Riddler is the best

I'm pretty sure I physically recoiled when I saw this wall of text staring at me. Then I was like, "...is this Bendis?" Yes. Yes it is.

THIS BEAR WILL HAUNT MY NIGHTMARES FOREVER OMGOMG

This is my favourite issue of Gotham City Sirens because Riddler is nonstop awesome, but I really like this panel because HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. Sure, he saved the girl from an explosion and then he kept the bad guys talking (except...I'm pretty sure he would have done that anyway since he was pretty much talking about how smart he was) and then Batman came in and apprehended the killers.

And he totally does have a Batsignal in his cane.

PACK ATTACK

Dear Gurihiru: please draw Katie Power all the time. Thank you.

Yeah okay, Julie. When has talking it out with the villains EVER worked?

Katie Power is adorable yes, but I think the best part of this is their mom's expression. She's obviously enchanted by the Katie cuteness, but she's also kind of like, "why the fuck is my kid doing this right now?"

They even sort of have matching outfits

So I'm reading New Avengers and there's this page with a crapload of Marvel characters and I'm squeeing over my favourites: "Thor! Herc! Howard the Duck???"

There is nothing about Luke Cage's solo series from the 70s that I don't love. NOTHING.

I have a somewhat shameful secret: I totally ship Wildcat and Catwoman.

I wasn't even aware they knew each other until this JSA comic where Ted gets beaten up and Catwoman nurses him back to health. Apparently he trained her (something else I noticed: does Ted exclusively train attractive vigilante women?) and they're buddies (he shows up in Gotham City Sirens and they spar). Anyway, after this issue, I was totally sold on the match. They evidently like each other, they're both rough around the edges, he's still totally smokin' for a, what 60 year old man? Plus they both have a cat motif. It's a match made in heaven, I'm telling you. I think they're so cute together. Plus, I already HARDCORE ship Batman/Wonder Woman and this very conveniently removes Catwoman from the picture. Much like my Batman/Wonder Woman ship, I don't have a WHOLE lot of basis for the match, but it just seems right to me, somehow.

ETA: Possible Wildcat/Catwoman phone sex. I want this ship to be canon so bad.

The universe can't handle the awesomeness of a Katie Power/Shulkie teamup

This is the most gratuitous Booster ass shot I have ever seen.

No matter what comic he's in, Booster always has the most lovingly detailed rear. I think only Nightwing beats him in the sheer number of butt shots.

Can these two team up forever please? Thank you.

Jay's my favourite JSA member. He's like an awesome and yet amusingly embarrassing grandpa. And his hat is the best.

Marvel actually has quite a few French characters

I read Agent X back before I knew who Batroc was and this apparently made no impression on me because I totally forgot about it. But now that I can appreciate how amazi

ng these panels are...can we speculate on the mother of Batroc's daughter?? She has an accent so the mother is probably French. I'm blanking on any French Marvel characters. Damn.

I also find it strangely sweet that Tasky has respect for Batroc.

ETA: Things I learned from the Marvel wiki: Batroc can apparently lift 500 pounds. He also sometimes leads a group called "Batroc's Brigade." That is awesome.

ETA2: This is my pick for the mother of Batroc's children: Marie-Ange Colbert. My reasons:

-She is French.

-She is described as being good at heart, which Batroc is too.

That's pretty much it. But now that I've made the decision, I will defend it.

That's actually a really good point. Couple of things:

1. I reeeeally hate that Taskmaste costume. It's like some unholy bastard child of Robin Hood, a pirate, and Jack Skellington.

2. What is Tasky doing? Checking out his manicure?

3. I thought Butterball was so interesting and I wished he could have stuck around longer (although I do concede that perhaps superhero boot camp wasn't the best place for him). He would probably have been the Initiative's best asset - he literally cannot be harmed - except his invulnerability doesn't automatically make him a good or strong fighter. Usually if someone is invulnerable they are automatically strong and good fighters but if you really think about it, the two don't necessarily go together.

And now for something completely different:

I originally saved this as "kory no pants" and I assume I was going to talk about how Kory decided to cover up for the meeting with Lobo and ended up covering NOTHING but there is so much more interesting shit happening on the left side of the panel. Lobo. In a bishop's hat. Sitting on a throne. Conversing with a gigantic grasshopper while a talking dolphin floats nearby. There is NOTHING about that scene that is not awesome. NOTHING. I halfway think Grant Morrison (I think this was the part of 52 he wrote) was tripping when he came up with the concept and maybe while he pitched it to DC as well. "No seriously, guys. Lobo has taken a vow of pacifism. He's worshipped by these giant insects and shit, and a space dolphin is his advisor! And like, Kory and Buddy and Adam Strange do some stuff too. Kory is mostly pantsless" and DC was too intimidated by his popularity to argue so they're like, "hey, whatevs. Just as long as it comes out on time." And voila. I was less than interested in the Kory/Buddy/Adam storyline until they met Lobo.

I prefer his assless chaps

This is from Gotham City Sirens. The girls have just set Riddler up to get torn apart by animals commanded by Dr. Aesop (which, worst name/gimmick EVER. Seriously). I felt pretty bad for the Riddler here since he was doing the girls a favour in the first place, until I read Catwoman: When in Rome, where he drugged Catwoman so she would let Batman's identity slip. So, I don't feel as bad now.

Okay, maybe a little bad. I love him a lot as a reformed villain. He's like a morally ambiguous version of the Question.

Oh GUY.

What I enjoy about Guy's short-lived Punisher-esque phase is that HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO USE THOSE GUNS. So what was going through his mind when he decided to get them? "Oh, I'll just figure it out as I go along"? Because that worked out so well.

Also, I miss his hooker sidekick. He randomly started talking to her about his fears and insecurities and then she just kind of...followed him around. She never did anything. She was just kind of there. I loved her. Her presence made no sense.

Detective Chimp needs to be in more stuff because I think I'm in love with him.

I...um...what? Did they just throw a Life on Mars reference into Blue Beetle? Yes they did.

Vic is alive in my mind, along with Barda and Ted and Luke's old wardrobe

Much like a lot of stuff with Lobo, I feel kind of bad for laughing at this, but come on.

Okay, I love the Black Marvel family (at least until SPOILER Isis and Osiris get killed by Sobek the talking crocodile and Adam goes on a bloody rampage). As said before, I'm a sucker for bad people who get redeemed through the power of love. I SHOULD think this proposal is sweet but HOLY CRAP WHAT'S UP WITH HIS SMILE??? I hope it's the artist's intention to make it as damn creepy as possible, because holy crap.

PS: The main reasons I was reading 52 were a) Booster Gold, b) the Black Marvel storyline, and c) The extreme awesomeness of Vic Sage. As of issue 45 or so, Booster only shows up sporadically; two thirds of the Black Marvel family are dead, the third is killing people willy nilly in a bloodlust fuelled rage, and Sobek the talking crocodile - formerly my favourite character - is crazy evil; and Vic is dead! So I've kind of slacked off in reading 52. Not even Lobo as a space-priest with a space dolphin sidekick can keep me reading. Plus there's the fact that at any given moment I have no damn idea what is going on or why everything is related. I had the same problem with Trinity, except the Dreambound, Gangbuster, and Hawkman were sufficiently awesome to keep me reading.

Yes, Canada needs superheroes because YOU KILLED ALPHA FLIGHT OFF PANEL, BENDIS! Dammit.

As a side note, how AWESOME would it be if Luke and Jess relocated to Toronto permanently and fought crime there? Rhetorical question: it would be super awesome. Squirrel Girl could join them as a live in nanny and maybe Iron Fist could branch out his business internationally and move to Toronto. Maybe the Daughters of the Dragon could join them, restart their PI business, taking Jess on as a partner. Best comic ever.