I bought a DC Comics Snuggie?!?! First off, it’s not really a “Snuggie”, it’s a “Comfy Throw”. What does that mean? That means it’s a body-length blanket with sleeves made of fleece material; similar in design to a bathrobe that is worn backwards. Yeah, I know. That’s the definition of a “Snuggie”. This is DC Comics’ off-brand version of a Snuggie.
I picked it up at F.Y.E. in Tampa for $10 (originally priced at $20). The dimensions are 48″ x 71″. Upon seeing the box (and after finishing rolling her eyes), my wife stated that no woman would be caught dead in that thing, and the only reason a woman is wearing one on the box is because it will help sell the product to geeks. Y’know what, I think she’s exactly correct!
When I bought it, I never really thought I’d wear it. However, my Comicatorium (a.k.a. Shag’s Sanctum Sanctorum) is about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. So on cold winter nights this thing could actually come in handy! In fact, I’m wearing it as I type right now. It’s currently 32 degrees outside and freakin’ cold in the Comicatorium, but I’m all mosty-toasty in my DC Comics Snuggie.
Here is a sample of the pattern featuring: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Shazam, Justice League of America, and the Super Powers logo.
Finally, proof positive that I have no sense of shame.
For those of you following DC Comics and Blackest Night, you may be aware that our first glimpse of a Red Lantern was in 2007. But did you know it could have been a lot sooner? A lot sooner as in … 1940? Given slightly different circumstances, Alan Scott the original Green Lantern may have been named the Red Lantern.
An excerpt from Alter-Ego #5 (published in Summer 2000), an interview with Martin Nodell on his creation of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern.
MARTY NODELL: I was going home to Brooklyn, and I tried working out some ideas as I got to the station. I was writing down everything I could possibly think of. I thought, “Gee, I’ve got to do this real quick, because if I think of something, other people will, too. It might have some meaning to them, too.”
As I entered the subway, there were a number of people standing around, and there was a train man in the subway station, in the trough of the tracks, and he was waving a red lantern, which meant, “Hold the train, don’t come in.” When he checked the tracks, he waved a green lantern. The green lantern meant, “Come in.” As the train would come in, he would get out of the way, get behind a pole and stay there, and that was the end of his part in “Green Lantern.”
But when that green lantern meant something to me, I just wrote it down: “The Green Lantern.”
ROY THOMAS: Since “green lantern” meant “okay, everything’s all clear,” but “red lantern” meant “danger,” which of course one would associate with adventure stories, I wonder how come we got a Green Lantern instead of a Red Lantern.
NODELL: Well, just simply that the green lantern appeared to me as being important.
RT: Well, it obviously worked, right? Sixty years later, people still know that name. It’s oddly popular. For instance, on the old Route 66 in Missouri, there was a Green Lantern restaurant in the early 1960s. There was also a bookstore called The Green Lantern in the early-’40s movie serial The Secret Code. But both are long after your character. I always wondered, “What’s with this fascination with green lanterns?” [Laughs]
NODELL: To me, it was just a matter of how I put everything together. The possibilities, to me, were a characterization, or pictures, of a meteor falling into a small Chinese town, and that became the method wherein a green lantern was built in.
RT: Do you think the kind of lantern that train man used in the subway station was pretty close to the kind you drew on your hero?
NODELL: Quite close. That was the only important lantern to me, and I didn’t think of any other kind of lantern at all. And then, thinking of Greek mythology, I designed a costume, and that costume seemed to me to be very important to the eye.
Just imagine, Marty Nodell could have easily decided instead to name Alan Scott the Red Lantern! So what would that have meant for readers if he’d been the Red Lantern, instead of the Green Lantern? Not much really. He probably would have had the same powers, just with a different color. In fact, Alan’s costume already has nearly as much red as it does green. Just change the color of the lantern in his chest emblem.
If he’d been the Red Lantern, I imagine some writer would have eventually tied-in his powers with fire somehow. If you look at the early Green Lantern stories, his energy often looks like green flames. If the color had been red, I think it would have been an easy extrapolation to connect his power with fire somehow. Perhaps something like a Fire Elemental connection. I can envision a recon like this taking place in the mid-80s around the time Swamp Thing and Red Tornado were retconned as the Plant and Air Elementals.
Just for interest sake, below you’ll find images of a couple red train lanterns I came across in an antique shop in Savannah, Georgia. Having heard Marty’s story previously, these train lanterns attracted my attention.
Here is an original drawing of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, by his creator Martin Nodell. Marty created the Green Lantern in 1940 for All-American Comics #16. I was fortunate enough to meet Marty in 1994 at Cosmic Cat Comics & Games when he came to do a signing. I was managing the store at the time and we had Marty there in conjunction with Green Lantern #50 (not to be confused with Green Lantern #50 that just came out in 2010 – though both featured Parallax). He and his wife Carrie were super-sweet people and a real treat to chat with. Marty would sign any Green Lantern item you’d like. We had him sign some of the Green Lantern #50 posters as well as the neat giveaway rings available at the time. I saw Marty and his wife at a few conventions around Florida after that, but sadly Carrie passed away in 2004 and Marty in 2006.
Looking closely at this drawing you can see the light hint of pencils underneath the fine black inks. The coloring on the shirt and pants looks good on the actual drawing, but the camera flash washed them out some on the image above. It appears the colors were done with something like markers. Marty had done the drawing prior to the signing. That way he could sell the original drawings on-site, rather than make people wait for sketches. He did inscribe the drawing to me in green pen, “To Shag – With best special regards – as signed at the Cosmic Cat – Mart Nodell ‘94″.
He was a neat gentleman and his creation has inspired 70 years of amazing stories. Thanks Marty!
Check back here tomorrow for more on the creation of the original Green Lantern in 1940 … and the surprising connection to the Red Lanterns.
My thanks to Serv and the folks over at THE UNIQUE GEEK listserv for starting this topic. In fact, the gang has been coming up with oaths for Parallax Bobby (a.k.a. The Garnet Lantern) to recite when charging his rings:
From Ravenface:
Despite The Swamp and three Wide Rights
We’ll set the flaming spear alight!
Let those who vote in polls with spite…
Count my dadgum conference titles!
I’m Bobby fuckin’ Bowden
From Terry:
Through hurricane, through dirty Hogtown
For 33 seasons, I’ve been around
To those who would deface my crown,
St. Bobby’s barbarians will take you down…
Dadgummit!
Here’s mine:
Brightest sun or stadium light,
Those other teams have run in fright.
The Seminoles are gonna fight,
To uphold his honor… Bobby’s might!
Here is the Emerald Twilight Hal Jordan image with all the rings for reference again.
I didn’t realize until very recently that Alan Moore inspired much of the Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night stories. I had no idea! Turns out that Moore wrote a short story entitled “Tygers” in Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2 back in 1986. This 12-page story featured the creation of many of the elements that play heavily into the Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night. Only Alan Moore could influence so many future Green Lantern comics with so few pages. Obviously this short story resonated tremendously with Geoff Johns, enough so that he incorporated nearly all of it into his Green Lantern run. Here is a rundown of the items Alan Moore created for this short story that resurfaced again during Geoff Johns tenure on the series:
Below is one page from that story. This one page represents a large majority of Alan Moore’s creations that play into recent Green Lantern storylines. Click the image to enlarge.
You can find the entire 12-page story reprinted in the trade paperback, Green Lantern: In Brightest Day. This is a good one to get because Geoff Johns selected all the stories in the trade and provided commentary on each. A great companion piece to the Blackest Night storyline.
I finally got around to visiting the comic shop this past weekend after nearly a month away. Awaiting me were my Blackest Night Green Lantern rings! I’m probably the millionth geek to relive this moment, but here it is anyway… my tribute to Green Lantern #49 (1994).
Today we’ll be looking at the Monopoly Justice League of America Collector’s Edition from 1999. This was a great piece produced by USAOPOLY representing the Silver Age Justice League. The premise of the game is identical to Monopoly, the difference being simply in what things are called. Instead of the properties being named after places in Atlantic City, they are named after Justice League member’s abilities. For example, instead of “Boardwalk” and “Park Place”, you have “Strength of Steel” and “Heat Vision”.
Below is the box cover.
Below is a shot of the game board and the insert explaining the characters. To see all the properties, click the image below to enlarge (big image – 1.4 MB).
Below is the bank, some of the Title Deed cards (called “Power Cards” in this edition), the “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards, a reprint of The Brave and the Bold #28 (the first appearance of the Justice League of America), and the instructions.
Below are the replacement Utilities cards. Instead of the “Electric Company”, you have “Green Lantern’s Power Battery”. Instead of “Water Works”, you have “Aquaman’s City of Atlantis”.
Below are the replacement Railroad cards. In this set you’ve got: Flash’s “The Cosmic Treadmill”, Green Arrow’s “The Arrowplane”, Batman’s “The Batmobile”, and Wonder Woman’s “Invisible Jet Plane”.
Below is a shot of the player tokens and the houses/hotels. In this edition, green houses are replaced by blue “Powers”, and red hotels are replaced by red “Super Powers”.
Here is another shot of the pewter player tokens. They include (from L to R): Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Green Arrow.
Here is a better shot of the “Powers” and “Super Powers” pieces. You can see the star on the blue pieces, and you can see the Justice League of America logo on the red pieces.
Here is the JLA currency for the game. Poor Martian Manhunter, everyone else got a bill except him. Maybe he’s on the three dollar bill.
The orange “Daily Planet” cards replace “Chance” in this edition.
Below are some of my favorite “Daily Planet” cards. There are tons more, these are just the ones I chose to feature.
The yellow “Batcomputer” cards replace “Community Chest” in this edition.
Below are some of my favorite “Batcomputer” cards. There are tons more, these are just the ones I chose to feature. It’s interesting that Hawkman and the Atom managed to sneak into the game on these cards.
What a cool version of Monopoly! It definitely puts a fun spin on the game for us comic geeks.
I am loving Blackest Night! While they are only on issue #2, I feel like I’ve been reading it for months. The build up in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps has been expertly done, and the mini-series itself is outstanding.
The only spin-off mini-series I’ve picked up so far was Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps, which I thought was quite good. The Kilowog story really stands out as top-notch. I haven’t picked up the other spin-offs primarily because I’m trying not to spend as much money on comics, and to demonstrate to DC that perhaps event books don’t need a bunch of money-sucking ancillary books. I did flip through the first issues of Blackest Night: Superman and Blackest Night: Titans. They both seemed okay, but nothing I couldn’t live without. I’ll most likely pick up the Blackest Night: JSA and Blackest Night: Flash mini-series, mostly because Geoff Johns himself is writing those.
If you are interested in hearing Geoff John’s philosophy behind the series, there is a fantastic podcast on DC’s website about Blackest Night. It’s actually a recording of a San Diego Comic Con session with Geoff Johns about the series. Click here to visit the DC website, then scroll down to the Podcasts, and finally choose the “Green Lantern: Blackest Night” podcast. It’s worth your time. It ends with the entire audience reciting the Green Lantern oath (led by Johns himself)! How cool is that?!?!?!
Additionally, check out the Views from the Longbox special Views from Sector 666. This podcast features my buddy Michael Bailey, along with Thomas Deja (DJ’s Comics Cavalcade and Better in the Dark). They are going to review Blackest Night issue by issue. Definitely worth your time.
What about you? Are you reading it? Are you enjoying it? Anyone reading the ancillary mini-series? Are they worth the money?
I finally picked up the DC Universe animated original movie Green Lantern First Flight on DVD. While the trailers I’d seen looked pretty good, I just wasn’t feeling passionate about watching the film. My apathy is centered on the lead character, Hal Jordan. While I really like everything surrounding the Green Lantern concept and universe, I find Hal Jordan himself to be one of the most boring characters in DC Comics. I grew up reading Hal stories, but never really felt energized by the lead character until Kyle Rayner came along. So it was with some reluctance that I finally sat down to watch this DVD.
With my general feelings about Hal Jordan behind us, I gotta say this movie was great! Don’t be fooled, this was a science fiction movie, not a comic book movie. I’m using the term “movie” intentionally here, even though one could simply describe the film as a “cartoon”. I categorize this as a “movie” due to the epic story and the real journey that played out across the 77 minutes of the film.
The basic framework of the story should come as no surprise. Pilot Hal Jordan is given a mysteriously powerful ring from a dying alien which transforms him into the Green Lantern. Hal discovers he’s one of an elite force of protectors who patrol the universe under the leadership of the Guardians of the Universe. The antagonist of the story is Sinestro, formerly the greatest of the Green Lanterns, now a rogue wearing an enormously powerful yellow ring. Again, no surprises here. Beyond that, the story doesn’t stick to the established Hal Jordan origins shown in Emerald Dawn or the more recent Secret Origin. It delves into some good science fiction concepts and explores the almost-reasonable motivation behind Sinestro’s betrayal. Hal gets a chance to shine as the rookie Green Lantern and demonstrates why he’ll become the greatest of all Green Lanterns.
In addition to solid storytelling, this film is full of action-packed battles, science fiction imagery, and great animation. The combat scenes are exciting and you can’t help getting caught up in them. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming live action Green Lantern movie with Ryan Reynolds can match the action scenes from this animated version. Lots of cameos by favorite characters from the Green Lantern universe: Kilowog, Tomar Re, Kanjar Ro, Ganthet, Boodikka, Carol Ferris, Arisia, Ch’p, and more. The voice acting was fine; no complaints, but no stand-out performances either. While the film is rated PG-13, the only thing to watch out for with the kiddies is some intense combat/gore and a little bit of language. Nothing that an advanced 10 year old couldn’t handle.
The only disappointing thing in the movie was the lack of character development for Hal Jordan himself. I promise I’m not being biased here against Hal. While Hal did lots of cool things in the movie, you never really got a sense of who Hal was or where he came from. Without really noticing much difference, you could have interchanged Hal Jordan for Kyle Rayner, or John Stewart, or Alan Scott, or even Charlie Vickers (anyone remember him besides me)? It didn’t detract from the film tremendously, it just made it harder to connect with the character.
If you haven’t seen it, below is the official trailer for the movie.
I picked up the Target exclusive two-disc special edition DVD, which includes a free digital download copy of the film. I love the whole digital download concept! This is such a great enhancement for DVDs nowadays. Additional special features include:
A First Look at Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (7:49) – This was a really cool featurette that has me totally jazzed for this upcoming animated movie.
Blackest Night: Inside the DC Comics Event (8:51) – includes commentary from Geoff Johns, Dan Didio, and Peter Tomasi discussing the Green Lantern comic book event
Green Lantern: Behind the Story with Geoff Johns (8:41) – Johns discusses the mythology of Green Lantern
Duck Dodgers “The Green Loontern” episode (22:22) – This is a fun episode of the Duck Dodgers cartoon.
In Brightest Day, In Blackest night: The Green Lantern Corps – Character Profiles of Sinestro (4:01) and the Guardians of the Universe (3:39)
Bruce Timm’s Top Picks: Green Lantern – Four Justice League animated series episodes “Once and Future Thing” parts 1 & 2, and “In Blackest Night” parts 1 & 2 (about 23 minutes each) — These episodes star John Stewart as Green Lantern, but watch for the fun Hal Jordan cameo (voiced by Adam Baldwin) in part 2 of “Once and Future Thing“.
From Graphic Novel to Original Animated Movie – Justice League: The New Frontier (10:44)
Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess (10:25)
Batman: Gotham Knight – An Anime Evolution (10:09)
A few trailers for other non-DC films
While I was fairly pleased with the special features in general, I was disappointed there was no audio commentary and no in-depth featurette on the making of this animated movie. Missing these didn’t spoil my day, but I would have liked them.
Overall, this was a fun science fiction movie with great action and visuals. I recommend it!
DC Comics has two upcoming films in their DVD series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 movies. Both look great and I’m definitely picking them up!
Green Lantern: First Flight will be available on July 28. While I’d rather they’d featured Kyle instead of Hal, this movie still looks really good! This story covers how Hal Jordan became a Green Lantern, and his early dealings with Sinestro. I love that Sinestro is in his current costume, rather than his cheesy old suit. I suppose the story is a modern-day interpretation of the 1990s Emerald Dawn mini-series, since Geoff Johns said this isn’t based upon his recent “Secret Origin” arc on the Green Lantern comic. You can visit the official movie site by clicking here.
If you can’t view the embedded video above, please click here.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is due out on September 29. This story is based upon the first arc of the Superman/Batman comic book series. In this adventure, Superman & Batman become America’s most wanted criminals – and are hunted by friends and foes alike. It was a really good comic, so I’m looking forward to seeing the animated version. Also, they got the original voice actors who did the Superman Animated Series and the Batman Animated Series. So you know the voices are going to be spectacular! You can read the entire Press Release on Newsarama by clicking here.
If you can’t view the embedded video above, please click here.
A place for all things geek... ONCE UPON A GEEK is a Monday-Friday blog that focuses on a variety of geeky topics, including: comic books, Doctor Who, Star Wars (classic and legacy characters), role-playing, 80’s TV shows, and science fiction in general. However, any topic is really fair game. Don't forget to share your thoughts by adding comments!
75 Books You Should Own For DC Comics' 75th Anniversary http://bit.ly/aQJfS9 Thanks @EdwardCrosby for the link! #comics>>2010/03/01
Actually, that's me. RT @RobertEAnderson DC Comics Snuggie! @comicriffs posted a picture of himself in 1. http://tinyurl.com/ydnwogx#comics>>2010/02/27
That's me in the Snuggie! RT @TheNerdyBird RT @SpeedForceOrg Believe it or not: A DC Comics Snuggie. http://bit.ly/aZYGAL>>2010/02/27
@TheNerdyBird Hey, that's me in the Snuggie. I never thought people would actually see that picture. Color me embarrassed. >>2010/02/27
By day, The Irredeemable Shag plays the part of a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. By night, he is a frightening creature that strikes terror into the hearts of criminals!
... or ...
maybe The Irredeemable Shag managed a comic book store for four years, and a movie theater megaplex for three years. Nowadays he's just a really vocal geek on THE UNIQUE GEEK, a semi-regular on the VIEWS FROM THE LONGBOX podcast, and runs the ONCE UPON A GEEK and FIRESTORM FAN blogs.
I am loving Blackest Night! While they are only on issue #2, I feel like I’ve been reading it for months. The build up in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps has been expertly done, and the mini-series itself is outstanding.
I finally picked up the DC Universe animated original movie Green Lantern First Flight on DVD. While the trailers I’d seen looked pretty good, I just wasn’t feeling passionate about watching the film. My apathy is centered on the lead character, Hal Jordan. While I really like everything surrounding the Green Lantern concept and universe, I find Hal Jordan himself to be one of the most boring characters in DC Comics. I grew up reading Hal stories, but never really felt energized by the lead character until Kyle Rayner came along. So it was with some reluctance that I finally sat down to watch this DVD.
Recent Comments