Archive for the ‘Issue Reviews!’ Category

Mark and Chad return to cross off the final issue of Edge of Oblivion from their “To Review” pile! How was it? Well LISTEN and we’ll tell you! But before that, the guys dust off a vinyl record from 1967 and represent, for your pleasure, the Origin of Green Lantern Alan Scott in audio form! Yes, SERIOUSLY. Don’t miss it! Be sure to email us or call our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN with your thoughts!

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Our coverage of Green Lantern Corps Quarterly CONTINUES with the SIXTH of EIGHT episodes!  Corwin Crowl joins Mark as they wade through a heavy dose of ’90s story-telling to uncover the rare gems of tales featuring Laira and Boodikka!  Plus, if you like your Quarterlies with an S & M flair, this is definitely the episode for you.  Throw in Corwin’s take on the Sinestro series and the Rebirth era, along with some guest commentary by some guy named Chad, and this one’s a can’t miss!  Be sure to chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

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Chad and Mark return to discuss Green Lanterns; Rebirth (both the one-shot and first issue of the ongoing)!  The boys also spend a healthy amount of time taking on the DC Rebirth special written by former GL scribe Geoff Johns! All that and the answer to your number one question: What’s New in the Life of Chad Bokelman?! Be sure to email us or call our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN with your thoughts!

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Issue 5 of Darkstars was written by Michael Jan Friedman, pencilled by Travis Charest, inked by Scott Hanna and colored by Julianna Ferriter.  The lettered was Bob Pinaha and edited by Ruben Diaz and Brian Augustyn.  This issue was cover dated February 1993 and was on the stands January 5, 1993 (Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics).

 

   “Slaves and Other Prisoners” opens with Colos and Mo handing over Evil Star to the authorities.  Mo is in awe that he is in space and as the two return to earth, Colos muses about Mo’s obvious awe and thinks that he is working out better than he expected.  Flint on the other hand who is not with them is another story entirely.  Colos now decides that he needs a base of operation on Earth so he does not have to hop back and forth to his ship.

 

   Meanwhile, Flint returns to the Dallas Police Department.  The chief asks Flint where he has been for the last twenty four hours.  Flint insists that he has not been drinking, but he is unable to give a better excuse for his whereabouts.  The chief thinks that Flint had been out drinking and used mouthwash to hide his breath. 

 

   The chief puts Flint on a kidnapping case connected with Pappas, the Loco kingpin.  A foxy black woman was seen with Pappas in a warehouse and she did not look happy about it.  The police was  able to get a warrant to raid the warehouse and Flint is to lead the bust.  While the chief is talking to him, Flint decides to go ahead in his Darkstar gear to prevent any officers from getting killed if they run into aliens like the last time.  Flint however answers his chief by saying that he is not sure he can lead a team basically admitting that he had been on a drinking binge.  Flint now leaves the office saying that he will get his life together.

 

   At the warehouse, Pappas is with Carla and some thugs.  Pappas is going to give Carla to the aliens as a slave for spilling champagne on him in the previous issue.  Carla continues to fight.  Carla however thinks that Pappas is selling her to a Middle Eastern sheikh.  An alien comes up and tells her that she is really going off world.  The aliens take her to cargo bay delta.  Carla thinks to herself, wandering if it would have been better to ignore the truth and be a good lawyer.  She decides that she did make the right decision and self pity will get her nowhere.  She decides to fight and find a way to escape.

 

   Flint returns to Colos’s ship to gear up.  He is unable to get in contact with Colos so he programs his suit to broadcast his message every hour regardless of his condition.  He is going after Pappas alone to prevent his fellow Dallas police officers from stumbling into a group of highly armed aliens.

 

   Later Colos and Mo discover Flint’s message.  Colos tries to raise Flint to no response.  Colos and Mo take off tracking Flint’s path to try to bring him back in one piece.  Colos grumbles about Flint’s decision but Mo says that he chose to do this to save the lives of others and he thinks that is courageous.

 

   In the warehouse, Flint discovers the alien’s ship wondering what is going on.  Out of the corner of his eyes he sees someone approaching and opens fire with his masers.  Hawkman and Hawkgirl are the two that Flint attacks and they scatter.  The two return fire on Flint and the battle gets the attention of the aliens who open fire on the Hawks as well.  Flint sees this and questions why the aliens are fighting among themselves and wonders if he blew it by attacking the Hawks without getting the information first.  The Hawks move in to fight the aliens.  Flint also attacks the aliens still questioning which side the Hawks are on.  The launch sequence of the ship is initiated and the ship takes off.

 

   This issue transitions from the Evil Star subplot back to the Pappas main plot.  One of my favorite moments in comics is not just the action and adventure but the character beats.  This issue is full of them.  We mainly get insight into Flint here.  We find that he was so embedded in his job that he sometimes decides to go above the law to bring the criminals in.  His constant failures even drives him to drink and now that he has the weapons and the power to make a difference, he cannot wait for Colos.  Mo even defends Flint’s actions to Colos.

 

   The other element I like is the appearance of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.  I am personally a fan of these characters and it was fun to see them show up here.  I would like to see a team up with the Hawks and the Darkstars in the next issue, which I have not read as of this writing.

 

   For the character beats I give this issue a 4 out of 5 power rings.  It was a little slow but the cliffhanger makes me want to grab the next issue.  See you next time

 

Chad and Mark return to bid adieu to the New 52 and specifically, the remaining monthly GL titles from it. The final issues of both Sinestro and Green Lantern, along with the penultimate issue of Edge of Oblivion are all fair game!  Throw in some Marvel and DC movie talk, and you have yourself a great way to begin the summer! Be sure to email us or call our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN with your thoughts!

Download the episode HERE!

For the milestone episode 250 of The LanternCast, co-hosts Mark Marble and Chad Bokelman welcome friend and fellow podcaster Ryan Daly to talk about FINAL NIGHT! The sun has gone out, the planet is freezing, and Earths heroes are scrambling for a solution. A solution only Parallax, Hal Jordan, can provide. So listen in as we cover the monumental first steps towards Hal Jordan’s redemption! Be sure to email us or chime in on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

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In participation with EIGHT other comics podcasts across the internet during the month of May, Mark and Chad jump in on the JLMay fun! Join the guys as they talk about issues 7 & 8 of the ‘JLA: Year One’ arc from the late 90’s! Find out HOW the original JLA formed post Crisis if the trinity were no longer involved! Don’t forget to leave us a voicemail by calling 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!

 

CHECK HERE FOR A LIST OF PARTICIPATING SHOWS!

• Fire & Water Podcast: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/fire-water-163/
• Power Fishnets: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/power-of-fishnets-6-jlmay-crossover-part-2/
• Waiting for Doom: http://waitingfordoom.podbean.com
• LanternCast: https://lanterncast.com
• Super Mates: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/supermates
• Idol Head of Diabolu: http://shoutengine.com/TheIdolHeadofDiaboluPodcast
• Comic Reflections:http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/comicreflections
• Views from the Longbox: http://www.viewsfromthelongbox.com

 

It’s time for April books, as the countdown to DC Rebirth continues!  Chad and Mark take a quick look at Green Lantern #51, Sinestro #22 and Edge of Oblivion #4 in a surprisingly short, but hopefully still sweet, episode! Be sure to email us or sound off on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!

 

Darkstars issue #4 written by Michael Jan Friedman, penciled by Travis Charest, inked by Scott Hanna, lettered by Bob Pinaha, and colored by Julianna Ferriter.  The Editor to the Stars was Brian Augustyn and the Stellar Consultant was Robert Greenberger.  The cover date is January 1993 and according to Mikes Amazing World of Comics the release date was December 1, 1992.

 

       “Star Wars” begins with Evil Star and the starlings attacking the city in hopes of luring Green Lantern out.  The police arrive to stop the mayhem but to no avail.  Flint attacks one of the starlings after some officers are killed.  Colos and Mo arrive to face Evil Star.  All Evil Star cares about is that the two are not Green Lanterns.  Evil Star attacks Colos when he attempts to convince Evil Star to surrender.  Evil Star orders the starlings to attack the Darkstars as they are not worthy of his attention.  Suddenly Evil Star has a crisis of conscience and questions what is it that he is doing and leaves to give himself some time to think leaving the Darkstars confused.  Colos orders his ship’s computer to analyze what just happened in hopes of gaining some important Intel.

 

            Now we catch up with Carla.  She is leaving a taxi but is soon kidnapped by two goons.

 

            The police in attempting to learn about what is going on are attacked by Evil Star who is just looking for some time to think.  The Darkstars continue their pursuit of Evil Star and his starlings.  They determine that the starlings are headed for an abandoned junkyard which gives Colos time to get the data he requested from his ship’s computers.  Flint however goes rogue and attacks Evil Star.  He is attacked and grabbed by the starlings,  prompting Colos to intervene.  He attacks and kills the starlings but is attacked himself by Evil Star.  The Darkstars withdraw but are pursued themselves by the starlings.  Colos surmises that the starlings are just trying to scare the Darkstars off and when they fly off the starlings stop their pursuit.

 

            Colos scolds Flint for his reckless actions.  Colos declares himself as the one who calls the shots and Flint is not to go off on his own again.  Flint agrees saying that he got carried away.  After this the three settle down to watch and wait.

 

            We get an interlude in deep space.  We see the Controllers for the first time.  They approach Administrator Jeddigar in order to answer some questions.  They are contemplating the distribution of Darkstar forces in sectors two through six.  Their concern is that they are venturing too far from the sphere of the Controllers concerns.  The administrator just says that this was not a question.  The Controllers admit that they are not accustomed to verbal communication.  The administrator then responds by saying the the sphere of influence the Controllers are talking about is not far enough to adequately protect them.  The Controllers then question Colos’s posting on Earth saying that they do not see the relevance of this position.  Jeddigar answers that Earth is extremely relevant.  Earth has been tagged by an organization in Sector Four.  The Controllers insist that Colos should then be replaced as he has had problems in the past so he should not be in such and important post.  Jeddigar announces that he alone makes the decisions.  Jeddigar ends the conversation saying that he has a staff meeting.  The Controllers on leaving complain about the administrators arrogance.  They decide to wait for a confrontation but admit that sometime they must confront and remove Jeddigar because in time he can become a greater threat to the Controllers.

 

            Back on Earth, Carla slowly wakes up from the chloroform and discovers that she has been kidnapped by Pappas.  Pappas kidnapped her because in his mind, she is still his lawyer and he just wants Carla to hear him out.  He hopes to buy Carla’s services as his lawyer.  Carla answers by throwing a glass of wine at Pappas.  Pappas says that she will be sorry for her actions.

 

            Back at the junkyard Evil Star and the starlings take off prompting the Darkstars to prepare to engage.  Colos finally gets the information he ordered from his ship’s computer.  It seems that the brainwave restrictor used on Evil Star was a prototype that actually spurred unconscious brain activity.  The restrictor allowed Evil Star to unknowingly awaken the starlings to steal the Star-Brand.  This seems to answer why Evil Star was running from the starlings in the beginning as well as his current actions.  Consciously he is terrified of the starlings and as a result he is experiencing an internal struggle for control.  Colos leads the Darkstars to follow Evil Star but only to distract him from a narrowcast from his ship’s computer using the same frequency of the brainwave restrictor.  Colos plans to flood Evil Star’s mind with six million reminders of his genocidal crimes.  This brings the internal conflict in Evil Star’s mind to a head and makes Evil Star to fall into unconsciousness.  Colos removes the Star-Brand and the starlings go inactive.  Colos now plans to melt a dense metal down with their masers and mold it around the starlings to prevent Evil Star’s mental commands from reaching them.

 

            We now find Carla in Pappas’s limousine.  He threatens that if she does not shut up, he will do worse to her that Pedro Montoya, the man Pappas was accused of killing.  If she does shut up she will live and maybe even like where she is going.

 

            It was good to see Colos use intelligence in defeating Evil Star.  Instead of just fighting him which he learns is next to impossible, he formulates a strategy based on the Intel he was able to discover about Evil Star and win the day with this strategy.

 

            We get our first look at the Controllers.  They are pink just like the Guardians of the Universe but instead of being short like I am used to seeing the Guardians,they are normal sized.  They appear to have turned over complete command to this Administrator Jeddigar.  A man that they even admit to not liking or trusting.  We still see that the Controllers are more concerned about their own welfare than anything else and the Darkstars were created not to police the Universe but instead protect the Controllers and their interests.  I personally do not see much to like about this people.

 

            We do get more Carla in this issue and her arc is the continuing story to be looked at next issue.  I give this issue a 4 out of 5 Power Rings.  It was intelligent and action packed at the same time.

March books are upon us! Chad and Mark glide through the Edge of Oblivion before almost drowning in the despair of Telos and Green Lantern.  Luckily, the boys are saved by the warm glow of this month’s Sinestro!  The big question is do both hosts survive their respective rants on sloppy editing and character misuse?   There’s even time for LISTENER FEEDBACK despite the tirades! Be sure to email us or sound off on our voice-mail at 708-LANTERN!

Download the episode HERE!