Code Red

Green Lantern #54

While Red Lantern Corps members Atrocitus and the impossibly adorable blue alien space kitty Dex-Starr burn up a bunch of muggers on a subway train, Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, and Sinestro try to move the White Lantern battery that’s appeared in a crater in Silver City, New Mexico. They can’t budge it, but are treated to a vision demanding that they locate the alien entities that serve as the incarnations of the power of each of the seven Lantern Corps. Unfortunately, a mysterious figure has already captured and bound Parallax, and he does the same to Ion after drawing it out of Sodam Yat. Why is Atrocitus seeking the same entities? And why has this issue’s guest star showed up with a mad-on to pound the stuffing out of Hal Jordan?

Verdict: Thumbs up. The story is fine, the art by Doug Mahnke is as phenomenal as ever, and Dex-Starr is the cutest and most loveable blood-barfing kitty-smoochins ever. Hey, let’s make some Dex-Starr lolcats, a’ight?

And here’s another.

Man, that is an awesome cat. Probably sits in cardboard boxes all day. Might be a bit more trouble to clean up his hairballs, though…

Detective Comics #865

Jeremiah Arkham — former director of Arkham Asylum, former gangland supervillain as Black Mask, and current asylum inmate — thinks he’s slaughtered his three “special patients,” but in truth, it was all a hallucination brought on a combination of Jeremiah’s madness and a toxin left by the Joker. Once the toxin wears off, will Arkham be back to his old self? Will his protege Alyce Sinner end up on the side of the angels or the devils? And what’s going to happen to Jeremiah once the psychotic Mr. Zsasz gets his hands on him?

In our backup story, the immortal Vandal Savage wants either the Question or the Huntress to willingly accept the Mark of Cain — he’s gotten tired of wearing it, and he’s willing to track down and kill both of them if one doesn’t accept the mark and its curses. Who will accept Savage’s challenge, and what price will they pay?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Actually, I enjoyed the main story mostly for the creepy Alyce Sinner than for Jeremiah Arkham, who seems to get tiring fast. Batman himself doesn’t figure very much into the story. I really, really enjoyed the second feature starring the Question. I love both Greg Rucka’s writing and Cully Hamner‘s artwork on this one.

Today’s Cool Links:

• I really wish that someone would tell Rick Perry he’s never going to be president, so he should quit with the grandstanding tomfoolery. The teabaggers want Palin, the non-teabaggers want Romney, and Perry’s undisguisable arrogance and borderline-sociopathy won’t play well on the national stage.
• If you haven’t read “Awesome Hospital” yet, you really, really need to.
• Here are Salon’s picks for the most important zombie movies.