Golden Age Friend Group

Today I installed a whimsical hanging shelf in my office crafted to represent a fire escape. Then I placed some action figures on it. These guys are members and friends of the Justice Society of America, the first super-hero team, its creation dating back to 1940. 
 

Green Lantern Hal Jordan

This is Hal Jordan of Earth, one of several Green Lanterns assigned to Sector 2814. 
 

Green Lantern John Stewart

This is John Stewart of Earth, one of several Green Lanterns assigned to Sector 2814. 
 

Green Lantern Guy Gardner

This is Guy Gardner of Earth, one of several Green Lanterns assigned to Space Sector 2814. 
 

Green Lantern Jessica Cruz

This is Jessica Cruz of Earth, one of several Green Lanterns for Sector 2814. 
 

Green Lantern Kilowog

This is Kilowog, the only survivor of destroyed planet Bolovax Vik. He's the Green Lantern for Sector 674 and a Green Lantern Corps instructor. 
 

Green Lantern Ch'p

This is Ch'p of planet H'levn, the Green Lantern assigned to Sector 1014. 
 

Green Lantern Arisia Rrab

Here's the first of several members of the Green Lantern Corps I painted over the weekend. This is Arisia Rrab, the Green Lantern assigned to Sector 2815. 
 

The Day Green Lantern Visited Twin Peaks

"He's still alive...wrapped in plastic," Green Lantern murmured to himself. Then, addressing the victim: "Don't worry, sir; my power ring will cut you out of there in a jiffy." 

"Wait! You don't understand," cried the terrified man. "'Through dark and gloom the clingfilm creeps; a fearsome sight to see; it crackled as it ambulated; gyre, wind for me." 

"Is that a poem?" asked the stalwart but confused hero. Then all the lights overhead flickered and extinguished themselves, and the green glow of the ring hovered alone unsteadily in the black. 
 

Bluejeans Lantern

Happy with the lantern, jacket, jeans, hair, and skin, not so happy with the undershirt. 
 

Lantern from the Black Lagoon

 

Justice Reimagined

To my utter surprise - and maybe it's because my expectations were so low - I did not hate Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021). In fact, I can honestly say that I even enjoyed it, with reservations. This version of the film has more natural humour (though only in sparse doses), Cyborg and Flash are far better developed Batman gets a little more dignity, the action sequences are more effective overall, and the final battle in particular offers genuine jeopardy and suspense--it feels like there are real stakes. The plot actually makes sense now, for the most part. Even Steppenwolf's story is fleshed out, enough to make him an actual villain instead of just CG animation. And we get to see more of Jeremy Irons' Alfred and J.K. Simmons' Commissioner Gordon; both are treats. Amy Adams' Lois Lane doesn't fare quite as well, but she's still more important to the film than she was in the original theatrical release. 

On the downside, the score is terrible except when it includes snippets of Zimmer's themes from past movies. There are still moments that feel out of character for our heroes. There's way too much slow motion. The big new character cameo is welcome to fans, but still feels tacked on. Some sequences could be cut without hurting the film at all. Some of the humanizing moments from the theatrical cut are gone and I miss them, but on the other hand, those cuts make this version more tonally coherent - even if I'm not a fan of Snyder's portentous, somber take on the genre.

As a bonus, comparing this version of Justice League to the theatrical release is a great way to discover the importance of editing.

Power Ring

Here's Power Ring, Green Lantern's evil Earth-3 counterpart. I'm not terribly happy with this one; my attempts to give the figure definition just make it look kind of muddy, and his chest symbol doesn't have the clarity I was hoping for. The mask looks okay, though; it's the one bright spot. 
 

DC Editor for a Day

Let's say, for some insane reason, DC Comics decided to give me editorial control over their line of comic book titles, but only to the extent that I could create a slate of comics based strictly on existing characters.  

Well, I'd create the line that I would want to read, without regard for sales viability. Here's what it would look like, imagining that each title has an incredible creative team: 

 

Superman Books

Action Comics (anthology led by Superman, just the way it started back in 1938)

DC Comics Presents (Superman team-up stories)

Lana Lang (Lana Lang, on-again off-again girlfriend of Clark Kent, goes on archeological adventures from Qurac to Skartaris to Atlantis) 

Lex Luthor (diabolical tales of Lex Luthor's infamies great and small) 

Lois Lane: Woman of Steel (Lois Lane's adventures as a brave, bold reporter) 

Man of Tomorrow (Superman's adventures with the adult Legion of Super-Heroes)

Man of Steel (Superman's adventures as a radical 

The Private Life of Clark Kent (Clark Kent's day-to-day adventures in journalism, dating, grocery shopping, etc.) 

Supergirl (stories of Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin) 

Superman (Superman's main title, with his biggest adventures)

Young Clark Kent (Clark Kent's life in Smallville, as his powers were developing; frequently crosses over with Legion of Super-Heroes, below)

Batman Books

Batgirl (the adventures of congresswoman Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl, in Washington, DC)

Batman (Batman's main title, two-fisted street crime adventures) 

The Brave and the Bold (Batman team-up stories) 

Legends of the Dark Knight (Batman stories told from the perspective of his villains) 

Detective Comics (anthology led by Batman, just the way it started; detective stories) 

Team Books

Birds of Prey (Batgirl, Black Canary, Huntress, and Hawk and Dove fight street-level crime) 

Blackhawks! (a squad of pilots from around the world fly into danger wherever they can find it!) 

Doom Patrol (DP members from all incarnations of the team gather to fight the weirdest threats ever) 

Freedom Fighters (the heroes of Earth X have freed their world from tyranny, only to be stranded in ours!) 

Gorilla Soldiers (Congorilla, Detective Chimp, Beppo the Super Monkey, Angel and the Ape, and xx versus their arch-rivals the Ultra-Humanite, Gorilla Grodd, Titano the Super-Ape, and Monsieur Mallah and the Brain.)  

The Haunted Tank (ghostly adventures in World War II) 

Justice League of America (DC's greatest heroes team up to face the biggest threats) 

Justice Society of America (the greatest heroes of the 1930s and 40s fight the Nazis and other fascists and mad scientists) 

Legion of Substitute Heroes (good-hearted Legion rejects try to do the right thing despite their shortcomings) 

Legion of Super-Heroes (dozens of super-powered teenagers of the 31st century explore the galaxy and combat interstellar evil)

Secret Society of Super-Villains (super-villains work in secret, hatching sinister conspiracies to rule the world--but can they avoid killing each other?) 

Suicide Squad (super-villains and anti-heroes reluctantly work together under threat of government sanction, performing secret missions so dangerous that not everyone comes back alive)

Suicide Squad Secret Missions (Suicide Squad anthology)  

Tales of the Green Lantern Corps (anthology series about the non-Terran Green Lanterns) 

Titans (generations of sidekicks work together to prove themselves) 

The Other Heroes

Animal Man

Aquaman

The Atoms (scientists Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi explore the microverse) 

Black Canary

Black Lightning

Blue Beetle

Captain Atom

Elongated Man (back to the original concept, the Nick and Nora Charles of the superhero world; lighthearted mysteries of the jet set) 

Fury of Firestorm (Ron Raymond and Martin Stein take back the Firestorm matrix - but they're not happy about it!) 

Flash Legacy (anthology of stories of the fastest men and women alive, from World War II to the far future) 

Green Arrow

Green Lantern

Hawks (the adventures of Katar and Shayera Hol, police officers of Thanagar) 

Hellblazer

Red Tornado

Shazam! and the Marvel Family

Swamp Thing
Vixen and Bronze Tiger (solo adventures of the Suicide Squad team-mates) 

Wonder Woman

Zatanna

A pretty solid selection of titles--at least from my selfish perspective. 

The Alternate

Mr. Woods Goes to Metropolis

On my final trip to Leaf Rapids I at last captured a series of high-quality photographs of the isolated ghost town. The weather cooperated, my eye was sharp, and the mission concluded without incident.

But on the journey home, midway between Leaf Rapids and Thompson on the scarcely-travelled Highway 391, something shifted. The decaying asphalt suddenly gave way to freshly paved road. The thick conifers that had been encroaching on 391 vanished, replaced by neatly manicured deciduous trees. And where an instant before my crossover had been the only car on the road, I was suddenly surrounded by cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes.

Alarmed out of my wits, I nearly ran myself off the road, my heart racing. An angry symphony of horns accompanied my efforts to pull to the side of the road and catch my breath. I exited the car on shaky legs, covered in a sheen of cold sweat.

As an avid reader of fantasy fiction, I knew precisely what had happened - I'd somehow slipped between dimensions, journeying from one world to another.

Or - and this conclusion was far more likely - I was having a psychotic break. I waited to see if the delusion would pass, but my new reality remained stubbornly solid.

Then I saw the road sign, in stark green and white:

METROPOLIS
25 MILES

It was madness, but I was elated. Clearly this was a dream, but of the most excellent sort, the ultimate in wish fulfillment. With a grin I slipped back behind the wheel of my car and merged back into the teeming traffic, bound for whatever marvellous adventures I might find.

As soon as I hit the city limits, however, and as the streets grew thick with traffic, I realized I needed some kind of plan of action. I pulled into a gas station and consulted my phone.

My cellular service, I saw, was still provided by Bell, though I still anticipated horrific roaming charges, having not only crossed into the United States, but a United States on another plane of existence. But I'd worry about that later; such details rarely returned to haunt me in the waking world, and I hoped this time was no exception.

I activated my navigation app and requested directions to 344 Clinton Street - Clark Kent's apartment building. I'd wait outside, tell Mr. Kent who I was, get a couple of photos and then ask him to take me to S.T.A.R. Labs, who would doubtless know how to get me back home.

I thought a moment. It was possible that Superman/Kent might not return home via the lobby. Certainly he had to from time to time to keep up appearances, but more often than not he simply flew in and out of his third-floor apartment through the window at super-speed. I could wind up waiting on the street level for days.

For that matter, I had no idea which continuity I was in. In some stories Superman lived in apartment 3-D, but in others he didn't. For that matter, he might be married to Lois Lane - or not, working at the Daily Planet or the Daily Star or WGBS...worst of all, what if I were in one of the universes with an evil Superman? Suddenly a frank and open approach didn't seem like the most prudent idea. Spending a day or two here might be fun, but if I didn't get back on the road in Manitoba soon, Sylvia would start to worry. I had a few hours' grace during which Sylvia didn't expect to hear from me thanks to spotty cellular coverage in northern Manitoba, but that was it. If she didn't hear from me in about six hours, she'd freak - and after my misadventures in Yukon back in 2011, I refused to do that to her again.

I decided to play it safe - or safer, at least, than my original plan. First, I reviewed some news stories about Superman on my phone:

SUPERMAN SAVES NEWS CHOPPER
ARMAGEDDON ON HOLD THANKS TO SUPERMAN
JUSTICE LEAGUE SPARKS INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT
WHO IS THE NEW GREEN LANTERN?

Each story read as relatively benign, which was a good starting point, but there was still a chance, however slim, that an evil Superman might wield undue influence on the global media. I searched for directions to the Daily Planet, then realized it would be follish to drive there - what were the odds i'd find reasonable parking?

"Taxi!" I called, flagging down a yellow cab.

*  *  *

Twenty minutes later I was looking up the side of a massive skyscraper, gazing in wonder at the rotating Daily Planet globe. "Tourists," someone muttered as they brushed by me, but I couldn't wipe the awestruck grin from my face; in a way, yes, I was the ultimate tourist. But at length I pulled myself away from the vision and walked into the lobby. There was a gilt fountain with a representation of Poseidon, who I realized with a start could be a very real figure in this particular universe, not merely mythology. I gave it a good look as I made my way to the extensive bank of elevators, hitting a call button, still somewhat dazed by my circumstances. With a humble ding, a pair of doors slide aside and I strode into the car. The doors were almost closed when a feminine hand interposed itself between them, followed an instant later with the peripatetic form of Lois Lane.

I knew it was her in an instant. She didn't look like Noell Neil or Margot Kidder or Teri Hatcher, or any other actress who'd played her in my world; it was more like she was a live-action representation of the art of Walt Simonson, Curt Swan, John Byrne and Wayne Boring somehow combined into a whole that shouldn't have worked at all...but somehow she was perfect.

She gave me an odd glance, and I realized that I was staring goggle-eyed. I quickly redirected my gaze to the one of the corners of the elevator car.

"What, is there mustard or something..?" She started rubbing at the corner of her mouth.

"No, no," I said, flustered.

"Something wrong, Earl? You look like you haven't seen me in years."

I froze. She knew me? How?

But in an instant, it became clear. It was the very last thing I expected. I had a counterpart here, in this world. There was another Earl, right here in Metropolis.

Suddenly coming here seemed like a very bad idea indeed. How did Lois know me? Given the context, I must be a coworker, or at least that was the safest assumption. And if that were true, I could very well already be here...

Before I could do anything about it, though, the elevator stopped and the cars slid open, elevator muzak quickly drowned out by the clattering of fingers on keyboard. I was about to hit the button for the main floor and claim I'd forgotten something, but a voice that shook windows bellowed out my name:

"WOODS! MY OFFICE!"

"Have fun," Lois said.

My head swivelled to and fro, searching for any sign of my counterpart as I hurried in the direction of Perry White's summons.

"I thought you were sick," he barked just as I found his office door. Well, that was lucky, I thought.

"Uh - " I began.

"Where's your review of Fury Road?"

I thought fast. I was the Planet's movie reviewer? I suddenly envied my doppleganger.

"You didn't get my email?" I bluffed, eyes wide.

"No," he said, already distracted by something else on his computer monitor.

"I'll resend," I said, making my escape. He grunted.

I shut his door behind me and scanned row upon row of cubicles, wondering which was mine. I picked a direction at random and pulled out my phone, searching through my email archives. I'd written a Fury Road review for my blog, and with any luck I could just copy and paste it, send it to Perry, and -

 - I crashed through the door of a supply closet headfirst. My phone went flying and I tripped over my own feet, flailing for support, grabbing hold of a mop only to bring it and the bucket it rested in clattering down around my ears.

I looked up just in time to catch Clark Kent standing there, looking sheepish, his white shirt torn open to reveal the famous red S beneath.

"I can explain!" we both shouted. We looked at each other. From the floor, I kicked the supply room door closed.

"I'll be right back," he said. In a violet blur he was gone, leaving the supply room window rattling in its frame.

Less than a minute later, Superman flew back into the room and slipped back into his civilian guise.

"Sorry. There was a train..."

"Of course," I said. Looking at him was like looking at Lois Lane again; he didn't look like any living human from my world, but rather he appeared to be the perfect summation of every artistic interpretation of the character.

"I guess my secret's out," he said, resigned. He sounded sad.

"No, no!" I said, eager to reassure him. "I already knew."

His eyes widened.

"I mean, everyone knows...wait, wait. Let me start from the beginning. I'm not the Earl you know..."

So I told him what had happened.

"I've seen this sort of thing before. You're from Earth Prime, that place where everyone I know is just a comic book character," he said.

"Well, not exactly," I replied. "I'm pretty sure Julius Schwartz didn't really cross over to this world..."

"You know about that?" Clark Kent asked.

"It was in a comic book...uh, never mind. Listen, I have family back home and they're going to be pretty worried if I don't get back in touch with them soon. Any chance you can get me home?"

He grinned. "I think I can have you back...in a flash."

So about an hour later I was sitting in my car on a specially built super-sized cosmic treadmill with enough room for the vehicle and the Flash himself. The red-garbed speedster looked over at me.

"All I have to do is run until the treadmill's vibrations match the native universal vibration of you and your car," he explained. "At that point, you should theoretically return to your own world."

"Thanks!" I said somewhat lamely. It felt like this was all happening too fast, like I'd barely had a chance to explore a place I'd dreamed about for decades. But the Flash was already nothing more than an oscillating blur, and I had only a second to wave goodbye to a smiling Superman. "Come back again sometime!" he said, and then

I was suddenly back in Manitoba, like nothing ever happened. But maybe there was a way to see if I'd really gone anywhere other than some fevered corner of my imagination...

I pulled over and checked my phone. Sure enough, there were still some archived news stories in my cache - and one in particular was going to come as quite a shock to my wife.

WHO IS THE NEW GREEN LANTERN? the story proclaimed. I grinned. Who indeed? She was going to be so very botherated... 

Comix Collage

I have now used Microsoft Surface Collage four times. It is a silly program. 

Piece-Meal Review of The Lego Movie

Everything about The Lego Movie is awesome, including its subversive "Triumph of the Will"-evoking theme song and its brain-bending but perfectly logical third-act pivot. Charming, self-effacing, clever, satirical and fun, The Lego Movie is one of those rare films that offers a straightforward and positive message without embarrassment.

Oddly enough, the film for some reason endorses Sylvia's view that Green Lantern is lame, a view I don't share but seems to have become some strange pop-culture undercurrent. I always thought Aquaman was the lame one, but perhaps not...

Animated Green Lantern Sylvia Boucher

Green Lantern is Sylvia's favourite superhero, and now her adventures are animated!

I created this simple animated .gif for two reasons: to tease Sylvia, and to see if I could do it. It turns out to be pretty simple; just import the images into Photoshop, make them all layers, and then use the built-in animate tool. Of course you have to have the foresight to shoot a bunch of images in sequence in the first place! And a semi-willing model. 

My Brightest Day

Every so often publishers commission photo covers for their books, using models to portray super heroes. Sylvia is fearless and has great will, so I figure she should be the next Green Lantern of space sector 2814.