The Dissector #53.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"HHAAAAHH!! MAKES BALLS REVOLVE LIKE SPINNING DERVISHES...!" Vas, aka "Love Sausage", former Soviet superhero, after taking a drink of his homebrewn booze, which, appropriately, has a skull and crossbones for label.

Well, sort of time this week, and let's dive straight into this. Both Dominik and Miss Kitty Fantastico made the Dissect This! from last column, and it was of course the fact that the Wasp had wings at normal size; when she only has wings while shrunk. Badge for both of them! Rock-Me Amodeo added that 616 Wasp has experimented with retaining her wings as she grows back to full size, getting to keep them at some 54 inches tall, and also, her powers might work differently in the Ultimate universe, being a mutant, she could have also had a progression of her powers or a secondary mutation. That's why it had a relatively low rating.

The Autopsy Awards have plenty of votes now, but I'm still keeping the voting open until the end of the year. The Dissector's Picks Of The Week are the following: Best Book is for the oversized Green Lantern V4 #25, part of the final wave of the Sinestro Corps War, along with the also great Green Lantern Corps V2 #19, and the less-fantastic-but-still-good Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Ion (which were epilogues, actually). I've said time and again, Geoff Johns is the best thing to happen to the Green Lantern mythos since the mid-80s, and he still has more in store for us. The way he choreographs the action, and mixes it with the more personal moments (as you'll see in the Moments Of The Week), coupled with his great understanding of the characters, gives us a very solid and entertaining story.

His partners in crime, Ivan Reis and Ethan Van Sciver handle the pencilling duties, along with the inks of Oclair Albert, Julio Ferreira and Ivan Reis himself, and the colors of Moose Baumann and Rod Reis. The distinct style of both pencillers, and the separate work of the inkers and colorists does not make you feel you're reading one of those end-of-saga issues where one penciller wasn't enough and you can (painfully) see the differences in the artists' styles, no matter how good they're on their own. In fact, only George Pérez, the man himself for macro-scale superhero battles, gets better than this, and I dare say, that for a Green Lantern finale, Van Sciver and Ivan Reis are a better choice George Pérez. In fact, Ethan Van Sciver was born to pencil Green Lantern. As usual, not much to say about the lettering, but Rob Leigh does his usual good job.

Now, the Worst Book of the week, is not an entirely awful comic, but a disappointing second issue of a mini. I'm talking about Salvation Run #02. Bill Willingham's script is flat, there's no character development, and very little plot advancement, save for the end, when Lex Luthor finally shows up to take over. Sean Chen's art is good, but John Kalisz colors are too bright for a book comprised mostly of supervillains, and it just doesn't cut it for me. Not an awful book, but the worst I read this week.
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"I ATOM SMASHED MY HAIR AND EYES INTO ANOTHER COLOR."

TITLE: Black Adam: The Dark Age (DC).

ISSUE: 05 of 06.

CULPRIT: Nathan Eyring (colorist).

DISSECTION: Atom Smasher's hair is colored blonde, when it's red, and his eyes are almost grey, instead of blue (but I'm counting this as one dissection). Last issue he had black hair and black eyes, so Eyring can't even keep his own mistakes straight.

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
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"DO SVIDANIA KOMRADE PRESIDENTSKY!"

TITLE: Countdown Presents: The Search For Ray Palmer: Red Son (DC).

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Alan Burnett (writer).

DISSECTION: Bob says about the history of this Earth-30 that "Superman became (...) after Stalin died, the new Soviet President." Problem is, at least in the real world, there was no such position until March, 1990 (and only until December, 1991), created specifically for Mikhail Gorbachev to occupy. Before that, the head of state of the USSR (commonly referred to in the West as "Premier") was the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (1922-1938), Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1938-1989), and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet in (1989-1990).

Yes, this is an alternate Earth, and even the "regular" DC Earth is alternate to our own, but this doesn't stop me from believing that Burnett didn't bother doing some research on the USSR.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"YOU SURE HE'S HERE?"

TITLE: Countdown Presents: The Search For Ray Palmer: Red Son (DC).

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Alan Burnett (writer), or actually, Jeanine Schaefer (editor for this book) and Elisabeth V. Gherlein & Mike Carlin (assistant editor and editor for Countdown To Final Crisis).

DISSECTION: So, if in issue #20 of Countdown To Final Crisis Bob said he knew where Ray Palmer is, why are they in Earth-30, and Ray isn't, and why isn't there any mention of that in this issue?

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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"NAZILANDIA ÜBER ALL IS!"

TITLE: Countdown: Arena (DC).

ISSUE: 02 of 04.

CULPRIT: Keith Champagne (writer).

DISSECTION: Dominik B. reported a total of six dissections (yes Dom, six, I'm counting the Führer/Führerin one) in this book, all incorrect uses or spelling of German words and phrases used by a Nazi version of the Ray. Dominik says "I found another one… actually, quite a number. Lots of stupid Kraut in there. Can it hurt to actually ask one German person to do the Kraut for them? I mean, I’d gladly offer myself if they ask. For free, even."

At one point, to use one as example, wants to curse saying and says "I say verdammt noch Gott", which probably means "I say goddamnit". However, the phrase he uses isn't correct at all, it should be "Gottverdammt". Many of these errors can be explained a way by saying that the Ray is not German at all, but an American who wants to be in the Nazi regime's good side by trying to speak German. Still, some errors are lettering errors, like using "ä" instead of "a".

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars for this one. Just the one badge for Dom, though.... or not, let's give him two badges, which together with the one he got for the Dissect This! give him a total of 7, making him a Lieutenant in the HDSC. Congratulations!
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"WHAT WAS I SAYING?"

TITLE: Countdown To Final Crisis (DC).

ISSUE: 20.

CULPRIT: Jared K. Fletcher (letterer)

DISSECTION: On page 10, third panel, second caption box from the bottom, the sentence reads "{Whew}... And I thought I" and there's nothing else, there's a blank line, and the next caption box implies there was more to that sentence. Plus, and not a dissection, why would they use braces "{ }", instead of regular parentheses? There's another lettering and/or writing dissection reported by Brecht, in page 8 they spell "Moinitors". Oh, and no Mary Marvel boot heels either, plus a problem with Una's costume.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars for the incomplete sentence.
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"SOMETIMES I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE HERE."

TITLE: The Dissector (Studio Robota).

ISSUE: 51.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

DISSECTION: In the "Welcome to Latveria" moment of the week I wrote "It's like Lee/Kirby villain team up!", when it should have been "It's like a..."

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
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"THE STRIPPER! AGAIN!"

TITLE: Green Lantern V4 (DC).

ISSUE: 25.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer) and/or Ivan Reis (penciller pages 1-7 and 12-47).

DISSECTION: As mentioned before, great ending to the Sinestro Corps War saga, and it's only the beginning. Starfire appears on a battle scene on page 15, with superpowers. No resolution has been given to the Countdown to Adventure storyline, so I'll still assume she has no powers.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
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"NO RING CHARGE? "LET'S JUST JOHN WAYNE OUR WAY OUT OF THIS ONE!"

TITLE: Green Lantern V4 (DC).

ISSUE: 25.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer).

DISSECTION: Again Geoff Johns insists on Green Lanterns not being able to recharge their rings because they don't have their lanterns with them. They can carry the lantern inside the ring. Geoff, just a couple of panels showing them losing the lanterns in mid-battle, or some mumbo-jumbo about too much yellow energy interference would have been enough for the hand-to-hand encounter with Sinestro.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
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"442 RINGS TO RULE THEM ALL!"

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 19.

CULPRIT: Peter J. Tomasi (writer).

DISSECTION: The Green Lantern Corps lost 442 members, and our favorite picklehead is shown forging new rings. Thing is, the rings of the dead lanterns, at least many of them, were shown flying off to their respective sectors to look for replacement corps members. Also, as far as I know, the Guardians themselves forged rings, if things have changed, they should specify that.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"GREEN DISSECTION."

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 19.

CULPRIT: Peter J. Tomasi (writer) and/or Phil Balsman (letterer).

DISSECTION: Nice and easy, veeery easy. Look at the panel below, and find it.


DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"OUT OF COSTUME."

TITLE: Green Arrow / Black Canary (DC).

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Cliff Chiang (penciller/inker).

DISSECTION: Again, Speedy and Black Canary's costumes are wrong. Also, Speedy's eyes are colored brown instead of blue.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars on the costumes (each of them).
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"GREEK GODS CAN BE VENGEFUL."

TITLE: Hybrid Bastards (Archaia Studios Press).

ISSUE: 01 of 03.

CULPRIT: Tom Pinchuk (writer) and/or uncredited letterer.

DISSECTION: Zeus' name is spelled "Zues" on page five. I know you kind of pronounce it like that in English (or rather, like "zoos", although the correct Greek pronunciation would be "Zefs", with a strong "f"), but that doesn't mean you write it like you pronounce it.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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"ANOTHER STAND-IN!"

TITLE: New Avengers (Marvel).

ISSUE: 37.

CULPRIT: Dave McCaig (colorist).

DISSECTION: Wolverine's eyes are colored brown again. And yes, it turns out that all the back-up the New Avengers had were part of an illusion cast by Dr. Strange; so I retract on all the dissections related to that in column #49, except for the one about Howard the Duck. So, I recalculated the average for that column... and it went up, from 6.0 to 6.3!

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"BODY SNATCHER."

TITLE: Nightwing (DC).

ISSUE: 139.

CULPRIT: Carlos Rodríguez (penciller).

DISSECTION: In the last page, R'as al Ghul is depicted in his original body, when he had already "migrated" into one of Nanda Parbat's monks. He doesn't even show any sings of decay. Also, his skin is colored normally, instead of the sickly green it was, and his eyes are colored blue, when they've been usually shown as green lately.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars for the pencilling dissection.
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"THAT'S NOT THE METALLO I KNOW... IT'S HIS SURFING COUSIN, BOBBY "DUDE" CORBEN."

TITLE: Salvation Run (DC).

ISSUE: 01 of 07.

CULPRIT: Bill Willingham (writer) and Sean Chen (penciller).

DISSECTION: I'm counting this as just one dissection, but since when does Metallo: 1) Have a new human-looking body (yes, this could be a recent development not shown "in camera"), 2) Mantain an "internal log" a la Star Trek, and 3) RIDE A HOVERING SURFBOARD?!??!?!?!?!!?!?

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"IT'S THE SENILITY SPEAKING."

TITLE: Spider-Man Family (Marvel).

ISSUE: 06.

CULPRIT: Tom Belland (writer for "Endangered").

DISSECTION: Aunt May says that when she sees Peter, she can see his father, and it's like "having her brother in the room". However, as most people know (and a writer working on a Spider-Man story should definitely know), May's not blood-related to Peter, Ben Parker was the brother of Richard Parker, father to Peter.

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
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"OH, THE PAIN!"

TITLE: Ultimate Iron-Man II (Marvel).

ISSUE: 01 of 04.

CULPRIT: Orson Scott Card (writer).

DISSECTION: One of the characters, a villain, is called "Dolores", claiming that it means "pain". No, it means "pains", "pain" would be "dolor"; plus, Whiplash says that "In America, it's a girly name."; well, in Spanish, it's also a female name.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"RUNNING THE GAUNTLET."

TITLE: X-Factor V4 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: Scot Eaton (penciller).

DISSECTION: Surge's gauntlets don't look like they should; plus, as a separate dissection, her uniform doesn't look like it should.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars for the gauntlets.
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"EMPORER OF THE MARVEL MULTIVERSE!"

TITLE: X-Men: Die By The Sword (Marvel).

ISSUE: 05 of 05.

CULPRIT: Jordan D. White (assistant editor) and/or Mark Paniccia (senior editor).

DISSECTION: On the first page, where a recap and a cast of characters is presented, of the new members of the Exiles is a version of Rogue... but her name's spelled ROUGE.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Absolutely no less, no way.
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"QUILL BILL."

TITLE: X-Men: Die By The Sword (Marvel).

ISSUE: 05 of 05.

CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer).

DISSECTION: On page 23, Blink says she had to use a "full quill of her lances", doesn't she mean "quiver"?

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars
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The average sure went up this week, to a 6.8 Bazzars. Moments Of The Week, now, most of them are Green Lantern related, due to the great finale of the Sinestro Corps War. But first, a non-GL moment:


So, Captain Marvel kills?! Next up, Hal Jordan asks his family to evacuate Coast City when the Sinestro Corps take the battle to his town, but they refuse to leave, and so do the rest of the population. Not only that, but they show their support for the Corps:


Cool. Then, after the battle, the city gets nicknamed "The City Without Fear", and population starts to grow. You see what I said about those quiet, personal moments Johns knows how to handle? And now, look at a battle moment:


Guardians of the Universe directly attacking an enemy? Now that's something new. Peter Tomasi also knows how to write some nice non-action moments too, and his artists certainly capture it:


Too bad the reunion with Ice (after that kiss) didn't go as smooth as Guy Gardner planned. Now, the last of the GL moments, and it's even more incredible than the Guardians fighting:


It's the Guardians APOLOGIZING!!! Enough Green Lanterns for now (shya!), let's see how Darkseid deals with his underlings. Omega beams? Nope:


PIMPSLAPPING! Last, but not least, when your superhero costume doesn't fit, don't wear it:


That's "Love Sausage", from our Quote Of The Week. That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more dissections, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE DISSECTOR!

PS: Oh, right, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The Dissector #44.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"Look! Up in the sky! It's... Actually, I don't know who that is!" Anonymous bystander, who doesn't recognize Wonder Girl in her new costume.

No more Nitpicker!!! So, here we are, in the first ever issue of The Dissector, which, nevertheless, is #44. Why? Because I hate unnecessary re-launches and new #1. I like history to show, mileage to be noticed, age to be worn as a badge of distinction. I accepted New Mutants V2, and when I learned to love it, BAM, they rename and renumber it to New X-Men: Academy X, which then gets renamed to just New X-Men. Then we have New Avengers, Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (they made that right again). Batman & The Outsiders, New Excalibur (that fiasco is over too), and I can go on.

Why did I change the name and look of the column? Well, like I said, Phil Farrand and his Nitpicker's Guild had the name first, and I don't want to usurp that. The look doesn't change, but it's enhanced. I keep my English green dominated color scheme, and add that beautiful logo by my dear friend Nysie, which has hints of Victorian mad science, just the way I like it.

We're approaching our second anniversary, because I'm not denying this column's past as the Nitpicker, as well as column #50. The first column was published on November 12, 2005, and on that date this year, I'll have a special column with my favorite nits... err... dissections! That'll be column #48, then #49 will be the regular column for that week; and on the following week, we'll have the 50th column, which will be in addition to that week's column (#51), and will feature the first EVER Autopsy Awards! Yes, I just came up with that...

Here's the deal: from my archives, I'll find out who are the most featured creators in the past two years of column, and award a first place and runner up in each category (writer, artist, colorist, etc). I might give an award for the company with most errors, and the book with most errors. Then I'll select between three and five dissections in each category, and put them to vote between you, my faithful readers (said in my best Stan Lee voice). And, even though they're more recent features, I can also have a best quote and best WTF/DAYAMN moment. What do you all think?

That said, I'm going to start now with this week's column, alright? Last week's Spot The Nit was nailed by Miss Kitty Fantastico; the Riddler's hair should indeed be black, not light brown. So, here's a HDSC badge for ya MKF! From now on, STN will be... no, not STD, I won't go there. It'll be called "Dissect This!", and will have the exact same mechanics as STN. Who's up for some Dissector Picks Of The Week?

My pick for best book of the week is Runaways V2 #28; because I really feel Whedon is growing into this book. Despite some mischaracterization issues with Molly (which I've mentioned before, and mention again later in this column), he seems to get most of the Runaways, particularly Chase and Karolina, who I see as Faith and Willow analogues (yes, I know Nico is the witch here). Plus, even though he can't technically play with the Pride, he still manages to use the kids’ families to give them some problems.

I also enjoy how he portrays the way mutants (or other superhumans) would organize themselves in the early 1900s. What's not to love about heroes with names as Engine, Nightstick, Daystick, Black Maria and Adjudicator (even though they're blatant homages to modern day characters, mostly)? The Engine is my favorite, being a differential engine, punch card spewing, steam-powered robot. That scores high in my book, and you know it.

And the villains? If the presence of the Yorkes (Gert's parents, but from a point in the Runaways' past where they're all still little kids and the Pride is alive) wasn't enough (they now know their daughter buys it in the future, and they'll do everything in their time-traveling hands to stop it), we now have the Witchbreaker, who turns out to be a Minoru! And then there's the Yorkes flunkies, from the strong guy whose name I can't remember, to Morphine (a mad doctor/chemist),. Kid Twist (an Irish mobster looking pistolero), and my favorite, Forget-Me-Not, a temptress with the power to release pheromones (apparently) that drive men wild, and who seems to live in a permanent state of orgasm.

And the art? Well, it's not my cup of tea, but it's flawless. It's not Michael Ryan's fault that I don't like it that much, his pencils are excellent, perfectly suited to this book. It's Christina Strain's colors, which makes the book look to manga for my taste... and yes, this has always been the case with Runaways. that doesn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book, and being glad now that it seems that Whedon has finally "clicked" with it.

So what's the worse book of the week then? Simply put, Fantastic Four #550 is a most disappointing end to an otherwise irrelevant and unoriginal plot that seems stolen from a bad Star Trek episode. Dwayne McDuffie's script is bland, and Paul Pelletier's art, while correct, does nothing for me, coupled with the fact that Paul Mounts' colors are bland and too bright. Let's get started with this week's dissections (and the first to be called thus):
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""ACME BRAND."

TITLE: Batman Confidential.

ISSUE: 10.

CULPRIT: Michael Green (writer) and/or Denys Cowan (penciller).

DISSECTION: I'm still frothing about this Joker origin story, but never mind. Still, I kind of doubt that a former chemical plant that manufactured legal drugs will have a giant vat labeled "anti-psychotics".

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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"WHO NEEDS MAPS?""

TITLE: Black Adam: The Dark Age.

ISSUE: 03 of 06.

CULPRIT: Peter J. Tomasi (writer) and/or Nick J. Napolitano (letterer).

DISSECTION: On page 9, Talia Head is shown as being somewhere of the coast of "Gilbralter", which should be "Gibraltar".

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
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"DYE IS POPULAR IN THE DC UNIVERSE."

TITLE: Black Adam: The Dark Age.

ISSUE: 03 of 06.

CULPRIT: Nathan Eyring (colorist).

DISSECTION: Hal Jordan's hair is colored black on page 20, as is Vixen's, instead of Brown.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, it could be odd lighting, so I'll just count it as one.
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"HE BUILT HIS EMPIRE, DOOR TO DOOR."

TITLE: Booster Gold V2.

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz (writers).

DISSECTION: Pages 6 and 7 state that Lionel Luthor (Lex's father) was a traveling salesman, when the current origin for Lex (Countdown #34, also available on DC's website) states that he was a "mogul". Now, I know this is an alternate reality, a possible timeline change that Rip is telling about, so that's why this gets a lower rating that it could.

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
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"THE BRAVE AND THE BALD."

TITLE: Booster Gold V2.

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Dan Jurgens (layouts) and/or Norm Rapmund (finishes).

DISSECTION: Again, alternate reality and all that, but Lex is shown as completely bald from his teenage years, when his current origin shows that he lost his hair over the course of the years, still having hair into his adulthood.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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"GOD, WHY?"

TITLE: Booster Gold V2.

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Dan Jurgens (layouts) and/or Norm Rapmund (finishes).

DISSECTION: Same spread, Lionel Luthor Jr.'s grave (that is, Superman in this alternate timeline) reads "LUTHER".

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars, this is on par of web forum posters writing "Luther", "Emporer", "Klenons" and "Rouge". I just considered using this as a Dissect This!, but it was too easy.
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"IT'S MORE KUNG-FUEY THIS WAY."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 29.

CULPRIT: Ian Churchill (cover penciller).

DISSECTION: Karate kid is, for some reason, barefoot on the cover, when he wears boots as part of his costume.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"ONE GIRL, MULTIPLE COSTUMES."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 29.

CULPRIT: Ian Churchill (cover penciller).

DISSECTION: Again the cover, Una has a different cape clasp and belt that her costume has had before.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"BLUE, PURPLE, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?"

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 29.

CULPRIT: Thomas Chu (colorist).

DISSECTION: I still haven't opened the book, and there's more errors to be found. Una's costume is YET AGAIN colored blue instead of purple.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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"GREEN, MUTABLE COLOR."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 29.

CULPRIT: Manuel García (penciller).

DISSECTION: Kyle Rayner's costume keeps shifting ever so slightly.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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"SOME CLONES GROW FASTER THAN OTHERS."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 29.

CULPRIT: Manuel García (penciller).

DISSECTION: Jimmy Olsen runs into the Newsboy Legion, but the character heights are wrong. By this time, the Newsboys should be teenagers (at least physically), some of them maybe into their late twenties. However, the "younger" members (Scrapper and Gabby, if I'm not mistaken, and where's Flip, by the way?) look like midgets when compared to the "older" members (Big Words and Tommy, if I'm right).

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"HAIR ON!"

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 550.

CULPRIT: Paul Pelletier (penciller).

DISSECTION: Johnny Storm's haircut is different than what it should be.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"BLACK OR BLUE?"

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 550.

CULPRIT: Paul Mounts (colorist).

DISSECTION: I had discarded this one until the Guvnor Paul C also pointed it out, and I took a second look. On the first page of story, Ben and Johnny's costumes are blue, and afterwards, they're black, as they're supposed to be. I'm going to award the Guvnor a HDSC badge here.

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, it just might be a question of lighting.
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"YEAH, I HAVE CONTIGENCY PLANS FOR GALACTUS, BUT AFTER HIM, MY COSMIC KNOWLEDGE IS ZERO."

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 550.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

DISSECTION: Black Panther doesn't know who Eternity is, which is kind of doubtful.

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
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"YOU DO KNOW SHE'S NOT A REAL GODDESS, RIGHT?"

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 550.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

DISSECTION: In order to fix reality, Dr. Strange has to operate on Eternity, placing his essence in another being's essence as a method of life support. He says that only himself (Strange) and Storm have the strength of spirit to survive that. What? Where does this come from? I can see Strange being able to house Eternity’s essence at least for a little while, as cosmically trained as he is, but Storm? What? You don't think that maybe, uhm... the Silver Surfer (who's also there) could do it better than Storm? Please.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"DIPLOMATIC MATTERS."

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 550.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

DISSECTION: At the end of the book, Sue Richards mentions that the Wakandan embassy in Washington, D.C. is available for T'Challa and Storm to live in... but again, as we've mentioned before, you can't have two embassies in the same country. An embassy and many consulates in the country's most important cities, yes, but not more than one embassy in the same country.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars, Sue could be mistaken, and it's a consulate.
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"KOLCHAK, IS THAT YOU?"

TITLE: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

ISSUE: 24.

CULPRIT: J. Michael Straczynski (writer) and/or Chris Eliopoulos (letterer, if he lettered the cover).

DISSECTION: Thanks to the Guvnor for pointing this one out (another badge for him); the creatures that "guard time" or something like that, are called "Nightstalkers" on the cover, but "Nightwalkers" inside the book.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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"AUNT MAY IS BEYOND HOPE, WE GET IT."

TITLE: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

ISSUE: 24.

CULPRIT: J. Michael Straczynski (writer).

DISSECTION: Spider-Man searches for options to cure May, and one of the people he visits is the X-Men's Beast, to no avail. Again, are you telling me that Elixir can't heal may? He's restored Wolfsbane powers and brought a teammate back from death after his heart had been ripped out, by making him grow a new heart. And he can't heal Aunt May? Bullshit.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"YEAH, I BEEN TOOK CARED OF THAT BIZZATCH!"

TITLE: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

ISSUE: 24.

CULPRIT: Jonathan Couper-Smartt, Mike Fichera & Peter Sanderson (writers for the Mary Jane Profile).

DISSECTION: On MJ's profile, it says that she "took cared" of her cousin.

DISSECT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"WHO CARES HOW IT'S SPELLED?"

TITLE: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

ISSUE: 24.

CULPRIT: Jonathan Couper-Smartt, Mike Fichera & Peter Sanderson (writers for the Mary Jane Profile).

DISSECTION: The aforementioned cousin is called Kristie, then on the next line it's spelled Kristy. Yet another Guvnor spotted dissection, and yet another badge for the man.

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, it's the next freaking line.
<-------------------------------->
"WARDROBE MALFUNCTION."

TITLE: Gene Simmons' Dominatrix.

ISSUE: 02.

CULPRIT: Flavio Hoffe and/or Impacto Studios (artists)

DISSECTION: This one was spotted by Miss Kitty Fantastico, and I quote him "In issue #1 Dominique's outfit took some damage during the opening stage of her fight with lingerie ninja girl - the mask is torn beneath her right eye, and both gloves are looking a bit the worse for wear. At the start of #2 the damage to her mask has moved (albeit to her forehead, which is where she got kicked in #1), and it and the tears on her gloves vanish by page 4. Granted she just acquired superpowers from some pills, but I don't think costume repair is meant to be one of them. I'd call it a 6 - it doesn't ruin the issue or anything, but it could have easily been avoided."

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"TIME AND TIME AGAIN."

TITLE: Green Arrow / Black Canary.

ISSUE: 01.

CULPRIT: Judd Winick (writer).

DISSECTION: In what seems to be a retelling of their first encounter, Green Arrow mentions that he's a big fan of Black Canary's mother, but in her mini, only a few months ago, he said he thought she was her mother.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I'M WEARING MY SPARES."

TITLE: Green Arrow / Black Canary.

ISSUE: 01.

CULPRIT: Cliff Chiang (penciller).

DISSECTION: Black Canary's gloves and boots are not drawn correctly.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I'M DRINKING TOO MUCH."

TITLE: Green Arrow / Black Canary.

ISSUE: 01.

CULPRIT: Trish Mulvihill (colorist).

DISSECTION: Speedy's eyes are blue, yet on page eleven they're mysteriously colored yellow.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I LIKE THIS OUTFIT BETTER, SO I IMAGINED MYSELF IN IT."

TITLE: Green Arrow / Black Canary.

ISSUE: 01.

CULPRIT: Cliff Chiang (penciller).

DISSECTION: On page 13 Black Canary remembers her wedding night, but the lingerie Chiang drew doesn't mach what she wore on the Wedding Special.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MULTIPLE FRONTS."

TITLE: Green Lantern V4.

ISSUE: 24.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer) and/or Ivan Reis (penciller).

DISSECTION: The Justice League is shown battling Manhunters while Sinestro and his lanterns, along with Tom Welling Prime (I saw this denomination for him somewhere and loved it) are arriving on Earth. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are there, but they weren't in the Cyborg Superman special from the previous week, in fact, Superman was fighting the Cyborg.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I CAN'T FLY!!!"

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Justin Gray (writer).

DISSECTION: Get ready, for this book is one big dissection. Let's start by the fact that Flash asks for Martian Manhunter's help to go up a few feet in the air, when he's been shown to use his speed to create whirlwinds to carry him up and stuff like that.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I KEEP CHANGING MY COSTUME DESIGN AT SUPERSPEED TO ANNOY PEOPLE."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: Flash (Wally West) is in this issue, and his lightning bolt keeps shifting, sometimes it's joined (pointing down to his crotch), sometimes it's not joined, at some points it loses the serrated edges. Look at this page below, Leonardi, can't you at least keep things consistent within the same page?

It keeps getting worse all through the issue.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON'T!"

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: God, look at the third panel from the above page, not only is Flash's belt missing, his glove lightnings are gone! Same on page 18!

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller) and I.L.L. (colorist).

DISSECTION: Damn, his mask covers his entire face! And the same on page 18!

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NOT FLASH."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: Whoa, his chest emblem is blank! And it's gone again on the next page! And on page 16! And on the statue on page 18! I'll quit it with the exclamation marks!

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I KNOW HE'S A SHAPESHIFTER, BUT..."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: I'm done with Wally, but look at that panel again, what the hell is up with J'onn's right shoulder?

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"YOU KNOW, DYES AND THE DCU."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: I.L.L. (colorist).

DISSECTION: Wally's hair is colored blond instead of red during the whole issue.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MARTIAN MEMORY IS SCREWY LIKE THAT."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Justin Gray (writer) and/or Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: On page 12, J'onn's brother talks about Starro and the re-formation of the Justice League, and shows Superman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Orion fighting Starro. To my knowledge, and backed up by my research, Orion never faced Starro, but the Star Conqueror. Furthermore, Orion and Hal Jordan have never been members of the League at the same time.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"FIRST TIME! NOT REALLY...."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: See if you can Dissect This!


DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NOT HAWKMAN!"

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: Same page, Hawkman's missing his chest emblem. Argh!

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"WE ASKED HER TO WEAR THE FISHNETS THAT ONE TIME."

TITLE: JLA: Classified.

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: Page sixteen shows Black Canary in the Bwa-Ha-Ha League when it's first formed, and she's wearing her classic costume, when she wore her "dance outfit" during that period.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Eleven dissections on a single book. Wow.
<-------------------------------->
"DA-DA-DA DE-DE-DE."

TITLE: Runaways V2.

ISSUE: 28.

CULPRIT: Joss Whedon (writer).

DISSECTION: *Sigh* I already ranted on this before, and on this same column: Joss Whedon is a good writer, and he's getting the hang of Runaways... except for Molly. Joss, she's supposed to be around 12, not five, she shouldn't be saying things as "extra-trestal". Although, with kids being how they are these days, I'll buy that she thinks that "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" is a song from around 1907.

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"HALF A QUESTION MASK."

TITLE: Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: The Gorn.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: David Messina (artist).

DISSECTION: Are these Star Trek books going to be remembered as "Star Trek: Comic Books: Overuse Of: Colons: To The Infinite: Overdrive?" But I digress, this was a good first Alien Spotlight, even though there's not much to the gorn to spot a light on. They're just reptilian Klingons. The art is acceptable, if not to my liking, although it suffers from the same ailment that all IDW Star Trek comics are suffering: poorly detailed art. The worst case is this panel, and look at Chekov:

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, dammit, where the hell are his eyes?
<-------------------------------->
"GEE, IF ONLY WE HAD A SPACE COP IN THE TEAM!"

TITLE: Superman.

ISSUE: 668.

CULPRIT: Kurt Busiek (writer).

DISSECTION: Superman captures some Dominators experimenting on humans, and then damages their ship, leaving them with enough power for-life support. He sets them adrift in space, saying that "the Justice League will contact the appropriate interstellar authorities". Or, you could just, you know, call a Green Lantern yourself, couldn't you Clark?

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"YOU SURE TRAIN THEM WELL, RIGHT BATMAN?"

TITLE: Superman.

ISSUE: 668.

CULPRIT: Kurt Busiek (writer).

DISSECTION: Superman and Chris Kent (God, I don't know if I like that name, or if I find it too cheesy) fly into the Batcave, and since the biometric sensors of the place don't have the youngest Kryptonian registered yet, the alarm goes off. Apart from the fact that I don't think Bats would set an alarm to go "BLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANGBLANG", Robin goes "AAHH! THE PERIMETER ALARM!" This is Robin, Mr. Busiek, he wouldn't scream like an old lady, he'd be on his feet and ready to defend the cave against intruders.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SUPERMAN AND HIS DOLL SON."
TITLE: Superman.

ISSUE: 668.

CULPRIT: Rick Leonardi (penciller).

DISSECTION: Look at this panel below. Rick, haven't we talked about details?


Superman has no nose, his eyes are dark pits, and Chris looks like a freaking blow-up doll!

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THIS IS A DISSECION."

TITLE: Superman.

ISSUE: 668.

CULPRIT: Kurt Busiek (writer) and/or Comicraft (letterer).

DISSECTION: On the final panel of page seventeen, Superman says "stating" instead of "starting".

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
<-------------------------------->
"THEY'RE STREET CLOTHES, FOR ZEUS SAKE!"

TITLE: Wonder Girl.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: J. Torres (writer).

DISSECTION: Good book so far, I'm sure Miss Kitty Fantastico would like it. But the dissection her is that Cassie's outfit gets trashed, and she decides to wear the costume (battle armor) that Hercules gave her, as if she didn't go through a dozen costumes a month while battling evil, and doesn't any left. I don't buy it much. I do agree with Hercules that she needed a new costume that wasn't just jeans and a tank top.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THE GODS STOLE HER FACE!"

TITLE: Wonder Girl.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Sanford Greene (penciller).

DISSECTION: On page 18, Cassie is lacking a face in the first panel.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, people please DRAW FACES!
<-------------------------------->
"AND THIS IS A DISSECTOIN."

TITLE: Wonder Girl.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: J. Torres (writer) and/or Phil Balsman (letterer).

DISSECTION: Hercules says "sheild" instead of "shield" on page 19.

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
<-------------------------------->
"SHE'S JUST A MERE MORTAL."

TITLE: Wonder Girl.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: J. Torres (writer).

DISSECTION: Cassandra says on page 20 "My family is the Teen Titans! My family are Diana and Donna!" Uhm... what about your mom, Cassie?

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"TWINDOW TWINDOW (NOT-SO) LITTLE STARS."

TITLE: Wonder Woman V3.

ISSUE: Annual 01.

CULPRIT: Terry Dodson (penciller) and Alex Sinclair (colorist).

DISSECTION: This one is a leftover from a few weeks ago. Ending spread of the main story, pages 24-25, Power Girl's costume is wrong, she has cleavage up from her neck, while her costume is closed on the top of her torso, with a twindow (you figure that one out) that allows you to see the, uhm... goods. After a lenghty discussion with Miss Kitty Fantastico (see here, I've agreed that it's also Sinclair's fault for not coloring it as he should.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I'M JUST ANOTHER STRIPPER, THE REAL VIXEN IS BUSY."

TITLE: Wonder Woman V3.

ISSUE: 13.

CULPRIT: Julian Lopez (penciller).

DISSECTION: On page seventeen, Vixen's costume is wrong, she's not even wearing the Tantu Totem.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"WELL, WHAT DO YOU KNOW, DYES ARE ALSO POPULAR IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE TOO."

TITLE: X-Men: Die By The Sword.

ISSUE: 01 of 05.

CULPRIT: Rob Ro (colorist).

DISSECTION: So, did we really need a separate mini for an Excalibur / Exiles crossover? We couldn't do it inside one of those books? Well, I guess Exiles is already busy with... whatever the hell Claremont is doing with the book, and New Excalibur just got cancelled. Plus, why do it in a low profile book like Excalibur and Exiles, which only have an "x" as the second letter in their titles (well, fifth in New Excalibur), when you can have a mini that has "X-Men" as part of the title? Who cares if only half of the characters are actually X-Men, and then many of them are from alternate Earths?

Anyway, as unfulfilling as this first issue was, Claremont didn't make any errors this time. However, even if Juan Santacruz manages to make Psylocke look Asian, Ro colors her hair black, not purple, as her hair usually is dyed.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
Wow, that was a long column, with 50 dissections, and a (un)healthy rating of 6.2 Bazzars. Seeing as to how this was a long column, I'll go straight to the DAYAMN! moment of the week. It comes from Green Lantern V4 #24, and while it was a good issue, it didn't make pick of the week for best book. However, it did get best moment of the week, in a sequence that made me very happy.

Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Guy Gardner free Kyle Rayner from Parallax, and the Guardians Sayd and Ganthet imprison the creature inside the earthmen's power batteries (Guy's has a Michigan State sticker!). Kyle takes back his ring, and they all recite their oath together... I was so moved, that I recited the oath out loud along with them. Take a look:

Damn cool indeed. That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more dissections, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE DISSECTOR!

The Nitpicker #40.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"I'm fat, black, cranky, and menopausal! You do not want to mess with me!" Amanda Waller, Suicide Squad V3 #1.

I know, I failed you; I promised a double column for last week. I've been swamped with work, and even my house got flooded, so you'll excuse me. I will catch up eventually, and you might even have, time permitting, three columns this week. This is the first one, you might get the second one in a couple of days, and then for thursday/friday you might get the one that would make me all caught up. We'll see, hope you can understand if I can't deliver.

Look at that quote up there? Isn't that vintage Amanda Waller? Changing subjects, What are the Nitpicker's Picks of the Week (released on 9/12, you ask? Well, the best book was Booster Gold V2 #2; again with nice storytelling, and good, clean art. The story, by Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz, is entertaining and fast-paced (none of that decompression ballyhoo you get elsewhere); with Booster Gold playing up to Sinestro's vanity; and having a buddy moment with a pre-jerk Guy Gardner after having (unbeknownst to Guy) saved his life... only to actually ruin it for a few years by having a heart to heart with him. Read the book, you'll know what I mean. The art has great layouts by Booster creator Dan Jurgens, and very correct finishes by Norm Rapmund. The coloring is too bright for my taste, but Hi-Fi does it without goofs.

As for the worst book? Well, this week the worst book is a story I kind of actually enjoyed reading... I'm talking about Batman Confidential #9, what seems to be the origin of the Joker. I don't have any actual problems with the story, nor with the art (although the latter is not my cup of tea). My problem with it? The guy who will be Joker gets his face cut up by a batarang... in the shape of a smile... He ends up with a scar in that shape... just like Heath Ledger will have as the Joker in the next Batman movie. Now, I don't really have a problem with the Joker being changed so for the movie (I don't like it, but it's better than barefoot Joker in The Batman), but I just don't like bowing like this to movie continuity.

It's a futile attempt to get readers from the movie going audience, or to at least welcome them to a familiar setting, so they won't feel so alienated if they decide to open a comic... but really, how many non-readers will the movie really attract to comics? And those who do come, they are probably smart enough to realize the difference between movie and comic continuities...

Last column's spot the nit was again guessed by Dominik B. at ICS.net's forums (which I urge you to visit and join), and it was the fact that Vixen's eyes had been colored green, when they're brown, and had even been colored correctly in previous pages. With that, let's get started with the nits, shall we?
<-------------------------------->
"I'M A PHILOSOPHER, WE'RE DIFFERENT, WE CAN WEAR OUR PANTS AS COATS!"

TITLE: Action Philosophers.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Fred Van Lente (writer) and/or Ryan Dunlavey (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Oh noes! Last issue!!! This is an excellent series, and I highly recommend going out there and picking up any of the trades or single issues you can find (the third and final trade comes out in November). Luckily, they will be back some time, and they are starting a new series, Comic Book Comics, portraying the history of the comic book medium. I mean, look at this two page spread, 6 Degrees Of Separation Of Francis Bacon, and tell me if they're not geniuses!

But where's the nit? Well, on page 29, while telling of Baruch Spinoza's life, panel one shows how an assassin tries to stab him, piercing his coat. Then on the next panel, they tell how Spinoza kept the coat as a reminder of that day, but the image shows what looks like a pair of pants, inside a glass display case.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"GREEN GLOW OF HEALTH."

TITLE: Black Adam: The Dark Age.

ISSUE: 02 of 06.

CULPRIT: Nathan Eyring (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Isis eyes are colored green, when they are actually brown.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, it could be a side effect of the Lazarus Pit.
<-------------------------------->
"GREEN GLOW OF FASHION MAKEOVERS."

TITLE: Countdown Presents The Search For Ray Palmer: Wildstorm / Countdown.

ISSUE: One-shot / 33.

CULPRIT: Angel Unzueta (penciller) and Allen Passalaqua (colorist) / Carlos Magno (penciller), Tom Chu (colors), and Talent Caldwell & JD Smith (cover artists).

NIT-TO-PICK: Kyle Rayner's costume is drawn and colored slightly between the cover of Countdown #33, its interior pages, and the pages of Countdown Presents... even between pages of that same book.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"JOIN THE 99% OF COMIC CHARACTERS..."

TITLE: Countdown Presents The Search For Ray Palmer:

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Allen Passalaqua (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 21, Jenny Quantum's eyes are colored blue, when she's supposed to have Asian features (barely recognizable from Unzueta's lines).

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, I don't actually have a reference to quote.
<-------------------------------->
"WHAT SHE LACKS IN HEELS..."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 33.

CULPRIT: Carlos Magno (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 11, Mary Marvel's boots lack heels. Truth be told, though, she does have nice breasts and we get a nice upskirt view...

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"COUNTDNOW."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 33.

CULPRIT: Adam Beechen (writer) and/or Jared K. Fletcher (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Page 15, Jimmy says "beofre" instead of "before".

NIT-O-METER: 1 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I USED A LAZARUS PIT."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 33.

CULPRIT: Tom Chu (colors).

NIT-TO-PICK: Donna Troy's eyes are colored green on page 19.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MY CELL PHONE IS LOW ON BATTERY, I'LL JUST CARRY AROUND A PHONE WITH A VERY LONG CORD."

TITLE: Green Lantern V4.

ISSUE: 23.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Hal complains that his ring's almost out of power, which is a good excuse for him to wear a bunch of yellow rings... but Green Lantern's have been shown to carry (including Hal) their power battery stored inside their rings. Hell, there's a panel I have in my head right now where John Stewart, the late Katma Tui, and Dalor of Timron, GL of Sector 2813 recharge their rings in the middle of space, producing their batteries from nowhere.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, ignoring previously established things for a plot device, when a couple of panels showing Hal actually losing his battery to the enemies could have been easily added. Man, an eight... that felt good!!!! BWA-HA-HA!
<-------------------------------->
"WE MADE THE ILUMINATTI POLISH IT... WITH TOOTHBRUSHES!"

TITLE: Heroes For Hire V2.

ISSUE: 13.

CULPRIT: Clay Mann (penciller) and/or Brand Anderson (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 9, Hulk's ship looks too smooth and light-colored, like it's made of metal, instead of stone.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MY PARENTS HAD A WEIRD SENSE OF HUMOR."

TITLE: Heroes For Hire V2.

ISSUE: 13.

CULPRIT: Fred Van Lente (writer, backup story).

NIT-TO-PICK: The male S.H.I,E.L.D. agent is called by his partner "Noriko". which is a female name.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MARVEL? SHIPPING LATE? NAAAAAH!"

TITLE: All World War Hulk Books.

ISSUE: N/A.

CULPRIT: Mark Paniccia (World War Hulk event editor), other editors.

NIT-TO-PICK: Oh surprise, Marvel has fallen behind schedule with WWH, and the checklist running on each book that's part of the event is seriously outdated.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"KANSAS FARM GLAMOUR."

TITLE: JLA Classified.

ISSUE: 42.

CULPRIT: I.L.L.

NIT-TO-PICK: Jonathan Kent is shown on page one, finding baby Kal-El (though it looks like a doll) in the rocket, but his hair is colored blonde, not brown, as it should be.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NOPE, NO BOMBS ON HIM. HE'S A-OK!"

TITLE: JLA Classified.

ISSUE: 42.

CULPRIT: Justin Gray (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Superman says that he used his x-ray vision to determine if J'onn Jonzz was a threat. Uhm... how does that go?

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"RUNAWAY GROOM."

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Ed Benes (cover penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Why is Green Arrow not on the cover? It kind of looks like Dinah is marrying Wonder Woman... hmm... I wouldn't mind seeing that wedding night! I know Benes is good at drawing hot chicks, but there's only one male (Superman) on the cover!!!

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"WE JUST HIRED ONE OF THE STRIPPERS TO POSE AS HER, WHO'S GONNA KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?"

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Ed Benes (cover penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Starfire is in costume and using her powers on the cover, when she currently doesn't have any powers, and is taking some time away from the super hero scene.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"OLLIE, DON'T GIVE THE RINGS TO HAL, HE'LL LOSE THEM!"

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Mike McKone (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Hal Jordan is not wearing his GL ring on page four (panel one), then he is on the next page (panel four), only for it to disappear by the next panel!

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S MY VENTRILOQUY ARROW."

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Rob Leigh (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 9, Red Arrow's word balloon on panel one is pointing at Ollie.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SPOT THIS ONE, OH YEAH, SPOT IT."

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Mike McKone (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Look at this panel and tell me what you see:

Clue, this is not the only panel it happens in, and you can't even see the entirety of the fuck up in this sole image. In fact, it's not the first time it happens, but I just noticed it now. Come, you've got all the clues, go ahead and spot it!

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I JUST ASSUMED IT."

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman are attacked by Dr. Light and Cheetah, who make no mention of being working with anyone else, yet on page 37 Kendra knows that they're working with Luthor and the Joker.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, it could be an assumption on her part.
<-------------------------------->
"I STOLE IT FROM LION-O."

TITLE: Justice League Of America Wedding Special.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Mike McKone (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On the last page, Hawkman is wearing a belt with his emblem, almost larger than the one on his chest... problem is, he's never worn such a belt, just regular buckled belts. Even if it's his dress uniform or something like that, come on Carter, there is such thing as over-accessorizing!

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"FALSE MEMORIES."

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: The book opens with a narration by Power Girl, who states that after arriving on "this" Earth (meaning Post COIE Earth, now New Earth) she thought her cousin (Kal-L, Earth-2 Superman) was dead. Now, up to Infinite Crisis, and this was a big point of her miniseries and Infinite Crisis itself, she didn't remember her true origin.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars. Yes, it could be how she remembers it now, on New Earth, but nothing has been said explicitly about it.
<-------------------------------->
"CHEST PAINS."

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Dale Eaglesham (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Once again, Jay Garrick's chest emblem is drawn in correctly (see previous weeks).

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, it'll keep rising.
<-------------------------------->
"I FORGOT TO DYE IT THIS WEEK."

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Jeromy Cox & Hi-Fi (colorists).

NIT-TO-PICK: Jay Garrick's hair is colored completely white, when only his temples are white/grey.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I TOOK SOMEBODY ELSE'S SHOES!"

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Jeromy Cox & Hi-Fi (colorists).

NIT-TO-PICK: Man, have these guys ever SEEN Jay Garrick before? His boots are colored yellow (and not Flash-yellow, but eye-hurting yellow) instead of red.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S A HORRIBLE COSTUME, ANYWAY."

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Jeromy Cox & Hi-Fi (colorists).

NIT-TO-PICK: This one was spotted by Miss Kitty Fantastico (who by the way, earns yet another HNSC badge), who I quote: "On page 5 (not counting the cover) Cyclone's costume is coloured red on the drape around her chest, green on the lower dress, and green on the sleeveless top beneath it. In earlier issues it's been red top, green dress and drape; regardless of whether this is meant to be a different version of her costume, on page 13 the colours have reversed: green drape, red dress and top, and on the following page her stockings, which should be alternating red and pale blue/white stripes, look like pale blue/green stripes painted onto her bare legs.

I'd point the finger at Hi-Fi (whatever that is), as on all previous issues Cox is credited alone as colourist, and regardless of Dale Eaglesham's tendency to forget that Cyclone wears a top under her dress, the colours have always been consistent (in fact, I recall in one issue, where she was in the background so it didn't stand out, the top was colored in spite of their being no outline for it, thus preventing a nit)."

I love the stockings on Cyclone's costume, but the rest of it is horrible... like you said, a gym top and a drape.... ugh.... I'll ask Blockade Boy to do Rescue Her.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THE RETURN OF THE FURRY OF WILDCAT!"

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3.

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Dale Eaglesham (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Wildcat I's mask is drawn with gigantic fangs, almost as if he was a sabretooth tiger... in fact, his mask DOESN'T even have fangs at all. First Alex Sanchez at JSA: Classified makes him a furry, now he's Sabretoothman?

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"INITIALIZING THE INITIATIVE."

TITLE: Moon Knight V5.

ISSUE: 12.

CULPRIT: Axel Alonso (editor) & Daniel Ketchum (assistant editor).

NIT-TO-PICK: The recap page states that the events in this issue take place before Civil War #6 & 7, yet the cover to this issue and the previous one have a "THE INITIATIVE" banner. WRONG!

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SHE CAN... UHM... FEEL THE VIBRATION CAUSED BY SPEECH IN THE AIR AROUND HER..."

TITLE: New Avengers.

ISSUE: 34.

CULPRIT: Leinil Yu (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: The Guvnor Paul C made us realize that it's impossible for Maya Lopez (who's deaf) to read the lips of someone who's behind her. A badge for the Guvnor.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"RANDOM STAR TREK PAINTING, ANYONE?"

TITLE: Star Trek: Year Four.

ISSUE: 02 of 06.

CULPRIT: Joe Corroney (cover artist).

NIT-TO-PICK: The cover (the one I got of three variants) features Chekov, who's not a member of the Enterprise's crew during this fourth year, with Arex as his replacement (even seen inside the book)... in fact, this cover consists of Chekov, Sulu and Scotty, with only the latter having an actual role inside the book.

This issue was actually better, both art and story wise, than the first one, though the art is still too simple for my taste.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, would have been lower if it didn't have Chekov.
<-------------------------------->
"WE JUST WORK IN ANY DIVISION WE FEEL LIKE IT."

TITLE: Star Trek: Year Four.

ISSUE: 02 of 06.

CULPRIT: Steve Conley (penciller/inker).

NIT-TO-PICK: Page four clearly show's McCoy's department insignia, but nothing on Spock's Enterprise badge; nor on Kirk's.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, again people lack division markings all over the issue.
<-------------------------------->
"FACELESS CREWMEMBERS."

TITLE: Star Trek: Year Four.

ISSUE: 02 of 06.

CULPRIT: Steve Conley (penciller/inker).

NIT-TO-PICK: Conley again decides to forgo drawing faces on people's heads.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. No less, sorry.
<-------------------------------->
"ONE-SHOT."

TITLE: Suicide Squad V3.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: John Ostrander.

NIT-TO-PICK: Well, I'm very happy about this book, read my review of this first issue here. However, Ostrander makes his first mistake, saying that Squad members were freed after just one mission. It was never specified how many missions you had to perform, but it was always implied that you worked your way to freedom (for example, Captain Boomerang had done well enough that he was allowed to live "off-campus" from Belle Reve, but still wearing a tracking device).

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I CHANGED CLOTHES BEHIND THE NUCLEAR BOMB."

TITLE: Suicide Squad V3.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Javi Pina (penciller)

NIT-TO-PICK: Rick Flag is shown in a flashback, where he destroys Jotunheim (the Jihad's headquarters), but he's not wearing the same clothes than in the original sequence back in Suicide Squad V1 #25.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, he's wearing completely different clothes.
<-------------------------------->
"MAGENTA TIGER."

TITLE: Suicide Squad V3.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Jason Wright (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Bronze Tiger's orange-brown uniform is the same shade as Deadshot's red costume.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I USED TO MOONLIGHT AS CAPTAIN KIRK'S YEOMAN."

TITLE: Suicide Squad V3.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Javi Pina (penciller)

NIT-TO-PICK: Page 22, panel 2, Nightshade doesn't have a face.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, you at least can see some features.
<-------------------------------->
"I'M WEARING MAKE-UP."

TITLE: Suicide Squad V3.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Jason Wright (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Nightshade's skin is colored Caucasian during the whole issue, when all the action happens after her absorbing the Succubus' power, so it should be chalk white. Also, her hair is too short, but being that it is (or was, don't know now in Shadowpact) made of "living shadows", she probably could manipulate it's length.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, she could be wearing make-up..
<-------------------------------->
"LOW-FLYING AIRSPACE."

TITLE: Thor V3.

ISSUE: J. Michael Straczynski (writer).

CULPRIT: 03.

NIT-TO-PICK: On page twenty, a completely-peed-in-his-iron-undies Tony Stark says that Thor's Asgard (a fortress floating over an Oklahoma field) could be treated as an embassy, for the purposes of it not being actual U.S. territory. That sounds good, but then he goes and adds "Especially since it's technically eight feet above U.S. territory." Uhm, Tony, it'd still be U.S. airspace...

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"EVERY MORNING WHEN I GET UP I TRASH THE PLACE AND KILL THREE STUDENTS WHO SLEEP ABOVE MY ROOM."

TITLE: Ultimate X-Men.

ISSUE: 86.

CULPRIT: Yanick Paquette (penciller) and/or Robert Kirkman (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 10, Scott "Cyclops" Summers is shown sleeping without the goggles he uses in regular X-Men comics to sleep with, then fumbling for his glasses on the nightstand... come on, even if it's never been established in Ultimate continuity that he sleeps with goggles, why would he trust himself not to open his eyes when he wakes up?

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"KIRK GIVES OUT THESE JOBS LIKE THEY'RE ANDORIAN CANDY!"

TITLE: Ultimate X-Men.

ISSUE: 86.

CULPRIT: Yanick Paquette (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Dazzler and Psylocke have no faces on page 21, panel 2; and Angel and the Fenris twins barely have one.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars. He can draw a gazillion hairs in Wolverine's arms, but not faces on other characters?
<-------------------------------->
"BLIND RAGE."

TITLE: Ultimate X-Men.

ISSUE: 86.

CULPRIT: Yanick Paquette (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Wolverine has no pupils or irises in the aforementioned page, panel three.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
Well, this week we got an average of 5.7 Bazzars, and I must say that I've found a middle ground between my exaggerated ratings, and the milder ones. Let's see how that works out. Now, for the WTF?/DAYAMN! moment, this time it's a DAYAMN! moment, and it obviously is:

Black Adam bungee jumping using the innards of a Yeti he's just gutted! Hardcore!

That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more nits, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE NITPICKER!

The Nitpicker #38.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"Is here Dali Planit. Dilivrees in reer or punch in face." Sign outside the "Dayli" Planet on Bizarro World. Spelled with random mirrored letters, of course.

Welcome to our 38th issue, I'll try to keep this intro short. The quote of the week was about the only thing I liked about Action Comics 855. In fact, this issue has all the Silver Age staples that should have stayed there, and it's the Nitpicker's Pick for worst book of the week. Bizarro, as a failed clone of Superman was ok; but now we again have the square planet and the entire population of the planet, including Bizarro Jimmy and Bizarro Lois. The elements like a Marlon Brando looking bearded Jor-El, the sunstones in the fortress, and all that, which were palatable in limited doses in the previous storyline by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, plus other things like Bizarro World, all work together to create a tale which is too reminiscent of Silver Age silliness.

What's the pick for best book of the week, you say? Well, I didn't find much excitement in this week's books, but I'm going to have to say the Ex Machina Masquerade Special. The story is good, a little bit too soon for Halloween; but entertaining, and well told as Brian K. Vaughan has us used to. It's nice to see more of the back story on Mitchell Hundred, of his days after the accident that gave him his powers, but just before he started his superhero career. The art by John Paul Leon (pencils and inks) is good, some of the faces look a little different than what regular series artist Tony Harris does, but they look fine. The biggest problem i have with this book is that the colors (by JD Mettler) are a little bit too muted at times. Still, a good read.

Last week's STN was again spotted by Roy, and it was indeed the fact that Jericho did not wear a cape back when he first appeared. I think he's worn one at some point, but I don't really care... I mean, it's freaking Jericho. On with the nits, aight?
<-------------------------------->
"WOODY ALLEN KENT."

TITLE: Action Comics.

ISSUE: 855.

CULPRIT: Eric Powell (artist) and/or Geoff Johns & Richard Donner (writers).

NIT-TO-PICK: Why does a ten year old Clark Kent (who looks more like Woody Allen that Clark Kent) wear glasses, if he has no secret identity to protect? I mean, look at him, it's a young Woody Allen!!!


NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"BOOOOOOM!"

TITLE: Amazons Attack.

ISSUE: 06 of 06.

CULPRIT: Will Pfeifer (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Oh, so the twist behind the Amazon attack was that Granny Goodness was masquerading as Athena? I can't claim credit for coming up with the theory, but I've been espousing that idea since somebody mentioned it in a Newsarama thread a month ago. Apart from that, are we really supposed to believe that "Athena" arrives via a very audible boom tube; and none of the heroes with super senses or high technology realized it was an Apokoliptian boom tube that brought the "Olympian" goddess to Earth?

Oh, and to all of you out there: it's A-po-ko-lips.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S JUST A RANDOM ISLAND, WHO'S GONNA NOTICE?"

TITLE: Batman Annual.

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: David López (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Look at the image below. On the left, the fragment of Australian map shown on page 12 of this book, and on the right, a fragment of a real Australian map the comic supposedly portrays. Let's play spot the seven differences!!!


NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Please López, you could have at least looked at an Australian map.
<-------------------------------->
"IMMORTAL EYES."

TITLE: Batman Annual.

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: Trish Mulvihill (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Now, this might be a side effect of the Lazarus Pit, but I've been unable to find any references. When shown as a young man, Ra's al Ghul has amber-colored eyes, but later in life, his eyes are green.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"COVER THIS UP."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: JG Jones (cover artist).

NIT-TO-PICK: This book is definitely getting better and better, finally shaping up. Manuel García's art, though free of blunders like the Question's condom mask, still falls short of other artists like Jesus Saiz. Better or not, this book is not devoid of nits yet; on the cover, Una's (ugh!) boots have holes on the sides, ala Duo Damsel's seventies costume, but that design element is not present on Una's costume in the comic. Plus, she's not wearing her gloves (but she might be wearing the bracelets). Not to mention the fact that she's got a completely different haircut, and freckles she's never had.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S BREAST TO LEAVE THIS AS IT IS."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: JG Jones (cover artist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Also on the cover, Zatanna is wearing an open-breasted (and not just open) shirt, showing a lot of cleavage (never a bad thing), but she wears a regular tuxedo shirt (complete with bowtie) in the comic.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"DON'T FORGET YOUR JACKET."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Manuel García (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page seven, Mary Marvel gets turned back into just plain Mary, and this time she's wearing her jacket, as opposed to the last time we saw her de-powered (last issue), when she wasn't.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SUPERDICKERY!"

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Sean McKeever (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Page nine, Superman says to Jimmy that he "kept insisting that you had special powers (...)" What do you mean Supes? You saw Jimmy grow to a giant size!

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars... there might be a point to this.
<-------------------------------->
"IT WAS TEMPORARY."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Manuel García (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Red Arrow's tattoo is missing from his arm in the above mentioned page. Yet another HNS badge to Roy for spotting this.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MONKEY BUSSINESS."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Manuel García (penciller) and/or Sean McKeever (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: When the flashbacks of Jimmy getting his ass kicked by the JLA are shown, Vixen is shown manifesting gorilla powers. The whole point of her in JLA was that she's not able to channel animals any longer, only metahumans. And yes, I know that gorillas are not monkeys, but apes. Oh, and look at how much better DC is doing at admitting these things over at Newsarama:

"NRAMA: With friends like those, though… On a side note - Vixen's loss of her animal powers was an important element in Brad Meltzer's JLA run that, to date, hasn't been reversed or "fixed," Yet in this issue, she's clearly possessing the power of a gorilla. What gives?

Mike Carlin: I’d say that Jimmy is a fairly easy guy ta knock down... And Vixen was just imagining what she would do if she needed more strength to knock him down.

NRAMA: …

MC: Is yer B.S.-O-Meter going off...?

NRAMA: Er, yeah.

MC: Okay, it was probably a screw up.

Sean McKeever: I would say that we're seeing how Jimmy imagined things went down based on what he's being told. That’s how you lie to the fans, Carlini! Er, I mean..."

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THESE ARE BETTER, MORE LIKE THE ONES WORN IN FAME."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Manuel García (penciller) and/or Sean McKeever (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Page 16, Una is not wearing metal or similar material bracelets, she's now wearing obvious cloth bracelets.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"BLACK HAIR MAKES ME LOOK MORE BADASS."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Pete Pantazis (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Same page as above, Karate Kid's hair is colored black, when it's brown.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THE COLOR OF... SOMETHING."

TITLE: Countdown.

ISSUE: 35 of 52.

CULPRIT: Scott Beatty (writer, The Origin Of Parallax backup story).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 22, green is referred to as the color of courage... when it's the color of willpower, according to current Green Lantern mythos.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"WE USE IT TO SEND LETTERS."

TITLE: Countdown To Adventure.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Adam Beechen (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 3, the Zeta Beam is referred to as a "communications beam", when it's, specifically, a teleportation beam.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"HE MATURES SLOWLY."

TITLE: Countdown To Adventure.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Eddy Barrows (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: I know that some (if not all) of Animal Man's Vertigo adventures are probably considered a separate continuity now that he's returned to superheroics; but do we need to de-age his kids? Maxine was about 7 or 8 towards the last time we saw her, and Cliff was around 12. Now they look like 3 and 8 respectively. Cliff could be 10 at most, maybe a childish looking 12 (particularly going by the fact that he tries to take a picture of a semi-naked Starfire to show a friend), but by page 18, he looks as short as Maxine, and his face makes him look 5. Then by page 19, panel one, Cliff looks about 10 years old, and by panel 2, he looks 12 again...

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, because of the age discrepancies inside this book.
<-------------------------------->
"I DON'T WEAR THE COLLAR TURNED UP, I WEAR IT TURNED OUTSIDE IN."

TITLE: Countdown To Adventure.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Eddy Barrows (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Just noticed this one while doing the one above; Cliff is wearing a collared shirt on page 18, but on page 19 he's wearing a regular t-shirt..

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NAH, LEAVE THEM ALONE."

TITLE: Countdown To Adventure.

ISSUE: 01 of 08.

CULPRIT: Justin Gray (writer, Forerunner backup story).

NIT-TO-PICK: Forerunner's story, and the story of her race is told on this backup story, and the nine planets of Sol system gather an elite force to wipe them outs; nine of them survive, thinning the Forerunners from a thousand to a hundred. They are allowed to live, so they can submit to a peace accord. So, why didn't they send another force to wipe them out completely?

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THEY'RE STILL IN THE LAUNDRY."

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 549.

CULPRIT: Paul Pelletier (penciller) and Paul Mounts (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: The Thing and the Human Torch are still wearing the regular blue Fantastic Four uniforms, instead of the black ones they should be wearing, plus Johnny Storm's haircut and length is different than what it should be.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S A WEAPON TO REPEL OURSELVES."

TITLE: Fantastic Four V1.

ISSUE: 549.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 28, they refer to the Oditopians using a weapon to repel... the Oditopians, when it should say the Contrasepsis.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MAYBE SHE DID CHANGE THEM."

TITLE: Outsiders: Five Of A Kind.

ISSUE: 05 of 05.

CULPRIT: Jason Wright (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: The quality on this last issue dropped a bit, but it didn't sink as low as the first issue. Again, Grace's eyes are colored green. She usually wears violet contacts, but in Amazons Attack she had blue contacts, then green ones. I still consider this a nit, but I'm keeping it at only 5 Bazzars, since she might have had time to actually change them this time.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SPINNING AROUND."

TITLE: Outsiders: Five Of A Kind.

ISSUE: 05 of 05.

CULPRIT: Marc Andreyko (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page nine, Diana changes into civilian clothes with the trademark spin... since when has she been able to do it in modern comics?

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, unless someone corrects me.
<-------------------------------->
"THAT TOO IS GONE."

TITLE: Outsiders: Five Of A Kind.

ISSUE: 05 of 05.

CULPRIT: Art Thibert (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Same page, Grace's tattoos are gone from her lower torso.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, she could have covered them with makeup.
<-------------------------------->
"GO AHEAD, TRY IT."

TITLE: The Mice Templar.

ISSUE: 01.

CULPRIT: Possibly Judy Glass & Will Swyer (editorial assistance, no actual editor is credited).

NIT-TO-PICK: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!! Sorry... the nit is not in the comic, but in the history of the making of the book at the end of the story. Look at this image below, and tell me if you can Spot The Nit!


NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"LOVE GLOVE."

TITLE: Teen Titans V3.

ISSUE: 50.

CULPRIT: Rod Reis, Tom Smith & David Curiel (colorists) & Mike McKone (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page five, panel three, look at Robin's glove:


Why is it fingerless, and in the shape of a black plastic bag, when in the previous panel it was the appropriate green (this is his previous costume), with all fingers? Plus, not part of the nit, but that panel makes it look like Robin's talking when it's Wonder Girl's speech balloon. But never mind that.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"A MATTER OF SCALE."

TITLE: Wonder Woman V3.

ISSUE: 12.

CULPRIT: Paco Díaz (artist).

NIT-TO-PICK: The Department of Metahuman Affairs agents are once again shown wearing the scales of justice as their emblem, when that's just Nemesis' emblem.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I DON'T WORK HERE."

TITLE: Wonder Woman V3.

ISSUE: 12.

CULPRIT: Paco Diaz (artist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Page 22, panel one, an agent in the background is missing the emblem from his uniform.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I DECIDED TO GO BUSINESS CASSUAL."

TITLE: World War Hulk: X-Men.

ISSUE: 03 of 03 (and the previous issues too).

CULPRIT: Ed McGuinness (cover penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: Besides being pointless, this could have been told in just one issue. Plus, it had the sappiest iteration of what I call the World War Hulk formula. What is the WWH formula? Easy: 1) Hulk threatens to smash, 2) character XYZ attempts to talk him down, 3) Hulk seems to listen, 4) Hulk either resists the attempts to talk him down, or was faking interest, 5) Hulk smashes XYZ and either captures or lets him/her go for some reason. In this case, Hulk beats the crap out of all X-teams assembled, and only lets them live after a sob story from Mercury. Yawn. Don't get me wrong, some of the crossovers and tie ins with WWH are fun (like Initiative), but most books are just being repetitive.

Oh, the nit.... yeah, sorry. On the cover, why the hell is Hulk wearing his usual purple-torn-pants-only "costume", instead of the gladiator getup he's sported so far? Fact, I just realized that he's not wearing his current costume on the covers to the other two issues, it wasn't that obvious because these were close-ups.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
That's it for this week, as far as nits go. Before telling you the average, let's see what the WTF?/DAYAMN! moment of the week was. It's a WTF? moment, and it was from Countdown. As I said, Manuel García's art for this book didn't reach Question condom mask levels, but still... is this Amalgam Superman/Squirrel Girl?


Ew! The average for this week, now that you ask, is 7.3 Bazzars, the highest in some time, since issue #31's 8.1. Let's see what next week brings us. That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more nits, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE NITPICKER!