Sunday, January 31, 2010

Crisis On Earth-Blog: The DC Challenge



Welcome to the DC Challenge... hope your survive the experience!


1955

CONFIDENTIAL
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

The following is a brief on the nature of the disappearance of intelligence agent codename: The Unknown Soldier.

Three months ago, Soviet troops captured what is believed to be a U.S. citizen traveling alongside the railroad through the Levashovo Settlement in Leningrad. This individual, self-identified as "Paul Raymond," claimed to be a defecting scientist. No documentation on this statement has been found. At the insistence of Raymond, troops searched the area for and located a device Raymond claimed he had absconded with from a U. S. weapons development operation. Again, there is no supporting evidence for this claim.

Raymond was questioned by the Soviets' newly formed Committee for State Security (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti; herafter: K.G.B.,) and after some weeks, convinced them of his intention to reveal classified information about U.S. scientific research to the communists. Raymond was allowed laboratory access in pursuit of developing a "key" to "unlock" the undefined abilities of his stolen device, as well as aiding the Soviets on other projects. Despite being supplied with the most current technological advances, Raymond was constantly noted as being frustrated with these, by his terms, "antiques." Regardless, Raymond's efforts have sped along several Soviet projects seen as detrimental to our interests.

Two weeks ago, U.S. intelligence learned that First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev would be attending a demonstration of Raymond's mystery devices' capabilities. In advance of the event, our Unknown Soldier was sent to infiltrate. The Soldier's orders were to capture or terminate Raymond and his device with extreme prejudice. A master of disguise, the Soldier impersonated Khrushchev to maximize his ease of access. Unfortunately, Raymond looked on the Soldier's irritation in his disguise with suspicion, and the premature arrival of the actual Khrushchev sent the situation into a downward spiral. Raymond seemingly vanished before the Soldier could execute him, and the device was activated through unconfirmed means.

Based on eyewitness accounts, bizarre "portals" to parts unknown opened in the very air, and facing increasing gunfire, the Soldier exited the scene through one of these "portals," with a number of Soviet troops in pursuit. The "portals" vanished within a few minutes time, and it was by that point determined that the manifesting device had gone missing.

Whether the Unknown Soldier or other parties are in possession of the device is undetermined at this time. There is no further information about the whereabouts of our agent or his assignment at this time.

Early reports indicate that Raymond's successes on the Soviets' other projects were short-lived, and ultimately disastrous. The K.G.B. in fact suspects Raymond in engineering their sabotage. Investigation is ongoing.





Follow the rest of the DC Challengers in this "Crisis On Earth-Blog"
The Aquaman Shrine
The Atom: Tiny Titan
Being Carter Hall
Comics Make Me Happy
Crimson Lightning
Dispatches from the Arrow Cave
El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker
Firestorm Fan
Girls Gone Geek
I Am The Phantom Stranger
The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Justice League Detroit
...nurgh...
Once Upon a Geek
Pretty, Fizzy Paradise
random picture day
Reilly2040's Blog
Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
Toyriffic
when is evil cool?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

One Image, One Comment


I'd Buy That For A Dollar!

(In honor of the release of Dynamite's Robocop #1 yesterday, which features all sorts of Verhoeven-esque insanity.)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What Looks Good?


This Saturday is the Big Annual Sale at my local comic shop, but that doesn't mean I won't be heading over early to get my weekly hits.

The Atom And Hawkman #46 -- Everything that's old is new once again!

Blackest Night: JSA #2 -- Will the current Society be torn to shreds by the previous one?

Justice League: Cry For Justice #6 -- Dang it, I want to know what the heck happened to Roy!

Justice League of America #41 -- The "new" Justice League bows here.  Might be worth a look.

The Web #5 -- With the outsourcing of Web Hosts still causing headaches, it's the perfect time for the Black Hood to show up.

Iron Man: I Am Iron Man #1 -- Marvel is finally getting around to adapting the hit film... just in time for the sequel.

Iron Man vs Whiplash #3 -- The new Whiplash is out for blood, so it's good that Tony Stark has managed to cobble together a new suit of armor!

Futurama Comics #47 -- The future is going to be funny, if this series is any indication.

So, what looks good to YOU?

Monday, January 25, 2010

What I Read This Week


Blackest Night: The Flash #2 -- While the Flash runs all around the world with his nifty new Blue Lantern Ring, Captain Cold and the Rogues face down the Black Lantern Rogues!  The two-pronged story works well, even though the Rogues' thread is the more interesting of the two.  But Johns and Kollins doing Flash and the Rogues AND Blackest Night is just a perfect storm for this reader, and frankly that makes me happy.  

Outsiders #26 -- In Markovia, Crown Prince Brion has plans.  And when Brion has plans, things get done.  Dan DiDio and Phillip Tan come on board and immediately set new wheels in motion, bringing back an Outsider from the past and establishing fresh conflicts.  DiDio generally does a good job, and while a few characters appear to be acting out of character, the other characters address this fact, letting us know that these turns are intentional.  Tan's art can be scratchy, but considering the downbeat story, I think it's a good match.  Given the last page reveal and twist, they have captured this reader as well as my three bucks a month for the time being.

Tiny Titans #24 -- In the words of Steve Martin, everyone gets small!  Thanks to the "special formula" of Atom's little guy being used for theie breakfast, the Tiny Titans are even tinier than usual!  Great fun as usual, with plenty of gags revolving around small folks as well as The Ant's Uncle Ant.

Invincible Iron Man #22 -- After the big hubabaloo last issue about how to revive Tony Stark... nothing happens.  So Steve Rogers heads out to make a house call to one Dr. Stephen Strange.  This is an odd comic -- there's lots of scene changes but almost nothing happens.  It's like one half of a story moreso than even a chapter in a larger one.  Fraction pulled this sort of thing during the 12-part "World's Most Wanted" as padding, but this story arc is only 5 issues!  Yeesh.  Next issue promises more happening, but who can say?

glamourpuss #11 -- Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read this one yet, so it's still on the pile for next time.

Re-read Pile: Blackest Night: The Flash, Outsiders.

The Pick of the Pile is Outsiders.  It's a new direction and a new creative team, but DiDio and Tan have my interest piqued.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Everybody's Linking For The Weekend


Rick gets us started with Black Goliath's lettercol header.

G Kendall rocks it old school with some Ben Rabb Excalibur.

rob! brings the mystical mumbo-jumbo with the newest issue of ... Phantom Stranger?!

Bonus Game!  The Toughest Ticket.

Shag knows how to motivate us Star Wars fanboys.

Frank demands that YOU choose YOUR OWN Adventure (feat. Commander Steel!)

Finally, here's Kobe Bryant with an important message.  

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What Looks Good?


I went to the Smackdown taping in Greenville last night, I'm going to the Bobcats game in Charlotte on Saturday, and new comics today.  It's like Christmas and Boxing Day all rolled up into one!

Blackest Night: The Flash #2 -- The only thing worse than Black Lantern Rogues?  Black Lantern Solivar!

Outsiders #26 -- The Dan DiDio Era begins!

Tiny Titans #24 -- What diabolical cuteness is in store for us this month?!

Mighty Avengers #33 -- The Avengers (Mighty) square off with the Avengers (Dark) at Project PEGASUS!

glamourpuss #11 -- Who's ready to go to rehab?  glamourpuss is!

So, what looks good to YOU?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Outsiders Toys Coming?


Could we be getting some Outsiders toys in mass market stores like Walmart?  According to the fine folks at Mattel, producers of the DCU Classics and and Inifite Heroes lines, the answer is yes!

Blog@Newsarama: It seems like most of the big teams in the DCU have gotten some kind of representation in DCUC, including the JLA, the JSA, the Titans, the Doom Patrol, and the Metal Men. What's the outlook like for the Outsiders and the Legion of Super-Heroes?

Mattel: Both are in the works!

Sounds good to me!  Hopeffully this means we can get some of the ladies represented.  Geo-Force and Black Lightning are both available from DC Direct, and there was a Build-A-Figure Metamorpho earlier in the line, but I would really like to see Katana and Halo in toy form, if not Looker as well.  Heck, both Katana and Halo also offer the chance to do variants!  Make it happen Mattel!