On Vomiting Blood and Invading Secretly
On Vomiting Blood and Invading Secretly
Nov 13I get my comics sent in boxes several weeks after their release, so I always feel too far behind to even write reviews or comments. Plus, it’s almost always an exercise in pleasing myself, since there are far more people with far more time and focus than I who do a far better job of reviewing comics than I do.
Still, if just for my own edification, a few random thoughts on things I read recently.
Everybody has their own internal barometer for these sort of things, but I think the Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns one-shot represents at least a minor breaking point in my relationship with the DC Universe.
In case you missed this scintillating issue, it features a new corps of lanterns fueled by rage, and for some reason as part of using their powers, they vomit blood.
That’s right. Geoff Johns, who can be a damn decent writer when he wants to be, indulges in the logical extension of his obsession with gore and violence by creating an entire army of villains who all VOMIT BLOOD.
“Nasty” is about the only word that comes to mind, and it points out quite clearly that for the most part, modern superhero comics and myself are moving in different directions lately.
Wondering where the story went in Secret Invasion? It’s moved to Avengers: The Initiative. Their tie-in storyline about a band of low-level heroes teleporting across the country to kill sleeper cell agents reads like the ACTUAL story of how the war between humanity and the Skrulls happens. It’s everything that’s been missing from the core miniseries–y’know, like actual INVASION and BATTLE and stuff.
That’s actually all I got.
This blood-vomiting thing has taken a beating all over the internet. But to be honest, when I read it, it made perfect sense within the story. I’m not too excited about seeing a lot of blood-vomiting lanterns, but I’m willing to see how it plays out.