Agnew's Mind He's got a long journey ahead of him.

DC University: Booster Gold

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

Ahhh...Booster Gold....the T.O. of the superhero world.  Well, let's not be that mean but you will see why I made the correlation.

Picture, if you will, the 25th Century.  For the non-math majors out there, that is 4 centuries away or 400 years into the future.  Thanks to technology, life has become a lot more livable.  Most of the super-heros you know and love have died off, but they are still remembered by their descendants.   In fact, there is a museum that honors their memory.  This museum has different collectibles like batarangs, ice ray guns, and even statues of the original Justice League.

Now, for a quick background.  Michael Jon Carter was born in Gotham City in the 25th century.  He and his twin sister, Michelle, never knew their dad, a degenerate gambler, since he had left them after gambling away the families savings.  Nice.   Michael was a gifted sports star and even got a scholarship to Gotham University for football.  He became the star of the team and was even nicknamed "Booster" after his amazing speed on the field.  Re-enter his degenerate dad looking to leach off of his son's newfound fame.  To make ends meet Michael worked the night shift at the Metropolis Space Museum which had a lot of the items described above.  He spent most of his time studying the displays and became a bit obsessed with some of the heroes, especially those of the 20th centruy... how convienient.  One night his oh-so-helpful father pressures Mike into throwing a game so he can make a bet and capitalize on it.  This plan backfires and soon Mike becomes an outcast of the sports community and loses his scholarship.  Basically, he goes into a Jack bender and decides to escape.  He swipes a Legion flight ring and a force field belt from the displays at the museum.  He and his secutiry robot pa , Skeets, hop in Rip Hunter's Time Machine (also on display) and travel back to the 1980s... because we all know that is where people from the future vacation to.

So, now Booster is back in the 80s with the hopes of becoming a superhero named Goldstar.  At one point, he saves the President Ronald Reagan's life and, when he goes to introduce himself, slips up and says "Booster Gold".

I always liked Booster Gold because he is constantly in a state of flux... is he in it for the fame and glory? Or is he in it to be a real superhero?  Wherever he goes, comedy is sure to follow.  There is a running joke in the DC universe where people call him "Buster" instead of "Booster".  The banter between him and Skeets is also usually very funny.  He hangs out with a lot of the B level characters like Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Elongated Man, like they are dorm room buddies.  This becomes even more enjoyable when he is face ot face with one of the A-listers like Batman or Superman because he will always mumble his words, regret everything he said, then walk away wondering how foolish he had looked.

One more important point I want to make is that Booster isn't always a push over or marketing whore.  He has played some very key roles at big moments in DC's history.  My favorite example is Doomsday, the guy who "killed" Superman.  When Doomsday first showed up, climbing out the ground, Booster was the first to face him and, I have to say lasted longer, than Superman.  Clark was off-world on some mission and was racing home once he heard the news.  But it was Booster leading the charge and holding the line.  He ended up getting his butt handed to him but if he had not been there Superman's parents, Martha and Jonathan, probably would have been killed as well.

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Booster had a episode all his own on Justice League Unlimited named "The Greatest Story Never Told"; the perfect title.

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Most recently the Booster Gold line of comics has been started again, this time with our Hero as kind of time line librarian.  He attempts to go back and "set right which once went wrong" but fails horribly.  If you have not read The Killing Joke yet, you should.  It's one of the best events in DC History.  Well, Booster tries to go back and stop the Joker.  You will have to read to see what happens when he does.

DC University : The Spectre

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

Characters of the DC Universe fall into several categories: aliens, magicians, demons, time-travelers, etc. The Spectre falls into a very specific category only one other character shares (as far as I know). To be honest I just found this out in one of the recent comics I read.  The other interesting point here is that comic book characters develop just like the stories.  They grow and change and even have revelations from time to time.  The Spectre is the perfect example of this because he has a few origins, many of them conflicting.   This occurs a lot when writers want to resurrect stories and characters from the past.  They sit around and try to think up some way to bring some minor character back into the picture and usually get scrutinized for it.  But I digress, time to meet the Spectre.

He is the wrath of God incarnate. See I told you, whole new category. Let's jump into the back story...the original back story. God is good. Devil builds up an army. The Devil revolts against God. Devil loses. God smites him. Yay God. As the story goes the Spectre was one of the angels that revolted with the devil but later repented. God punishes the Spectre by sending him to earth deal out judgment, which he carries out in a very poetic and sometimes completely misguided way.  For instance, in the case of the pending execution of a wrongfully convicted man. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison after the Spectre threatened to kill the entire population of the state of New York in retribution, arguing that if the execution was carried out, the "people of the state of New York" would become guilty of murder in his eyes.  For those of you who have read the bible or just the cliff notes, the angel of death that killed all the first born sons of Egypt....the Spectre....at least according to the DCU.

To balance this wrathiness, the Spectre has always been paired with a human host.  Someone to say, "Hey you know wiping out New York is not such a good idea."  You end up with a buddy system that makes situations very intense and confrontational as an internal debate ensues.  Jim Corrigan, a murdered cop who decided to reject the afterlife, assumed the role of the Spectre for a very long time.  He is the version of the Spectre we see as part of the JSA(Justice Society of America, a 1950's style Justice League).  Later on his soul found rest and for a while the Spectre was on his own.  At one point he was tricked into thinking that all the magic elements in the world were evil and had to pass judgment on them.  I would say a good 50-60% of all magic characters were killed off in the chaos that was the Day of Vengeance.  Soon the role was passed to one of my favorite characters, the late (at the time) Hal Jordan. After the Green Lantern went a little nuts and tried to rewrite the universe....yes...that's right.  He eventually let his guard down and was killed by the Justice League (see Zero Hour). Hal was a cool host for the Spectre because he argued with the ridiculous totalitarian logic of the Spectre on almost every occasion.

To really get a feel for the Spectre you have to read all the big events, Infinite Crisis, Day of Vengence, Identity Crisis...there are a few more but the names escape me.

At one point he was labeled as too powerful but the writers of DC.  How is Superman going to beat the Wrath of God?  By punching him?  So eventually they gave him the weakness of blind justice and absolute power.  When you read a Spectre story there will always be a point where you put down the book and figure out what side you would be on; what you would tell the Spectre.  Then you hope it plays out that way.

I like the Spectre.  He's mid-level character but definitely one of the good ones.

Read: Books of Magic; Day of Vengeance; Crisis on Infinite Earths; Zero Hour

DC Univeristy: The Martian Manhunter

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

Martian Manhunter is one of the greatest character in the DC universe. His real name is J'onn J'ones, which you kinda have to say with a french accent, jjjjjawn jjjjjjowns. For the most part, J'onn's story is similar to Superman's. As sole survivor of the planet Mars, J'onn travels to Earth and assumes the identity of a detective for the Chicago police Department under the name John Jones. As a detective he learns much about the human race. He witnesses the good with the bad. This turmoil is what defines his character. He's kinda like batman, not really trusting everybody and often going his own way and excluding himself from missions based on his personal beliefs. Actually, J'onn and Batman have a cool friendship. Sometimes the two of them have telepathic conversations while Superman and the rest of the Justice League battle out some argument about ethics. These conversations can be quite funny. J'onn normally talks in a very definitive tone and when someone like Batman makes a counterpoint that shuts him up there is normally a funny quirk or cliche that follows.

On to his Powers... He has a bunch so let me just list them off: Super-Speed, Flight, Shape-Shifting, Super-Sight, Martian Vision (X-ray), Super-Strength, Telepathy, Eye-Energy Beam, and the ability to turn invisible and let things pass through him or travel through walls. His telepathy is often used as a switchboard between minds ,allowing teams to communicate even when their com links are down. Superman often refers to him as "the most powerful being on earth". He does, however, have a weakness to fire. Fire is what destroyed his home world so he holds a buried fear. This fear normally causes him to return to his martian form and return to the fetal position. There have been times where he overcomes this fear in times of need but, for the most part, he reacts like the Scarecrow versus the Wicked Witch. As with most comic book characters, if you give them all the powers you have to give them a simple weakness in order to achieve some power balance.

Manhunter normally comes in two looks: the native martian look where he's pretty much naked and has a very long and alien shaped head and the super hero look where he has a normal human shaped bald head, a cape, trademark red crisscross straps across his chest. In both forms he is still very green. When he is undercover as John Jones he is in classic trench coat gear.

Manhunter is one of my favorite characters because he is a contrast from all the other major characters ,even though he shares so much with them. The difference is he is constantly trying to figure out the human race and much, like the Flash, he keeps the League morally in check. His story is also a sad one since he lost his wife and daughter during the destruction of Mars. His telepathy powers often cause him to playback this event over and over as if he is reliving it.

Aside from his superhuman powers, the Manhunter is also a skilled and very capable detective. As Batman mentions in his file, "in many ways, Martian Manhunter is like an amalgam of Superman and the Dark Knight himself."

He has one other weakness that I also share......

Suggested Readings: Kingdom Come

DC University: The Green Lanterns

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

"In Brightest Day, in Blackest night,

No Evil shall Escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power GREEN LANTERN's LIGHT!"

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Welcome to the first installment of DC University.  As a spin-off from my previous posts about comics, it has been recommended that I give a crash course in all things Detective Comics(DC).  Now I, by no means, know everything about this universe but I have read a bunch and there is a certain feel you get for each character.  It makes it very hard to decide who is your favorite.  So for now, I will try to put out a weekly post about different parts of the DC Universe.

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Chapter 1: The Green Lanterns

A Brief  History

Now, I know I could start with the 3 heavy hitters: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman.  However, I want to build up the parts of the DC universe that actually make it feel like... well... a universe.  One constant in that universe is the Green Lantern Corps.  No matter if you go into the past or the future or to different dimensions, chances are you will eventually run into a Green Lantern.  Yes, there are more than one.  They are like the cops of the universe.  They have districts.  They have codes of conduct.  And they have weapons to enforce the law.

The Green Lantern Corps was formed by a group called the Guardians.  They were a bunch of little old smurf-like midgets with big heads who live on the planet OA, pronounced OH-AH.  OA is said to be the center of the universe.  A long time ago, the Guardians banished all the women from OA in an attempt to remove any distractions.  They were also immortal beings so there was no need to reproduce and no real need for women.   Anyone who has ever gone to an all-guys or all-girls schools knows that this does, in fact, work.  You no longer worry about appearance or hygiene.  You can completely focus on your work.   There is, however, a side effect, extreme frustration.  So, these little blue guys live on OA and bicker all the time.  They usually take their aggression out on the Green Lanterns like a Police Sergeant would in a Lethal Weapon movie.

The guardians at some point discovered the most powerful source of energy in the universe, a glowing green crystal.  They harnessed this power and constructed a "battery" to control it.  The green lantern symbol is actually a representation of this battery.  With the power now weaponized, they decided to use rings to disperse the energy.  So, each person in the Green Lantern Corps gets a ring.  Think of the ring as a rechargeable battery.  It can store a certain amount of  "Green Light" but as it is used the reserves are depleted and the ring must be recharged.  Therefore along with the ring each Green Lantern gets a... green lantern.  These lanterns tap back into the energy of the original battery back on OA.  To get the ring to recharge, they hold the ring up to the lantern and recite the oath at the beginning of this post.  That might sound corny but there are several occasions where you hear it and it gets you pumped up.  Like hearing Hulk Hogan's or Stone Cold music smash out of nowhere.  Or sometimes a Lantern won't have time to get through it and then would get hit by an enemy leaving them helpless and powerless.

On a side note, the Green Lanterns were not the first attempt by the guardians to police the galaxy.  At first they created Manhunters which were robot-android-machine things that would hunt down criminals, much like bounty hunters.  These Manhunters had one major flaw; they had no reasoning and often broke the laws the guardians were trying to uphold.  You will see them from time to time in the Green Lantern stories.  They are quite bitter about the whole thing.

The Ring

The Green Lantern ring runs on willpower.  It will create whatever the Lantern who wears it "wills" into existence.  If they think of a giant boxing glove... a giant boxing glove will appear out of the ring.  I have seen a wide variety of creations ranging from a shovel to an Iron Lung to a fully functional spaceship.  The ring also offers protection to the Green Lantern.  This covers the need for air, blocking bullets, dealing with the cold of space, and so on.  Think of anything.  Really think about it.  You want a walkman?  Concentrate on the parts, concentrate on what it does and the ring will take care of the rest.  The ring can work like a communication device too, sometimes referred to as "green tooth".  The ring also takes a lot of the detective work out of situations.  It can analyze the surrounding area and report back.  It can even determine the threat level and give a percentage on a plan's chance of success.  It is also important to understand that the ring picks the user.  When a Green Lantern dies the ring immediately starts a sequence to find the next available user.  In most cases the new user is completely unaware and shocked that this ring is speaking to him or her or it for that matter.

With such a powerful weapon there must be a weakness and there is... the color yellow.  Before your eyes roll completely into the back of your head, there are three things you must understand:  First, it has been explained why the ring is vulnerable to the color yellow.  A while back the guardians had a real bad yellow guy named Parralax that they trapped in the main battery.  They used the battery like a jail, however, there was a side effect, vulnerability to anything yellow.  Second, this is no longer a problem in the current comics.  They figured it out and fixed it.  However, many people died and I think the sun was destroyed at some point.  All in all, it's supposed to be a great story. I have only read about it and know of it through references to the events in the current comics.  Finally, there are more colors out there than the color green in what is called the Emotional Spectrum.

The Emotional Spectrum

In a recent push by DC, the other 6 colors of the emotional spectrum have become present and established their own corps.  The concept of the Emotional Spectrum has been around since the '60s; however, it was normally just the yellow and green back and forth.  There were remnants of the other colors present in the universe such as Star Sapphire who wore the Violet Crystal on her headpiece.  The first Star Sapphire was actually one of the Green Lantern's Ex-Girlfriends.  Violet is the color of Love in the Spectrum so the Crystal actually went to her in order to be "loved" by the powerful Green Lantern.  Remember earlier when I said the Guardians sent their women away to another planet?  They are known as the Zamarons.  These scorned women decided to fight back against their old hubbies by making a lantern battery of their own from that Violet Crystal.  They distributed rings and made Star Sapphire their leader.  Their power ends up being the emotion they miss the most... love.  This is how the rest of the emotional spectrum breaks down:

ROYGBIV Style

Red = Rage |Orange = Avarice |Yellow = Fear | Green = Will | Blue = Hope

Indigo = Compassion | Violet = Love

Now you might be thinking to yourself, "Well, that's not so bad.  They are mostly good.  Will. Hope. Love. Compassion."  But the concept behind them is that each is like a religion... the only religion for that group... an extreme religion.  So, it's like having too much of a good thing.  The Zamarons, for instance, believe that life without love is blasphemy and brainwash prisoners into believing love is the answer to all conflict, the only answer.  In some cases this is pretty horrible torture.  Anyway, these 7 groups start to form.  They each have their own oath and their own rings. Some of the rings find a familiar face.

All these stories come crashing together into a story that is actually finishing up in the next few months.  The graphic novel containing all the inidividual comics should be out in mid-July.  I suggest you start picking up some of these titles in preparation for that release.

Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War

Green Lantern (Book 1): No Fear

Green Lantern Vol. 2: Revenge of the Green Lanterns

Green Lantern: Wanted Hal Jordan

Out of no where.......black rings start falling from the sky....they go to the dead....Blackest Night is upon us.