Let's take a look at Planetary/JLA: Terra Obscura, by Warren Ellis and Jerry Ordway.

Okay, the gist of this comic is that the Planetary folks are all bad guys in this universe. Elijah Snow is just what he feared in his own reality - someone who would hoard technology to keep the people of the world down.

So now Clark Kent, Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne are forming a League to stop them.

They're on the Planetary moon-base and they've managed to stop Ambrose Chase, but Clark Kent has been killed, leaving Bruce and Diana to face off against Elijah and Jakita, respectively (so just imagine that concurrent to this scene, Diana is fighting Jakita)...

What a cool ending.

5 Comments

• At November 22, 2009, dr matt wrote:

  Wow! I'd read planetary/Batman, but I've never seen this. Another one to add to the list..

• At November 22, 2009, 20 wrote:

  This is a great blog, and I'mma let you finish but this posting pages has been done every day for ...

• At November 22, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I really need to get to reading Planetary.

• At November 22, 2009, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  I like Cyborg looking like Deathlok in Elijah's trophy room, nice touch. Oh yeah this was a good one too ...

• At November 22, 2009, Furious George wrote:

  Did anyone else think Snow looked a lot like Lex Luthor?

The creative team behind Hitman, Garth Ennis and John McCrea, returned to the character for a JLA/Hitman mini-series - this is how it ended (NOTE: Major spoilers for the Hitman series lie beneath the fold!)...

As noted in a previous Cool Comic Book Moment, Superman and Tommy Monaghan (Hitman) had had a chance meeting awhile back on a rooftop in Gotham City, where the two really bonded.

Well, in this two-issue special, Tommy is called in to help the Justice League when they discover more of the evil aliens from the Bloodlines crossover of 1993 (where Tommy gained his powers by being attacked by one of the aliens).

The aliens find a way to neutalize the powers of the JLA, so in this scenario, Tommy is one of the most capable people there, especially as the other members find themselves succumbing to the alien parasites (that takes out Batman and Wonder Woman and basically Superman, who manages to free himself with help from Tommy, but the escape leaves him mentally and physically drained - and also a bit disappointed, as he now learns that the man he thought was a good guy is, well, a hitman).

So it is basically down to Tommy and a non-powered Flash and Green Lantern, and a bunch of nuclear warheads are being shot at the JLA's base (as the White House believes that the JLA has been compromised).

So Tommy saves the day the only way that he knows how (note that the story is told by Clark Kent to a writer who is researching the life of Tommy Monaghan)...

That last page is quite excellent (the whole sequence is great, but that last page especially)...

16 Comments

• At November 21, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  Hitman was too good for this world.

• At November 21, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  That he was. Such a moving and poignant ending.

  Besutiful stuff.

• At November 21, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  Er...I meant, beautiful.

  Those were TEARS on that keyboard, I tell you.

• At November 21, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  Probably my favourite series ever and this two part coda is just the icing on top of the cake.

  I've said ...

• At November 21, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  You should review Hitman # 34 as a follow-up to today's review.

  There were some really poignant moments worth mentioning in ...

• At November 21, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  When people erroneously claim that the 1990's were a barren wasteland for interesting comics, this series belongs at the top ...

• At November 21, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  Looks like I have a new series to start reading.

• At November 21, 2009, Paul1963 wrote:

  This is the kind of thing you need to show to people who think Garth Ennis' work is all about ...

• At November 21, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  You should review Hitman # 34 as a follow-up to today's review.

  I did a bit on Hitman #34 already.

  Day ...

• At November 21, 2009, chad wrote:

  so heart breaking to not only have super man want absolution from a priest for tommy and knows as supes ...

• At November 21, 2009, Rob wrote:

  Hitman, to this day, remains the best series I have ever read.

• At November 21, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  i love to make a comment that just explains what happened in the scene with an occasional shred of an ...

• At November 21, 2009, Dan Mcc wrote:

  I think Hitman should be revived as a Black lantern....

• At November 21, 2009, Said wrote:

  Hitman, to this day, remains the best series I have ever read.

  Couldn't say it better myself. I can't remember the ...

• At November 22, 2009, Luis Dantas wrote:

  Nice moment. A pity it was marred by the poor choice of comparison from Superman, however. Truman in ...

• At November 22, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Wow, Ennis doesn't like super-heroes (which isn't anything new). Except for Super-man.

  What's John McCrea doing these days?

Today, believe it or not, we're going to look at ANOTHER epilogue to X-Cutioner's Song! This time, courtesy of Peter David and Joe Quesasa, as David explains to us just why Quicksilver is so ornery...

That's some strong character work right there.

Good stuff (the conceit of the issue, by the way, was that all members of X-Factor had to get counseling after the events of the X-Cutioner's Song crossover).

33 Comments

• At November 20, 2009, Philip wrote:

  Yeah that might be my favorite scene in all of comics. Perfect way to keep Quicksilver an ass, while also ...

• At November 20, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  Say what you will about Peter David, but it only took him three pages to completely change the way everyone ...

• At November 20, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Good moment, but when I saw "Quicksilver" and "Peter David," I assumed that this would be the Lockjaw story.

• At November 20, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Just a real comic / science geek question comment here... Isn't the length of time of putting together a puzzle ...

• At November 20, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Truly a classic. So much so, in fact, that the current X-Factor series had a full-issue homage (#13, from early ...

• At November 20, 2009, Matt Ampersand wrote:

  Ethan: At the speed they move, they can just try all the pieces in all positions before you know it.

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, think about it - one of the biggest tasks behind jigsaw puzzles is the sorting of the pieces (finding ...

• At November 20, 2009, E. Wilson wrote:

  Meh, Quicksilver's still a jerk. If you've been living this way your entire life, it's not unreasonable to ask that ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Mac wrote:

  Strangely, I quit reading comics just after the X-Cutioner's Song...because of the lousy writing. I was on the verge ...

• At November 20, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  SOOOOOOO, that's what PMS stands for!

  I've been wondering that for decades! ;-)

• At November 20, 2009, James wrote:

  Off all the runs and creative teams of X-Factor, that was the single best one issue. Also, one of my ...

• At November 20, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I like the idea that these big event crossovers are just as traumatic for the characters as they are for ...

• At November 20, 2009, chad wrote:

  loved that issue . for found it interesting to see a shrink try to get into the head of the ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mea wrote:

  At the time I wasn't reading any of the X-Books and picked this one up off the rack for some ...

• At November 20, 2009, Michael wrote:

  E. Wilson, keep in mind that PAD himself was well aware that this doesn't explain some of the crap Pietro ...

• At November 20, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  That outfit with the baggy suit and the basketball shoes tied like a teenagers' doesn't really seem right on Quicksilver.

• At November 20, 2009, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Another great Peter David Quicksilver line:

  Upon hearing a news report that Jamie Madrox had been murdered: "Hmm. Slow news day."

• At November 20, 2009, Gary wrote:

  Peter David and Joe Quesada knocked it out of the park on this one. Quicksilver's session was the best of ...

• At November 20, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Isn't it usually explained with any of the speedsters that their brains move proportionally faster than a regular person as ...

• At November 20, 2009, cmh wrote:

  Apodaca: Sorry, I've gotta ask. Were you referring to the suit or the shoes?

  The cash machine bit does bring ...

• At November 20, 2009, Kelly Thompson wrote:

  This issue kind of blew my mind as a kid and I never forgot it. It was great to ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Which issue was this? I don't know precisely when the X-cutioner's Song happened, but I know it was probably ...

• At November 20, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  Mary, this was issue #87.

  I've always loved this entire issue, but this moment is ALWAYS the one that comes ...

• At November 20, 2009, James wrote:

  you'd think a speedster would know to tie his shoes.

• At November 20, 2009, Josh wrote:

  One of my favorite piece of PAD's work. (Nice art by JoeyQ, too) It's a terrific character piece ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mario wrote:

  To Ethan:

  i've thought of that myself. The best i can come up with is that part of Quicksilver's mutation is ...

• At November 20, 2009, Gary wrote:

  RE: Super speedsters thinking fast

  They certainly do. When Jay Garrick had his leg broken by Professor Zoom in "The Return ...

• At November 20, 2009, noodles wrote:

  @Gary - FYI, Johns established in HIS Titans run that Bart (uniquely) can retain stuff he reads super fast.

• At November 20, 2009, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  Like everyone said-- a classic issue all around. I love how *wrong* Val is about everything.

  At the end of ...

• At November 20, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  This is good character work.

  Boy, do I find Quesada's art incredibly ugly!

• At November 20, 2009, Rob Ocelot wrote:

  Quesada's art from this era both intrigues and repulses me.

  Of course, this was a time when every 'hot' ...

• At November 21, 2009, JKC wrote:

  Imagine the concentration it would take for Quicksilver to talk at a speed that Doc Samson can understand him, and ...

• At November 22, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Jacob T. Levy - Yes, she was, but not sure what PAD planned for her. A lot of storylines he ...

Today we finish a two-part look at the Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth one-shot, by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday.

Okay, so when last we left our heroes, the good folks of Planetary (Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and The Drummer) were tangling with Batman over this powerful fellow who keeps re-writing history (as a result of freaking out over some past trauma).

As Batman battles the Planetary team, the guy keeps re-writing history and Batman shifts between different versions of himself (Dark Knight Returns Batman, Batman TV show Batman, O'Neil/Adams Batman) until suddenly, he lands on old school Batman, which does not bode well for our reality shaping suspect...

As Batman leaves, there's some cute flirting between Batman and Jakita. I'd love to include it, but there just isn't enough room, and I had to get all the above pages.

26 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  I've only read the first Planetary trade but I'm skipping to this one and heading to the shop now.

  My God ...

• At November 19, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  This is great stuff and really touching, especially coming from Ellis.

  It's one of the few times that I remember seeing ...

• At November 19, 2009, Furious George wrote:

  Somebody get John Cassaday on a Batman book right now.

• At November 19, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I meant cynicism, obviously :-)

• At November 19, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  I really want "Crossing Worlds" to go Absolute now...

  Like an appendix piece, in the same vein as Absolute Death...

  Please, ...

• At November 19, 2009, Joe Mama wrote:

  "You can give them safety. You can show them they're not alone. That's how you make the world make sense. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ed wrote:

  I just have to gush a little bit - this "Year of Cool Comic Book Moments" is the single greatest ...

• At November 19, 2009, chad wrote:

  loved the speech batman gives to john revealing how he manages to keep going after losing like john his parents. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Glad that you're enjoying the feature, Ed. Sadly, only a little more than a month to go!

  The Batman with a ...

• At November 19, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Mr. B.C. You really should make MORE room for whatever you need to post, and the consequences BE damned!!!! ...

• At November 19, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:

  It was such a good way to tie together the mythos of Batman, and make him work again as a ...

• At November 19, 2009, Andy wrote:

  @Ed-

  The Batman talking at the end was, I believe, supposed to be an amalgam, idealized Batman that took the best ...

• At November 19, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:

  Warren Ellis really summed up in this one shot everything about Batman you ever needed.

  Why DC has not collected the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Josh wrote:

  Brian: what about the last Batman, then, from the third page on? I think that's what Ed's talking about.

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Ah, gotcha.

  Yeah, that's Cassaday's take on an integrated Batman.

• At November 19, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  It's Jakita and Elijah's reactions at the top of the 4th page that always set this scene apart for me, ...

• At November 19, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  A cool moment from a cool series. Dick Grayson and the Joker's cameo at the start of the story ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad wrote:

  I love it when Ellis drops his "I'm so cyncial and I drink a lot and I like to flirt ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Joshschr, I'm pretty sure Batman didn't exist at all in the main Planetary reality.

  Another Planetary/DC crossover moment I'd ...

• At November 19, 2009, jocutus wrote:

  Yeah, that last Batman is pretty awesome. After cycling through all the various well known versions (including the original ...

• At November 20, 2009, Ed wrote:

  I think the lesson here is, if everybody else would handle Batman as well as he is handled here, wouldn't ...

• At November 20, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Somebody at DC, get Cassaday onto Morrison's 6th arc of Batman and Robin! Also, bribe Darwyn Cooke, Farel Dalrymple, ...

• At November 20, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I love Ellis and Cassaday as a team. It is a shame Cassaday has squandered so much of limited ...

• At November 20, 2009, Joe Que? wrote:

  Planetary is overrated.

  As always, Warren Ellis' characters has zero depth.

  Except for this one moment.

• At November 21, 2009, Patient Boy wrote:

  Isn't the last iteration of Batman an Alex Ross design? I never really liked it all that much.

• At November 21, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Nah - he's too thin to be an Alex Ross design. I'm not mad on that version either. ...

Today we begin a two-part look at the Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth one-shot, by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday.

The gist of the story is that a superpowered fellow is pretty messed up (drugs and some childhood trauma), so when his universe re-writing powers kick in, well, it does not go well, and people are starting to die if they're too close to him.

So Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and The Drummer go to Gotham City to investigate (All the history re-writing energy is seriously messing up the Drummer's head).

Batman shows up, naturally, and he wants control over the suspect. He and Jakita fight, but soon, some history re-writing kicks in...

Awesomely handled all around.

I think "the" moment is probably the Female-Villain-Repellent Spray.

30 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, Michael wrote:

  The best Batman story this decade, in any medium.

• At November 18, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Brilliant moment! Will this be in the Absolute edition?

• At November 18, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I just love how, even when he's the ridiculous television show Batman, he still can't be stopped!!!!!! He's the ...

• At November 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Neat. I take the "tank" moment to mean he's been turned into the DKR version. Did any other ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  A couple more, Adam.

• At November 18, 2009, Ed wrote:

  I love, love, love, love Planetary. I've read all the TBP's out there (3 to date I think) as ...

• At November 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Oh, I missed at the beginnign that this is a two-part "Cool Moment." More bat-goodness tomorrow!

• At November 18, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Two cool moments here...

  One: "Bat-Apologies"

  Two: "From this position there are nine ways to take you down. ... Six of them ...

• At November 18, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would also go whtere Elijah is facing down the dark knight returns bats and then the batmobile runs over ...

• At November 18, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  "Bat-apologies?!?" tsk tsk, The Goddamn Batman would NEVER apologize!!

  I've seen the DC listings for the Absolute Planetary vol. one ...

• At November 18, 2009, Gary wrote:

  That's cute.

• At November 18, 2009, Furious George wrote:

  The Drummer always gets the best lines.

• At November 18, 2009, E. Wilson wrote:

  "Bat-Female-Villain-Repellent?" It's just Axe.

• At November 18, 2009, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  I'd say there were two more great moments from before this:

  1) the picture of three people melded together, with the ...

• At November 18, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  Ellis is so good at aping other interpretations of The Goddamn Batman that it makes me VERY curious as to ...

• At November 18, 2009, Nick Evans wrote:

  @ed: Planetary did deal with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in the Planetary/JLA one-shot. That's collected together with this ...

• At November 18, 2009, cmh wrote:

  Zero hour.

  I recall that one of the issues in that crossover showed earlier incantations of Batman. That included Miller's ...

• At November 18, 2009, Billy Batson wrote:

  It would have been even better if DC editorial hadn't forced Cassaday to slightly alter the Adam West Batman who ...

• At November 18, 2009, Iron Maiden wrote:

  He still did a good job of evoking Adam West's lack of six pack abs. I got ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  Two words....I WANT!

• At November 18, 2009, Andre wrote:

  cool.

• At November 18, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  It would have been even better if DC editorial hadn't forced Cassaday to slightly alter the Adam West Batman who ...

• At November 18, 2009, Dean wrote:

  You missed 'Tell me you're single'. It was the best line in the issue!

• At November 18, 2009, Zor-El of Argo wrote:

  The moment for me is when Snow turned around and found himself face to face with the Dark Knight.

• At November 18, 2009, davek wrote:

  "Tell me you're single." was flat out brilliant.

• At November 18, 2009, dreamweaver13 wrote:

  When Adam West turns into DKR is the moment for me. that "oops" is priceless.

  I agree with Greg, absolutely ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The problem with the "single" line is that to get it in, I'd really have to do three days of ...

• At November 18, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Well, I don't know what tomorrow's moment is, but "tell me you're single" has a pretty amusing callback at the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Shane wrote:

  The whole thing is one big moment. Bugga one or two more days how about a page a day for ...

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  John Cassaday should get a lot of credit for such great versions of Batman.

  Brian, was the first version of ...

Let's take a look at another neat moment from Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man!

In Animal Man #16, we see an interesting contrast between Buddy (Animal Man) and his fellow teammates in Justice League Europe.

In this issue (drawn by Chas Truog), the Time Commander shows up, but he clearly is not your typical super-villain - Buddy can see that, but can his teammates?

Strong work by Morrison (and one of Truog's better issues, too, art-wise).

"The" moment, I presume, would be the last page, with Metamorpho's confusion mixed with the old woman's horror.

31 Comments

• At November 17, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Ouch...

  Forgot this issue...

  There was an awful lot of depressing stuff in Morrison's Animal Man, wasn't there?

  Good, but depressing...

• At November 17, 2009, T. wrote:

  When I first read Morrison's Animal Man as a teen I thought it was so brilliant. Now whenever I ...

• At November 17, 2009, Eills Wyatt wrote:

  "Metamorpho, don't hit him!"

  "Screw that! You're not the one who got trapped in a giant hour glass!"

• At November 17, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Truog.

  Whatever happened to him?

  I miss his stuff.

• At November 17, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  Brian:

  It's CHAS Truog, not Chris, as far as I remember, isn't it?

• At November 17, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  No, you're right. I'll fix it!

• At November 17, 2009, Joe Rice wrote:

  I loved Animal Man growing up, really opened me up to actually good comics instead of just buying whatever shit ...

• At November 17, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, and this was one of his better issues.

• At November 17, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would also go with animal mans speech to the time commander that he is not really bad but ...

• At November 17, 2009, Scott Story wrote:

  I loved these Animal Man stories, liked them even more than I did Morrison's Doom Patrol, which I liked a ...

• At November 17, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  Morrison's Animal Man: Where bad guys had the right idea and the heroes turned out like jerks. All those poor ...

• At November 17, 2009, T. wrote:

  loved Animal Man growing up, really opened me up to actually good comics instead of just buying whatever shit ...

• At November 17, 2009, T. wrote:

  Ah wait, I just realized....does Morrison work full script? If so I guess I can't give Truog the credit ...

• At November 17, 2009, Paul1963 wrote:

  The thing is, those people are all actually worse off than they were before the Time Commander's actions. When ...

• At November 17, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  And, of course, the concept of bringing the dead back leads to the final Morrison issue when...

  NO NO NO spoilers!

  (But ...

• At November 17, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I don't see what's remarkable about Truog's storytelling. In this scene, for example, the only layout that isn't totally perfunctory ...

• At November 17, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  I suppose the concept is all right, but I do agree it's heavy handed. I know that Morrison's AM was ...

• At November 17, 2009, karl wrote:

  man, i love truog's art here.... ive been reading comics almost 20 years now (and im only 26... jesus im ...

• At November 17, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  I thought Truog was Morrison using a psuedonym. Did I imagine that?

• At November 17, 2009, secret i.d. wrote:

  "I thought Truog was Morrison using a pseudonym."

  People used to say the same thing about Frank Quitely. Is ...

• At November 17, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "I suppose the concept is all right, but I do agree it's heavy handed. I know that Morrison's AM was ...

• At November 17, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "man, i love truog's art here.... ive been reading comics almost 20 years now (and im only 26... jesus im ...

• At November 17, 2009, T. wrote:

  I suppose the concept is all right, but I do agree it's heavy handed. I know that Morrison's AM was ...

• At November 17, 2009, T. wrote:

  I enjoy Truog's art similar to how I enjoy Kirby's. With both artists I don't like how the people ...

• At November 17, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:

  @ secret i.d.: I'm not sure about Truog, but it happens with Quitely and Morrison because Quitely (IIRC) is ...

• At November 18, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Someone mentioned the Coyote issue, and someone mentioned heavy-handed and self-indulgent. 2+2=4 in this case for me.

• At November 18, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  Coyote Gospel? heavy-handed and self-indulgent?

  Um, well, now that you mention it, I guess I'd agree.

  But I'd quickly point out how ...

• At November 18, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  @ Dalarsco: You must be thinking of Quitely's Authority run with Millar (as like you, I can't think of anything ...

• At November 18, 2009, Paul1963 wrote:

  Frank Quitely = "Quite frankly."

  Jesus Christ, how thick am I? I honestly never thought of that until Dalarsco ...

• At November 18, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  I'm torn about the art. On one hand it's really not very good at all, but on the other hand ...

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  I agree with Ethan Shuster's POV.

Let's take a look at a cool moment from Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man!

Animal Man #15, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood, features Animal Man along with old friend Dane Dorrance (of the Sea Devils) trying to stop some folks who are killing dolphins.

Morrison throws in a twist by having the dolphins who are being victimized have a voice...

Strong stuff.

31 Comments

• At November 16, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  One of my favorite series runs ever and one more reason to love dolphins.

  What a great ending.

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Um, I know people aren't nice to animals sometimes, but is there some reason the crowd angrily wants to kill ...

• At November 16, 2009, M,Spoerer wrote:

  Ethan, the villagers do an annual slaughter of dolphins as a fishing tradition...the set up was inspired by a real ...

• At November 16, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Um, I know people aren't nice to animals sometimes, but is there some reason the crowd angrily wants to kill ...

• At November 16, 2009, Callen wrote:

  This seemed more like an episode of Captain Planet.

• At November 16, 2009, Ellis Wyatt wrote:

  And two decades later, South Park would do the same thing.

• At November 16, 2009, chad wrote:

  have to go with the whale helping omega back to shore proving that one should not judge the whole human ...

• At November 16, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Brings a tear to ones eye(s).

  Another favorite moment in this series is where a character turns his head around and ...

• At November 16, 2009, Aaron Thall wrote:

  Stuff like this is why Morrison's Animal Man is one of the rare DC titles to make it into my ...

• At November 16, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Dolphins are cute and loveable. Did Animal Man ever get involved if someone shot an opossum, stepped on a ...

• At November 16, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  Have the Animal Man series been collected in TPB's?

• At November 16, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  @ Richard J. Marcej:

  Yep. 3 tpbs collecting all Morrison's Animal Man stuff.

  Go forth and buy! ;-)

• At November 16, 2009, Name wrote:

  The punchline is that dolphins are jerks and one the few species that will thrill kill and rape each other.

• At November 16, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  For me this is one of the weaker issues in one of the all time best runs in comics. ...

• At November 16, 2009, Cass wrote:

  Animal Man might be my favorite comic book run of all time, but whenever it tried to branch out into ...

• At November 16, 2009, Matt Ampersand wrote:

  Yeah, the funny thing is that recent research shows that dolphins behavior includes foreplay, sex for fun rather than reproduction, ...

• At November 16, 2009, P. Boz wrote:

  Yeah, this comic really sums up my girlfriend's feelings about dolphins:

  http://leasticoulddo.com/comic/20070130

  Personally, I'm not sure why we should judge other cultures ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dean wrote:

  And now for the dissenting opinion:

  http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=70&issue=14

• At November 16, 2009, David wrote:

  Yeah I was a rabid fan of Morrison's back in the day, but this issue really pissed me off. "Our ...

• At November 17, 2009, Luke J. wrote:

  DanCJ: I just read Coyote Gospel earlier tonight (picked up the first Animal Man trade a few days ago.) ...

• At November 17, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  David, you're missing the point when you assert, "Animal Man's kill is just fine with Morrison because he had a ...

• At November 17, 2009, David wrote:

  Gawd I hate it when people say "You're missing the point", as though dissgreeing with them automatically equaled lack of ...

• At November 17, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Wow, that's hilarious. We know, David, because it's a STORY and the storytellers tell us why the dolphin does what ...

• At November 17, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Oh please don't try that one.

  I am criticizing what I did not like about the story, period. I can ...

• At November 17, 2009, David wrote:

  No idea why that says "anonymous" above.

• At November 17, 2009, Jim wrote:

  Yeah, he's right, you're missing the point in a way. You're right in saying the power of the story is ...

• At November 18, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  P. Boz:

  "Personally, I'm not sure why we should judge other cultures based on what they do. As long as they're ...

• At November 18, 2009, Nick Evans wrote:

  @Matt Ampersand. How many animals other than humans know that sex results in reproduction? Surely those that don't ...

• At November 18, 2009, JasonF wrote:

  They may even engage in homosexual foreplay...sinners!

• At November 18, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Surely those that don't (which would seem to include all those where the male doesn't hang around afterwards, for a ...

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Brought to you by PETA.

Let's take a look at a cool moment from the conclusion to Batman R.I.P. in Batman #681 (if you haven't read it yet, well, spoilers ahead!)!

Okay, at the end of Batman #680, Batman has seemingly succumbed to the poisons of the servants of the evil Black Glove. Things look bleak.

Until you open up the pages of Batman #681...

We see that Batman has been preparing for the Black Glove for months, all the way back to when Batman's life was threatened by the Black Glove's agents...

"The" moment, though, is still that opening line..."the thing about Batman" indeed!

16 Comments

• At November 15, 2009, Fayzan wrote:

  This was one of my most anticipated comics ever. Right up there. And it didn't disappoint. A lot of people ...

• At November 15, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Y'know, I only read the "helicopter" issue. Did a lot of people compare this scene to Spidey in "Kraven's ...

• At November 15, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I've yet to read the BLACK GLOVE tpb.

  Nice to know, it's something to look forward to.

• At November 15, 2009, Paul1963 wrote:

  One thing that really struck me about "Batman R.I.P." is that, when it's over, there are an awful lot of ...

• At November 15, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Paul, have you read "Heart of Hush"? Dini sets up the "Tommy looks like Bruce" element, and it works ...

• At November 15, 2009, Ellis Wyatt wrote:

  I think the big problem I had with RiP is that, while I can totally buy that Batman can force ...

• At November 15, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Agreed, Ellis.

  He SHOULD have, but if there's a double super-duper JLA emergency, it's not really in his nature to ...

• At November 15, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  That last page is the best thing Tony Daniel has ever drawn.

• At November 15, 2009, MarieDeGournay wrote:

  Great moment and a great run. My favorite part of Morrison's run was how he was able to take all ...

• At November 15, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would also go with batman climbing out of the grave though thought the black glove story line was ...

• At November 15, 2009, dr matt wrote:

  I've been thinking for a while (particularly since I'm enjoying "Batman and Robin" so much, that I need to get ...

• At November 15, 2009, Matt wrote:

  @dr matt: you really should. It's one long story, and it will only serve to make B&R better.

• At November 15, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  I love the last page, that is the definite moment for me. Dick Grayson as Batman is great, he reminds ...

• At November 15, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Brian, any plans to do moments from the Club of Heroes arc? I can think of a ton of ...

• At November 17, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  I wonder if Morrison's run, and this story in particular, would have been received more positively had there been a ...

• At November 18, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  Man, I hated that story with such a fiery passion that I refuse to accept any moment from it as ...

I figure that Friday the 13th is a good time to go waaaay out the expected group of moments, and use a moment that a reader (named J) requested - a moment from, of all things, the epilogue to X-Cutioner's Song in Uncanny X-Men, featuring Jubilee and Professor X!

Scott Lobdell clearly enjoyed working in character driven issues, and in the midst of all the big crossovers he was forced to work with, he kept having one-off issues where the various characters would just interact with each other.

This was one of those issue.

After the events of X-Cutioner's Song, Professor Xavier has temporarily gained the ability to walk. It will fade soon, though, but he is taking the time to use his legs for the last time before they go away. Jubilee runs into him and decided to take him roller blading.

The art by a young Brandon Peterson is a bit rough, but the sweetness of Lobdell's story still prevails, I believe...

That was a pretty nice moment, really.

25 Comments

• At November 14, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:

  An ad for Sea Monkeys is cooler than this.

• At November 14, 2009, Mark wrote:

  Nice moment. Best I've ever liked Jubilee. Think its from the same issue where Sam Guthrie argues with the ...

• At November 14, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:

  This was a cool moment.

• At November 14, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  I teared up a little the first time I read that issue, and God help me, I just teared up ...

• At November 14, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  #297-299 gave us a pleasant momentary respite from the slew of crossovers that were to ensue!

• At November 14, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Lobdell's big plots mostly fizzled, but his smaller moments and "break" issues, like this one, were pretty good.

• At November 14, 2009, Gary wrote:

  This is one of the diamonds in the rough of Scott Lobdell's run on X-Men. As Brian says at the ...

• At November 14, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Good lord that art is ugly, like, butt-ugly, near fugly-ugly.

  Jubilee's face when she's struggling with whether or not to help ...

• At November 14, 2009, Matt B. wrote:

  Actually , Sam didn't even get to bitch slap the Prof , Xavier casually catches Sam's hand before he can ...

• At November 14, 2009, funkmasterdre wrote:

  Ah, rollerblading. So 90s.

• At November 14, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  Probably one of my favorite X-Men scenes.

• At November 14, 2009, danjack wrote:

  The dialogue for both characters comes of as pretty weak, but this is a great moment. Love Xavier saying that ...

• At November 14, 2009, chad wrote:

  that was one of the few things i liked about the story line for jublilee and Xavier bonding as xavier ...

• At November 14, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:

  Executioners song was a decent story, but the three epilogues were fantastic.

• At November 14, 2009, Dave Miller wrote:

  How are the readers supposed to know they're rollerblading? Was it explained in the letters column or something? ...

• At November 14, 2009, Radlum wrote:

  Despite liking how Xavier has become more of a darker character in recent stories, I miss the times when he ...

• At November 14, 2009, Mario wrote:

  That was well done. It gives off a nice retro feel of the x-titles. Speaking of which, if i wanted ...

• At November 14, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  The only Lobdell stories I ever liked were quiet stories full of dialogue. He probably shouldn't have written anything ...

• At November 15, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  He was infected with Techno-organic virus (how 90s...), and after being cured, he was able to walk again for a ...

• At November 15, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  How are the readers supposed to know they're rollerblading?

  Earlier in the story.

• At November 15, 2009, Gary wrote:

  Dacarus is right about at least one of the other epilogues: X-Factor #87 is the X-Cutioner's song epilogue for that ...

• At November 15, 2009, dhole wrote:

  This is the moment I'll always remember from the few issues of Scott Lobdell's run, and it's one that makes ...

• At November 16, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  and it's one that makes me think he was a worthy Claremont successor.

  Me too, and it also makes me wonder ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Mario, the Essential X-Men reprints contain the bulk of what most readers consider the "good stuff." Essential vol. 1 starts ...

• At November 17, 2009, Fabio Ciccone wrote:

  As an X-Men fan and collector, and as an outside of US reader (which means I don't have access ...

Today is the final moment from Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier!

Okay, so the good guys are over, and we finally get to the title of the series, the "New Frontier" speech given by President John F. Kennedy upon his acceptance as the Democratic nominee for the 1960 Presidential election.

Beautifully done, no?

And it's then capped off by the following...

It's tough - I don't know which moment jumps out more.

The end of the speech works really well (you can click to enlarge that, by the way), but the Justice League of America showing up and knowing that "everything is going to be okay"? That's awesome, as well.

What do you folks say?

19 Comments

• At November 13, 2009, Andy wrote:

  I think the intro text is a bit wonky.

  Great moment though!

• At November 13, 2009, Mortenzen wrote:

  Not Veteran Day and not a Punisher moment :)

  Nice extract from New Frontier by the way :)

• At November 13, 2009, Nick Whitman wrote:

  Dude... the "wonky" intro text is JFK's 1960 acceptance speech.

• At November 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I suppose, Nick, that starting the excerpt in the midst of the speech could be considered "wonky."

• At November 13, 2009, Nick Whitman wrote:

  Heh, Mr. Cronin, you're too nice. I suppose it's possible.

• At November 13, 2009, P. Boz wrote:

  That JFK. Wonky to the core.

• At November 13, 2009, Matthew Johnson wrote:

  Note that apparently the Metal Men run on punch cards.

• At November 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Gotta love that final splash page!

  :-)

• At November 13, 2009, Julian wrote:

  It's very pretty, and I do like New Frontier, but I think it kind of suffers for how much Cooke ...

• At November 13, 2009, chad wrote:

  to me the moment is the end one the little omage to brave and bold 28 the formation of the ...

• At November 13, 2009, Julian wrote:

  It is an insanely well done homage.

• At November 13, 2009, Les Fontenelle wrote:

  I agree with Julian. Talk about pink-colored glasses. New Frontier is good, but it takes nostalgia to almost religious heights.

• At November 13, 2009, Julian wrote:

  Off topic: If I keep begging is there any chance we could see a Kuper comic get a cool moment ...

• At November 13, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  I think Cooke does a good job of contrasting the idealism with the darker elements of the era. We ...

• At November 13, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I think Andy might have been referring to your intro, Brian, not the comic's. Specifically the "Okay, so the good ...

• At November 13, 2009, Julian wrote:

  @Dan, but I think part of the idea of this ending scene is to show that we've moved beyond that ...

• At November 13, 2009, Julian wrote:

  The more I think of it, the more harmless that bum line is, but still something just bothers me about ...

• At November 13, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Nope, I just meant that originally, the bit before the actual comic was presented refered to the Punisher moment from ...

• At November 15, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Again, with much of this series, the art looks great, but as for the writing...it might be hard to criticize ...

A commenter wanted me to celebrate Veteran's Day with a Cool Comic Book Moment, so fair enough, tomorrow we'll get the last New Frontier moment. Today we'll look at the conclusion to Garth Ennis' run on Punisher.

Okay, the gist of the story is (SPOILERS!!!!!)...

A bunch of corrupt military officials ran afoul of the Punisher fairly early on in the Punisher Max series. They've been running from him ever since. Their current plan was to get a group of Army Special Forces to take him down. However, Frank Castle has shown the commander of the men, General Howe, the truth behind the evil military guys.

Howe has now left Castle alone in an apartment waiting for the officials, with a gun with 8 bullets - enough for each one of the 8 officials.

Meanwhile, Ennis has been interspersing the story of the men of Valley Forge (the Marines who were killed in Punisher:Born) through a new book written by the younger brother of the narrator of Punisher: Born.

For good measure, Ennis has Nick Fury show up as an example of an exhausted good American soldier.

So, with that all said and done, enjoy the conclusion of Garth Ennis' Punisher run (art courtesy of the great Goran Parlov), which also serves as a nice celebration of American soldiers...

Simply awesome.

Happy Veteran's Day to all you veterans reading out there!

19 Comments

• At November 12, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Very moving.

• At November 12, 2009, Gavin Bell wrote:

  I might need to check out Ennis's Punisher stuff. I never liked his Hellblazer, but this looks good...

  On a side ...

• At November 12, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  In Punisher MAX he's over fifty years old and did 3 tours in Vietnam.

  I don't know about the regular ...

• At November 12, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  It's amazing how he managed to keep it so tight over such a long run, including Born and the specials.

  You ...

• At November 12, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  Like I said before, I was on the verge of dropping Punisher towards the end of the Marvel Knights run. ...

• At November 12, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Speaking as someone who's not an Ennis fan: yes, his Punisher MAX run was quite good.

• At November 12, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  They say that Ennis' Punisher in the Marvel Knights and Max imprint is, have been, and will always be THE

  definitive ...

• At November 12, 2009, chad wrote:

  loved the scene with nick in the bar remincing showing his age plus the punisher doing his damage again. proving ...

• At November 12, 2009, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  I'll still in shock that the Punisher is now going to be a zombie. Trying to kill and never killing ...

• At November 12, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Punisher MAX is a beast unto its own, which is the way I like it. No matter what Marvel ...

• At November 12, 2009, Billy Batson wrote:

  It's a nice moment but... a gazillion war comics in the world and you chose an issue of the Punisher? ...

• At November 12, 2009, Matt B. wrote:

  One small nitpick from the retired army guy here:

  Hower gave Castle back his 1911 with 8 bullets. 7+1 chambered ...

• At November 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Easily one of the best runs of the decade.

• At November 12, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I seem to be in the minority here in that I loved Ennis' Punisher run, both MK and MAX, but ...

• At November 12, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  "Thinking about Vietnam once in a while, in a crazy kind of way,

  I wish that just for an hour ...

• At November 12, 2009, James wrote:

  Man, that art is SMOKIN' good. Very much looks like Alex Toth. Goran Parlov? What work is he doing nowandays? ...

• At November 12, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  More likely from Preacher # 18.

  Guess who wrote that book? ;-)

• At November 12, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Until I read MK Punisher I didn't think I could enjoy the character, but Ennis made me realise that slapstick ...

• At November 15, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Not sure the Punisher's backstory would have worked had he been in the Gulf War as opposed to Vietnam...though, the ...

A commenter wanted me to celebrate the 234th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps, so fine, I'll take a break from the last New Frontier moment to show you a moment featuring one of the toughest marines in comics, Frank Castle, in a moment from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's Punisher: Born (the story of Castle in Vietnam - do note that it is explicit content)

I don't think this needs much set-up, except that it is narrated by one of the men in Frank's unit...

Pretty damn hardcore right there.

21 Comments

• At November 10, 2009, spectreguy wrote:

  That book is full of great moments!

• At November 10, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  And this is why Ennis' Punisher is the only one I've ever liked; he's not a heroic figure, or even ...

• At November 10, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Worst episode of "Gomer Pyle, USMC" ever.

• At November 10, 2009, chad wrote:

  that moment proved why the punisher is some one one would not want to cross in a dark alley ...

• At November 10, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  Whoa, who inked and colored this? That looks pretttttttty good.

• At November 10, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Ennis' Punisher-- definitely one of the best comics of the decade. Would love to see a couple Punisher MAX moments ...

• At November 11, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:

  F*ckin Punisher, man.

• At November 11, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Born was great. The idea that the Punisher had an already warped psyche that was hammered just that little ...

• At November 11, 2009, Kent Allard wrote:

  Love me some Frank Castle but I miss the "mercy bullets"

  p.s. "Marine" is always capitalized when speaking of a member ...

• At November 11, 2009, Jim wrote:

  I want Ennis to write a video game. Call of Duty: Nam. Make it hard core, make it Ennis.

  Would be ...

• At November 11, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  I love this mini, and that's not even the best moment by far. Ennis's Punisher could literally have an ...

• At November 11, 2009, Casey wrote:

  That is how war works. You stand up straight as an arrow and kill every enemy without getting a scratch?

• At November 11, 2009, Timothy Burke wrote:

  Looks like a scratch on his arm there, Casey. Or something.

• At November 11, 2009, Casey wrote:

  You're right, I missed that. Still it's more of a stupid moment than a cool one.

• At November 11, 2009, Matt B. wrote:

  Born would have been perfect if not for that stupid retcon that had the Devil's (?) voice speaking to Frank ...

• At November 11, 2009, Daniel O' Dreams wrote:

  I think the point is that this is NOT how war usually works. It's supposed to show that Frank was; ...

• At November 11, 2009, Annoyed Grunt wrote:

  I'd say that the bigger flaw in the story for me was the fact that he conned an innocent Officer ...

• At November 11, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  I never warmed to Punisher. Well, he isn't a very warm character. And I was prepared to not like this ...

• At November 11, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Sure, benday-dot, but Rock wasn't a Marine, and I needed a Marine!

• At November 11, 2009, Mortenzen wrote:

  Wanted to go back reading some Punisher... I guess I'll go with Ennis... Please stop posting all those cool moments, ...

• At November 15, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Wow, Frank is such a bad-ass I almost swooned at the end there.

Today we get the second-to-last New Frontier moment!

In Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier #6, the Flash is still annoyed by the fact that King Faraday tried to capture him earlier in the series (when Faraday's government superiors were ordering all masked vigilantes to be arrested).

Later, though, Faraday must come to the Flash for his help as the mission to defeat the Centre lies at Flash's feet (literally)...

Then we get to see the Flash in action, and it's awesome...

I think the moment is the inspiration at the end, but I suppose the quip to Faraday is not bad, either.

12 Comments

• At November 10, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  Man, when I get my credit cards under control, I am SO gonna buy that comic.....

• At November 10, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  @TheCrazedSpruce: Why not check and see if it's available at your library and borrow it? I did.

• At November 10, 2009, Excronimuss wrote:

  Great, great, great. Thanks for harping on this one, it's wonderful stuff.

• At November 10, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  "Run." Does it for me...

  Just poifekt!

• At November 10, 2009, chad wrote:

  i like where even as the center is starting its mind games on flash he keeps going right into the ...

• At November 10, 2009, spectreguy wrote:

  Just bought all of these last week (dang CSBG will you keep me poor forever?)

• At November 10, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I like that they call him the "Illinois Flash."

• At November 10, 2009, cmh wrote:

  I've just noticed the two soldiers in the background seeing Adam Strange carrying Ray Palmer.

  Yes, I also like that Illinois ...

• At November 10, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Didn't LOVE this comic, but read it & enjoyed a lot of it.

  This flash of moments, however, are just amazing. ...

• At November 10, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Oh! Just noticed that in the last panel as Barry saying it doesn't matter if he lives or dies, but ...

• At November 10, 2009, Kristen wrote:

  I actually own that first page.

  Such a great book.

• At November 15, 2009, Speed Reading: Sketches, Schedules, Collections and More « Speed Force wrote:

  [...] Flash in New Frontier makes Comics Should Be Good’s 313th cool comic book moment. They’re also accepting nominations for ...

For those of you who are not a fan of the New Frontier moments, be glad, there are only three more to go! For those of you who are a fan of the New Frontier moments, be sad, there are only three more to go.

In Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier #6, the "Centre," the malevolent telepahthic monster that is attacking the Earth, is having trouble with the fighter planes attacking it. It still manages to send creatures from itself to attack the mainland, so the earthbound heroes are still in trouble, especially "powerless" folks like Jimmy Olsen...

Then we see a pivotal moment in the life of J'onn J'onnz, who saved King Faraday's life earlier in the series and now that J'onn is attacked by the Centre, Faraday has the chance to repay the favor...

How awesome was Martian Manhunter there?

Anyhow, as for "the" moment, I go with Jimmy Olsen seeing Wonder Woman, but the intro of the Martian Manhunter and the whole "today WE will triumph" bit is a tough competitor. What do you folks think?

18 Comments

• At November 8, 2009, Wraith_94 wrote:

  Tough call. They're both great, but I'd have to give the edge to Martian Manhunter. Just barely, though.

• At November 9, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Wait, back up... there are people who *don't* like the New Frontier moments?

• At November 9, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Only 3 more? Thank god.

  New Frontier was passable for me, but no more.

• At November 9, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  J'onn is at his early Silver Age best here. Too bad about Faraday, though. I've always liked him and hate ...

• At November 9, 2009, mizike wrote:

  @Michael

  As someone who loves "A Year of Cool Comic Book Moments" for the chance to get exposed to really great ...

• At November 9, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  Okay, okay, I'll go buy New Frontiers. You convinced me already. Sheesh. Are you going to close out the entire ...

• At November 9, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would have to go with both for wonder woman showing her warrior side and jimmy like any one else ...

• At November 9, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  JoeMac, he says above, at the very beginning, that there are only 3 left to go.

  Personally, I hope that if ...

• At November 9, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Can I make a pitch for Robinson's Golden Age series to get some cool moments? I mean, New Frontier ...

• At November 9, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  "those of you who are not a fan of the New Frontier moments"

  Deliver these heathens unto me and I shall ...

• At November 9, 2009, badspock wrote:

  3 more for New Frontier, eh? Ok. I'll deal. But then I throw a gauntlet-How about some cool Star Wars ...

• At November 9, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  Re-reading this sequence makes me ship Jimmy and Wonder Woman :P

  And I love the way Cooke draws the Martian Manhunter ...

• At November 9, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Honestly, I always preferred JLA #144 (http://ourworlds.topcities.com/blackhawk/media/jla144.html)

• At November 9, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  Stealthwise, ya got me. I stopped reading these New Frontier posts after the second or third and just kinda scan ...

• At November 9, 2009, Zor-El of Argo wrote:

  Three more? I was hoping for a Sgt. Rock moment on Wednesday...you know, Veteran's Day?

• At November 9, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Three more? I was hoping for a Sgt. Rock moment on Wednesday...you know, Veteran's Day?

  Doesn't have to be consecutive moments. ...

• At November 9, 2009, capt usa(jim) wrote:

  Well tomorrow is the Marines birthday, not sure if there is a Marine comic moment out there somewhere for you ...

• At November 10, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Martian Manhunter for the Win!

  DFTBA

We're almost done with New Frontier moments! There are still a few more to come, but this one might be the most famous moment from the whole series...

Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier #6 opens with a bunch of heroes being collected for the great fight against the evil monstrous villain the heroes now all face...

We get a very cool introduction to Adam Strange and Ray Palmer...

Then we see the pair introduced to the other famous DC scientists...

Leading to their plan - a bunch of warplanes will attack The Centre to distract it. Then a few bombers are going to sneak in close to drop a couple of nukes on the alien, hopefully leaving it so distracted that it will not be able to stop the Flash from surrounding it with Ray Palmer's shrinking device...

Now we get the preparation for the battle, and Hal Jordan shows up!

Finally, THE moment - the "slow walk" (click to enlarge)...

Sooooo awesome.

17 Comments

• At November 7, 2009, Dan Fleming wrote:

  I can hear the music swelling!

• At November 7, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  I dunno, I'm rather fond of the Eureka moment with dueling pipes.

• At November 7, 2009, chad wrote:

  got to go with the walk the gathering of heroes ready to go into battle do or die. darwyn showing ...

• At November 7, 2009, FlashJ wrote:

  Adam Strange being in Arkham is so freaking brillant

• At November 7, 2009, Monica Dickey wrote:

  @FlashJ

  Agreed!

• At November 7, 2009, cmh wrote:

  Looks like Arkham Asylam is okay with subscribing to Scientific American for at least one of their patients...

  I think Brian ...

• At November 7, 2009, Jim Kakalios wrote:

  I second Mangir - I love the pipes jaunting up at an elevated angle as Doc Magnus and Prof from ...

• At November 7, 2009, Jim Kakalios wrote:

  cmh - I think that the Dr. at Arkham subscribed to Scientific American, and as Adam Strange was definitely one ...

• At November 7, 2009, Michael wrote:

  The Walk is great, but I also liked Hal's line, "Let's cook that son of a bitch."

• At November 7, 2009, Dean wrote:

  A joke followed by a massive "f*** yeah!" moment in a DC comic released after 2000? Amazing.

• At November 7, 2009, FlashJ wrote:

  Jim,

  I know this was somewhat alluded to in 52, as once Strange returns to Rann, the city is under attack ...

• At November 7, 2009, Jim Kakalios wrote:

  FlashJ:

  You know, for Rann being this advanced civilization and all - first they screw up the Zeta ray, wherein what ...

• At November 7, 2009, Mike M wrote:

  Y'know, this really reminds me of that Warren Ellis Authority storyline, from the end of his run. That "house ...

• At November 7, 2009, kanak wrote:

  umm everything is fine but where is GOD-d-a-m-n-BATMAN?

• At November 8, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Mike, I thought the same. Also, Cooke's using the " widescreen " layouts that made the Authority so influential, but ...

• At November 8, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  That last two-page spread always gives me goosebumps in spots where I didn't think you could get goosebumps.

• At November 9, 2009, /Cory Youngblood wrote:

  I didn't notice it before I saw this last page again, but Captain Atom is in there too! Nathaniel ...

Back to the moments from Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier!!

Okay, the gist of this scene (which closes out the penultimate issue of New Frontier) is that some big bad guy is wreaking havoc on the DC Universe and at the same time, all the heroes are arguing amongst themselves. Superman decides that it is time for him to inspire people (note that the captions are from the Martian Manhunter, who has telepathic powers)...

What a set-up for the last issue!!!

10 Comments

• At November 7, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:

  Yeah, I'm sort of annoyed I watched that animated movie before I read the series now...

• At November 7, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  Yeah, so am I. It was a great moment in the movie, but would've played out SO much better ...

• At November 7, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  DAAAAAAMMMMNNNNN, that Super-guy sure got his butt kicked.

• At November 7, 2009, The Librarian wrote:

  The only sad thing here is that after watching so many episodes of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, Superman ...

• At November 7, 2009, Roman wrote:

  The Slow Walk tomorrow?

• At November 7, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would go with that moment for the shock looks on the other heroes faces over relizing they are ...

• At November 7, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Speaking of shock. There's the following scene where Lois Lane loses her composure while trying the report on the ...

• At November 7, 2009, chill bill wrote:

  Having never read this I can not help but wonder, why is Nick Fury on the scene.

• At November 8, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  The moment seemed artificial to me. I.e., a gimmick and a transparent one at that. Get Superman out ...

• At November 17, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  I think the art here looks very Kirbyish.

We're taking a quick break from New Frontier for the fifth of November with the notable introduction of a character who has an affinity for that date...

V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, opens with the following...

I'd say the explosion is "the" moment, naturally.

Great sequence as a whole, though!

What a way to start a series!

17 Comments

• At November 6, 2009, John Parker wrote:

  A truly magnificent series. I remember waiting anxiously for the next issue of Warrior magazine to come out every month ...

• At November 6, 2009, Frederyck wrote:

  Yeah, this was the series that started it all for me. Suddenly, comics weren't just about Uncle Scrooge or Donald ...

• At November 6, 2009, Ian Thal wrote:

  For me, the moment is when V quotes the Bloodied Captain's speech from Macbeth Act I, Scene ii. I ...

• At November 6, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  Who WAS that chap in the Guy Fawkes mask? An outstanding series!

• At November 6, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I'm glad you posted this. I forgot it was Guy Fawkes' Day yesterday until I turned off my computer, ...

• At November 6, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Damn. I hate the re-coloured version... it always felt better in black and white...

  Otherwise, yay!

• At November 6, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Which explosion did you mean?

  Not that it matters. The entire series is a great read.

  Too bad the movie was ...

• At November 6, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  I actually thought the movie was okay. The book was better, though.

• At November 6, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would also go with the look of shock on the goons faces when V comes a calling and takes ...

• At November 6, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I also thought the movie was pretty good. No where near the level of the sourcce material, but still a ...

• At November 6, 2009, callen wrote:

  am i the only one that is reminded of Elisha Deshku when looking at the woman in some of the ...

• At November 6, 2009, danjack wrote:

  i loved the movie, even tho' there were substantial changes. also, every time they said 'conservative' i just mentally replaced ...

• At November 6, 2009, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  It's been a while since I read V. Looking at these pages, I'm struck by what's happened to my ...

• At November 6, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  I thought the movie captured the comic about as well as a movie could, certainly much better than Watchmen.

  Obvious as ...

• At November 7, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  I think the movie was one of the better Moore adaptations.

• At November 8, 2009, Julian wrote:

  I love Lloyd's art, but man this has to be one of, if not Moore's most maudlin and self-indulgent works.

• At November 11, 2009, Mortenzen wrote:

  I'm reading the trade right now... This story really rocks and it's funny how it feels a bit like reading ...

The look at Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier continues!

Okay, so the set-up for this scene from New Frontier #5 is that some big bad alien is causing all sorts of trouble. Hal Jordan has just become Green Lantern, but he's still, well, you know, green, but he was a hero even before he had a magic green ring, as shown by his following actions...

That kiss is amazing.

14 Comments

• At November 5, 2009, mizike wrote:

  Are there going to be many more "New Frontier" moments? They're starting to wear a bit thin...

• At November 5, 2009, JJ wrote:

  If Hitchcock had filmed this, the rocket would have gone into a tunnel.

  More Cooke, please. The Parker ...

• At November 5, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Thought the story for NF was kinda thin, but I do enjoy seeing a kiss accompanied by Kirby Krackle.

• At November 5, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Oh, I don't know, I thought the "moment" is where he called her "Miss Rich Bitch" right to her face. ...

• At November 5, 2009, chad wrote:

  i would go with the speech Hal gives Carol saying he learned to survive some times he is willing to ...

• At November 5, 2009, Mark McD wrote:

  Turning Carol into Star Sapphire was the dumbest thing they could've done in GL, but let's face it, the rules ...

• At November 5, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Are there going to be many more "New Frontier" moments?

  Depends on your definition of "many".

  At least three more.

  They're starting ...

• At November 5, 2009, Kirayoshi wrote:

  Y'know, given the date today, maybe you should take a one-day break from New Frontier(not that I don't enjoy these ...

• At November 5, 2009, Aaron wrote:

  As much as I love Cooke's drawing style, his page layouts have never done it for me. The pin-up ...

• At November 5, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Y'know, I'm just going to come out and say that I think the story for New Frontier is pretty awesome, ...

• At November 5, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  Surely one of the greatest kisses in all of comics. Thank you Mr. Cooke for all these sublime moments.

• At November 6, 2009, NotThatGuy wrote:

  I think the archive page is broken, at least it hasn't worked for me for two days.

• At November 6, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  I'd quite happily read 365 Cool New Frontier Moments. But more Cooke from anywhere will do.

• At November 7, 2009, Trey wrote:

  Back when men were men and women were women.

The look at Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier continues!

There's a lot going on here in this moment from New Frontier #4, so let me see if I can explain it all...

1. Hal Jordan is trying to be part of this space mission that Rick Flagg is doing. He gets scrubbed by Flagg. Jordan is naturally pissed.

2. Flagg's rocket (now flown only by Flagg and Karin Grace) has a malfunction, and is now drifting back towards Earth and certain death upon re-entry.

3. People don't know that the rocket is filled with all sorts of nasty stuff designed to kill Martians. If it explodes in the Earth's atmosphere, well, that's bad.

4. First, Flagg apologizes to Hal, telling him that during World War II, Flagg was in a squadron with King Faraday (the fellow in charge of the space mission), Ace Morgan (of the Challengers of the Unknown) and Martin Jordan, Hal's father. Flagg scrubbed Hal because he knew the odds of surviving the mission were slim, and he saved Hal for his father.

5. Out of nowhere, Ace Morgan and his Challengers come up with an attempt to save Rick and Karin from their rocket, not knowing that in doing so, they would be dooming Earth (as the rocket would explode in Earth's atmosphere with no one to keep it from doing so).

6. So King Faraday is killing in the big guns...

It's hard to pick THE moment out of this sequence. What do you folks think? Superman flying away with the Challengers? Rick and Karin exploding the rocket? The final shot of Faraday at their graves?

12 Comments

• At November 4, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  The movie really gave up one even trying to develop Faraday's character beyond "G-man".

• At November 4, 2009, Shane wrote:

  Personally I'd put the whole sequence as one big moment. Even a bloodied Superman smashing a giant robot in Japan ...

• At November 4, 2009, Philip wrote:

  Simply amazing. Breathtaking artwork. Story's wonderful. I've only read it once, but the past few days are making me pick ...

• At November 4, 2009, chad wrote:

  so many moments to pick but i went with Faraday at the grave site a touch of poetic saddness and ...

• At November 4, 2009, Daniel wrote:

  The page full of the awesome Superman. That, by jing, is what Superman is for.

• At November 4, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  The moment is definitely Karin and Rick together.

• At November 4, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Faraday is such an awesome character.

• At November 4, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Flag and Karin detaching their helmets was pretty cool.

• At November 4, 2009, Jim Kakalios wrote:

  Agreed - though I think the most perfect panel that sums up that scene is the two of them enjoying ...

• At November 4, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Can we all just agree to count this whole series as one big "Cool Comic Book Moment"?

• At November 5, 2009, dave chisholm wrote:

  dave stewart's colors are on another level...

• At November 7, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  I really want to like this series, and as much as I'm liking the artwork, something about it just doesn't ...

The look at Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier continues!

In #3, Cooke decided to put in his first DC hero who did not actually exist during the late 1950s/early 1960s, and he did so in memorable fashion...

then a bunch of pages on other characters, then we return to...

then a bunch of pages on other characters, then we return to...

Pretty damn cool.

19 Comments

• At November 3, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:

  Goddamn cool.

• At November 3, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Yet ANOTHER cool moment that's not in the movie...

  I'm starting to feel cheated now...

  Really going to have to buy the ...

• At November 3, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  Oh, yeah. THAT rocks.

  They really should have included him in the movie.

• At November 3, 2009, T. wrote:

  Just for kicks, the real John Henry song:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3vF2KVx9KQ

• At November 3, 2009, Kanye West wrote:

  "Yo Brian, I'm really happy for you and I'm 'a let you finish, but John Henry had one of the ...

• At November 3, 2009, Mea wrote:

  Considering how his story ended, I'm not surprised it was cut. Still, it was a very good part of ...

• At November 3, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Didn't they show a young John Henry at the end of the movie reading a book about heroes? It's ...

• At November 3, 2009, Brian wrote:

  AWESOME!!! It is one of the best scenes in the series.

• At November 3, 2009, chad wrote:

  another moment tha tproves what a story teller Darwyn is and new frrointer should be required dc reading. though john ...

• At November 3, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Damn, I need to re-read New Frontier yet again. I remember being initially unimpressed by the series while reading ...

• At November 3, 2009, Joe Rice wrote:

  I got to say, if you've only seen the movie I feel sorry for you. I really didn't like ...

• At November 3, 2009, RAB wrote:

  I'm with Joe Rice on this one. I couldn't stand the movie version. Not so much because they ...

• At November 3, 2009, Nick Evans wrote:

  Cool's not the right word for it, but the way John Henry's story ends is also powerfully done.

• At November 3, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, Nick, I was thinking of whether I should feature that. I'm leaning towards no.

• At November 4, 2009, Nick Evans wrote:

  A Month of Grim Comic Book Moments? You know, for Christmas.

• At November 6, 2009, Callum wrote:

  Haven't read this series yet, but is this the biggest tweak that leads to this series being non-canon? All ...

• At November 6, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  New Frontier would only otherwise work as a retcon if you ignored dates, as the series ties everyone pretty tightly ...

• At November 7, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Er, pardon my ignorance, but who is this character supposed to be? i don't want to say Steel...

• At November 10, 2009, Callum wrote:

  Yeah it's supposed to be Steel, but minus the Superman influence I guess?