Todd Klein's Blog, page 380

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN 51

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

As we near the end of Blackest Night, this issue represents a clash of titans, each trying to be the baddest of all. We have Parallax, inhabiting the body of Hal Jordan. Then there's The Spectre, possessed apparently by a Black Lantern ring and the spirit of Crispus Allen, who I remember as a pretty good cop from Greg Rucka's BATMAN stories. Then there's Nekron, who I was surprised to learn from Wikipedia goes all the way back to a Tales of the Green Lantern Corps...

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN CORPS 45

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

As Blackest Night battles toward a conclusion, problems that have arisen must be solved, and this issue is one of those. Guy Gardner has been taken over by the power of the Red Lantern ring, and is bent on destroying everything in his path. Trying to stop/cure him are the GL Corps and some of their allies from the other colors, but Guy's infamous rage gives him mighty power. Fortunately for writer Peter Tomasi, the Corps also has a "deus ex machina" member who is...

And Then I Read: BATMAN & ROBIN 10-12

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

This arc begins another crossover thing, apparently, but as it's the beginning, and written as a complete story, not part of a story, I was able to ignore that angle and enjoy it. The plot follows several threads, one focusing on young Damian, son of Bruce Wayne, now filling the role of Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman. Damian's mother, the daughter of Ra's al-Ghul, has secret plans for him, and diabolical ways to control the boy that can do nothing but contribute to...

Poker: Bad Beat fever

Image from "IHateGoogle.com"

The big news in Atlantic City poker this week was the size of the Bad Beat Bonus at the Trump Taj Mahal. A bad beat is when you have a really good hand that SHOULD win, but get beaten by an even better hand. A Bad Beat Bonus is a pool of money collected in small amounts from every game of Hold-em at every table in the casino, which builds up into an ever larger sum as time goes by. Different rules apply to what qualiifies to win the pool at various casinos, but...

New Neighbors, Nature Notes

About three years ago Ellen and I were in a shop that sells bird feeders and bird houses, and bought this small hanging feeder on a whim, thinking perhaps our resident Carolina Wrens might use it. We did see them using it as a winter roost occasionally, but they never nested in it. (By the way, there's a hole in the side you can't see in this view.)

We also sometimes have House Wrens in our area, and once about 15 years ago had a pair nest near our yard somewhere, but only that once. I've...

And Then I Read: WARLORD 12 & 13

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Well, I guess I don't really need spoilers, as it's all there on the cover above, but if you haven't read WARLORD 12 yet, you might want to skip this review.

Mike Grell handles script and art for that issue, as he gives Travis Morgan a nice sendoff, allowing Travis' son to inherit the role of The Warlord. Whether Travis will stay dead is another matter, this being comics, but for now, the old order passeth, time for new blood, and that's where issue 13 begins. And when a...

And Then I Read: BATMAN & ROBIN 8 & 9

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

The final two issues of Cameron Stewart's three on this title are a delight, marred only slightly by a plot that seems to be dangling a red herring at one point, relating to whether a Lazarus Pit in England can revive what might be Bruce Wayne, and then is used more cleverly to return another key player to life. Grant Morrison is having fun in every possible way, from the British Batman and Robin knock-offs Knight and Squire, to the colorful criminal language of the...

And Then I Read: ADVENTURE 7-9

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

I tried to enjoy this revamp of ADVENTURE, I really did. At first the lead stories featured a Superboy, Conner Kent, that I wasn't very familiar with, and though I liked the writing, more background information would have made it much easier to understand. The backups about the Legion of Super-Heroes likewise didn't seem to fit well with what I'd been reading in their own cancelled title.

Then the book became a Blackest Night tie-in, which was interesting in that it...

Memorial Day Weekend

I don't have much time to spend gardening, most of the summer I'm lucky if I get our tiny lawn mowed, but Memorial Day Weekend is when I do get out there to plant some annual flowers. Much of our gardens are perennials which need little care, pared down by years of natural selection to what will survive and thrive in our shady yard with poor soil and plant-devouring voles. (Putting many of them in pots and planters helps with that last hazard.) Most of the annuals I put in are Impatiens...

Incoming, Outgoing: LOCUS 592

© Locus Publications.

When a big name science fiction or fantasy writier dies, they rate a cover story on LOCUS. A well-known editor, above, gets only a small box. Fair enough, in the scheme of things. LOCUS has an obituary section near the back of each issue, and while I don't turn to it, I do read it when I get to it. Sometimes there is someone there whose work I liked, and I'm sad to learn of their passing, but interested to know more about their life. This month there are a surprising...