Death of Captain America Omnibus. By Ed Brubaker

Now that Steve Rogers is dead, will there be another Captain America?  Why yes, yes there will be and he will be none other then the Winter Soldier himself, James "Bucky" Barnes.  Yes, the same Bucky Barnes that was the Cap's side kick in WWII.  Brubaker continues his excellent stories with Bucky Barnes taking over the mantle of Captain America for Steve.  This Captain America is not a registered hero, is not apart of S.H.E.I.L.D, or even working for Nick Fury.  As a personal request from Steve Rogers, Tony Stark (now the director of S.H.E.I.L.D.) secretly helps Bucky become the new Captain America with a new uniform and all.  One of the things I like best about Bucky as Cap is that he doesn't try to be Steve Rogers.  He tries to honor the idea and what Steve stood for.  He is his own man and his own Captain America.  The main antagonist is the Red Skull.  He is still bent on destroying America and conquering the world.  But he is attacking it from with in.  His primary method being politically and economically.  Like the first Omnibus, this picks up right where it left off.  Loving the story.  Though much smaller then the first Omnibus, its just as good but a lot more expensive.  It is very difficult to find, and if you do it will demand a very pretty penny.  I have yet to see it actually sell under $100.  This gets my stamp of approval.

A Storm of Swords. By George R.R. Martin

Wow, that took me a long time.  For whatever reason, this book took me several months.  A lot of that was due to the fact that I read a couple of other books while I read this one, I read a bunch of comic books, and even when I was reading this consistently, I never really got into the grove and had marathon reading sessions.  But now that I have finished it, I can officially say, no one is safe.  Which is good and bad.  Good from the stand point that it can be difficult to see what is coming next, bad from the standpoint that it seems hard to really pick a single character to identify with or to really root for because people will die and most likely more then one of your favorites will be killed.  At least one of my favorite characters is still around... for now.  Just like the lives of characters, this book is far from something you could predict.  By the end of this book the world is in even more turmoil then before.  The dragon's are growing, Dany has her army, the Starks are dying, the Lannisters strength is weakening, and  there are still multiple Kings.  With winter coming and the wildlings and others making there way to the wall, can the kingdom hold itself together?

Batman Incorporated. By Grant Morrison

This Batman story was kinda fun.  The idea is Batman is getting older, and he realizes that if he wants to make a true impact, there must be more then one batman.  Bruce Wanye and Batman go around the world trying to find the right "Batman" for certain countries.  All the Batmen will be apart of Batman Inc.  It was a cool idea to explore.  Each story stood up on their own but together made for an entertaining read.  At the end of the day its a good read for any Batman fan, but isn't a must read in my opinion.

Green Arrow: Into the Woods. By J.T. Krul

I just finished reading Green Arrow: Into the Woods this past weekend.  Even though this was a tie in with the Brightest Day event, I still felt a little lost.  This was definetly not a book to pickup of you are new to the character.  Supposedly this is a follow up book to a Justice League series Cry for Justice and Rise and Fall.  I am a little torn because I like the concept of this character and I want to like him, but for the two books that I have read, there really just isn't anything that keeps me wanting to read more.  So for now, unless I hear of a Green Arrow book that is a must have or is breaking some new ground, I'm going to shelf my interest in Green Arrow and stick with the TV show for now.  With all of the other titles I like or would like to read, I don't think I will miss this one. Unless you already like Green Arrow, this is definetly a pass.  Though the art was very good.

Green Arrow: Year One. By Andy Diggle

So with my birthday having just past and Christmas coming up, I will be getting an influx of new comic books.  One of the books I received for my birthday was Green Arrow: Year One.  Having read batman year one, I though that would be a good launching point for green arrow.  I knew a little bit about Oliver Queen before reading this.  I already knew he was a good friend the Hal Jordan (the Green Lantern), I knew he was rich, his dad died, and he was stranded on an island for several years.  Also, the CW has come out with a show called Arrow, that is supposed to be the green arrow story, just like Smallville was the superman story.  I already knew I liked the idea of Oliver Queen because of his run in's with Hal Jordan.  As an origin story it was fun.  But for whatever reason it just didn't grab me.  Maybe because this origin has different elements compared to the CW's show Arrow.  In the show Oliver is basically a useless human being.  No skills, no guts.  But in this origin, he already knew how to use a bow and use it well.  One of the things I had a hard time with in this book was the passage of time.  Either I just didn't pick it up or they did a poor job of portraying that, but I couldn't tell how long Oliver was supposed to have been on the island before he finally comes into contact with people.  Is it like the title says... one year or like the show, five years.  Though not a bad book, it just didn't grab me.  With Green Arrow being somewhat of a cheesy robin hood knockoff character and a second tier DC character, I was hoping for something more.  This book is just ok.  If something hasn't already drawn you to find out more about Green Arrow, I wouldn't pick this one up.

Captain America Omnibus, Volume 1. By Ed Brubaker

This was fantastic.  After reading this, it made me think of a line from the Avengers movie were Tony Stark is mad and tell's Steve Rogers that the only thing special about him came out of a bottle.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Steve Rogers is one of those larger then life men.  Not because he is a chemically enhanced super soldier, but  because he is a man with a strong moral compass, personal conviction, and can properly act on his emotions.  One of the reasons Steve Rogers was chosen to be Captain America was because of his quality of character.  This large omnibus covers the first 25 issues of Ed Brubakers run of Captain America.  The art was excellent and extremely consistent throughout the entire book.  The Winter Soldier story was probably my favorite in the entire book and (re)introduces a character I can't wait to watch develop.  Another thing I really enjoyed about Captain America was that he truly is the man out of time.  He brings a certain point of view and value system from days gone by.  He isn't just a pawn for the U.S. government.  He is the embodiment of the idea of America.  One of the things he said that made me think was that sometimes freedom comes at a cost of security.  We as a nation now fight that.  Are we willing to give up more and more freedoms in the name of security or do we value our freedom more where we will sacrifice some security for it?  This book was difficult to find and with another Captain America movie coming out in 2014, the price will only go up.  If you can find this at a reasonable price, pick it up, you won't regret it.

Batman: Sword of Azrael. By Dennis O'Neil

I picked up this book after reading several reviews saying that if you could find it, it was a good prequel to the Knightfall story line. (Bane)  This book easily goes for $30 or more online, but I found it in my local comic shop for under $10.  Couldn't pass that up.  I had no idea who Azrael was before this. But come to find out, the concept of an Azrael type character is a really cool idea.  It is almost a parallel idea to Batman.  The Azrael character and the order of St Dumas are very interesting and mysterious and really fit well in the the Batman mythos.  For a 20 year old story the art was very good.  As a stand along four part series it's pretty good, but I think the true test will be how it leads up to the Knightfall series once I'm able to read through it.

The Ultimates 2: Ultimate Collection. By Mark Millar

I just finished The Ultimates 2.  Again Marvel's Ultimate series is an out of continuity story that reimagines many of the characters in the Marvel universe.  Mark Millar takes a much more realistic approach to the characters and tries to fit them into a more realistic world.  One of the examples of that is the design of the iron man suit.  Mark always wondered how Tony could fit his nose into the helmet, so he had Bryan Hitch draw him with space for a nose in the helmet. Anyways, in this book no character is safe. The twists, the turns, everyone is a suspect for being a trader.  Without spoiling the plot, the Ultimates team battles an international terrorist group of super soldiers, while trying to find out who their own double agent is.  Towards the end of the book, there is a beautiful 8 to 10 page pull out drawing of the final epic battle.  The art is gorgeous.  If you're looking for a change of pace marvel story, check out the Ultimates 2.

Green Lantern Corps: Sins of the Star Sapphire. By Pete Tomasi

With the Sinestro Corps war having ended, we are still surrounded by yellow lanterns and dealing with aftermath of having new rings around.  We also get a new third law change to the book of Oa and it is solely dealing with a problem the guardians see and "fix it" in a completely inappropriate way.  Between the green lantern series and the green lantern corps series we have already been introduced to the red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet lanterns leading up to the blackest night.  We do not find out about indigo until the blackest night.  A new corps, the Star Sapphires emerges, from the Zamarons, immortal being who split from the guardians millennia ago since they believe in the power of love (cue Huey Lewis and the News) to heal while guardians believe solely in will power and reject all others of the emotional spectrum.  One of the more disturbing stories in this book revolved around Yellow Lanter Kryb and the collection of green lanterns children.  If you really liked Blackest Night or want to know every piece of info prior to reading it, this book is worth while.

Green Lantern Corps: Ring Quest. By Peter Tomasi

This book picks up where the Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Wars leaves off for the Green Lantern Corps. Green Lanterns now have the ability to kill yellow lanterns.  Kyle and Guy decide to move to Oa full time and open a new 'watering hole' on Oa called Warriors.  Most of this book revolves the green lanterns collecting yellow rings and imprisoning them on Oa.  But unfortunately, one of the rings has ended up in the hands of Mongul Jr.  Mongul figures if one ring is good, more must be better, so he goes and collects as many rings as he can for himself.  He uses the rings as an opportunity to restore the reputation and power base that his dead father once commanded.  But of course Kyle, Guy and the other Lanterns are there to stand in is way.  We get more back ground on the plant that Mongul uses as a weapon.  Not only are two of the lanterns taken by the plants, but so has Hal in other stories. We find out the plant isn't as evil as we are lead to believe. All in all this was a solid book.  It isn't necessarily a must have, but is an entertaining lantern story in and of it self.

Catching Fire. By Suzanne Collins

After finishing The Hunger Games last week, I couldn't help myself and I read the next book in the trilogy, Catching Fire.  I was lucky enough not to have to purchase this book, as it was a free book to check out for Prime members on Amazon.  Again, just like the first book, I was able to finish this in two days.  This book picks up where the Hunger Games left off.  There is growing unrest in the districts and Katniss finds out that she is a key figure in a movement against the Capitol.  Everyone we know from the end of the first book is back in the second.  We really begin to see how the Capitol controls everyone life.  But just like in real life, History is written by the victors.  And we find out the same thing here.  We all know how the Hunger Games began, but was the war really won as they say it was.  The capital controls all communication in and outside of each of the districts.  There is no communication or traveling to other districts outside of Capitol sanctioned reasons.  As this story goes on, you really begin to despise all things about the capital and those that live in the capital.  This book really ramps up the story telling.  We all know that Peeta has a natural way with the crowds, but he takes the cake in this one.  His undying love for Katniss is still here and as noble as ever.  This book is slightly more violent then the previous one.  There a number of big reveals that I won't spoil.  Just like the Hunger Games this book is defiantly worth reading.  Now I just have to wait a couple more days so that I can check out the final book, Mockingjay, from Amazon.

Amazon's Kindle Fire

Well now that I've had a kindle fire for couple of months now, I think I can be objective about it.  This is not the new Fire HD's that just come out, but is the original kindle fire.  I must state up front, I love technology, but I am not the type that thinks the tablets are the be all, end all in gadgets.  I think they have there use.  I am not a huge fan of the iPad.  It's my phone, only bigger.  The hand full of apps that are written specifically for the iPad and have a different feature set over the iPhone are NOT worth paying the Apple premium to have a really big version of your iPhone.  In my opinion the iPad (not the ipad mini) is to big to comfortably hold in one hand as a e-reader solely.  With that being side, I really do love the size of the kindle fire.  It fits very comfortably in my hand.  No need to actually hold it with two.  While holding with one hand I do not have that uneasy feeling that I might drop it.  It is a good weight.  Not too heavy, not too light. I find myself using it for two things mainly, reading e-book and watching movies.  The movies look fine.  I'm not expecting it to look like my home HDTV, but for all the Netflix streaming and Amazon Prime streaming, everything looks great.  As an e-reader this it where it really impressed me.  My wife has a kindle touch and the e-ink is so nice to read off of.  With the kindle I was afraid that the back light would hurt my eyes reading after a while. Not the case at all.  I've read 5 or 6 full book on it now and love it.  It doesn't hurt my eyes at all.  As far as the other tablet function, I don't really use them.  Like the iPad, the apps feel just like my phone apps only bigger.  Since I always have my phone on me, I don't always carry the kindle unless I'm in the process of reading a book.  The amazon app store is limited.  It is not the full android store.Another benefit you get with having a kindle is that you can check out book (like a library) for free if you have a prime account.  So even if you have Prime you can't use the cloud reader to check books out, but only if you have a kindle device. (at least that is what my experience has been so far.)  So I would recommend this device to based on  the fact that you read a lot of e-book AND have an amazon prime account.  The movies are nice but not a must, and the price point is a lot better then an iPad.  I can't really compare it to another Android tablet as I have not had any time to play with one. I give the Kindle Fire a thumbs up.

The Hunger Games. By Suzanne Collins

So with all the hype and even the movie, I didn't really know much about the hunger games other then the main character is a girl that has to play in a game for her life.  (Running man for kids.)  I accidently purchased it for kindle several months back, and Tuesday I decided to read it.  I finished it Wednesday.  This was a very entertaining book.  It might be goofy but I enjoy well written tween book like Harry Potter and the Inheritance books.  I would lump this book in the same batch.  This book was written very much like a Dan Brown book in the sense that each chapter you really didn't want to stop but just had to know what happened in the next chapter.  Though the chapters ended logically and were a good breaking point, they were written in such a way that you just had to read the next chapter and the next and the next.  To label this book as a gladiator match with kids I think is a little to harsh.  Though there was killing, that wasn't the main point in telling the story.  And when it did happen, there were no gory details and it didn't revel in the fact that kids were killing each other. It was more the emotion of what was going on.  The internal struggle to play the game, the politics, the unjust nature of the hunger games.  There was a very 1984 feel about this world.  Keep all the people busy and never let them see what is really going on.  Force feed them a game they are supposed to love, make it law, and celebrate it.  Almost like a Stockholm syndrome of falling in love with our captor.  There was even a love story element.  For some it might be cheesy, but from the guys point of view, I think its believable.  This book takes place in almost an anti-utopia for the majority of society.  I thought this book was very good. If you looking for an easy read that is exciting, thought provoking, and doesn't have to do with elves, goblins, or orges, then you just might like this book.  

Brightest Day Vol 3. By Geoff Johns

Brightest Day Volume 3 is the final book in the Brightest Day story line.  We already know that at the end of the Blackest Night, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman (Boston Brand), Jade, Osiris, Hawk, Captain Boomerang, and Zoom are now alive once again.  In this book we finally find out why they have been brought back and how they are all bound together for a greater purpose.  One very interesting concept that is brought up in this book is the challenge to common belief that life is good and death is bad.  Though it is never assumed that life is bad, it does bring up the question this since most people think that death is bad, then that must mean life is good.  The situation that this challenge is brought up in actually works and actually made me stop and think about it.  Now that the story is over, I think it was just OK.  Its ending was kind of ho hum.  The biggest thing I got out of the story was that I was introduced to several new characters that I had previously never known.  Some I liked, others not so much.  I found that I liked Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Hawkgirl.  I didn't really care for Firestorm, Deadman, Hawk or any of the others. All in all the story was ok.  If you have already read the first two, or you really loved the Blackest Night and want to learn more about the white lantern, then go ahead and pickup the trade paper back its only like $10 on amazon.  Otherwise you're not really missing much.  With the NEW 52 being released late last year, a lot of this story is kind of pointless in the greater DC universe.  I'm hoping to get some of the NEW 52 stories for my birthday and Christmas this year.

Green Lantern Corps: The Dark Side of Green. By Dave Gibbons

I really enjoyed this one.  This book is definitely titled appropriately. For much of the green lantern corps existence  killing has never been an option. The rings simply will not allow it. This book deals with killing on multiple levels.  The first being given a secret assignment that calls for killing and also murders that actually take place within the corps among corp members.  I'm slowly beginning to like the different members of the green lantern corps.  I already liked Guy Gardner's character already because he played football at the University of Michigan and many times in the art, his constructs have wolverines or the block M in them.  But the thing I'm now starting to appreciate is he has his own moral compass outside of the green lantern corps.  Whether or not the guardians give him an order or refuse him an order, if they do not match up with his own morals, he will find a way to do what he feels is right, regardless of who gets in his way.  Some times that can come across as arrogant and other times just determined.  As lore would have it, it is said that Guy has some of the most raw will power in the corps, so much so that his ring is constantly emitting sparks just to restrain and control all of the will power guy has.  In this book Natu gets a new partner and we begin to see that she start to feel that she may not be all alone after all.  This is book is a very difficult find.  I was lucky enough to check out a comic shop on one of my recent work trips and found that the shop actually had a copy.  I bough this and Green Lantern Corps: Sins of the Star Sapphire.  Both are hard books to come by.  So if you are lucky enough to find this book at a reasonable price, snatch it up.  Its worth the read.

The Ultimates: Ultimate Collection. By Mark Millar

This was my very first Marvel story I have ever read.  Until this point I had only read DC characters. (Mainly because the Green Lantern is my favorite character.)  The Ultimates is an non-canon Avengers story.  This is story of each of the Avengers characters but with different spin.  Having loved the Avengers movie, I read that this was a very fun story involving the Avengers.  Captain America is still a man out of time, Thor is a hippy, Tony Stark is more selfless, Hank Pym and his wife have marital issues.  This avengers (or Ultimates) is more grounded in reality.  There is no past continuity that you need to know to jump into this book.  This is truly a Hollywood style comic book.  Nick Fury looks like Samuel L. Jackson, there is a huge alien invasion, and the art is fantastic.  If you are looking to get your feet web in the comic world, or Marvel world, and really liked the Avengers movie, look no further.  This book will get you hooked.

The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus. By David Michelinie

Wow!  This took me a while. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow this big tome from my boss.  He spoke very highly of the Todd McFarlane art, and he was correct.  Todd McFarlane does indeed draw an excellent Spider-man.  This was my very first spider-man comic.  It was a lot take in. There was no origin story in this book.  It basically picks up where Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson (now Watson-Parker) are married.  Peter is still struggling with income as tries to pick up photo jobs where he can.  So from the marriage stand point its really interesting.  This omnibus is massive.  Over 800 pages worth of comics.  This is also the oldest comics I have read so far.  Though the early 90's isn't that long ago, story and art have seem to have come a long way.  Like I mentioned before Todd McFarlane draws spider-man so well, the non-super hero art (Peter Parker just walking around) I couldn't have cared less for and it just felt dated to me.  (what can I say, I like modern art)  But what really stood out to me was the story telling.  Unlike most comics today, each issue was a really good story in and off themselves.  Thought there was some carry over from issue to issue, not having read the one previously wasn't that big of a problem.  Each issue was very good and had a different antagonist. I actually enjoyed watching Mary Jane get into trouble and solve her own issues, without have spider-man always saving the day.  If you are already familiar with the spider-man origin story I would definitely recommend this book to you.  It is rather expensive, but the David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane team made this very entertaining.

Green Lantern Corps Vol 1: To Be a Lantern. By Dave Gibbons

Though I really love the idea of the green lantern corps and developing more of the corps mythos in the green lantern corps series, so far it just isn't as engaging as the Hal Jordan run.  This series still seems to be trying to introduce us to the main characters of this series, but is doing it really slowly.  To be a Lantern picks up where Recharge left off.  We get more background and foundation on who the new rookies are, mainly Soranik Natu, Vath Sarn and Isamot Kol.  Though the ground work is interesting, it just seems to be taking a too long.  I do enjoy watching the Soranik Natu character develop.  From hating everything green lantern (She basically inherited Sinestro's ring and had a dislike for all green lanterns) to becoming a green lantern and having her people completely disown her. Even her fellow doctors.  I think she is finally all in as a lantern now. The art was good and so was the story.  There wasn't really a "must have" moment book, so unless you want complete sets, i'd say pass on this one.

Batman: Face the Face. By James Robinson

The art in Batman: Face the Face is more in line with the art style that I like.  More realistic and more detail.  This is mainly another Two-face story but with a twist.  What we find out early on is that Batman and Robin have been gone from Gotham City for over a year.  And during that time Batman entrusted Harvey Dent (a now rehabilitated Harvey Dent with the acid scaring fixed with surgery) to protect the city while he is away. When some b grade criminals start showing up dead, batman finally answers the bat signal.  Once batman is back in town, Harvey feels he is no longer needed and begins to hear the voice of two-face.  In the end something shocking happens. (at least the manor in which it happens)  This book is a little harder to find.  I found it in my local comic shop.  Most places online charge a premium for this since it is out of print.  It was still an entertaining story.  It has a different robin in it, Tim Drake.

Batman: Dark Victory. By Jeph Loeb

Batman: Dark Victory basically picks up where The Long Halloween left off.  Gotham city is still being over run with the different crime families, when Arkham Asylum is broken into and lots of bad guys are set free, including two-face.  Once again, this is very much a dark detective story.  It wasn't nearly as predictable as The Long Halloween.  The unfolding of the details happens at a good pace until the end when we are able to piece everything together.  Though not a major portion of the story, my favorite part was the origin and introduction of Robin (Dick Grayson) into the Batman Universe.  Even though as an adult I enjoying comic books for the first time, there is something still child like about them. (even though most of the content is mature)  So to have a kid in the story, with a history very much mirroring Bruce Wayne, adds a new, interesting and fun element to the story.  The art was on par The Long Halloween.  But as far as the story was concerned, it was probably one of my favorite batman stories so far.

Batman Versus Predator. By Dave Gibbons

This was a little bit of a guilty pleasure purchase for me.  I have mentioned before that I never read comics going up.  Though that is true, there was only one comic book I actually read.  It was a friend of mines and it was issue 3 of 3 of Batman versus Predator. I loved the predator so when my fried had bought a batman versus predator book I had to read it.  Plus the cover on issue 3 had batman in futuristic armor.  So when I was at a local comic book store a couple of weekends ago and I came across this collected edition for only $5, I had to jump on it just for nostalgia sake.  This won't win any award for great story, but it sure was fun.  It felt very much like the movie Predator 2 where batman was Danny Glover.  In the end my favorite thing about this was batman is so beat up in the end that he has to build himself new armor to fight the predator.  And that armor looked pretty cool.  So far of all the batman stories I have ready, I liked the artwork in this one the best.  If your looking for something fun this was a cheap and quick read.  It was one of those 'what if' stories.

Batman: The Long Halloween. By Jeph Loeb

I have picked up a number of Batman comics recently.  The Long Halloween is the third one I have read.  Like many reviews have said in the past, The Long Halloween is a HUGE influence on all of the Batman movies by Christopher Nolan. We see a relationship between Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Bruce Wayne.  We see the torching of a large warehouse full of mobster money. We have the Joker and Carmine Falcone.  We have the origin story of how Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face.  There are a lot things going on in this story.  It all revolves around a murder dubbed "Holiday" because they preform a high profile murder on holidays over an entire year.  I the end you find out who actually did the killing and the answers may surprise you.  This isn't a story about Batman beating people up but is a detective story.  A who-done-it.  There are plenty of hint to help you figure out who committed the murders. But in the end, is justice really served?  Just like Batman: year one, the are was good, but not my style.  And as for the story, it is a must read for a batman fan.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge. By Geoff Johns

Since I like the Hal Jordan Green Lantern so much, I decided I would start reading some of the Green Lantern Corps stories.  I have really come to enjoy many of the other green lanterns like Kilowog and Guy Gardner when they pop up in Hal Jordan stories.  This story takes place at the same time Hal Jordan has come back from the dead. (Green Lantern: Rebirth)  The only other Green Lantern Corps story I have read was the Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps book.  Recharge basically introduces all the major Corps characters: Kilowog, Natu, Mogo, Isamot, and Vath.  In this book the Green Lantern Corps is rebuiding and lots of rings are flying around and there is a lot of training to do.  Most of the story revolves around the new recruits and veterans fending off the spider guild from destroying the Oa'n sun.  It was cool to see different species, so that were mortal enemies, work together to protect the universe. Though not as good as normal Green Lantern series, the green lantern corps is definitely worth reading if you like that universe.

Green Lantern: Brightest Day. By Geoff Johns

Man, it feel like its been a while since I've read a Hal Jordan Green Lantern Story.  Hal is back to his normal self.  Doing what he feels is right, sometime in spite of his friends and fellow lanterns.  In Brightest Day Hal has to work with both friends and foes.  The biggest characters in this story were Atrocious and Larfleeze.  We find out more about the history of Larfleeze and why he is so greedy and always trying to acquire more objects.  We also find out that Larfleeze isn't his real birth name.  Atrocious, we find out, is on what he considers a holy quest and that he thinks he is above judgement for what he is trying to accomplish.  The art work is just like the other green lanterns stories.  Beautiful.  The end of the book involved the Justice League trying to get Hal to open up to them and they offer their help.  But Hal declines their help and states this is something only the different Lantern Corps can handle.  I enjoyed this book mainly based on the fact that Hal Jordan is one of my favorite characters.

Brightest Day Volume 2. By Geoff Johns

Brightest Day volume 2 picks up where Brightest Day volume one left off.  As I get more and more familiar with other DC characters through this series, I find that I like Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter the best. They seem to have the most interesting back stories.  Martian Manhunter (aka J'onn J'onzz)  is more like a superman from Mars.  Aquaman (aka Aurther Curry) may not seem as cool with all the different superpowers, but I think all the underwater and Atlantis stories are really interesting and could prove fun in there own right if solely focused on under water.  The mythos behind the Bermuda triangle is kinda cool as well.  Though Hawkman and Hawkgirl are kinda cool, I couldn't care less about Firestorm, Boston Brand, Hawk and Dove.  So far it has been an entertaining read, but not a must have.

Brightest Day. By Geoff Johns

Brightest Day picks up right where the Blackest Night left off.  It follows the lives of the newly reborn heroes and villains. (Mainly following The Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Hawk and Dove, Deadman, Firestorm, and Martian Manhunter.)   Most are trying to re-acclimate themselves to the land of the living.  Others are trying to figure out why they have been brought back and what their purpose is now.  And what is with the new white rings and white lantern?  The search for answers will shape their futures. If you enjoyed Blackest Night, you owe it to yourself to checkout Brightest Day.

Erasing Hell. By Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle

Erasing hell is probably most suited as a direct counter to the controversial book "Love Wins" by Rob Bell.  Not having read the book, I can't say how well it did against countering it, but erasing hell is extremely though provoking.  This isn't a Dante's inferno look at hell or a definitive answer to what exactly hell is like, but a factual biblically supported account of what is said about hell, who will be there, who won't be there, and even what it's not.  I guess before I proceed I must state that this book draw's all of its proof from scripture, the Bible.  Whether or not you believe the bible to be truth, to be God inspired and God breathed, I've come to the conclusion is irrelevant.  Just like scientists knew the earth was flat 500 years ago. Just because you do not believe something to be true, does not make it so. And yes, I know the argument can go both ways, but when the eternity of your soul is in question, do you really want to play chicken with God?  I'm not here to debate all the arguments for or against the Bible.  I believe that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)  One of the big questions that Chan and Sprinkle attempts to answer centers on whether or not Christian universalism and the opportunity for post-mortem salvation is defensible from scripture. (meaning that everyone will have a chance to accept Christ at any point in their existence before or after death.)   In short, in the search for proof texts in its defense, they found exactly none.  One of the more important aspects that Chan and Sprinkle takes is that they spends a lot of time putting all of the passages in contexts. They let us know what would have been common knowledge and what would have been earth shattering as far as teachings go.  I really appreciate how Chan and Sprinkle really push the theme of letting God be God and that he has the right to do WHATEVER He pleases.  Who are we, the clay pot, to tell the creator/sculptor that we know better or that he shouldn't have done this or that.  His ways are higher then our ways and His thoughts are higher then our thoughts.  We being the finite creation that we are, and only have the recorded past and present to gain knowledge from, our feelings, desires, heartaches, convictions are not ultimate, only God is ultimate.  As Chan states "I often hear people say, "I could never love a God who would... " Who would what? Who would disagree with you? And do things you would never do? Who would allow bad things to happen to people? Who would be more concerned with His own glory then your feelings? Who would--send people to hell?"  The absurdity of this notion is that God is somehow answerable to us. I do not like the idea of hell, but it's there.  I don't wish anyone to hell, but people will still be there.  All I can do is submit to the reality that God is greater then I am, and that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. But what I think is probably one of the best things that Chan and Sprinkle do in this book is to create a sense of urgency.  We are talking about peoples eternal destinies, and not in a fire insurance sense.  We should not take this responsibility lightly.  I would encourage those with questions about what the bible truly says about hell, and any christian for that matter, to read this book. It is short read, but doesn't brow beat you like a doomsday street corner preacher.

Batman: The Killing Joke. By Alan Moore

Batman: The Killing Joke is the second batman story I have read.  The art in this story is fantastic.  Crisp, clean, detailed, absolutely beautiful.  The story actually gives one of what could be many origin stories to the Joker.  That is just the thing about the joke, you can never believe what he says.  If you have see the movie the Dark Knight, Heather Ledger plays the joker and give two or three different accounts of how he got the scars on his face.  Same in this story.  Though we only are told of one origin, we don't know if its true.  This story shows a thoughtful side of Batman.  It starts off with him going to see the joke to "discuss" there relationship.  As Batman see's it, either he will end up killing Joker or the Joker will end up killing him and he doesn't want either.  The story and some of the images were rather dark and disturbing.  This isn't  a book for children.  It definetly has a more mature content to it.  All in all it was a good buy.

Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns

Well, its finally over.  I have finished reading all material related to the Blackest night.  And all in all, it was very good.  I hope at some point in time DC decides to make a definitive version or omnibus version that takes all of the Blackest Night titles and puts them chronologically in order, regardless of character.  That would be an amazing purchase.  I doubt they will do it though.  Oh well.  With Rise of the Black Lanterns    we are given a binding of single issues from Power of Shazam, Catwoman, Suicide Squad, Question, Phantom Stranger, Weird Western Tales, Atom, Hawkman, Starman, Adventure Comics, and Green Arrow.  Green Arrow by far was my favorite.  It definetly get me interested in learning more about the Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow mythos.  It also doesn't hurt that I know Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan are good friends either. With a list as big as this I was able to get a little taste of many of DC's other characters.  Some were actually really interesting, others stunk.  I think mainly because there is a certain artistic style that I like and many of them I did not care for.  The more I read different comics, the more I tend to gravitate towards the traditional superheros.  I like larger then life, couldn't really happen characters.  I like escapest reading in my comics.  Rise of the Black Lanterns had too many "realistic" characters.  They seemed boring to me. This book just like the last couple of Blackest Night books is surrounding support.  I doesn't stand up on its own but makes the Blackest Night that much more of a rich story.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps

Tales of the Corps continues to add to the depth of the Blackest Night event.  This book provides a handful of stories involving various members of the different Lantern Corp; mainly being Green Lanterns Kilowog and Arisia, Red Lantern Bleez, Agent Orange Larfleeze, Sinestro Corps member Mongul, Blue Lantern Saint Walker, Star Sapphire Carol Ferris, and Indigo Tribe leader Indigo-1.  We get to see the birth of Nekron, and even get to take a look at the Book of the Black. (the black lanterns version of the book of Oa)  There are a lot of different writers and artists in this book.  But over all they were able to give more details to the overall Blackest Night story.  All in all this isn't a must have by any stretch, but is a worthwhile read for true depth to the Blackest Night.

Batman: Year One. By Frank Miller

OOOOOHHHHHHHH, so that's why batman is so popular. He is one of the most recognized comic book hero's of all time, slightly behind superman, and after reading this it is obvious why.  Back in the 80's DC wanted to retell all the origin stories of their characters.  Problem was, batman's didn't really need to be retold.  So what Frank Miller was tasked with was to expand and maybe better explain the origin of batman.  For those that don't know Frank Miller also has written many other famous stories that have been made into movies such as 300 and Sin City.  This story doesn't  tell the story of Bruce Wayne's parents getting kill, Frank assumes you already know those details.  This story basically starts after Bruce Wayne finally comes back to Gotham City after being away for years becoming a human weapon.  When he comes backup Gotham City is corrupt as corrupt can be.  (kind of like the city of Detroit ;)  He still hasn't come up with the idea of batman, he is just going to be a vigilante.  But after the first couple of nights, he finally comes up with the symbol of batman.  We are introduced to many characters like Jim Gordon, Selina Kyle, and even Carmine Falcone.  The book tells about the very first year of batman's history. The story in here is amazing.  Batman is the heart of him, a detective.  A detective that has a really deep pocket book.  I didn't care for the artwork, but then again, this is the style of art work in the 80's.  But the story is so well told that it doesn't detract from the over feel to the book.  This is a MUST buy for any batman fan or someone that is interested in getting into comic reading.

Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 2

Just like volume one, Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Volume 2 is a compilation of three different comic characters cross over in to the Blackest Night event.  Blackest Night: Flash #'s 1-3, Blackest Night: JSA #'s 1-3 and Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #'s 1-3.  It's funny because going into this I excited to see more of the Flash's side of the story and it turns out it was my least favorite.  Maybe some of that had to do with the fact that I really didn't like the art in the book.  But I found myself really liking both JSA and Wonder Woman.  I enjoyed the art in both.  I like getting to know some of the JSA members and see them interact with one another.  Just like the Green Lantern Corp, its fun watching a bunch of superheroes in a team setting, working together doing what super heroes do.  I think my biggest surprise was that I actually liked Wonder Woman.  I had forgot that she becomes a violet lantern deputy.  Though this is not mandatory reading for Blackest Night, it is worth while to see how these characters handle the Black Lantern invasion.

Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 1

On my quest to read all things Blackest Night related, I recently finished Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol 1.  This isn't really a book as it is a compilation of three points of view of DC characters. Blackest Night was a DC wide event that  primarily was a Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps centric story, but crossed over into other DC characters story lines as well.  This book includes Batman's three issues, Superman's three issues, and Teen Titans' three issues.  I am familiar with Batman and Superman, but I didn't know who the Titans were. All in all this book was ok.  Since I haven't read any Batman, Superman, or Teen Titans to know what is going on in their story lines, or even who the characters where,  I was not very vested.  Though seeing the Teen Titans and how Dove figures out that she has the power to stop the Black Lanterns was very cool.  Unless you really, really love the Blackest Night story and can't get enough,  I'd save the money and skip this one.  Other then the Dove story arch, there was really nothing in this book that enhanced the Blackest Night story any more then what I have already read.

Crazy Love. By Francis Chan

Another fantastic book by Francis Chan.  This as a great, convicting, easy to read book.  It's all about love, crazy, life altering love.  Why do we as Christians always seem to forget the two greatest commands that Jesus gives us are solely about love.  1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, sole, mind and strength. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself.  Love. Again, the two most important commands Jesus gives us revolves around love.  Chan reminds us how when we first fell in love with someone, we were willing to do crazy things, like driving 4 hours just to visit a friend for only 1 hour.  That is how our lives should change if we truly fall in love with God.  For too many Christians salvation and a relationship (or lack there of) with God is more of a fire insurance policy then an actual love relationship.  Many like God, but fewer LOVE God.  We already know God loves us beyond our own comprehension.  He sent his SON to DIE for us.  I think many times, we as Christians become callus to that statement because we have heard it for so long and so many times.  But God willingly sacrificed his son for his creation.  Even with all of our flaws, rebellion and sin.  That is like me giving up my only son, so that I could save my Lego creation. (Granted we are more then just Lego's, but I think you get my point)  God loves us that much. Though there are 10 main points Chan discusses in this book, one point seemed to really stick out to me.  (especially in light of facilitating a neighborhood group.)  Jesus doesn't just call us to merely put up with or tolerate our neighbors, but to love them as ourselves.  To care for them as ourselves.  Constantly looking for ways to help and serve them.   How you live your days is how you have lived your life.  When you die, which you will, that I can guarantee (anyone what to make a bet on that), how will you be remembered?  When someone gives your eulogy, will they need to pretend to come up with things that make you sound like you were better then you were?  Like you actually offered something to the world and those around you? Will the people listening think, "Yeah right, that guy only cared about himself.  He never did anything for another person. Forget about being used as an example of God's love."?  Or will there not be enough time to hear from all the people you have touched and served because of God's love.  Chan's message is not at all a works based message nor does he ever claim you could loose your salvation.  He is just emphasizing that our love for God should pour out of us.  Like the old hymn goes "they will know we are Christians by our love".  I pray that my love would continue to increase and pour out of me onto others.  I highly, highly recommend this book.

Green Lantern Corps: Blackest Night. By Peter J. Tomasi

Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps is the next book in the Blackest Night saga.  There is a Green Lantern Corps book series.  Though I am some what familiar with most of the characters in the Green Lantern Corps series, though I'm not sure what has been going on in the Green Lantern Corps universe.  The main green lanterns that this story follows is Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner.  After reading this all I have to say is, MOGO ROCKS!!!  This story fills in more of the background that Blackest Night: Green Lantern started and adds to it.  After watching all that Mogo does, next to Kilowog and Hal Jordan, Mogo has to be one of my favorites.  An entire planet that is a green lantern...cool.  SPOILER ALERT!  Mogo travels from his sector over to OA to protect it from the black lanterns. Mogo increases his mass exponentially to suck all lanterns to it, green, black, yellow, red... all of them.  Once they are close to the surface, only the black lanterns proceed to be enveloped by the green grass to be sucked into the ground and filtered through the entire planet, removing all of the blackness out of the dead lanterns and then the blackness will burn for all eternity in the center of Mogo.  He made it look easy.  No wonder he is one of the most powerful and isolated green lanterns.  That part of the story alone makes this book worth reading.  Now I know the next couple of books tie other character lines into the main story such as Flash, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. I look forward to getting introduced to their worlds in relation to this story as well.

Green Lantern: Blackest Night. By Geoff Johns

Now this is more like it.  I'm beginning to think that Blackest Night saga will not be seen in its fully glory until I read all related material.  This story happens during the same time as previously reviewed, Blackest Night.  Here we basically follow Hal Jordan the whole time, we do break off and follow John Stewart, but mainly Hal.  My major complaint with the Blackest Night was that it seemed disjointed and lacking in back story for many of the key events.  This book goes a long way to filling in those gaps. We follow Hal as he traverses the universe recruiting/collecting the other color corps to help defeat the black lantern corps.  The more I read green lantern stories, the more I really enjoy watching the relationship between Hal Jordan and Sinestro.  Sinestro is one of those few characters in literature that you can truly hate and love at the same time.  He so badly wants to do want he views as the right thing that he becomes truly fanatical to the point of almost throwing out all logic.  But when Hal and Sinestro get together, you can see glimps' of both of there great will and desire.  There are a number of big appearances in this book.  We are revisited by The Spectre and Parallax which reminds us of many of the things that Hal Jordan has done in his life while being possessed by both.  Carol Ferris also graces us with her presents as a Star Sapphire. We also have Atrocious, Larfleeze, Lex Luther, Barry Allen, and others.  This book doesn't really have an ending as the ending is contained in the Blackest Night.  Since the book did not fill in all the gaps and back story, I look forward to reading the other Blackest Night books.

Blackest Night. By Geoff Johns

Now that I've finished the Blackest Night and have had a little time to digest it, I think I'm ready to give me thoughts.  Going into this book I was extremely excited.  This was the book that I was recommended that actually got me to purchase my first graphic novel. (Green Lantern: Secret Origin)  But since I had heard such glowing reviews I wanted to get some background and place this story in the context of the Green Lantern Universe. I really, really, really wanted to LOVE this book, but it did not capture the same excitement that the Sinestro Corps Wars did for me.  I mean this had all the makings of a book that I should have loved.  It had the Green Lantern, Hal Jordan and the Flash, Barry Allen as the central figures, both of whom I really like.  It had all the color spectrum corps coming together to fight off a universe destroying Black Lantern Corp.  And the thing that should have had me hook, line, and sink was stinking superhero ZOMBIES!!!  The black lantern corp is death.  Black had the power to reanimate the dead and control them.  It didn't bring them back to life, which the book specifically explains.  Now this still was a very good story.  I loved the fact that the Flash played a central roll.  I did like the zombie superhero element, that was really cool.  I think because this is the central story to a whole lot of tie in stories(Superman, Batman, Wonder Women, Green Lantern, and Green Lantern Corps), it seems a little disjointed.  For example, we know that Hal Jordan has to go recruit the other lantern corps to help defeat the black lanterns.  So Hal leaves and a little later he is back with the other six corps.  In the context of this book, it just seemed too easy and too convenient.  There are another six books that make up the full detailed story...so I've been told.    The next book is Blackest Night: Green Lantern which is supposed to go into detail on Hal's journey to recruit the the other corps.  Another thing that bothered me about his particular book was that unlike the Sinestro Corps Wars, the Black Lanterns though we mentally know they are extremely powerful, I never really felt that the good guys were totally helpless and in dyer straights and were fighting for dear life.  Maybe it was because I knew things were eventually going to work out and the Black Lanterns would be defeated.  The Black Hand never felt that intimidating.  Some of the facts were never explained like why all the corps fighting together couldn't make a dent, or why Dove could dissolve the black lanterns.  Several Blackest Night prophecies were fulfilled but it were never really talked about or emphasized.  Even with all those negatives, it still was a good book.  Many characters that have been dead in the DC Universe have been truly brought back to life. (you'll see why in the book) It would seem to help setup the New 52 reboot. I'd give it a 4 our of 5 as a stand alone.  Now on to the other supporting books.  Hopefully they fill in all the gaps and make this a much more rounded story.

Making Sense of Wine. By Matt Kramer

Over the past several years Crystal and I have really started enjoying wine. At first it was really only sweet wines like Riesling.  But the more we drank, the more we have seen our palates change and expand.  We then ventured on to other whites and reds.  Now we will pretty much try anything.  But isn't that the point?  Well last year for my birthday, one of the books Crystal bought me was Making Sense of Wine by Matt Kramer.  At the time I though, "oh, this could be interesting"  not really giving the book much though.  Since I had received a number of other books, I just put this one on the shelf.  A couple of weeks ago, after I finished Good to Great, I picked this book back up.  I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, maybe talking about specific wines or how to taste and what to look for, though it had some of that, it was so much more.  This book is basically a history of wine.  Matt talks about everything thing from how varietals are native to regions, how the wine making process has changes over hundreds of years, to how bottling, shipping, and distribution has changed.  Even from a business stand point it was very interesting.  He talks about how over the last 50 or 60 years, America has really changed the wine landscape.  How traditionally native grapes have been pulled up only to be replaced by more popular varietals.  He wraps up the book concluding that there is no wrong or right about wine, whether it be serving temp, wine glass selection, or specific winery.  It all comes back to your personal palate and that wine was meant to be enjoyed with food.  This is an excellent book for those that want to increase their knowledge of wine quickly and well.  Even if you don't drink wine, but enjoy history and culture, this is a very worth while read.

Green Lantern: Agent Orange. By Geoff Johns

Green Lantern: Agent Orange is just ok.  The actual story was very short, so DC tried to make up for it by putting some more summary stuff at the end of it for the prelude to Blackest Night.  It was info we already knew and didn't really introduce anything new.  In Agent Orange we learn more about the orange emotional light of avarice, or greed.  Agent Orange, aka Larfleeze, is the only physical member of the Orange Lantern Corp.  Because of the inherent nature of greed, an orange lantern kills its victim and steals the being, identity and all. Agent orange can then use the identity of its victims to build an exact replica constructs to do its bidding.  The indigo lantern corp is referenced as the indigo tribe of compassion, but nothing more is revealed about them. The art was good, but I like Ethan Van Sciver better.  I wish I could recommend this book, but I didn't feel it was worth the money.  It wasn't even critical to read for back story to the Blackest Night. I'd say pass on it unless you really want to have all back story knowledge available before moving on.  Now on to the main event... BLACKEST NIGHT.

Forgotten God. By Francis Chan

Forgotten God is a book by Francis Chan that specifically talks about the Holy Spirit.  So many times in the christian culture we completely forget or don't recognize the Holy Spirit.  I'm not talking about not knowing the Holy Spirit exists or denying that He is God, but forgetting that he is there, dwelling with in us.  God the Father, and God the Son seem to get all the attention.  God the Father created the world, or God the Son, Jesus, died on the cross for my sins.  And then there is God the Holy Spirit, umm.....oh yeah, the one that dwells in us.  Even this past Sunday at our church, many people were getting baptized and giving their testimony of salvation, one teenage girl in particular made me chuckle to myself when she thanked God and Jesus.  Normally I really wouldn't have thought twice about it, but because I was reading a book about the Holy Spirit, I was much more aware of the absence of mentioning the Holy Spirit.  I don't fault her for it at all.  I am public offender number one when it comes to forgetting about the Holy Spirit.  This is not a book that beats you over the head for constantly forgetting that the Holy Spirit dwells in you, nor is it a book about lifting your hands, speaking in tongues, and flailing on the floor because you are so filled with the Spirit.  This book is about God in the form of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, (For those of us who are Christians) listening to his guidance, and living our life for God, not just inviting God to live life with us.  Francis gave some really good examples about actually following Christ through the Holy Spirit.  One example that he gave that really stood out was this:  when you truly want to be like someone (in our case it should be Christ) do you just try and do what they do, or do you actually follow them and mirror their life?  Francis takes seven chapters to cover the following topics regarding the Holy Spirit:

• The role of the Holy Spirit as Jesus' promised gift
• Fears and concerns about the Holy Spirit
• How theology about the Holy Spirit has more to do with how a person lives than what they say they believe
• Motivations around the Holy Spirit and his power
• What a relationship with the Holy Spirit can really be like
• Letting go of manipulation and control by trusting the Holy Spirit
• Living in true community with the Holy Spirit and with others

One of the things that I really appreciated about this book was at the end of each chapter he wrote a small biography on a person who was living out and demonstrating that aspect of the Holy Spirit in their life.  Francis doesn't just give you a bunch of useful information, but he gives Christians a call to action. This is definitely a worth while read for any Christian, no matter where they are on their spiritual walk.

Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns. By Geoff Johns

Now that the Sinestro Corps War is over, and we have a established all the facts about the emotional color spectrum, on to introducing all of the emotional color corps/factions to lead up to the Blackest Night.   We know that the Green Lantern Corps is built around the color green that is the power of will.  The Sinestro Corps is built around the color yellow that is the power of fear.  And the Star Sapphire Corps is built around the color violet that is the power of love. (Que Huey Lewis and the News)  We are now introduced to two more factions is the color spectrum.  We have the Red Lantern Corps that is built around the color red that is the power of rage, and we have the Blue Lantern Corps that is build around the color blue that is the power of hope.  The Red Lantern Corps is started by Atrocitus, the same guy who killed Abin Sur that gave Hal Jordan his ring.  While building up hate and rage while being imprisoned on Ysmault, he was able to tap into the red spectrum to craft a red power battery and thus rings.  The Blue Lantern Corps I actually found pretty cool.  The Blue Lantern Corps were founded by the two expelled Guardians of the Universe, Ganthet and Sayd. They were able to create a blue power ring out of their mutual hope for the future.  The thing that I found most interesting about them is that though they are a separate corp, they were made to aid and assist other emotional spectrum ring holders, not replace them.  Our first run it with them, they help Hal Jordan.  Being two X-Guardians, and still caring for the Green Lantern Corp which they helped start, the Blue Lanterns really are the support forces for the front line Green Lanterns.  Towards the end of this book, we are given hints about the orange spectrum and we will find out more in the next book. (Green Lantern: Agent Orange) We do already know that orange is the power of avarice, also known as greed, and that indigo is the power of compassion.  I can't remember if we have been properly introduced to the indigo color and those who wield it, but maybe we will find out in the next book?
During the Sinestro Corps Wars, after Ganthet and Sayd are expelled from the Guardians of the Universe, the Guardians make changes to the Book of Oa.  They wrote in 10 new laws. We already know that lethal force is authorized against the Sinestro Corps.  But in this book we find out that the second new law is that lethal force is authorized against all enemies of the Green Lantern Corps.  I'm not sure why they would have two laws that basically state the same thing.  Probably more of a writers issue.  They probably haven't even figured out what all the new 10 laws will be.  Anyways, most of this book was slow but got a little better towards the end.  I wouldn't pick this one up unless you are wanting to complete the series up to the Blackest Night.  Other then the introductions to the two new Corps and the revelation of the second new law, there didn't seem to be anything that was earth shattering.

Superman: Secret Origin. By Geoff Johns

Upon completion of Superman: Secret Origin I can now see why Superman is the grand daddy of all comic book characters.  For being an alien from another planet, there is something naively human about him.  A young Clark Kent struggles and desperately wants nothing more then to be a normally accepted human.  For someone with unique super powers, he wants to be average.  I can't tell you how many times going up all I wanted to do was feel normal and fit in.  (I only wish it was because I had superpowers and the ability to fly)  For as extraordinary as Clark Kent was, he had all the same fears and nerves as every other human does.  As the title states, this is a retelling of the superman origin story.  It is kinda cool to see the contrasts that are used in the story.  Clark Kent growing up in Smallville, KS only to move to Metropolis. (small country town America vs. New York City.)  You can't get any more different then those two.  You have Clark Kent, after realizing that he has power, stops playing sports or doing anything with other guys because he MIGHT hurt someone, and Lex Luther who will take advantage of anyone.  You people that believe and have a faith in superman, yet Lex Luther is a man of science and hold to his belief that everything is because of science, there are no such things as miracles.  You have superman who's sole purpose in life is to help people, and you have Lex Luther who's sole purpose is to help himself, at the cost of anyone or anything. Superman is inclusive, Lex is exclusive. Fitting in with society vs. standing out uniquely from society. The art in this comic was great.  Gary Frank really creates a Christopher Reeves looking Superman, which is actually pretty cool.  We are introduced to all the main characters like Lois Lane, and a couple of the villains.  Both Parasite and Metallo are in the story, but what kind of put me off was how easily superman dealt with them.  I know he is superman and all but short of being caught off guard, it didn't' really seem like superman had to break a sweat to win.  But that is miner.  The whole reading experience was very enjoyable and would recommend to anyone looking to get into Superman comics.

The Flash:Rebirth. By Geoff Johns

A couple of weeks back, I went to Las Vegas for a work conference.  So before I left, I picked up a couple of comic books to read.  Because at that point Green Lantern was the only thing I had read, I decided to pick up something different as well.  Again, not having any real background knowledge of comic book characters, I decided to pickup something written by Geoff Johns.  After reading this there was a whole lot I was introduced to.  The main purpose of this book was to bring back Barry Allen, the Flash who died saving the universe 25 years ago, just like Green Lantern: Rebirth brought back Hal Jordan.  Not to mention the same two guys that did Green Lantern: Rebirth did this book as well.  There are a lot of similarities to the Green Lantern.  Barry Allen isn't the only Flash.  There is also Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Bart Allen, Barry's grandson.  Both Barry and Hal have to adjust to the changing world, but is cool to see how both approach the issue. Both had a parent die when they were young and both do things according to their own convictions, even if the other Justice League members disagree. The story establishes that Barry Allen didn't tap into the Speed Force (the force that all speedsters use), but he actually created it.  With this, it solidifies Barry Allen as the primary figure for the Flash franchise.  This book recounts the story of his mothers murder, the catalysis for Barry entering the Police force.  The main antagonist is the Reverse Flash.  I have to say, the more I start to read comics, I think bad versions of good characters (ie.  Cyborg-Superman, Superman Prime, Reverse Flash, Red Dart...) always seems kind of easy cop outs to me.  I like distinctive and unique bad guys like Joker to Batman.  But regardless of that this was an entertaining read and continues to expand on my knowledge of the DC comics universe.

Green Lantern: Tales of the Sinestro Corps. By Geoff Johns

Well, I finished Green Lantern: Tales of the Sinestro Corps last weekend.  It was pretty good.  It gave a TON of back ground info everything in the Green Lantern Universe.  It listed all the Green Lanterns in the Corp, all members of the Sinestro Corp and a breif bio on each of them.  It is basically an encyclopedia of all things Green Lantern.  Like the title suggests, the bulk of this book is tales of the Sinestro Corps.  During the Sinestro Corp Wars, there are a number of Yellow Lanterns that have major parts in the War. This book gives some back ground origin stories and historical events leading up to their roles in the war. We already know how Amon Sur gets to be in the Sinestro Corp, so he isn't covered in there, but the rest are.  Though I liked most of the content, this book did not have as much continuity as other books.  It was more of a greatest hits album of the Sinestro Coprs.  I felt that the content would have been better placed somewhere else.  Maybe in a  large omnibus like edition that put this in with the Sinestro Corps War.  Though the content is valuable in the building to the richness the Green Lantern Universe, it is not a must have unless you can't get enough of the Green Lantern Corps or are a person that just has to compete a set.

Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corp Wars. By Geoff Johns

I am officially hooked.  This story arc was fantastic.  During this book I was finally able to figure out why I like and have gravitated towards the Green Lantern character so much.  For those of you that really know me, you know that I am a SPACE nut.  If a movie takes place in space, I have seen it and most likely like it.  Green Lantern operates in space, which makes Hal Jordan is an intergalactic space cop.  Right up my alley. In this book Hal Jordan's former mentor and fallen Green Lantern, Sinestro, has finally had enough of the Green Lantern Corps and forms his own, all that bear rings that grant them with the power of the yellow light of fear. Sinestro declares all out war on the Green Lantern Corps, and the choices made will alter the future of the Green Lantern.  Though haven't read them yet, this story combines story arcs from the Green Lantern Corps books as well to produce a magnificent space opera on a massive scale.  The action and suspense are great, the revelations are fantastic that will lead up to the blackest night series.  The fights are amazing and the locations are vast and beautiful.  It is full of action and drama.   I found some particularly entertaining points in some of the humor and artistry.  There are a couple of easter eggs in the frames that have the Michigan block M in them, and there is a reference to Red Dawn in it that actually made my wife laugh.  (she has a soft spot in her heart for the movie Red Dawn.)  This story couldn't have been more tailor made for me.  I think I finally understand why comic books have been around for so long and why they are still around.  For as many that might be cheesy or bland, when you get a story like this, it can prove that there is still a lot that comic books have to offer. A must read for comic book fans.