Seeing Green and Red...with Guy Gardner

First off, I was never a Guy Gardner fan. It was always Hal Jordan from Day 1. Kinda felt that Guy was the offbeat Lantern; one who couldn't keep his cool and foam at the mouth whenever something or someone didn't agree with him. But in the past 3 years of reading GL and all other tie-ups I've come to accept Guy and all his quirks. And so it was in this spirit that I looked forward to reading this compilation and boy did I like it.

Branching off from the events compiled in Brightest Day:Green Lantern, this compilation centers on the pact that he made between Guardian Ganthet & Atrocitus, and the devestating results from following up on that.

Not to give anything too much for those who have yet to read the other issues of Brightest Day, basically it follows up on the mysterious disappearances of the other entities of the color spectrum as someone seems to keeping them plus the fact that the Green energy of will seems to be on the verge of being siphoned out by another entity located in the Uncharted region that prompts Guy Garder, along with Drill Sergeant Kilowog and Lantern Arisia to check it out.

The host for the Ion entity, Sodam Yat also returns in this issue and figures prominently in the events on Daxam following his sacrifice to go into the planet's sun, turn it yellow and empower all inhabitants of his home planet to have superpowers. He faces the consequences of that sacrifice and how it means to him to follow through after such a choice was taken from him.

All in all it's a good wild ride of a read together with the unlikely partnership of Red Lantern, Bleez, I'm excited for the next compilation and like Guy I'm starting to see Green.....and Red!!!

Power up Poohzers!

Middle of a Vampire Trilogy - The Fall

                To say that reading The Fall would remind one of the movie 28 days and 28 days later but with a “Bite” is perhaps close to how reading the book would feel but of course any cinematic medium still can’t compare to the cinema of images and sound that runs and rules the mind when gripped by a good book. Such, for me, is this one.

                Following the events detailed in the first book, The Strain, its sequel, The Fall aptly titled, metaphorically works on different levels for the reader upon finishing the last chapter. When last seen our hero, (CDC) Center for Disease head, Ephraim Goodweather together with Jewish Pawnshop broker and Vampire expert, Abraham Setrakian, has just faced the Master and lived to tell the tale. Along with rat exterminator, Vasilly Fet, they have traced the Master’s lair to the tunnels underneath Ground Zero in New York, flushed him out and even wounding him after facing him head on following an attack on their home. But surviving that was just the beginning as The Master’s human partner in this pandemic crisis, billionaire cripple, Eldritch Palmer have begun to infiltrate people in government, and turned the tide against Ephraim and made him look like the bad guy for having uploaded a video of a Vampiric transformation and blamed him for the death of fellow CDC officer.  Apparently in wanting to warn the public and do good, he has done more harm.

                By the time the crisis was addressed by Congress, numerous raids by newly turned Vampires have begun in different neighbourhoods and being not warned, local enforcement officers have fallen both as prey and have become turned victims by the monster themselves. If this wasn’t enough, Ephraim had to deal with his wife being newly turned and is hunting them as they move from one sanctuary after another. One silver lining amidst all this was the revelation of The Ancients, a group of 6 Vampires who are opposed to what the Master is doing and have rescued Book 1 survivor, Gus and added him to their roster of exterminators and contracted humans to fight against the Master’s increasing forces.

                Like the first book, and in spite of the wait for its release, The Fall, succeeds in keeping the pace and twists of the storyline and even add more glimpses into some of the characters past like how Abraham and Eldritch Palmer have been rivals in the Vienna University, and it is rivalry that has characterized their relationship ever since. We also learn that being a survivor in a Nazi concentration camp, Setrakian’s commanding officer was currently the Master’s right hand man, Thomas Eichhorst. Add to that is the revelation and search for a mysterious book called the Occido Lumen, a silver lined tome that holds the key to the Vampiric origin and greatly desired by both the Master and Abraham himself. And you know how Silver is poisonous to Vampires. Well, in this book, that is.

                The title works for me on all levels as it refers to different beats in the story. On the surface, it does mean the fall of different key cities in the book like New York, Washington, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Paris and others as well as the fall of Man to these beings who clearly declare that they are at the top of the food chain by way of their actions. But in certain places, it also covers the fall of the Ancients themselves, by falling into hubris and not protecting their own ranks from the Master’s infiltration as well as Man’s own fall into the abyss of his own dark side and turning against his fellowmen when push comes to shove.

                (Spoiler)

                So clearly on all levels, the book is a good read for me in spite of some scenes that didn’t explain why some of the Ancients were just dropping down like flies and turning into a pile of white ash while Abraham was in conference to them when he brought them the book. Clearly it was the doing of the Master who by this time in the book we know was part of this Ancient Coven and was also the 7^th and the youngest member of the circle who rebelled and waged this war; this infection of the food supply in bitter protest against the Ancients who have not given him his due. But I would’ve wanted a clear insight as to how the Master was doing this. Or we left to assume that the silver-lined photo flash that Fet and Abraham rigged underneath the tunnels have been copied by the Master? (scratches head)

                With that said I hope that I have given this book its due and warrants enough interest for you to either pick it up or begin reading the book that began it all. Like Empire Strikes Back, Two Towers, our heroes are battered, bruised, pushed to hell and back but there is definitely still some fight left in them. Till then like you, I will be awaiting the 3^rd and final installment of this hi-tech vampire epic and like the Master and picking up on his own line, I look forward to “The Night Eternal”.

Spectre: Infinite Crisis Aftermath

I encountered the Spectre first in my early Green Lantern readings when Hal Jordan came back via Geoff Johns and our Emerald warrior's soul was "grafted" to this avenging agent of God.


Since then I was curious about his origin and storyline and when Powerbooks marked this off as less 30%, well how can I not check it out.

Crispus Allen was a good cop and investigator when he was alive but after being killed on the job, God's agent of Justice called the Spectre needed a human host to perform his duty. Crispus was not ready and refused the offer. Without a host, the spirit took its frustration on humankind and went on a magical rampage leading up as one of the events prior to Infinite Crisis.


Since then Crispus had one year to think and after accepting the post, his task as the avenging spirit of justice, punishing sinners and evildoers for their crime begins and he learns that it is not as easy as punishing the guilty as singling them out based on priority or gravity of crime even if it leads to family.


If you want your reading dark, gritty and macabre then try this one for size. :)

Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Stephanie Meyer wrote in this book’s prologue that “no two writers go about things in exactly the same way. We all are inspired and motivated in different ways; we have our own reasons why some characters stay with us while others disappear into a backlog of neglected files.”
Now, if you have read Eclipse, 3rd book in her bestselling Twilight Saga, you would wonder why did she even bother to write about Bree as we all know her fate in the books. But as Meyer says, some characters just take on a life of its own; and vie for attention. I guess this is what happened to Bree. 

One would have to have read and be familiar with the saga in order to appreciate the novella. Lucky for me, National Glorietta had a major sale and I saw this novella on hardbound and scooped it up.
Basically this is a short retelling of Bree Tanner and how as part of the newly born vampires who fought the Cullens in Eclipse, she had to learn the hard way about truth, vampire politics and burgeoning attraction, if not love, by way of Diego.

Both Bree and Diego were part of a coven that Riley, another Vampire made by Cullen nemesis, Victoria, was breeding and training to be part of the group that is to attack Edward and his family. Victoria has an axe to grind with Edward as he killed her Vampire Boyfriend James in Twilight. 

Now, creating and deceiving Riley at the same time to breed an army for her to distract & dispose of the Cullens while focusing all her efforts on Edward and Bella was her plan all along. So, no need to tell Riley the truth and no need for Riley to give details about their “mission” for “her” to these newly born/made vampires and let them wait at her beckon call. Lucky for Diego and Bree, they found each other in all this, but sadly for these two, circumstances kept them apart and they found out about the lies a little too late.

Oh and which lies were these?

That Vampires like them will burn in direct exposure to sunlight. Wrong. They won’t for they will only be sparkling like, “disco balls”. That their Coven in Seattle is being threatened by the arrival of the Cullens who were originally from Seattle and they have come back to lay claim and ownership of their turf. Wrong. The Cullens are living a peaceful existence in Forks and have no knowledge of these newborns and have firsthand historical experience how unpredictable and untamed newborns are. That Victoria, who is unnamed to these newborns and only referred to as “her” or “Maker”, is devoted to the newborns welfare. Wrong, of course. She only wants revenge on Edward and on Bella. A eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In this case, a mate for a mate; Bella for James.

I’m giving this a meager 3 stars. I liked it but felt Meyer could have done more with it. But perhaps, knowing how Bree’s life fared in the books, why give it your all? Why even bother to tell her tale when according to her it would be just in one of those hidden folders in her hard drive. Had she created another Vampire that lived to tell the tale with the Cullen skirmish and currently is going through their own Vampiric life, then perhaps that would have prompted her to dig a little deeper and paint a more fully envisioned tale; if not spun another one with a darker edge. But since she is writing for the young adult market, I suppose Meyer felt she should adhere to the parameters of that readership as well.

So, it’s a good thing I am an Anne Rice loyalist and that I am typing this review from my flat in Rue Royale close to Louis and Lestat’s while hearing Violetta’s waltz from La Traviata blaring from Julien Mayfair’s Victrolla as its being turned and wound up by Mona and Lasher up until the wee hours of the morning. 

Viva Lestat!

Comic-Con 2011 -- Servant of the Bones

FlashPoint – Abin Sur: Green Lantern #2

Some things never change.

This is what I learned in spite of the life altering events borne about from the current DC crisis called Flashpoint. It’s the current storyline following the previous years biggest event, Blackest Night that involved our favorite Green Lantern, Hal Jordan and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps as well as all other DC superheroes. It was that much of an “EVENT”.

This time around for Flashpoint, of which I myself am trying to wrap my head around, centers on an altered timeline in which Abin Sur, the original Green Lantern who bequeathed Hal Jordan his ring, is actually alive and is on his way via orders from the Guardians, to retrieve the White Entity (as revealed in Blackest Night) from Earth in order to be brought back to Oa for safekeeping from Nekron and the rest of the Black Lanterns. Apparently, in this time line, the Blackest Night was not stopped and took hold of the best, even our favorite drill sergeant, Kilowog.

Issue #1  ended with Abin Sur’s craft being shot down. The bolt was colored Violet, so I may be thinking what your thinking but that has yet to be revealed. I am hoping the last issue which is #3 will tell us that. Simultaneously, Sinestro is on the planet Ysmault talking to the crucified Atrocitus and extracting information about a prophecy; or should I say The Prophecy about Flashpoint.

Issue #2 begins with Abin having sought out Hal and giving him the ring but was stopped by Cyborg of the Teen Titans, nursed back to health and begins his own quest to save Earth from harmful elements of society, as a personal penance from not being able to save his own planet Ungara and his beloved sister, Ariana.

Sinestro soon arrives to tell Abin Sur of the prophecy and that it is caused by someone from Earth who has altered not only events in Earth but in the entire Universe as well. If you must know, in this current story line Aquaman is Emperor of the Seas and Wonder Woman is married to him; Batman is working for the government and Clark Kent is still a reporter. Here comes in what I mentioned about things not changing as Thaal Sinestro has revealed that The Flash is currently fixing to alter and fix the timeline once more. For Sinestro, he can make the Flash change the world in “Their” image. And only he being Sinestro can “fix” it all.

I guess in any timeline, ego will always be ego. And in so doing, Sinestro is blind to all and follows the prophecy to the letter; for as revealed by Atrocitus, as long as Abin Sur is alive, he is doomed to fail. Needless to say a battle between these two ensues and we are left hanging for the next issue.

Figuring that these stories are just supplementary tales to the main arc of Flashpoint for DC this year, I decided to collect them and found myself enjoying these changes. Plots involving timelines are certainly not new in any form of fantasy writing. Shows like Charmed, Legend of the Seeker, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have certainly incorporated this “alternate universe” angle and it does freshen up any franchise and gives us a peek into the the world of the “What-If”.

What if Sinestro does fulfil the prophecy to the letter, does that fulfil and rectify his timeline and complements the “work” that Flash is doing, or will this timeline be an added running story that the writers can continually reference and go back to whenever they just wanna spruce up the stories. I guess I would have to wait for Issue 3 next month. And looking up to the calendar, it is only a week away. 

Can’t wait.

FlashPoint -Hal Jordan #1

Having re-written and given birth to a new and alternate timeline that involved Abin Sur being alive in the current Flashpoint story arc involving Green Lantern and the rest of the DC superheroes, why should Earth’s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan be any different and out of the action right?

Picking up the story from Abin Sur Green Lantern #1, Hal Jordan in this timeline is still a pilot flying for Ferris Air, pining for Carol Ferris and dealing with the loss of his father from that tragic airplane accident when he was a kid and just dealing with the attack of a shark-man that latched onto his plane in one of his flying sessions with Carol. 

And like Sinestro, in this timeline Hal is still as brash and hardheaded as he is in the timeline we know. Along with that, he crashes a multi-million dollar plane into Carol’s own in the process of saving her from the shark but not before taking off in another one and bearing witness to Abin’s own craft being shot down and be offered the chance to save Earth.

 As it is, this is only Issue #1 and so we can only wait for the next issue to see how different this timeline featuring Hal will play out and with a man legged shark up and about looking for meat as reminiscent of another compiled issue of GL featuring mutated animals due to some alien experimenting that also brought William Hand’s back but with much dire consequences, some things just needed to be played out in time, much like this 3 issued storyline. Strap in and wait.