Archive for January, 2016
LanternCast Episode #241 – December Books!
Mark and Chad kick things off this episode with their first current issue review segment of 2016! This time we talk Hal’s family reunion, Sinestro’s desperate plans, the finale of the Star Trek/GL crossover, and the end of the Lobo series! Then we wrap up with a healthy dose of affirmation in the form of LISTENER FEEDBACK! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!
Download the episode HERE!
LanternCast – 2016 Special Report – Episode #01!
DC recently, kinda, announced a new relaunch event for the summer called ‘Rebirth’. So Mark and Chad went into breaking news mode and pulled up a couple of mics to discuss what this news means for the DC Universe and Green Lantern in particular! Listen in! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!
Download the episode HERE!
“Rebirth” Thoughts, Part Deux!
I was originally going to write a bigger piece to go with Chad’s post, but I decided to do this smaller standalone instead, especially since we do plan on posting an episode about DC’s “Rebirth” in the next few days.
Relaunching the DCU without a reboot makes little sense to me. So as soon as I heard about the rumor, I figured it was going to be a reboot, even if a soft one. Just keeping the status quo and giving us yet another wave of number one issues would probably accomplish nothing. Especially when one considers the luster has pretty much come of the “New 52” brand as a whole these days.
When DC confirmed the news and released the “Rebirth” banner, besides adding to the reboot not just relaunch speculation, it also hinted at something else. Green Lantern fans (and Flash fans too, to a lesser extent) know the term means something special to them, since it helped turn around the struggling GL book and helped launch an entire brand or franchise of books that catapulted Green Lantern to the top of the DCU, in relevance, popularity and sales. It also has a direct link to the creators of both previous rebirths: Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.
Considering Johns’ role at DC and WB, for DC to call an event “Rebirth” and Johns not be a major force behind it, if not THE force, would be mind-boggling. With Convergence bringing back the entire multiverse last year and with the “Rebirth” of the DCU this summer, it definitely seems that the New 52 is about either go away or be modified into some sort of amalgam with the previous DCU or maybe be combined with several others. If Johns is the architect of this reboot, then hopefully it will also have positive ramifications for the Green Lantern books, since the franchise clearly needs something to breathe some life into it.
Despite Robert Venditti and Cullen Bunn’s best efforts, the pendulum has not been swinging in the right direction for a while now. It makes sense that, whether it is a relaunch or reboot, DC take this opportunity to shake up the direction and the creative teams across the board on all books that are doing as well as they would like or expect.
-Mark Marble
DC Comics Relaunches Titles This Summer With ‘Rebirth’!
Early yesterday Bleeding Cool announced a recent rumor going around that DC was going to relaunch all of their titles this summer with new #1 issues. As reported, these titles would all be more closely tied to the versions of the characters seen in DC film and television. Obiously this would mean more titles featuring characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Harley Quinn, the Suicide Squad, and more.
By the time mid afternoon rolled around, Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, and other posted the below image to their various social media accounts.
https://twitter.com/dandidio1/status/690640882182283265
#Rebirth pic.twitter.com/3NhY3CTTOt
— Jim Lee (@JimLee) January 22, 2016
So it’s now, as of this posting, all but OFFICIALLY confirmed by the powers that be at DC Comics.
What does this mean for Green Lantern and the related titles in their line-up? Well the short answer is, “We don’t know”.
With an emphasis supposedly on more widespread media incarnations of their characters, it’s hard to know where GL will fall. Warner/DC have been very tight lipped about Green Lantern. Rumor has it he’ll be appearing in the final act of the ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’ film alongside the other founders of the JLA. Rumor has it he’ll also be played by Dan Amboyer. But that’s just it, they’re all rumors. As for DCTV on the CW, GL has been the butt of many an Easter egg, but not much in the way of FULL ON character or casting reveals.
Now, this ‘Rebirth’ event won’t be happening until this summer. By then, Green Lantern could, if the rumors are true, be revealed in BVSDoJ. Since he’d, hypothetically, then be revealed that means the floodgates could open concerning the rest of the plans for the Green Lantern mythos on the silver screen. MAYBE. But as things stand now, we don’t have much to go on with regards to the popular media interpretation of Green Lantern.
That could mean a few things.
It could mean that, like the New 52, Green Lantern and related titles will come out the other side of this relaunch relatively unscathed. But that’s doubtful.
Green Lantern sales and popularity haven’t been really high since Geoff Johns left the books. *EX: ‘Green Lantern’ #46 was ranked 62nd out of 100 for the month of November while the ‘Justice League: Darkseid War: Green Lantern’ one shot was ranked 81st. ‘Sinestro’ didn’t even break the top 100. That’s a decline from the prior month where ‘Green Lantern’ stood at 55th place for #45 and ‘Sinestro’ was ranked 98th for issue #16, just below the 97th spot held by ‘Star Trek/Green Lantern’ #4. For DC, cracking the top 100 could be considered an popular title, to be honest, we don’t know that information. Maybe they only consider the top 50 worth a shot? Maybe it’s the top 100? Maybe they don’t care about those numbers at all, maybe they just care about profit margins. Who knows but DC? The point is, regardless of quality, DC’s Lantern titles have been slowly falling.
(* – This information taken from the Dec & Jan issues of PREVIEWS magazine)
Would Robert Venditti stay on the title? Would Cullen Bunn stay on Sinestro? Would there even be a Sinestro title?
Like we said, right now, we just don’t know.
If this all spells goodbye for the teams behind ‘Green Lantern’ & ‘Sinestro’ (‘Green Lantern: Edge of Oblivion’ & ‘Omega Men’ not mentioned as the titles were already announced as either limited runs or being cancelled) then we wish them well. Regardless of how we PERSONALLY feel about those issues and their direction, it’s clear they were fun books for A LOT of Lantern fans. And any injection of excitement into the GL mythos is something worth thanking a creative team for. Personally, I feel bad for Cullen Bunn in all of this. After the Aquaman stuff, the sudden cancellation of ‘Lost Army’, and now this, things don’t seem to be going his way at DC lately. Particularly in regards to ‘Sinestro’. Cullen has been purposefully making sure that, while exploring “the Paling”, he establishes the Sinestro Corps as the rightful replacements for the absent Green Lantern Corps. A move that, rightfully, needs to be EARNED within the pages of the comic before we believe it. And now that he’s nearly there, the rug is (possibly) pulled out from under him before he’s got a chance to tell the stories on the other side of the new status quo he was trying to set up all this time.
But again, this all pre-supposes that the teams are changing or the books are being cancelled on the other side of “Rebirth”. They might not be. We REALLY don’t know a whole heckuvalot right now. Rest assured we’ll let you know when we DO know more, either here, on our Facebook page, on our twitter, or on the podcast itself.
-Chad Bokelman
UPDATE #1: Literally before I even hit post, Geoff Johns retweeted Jim Lee’s tweet to Ethan Van Sciver with a sly message…
@EthanVanSciver Hmmm… 😉 https://t.co/r5MwsFYoCk
— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) January 22, 2016
Does this mean Geoff and Ethan are returning to either the Flash or Green Lantern? God only knows. But we hope so, if only temporarily…
LanternCast Episode #240 – 2016 Movie Preview!
It’s time for the annual Movie Preview episode, so Chad and Mark discuss the 2016 films they are looking forward to the most! And what would this episode be without the ones they could care less about? What releases make the dreaded “Three Pounds of Monkey Crap” list? You might be surprised. Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!
Download the episode HERE!
LanternCast Episode #239 – In Memory of Shawn Engel!
In memory of friend of the show and fellow Green Lantern podcaster Shawn Engel, Mark and Chad cover the ‘Hero Quest’ storyline from the Kyle Rayner run. Listen in as the guys discuss one of Shawns FAVORITE GL’s as he seeks advice on just how to be a hero from; the caped crusader, the worlds mightiest mortal, and the amazing amazon! THIS ONES FOR YOU SHAWN! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!
Download the episode HERE!
Listen to Shawn talk about these issues on ‘Just One of the Guys’!
LanternCast Episode #238 – Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
Mark and Chad are joined by friend and fellow podcaster Ryan Daly to talk about the latest silver screen entry into the Star Wars saga, ‘The Force Awakens’! The guys have all seen it three or more times and they’re primed to spend TWO HOURS discussing and speculating! So settle in and start the replay in your minds eye because spoilers abound in the FIRST episode of 2016! Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!
Download the episode HERE!
