Countdown? Amazons Attack? Mere rubbish. The DC event of the year has undoubtedly become Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps. DC has upped the ante a thousand-fold for this series, as shown in the special issue that just came out today. This is an example of the delivery actually DWARFING the hype.
The events?
-As has been hinted at for many, many months, Sinestro (making his official jump to Uber-Villain status) is tired of going it alone and decided to make a Lantern Corps of his own. They are the Sinestro Corps and their purpose is to instill order through fear. -The Guardians are interrogating the Cyborg Superman (Uber-Villain #2), who they fear has learned the secret of the 52 during his time stuck in the Source Wall. They decide to keep him imprisoned, but he won't stay that way for long. -The Green Lanterns are ambushed by Sinestro Corps members. Kyle Rayner is taken in the melee. He ends up in Qward with Sinestro and the entire Sinestro Corps. Rayner tries to take it to Amon Sur (son of Abin Sur), but gets overpowered by Sinestro. Sinestro then unleashes the power of the Yellow Battery, which contains the essence of Parallax (Uber-Villain #3). Parallax then possesses Kyle Rayner. -The Green Lanterns fight off the Sinestro Corps, until they realize that it was all one big distraction. Guy Gardner nearly shits his pants when he realizes that the sciencells have been busted open, releasing their prisoners...which would include... -The final page sends shockwaves through the DCU, as it's a big two-page spread of Sinestro, Parallax, Cyborg Superman, SUPERBOY PRIME~!, and the F'N ANTI-MONITOR! And all of them are donning Sinestro Corps colors!
Ok, seriously. Why isn't THIS the flagship DCU event right now? You have the major villains from the past three major DCU events (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis) all banding together with Sinestro and Cyborg Superman to form an evil version of the Green Lantern Corps. Do they really need anything else? Why even bother with junk like Amazons Attack?
Get in on the ground floor of this series now! There's no way in hell this much supervillain starpower can stay within the boundaries of the Green Lantern books.
(edited by It's False on 27.6.07 2227)
The Wisdom of Homsar: DaAaAa, these Easter pants are gettin' way too tight!
Originally posted by AngryJohnnyI believe my eyes almost popped out of my head reading your post.
I read some spoilers earlier and that was my reaction. Then I read the comic. And wow. Just wow. Open mouthed shock in some cases. As an added bonus to the WICKED awesome story, there is the art. IMHO Ethan Van Schiever is without question the best artist in comics right now. Period. I started reading comics due to GL: Rebirth. And now the team which brought that delivers this....I'm pretty excited about this series.
It's False, you're right. This is a great example of the product being BETTER than the hype....and there was a whol elot of hype with this!
One minor thing which was left off of It's False's spoilers....you guys remember John Stewart? Yeah. Well this Sinestro Corps guy was sniping off GL's before the jail break. John Stewart constructs a SNIPER RIFLE and proceeds to OWN the fella. WORD~!
In closing, one of my favorite lines in the book, brought to you by my favorite Green Lantern (I like and respect all of the GL's but this GL is my personal favorite);
"Starts with a 'Sin' and ends with an 'estro' "
Indeed Mr. Gardner. Indeed.
(edited by El Nastio on 28.6.07 1242) Yes, I finally have updated the Troll Moment of the Week! This week is brought to you by ;
"STONEBOY!" , who brought us the following such pieces of wisdom as:
STONEBOY!: "THIS GOES MESSAGE GOES OUT TO ALL CANADIANS ESPECIALLY MONTREAL WHEREVER THE F#CK THAT IS".
Kidbrooklyn: "Please god tell me that you're making fun of the douche who started this thread...
Wait, no he isn't. He's serious. I hadn't read his previous brilliance before. I apologize" (in reference to a reply by James1978).
Wait, wait, wait. Did the Anti-Monitor get a yellow Power Ring? Why in the world would the Anti-Monitor want, need, or accept a Power Ring? Did he suddenly realize that he could have destroyed the positive matter universe if he could just smack it with a giant yellow boxing glove?
Originally posted by John OrquiolaWait, wait, wait. Did the Anti-Monitor get a yellow Power Ring?
The Anti-Monitor's role seems to be more analagous to the Guardians of the Universe than that of the ring-slinging grunts in the field. The big reveal at the end isn't that he's working with the Sinestro Corps, but that he's running the whole thing.
Still confused. So the Anti-Monitor runs the Sinestro Corps and not Sinestro? How does that work? Did those two sit down and negotiate terms?:
Anti-Monitor: "Let's get this straight. I'm the guy in charge." Sinestro: "Howzat? This is my Corps. It's called the Sinestro Corps. I'm Sinestro. That would indicate I'm in charge." Anti-Monitor: "I'm the Goddamn Anti-Monitor. I'm in charge." Sinestro: "That's pretty lame. If the Corps is named after me, I think I ought to be the guy running the show." Anti-Monitor: "The Green Lantern Corps isn't called the Guardians of the Universe Corps, is it?" Sinestro: "I suppose not." Anti-Monitor: "You also realize I'm way, way more powerful than you. I could destroy you with but a thought and no yellow force field or yellow boxing glove could stop me." Sinestro: "The boxing glove is really more Jordan's thing..." Anti-Monitor: "Whatever. The point is for some reason I feel like having an army of space criminals with yellow magic rings will serve my life's purpose of destroying all positive matter in the multiverse and replacing it with anti-matter, the best thing ever." Sinestro: "The what now? Did you say 'multiverse'?" Anti-Monitor: "No, I didn't." Sinestro: "I thought I heard..." Anti-Monitor: "You heard wrong. This meeting is over. I'm dismissing you, which I can do since I'm in charge. Get out of here, go attack Oa or Earth or something." Sinestro: "Fine. I'm out." Anti-Monitor: "Before you go, how many Ls in Parallax?" Sinestro: "Two." Anti-Monitor: "As I thought. What a stupid supervillain name." Sinestro: "We all kind of have stupid names. You're the "Anti"-Monitor, which presupposes that there is a Monitor for you to be the negative version of, although he's been dead for years, or decades, however you wanna look at it. "Superboy Prime"? What the hell does that even mean? Is he grade A meat? And me, "Sinestro?" I trained Hal Jordan and my name is an offshoot of "sinister" in his language and incidentally mine. How shocking that I turned out evil. You'd think the Guardians would have picked up on that." Anti-Monitor: "Bored now. This has gone on far too long." Sinestro: "For once, we agree."
John, that was extremely funny, and we ALL pretty much need shit to laugh about this past week, but I'm guessing you don't know that there ARE other Monitors, as shown to us in COUNTDOWN.
...But, HELL YEAH, this series jumped to the top of my read list.
I hit Wikipedia and opened up the entry on the Sinestro Corps get some info. The two dumbest things about the Sinestro Corps as found in Wikipedia:
"When recharging their power rings, members of the Sinestro Corps recite the following oath:
In blackest day, in brightest night, Beware your fears made into light Let those who try to stop what's right, Burn like my power... Sinestro's might!"
I don't think I'll be memorizing that. And yes, I know the Green Lantern version by heart. I learned it when I was 7.
And the dumbest thing:
"Recently, the Sinestro Corps attempted to recruit Batman..."
Offfff course, they did.
"...known even to some alien races for his great formidability and ability of instilling great fear in others. However, Batman's willpower combined with his previous brief exposure to a power ring allowed him to reject the yellow ring before it took him to be properly trained and molded into one of Sinestro's warriors."
Ugh. This is why this is stupid: Why is Batman scary to human criminals? Because he's dressed like a bat. What's a bat? A nocturnal Earth creature of some superstition for humans. Are aliens scared of bats? Do they know what a bat is? Unlikely. So why would they be scared of Batman?
But you know what, let's play along from the alien recruiter point of view -- Why does Batman insist on remaining in Gotham City? Can't he see he belongs out there, in space, be it in a Watchtower on the moon or soaring through the infinite spaceways striking fear into the suspicious and cowardly lot of alien criminals found in the universe? Talk about a waste of potential. Bruce Wayne thinks too small.
I kid because I love. (Although I really hate Batman stories that take him to space. He doesn't belong in space.)
I'll totally read Sinestro Corps when it's collected.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaStill confused. So the Anti-Monitor runs the Sinestro Corps and not Sinestro? How does that work?
It works pretty much the same way that Green Lantern doesn't run the Green Lantern Corps. Little blue men from Oa are the Guardians who run the Green Lantern Corps, and the Anti-Monitor is the Guardian who runs the Sinestro Corps.
Along the same lines, the U.S. Marine Corps is not run by some guy named "U.S. Marine"; it is run by the President of the United States, who is not himself a Marine.
So the Anti-Monitor is in charge, but what are Superboy Prime and Parallax? The two of them don't need power rings either --- they could each comfortably kill a few hundred Green Lanterns just as a warmup.
It's pretty wild that Cyborg Superman is somehow the fifth most powerful guy in this heel faction.
Originally posted by Big BadSo the Anti-Monitor is in charge, but what are Superboy Prime and Parallax? The two of them don't need power rings either --- they could each comfortably kill a few hundred Green Lanterns just as a warmup.
That sentient virus doesn't need a ring to kill billions of people via infection, but they gave him one anyway just because it makes him that much deadlier. The Cyborg seems to be wearing several rings, and I wouldn't be shocked to see Superboy Prime sporting one later. By becoming Parallax, Kyle has essentially become a power ring, in the same way that he didn't need a green ring when he was Ion.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaUgh. This is why this is stupid: Why is Batman scary to human criminals? Because he's dressed like a bat. What's a bat? A nocturnal Earth creature of some superstition for humans. Are aliens scared of bats? Do they know what a bat is? Unlikely. So why would they be scared of Batman?
While I get your point here, and it's definately for the best that they didn't send Batman into space, there is a reasonable explanation for why some alien guy would want Batman on the Sinestro Corps. The Sinestro Corps was created to fight the Green Lanterns. Four of the most powerful Lanterns are from Earth. Who is the guy that people on Earth are afraid of? The Batman. You don't think it would really shake up Guy or Kyle to see that Batman has switched sides, and now has a weapon that makes him just as powerful as they are? And these are the guys that rebuilt the Green Lantern Corps. When the leaders start getting shaken up, everybody else does too. It makes sense.
That said, I didn't read the issue in question, and have no idea if that was how it was presented, so I may be way off base.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaUgh. This is why this is stupid: Why is Batman scary to human criminals? Because he's dressed like a bat. What's a bat? A nocturnal Earth creature of some superstition for humans. Are aliens scared of bats? Do they know what a bat is? Unlikely. So why would they be scared of Batman?
He's one of the few beings in the Universe that could concievably beat Superman one on one. That scary enough for you?
Hold nothing sacred and you'll never be dissapointed. Especially not this statement.
Originally posted by Guru ZimOK. This is where I admit I don't read comics.
How the hell does Batman even have a chance against Superman?
A few years ago in the "Hush" storyline, Poison Ivy sent a mind-controlled Superman after Batman. As Superman went in for the kill, Batman pulled out a huge uppercut...with a Kryptonite ring on his finger. Victory goes to Bats.
The Wisdom of Homsar: DaAaAa, these Easter pants are gettin' way too tight!
It's fairly easy to live up to the hype when there barely is any hype to begin with. I am baffled why this was included in what is basically a Green Lantern issue. Wouldn't it make more sense to be a part of the heavily hyped Countdown? I suppose it will be eventually, but still...
Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!
Originally posted by Guru ZimOK. This is where I admit I don't read comics.
How the hell does Batman even have a chance against Superman?
A few years ago in the "Hush" storyline, Poison Ivy sent a mind-controlled Superman after Batman. As Superman went in for the kill, Batman pulled out a huge uppercut...with a Kryptonite ring on his finger. Victory goes to Bats.
Really, though, doesn't that mean anyone (at least, any superhero) with a Kryptonite ring could beat Superman?
Originally posted by Guru ZimOK. This is where I admit I don't read comics.
How the hell does Batman even have a chance against Superman?
Comics are like pro wrestling--anybody can beat anybody on any given night. Although as noted above, most Batman-beats-Superman scenarios rely on Bats doing considerable prep-work and Supes not expecting a fight. (Or on Bats simply having some kryptonite, which is about as significant as saying Lex Luthor could beat Superman. Incidentally, I could totally whip the Flash's ass if his shoelaces are tied together.)
Over the last twenty years, so much effort has been put into pushing Batman as the smartest bestest guy in the DC Universe that in the minds of comics fans he's completely invincible and unbeatable, which is ironically the reason Batman fans give when arguing that Superman is a boring character.
The character that Jim Smith describes is JLA-Batman, a.k.a. Batgod the master of prep. The actual Batman that fans have come to know and love is the guy in his own titles who still struggles with the likes of Ventriloquist. I can appreciate the JLA's need for a brainy tech guy and Batman fits that bill as much as anyone, but there's a big leap from 'Bruce Wayne is a great detective' to 'Batman is the smartest man on the planet and a technical wizard.'