It makes hunting for back issues really freaking annoying. "Yes, I've got a copy of 'Legion of Super-Heroes' #21 in my hands, and I want to purchase it." "OK, let me just look it up in our database to get a price...um, we have six hits on that issue. Would you happen to know which year that title launched in?"

The very idea that bad dialogue is excusable simply because it references a continuity element is... well, it's exactly the sort of mentality that Greg was complaining about in the portion of this review that ranted about the direct market.

It doesn't matter if the Amazons had a purple healing ray forever. "The purple death ray has been completed" is still dreadful dialogue by any standard, in any context.

Basically, the Amazons were using their Purple Rays for killing folk instead of for the good of rainbows, unicorns, and, uh, militant theocratic monarchies.

As in, for meanness!

That's actually a very interesting take, Kalinara. It's probably what Johns was going for. At least I hope so, because it's a subtle piece of writing, and I look for hope in the sprawl of the mini-series!

I have to admit, I found Bruce/Batman's redemption moment very plausible (dubious quality of the crossover aside).

Mostly because I pin it down to when Kal-L tells him what Earth 2 was like. And to me that makes all the difference in the world.

Jason's death, Vesper's murder, Stephanie's torture, Leslie's betrayal, Barbara's crippling, et cetera didn't make a dent in Batman's downward spiral because they were more darkness piled on darkness. The character was drowning in it, to the point where he could only get darker/more intense/more of an ass to deal.

But I think when Kal-L tells him that in some world, he was happy. E-2 Batman found love, had a family, and generally survived his angst. I don't think Post-Crisis Batman had ever entertained any sort of hope of a life past his crusade. To find out that in some other world that it was possible...well, it's a little bit of hope that makes all the difference.

That was my take anyway.

Secondly I'm glad i now have an order to put my issues in.

Thirdly I think I'm going to have to read this again. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Interesting you should bring this up. I did a presentation last year about the science of Superman and you can actually explain this quite easily. A red star's (we'll assume it is a red dwarf not a red giatn) temperature is about 3500K. This means that it's energy emission peaks at aroun 750 nanometers(nm) - that's why it's red. The energy output at this wavelength is much higher than than the output at say 500-600nm, where a yellow star (surface temp 5860K) like our sun emits the most energy. In this case (our sun) the energy output at 500-600nm is much higher than at 750nm

What's the end product? Well you could hypothesize that in order for Superman/boy's power to work, there has to be more energy output at a 500-600nm than at higher wavelengths. So some of that cancells the emission from the red part of the spectrum and you are left with extra yellow sunlight to power up. Conversely, with a red star, the high amount of red light cancells the small amount of yellow light, leaving an excess of red light and no powers.

There, your science lesson for the day.

You're pretty spot on, John, but you're right - that's a whole different post. It's something to think about, though ...

You are such a wimp, Greg. Infinite Crisis and its lead-ins nearly did you in? I'm reading 'Extreme Prejudice', 'Heroes Reborn', and 'Millennium'. And that's just for starters. My diet of crossovers includes everything you just choked down, and enough extra to kill twenty normal men. (Then again, I'm getting paid to do it.)

OK, no, that's not really my conclusion. My conclusion is this: Voting with your wallet isn't the answer. That is to say, it's not the answer for improving comics. It might be the answer for you, personally; not buying things you don't like and not reading things you don't enjoy will certainly make you feel better. But in practical terms, we've already seen the result of fans voting with their wallets, and it's...well, it's 'Infinite Crisis'.

Because, you see, the fans who've voted with their wallets by not buying comics they don't like...well, they're gone. Out the door, not coming back, bye seeya. (Note: For purposes of this debate, I will be using a certain amount of dramatic hyperbole. Please introduce the phrase "plus or minus ten percent" to everything I say if you want a more realistic analysis.) It's not like they walk into a comics store every week, ask, "Is there a comic coming out now that's clever, heart-warming, and family friendly? No? OK, I'll be back next week to check again." They stopped walking through the door of comics shops, and that's the scary thing about comics right now...if you're not actively walking into a comics store and looking, you could easily believe that comics have ceased as an industry. (More on this in a paragraph or two, but for now, just go with me on this.) The people who left when 'Sandman' ended, by and large, don't even know that '1602' or 'Eternals' exists. The people who stopped reading comics when 'Bone' ended are not hearing about the new 'Shazam' series in Entertainment Weekly cover articles or seeing ads for it on TV, or even seeing it when they walk by their local newsstand for that matter. These people are as dead to comics publishers as if they had shot themselves in the head.

So it's not a case of "Book A, which is grim-'n-gritty and attracts Audience A, vs. Book B, which is light-hearted and attracts Audience B"...it's a case of "Book A, which is grim-'n-gritty and attracts Audience A, vs. Book B, which just got cancelled because Audience B has given up on comics altogether and doesn't know Book B even exists." So all you get is Book A. Which gets its price raised, because you want to keep making the same amount of money even though selling to a smaller audience.

Ultimately, that's the problem. The audience for comics is now "comics fans". It is a self-selecting audience. The only people who find comics are the people who go looking for comics. The idea of comic books as a casual, impulse purchase for people that don't pursue it as a hobby went out with...why, there's our culprit now! That's right. It went out with the rise of the Direct Market.

The Direct Market is killing comics. It has effectively ghettoized the industry, to the point where the only place you can find comics is in comics stores, which means that you won't find comics unless you're looking for them, which means that the chances of attracting new readers are pretty much jack and squat, and jack left town. Look at the 'Marvel Adventures' line. It's exactly what Marvel needs--casual, continuity light stories aimed at young readers. And where are they selling them? F***ING COMICS STORES! The exact place where young readers don't go, because there's nothing there but a bunch of weird thirty-year olds and posters of girls with giant breasts!

The solution, and I say this knowing that this is a problem that's been thirty years in the making and may take thirty years to fix, is to sell outside the Direct Market. Sell comics at video game stores, next to the DVD racks at Best Buy, in gas stations, in grocery stores, in drugstores, in coffee shops, pretty much anywhere and everywhere that there's people looking for something quick and light to read. If there's a magazine rack, there should be comics on it. If there's a section of cheap paperbacks, there should be a section of cheap Marvel pocket trades. If there's a section near the checkout with "impulse purchases", you should have a few comics there. The industry needs to be doing everything possible to get people to at least notice the existence of comics, at least sample them. Because right now, for all the money they throw at marketing and promotion, their basic strategy is still "wait until people walk into a store demanding their product, then sell it to them." And that is doomed to failure.

(Sorry about the length--I realize this is probably an article in and of itself rather than a comment. But as I said, I did have all night to think about this.)

It hasn't been told anywhere yet, but there was a remark from Didio, somewhere online,that it would told sometime in the future.

Not totally...The polls and general conversation at CBR's Board has shown it to be about 60%/40% with the 60% liking Infinite Crisis. And a lot of us that did fall into the "Know more about DC".

As is the case in these situations, however, I think its a case of some who hated it having more to say. And saying it louder.

I don't know. I started and quit with IC at 4, and wish I wasn't suckered into buying the Titans tie-ins that added absolutely nothing (certianly nothing like "set-up" or "characterization"). I always get ticked about people saying how "realistic" and "bold" that scene was, but who realistic and bold is it when SBP, in his chaotic rampage kills... three characters who were in limbo? The lack of a real spine is evident here (gee, how about sending people who would actually have a chance?), and proven by Geoff chickening out and trying to save Nightwing. How many fanboys would be praising it as cool or shocking if Dick Grayson had his head knocked off? Johns was gearing Superboy to die, and he ended up having the most noble and heroic death, of course. If DC is all about showing true heroism and lower tier heroes looking heroic too, then, you know, how about remembering that other people than Superboy died?

And yeah, I'm one of those people who are whining about Pantha. I know, fuck me and who cares. But there's more to it than "Grr, one of my favorites died!" I really only followed Teen Titans at the time, and that was because of the cartoon, so it's not encyclopedic fanboy kvetching. But the level of gore in that whole scene was ridiculous, and creepy. What's the point? Especially when Psycho Pirate is treated with the same detail? Is Geoff writing a superhero Cannibal Holocaust? What's supposed to be a tragic scene for both Pantha (who, incidentally, never had her origin resolved, so nice job, Geoff) and SBP, is ruined by the ignoble, campy death of Pantha. It's cheap, shallow, "safe," shock. Peter Jackson knew he had to keep his Dead Alive out of Lord of the Rings. And when you rip off Mortal Kombat, something should tell you to go through another rewrite. What may be worse is what could happen with Red Star, if Geoff just killed Pantha and Baby Wildebeest for Red Star's development in future Titans issues (hello refrigerator). Given how mired in depression and angst Titans is, I'm really thinking that's a safe bet.

I haven't bought any of 52, and I'm dropping more and more of Titans, since it's too miserable, and those I really care about are off in limbo. But are you going to tell me I'm going to cause a change at DC for this? I'm probably just a whiny fanboy, and a weird, crazy at that, as someone will surely mention later (partly because I can't whine about Superboy or Lilith ). No, all I can do is cut my ties from what I used to like. Apparently I just like the wrong characters.

Yeah, sure, I'm emo and all that. It's not helping the Cubs suck this year.

And I don't know about that, Philip. It sounds logical, but maybe someone with far more arcane knowledge of Superman's powers can help.

Also, can someone clarify a point about the ending for me? It's said that Superboy loses his powers under a red sun. Visible light is all part of the same spectrum, it shouldn't make a difference. Maybe it wouldn't power him up to the same degree but there's no reason it would deplete his power. So, if he's stuck inside a transparent walled prison in the heart of a red sun, he's getting constantly recharged and becoming more powerful with every moment he spends there?

This concludes today's dose of music trivia.

Well, I'm glad you're taking off. I'll never understand people who start tossing out insults in these discussions.

Real fucking classy.

But I'm sad now. Come back, K! I promise to keep whatever agenda I obviously have hidden! I'm not even sure what it is, but I promise!