We Dig Giant Robots

Justice League International #2

While the Hall of Justice has been destroyed in Washington, DC, the Justice League International has found that their simple mission to locate some missing UN workers has become very, very complicated after a giant robot climbs out of a hole in the ground in the middle of Peru. The entire team is completely out of their depth, with too much arguing between Rocket Red and August General in Iron and too much flirting from Godiva. And when the robot attacks and injures Ice, Booster Gold makes the first serious decision of his tenure as team leader — that they should all retreat and get Ice to a doctor. This causes a great deal of stress with the rest of the team and the UN, despite support for Booster’s decision from Batman, Fire, Godiva, and August General. Guy Gardner finally gets around to joining the team, even if it’s mostly to be close to his sorta-girlfriend Ice, but he may not be enough to turn the tide, especially when even more giant robots start appearing all over the world.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Extremely nice art and good action, along with some decent advancement of the plot. It’s just all around good superheroics. If I’ve got a complaint, it’s got to be with the fact that the vast majority of these characters seem to have absolutely no personalities. This series needs to start giving these characters something to do other than fight and quote stilted dialogue at each other.

Snarked #1

Roger Langridge — creator of the acclaimed Muppet Show comics from the past couple years — kicks off his new series, based on the works of “Alice in Wonderland” author Lewis Carroll. The king has been lost at sea for six months, and his treacherous advisors want Princess Scarlett and Prince Rusty out of the way so they can rule. The Cheshire Cat appears (and then disappears) and tells them to scram out of the castle and look for Wilburforce J. Walrus and Clyde McDunk, a couple of fast-talking ne’er-do-wells, to get their protection. But can the money-hungry scoundrels be trusted?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a very cute story, with wonderfully cartoony artwork. Great characterization and dialogue — and I love the way the Cheshire Cat is drawn to look like the old silent-era Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Ya like Franz Frazetta? Sure you do! Check out this tribute from the Pictorial Arts Journal.
• These little kids performing Metallica are awesome beyond words. Dig the bored-looking little girl who just shreds on the guitar solo.
• And a lot of these TV rock performances — often featuring bands forced to appear on shows where they’re required to lip-synch their songs — are pretty funny. Loved the video of Iron Maiden randomly trading their instruments back and forth during the show.