult...but he found a way. Which is a shame because most of Faerber's recent works have been good, and this was not.

Comic Reviews Week of 4/15/09

Apparently 20 people have checked my profile since I started this blog, which is approximately 20 more than I would have thought.

Whatever, let's do this:


Green Lantern Corps #35
Written By Peter Tomasi
Art By Patrick Gleason

Boy, I think I'm at the point where I don't really care about Blackest Night anymore, if only because I feel like they've been building it up for too long. Well, that and the fact that one of the key villains will be an undead evil Aquaman, and that's just a mind-numbing prospect.

Anyway, there are three story threads in this issue, in the one, there's a prison break on Oa, which is fine enough, although it's not really that interesting in all honesty. In the second, you have Sodam Yat and Arisia, two characters that no one cares about going to Daxam to save the planet from the evil Yellow Lanterns, and in third you have those two red-skinned chicks, whose names I can't remember, heading to Sinestro's home planet and more importantly, Sinestro himself.

I think the problem with this book is that I really don't care about the characters, and it almost feels like they took a bunch of material that might work well as a back-up strip or in an annual or something, and then tried to make a comic out of it on its own.


Amazing Spider-Man #591
Written By Dan Slott
Art By Barry Kitson

Oh, it's a fine story, but I don't think any one cares about the plight of the macroverse and the crazy time dilation that allows various sub-plots to move forward. Which is a shame, because it's not bad, it's just, you know, Dan Slott felt compelled to dig up the whole "unfortunate series of events that led to Brand New Day," and that wasn't very smart.

Okay, so first of all, Slott basically copied the mechanics of this whole mind-wipe thing directly from the lesser part of Geoff John's run on the Flash. And it wasn't a particularly good idea there.

Second, Mephisto has to be about the nicest version of the devil ever. I mean, if I recall correctly, he traded Aunt May's life, magical protection for Spider-Man's secret identity, Harry Osborn's resurrection for, if Joe Quesada is to be taken at his word, what amounts to a legal formality. And he's free to reveal his true identity to his allies? I mean, are we sure Mephisto's really evil? Because that's one hell of a deal.

Uncanny X-Men #508
Written By Matt Fraction
Art By Greg Land

Man, when you put all of those X-Villains in the same scene, you realize that the X-Men don't have a lot of good enemies.

Anyway, this issue makes the bold decision to continue this title's descent into the quaqmire that was 1990s X-Men continuity. The upshot is that Psylocke gets mind-swapped into Kwannon's body. Okay, that's probably a bit unclear, but it essentially reverses a story that no one really cared about from about twenty years ago or so. I....choose to reserve judgment on this storyline until I see where it's going.

Also, Northstar is recruited onto the team. The last writer of Uncanny X-Men who thought that that was a good idea was Chuck Austen. Oh, it probably means nothing, but anytime the incumbent writer either references or repeats an idea that ol' Chuck had, you kind fear for the book's future.


X-Men: Legacy #223
Written By Mike Carey
Art By Scot Eaton

Wait, wait, wait, wait...Marvel's putting out two core X-books in one week and they both require an understanding of back issues from 1990 in order to make any sense? That is a bold marketing strategy, right there.

That said, I would fully support the lead mercenary getting his own spin-off because "In my defense, let me remind you it was all done in the pursuit of profit," may be the finest line in any comic at any time.

And now, a very special Retraux Revieux, part one of my series on "When Retcons Go Bad!"


Legion of Super-heroes (v4) #31
Written By Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum
Art By Colleen Doran and Curt "Are you shitting me" Swan
Cover Date July 1992

Through the magic of parallel worlds and retcons, DC has manuevered itself into a position where pretty much all of the Legion stories count somehow....except for the Keith Giffen "Five Years Later" run, because....well, sometimes dead is better.

Case in point, this is an issue where we learn that not only has Shavaughn Erin, a longtime supporting cast member, had an almost pathological obssession with Element Lad since the latter was twelve, but also that she is really a man who has been taking gender-changing drugs in order to appear female, and that she did that because she thought he was straight....which it turns out he wasn't. Yeah, it's kind of bizarre.

Anyway, she goes into withdrawl because the her current circumstances have cut off the supply, but Element Lad is there to comfort her and comment on how he loves her no matter what sex she is. (Remember lads, "gender" refers to mind and "sex" refers to body, I remember because it came up in AP Psychology).

However, the newly-renamed Sean Erin decides that he has to make it on his own, and so sets out into the city, pausing only briefly to help the young Element Lad in his moment of crisis.

Oh, yes, there are two Element Lads in this story. You see, someone thought that the best way to counter the dystopian nature of the Keith Giffen Legion was to introduce a second team of Legionaires made up of the Legion from the early 1970s. It was a very bad idea because it made an already dense and hard-to-follow storyline even more incomprehensible, although it did give Keith Giffen a chance to kill Karate Kid off a second time.

One could make the argument that this is one of the earliest mainstream comics about trans-gendered characters, but one would be quite wrong. As is made clear in the closing text piece (which this version of the Legion had a fuckton of) Shavaughn Erin first became a woman in order to win Element Lad's heart, and I'm pretty sure that's not exactly a fair description of transgendered issues.

Now I've heard a couple of different stories about why Giffen wrote this story. One was that he wanted to kill Erin off because and was persuaded not to by someone blurting out "She's really a man" in a desparate attempt to save the character.

The other theory was that a lot of gay Legion fans identified with Element Lad, and that this story could square his relationship with Shavaughn Erin with the desires of the fan base. Given that a lot of the things the Bierbaums did followed that sort of thinking, that could be true as well.

My real question is how the hell they got Curt Swan to draw this. I mean, this isn't exactly the issue I'd come out of retirement for.

Anyway, the lesson to be learned here is that you shouldn't make retcons for the sake of retcons.

Also, make sure you know the sexual orientation of your crush before you take sex-changing drugs in order to seduce him....it's not a lesson that easily applicable now, but future technology will someday make it an important thing to keep in mind. I guarantee it.

Comic Reviews Week of 4/8/09

When Comics Go Bad, I somehow make it worse! Let's go:



Batman: Battle For the Cowl #2 (of 3)
Written By Tony Daniel
Art By Sandu Florea

I think this is supposed to be an important crossover, but does anyone really care what happens. I mean, you know Bruce Wayne's coming back, and therefore the whole "Battle for the Cowl" is moot.

Anyway, in this issue, various former and current Robins dress up as different versions of Batman and fight each other over who will become the interim Batman. Meanwhile, the mysterious gun-toting Batman from last issue, well, to the surprise of no one, it turns out to be Jason Todd, a fact dramatically revealed not once, but twice!

Of course, you could make the case that, for the most part, the Bruce Wayne side of Batman hasn't really been an important part of Batman stories for a while, which would mean that it really doesn't matter one way or the other.




Exiles (v4!) #1
Written By Jeff Parker
Art By Salya Espin

There's something about the concept of the Exiles that some one at Marvel likes a lot. I mean, most new books can barely survive a year, but Exiles is up to something like almost 115 issues of near-constant publishing.

Not only that, but it's been written by Judd Winick, Chuck Austen and post-1990 Chris Claremont. This book should not be alive today, but here it is, getting another re-launch.

Here's the thing though, since the whole "alternate Marvel heroes fight to save alternate Marvel continuities" concept has now been tried for over a hundred issue, I feel pretty confident that it's always going to be one of those books that just kind of "there." I mean, it's basically a resurrection of the old "What-if" series except with recurring characters. Originally, I thought this is a series that people would either mildly enjoy or not care about at all, but then I remember there are a lot of people like Chris Sims in the world, and this the book for them.


Timestorm 2009-2099 #1 (of 4)
Written By Brian Reed
Art By Eric Battle

Hey kids, remember the 2099 imprint from the '90s, you know, the one that was an abysmal failure that helped drive Marvel to Bankruptcy? Well, it's back, and now you get to see all your favorite 2099 characters again, like, Punisher 2099, Spider-man 2099, and so many more.

Now the rest of you readers are probably thinking, but wait, I don't give even a single shit about these historically-bad characters. Well, just for you, we're bringing in characters for normal continuity so that you can see the meetings between the popular characters of today, and their hated, poorly designed counterparts from the future.

But seriously, I blame the comic speculators of the '90s for initially buying many copies of the 2099 imprint, which has somehow led to the borderline insane notion that the 2099 characters and world should ever be discussed again.


Green Lantern (v4) #39
Written By Geoff Johns
Art By Phillip Tan

First off, "Agent Orange?" Well, the Vietnam War's only been over for thirty-four years, so here's another winner of a name, right on the heels of "Atrocitus" and "Saint Walker." I understand that coming up with alien names is hard because it's so easy to end up with stupid-sounding name, but using mangled English words and phrases to name your alien characters is not a good substitute.

There's a lot that could be said about this issue, the upcoming "Blackest Night" and how unpleasant a character Hal Jordan often is, but I can't get past the idea that, very soon, there are going to be Indigo Lanterns. I mean...come on...really?

Also, since Hal Jordan now has a green and a blue ring, doesn't that make him "The Turqoise Lantern?"

Comic Reviews Week of 4/1/09

Fucking Geoff Johns....okay, let's do this to this.

Flash - Rebirth #1 (of 6)
Written By Geoff "Party like it's 1985" Johns
Art By Ivan Reis

Well, Barry Allen's back, because he's the one, true Flash. Now, when I look back to my childhood, I remember....actually since Barry Allen was killed off over a year before I was born, I kind of mainly think of him as that guy who Wally West aspired to be more like.

You know what, fuck it. There's a reason that comics sales are falling and it's hard as hell to attack new readers, and it's writers like Geoff Johns who apparently see it as their mission to bring back the 'iconic' versions of characters, with 'iconic' being code for 'what the comic was like when I was ten'.

When I think of the Flash, I don't think of Barry Allen, and neither do the majority of comics readers under thirty because he died before any of us got into comics. For that matter, Johns is also the guy who broke Wally West by saddling him with two kids right before the last time he stopped writing the Flash, leaving behind a status quo so toxic that even Mark Waid couldn't save it.

But enough complaining about the situation that led to this comic, because I mean, Geoff Johns wrote so damn fine comics during the early part of his run on the Flash, so maybe he can recapture the magic. So, how is this issue?

Well, it's not good, but a lot of that may be due to Johns feeling it necessary to tell how fucking rad Barry Allen is, and it gets old. Also, Johns feels it's necessary to remind us that Barry Allen is a COP! Which kind of points to the problem with Barry Allen, in that he never had much of a personality and his run as the Flash consisted mainly of some of the most Silver Age-iest of Silver Age comics and the monumentally long and painful Trial of the Flash. But, hell, someone has to be the Flash, I suppose.

Okay, let's move on.




Justice Society of America (v2) #25
Written By Geoff Johns
Art By Jerry Ordway

Man, I know that on an intellectual level I should care about Captain Marvel and Shazam and all that jazz, but I really don't.

Anyway, I believe this issue of JSA wraps up Geoff Johns' run, and I guess this is an okay issue, in that I think everyone was getting tired of evil Mary Marvel. Johns also does a nice job of tying everything up, and restoring some focus to the characters that made everyone like his version of the JSA in the first place. I think the problem with this volume of JSA has been that they kept bringing in new characters that took over the comic, and most of the new characters either sucked, had little to do with the JSA, or both. (I'm looking at you, Gog)

And the next permanent writer of the JSA is...Bill Willingham, whose last work in the DC universe was DC Decisions, and was last heard railing against 'superhero decadence.' On the plus side, I have the feeling that if you liked Atlas Shrugged, you're going to love the new direction of JSA.



Amazing Spider-Man #590
Written By Dan "One More Day One More Time" Slott
Art By Barry Kitson

First off, let me say that any book with Barry Kitson art can't be all bad, but this comic proves that it can get pretty fucking close.

Here's the thing, I don't think the people at Marvel quite understand the bargain that Spider-man readers made in order to embrace the whole "Brand New Day" status quo. The deal, which is ironically Faustian in and of itself, is that we buy and enjoy the rejuvenated Spider-Man titles and in exchange, Marvel agrees to never remind us how they came to be. It worked for the Clone Saga, and it should have worked for One More Day.

But no, Dan Slott couldn't abide by that, and instead had to write a story that forces readers to remember one of the worst storylines in comics history and consider how little sense it ultimately makes. So, the Fantastic Four can't remember who Spider-man is, but can remember that they knew, and that means that at some point they're going to have to discuss how this all happened, and that means explaining the Spider-man made a deal with the devil, in a stupidly literal sense, in order to save his Aunt.

It's not a bad story except for the fact that Slott feels the need not so much to play with fire, as to find a pile of ashes almost totally extinguished, get the fire going again, and then douse a nearby forest with gasoline in order to provide kindling.




Secret Warriors #3
Written By Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman
Art By Stefano Casseli

You know, this is probably nitpicking, but if SHIELD has always been run by HYDRA and Nick Fury, despite being in charge of SHIELD for decades, couldn't figure that one out, wouldn't you think that he'd be the last guy you'd want trying to stop them?

Anyway, beyond that, it's a fine comic book, I suppose, although my rating scale only goes from 'bad' to 'not that bad' because someone has to balance out Newsarama, and it might as well be me.



The New Mutants Saga
Written By John Rhett Thomas and Sheila Johnson

Hey Marvel, if the promotional recap comic you're publishing only covers comics from 1983-1990, shouldn't that set off some warning bells, you know, that you might be a little late to capitalize of the popularity of Rob Liefeld's creations, let alone Chris Claremont's?

Then again, the 90s were rough on all comics fans, and, for the most part, are best off not being remembered. To prove that point, I am forced to bring forth the latest

Retraux Revieux

Justice League America #108
Written By Gerard "Show Daddy He Didn't Father a Pushover" Jones
Art By Chuck Wotjkiewicz
Cover Date February 1996

Okay, this one's going to be a bit tricky to explain. You see that guy with the skull on the cover? His name's Scarabus, and he magically....also immaculately....impregnated Power Girl, as was part of some Atlantean prophecy. (At the time, Power Girl couldn't be from Krypton, so DC decided that she was from Atlantis...they've since rethought that decision.) Anyway, so Power Girl gave birth to Equinox, who then aged to adulthood but quick. For whatever reason, he a Scarabus are fated to fight, presumably to the death, in order to determine the fate of the world. Which they do, and, as you might guess, Equinox wins and then takes his reward of literally fading into oblivion...which is probably for the best. In a subplot, Obsidian (the Golden Age Green Lantern's son) goes out on a date, which is only interesting because he was straight then, but is gay now, meaning that it may be possible that every aspect of this issue has been removed from continuity.

You see, the in the 90s, no one at DC knew what to do with Power Girl...or the Justice League...or much of anything, and quality suffered a bit. The real star of this issue is Equinox, who is probably supposed to come off as kind of spiritual warrior who has insights into the deep truths of the universe, but instead comes off as impossibly pretentious with quotes like "There is nothing...but nothing. There is nothing...but everything." and "The time is coming when we should all be...awake."

It's a really bad comic that I don't encourage you to read, not even for the inclusion of the finest supporting character of all time: The Yazz, a blue, streetwise pterodactyl who come from Yazzburg and wears an orange vest for some unknowable reason. Yes, he really existed.