Andy B. writes: I enjoy the column every week. I was surprised to see you recommend SUPERMAN/BATMAN VOL. 2: SUPERGIRL so highly. I know it was a big seller and I'm in the minority here, AND that I'm not going to change your opinion (It's hard to change any comic readers opinion) but I thought I'd try to outline the critical flaws I found in this story which ultimately caused me to drop the title.

1. The Narration: I'm believing more and more in a friends theory that the Jeph Loeb that wrote the Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Superman for all seasons is locked in a closet somewhere while some dude is writing his comics. The dueling narration was grating by the 2nd issue and became unbearable to me by this point. It doesn't flow well in general and especially in sequential art. Many theorize most narration in film is due to a weakness in storytelling (i.e. you should be showing whatever is being said) and with sequential art being a cousin to the silver screen I believe this applies here as well. Plus the two of them end up sounding very 'Apollo/Midnighter'

2. Superman's irrational behavior: As the primary SUPER-man, I found it a bit odd the way he becomes so attached to Kara and unwilling to listen to the logistical arguments from Batman. I know it's cause he's found some sense of family in Kara (it's drummed into your head repeatedly by Loeb) but he has had a balanced life with loving parents, a wife and friends. I could see him being a bit overprotective but he seems a bit too irrational in many cases.

3. The fake capture by Wonder Woman: This just doesn't make sense on any level. Clark is clearly way too protective over her so lets have Wonder Woman pretend to abduct her. BTW they've known Diana for years now what would compel her to do this in the first place?

4. The fake out death of Kara: We all love cliffhangers, if your given a modicum of an explanation. This was a cop out beyond cop outs. There was nothing clever about it.

I know arguments have been made to check your brain at the door. This is the popcorn film of comics. But it just comes off as bad writing. The characters motivations, and dialogue do not ring true. It all comes off as a 'imaginary story'. I believe Kara Zor-El is the true Supergirl but the thing is she's actually been around a long time and had this wonderful final moment in crisis and to just do this over and over again like some sort of phoenix, it seems very odd. I know everything form '85 never happened. However Geoff Klock of How to Read Superhero Comics and Why made an excellent point in a recent interview: How can you tell people who read this stuff as a kid that this never happened? You bought it and held it and read it.

Tipton: Well, Andy, I don't know what to tell you. All of the flaws you point out seem pretty subjective to me. I had no problem with any of them. To wit:

1) The narration. I like Loeb's dueling narration gimmick on the book. Occasionally he overdoes it a touch, I'll concede, but it gives the series a unique voice, and in a Superman /Batman book that at heart is about contrasting the two characters, I think it's a very effective device. As for your contention about narration being a weakness in film, I agree: nothing is worse than poorly done 1st-person narration in a movie. However, this isn't a movie. It's comics, a different discipline entirely, and different rules apply. Narration that would never work in film can be very effective on the printed page.

2) Superman's immediate bond with Kara makes sense to me. Even with his human family, he's still never had a sense of true kinship, and I'd imagine it's no different than when adopted children discover relatives they never knew they had. And being such a direct, living link to his heritage, the notion that he'd bond with her immediately seems quite reasonable.

3) Wonder Woman's intervention wouldn't have worked for me, were it not for the detail that it was supported, and perhaps even prompted, by Batman, whose suspicions also seem in character.

4) The cliffhanger. What can I say? It worked on me. I wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't a legitimate death, which is more effective than most cliffhangers. And I was pleased at the result. Can't ask for more than that.

Kandin P. writes: I've recently purchased a few back issues of some Amalgam comics (the crossover/merger between DC and Marvel universes in a series of one-shots) from the second season of Amalgam, and the whole idea seems to fascinate me. Could you perhaps do a feature explaining the backstory to the Amalgam Universe, an overview of some of the best and worst comics, etc.?

Tipton: Yeah, I keep meaning to get to that. I'll see what I can do.

Owen T. writes: When I came to the end of this week's class I found myself with a few questions.

Of course you're not done exploring the JLA, their history is huge and believe me I would love to rant about not covering characters like Guy Gardner and the Ray, but let's face it, that wasn't exactly the high point in the League's existence. If people wanted absolute knowledge (how many issues had colour issues, continuity issues, etc.) they could just drudge it up elsewhere. Not to criticize your column, its fantastic. I'm babbling. ANYWAY, what my real question(s) were two-parters.

1.) Are you going to be covering JLA:Antarctica and JLI
2.) Grant Morrison. Is the man not a genius? I just bought The Filth and I have to say it is extraordinary. Any plans on that? I know that after Marvel Boy Morrison cemented himself as my favorite comic book writer and this just elevates himself to legendary.
3.) Will this letter see the light of day? Doubtful.

It's probably easy to pick out which people are kids who want to be writers. Sigh. I should probably get a bigger p3n1s (that was for filters. Probably failed that one too). Whatever. I'm Audi 5000.

Tipton: The Morrison run will be discussed in the fullness of time. Patience, grasshopper.

Brad S. writes: Love the column! I have been reading since day one, but I'll cut to the chase. In Part IV of your recent Justice League column, your last image of the team has to be an Alex Ross piece. What is the origin of that artwork? Is there a poster or print that I could buy?

BoBo writes: First I would like to say that I enjoy reading your column every week. I am writing to ask you where you got the image of the legends.jpg of the JLA. I would like a higher resolution copy to set as my desktop background. Any reply would be appreciated.

Tipton: That was a piece produced for the Warner Brothers Studio Store Galleries. It was a limited-edition litho, very hard to find. There's no more affordable print available.

Here's a link to a nice big scan of it:

http://www.intuitivewebdesigns.com/comics/graphics/jla/Classic_JLA_by_Alex_Ross.jpg

Glen W writes: Great job on the League write-ups. I know you've got a lot still to cover, but I hope you'll be able to at least touch on a very clear childhood memory of the JLA.

Way back in the late 70s, I was in third-fourth grade. At a Scholastic Book Fair, there, amid the Ramona the Braves and Encyclopedia Browns, was a mass market paperback, featuring black and white reprints of Satellite JLA stories. (Surely they must have been very recent reprints.) At the time, I was all about the Batman and Adv. of Superman TV shows, and here was this menagerie of heroes hanging out in their space age bachelor pad. I was hooked.

What I remember very clearly from the story was that Hawkman and Hawkgirl were both MIA, because they were home battling an "Equalizing Plague" on Thanagar, when everyone on the planet suddenly manifested exactly the same intelligence, strength, skills, etc.

So, two questions:

1. What were those paperback reprint thingys called? Not digests -- they were a different size, (the shape of ... Readers Digest, actually) and in full color, if I remember. Hoping to score some on ebay.

2. What was UP with the "Equalizing Plague?" Were DC editors advancing a none-too-subtle "Beware the Red Menace" agenda? Have you read any of those stories?

I figured you'd know a bit about the plague, because your profile of Hawkman last year was comprehensive and -- this was the true challenge, given his history -- comprehendable.

Tipton: I don't think they had any specific term other than "pocketbooks." That's what I'd use when running it through a search engine, along with "DC" and "1970s."

As for the Thanagarian Equalizing Plague, that seemed to me to be merely a device to get Hawkman off the team for a while, perhaps because the writer at the time felt the cast to be a bit too large and unwieldy to get a proper handle on. Regardless, when Hawkman returned after about a year or so, the Equalizing Plague was quickly resolved, so it was nothing too significant.

Diego M. writes: Great piece on the JLA. I've always felt that they were a cut above other superhero teams, and I'm glad to see you agree. I suppose for me it's always been that the core membership of the league consists of the DC big guns. It doesn't matter who's in the Avengers at the time (even now, when they've decided to let marketing choose their roster,) there's just no comparison. The JLA's members are mythic. It's like comparing the Greek Pantheon to the Argonauts. Sure, both are great and legendary, but the Argonauts are still only human.

Your latest installment did remind me of a question I've been meaning to ask. How much connection is there between the Vertigo universe and the regular DCU? I know most of it seems to be separate (obviously Y: the Last Man doesn't show up in regular continuity,) but there is some bleed-through. Zatanna is currently both Constantine's lover in Books of Magic and mind-wiping criminals in the League, the Spectre seems to flit back and forth from time to time, and I just recently read Kevin Smith's excellent Quiver (on your recommendation,) in which Stanley Dover tells the story of when he stumbled on to the captive Dream in the sixties (ok, he never uses the name, but if you've read Preludes and Nocturnes, you can't pretend it's anyone else.)

Anyway, I've spent too much work time on this today. Keep up the good work, I always look forward to Wednesdays now, because I know there'll be a new Comics 101 to read.

Tipton: The impression I get is that characters that were created in the DC Universe but get absorbed into the Vertigo imprint remain available for use in the DCU, and things that happen to them in their Vertigo books might not necessarily be addressed in their DCU appearances, although it doesn't mean they didn't happen.

It also depends on the character. Zatanna has very strong JLA ties, so she'll always remain primarily DCU property, while Neil Gaiman's Sandman characters and concepts, are, you can tell, handled with kid gloves by DCU writers.

Anthony T. writes: I'm a big fan of your column and it certainly has inspired me to leap back into comics.

I was wondering if you ever considered doing an article on the Suicide Squad. I wasn't a huge fan when they came out, but a friend of mine collected them fairly religiously. I can't remember exactly when the series ended, but I do recall it getting fairly ridiculous near the end. I recall a person with comic-book writing powers or something. I think he died quickly.

Anyhow, thanks for the articles, they're great!

Tipton: I think that was the DC Universe version of Grant Morrison, taken from his appearances in ANIMAL MAN.

I just pulled a stack of SUICIDE SQUADS out of storage, and hope to get to them this year.

Joe V. writes: Love the columns, they inspired me to get back into comics, all the stuff you've heard before. Anyway, was wondering if you could cover a few things in the future: First, the whole Death of Superman arc, you think maybe you could do a brief pass on that? Specifically, I'm curious about the aftermath. I remember there being four pretenders showing up - what was the deal with them? And how exactly did Superman come back? And after he did, what did the other four go on to do?

Also, I was hoping you could maybe do a column on the Marvel character Longshot. I hardly know anything about him, but I heard that he worked with the X-Men for a while and is actually considered by many to be a major influence on the Matrix movies. Would love to learn more about the character.

That's all for now. Keep up the good work!

Tipton: This should help with some of your Death of Superman questions:

http://moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/31.html

As for Longshot, I've been meaning to go back to the X-Men for a longer piece; so I'll probably cover him there.

Nathan C. writes: I love your column.I look forward to it every week.It got me into reading comics again after a ten year hiatus. However,I have one small complaint.You focus a little too much on DC.As a hardcore Marvel fan,I'd love to see an article on a Spiderman Rogue Gallery,or a history of the X-men.Just a minor quibble though.

Keep up the good work!

Tipton: Unfortunately, a lot of the DC topics seem to take a lot more time than the Marvel, just due to them being twice as old.

Still, I'll try and get more Marvel into the mix. Perhaps this very week, as a matter of fact.

TV RECOMMENDATIONS

Steve R. writes: while I usually agree with you, to say that west wing is, "overly serious show that just won't end" well, fuck it I was going to try to make a point about informing America about quality TV, but my parents are beating me with beer bottles. though I support your campaign for arrested development. Campaign? means nothing to us toothless fucks who don't care about a better world, and the idea of statesmen. Good TV is good TV. I suggest you support it all rather than give props to the hip and hope the crap doesn't enslave us all. You seem to be smart enough to tell good TV from bad TV why don't you show it.

Ryall: I thought I said E.R. was the overly serious show that just won't end... but I'm not sold on THE WEST WING anymore, either. Anyway, well, I'm with you that I'd rather see good TV than bad, but since Emmy doesn't seem to agree (EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND over SCRUBS, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES?), what can I do?

Anyway, the column's purpose is far less about recommending than it is telling dumb jokes, and sometimes I draw a blank on what to say, hence the shot at THE WEST WING. The impending election on that show makes it a bit more interesting than it was a year ago, even if it's still not anything that holds my interest. I don't think anyone else still cares about the show, either.

Tom A. writes:
"THE WEST WING -- 8 PM, NBC
Season Premiere: The return of the overly serious show that just won't end. And no, I'm not talking about E.R. here. But I could be."

Don't mess with my West Wing, dude. Yeah, the first half of last season really sucked ass, but I really thought they made a decent enough comback in the second half. I'm really curious if it's going to be the NYPD Blue guy or Hawkeye in the POTUS seat. (But I really really want Aaron Sorkin to come back.)

Ryall: Um... forget my last comment, Steve R.

"E.R. -- 10 PM, NBC
Season Premiere: I don't want to start another controversy, but it'd be nice if they'd remove this show from the life support it's been on the past few years, too."

Yeah, I'll agree with that one. Really jumped the shark after Mark died, but the really lost me now that Carter's gone too. I just don't like any of those people anymore.

Jennifer H. writes:
LAW & ORDER: SVU -- 10 PM, NBC Season Premiere: Wonder Woman guest-stars on the show this season, as do chef Bobby Flay(?) and Marcia Gay Harden, too. Yep, the show's at the point where it's relying on guest-stars pretty heavily.

Just to let you know, chef Bobby Flay is married to Stephanie March (the ADA). So, I guess that is why he is guesting. Wonder if he is going to be a good guy or bad guy? I don't really care for him, I think he is kind of a jack ass, (from what I have seen on TV). Would much rather of seen Anthony Bourdain. As a side note, I heard that Bourdain is dying from terminal cancer and that is why he is doing the "No Reservations" (which I love) show. Have you heard this?

Ryall: I hadn't heard that, actually. I know the guy abused himself a bit when he was younger (like, last year), but I hadn't heard that sort of bad news, no. Then again, I didn't know Flay was married to March, either. I have to say, nice guy or not, I ate at his Cafe Americain restaurant in NYC last week, and the guy's lobster avocado cocktail appetizers are amazing. His BBQ book is a good'un, too.

Rich S. writes: Whatever you do, don't stop pushing Arrested Development. If anything, last night's episode was even better than last year. I don't know what was funnier: Lindsay's desire for a "Volvo" or Gob insisting that Michael "taste the sadness." And if there isn't really a restaurant chain called "Swallows," there oughtta be.

Ryall: I've been out of town and haven't caught the premiere yet, but it's pretty safe to say that I'll be pushing the show until there's not a show to push. Chachi filling in for the Fonz as the Bluth's lawyer? How can I not support a show with genius casting like that?

Eddie C. writes: Little late on this one, but all I got out of the first episode of "Reunion" was a few (unintentional) laughs. Some of the dialogue was really horrible, but I suppose its typical of those teen dramas (or soap opera in this case; I wouldn't know, I don't watch many of them.

Ryall: I think what some people missed about that episode is that it was SUPPOSED to feel cheesy--it was a good approximation of '80s movies, with pretty much every character being the stereotype from one old movie or another. The Tom Cruise guy was the most blatant, but all were nothing more than '80s archetypes. I found that amusing, especially if they do that as they go into each era as the show goes on.

I did finally catch the first episode of "Veronica Mars" and it seems like a decent show (at least the dialogue was better). I couldn't get into "Reunion" though, too soap opera for me. Actually, the only reason I watched it was to catch "Keith" from "Six Feet Under." I'm sorry to see that show go. There'll never be another show like it on TV anytime soon. I know you thought it was too dour, but the writing was excellent and it could be hilarious at times.

Ryall: I loved the show. I only felt the first half of this season was just oppressively grim, with pretty much no likeable character or storyline. But all the acting was uniformly excellent, one more reason why I cringed at the Emmys, because Francis Conroy should never have lost Best Supporting Actress-Drama to anyone. She was superb this season.

The Emmy people will honor "Raymond" for going off the air (another typical Academy move), but won't honor a much better show like "Six Feet Under" in the same way. Not that I mind "Lost" winning (looking forward to this season); one of the few deserved Emmys. "Arrested Development" not winning a single award (except some low-profile writing award) was criminal. But, I digress. I am looking forward to "My Name is Earl" and "Kitchen Confidential" (I taped 'em and haven't watched yet). "Prison Break" is interesting (great cast) but I can see that show becoming problematic down the line. How long can they really keep this going? How many failed prison breaks will they have before they finally get out? Then what will they call the show? (Just kidding, I guess you have to suspend your disbelief a little) Caught "Threshold" too. It's okay.

Yeah, I don't know that Prison Break will hold my attention all season, but so far it's decent.

Who Would've Thought Anyone Remembered Assistant Editor's Month?

Eric G. writes: Maybe it was because it happened RIGHT as I started reading comics, but I loved Assistant Editors Month as a kid. I reread the Spectacular Spider-Man that Fred Hembeck drew and the Aunt May/Franklin Richards Marvel Team-Up (Golden Oldie!) many times. Didn't get the Letterman Avengers until later, when I was collecting back issues, but that is indeed a classic.

Ryall: Forgot all about the Hembeck issue, but that one was indeed great. To show further proof that I loved it, here's another look at 16-year-old's approximation of a Fred Hembeck drawing:

And... the Golden Oldie, you say? You've gotta be the only one to remember her (especially with those unwieldy Mike Esposito inks she had to live with)...

Tom A. writes: The one I remember from all of that is the What if Aunt May became Galactus' Hearald. As I recall, she led him to a giant twinkie. Gotta love Aunt May.

Ryall: I spoke too soon! With all this Golden Oldie love, can Ultimate Golden Oldie be far behind?

GAME ON

George C. writes: Nintendo has lost its marbles or listened to its artists TOO MUCH and forgotten that it's not necessary to re-invent the wheel all the time.

You're right -- third party developers are going to look at these controllers and run screaming away from the Nintendo Revolution. EA, Midway, and so forth probably won't port some of their games to the Revolution if it requires a non-core control unit to play on the Revolution. Who wants to totally redevelop control schemes on a non-compatible system?

Man, are the PS3 controllers looking better all the time! Especially after seeing those TV remotes Nintendo is trying to pass off as controllers.

I want to be able to play traditional games as well as 3-D. How am I going to do this on a Revolution without buying additional plug-in controllers? As it is, most gamers WON'T buy more than one other controller for their system and if you have to buy another plug-in for the Nintendo Revolution that's just asking for more complaints from fanboys.

There are many good reasons why Nintendo's in third place. This mentality of NOT listening to gamers and their arrogance is a good chunk of the problem. Sure doesn't help your system when many games are NOT being released on it beyond safe tie-in titles. I'm sure NOT having Lego Star Wars and Episode III on GameCube was a big help. Also, delaying Zelda to next year was not a good marketing move.

You have to wonder if Nintendo really wants to compete with other console makers any more... They sure are doing a good job of shooting themselves in the foot lately.

P.S. -- I am a GameCube owner. It's the first Nintendo console I bought in over ten years that I liked. Unfortunately, it gets next to no play time because so many exclusives and unique titles are on PS2 or X-Box! Sure, the Nintendo games are good, but I like to play third-party titles by Capcom and other developers. Problem is that many of the titles I like AREN'T coming to GameCube. That's why I broke down last year and bought the PS2.

Ian Bonds replies: That's the thing...i DON'T think Nintendo really wants to compete with the other consoles. Competing really isn't in thier interests. What they seem to want to do is offer a unique and fun gaming experience. And this controller certainly fills that "unique" bill. It's not so much of not listening to what gamers want, it's more of showing them the possibilities of what they could enjoy.

Again, i can't make any dire judgements on this controller until i actually get to use one myself. But yes, i can see how you feel as far as "first impressions". They do seem to be leaning more on the side of crazy. However, i have heard tell that they may offer a controller "shell" that this remote-looking thing could fit into, for more traditional set-up. There's also ports on the system to plug in your Gamecube controllers as well (it IS backwards compatible with those discs, remember...they'd HAVE to include that...)

For the record, Zelda's move wasn't a marketing one. Marketing was to have it out in November, where it could compete with the Xbox 360 and the holiday titles. Again, it doesn't seem to be in Nintendo's interest to "compete", as they want to make sure the quality of the game is intact, hence, not rushing the title out for the holidays, and making sure it's god and ready and as awesome as it can be. If what we've seen so far is any sign, i'm willing to wait as long as it takes for this title.

Also for the record, Gamecube is FINALLY getting LEGO Star Wars in October...though for some it may be too little too late, Nintendo fans seem to be a more patient breed. Sure it should have come when it was released for the other consoles, but as Cheech Marin said in Ghostbusters II..."better late than never".

Love It or Leave It

John F. writes: Was that a real picture of Ms Love? I could swear that was a still from "The Dark Crystal"...

Ryall: Sadly, it's all too real. Except for the lips and nose. Those are copyright Jim Henson's Workshop.

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