Walking Dead #29 is out already?! Damn! I wasn't expecting it for another 2 months...

...and oh, although I've always been a fan of the term "metahuman" in the DCU this "Metagene" bullshit has got me worried. Damn if it doesn't smack of Marvel Mutants.

Metahuman has always covered all "super beings" and not just genetic anomalies like Mutants. Now with Luthor's "anyone can have the metagene treatment"....I don't know where this is going.

Did any one here read the Harley Quinn series drawn by the Dodsons? Was it any good?

I'm not reading 52 (or wherever this is coming from), but the metagene concept goes back to the Invasion! miniseries in the late 80s.

...it still sucks.

I'm taking my desire to switch to all trades one step further. In August, I'm going 30 days without buying a single collectible. No comics. No books. No football cards. Nothing. Cold turkey for 30 days.

For anyone who knows me, this might be pretty damn hard. But I'm going to see if I can do it. I have many reasons to try this, not the least of which is money, but if you want to learn more about my experiment, check out my latest blog entry.

Oh, and wish me luck.

Considering the forum, that better include DVDs.

I've weened myself off of DVDs already thanks to Netflix, which sends my fix in the mail.

You're a brave man.

Now that is commendable bishop, but will you go and then just buy double the amount of stuff in September?

That's what I'm worried about Boredsilly. By not pre-ordering, I do know that I'll end up having an expensive month when the books I should've ordered come out because I'll pay the pre-order for that month plus the one I should've already paid for.

But I'm hoping this will prove to me that I don't need every new book that comes out, that I don't need everything right now, and that monthlies are an addiction best left forgotten. Plus, if all goes right, I can actually buy plane tickets to the Packers/Vikings game with the money I save.

I just finished reading Frontline 1-3 and I can't get over how ridiculous the whole Stamford thing is. I know Civil War deals with issues much bigger than just Stamford, but they constantly reference it. If the New Warriors didn't try to subdue Nitro, he'd be free to go wherever he wanted and kill whoever he wanted. The whole point of the registration act is to keep track of people with dangerous powers. That's exactly what the New Warriors were trying to do by going after those villains. As for the New Warriors themselves, they're arguably the most public supergroup out there since they have a reality show taping their every move. It's ironic that they're the examples for why there should be a registration act.

I agree that the NW didn't handle the situation as well as they should have, but it's not like there was anybody else going after these highly dangerous individuals. There should be some focus on the fact that the NW perished doing a job that nobody else was willing or able to do. The backlash against superheroes because of it ridiculous, just like the backlash against mutants after M-day was ridiculous. The writers at Marvel sure have a skewed view of the world.

Looks like the backup stories for 52 (starting in #12 and on) are going to be fun:

Wow, that's a stellar lineup of backup artists. I've only gotten up to issue 8, and Jurgen's History of the DC Universe is pretty uninspiring... and I notice he references his (much maligned) version of the teen titans. Heck, he even mentioned the Team Titans.

Finally finished reading last month's comics. I didn't get a new issue of Titans or Supergirl... but then, those are two books that I'm really close to dropping.

All Star Superman #4: I like this series... it's just so odd.

DCU Brave New World: At least it was cheap. I don't think I'm getting any of these series.

Eternals #1: I actually like the Eternals, and adding Gaiman and John Romita Jr. sealed the deal. Should probably have waited for the trade, but it's a short series, so I'll jump in.

Flash, the Fastest Man Alive #1: Why go through the trouble of setting it up this way? Only got it because it was a cheap #1 issue at mailordercomics... don't really like the art either.

JSA #86: bring on the reboot! I should've skipped this whole storyline. I do appreciate the art, though.

JSA Classified #13: That was the payoff to the Vandal Savage storyline? Really? C'mon...

Justice #6: Still haven't read any of these, probably wait until it's finished.

Savage Dragon 127: I still appreciate Larsen's persistence with this comic. He does his own One Year Later thing, though I'm not sure I like how radically the tone of the book changed within the last few issues.

Superman/Batman 27 was a fill-in, but I liked the tone of the story and of course, Maguire's art. But then the ending reminded me of the travesty going on in Supergirl...

Wonder Woman 1: Ok, I'm a sucker for the Dodsons, and I like Wonder Woman. For once, I hadn't read any spoilers and I was suprised by the reveal in the first few pages.

Haven't looked over all of Previews yet, but I did notice that they're collecting all of the Infinite Crisis tie-in oneshots... now I'm glad I didn't pick them up.

I've been completely skipping over the History back-up stories, but will certainly look forward to these.

This used to be one of my top tier favorite comics. The end didn't come soon enough.

Finally read Flash and Wonder Woman...I like WW alot, and Flash, well I guess I'm willing to give it a few more issues just to see where they are going. Now I can get back to getting caught up on 52 (only through #4) and Civil War.

I disagree. I'm actually surprised that this type of storyline didn't come up sooner. Why shouldn't people with powers be regulated just as other dangerous items are? We tend to ignore this a lot because it happens in comics and is only seen as a back piece on the panel, but think of all the mass destruction left behind after a superhuman battle.

Look at the scene in Spider-Man 2, where Spidey is swinging after a car fleeing from the police. The passenger in the car opens fire with an automatic, and bullets fly everywhere.... including into windows of surrounding buildings. We don't see nor do most of us stop to think of how many people were injured or killed because Spidey was so careless as to not properly plan how he would stop these guys.

As for the actions of the New Warriors, you're completely missing the main point - they did this not to hunt down a dangerous killer, they did it because they have a reality show. The bad guys weren't threatening anyone. They weren't planning on bolting from their house. They were laying low. But the Warriors had to get a boost for their show.

From Civil War #1:

Microbe: These guys are totally out of our league, man. No way we should be going in there.

Speedbump: But think about the ratings Microbe. This could be the best episode of the entire second season.

Namorita: So what's the plan?

Speedbump: The plan is that you spend five more minutes in makeup, Namorita. You think people wanna see that great big ugly zit on your chin?

Later, at ground zero of the disaster:

Iron Man: They should have called us, Cap. Speedball knew the New Warriors were out of their league. The whole country saw the tape where they said they were only chasing ratings.

They were largely untrained. They weren't doing this because "nobody else was willing or able to," they did it in an attempt to get better ratings for their TV show. They were amateurs, and while bickering about making sure everything was right for the cameras they were spotted by the bad guys. Once again, a total lack of planning lead to a disaster... and about 600 people in a small residential area are dead.

Take into account the other things happening in the Marvel Universe at that time. The Hulk rampaging in Las Vegas. Wolverine threatening the life of the President. This is a result of long-standing problems finally boiling out. The Stamford incident is exactly the type of thing that would bring about a demand for regulation.

This kind of plot has ALREADY been done to death. Read: Watchmen. Or maybe watch the first X-men movie.

That's a totally different situation. Like you said, these were just second string criminals in waiting who were provoked, not criminals who were already causing a rampage.

And the timeline for the Origins story is still unclear, and it's still not something that's quite clear. For one, .

Civil War really doesn't offer anything new, and the political commentary is about as subtle as a steel battering ram crashing through a china shop. Typical Mark Millar. He should just stick to widescreen action stories instead of using his comics as a springboard for poor political allegory. His run on Ultimate FF has been great because it has both action and interpersonal drama in the mix - something he does quite well, especially when it comes to having two characters who are rivals, yet not outright enemies.

Sorry for the muddled post...but what do you expect from an insomniac...

I'd say the thing that comes closest is the first Frank Miller Dark Knight saga, but in that series the event is only mentioned as something that happened in the past.

One could also look at the Kingdom Come storyline to point out what it's like when superpowers go unchecked by authority.

Anywho, my point wasn't that this was a wholly original idea, it was more that it hasn't been done on this grand a scale, especially in the Marvel Universe.

Of course I harbor no illusions... within a year or maybe two after the saga ends, most of the effects will have been undone or forgotten.

Dammit!!! Who's the Father of Catwoman's baby?

I completely agree that it's a great story idea. I just hate that somebody as terrible as Millar is in charge of it and that it all initiated from something as ridiculous as Stamford. With your second paragraph, I almost feel like you're reinforcing my point. 100s of people would die all the time in the MU. I guess we're just supposed to pretend that it's never happened before.

As for the NW, those are exactly the type of villains that they should be taking out. None of them were high-profile. If those villains were so out of NW's league, then why were the NW able to take all of them out so easily? The NW easily won that fight. Nitro just decided to get a revenge blast off. As I posted before, I still feel that that Nitro blast was ridiculous and by comic book rules I could see every one of the NW living through that. WRT calling the NA, I don't know how many times I've read in a Marvel comic Spidey or somebody similar saying they tried calling the FF and the Avengers and they were in another dimension or something. I'm tired of reading that excuse a million times. I like realism in my comics, but you can come up with a 100 different reasons why they wouldn't or couldn't contact the NA.

Just how hard are you working to ignore the story?

I've already pointed out two separate instances where it was said that they were NOT the type of villains that the NW should be taking out, but let's see if a third instance will hammer it home. Once again, from Civil War #1:

Speedbump: And all four are on the FBI most wanted list, right?

Nameless guy in studio: Coldheart fought Spider-Man a couple times and -- get this -- Speedfreak almost took down the Hulk.


Furthermore, in something you still seem to be missing, this is not just about the collateral damage (although that was the capper), this is about stupid kids with super-powers that are thrill-seeking without caring one damn bit about what is going on around them. Have you paid attention to the background art in Civil War #1? All those children got killed because Namorita chose to confront Nitro right next to a school playground packed with kids. Instead of taking the fight away from something like that, she brought it to them... with tragic results.

So no. These were not the type of villains the New Warriors should be taking out. The New Warriors aren't quallified to take out a one-legged one-armed shoplifter.

I'm so excited for the new Justice League book I can barely stand it. Even if it is poop (which I doubt), I'm a sucker for stories that show how a new team comes together.

Picked up my weekly batch of books. Haven't gone through them all, but the ones I have...

52 Week 11: The story is starting to drag a bit. So far nothing I've read about the new Batwoman has been enough to convince me to buy the inevitable monthly book.

Star Wars Legacy #2: Good concept, but the Darth Maul clones have to go. Yes, Maul looked like a badass, but that doesn't mean that every Sith has to have red skin with black tattoos.

Civil War #3: Well, we finally get the all-out battle we were expecting, and oh darn...

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10: Purchased only because I ordered it months ago and I refuse to stick a shop with something that I ordered. Peter David, once my favorite comics author, has completely gone to shit.

A few left to read, but I'm mostly looking forward to JLA #0 and Shadowpact #3