The Dissector

The Nitpicker #43.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

[[WARNING! THIS COLUMN MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!]]

"Whafukupmudafuka?" Pony Moore aka "Mushmouth", meaning "How are you doing, Iron?", in Iron And The Maiden #3.

Welcome to this week's column, right on time, if I might say. That jewel up there is an example of exaggerated Ebonics, and I just loved the whole sequence where Pony's dialogue is subtitled. Before letting you know what the picks are this week, I need to say that last column I had a nit called ""BART WHO? I'M JUST A STRIPPER WITH MY SKIN PAINTED ORANGE.", about the Green Arrow-Black Canary Wedding special, where I mentioned that I only rated it as a 7 because I couldn't see Starfire using her powers... well, I had another look at the issue and she is indeed seen flying around, flaming tamarafro blazing. So it goes up to a ten, which raises the average for that column to 6.1. Not much, but it needed to be said.

The Nitpicker's Pick Of The Week of 10/03 for best book is issue #10 of Scalped. While this book has shown a high (and consistent) quality throughout the whole run so far, this issue was the first to depart a little from The Sopranos In A Reservation, and fully focus on the "little people". I've seen mixed reviews from Native Americans on this book, but as far as I can tell, Jason Aaron writes a compelling and basically correct picture of how things happen in Indian Country. Yes, he might embellish the organized crime part of it, but if he didn't we wouldn't have a work of fiction, would we?

R.M. Guera's art, as always, helped by Giulia Brusco's colors, provides the gritty ambience the story needs. I know that if we need a new writer for Hellblazer, Aaron might be the guy for it, and Guera could do the art if (I hope not) Leonardo Manco ever drops that book. Back on the topic of life on a reservation, I've been listening to some Native American hip hop, and I particularly recommend Canadian band War Party. And the worst issue of the week is Exiles #99. Really Chris Claremont, did you have to spend an entire issue on this?

As for last column's Spot The Nit, nobody got it, and it was so simple. Queen Clea is an Atlantean, who should have fins on the back of her lower legs. No HNSC badges this time around. Speaking of the HNSC, here's a rundown of the Corps, and the amount of badges each member holds. Grand Admiral: MaGnUs (N/A), Lieutenants: Miss Kitty Fantastico (9), Ensigns: Roy (4), Bea (3), Dominik B. (3), The Guvnor Paul C (2), Matt Brady (1), Paul O'Brien (1), Trasgo (1), Tylo (1), Mean Jeff (1), Ilustr8r (1), leahcim (1), TokerTheKid (1), Paul O'Brien (1). Keep it guys; Roy, two more badges and you'll make Lieutenant!

Alright, time for the nits.
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“I DIG THIS CITY, HOWEVER YOU SPELL ITS NAME."

TITLE: The All-New Atom.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Roger Stern (writer) and/or John J. Hill (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 10, Panda says "Ivytown" instead of "Ivy Town".

NIT-O-METER: 1 Bazzars, it could be a colloquialism.
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“STRING THEORY."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 30.

CULPRIT: Ian Churchill (cover penciller), Elisabeth Gehrlein & Jeanine Schaefer (assistant editors), and Mike Carlin & Mike Marts (editors).

NIT-TO-PICK: Now, I was just checking out the cover to write up some nits I found, and I just noticed that it's got two intersecting circles, colored blue, and bearing the number 15... signaling that the Challengers From Beyond visit Earth 15... but they didn't do that for the last two Earths they visited. Nevertheless, that's not a nit, but the fact that Donna Troy is wielding a lasso on the cover, is. She hasn't used one in a long time (excepting the time she used one to go to Wonder Woman's aid in the annual we commented last column), nor she wields one inside the book.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
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“GROWING GREENERY."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 30.

CULPRIT: Ian Churchill (cover penciller), Elisabeth Gehrlein & Jeanine Schaefer (assistant editors), and Mike Carlin & Mike Marts (editors).

NIT-TO-PICK: Kyle Rayner's costume keeps shifting ever so-slightly. Yes, I know it's created by his ring, but still.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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“HAL RAYNER."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 30.

CULPRIT: Ian Churchill (cover penciller), Elisabeth Gehrlein & Jeanine Schaefer (assistant editors), and Mike Carlin & Mike Marts (editors).

NIT-TO-PICK: Kyle Rayner's counterpart in the cover is Hal Jordan, not Earth-15 Kyle as inside the book.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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“I HAD TO LOOK MY BEST ON THE COVER."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 30.

CULPRIT: Ian Churchill (cover penciller), Elisabeth Gehrlein & Jeanine Schaefer (assistant editors), and Mike Carlin & Mike Marts (editors).

NIT-TO-PICK: Jason's clothes, particularly his pants and boots, as well as his mask, are different to what he wears inside the book.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“THESE ARE MY DRESS GOGGLES."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 30.

CULPRIT: Tom Chu (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 4, Plastic Man's goggles are colored yellow instead of white.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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“RIDDLE ME THIS..."

TITLE: Detective Comics.

ISSUE: 837.

CULPRIT: John Kalisz (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Alright, this one's easy, what's wrong with this picture?

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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“SCROUNGING NEW GOD."

TITLE: Detective Comics.

ISSUE: 837.

CULPRIT: Paul Dini (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: A good story, but why would Desaad need WayneTech technology when he has access to Apokoliptian science. Is he hiding stuff from Darkseid? Well, he's done so in the past without the need to use terran technology. Well, he might want to cause some mischief that leads to earthly culprit.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
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“BATMAN IS GOOD AT RIDDLES..."

TITLE: Detective Comics.

ISSUE: 837.

CULPRIT: Paul Dini (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: At the end, all the dialogue seems to point to the fact that Batman was trying to test the Riddler's abandonment of his villanous ways. However, he says "Riddler knew the fee he'd collect from Wayne was more than he'd get trying to fence the serum.", which would only make sense if he said "less than..."

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, you can still pick it up from the context.
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“ITNEVERHAPPENED!"

TITLE: Exiles.

ISSUE: 99.

CULPRIT: Mark Paniccia (editor) and/or Nathan Cosby & Jordan D. White (assistant editors).

NIT-TO-PICK: The recap page mentions Morph without no indication as to the fact that he is in fact, Proteus.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
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“AN ALIEN FROM THE PLANET TWIGGIA."

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Patrick Gleason (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Salakk looks nothing like he should on the cover, for one, his arms are too skinny.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“CREDIT DUE, WITH PROPER SPELLING."

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Eddie Berganza (editor), Adam Schlagman (assistant editor), and/or Phil Balsman (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 2, on the credits, one of the inkers is credited as "Vincente" Cifuentes, when his name is Vicente. Furthermore, the name "Vincente" doesn't even exist. Cifuentes himself said to me "Easy, I'm already used to being named anything from "Vincente" to "Vincent"... it's the issue with having a name that's got different spellings in other languages. Pascual Ferry got named "Pascal"... hehe... things like this happen. (...) I don't really pay much attention to it, it's happened to big names before me, but thanks anyway for mentioning this incident on your blog."

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars. I do pay attention to it Vicente.
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“HEY, A MAN'S GOTTA LOOK GOOD EVEN IN BATTLE!"

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Patrick Gleason (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 4, Vath's right sleeve is completely shredded, only a few swirls of cloth cover his shoulder. Then, by page seven, his sleeve is unscathed.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, yes, he could have fixed the costume with his ring, but seeing as to how they're in the middle of combat, I don't buy it much.
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“OH, IS THAT HIS REAL NAME? I SEE, THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO BE READY IF HE GOES NUTS!"

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Dave Gibbons (writer) and/or Phil Balsman (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page five, Isamot Kol refers to Sodam Yat as Sodom. Ouch.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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“BLEEDING RED."

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Guy Major (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: There is a blue skinned alien on page seven, who's bleeding red blood.

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, possible, but unlikely.
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“FREEZE VISION?"

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Guy Major (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Up to page eleven, Sodam Yat's eyes are green, then they turn blue, only to be green again by page 19.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“OH NO, THE POOR SUPERBEING IS GETTING HIMSELF KILLED!"

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Dave Gibbons (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Arisia is suprised to see that Sodam Yat survives an onslaught by several Sinestro corpsmen and Manhunters, of an intensity that presumably his ring wouldn't stop. She shouldn't be surprised that a Daxamite has Superman-like powers under a yellow sun.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“GIVING YOU THE FINGERS."

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2.

ISSUE: 16.

CULPRIT: Patrick Gleason (penciller) and Guy Major (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 17, just for one panel, Salakk's right hand glove is fingerless. Even if they've shown him ocassionally wearing fingerless gloves, on the cover, and the rest of the book, his gloves have fingers.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“STAR TREK BADGES AGAIN..."

TITLE: Star Trek: Year Four.

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Gordon Purcell (penciller/inker)

NIT-TO-PICK: Wow, this issue's art was actually good... or at least of a professional quality, if not of my particular predilection. Every single face is drawn, no matter how far away from the "camera", and almost every single department symbol is drawn on the insignias, except for the ones that are too small to actually see without zooming in. There is a Star Trek God... unless Steve Conley returns next issue. Only one problem, though, and it's that Nurse Chapel wears an insignia with a red cross, instead of the correct medical/science circle with two lines.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, I couldn't find any picture where we could actually see her badge, but I'm pretty sure it would be as I said.
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“SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, HOME TO MANY SPANIARDS."

TITLE: Super-Villain Team-Up: Modok's 11.

ISSUE: 04 of 05.

CULPRIT: Fred Van Lente (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Armadillo says, on page nine, "¿Qué coño es eso?", which is like saying "What the fuck is that?" Now, kudos to Van Lente for using the opening question mark and the tilde in the first word, as well as the ñ; but "coño" is not a word that's common, in Mexico, they would most likely say "¿Qué madres es eso?" Coño is used in Spain, and some Centro American countries, and while Armadillo was born in San Antonio, Texas, he is of Hispanic descent, and it's very likely that his roots are Mexican.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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“I'M A LITTLE BLUE..."

TITLE: Supergirl V5.

ISSUE: 22.

CULPRIT: Renato Guedes & Rod Reis (colorists).

NIT-TO-PICK: Una's costume is colored in a different shade of purple, almost blue.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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“I TORE THEM WHEN JUMPING FROM THE TRAIN."

TITLE: Supergirl V5.

ISSUE: 22.

CULPRIT: Renato Guedes (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Una's costume is different than it should be, I'll ignore the fact that she still has the belt and bracers, since they've kept that consistent from the moment they changed it; however, her boots now have holes on the sides, as in Duo Damsel's old seventies costume, a feature Una's costume did not include.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“DRUNKEN VISIONS."

TITLE: Supergirl V5.

ISSUE: 22.

CULPRIT: Renato Guedes (penciller/colorist) & Rod Reis (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: On the double page spread where Supergirl remembers the "threeboot" Legion, the legionnaire's costumes (and their physical looks, to a smaller degree) are slightly different, in both design and color. I'm willing to consider it a single nit, and give it a low rating, because it's a dream sequence of sorts.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
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“PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK WORSE THAN YOU ACTUALLY REMEMBER."

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Patrick Blaine (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On the flashbacks, Terri Henshaw (the Cyborg's wife) appears differently than what she looked like back on Adventures of Superman #466, the issue the flashbacks are referencing. Specifically, her hair is the wrong length, and the shape of her body is completely different (T&A, anyone?). I understand art styles have changed, but if you're doing flashbacks, do them right.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars. Check for the other guys.
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“THE RADIATION DYED IT!"

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: David Curiel (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Terri's hair is correctly colored red for most of the flashbacks, except for page eight, where she suddenly turns brunette.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars, could be a lighting thing.
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“YEP, SAME ONE PA KENT USES."

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: David Curiel (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page fifteen, the JLAers on the Watchtower are shown, and apart from the HORRIBLE faces, Red Arrow's hair is colored blond, instead of red, only to be red by the next page.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“STILL THE SAME BRAND."

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: David Curiel (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Same page, Vixen's hair is colored light brown, when it's actually dark brown, almost black.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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“SHIT, SO THAT'S WHY MY POWERS ARE SCREWY!"

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Patrick Blaine (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Vixen is not wearing her Totem Tantu! She's just wearing some cheapass ethnic-looking necklaces!

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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“NOTHING UP MY SLEEVES, AT LEAST NOT THE RIGHT COLOR."

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: David Curiel (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Still on the same page, Vixen's "gloves" are incorrectly colored silver, when they're the same tan color than the rest of her uniform, only to be correctly colored two pages later.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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“ALRIGHT STARMAN, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!"

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Alan Burnett (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Again that same page, Black Canary mentions that "Gravity's shifting. There's a mass beyond the moon creating a pull..." and Vixen says "Yes, I can feel it. It's barely perceptible." Uh.... how can she feel it? Who's power is she mimicking? Superman is not there, and unless Geo-Force is around, but off-panel, there is nobody else there she could be getting that kind of power from. Well, she could probably be mimicing a space animal, like Animal Man did when he used Sun Eater powers to get back to Earth in 52, but he needed an "upgrade" for that.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
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“I'M MAD AT YOU SUPERMAN, YOU RUINED MY COSTUME!"

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: David Curiel (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: For the first part of the book, up until page seventeen, the Cyborg's costume has blue leggings, red boots and briefs, a blue/black cape, and the left part of his shirt is colored red, while the right side is colored black. Then by the aforementioned page, his leggings and his entire shirt are colored black.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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“THESE RINGS LOOK SO GOOD, I HAD TO PUT MORE OF THEM ON!"

TITLE: Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Patrick Blaine (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: The Cyborg wears yellow power rings in his left hand, and nothing on his mechanic hand. However, from page 22 and on, yellow energy comes out of his right hand, and his knuckles glow yellow. Yes, it's possible that he has power rings cybernetically attached to his hand, and hidden inside it until he activates them, but...

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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“THERE'S SOMETHING SLIGHTLY ABOUT THIS NIT."

TITLE: The Nitpicker.

ISSUE: 40.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On the nit titled "GREEN GLOW OF FASHION MAKEOVERS", I wrote "Kyle Rayner's costume is drawn and colored slightly between", when it should be "slightly different".

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
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“I'M DOUBTING MYSELF NOW."

TITLE: The Nitpicker.

ISSUE: 42.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: I rated the nit called "WHO GAVE POWERS TO THE STRIPPER?" with 10 "doubts".

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
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“HE'S ALSO A FORMER AVENGER."

TITLE: Uncanny X-Men.

ISSUE: 491.

CULPRIT: Nick Lowe (editor) and/or Will Panzo (assistant editor).

NIT-TO-PICK: On the recap page, Caliban is referred to as "former X-Man", and he's never been part of that team.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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“SCREW THOSE OTHER TEAMS."

TITLE: Uncanny X-Men.

ISSUE: 491.

CULPRIT: Christopher Yost (writer, Endangered Species back-up).

NIT-TO-PICK: Beast mentions, via narrator boxes, that he's "seen many things in his years as an X-Man and Avenger". I highly doubt that he'd omit his stint as a Defender, or at least his time as founding member of X-Factor.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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So, the Bazzars average for this week is in the normal range, a 5.7. And as I don't feel like being too chatty this time around, the DAYAMN! moment of the week is the following: the Guardians of the Universe have removed the restriction on use of lethal force from the power rings, and of course, most lanterns hesitate to use their newfound ability. Not Salakk, since he's a no-nonsense mudafuka:

Now, I don't condone murder, but that was hardcore, and completely unexpected (although not out of character) from pickle-head. That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more nits, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE NITPICKER!