Friday Night Fights! Ladies Night! Round 3! Spitfire vs. Nazis!

Spitfire: Womankind's answer to masher smashing!

Bahlactus will mash you all!

Invaders #12's awesome brand of World War II superheroics is brought to you by Roy Thomas, Frank Robbins, Frank Springer, Phil Rache and Joe Rosen.

Friday Night Fights! Ladies Night! Round 2! Batgirl (and Robin) vs. Some Random Henchguy!

A little teamwork always get the job done, but a boot to the face seals the deal!

This week's installment of Friday Night Fights: Ladies Night is brought to you by Blah-g de Wicked Juan, where every week is Batgirl Week.

Except for Friday nights, which belong to Bahlactus!

An Interview with Ambush Bug

Somehow, I missed this. Not that shocking, really.

I like his shirt.

Today's Excuse for Content: Issue #11: I Have No Moral Compass...

...at least when it comes to fighting five year olds.

35

I get bonuses for martial arts experience and fighting dirty. Go me!

(Thank god my mom doesn't read my blog.)

Review: Black Panther #39

Like many readers, I think I dropped Black Panther shortly after Reggie Hudlin's second story arc. Reggie started out great with "Who Is Black Panther?", but the book got flat quickly after the initial arc. It just seemed as though Reggie didn't have much of a plan or direction for T'Challa, which is too bad because T'Challa is, hands down, one of the best characters in the Marvel universe.

Needless to say, I was curious about the new series because there's been a lot of buzz about Jason Aaron taking over the book with a guest stint starting with issue #39. I haven't read Aaron's Scalped, but I've only heard good things about it, so I was curious to see how he'd handle The King. Needless to say, Aaron's Black Panther didn't disappoint in the slightest.

NOTE: This story is actually a Secret Invasion tie in where something actually happens. Try not to look shocked.

The Skrulls send some warships to go invade Wakanda so they can take control of Wakanda's Vibranium resources. The little green men feel very confident when they arrive, until they discover their infiltrators' heads on pikes and quickly get caught up in a game of one-upmanship with the Wakandan defence forces, led by T'Challa. With the Skrull warships and conventional weapons disabled and Wakanda in a complete black out, a ground battle ensues where both sides are fighting with spear, shield and sword.

The art, courtesy of Jefte Palo, is dark and moody, especially when the lights go out and the ground battle rages on. Lee Loughridge did an incredible job with the colors in this book, using an understated palette to help accentuate some of the nuances in the storytelling.

Over the course of the battle, the Skrulls send out a Super Skrull who has been specifically outfitted and trained to take out the Black Panther, setting up one of my favorite comic moments in recent weeks:

T'Challa always has the right word for the right moment. And then he'll kick your ass.

If you're new to Black Panther, everything you need to know about T'Challa can be said in that last panel. And in my book, that's great writing.

There's also a tasty cliffhanger at the end where the Skrull commander indicates that not all his infiltrator's heads are resting on sticks at the gates, so you know there's a lot more fun ahead.

This is a good, fun book. Aaron shows he has a great grasp on T'Challa's character and sets up a fun story that really gives you the feeling all hell is about to break loose. I want more already.

Friday Night Fights! Ladies Night! Round 1! Batgirl vs. Catwoman!

Batgirl's all knees, fists and elbows until she takes you down High Fidelity Style™.

Bahlactus loves it when you wail on the help.

Tonight's fight is brought to you by Fabian Nicieza, Kevin Maguire and the Magical Power of Naked.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Exclusive Trailer

This link will redirect you to MSN, but it's totally worth it.

The Flash: Rebirth

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

There was a lot of big news that came out of this past weekend's San Diego Comicon, but to me, the biggest news is that DC intends to bring the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen (or as I like to call him, Barry Allen Flash), back to life in a new series called The Flash: Rebirth.

I've become so accustomed and jaded to the death/rebirth cycle in comics these days that when a character goes off into the great unknown, I tend to generally react by saying "meh" and cynically take wagers on his inevitable return. But this decision makes me want to scream "NO NO NO!" and then break things in a very smashy way.

Barry's death in the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths came at a time where heroes just weren't killed off every other week. At the time, his death was equal parts heroic and shocking. No one, and I mean NO ONE, saw this one coming. There were no spoilers or interwebs at the time. Everyone at the comic shop was just as shocked as you when the issue hit the stands. The Flash's death was epic. Epic, heroic, tragic and sad. In so many ways, Marv Wolfman and George Perez wrote the comic book death playbook on this one.

Part of what made Barry's death so shocking was the issue before DC had just killed off Supergirl. Somehow killing Supergirl made sense at the time, even though her death was a surprise (less so when you saw the iconic cover). Supergirl's death gave Crisis a certain urgency and "we're playing for real" weight to the story. Crisis was one of the first stories of its ilk both in scope and focus. DC was making a serious bid to clear up their gazillion alternate earths/broken continuity and was transitioning from the goofy Silver Age version of storytelling to the more modern age of (somewhat) gritty realism. Comic book storytelling was growing up and DC seemed intent on taking a big step toward making their characters more relevant and human. How better to do that than touch on one of the strongest human emotions by portraying the death of such prominent characters?

Barry Allen was a great, great character. In a lot of ways, he was the most human of the Justice League. He ran fast. That was his power. He wasn't substantially overpowered enough to be unrealistic. He could be hurt. He had a day job as a police scientist. He loved his wife, Iris. He was always late to meet her. He was compassionate and straight-laced, but had a sense of humor about what he was doing. In some ways, Barry thought he didn't stack up against the heavy hitters that were his teammates, but still gave everything he had (check out The New Frontier for some truly defining Barry Allen moments). Killing Barry kind of ate at the heart and soul for a bit. His death was profound, especially when reflected on those he cared most about.

DC told a great and epic story in Crisis, one of the best in their history. And now they seem intent on unraveling it with The Flash: Rebirth.

Don't get me wrong. I think Geoff Johns is the absolute best choice to be handling this story. He's a great choice on a lot of DC books because he cares about the characters and their legacies. He did a good job bringing the block of wood we call Hal Jordan back from the brink, even though I consider Jordan's death to be a lot less epic. His run on Flash with Scott Kolins is one of my very favorite runs in comics. Geoff revitalized The Flash and made Wally West one of my favorite characters in comics. Hell, he made me want to be Wally. The Flash is absolutely Geoff’s favorite character and I expect him to handle the series with a tremendous amount of care.

But I am a big fan of DC’s ability to find successors for their characters. Mister Terrific, Blue Beetle, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hourman and Wally West Flash are all shining examples of this. Finding new characters to wear the capes and cowls of their predecessors is compelling story telling and keeps the sprits of the characters moving forward as the audience's tastes change.

But for some reason, it still bugs the hell out of me that they’re bringing Barry back. Maybe there’s some larger force at work or some grander scheme. Maybe it will be awesome. But in my own way, I want Barry’s death to be left alone. I want it to still mean something. Courage and sacrifice are what make our heroes what they are. If you take the sacrifice part away, they seem less compelling. Something should always be at risk. The potential for death and destruction should be right around the corner. I've never been a fan of bringing characters back from the dead, especially Barry. I’d rather see his boots filled by someone else (in this case, Wally).

But then stuff like this always makes me feel cheated in some way.

And heaven help them if they bring back Ted Kord.

Today's Excuse for Content: Issue #10 - Kneel Before Grodd!

No particular reason for this post. I just like telepathic, homicidal gorillas.


If I were DC editor for a day, I'd bump Ethan VanSciver from Flash: Rebirth and give it to Scott Kolins already.

Today's Excuse for Content: Issue #9 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold Trailer

Awe. Some.