Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superboy #8

Next up for the month is the Boy of Steel: Superboy. Yes, you read that right. While Clark Kent was once Superboy, the name has been passed around a bit. Right now, Jonathan Kent, Clark’s and Lois’s son, is Superboy. Another one held title for years, though, and his name was Conner ‘Kon-El’ Kent. Well, he didn’t have a name until a few years later. I think folk just called him “Superboy,” which was something he didn’t like at first. We all know how teenagers can be and Superboy was no different.

His first appearance was in The Adventures of Superman #500. He was a clone created by Cadmus just in case Superman “gave up the ghost,” which he did in “The Death of Superman.” Superboy was one of the four replacement Supermen from“The Reign of the Supermen.” He tried to keep Metropolis safe until the original, genuine Superman returned. After that, he was spun off into his own title, Superboy, and it lasted for years.

He’s been a part of teams like Young Justice and the Teen Titans. Like most heroes, he got retooled during DC’s New 52 phase. To put it kindly, what the ########!@$^@%#^@%#^#^##### happened? That’s all I’ll say on that matter since I still don’t get what was up with those decisions. He also made it to TV shows like Young Justice and Smallville.  He was also kind of homaged on the WB’s Legion of Super Heroes cartoon. Lately, he’s been seen in the new DCAU movie, The Death of Superman.

Today’s issue will be coming from his series from the 90’s. Superboy #8 was written by the MVP of the month, Karl Kesel. Yeah, he’s been showing up here this month. The pencils are handled by Tom Grummett. Doug Hazlewood and Dan Davis handled the inks. This issue directly ties in to an event I covered years ago: Zero Hour. So, what happens when Superboy meets… Superboy? Find out below!

Crisis Time! - Favorite Crisis to Least Favorite Crisis

Now that I’ve looked at Final Crisis, I think it’s time to see which of the four Crisis events is my favorite one. I’m including Zero Hour in this as well. After all, it was a “Crisis in Time,” and it should be here. As you can tell, Identity Crisis isn’t on here. I haven’t completely read it and it’s not really a cosmic story like these are. Before I made this list, I decided to re-read the other three events. I also went and looked at what I wrote about them. One thing can definitely say is that my writing is much better than it was back then. I’m looking for which one was not only good (they all are by the way) but also which one just hit the spot for me. What had the best story, the best use of characters, best villains, and best art? I might as well start off with the one about that mad Green Lantern.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman: The Man of Steel #0

Well, I’m back in the mid 1990’s. I don’t have too many books from the late 90’s, so I decided to look at this issue from 1994. At this time, Superman had been back from the dead for a while and was dealing with a crapload of stuff. Bizzaro came back, Lex Luthor went nutso, and Superman put on some weight… that was weird. Anyway, the “Crisis” event, Zero Hour, happened and while that was pretty convoluted, it was cool. I talked about it and the Superman tie-ins last year. Now, Superman’s done with his space and time adventure.

After Zero Hour ended, DC released zero issues for their titles. All four Superman books went through this as well and they all tied in together pretty well. I might touch on the rest of those issues someday since they actually introduced a new villain for Clark. Superman: The Man of Steel #0 was written by Louise Simonson. The pencils were done by John Bogdanove and the inks were done by Dennis Janke. So, let’s see what happens when someone has their sights out on Clark Kent!

Superman: The Man of Steel #0

Writer: Louise Simonson

Pencils: John Bogdanove

Inks: Dennis Janke

Colors: Glenn Whitmore

Letters: Ken Lopez

Associate Editor: Frank Pittarese

Editor: Mike Carlin

Crisis TIme! - Zero Hour #0 and Green Lantern #0

This installment of Crisis Time is brought to you by the makers of The Shredder. He slices, he dices, and last but not least, he's adaptable! He can be a ninja crimelord that makes teenagers do his bidding, a ninja crimelord who teams up with an alien from another dimension, or an alien thing that decides to disguise himself as a ninja crimelord. Last but not least, he can come in the form of an immortal crime lord with blood of kings inside him. Prices start at $3.99!

Well, I'm at the end of this short but confusing event. It's been a tough ride, but it's about to be over. Today's issues are Zero Hour #0 and Green Lantern #0. The creative team for this last issue is still Jurgens and Ordway. For the Green Lantern issue, Ron Marz is writing, Daryl Banks is pencilling, and Romeo Thangal is inking. ZH #0 was the other issue that I used to own back in the day. Unfortunately, it got torn up eventually. I do remember seeing a page or two around the room before it got thrown away. I never owned the GL issue. The only reason I recently got it was to see what happened to our new GL and former GL. Since it literally continues from this event book, I thought I would talk about it here today.

Well, without further adue (?), let's see if Zero Hour #0 and Green Lantern #0 is worth it.

Crisis Time! - Action Comics #703 and Zero Hour #1

This installment of Crisis Time is brought to you by the one and only: Bruce Lee.

"Boards... don't hit back."

Hmm... I see what he meant there.

Well, we're still in the crisis event known as Zero Hour. So far, it's been a rough ride. Will it get any rougher? I guess I'll be finding out today. Today's issues are Action Comics #704 and Zero Hour #1. I know I didn't read this Superman issue back then. I don't know if I owned Zero Hour #1, but I know I had to have read it because I remember someone getting punched at the end of the issue.

We still have the same creative team for the ZH issue. Wow, remember when an event book used to have only one (or in this case two) penciller? COIE, which I have finally gotten in trade format, has only one penciller. Infinite Crisis had probably six pencillers in those seven issues and Final Crisis had about four  to six pencillers. Oh well... Anyway, the creative team for the Superman issue is a Michelinie/Guice/Rodier production. With all of the intro out of the way, it's time to look at this Superman issue.

Crisis Time! - Adventures of Superman #516 and Zero Hour #2

This installment of Crisis Time is brought to you by Dwayne Wade: the newest fighter in the next Mortal Kombat game!

(by the way, if you haven't seen the teaser for Season 2 of Mortal Kombat: Legacy, go see it because it was Glorious!!!)

Welcome back to my look at the Zero Hour event. Today's issues are Adventures of Superman #516 and Zero Hour #2. I did not own these issues back in the day though I do vaguely remember reading Zero Hour #2 at some point in a store. In those days, the only places I would hang out in stores were either the toy section or the books section. This time, I'm switching up the order this time because ZH #2 literally takes place after ZH #3.

The creative team for Zero Hour #2 is the same as it was before. For the Superman issue, the credits for the creative team is pretty funny.  I'll just show ya.

• Karl "Claudius" Kesel
• Peter "Caesar" Krause
• Jackson "Ausgustus" Guice
• Glenn "Galerius" Whitmore
•  Albert "Abionis" DeGuzman
• Chris "Croesus" Duffy
•  Frank "Petronius" Pittarse
• Mike "Caligula" Carlin

If they only had a "Longinus"...

Crisis Time! - Superman #93 and Zero Hour #3

Today’s installment of Crisis Time is brought to you by Snape: the potions master.

Hmm…Learning how to “pickle victory” would be good.

Welcome back to this event segment. Today’s issues are Superman #93 and Zero Hour #3. As I have said before in other posts, I did own Zero Hour #3 for a while. I don’t know why I got it. At that time, the only characters I would have recognized were Superman, Batman, Robin, and maybe Wonder Woman. Recently,  I'm beginning to think I might have actually owned this Superman issue. I’m really not sure. I know I had to have read it at some point when I was younger, but I don’t know if I bought it. All I know is that I have it now.

The creative team for the Superman issue is Dan Jurgens (…I know that guy!) and Josef Rubinstein. Jurgens did both the story and the pencils while Rubenstein did the inks. Zero Hour #3 is still done by Jurgens and Ordway. So with that out of the way, let’s get to it!

Crisis Time! - Superman: MOS #37 and Zero Hour #4

Crisis Time.....well, at least it's better than "Crisis Talk" or "Crisis Stuff". This segment is pretty much geared toward the big events or the many crises that DC (or Marvel, they have them too) will have from time to time. This month is going to look at the crossover event, Zero Hour. Today's issues are Superman: Man of Steel #37 and Zero Hour #4. Now, I originally owned the Superman tie-in long ago, but it pretty much got shredded. When I got into college, I was able to find the issue. Now, I never read this issue of Zero Hour. My time with the event started with #3.

The creative team for the Superman book is Louise Simonson and John Bogdanove (?). If you want more info on this creative team and this series in general, I'll point you to a little podcast call From Crisis to Crisis: A Superman Podcast. The cover is...pretty freakin' awesome. I think I know why I got this way back when. My only complaint is that we don't get to see the B: TAS version in the book and that sucks.

Zero Hour was written and drawn by Dan Jurgens with Jerry Ordway providing additional art and inking. Jurgens and Ordway are known for being on the Superman books during this era. Also, if there's anything to say about this series, it is this: the artwork is pretty awesome. The art as a whole is good. The cover is pretty good. It kinda spoils something, but I'll get to that later.

Well, here...we...go.

Random Thoughts #22

Well, I'm at work and I'm pretty much done with my load. I think it's time for some Random Thoughts.

Grad School
Wait, why am I talking about grad school? Oh yeah...I'm done with it! YEAH!!!!!!!!! I finally got my degree a couple of weeks ago in the mail. Do I miss school? Nope, but I really need to find something to do which is not related to my new PS3.

Wow...I really don't use cash that much...
Today, I went into Dunkin' Donuts to get some donuts for the office. I was planning on using cash, but when the time to pay came, I immediately used my card. I guess that is the way of the future, ain't it? I'll admit that it's more easy to whip out the card and swipe it. The only drawback is that you might not know how much money you got in your account. Anyway, that was my day....pretty dull, right?

Women...
Uh...Well, there is this one-- Oh. On second thought, wait a little while.

Zero Hour
You know i had this epic intro for Zero Hour. I talked about how it was technically my first event crossover and about how it was a series that I really wanted to own. Then...I deleted the dang thing by accident. Crap. Now I have to try to write the thing again. Well, here I go again:

Random Pics of the Month - January

Well, it's a new year, so it's time for some random pictures from the interwebs.

Hmm...Logan, you got issues.