The Nitpicker #19.

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

Oh yeah! What nobody was asking for! The Nitpicker, your humble servant, puts his acid wit to work on current comics! This installments includes the nits I've spotted these past weeks, with comics published on the 6th, 13th, and 20th of December; plus, in order to keep playing catch-up, the nits I spotted on July's books. Enjoy!
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"THE KING OF SPAIN CALLS SPAIN HIS HOME"

TITLE: Beyond.

ISSUE: 06 of 06.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 11, panel 4, the Stranger says about Earth "The Sorcerer Supreme calls it home." Uh... DUH!!! He's Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, where else would he call home? The Microverse?!!?

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars, horrible series.
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"TYPOSUAURUS"

TITLE: Dork Tower.

ISSUE: 35.

CULPRIT: John Kovalic (writer/artist/letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: If you've read The Nitpicker in the past, you know I'm a gamer. Specifically, a roleplayer; and that I loooove Knights Of The Dinner Table. Out of my love for that comics, and the fact that it's too damn time-consuming; I've given up reporting the incredible, eye-popping, amount of typos I've found inside that magazine.

I do not, however, extend this courtesy to it's less enjoyable (but still funny) cousing, Dork Tower. Not out of any kind of favoritisim, but due to the fact that each Dork Tower issue has abnout a 10% percent of dialogues and story that a KODT issue has.

In this case, on page 10, on what would be the fifth panel, Igor refers to the local gaming store as "Pegasuarus", when in fact, it's "Pegasaurus."

NIT-O-METER: Just 1 measly Bazzar, it's only a typo.
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"THE GLOVES ARE STILL OFF!"

TITLE: Ion, Guardian Of The Universe.

ISSUE: 9 of 12.

CULPRIT: Jeromy Cox (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Ah, our good friend Jeromy Cox.... not much time passes before he screws up... and here's one of he's favorite subjects, Green Lanterns! This time, we have Kilowog; who's not wearing his usual white gloves with his uniform... did he just decide to go gloveless? I don't think so; seeing as to how in issue 2 of this same book, Jeromy made Kilowog's gloves appear and dissapear between panels...

BTW, this happens on pages 2 and 3; in fact, the first panel of page 2 is a close-up of Kilowog's gloveless fist.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"SHOULD I CHANGE THE COLOR OR KEEP THEM WHITE?"

TITLE: Ion, Guardian Of The Universe.

ISSUE: 9 of 12.

CULPRIT: Jeromy Cox (colorist).

NIT-TO-PICK: Jeromy, what the fuck is it with you and GL gloves!?!?! Page 14, Hal Jordan's gloves are GREEN?!?!?!?!

NIT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars, normally it wouldn't be more than a 7, but this is a repeat, and repeat, and repeat offense.
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"GLOVES, GAUNTLETS, SAME THING"

TITLE: Ion, Guardian Of The Universe.

ISSUE: 9 of 12.

CULPRIT: Yes, you guessed it... JEROMY COX (colorist)!

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 16, Kyle Rayner is wearing his original (second, actually) GL costume, the black and white one; the one with the fingerless gauntlets. Problem is, when he "powers up" in panel 2, the gauntlets just look like regular green gloves.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars, but only because he's a complete screw-up.
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"..."

TITLE: X-Men V2.

ISSUE: 187.

CULPRIT: Salvador Larroca (penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: Beast's body. I'm not wasting any more keystrokes on this matter until it gets addressed by Marvel.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars (it should be more, Larroca is the artist that designed the look of Beast's secondary mutation).
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"APUCALYPSE"

TITLE: New Excalibur.

ISSUE: 9.

CULPRIT: Frank Tieri (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 14, first word balloon, Apocalypse is referred to as "En Sabur Nur", when up to know I've always seen it as "En Sabah Nur". I just did a quick google about this and found a few other sites where it's spelled like in this comics; but then again, these are basically the same people who call Palpatine the "Emporer".

NIT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
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"I THINK WE MISSING A WORD"

TITLE: Outsiders V3.

ISSUE: 38.

CULPRIT: Judd Winick (writer) and/or Phil Balsman (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 7, panel 3, Metamorpho says "Y'see, the big problem with thapping into the fear centers of my brain was that I moved to another section of my skull."... I'm guessing that was meant to say "(...) I moved them to another (...) ".

NIT-O-METER: Totally minor, 1 Bazzar.
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"MCGYVER, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!"

TITLE: The Next.

ISSUE: 1 of 6.

CULPRIT: Tad Williams (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: This scene I pick on is a perfect example of how awful this book is. On page 19, Superman seals off a temporal breach with "a heavy-duty electromagnetic field" by "rubbing up some superhot static electricity"... WTF?!?!?!? Not to mention the fact that he says with "Flash or you (Metron) and the Legion (...)"... how will he get together with the legion? He's gonna travel in time flying at superspeed around the Earth?

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars, this guy should stay away from things that need pseudo-scientific explanations, he can't even do that. The Silver Age is over, deal with it.
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"YEAH, BUT AFGHANISTAN DOESN'T COUNT ANYMORE..."

TITLE: Secret Six.

ISSUE: 2 of 6.

CULPRIT: Gail Simone (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 15 it is said that the Himalayas stretch "across five nations", when it stretches across six: Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
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"THE UNSTOPPABLE JUGGRNAUT"

TITLE: X-Men V2.

ISSUE: 188.

CULPRIT: Mike Carey (writer) and/or VC's Cory Petit (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: So, here we go... this storyline is chockfull of "Spanish" names and sentences that Mike Carey (and sometimes maybe the letterer) got completely wrong; because they don't speak the language and they couldn't be bothered to ask one of the several million hispanic individuals that live in the US (in the case of the letterer) or several thousand that live in London (in Carey's case).

The first nit is on page 3, where a bar's sign reads "El C Acorazdo", which means basically nothing. "Acorazado" means "armored" or "dreadnought" (if referring to a battleship), but "Acorazdo" means nothing. In any case, if it was "The Armored C", it should have read "La C Acorazada". The sign also appears later, so it's obviously not a mistake.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"ME NO HABLA ESPANIOLO"

TITLE: X-Men V2.

ISSUE: 188.

CULPRIT: Mike Carey (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 24, a reporter interviews a little girl, the only survivor of an explosion caused by this week's non-mutant-but-still-superior-to-humanity enemy that the X-Men face. The girl is Mexican, and she speaks Spanish, of course; however, Mike Carey obviously doesn't. So, this becomes a combo-nit.

First, she says "Lanzaron una -- una bola y entonces todo salió.", which translates into "They threw a -- a ball and then everything went out." It doesn't make sense, the subtitle shown on the "TV screen" the girl is beeing seen on reads "They threw a ball and then everyhing was gone." Thus, the Spanish sentence should read "Lanzaron una -- una bola, y entonces todo desapareció."

Then the reporter asks "Usted los vio?", which means "Did you see them?"; but the problem here is that "usted" is a formal way of saying "you", which is not likely to be used by most people when talking to a child, particularly one that's been through a traumatic experience.

Then the child says that the was told that the X-Men did it, saying "Ella dijo que era los X-Men.". which literally translates as "She said she was the X-Men." The correct Spanish sentence would be "Ella dijo que fueron los X-Men."

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"I'M A BOUNTY HUNTER, I DON'T NEED TO KNOW HOW TO SPEAK!"

TITLE: Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters.

ISSUE: 1.

CULPRIT: Lisa Kirby, Michael Thibodeaux, Steve Robertson, Richard French (writers) and/or Dave Lanphear (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: I hate to take on the King, but this is not really him, so... on page 12, Skylla captures Slug and says "You are now... sub... dude!", I'm guessing she meant "subdued".

NIT-O-METER: Ok, ok, just 3 Bazzars.
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"CADET, WHY ARE YOU IMPERSONATING A CORPSMAN?"

TITLE: Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage.

ISSUE: 1 of 2.

CULPRIT: Howard Chaykin (writer/penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: The issue opens with Qanda, a Green Lantern cadet from (or assigned to) Sector 430, and a native of Rann. Well; that raises a couple of questions, but for starters, if she's a cadet, then she doesn't have the right to wear the GL insignia, the circle on her uniform's chest should be blank; as we've seen it's done with cadets in the recent reorganization of the Corps. This happens on page 5 and then again on page 24.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, Chaykin should read before writing.
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"LANTERN OVERPOPULATION"

TITLE: Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage.

ISSUE: 1 of 2.

CULPRIT: Howard Chaykin (writer/penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: Also, on the same topic, Qanda is from Rann; and there's already two lanterns from that sector (one from Rann, the other from Thanagar), so it's not very likely that there could be a third.

Of course, Qanda could be from Rann, but she lives in another Sector, but I don't think this is the case. If we could only find any references to Sector 430 before this one.

NIT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars. Again Howie, read, then write.
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"THIS GUY IS NEVER HAPPY!"

TITLE: Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage.

ISSUE: 1 of 2.

CULPRIT: Howard Chaykin (writer/penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: The double spread with Gardner fending off bullets from a gatling gun; the captions read "Guy Gardner... the man who would be Green Lantern, Sector 2814... or should be, if you ask him." Guy is nowadays number one GL in the Corps Honor Guard, and looks rather happy with his assignment...

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, read Howie, read.
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"MILES, SCHMILES"

TITLE: Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage.

ISSUE: 1 of 2.

CULPRIT: Howard Chaykin (writer/penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: On the following page, the narration box says "When Abin Sur -- previous corpsman for Sector 2814 -- crash-landed on the Earth years ago... it was a matter of inches that made Hal Jordan the ringwielder... leaving Guy out in the cold..." Uhm... they were in DIFFERENT STATES; Hal was in Coast City (California) and Guy was in Baltimore (Maryland), that's not what I'd call inches.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Please Howie, please.
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"THIS IS THE PLANET THE EARTH"

TITLE: Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage.

ISSUE: 1 of 2.

CULPRIT: Howard Chaykin (writer/penciler) and/or Phil Balsman (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Same page, same caption "(...) crash-landed on the Earth (...)", I'm guessing it should read "(...) crash-landed on Earth (...)" or "(...) on the planet Earth (...)".

NIT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
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"I USED TO HAVE A SOUL PATCH"

TITLE: Outsiders V3.

ISSUE: 43.

CULPRIT: Ron Randall and/or Pop Mhan (pencilers).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 11, panel 5, a flashback portrays how Deathstroked posed as Batman, feeding intelligence to Arsenal during the early days of his Outsider's team. However, Arsenal is shown in the flashback wearing a beard he did not wear back then.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars, look at your references, please!
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"..."

TITLE: New X-Men V2.

ISSUE: 33.

CULPRIT: Paco Medina (penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: Beast. Page 3. Need I say more?

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"THIS WEEK WE'LL SPEAK ROMANIAN. SO SAYS THE KING!"

TITLE: Justice League of America.

ISSUE: 4.

CULPRIT: Brad Meltzer (writer) and/or Rob Leigh (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 16, we see Brion Markov's, aka Geo Force; he's enjoying his yatch, but when it is attackade, he talks to his servants in Romanian. Now, why does he need to speak Romanian, if Markovians speak Markovian?

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars.
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"I WANT TONY TO FIND ME"

TITLE: Civil War: Frontline.

ISSUE: 9 of 11.

CULPRIT: Ramon Bachs (penciler, main story).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 6, Spider-Man is shown working with Phil Urich; this is after he's gone over to the Anti-Registration side. Then, why is he wearing the costume Iron Man designed for him? He's been shown in his own books wearing his regular costume.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"ALL THESE INJUNS ARE THE SAME TO ME"

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 22.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid (writers).

NIT-TO-PICK: This is an old one, and one I found out thanks to 52 Pickup, a wonderful fellow blog that picks apart 52 on a, what less, weekly basis.

This issue has the appearance of the new "Super Chief", who gets his power from a "Manitou Stone. "Manitou" is a word used by the Algonquin speaking peoples of New England to mean 'spirit,' as in having spiritual power.

Thing is, the legend of the first "Super Chief", states that he was "A great noble of the Iroquois nation". An Iroquois wouldn't have called on "manitou, the great spirit in things"; he'd have called it "orenda."

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, a little research, particularly on cultural issues such as this one, doesn't hurt.
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"THEY CHARGED BY THE CANDLE..."

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 33.

CULPRIT: Keith Giffen (breakdowns) and/or Joe Prado & Tom Derenick (pencilers).

NIT-TO-PICK: It's the end of Hanukkah, and on page 10, we can see that at Renee Montoya's apartment, the Jewish festivity has been celebrated by herself, Aristotles Rodor, Vic Sage, and Katy Kane (aka Batwoman, who's the only Jew of the bunch). There's a menorah, the seven-armed candelabrum used by the Jewish people; problem is, on Hanukkah, they light a Hanukkia, which has 9 arms. Oh, there it is again, on page 13.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, please research this kind of cultural/ethnic things.
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"I KEEP IN SHAPE!"

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 33.

CULPRIT: Keith Giffen (breakdowns) and/or (most likely) Joe Prado & Tom Derenick (pencilers).

NIT-TO-PICK: On pages 10 and 11, Vic Sage (aka The Question) is shown with his face emaciated due to cancer, gaunt, as if he's lost a lot of weight; which one of the symptons of lung cancer; yet his pecs are looking as muscular as ever. His open shirt shows his chest muscles, which look athletic as he was before the disease kicked in... and as far as I know, if you lost enough weight as to make your face look quasi-skeletal, you're gonna lose muscular mass.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"I'M NOT REALLY HERE"

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 33.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid (writers), and/or Keith Giffen (breakdowns) and/or Joe Prado & Tom Derenick (pencilers).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 14, several scenes of DC heroes celebrating Christmas can be seen, and one of them is Green Arrow, with what are most likely Black Canary, Arsenal and Speedy in the background. Wait, isn't Green Arrow, along with most of his "family", supposed to have spent the 52 year in a remote island, training?

Incidentally, on the same page, Guy Gardner is seen creating a Santa-with-reindeers-and-sled, and a menorah with his ring, he's excused from know whic candelabrum is the correct one, since he's not a Jew, and apparently doesn't have any Jewish friends. I do, and that's why I know the difference.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, I guess they could have returned home for a few days to celebrate the holidays.
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"THE BATSIGNAL IS BROKEN, SO WE'RE USING SMOKE SIGNALS"

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 33.

CULPRIT: Keith Giffen (breakdowns) and/or Joe Prado & Tom Derenick (pencilers).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 16, Jim Gordon is shown smoking a pipe. I thought he'd quit.

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, he might have started again.
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"ESSENTIAL... A MATTER OF SEMANTICS"

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 33 (backup origin story).

CULPRIT: Mark Waid (writer) or Michael Siglain (editor).

NIT-TO-PICK: At the end of the Martian Manhunter's origin story, an essential storylines list is given. Among them are two stories where J'onn only has small appearances, almost cameos: Formerly Known as the Justice League (which in fact has been largely ignored by DC's editorial, as if where out of continuity) and Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

There's other problems with this essential storylines list, mainly continuity issues stemming from the reboot to Earth-1 after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the semi-reboot into New Earth after Infinite Crisis. A good analysis of these problems, and other issues with the Martian Manhunter's can be found on Everyday Is Like Wednesday , another damn fine comics blog.

NIT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
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"WHAT'S IN A NAME?"

TITLE: 52.

ISSUE: Week 33 (backup origin story).

CULPRIT: Mark Waid (writer) or Michael Siglain (editor). .

NIT-TO-PICK: On the last page of the Martian Manhunter's origin story, specifically in the "Powers and Weapons" section, his name is mispelled as "Jonn", instead of "J'onn".

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, might be a typo, but it's still in something important like a name.
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"IT WAS AN EMERGENCY, WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO SUIT UP!"

TITLE: Civil War: War Crimes.

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Staz Johnson (penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: First of all, let me say that I picked up this comic without great expectations, just thinking it was going to be a bland Civil War fill-in, to quench our thirst while we wait for the much delayed next issue of the main book. It wasn't essential to the story, nor ground-breaking, and it was slightly predictable (not completely), but it was a good read.

Alas, it does have at least one nit, on page 27, Iron Man and Ms. Marvel lead an assault team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, believing they're about to engage some of Captain America's fighters. The problem is that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are not wearing the capekiller armors that Iron Man has outfitted them for Civil War, nor are they wearing helmets, which one would think would be common sense when flying around with jetpacks.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars, artists penciling such fill-in or side stories should pay attention to what goes on on the main story.
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"THAT NEMESIS, HE'S A TRENDSETTER!"

TITLE: Checkmate V2.

ISSUE: 9.

CULPRIT: Jesus Saiz (penciler/inker).

NIT-TO-PICK: The story opens on page 2, with a shot of a base of the D.E.O.'s Department of Metahuman Affairs, as it's commanding officer, Sarge Steel, arrives. Tom Tresser, aka Nemesis has been shown in Wonder Woman's book as currently being a member of the DMA; and at first I thought I was seeing him here, greeting Steel. The man who welcomes Sarge Steel to the base is a blond man, wearing a black bodysuit with a "scales of justice" insignia on his chest; and I did not notice that Steel calls him "Agent Duncan", instead of Agent Tresser.

Another DMA agent, guarding the base's gate, has the insignia on his chest, but you have to look very close to notice this. Afterwards, every DMA agent, and even the vehicles, have the insignia. It must be said that Nemesis' insignia features black scales on a red background; while the DMA agents and vehicles sport black scales on a yellow background.

I had never seen, to my knowledge, DMA agents except for Tom Tresser and Diana Prince (although I have seen DEO operatives before); so this could very well be their regular insignia. However, the fact that Nemesis, now a DMA agent, has worn this insignia for decades of real-world time, makes me thing that this is a mistake on Saiz' part, moreso if you consider the fact that "justice scales" have little symbolism in regards to an agency that deals with metahumans, and it's not a judiciary organization, but an law enforcement agency.

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
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"I QUIT!"

TITLE: Checkmate V2.

ISSUE: 9.

CULPRIT: Jesus Saiz (penciler/inker), or Santiago Arcas (colorist).


NIT-TO-PICK: On page 3, Agent Duncan's "justice scales" are missing from the yellow circle on his uniform's chest.

NIT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
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"TONY, HAVE YOU BEEN WORKIN OUT?"

TITLE: Iron Man Captain America: Casualties of War .

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Christos N. Gage (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: Between pages 33 and 37, an armorless Iron Man and Captain America fight, hand-to-hand... and Captain America wins, of course. The problem is, he has to struggle to do so. Are we supposed to believe that Captain America, the super soldier, the best fighter in the world, and who has peak human physical abilities, has difficulties in beating Tony Stark?

Granted, Tony is probably and above-average fighter because of all his years as a superhero; he's even been trained by Cap himself (we're shown this in flashbacks during the fight scene)... but there's absolutely no way that Captain American will even break a sweat fighting an armorless Iron Man.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, I'm not buying it.
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"IN MYSTIC DIMENSIONS CALENDARS HAVE NO MEANING!"

TITLE: DCU Infinite Holiday Special.

ISSUE: One-shot (Christmas Spirit story).

CULPRIT: Bill Willingham (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: The Shadowpact relates, for Santa Claus's benefit, how they would protect him from Anti-Christmas League's goons; and while Ragman beats up some of them, he says "You aren't going to ruin Christmas this year! And don't even think about coming after Hanukkah either!" Problem is, Hanukkah ended before Christmas this year, it was between December 15 and December 22.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, please research these things!
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"I'M SO FAST THINGS HAPPEN BEFORE THEY DO"

TITLE: DCU Infinite Holiday Special.

ISSUE: One-shot (Father Christmas story).

CULPRIT: Joan Hilty (editor) and Rachel Glucksten (associate editor).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 42 of the book (on sale as of December 14), as the story opens, Bart Allen (aka Flash), is shown living in Los Angeles... a city he didn't move to until Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #7

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, just a little continuity goof-up.
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"MEMORIES OF A DIFFERENT EARTH?"

TITLE: DCU Infinite Holiday Special.

ISSUE: One-shot (Father Christmas story).

CULPRIT: Giuseppe Camuncoli (penciler).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 43, Bart thinks back to when the Teen Titans fought "Insaniac" (a Brainiac-possesed Joker), something which never happened in a book, but we can still buy it, and we see the Titans: Kid Flash (as Bart was known before); Cyborg, Robin, and Superboy... wearing a Superman or classic Superboy suit??!?!?!

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"NO BART! DON'T KILL ME!"

TITLE: DCU Infinite Holiday Special.

ISSUE: One-shot (Father Christmas story).

CULPRIT: Ian Boothby (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 44, Bart thinks "Max, Wally and Conner. Yeah, that's how to cheer yourself up. Think of all your dead friends." Thing is, Wally West is not dead; he's just retired.

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
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"VISIONS OF THE FUTURE!"

TITLE: DCU Infinite Holiday Special.

ISSUE: One-shot (Father Christmas story).

CULPRIT: Ian Boothby (writer) and/or Joan Hilty (editor) & Rachel Glucksten (associate editor).

NIT-TO-PICK: Again on page 44, Bart goes to a police station and is told by a cop that "we don't have any room for trainees on Christmas eve." Since when is he a police trainee? I guess he enlists in the LAPD in the future, like in issue 8 of his book, but so far, he hasn't.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, keep on giving up story details, will ya?
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"GET ONE THING RIGHT, FAIL THE REST"

TITLE: DCU Infinite Holiday Special.

ISSUE: One-shot (Lights story).

CULPRIT: Greg Rucka (writer) and/or Jared K. Fletcher (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: First, kudos to artist Christiam Alamy, who got the number of candles on a hanukkia right. As to the nit that occupies us, it refers to the candelabrum as well; on page 53 they correctly use the spelling "hanukiah"; but on page 59 they refer to it as a "hanunkiah", a term that, despite the many alternative spelligns, is not correct.

NIT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar, is only a typo.
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Well, the average this time was 5.7; higher than last week, but not as high as I thought it'd be... the way I was doling out 10s this time around, I thought it was going to be about a 7... several 1s, 2s and 3s brought the average down.

My intention with this blog is to read comics on Wednesday and post on Fridays, which is the day I have less stuff to do at work. So far, it's not been possible, and I still have a lot of back stuff to talk about... I'll catch up, eventually. Happy new year everybody!

The Nitpicker #18.

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

Well, here we are, the first actual post! Since I haven't read all my comics for this week, I'm going to go over the stuff I have accumulated in my files... starting with the comics for May and June.
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"I'VE BEEN TAKING TELEPATHIC CLASSES FROM BEAST..."

TITLE: X-Men V2.

ISSUE: 186.

CULPRIT: Peter Milligan (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 23, Polaris is in the X-mansion's medical ward; and Emma Frost is telling Havok, about Polaris "(...) I've isolated most of her pathogens. (...). Uhm... Emma Frost is a good bussineswoman, a competent teacher (doubtful), and a genius when it comes to electronics. But since when is she a doctor? That's Beast's job, dammit.

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars, what was Milligan thinking? A lackluster end to a horrible run on the book.
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"HEY, PLOT-DEVICE LASS, COME HERE..."

TITLE: (Supergirl And) The Legion Of Superheroes V4.

ISSUE: 18.

CULPRIT: Mark Waid (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 18, Cosmic Boy asks Supergirl to look at some dust with her microscopic vision because "she has some scientific background"... huh? She's from a civilization that's scientifically more advanced than Earth's, but that doesn't mean she has "a scientific background".

NIT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, this could have been phrased better.
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"I DON'T EVEN BOTHER STERILIZING THE INSTRUMENTS!"

TITLE: Teen Titans V3.

ISSUE: 36.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer) and (probably) Tony S. Daniel (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 11, Robin is spying on The Chief (they're in the Doom Patrol's castle); who's operating on Kid Devil. Robin is overlooking the operating room from some sort of indoor balcony when his communicator rings, and The Chief is alerted to his presence.

Inmediately, Dr. Caulder (that being the Chief's name, for those of you not in the know) orders Robin to leave the area, as his "surgical equipment is extremely delicate to electromagnetic interference." First of all, that's phrased horribly, wouldn't be better to say "extremely sensitive to..."?

Second, why would The Chief, one of the brightest scientific minds on the DCU, be operating with such sensitive equipment in an area that's not shielded against electromagnetic interference, and there's not even a glass on the balcony? Ever heard of isolating an OR so you don't get germs? And what about THE FREAKING ROBOT-BODIED GUY AND THE NEGATIVE ENERGY DUDE YOU HAVE ON YOUR OWN TEAM?!!?!?!?!

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"BOY WONDER LIKES HIS RINGTONES."

TITLE: Teen Titans V3.

ISSUE: 36.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: ... and picking up from last nit, are you trying to tell me that Robin would go spying around without setting his communicator to "vibrate"?!??!! He's way smarter than that, and trained by the God damned Batman, to boot!

NIT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"LOIS LIKES THESE BETTER."

TITLE: Superman/Batman.

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: Tim Sale (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 5, Superman is wearing some sort of boxer short or trunks instead of the briefs his uniform have.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, it might be pardoned as an artistic license.
<-------------------------------->
"TOYS CAN'T FLY!"

TITLE: Superman/Batman.

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: Brad Meltzer (scripter for page 19).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 19 of the book, Robin comments on how the Toyman (Winslow Schott, the first one) couldn't have been responsible for the attack on the current Toyman (Hiro Okamura) because the first Toyman could not fly and there were no footprints on the snow but Okamura's. Schott is very well capable of constructing flying machines that could have carried him over thesnow without leaving footprints.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SPELL MY NAME!"

TITLE: Superman/Batman.

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: Brian K. Vaughan (scripter for pages 4 and 5) or Richard Starkings (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 5, panel 4, same where Supes sports his trunks, Batman refers to the Toyman as Hiro OKUMURA, when his last name is Okamura.

NIT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar, it could be a mere typo.
<-------------------------------->
"PLEASE, DON'T RETCON MY SECONDARY MUTATION!"

TITLE: Astonishing X-Men V2.

ISSUE: 15.

CULPRIT: John Cassaday

NIT-TO-PICK: Those of you that have read my previous Nitpickings, which I have to post here eventually for everybody's enjoyment, know that this is one of my pet peeves. Beast has been further mutated into this form:

This change occurred in X-Treme X-Men, and then Beat's new form continued to be shown in New X-Men (the title X-Men V2 held at the moment) and Uncanny X-Men... then, for some reason, every X-Men artist started showing Beast in different forms, which were a mix of his previous, ape-like appearance, and his new, cat-like appearance. The details varied, but all had one thing in common: they decided to get rid of the cat-like feet you can see in the above picture, and went for, I don't know, bear-feet?

John Cassaday, today's culprit, started his Astonishing X-Men run with this Beast design:

Notice the differences? I do. And here's the nit that occupies us now, page 5 of the aforementioned issue, panel 1:


Look at the feet! LOOK AT THE FEET! Sorry, that's a joke that only people who've seen Les Luthiers will get... but indeed, look at the feet. Those are not cat-like... at all! I understand if they feel like it's time for a redesign of the character, but if you're going to do it, why not do it with a story that justifies it?

There appears to be no control in Marvel over how Beast is portrayed, because every now and then an artist will draw him as he's supposed to be, so that means there's been no actual mandate to draw him like Cassaday and others do... this is a royal mess...

NIT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars, I've said before that this rating is not going down until they fix this.
<-------------------------------->
"NO, SPELL MINE!"

TITLE: The New Avengers.

ISSUE: 20.

CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer), or AS & Comicraft's Albert Deschesne (letterer).

NIT-TO-PICK: The story opens on page 3, panel one, with Magneto writing "The name the Homo Sapiens gave me is Eric Magnus Lehnsherr." Well, welcome to the Nitpicker's blog era first combo nit!

First, his name is "Erik", not "Eric", so that's the first part of the combo nit.

NIT-O-METER: Just 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"DON'T YA CALL ME BY MY SLAVE NAME!"

TITLE: The New Avengers.

ISSUE: 20.

CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: And the second part of the combo nit is, that according to Marvel (see Magneto's profile at Marvel.com), Erik Magnus Lehnsherr is not even his real name. He paid a forger to construct that identify, as a Sinte gypsy, while he was searching for his estranged wife, Magda, after the death of their first child, Anya.

So, that's not the name "the Homo Sapiens gave him"... it's the name HE HIMSELF chose... and besides, Marvel also says the forged name is Erik Lehnsherr, and Magnus is just the alias he later used... his real name remains unrevealed.

Oh, and the combo nit is repeated in page 25, so the first part could not have been a typo, like I originally thought.

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NAH, THAT CAN'T BE A MUTANT. MUST BE A LARGE SMURFETTE."

TITLE: New Excalibur.

ISSUE: 8.

CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer) and/or Christopher Yost (dialogue and additional plotting).

NIT-TO-PICK: Alas, poor Chris is one of the regulars in this blog, or at least was, before his health issues started, I hope he recovers soon (no, really). In this case, he opens this issue of new Excalibur, on page 2, with TJ Wagner, aka Nocturne, walking around London, and the captions read "Some people may glance (...). No reason to worry (...) It's a strange world... maybe she has a skin disorder. Maybe it's some new punk fad. Maybe she's a performer in "Cats"... OR MAYBE SHE'S A BLOODY MUTANT, THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN THE BLUE SKIN, YELLOW PUPIL-LESS EYES, POINTY EARS AND THREE-FINGERED HANDS!!!!

Come on Chris, you helped built the X-Men in what they are, you defined the Marvel mutans, you're way beyond these stupid captions. Yes, it could be Yost, but I doubt it... Claremont has been doing stuff like these for a couple of years now... people should know when to retire... I'm sorry I have to say stuff like that, because Chris Claremont is one of my favorite comic book writers... but he doesn't have the touch anymore.

NIT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars, I know that sometimes my nits cross into the subjective.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S IN YOUR EYE!"

TITLE: Exiles.

ISSUE: 83.

CULPRIT: Tony Bedard (writer).

NIT-TO-PICK: This book hasn't been the same since Judd Winick left, but it's still a good read. In page 17, Longshot throws one of his blades at Iron Man (an alternate version), and strikes him through his helmet, in an eye... you're telling me that Iron Man's armor doesn't have glass in the eyeslits, or plastic, or a force field?

NIT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"YOU HAVE SOME NERVE, SHOWING YOUR FACE!"

TITLE: Young Avengers.

ISSUE: 12.

CULPRIT: Jim Cheung (penciller).

NIT-TO-PICK: On page 18, Faith Bradley (or Faith Shabazz, as is her convert name, wife of Isaiah Bradley, the African American Captain America, and grandmother of Patriot) is sitting in the hospital between the beds of Isahia and Patriot while the latter is getting a blood transfusion from the former.

Faith is a devout Muslim, and has been shown wearing the traditional head and face covering garments (which obey the custom called hijab, if I'm not mistaken) of that religion's women, at least when in public.

Then why is she sitting in a hospital, in what doesn't appear to be a private room, with her face and hair completely uncovered?

NIT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
That's it for this installment, let's see what the average was... it's 5 Bazzars, pretty low, lower than the last time I wrote a column, which was 6.

Hello, and welcome to The Nitpicker's Blog, where in a completely irregular basis I bring to your attention some mistakes, goofs, mix-ups and the like, that I find on the comics I read that week. The Nitpicker was published originally as a column in the Comic Book Electronic Network Magazine (CBEM, yes, it's missing the N), one of the most prestigious comic book e-zines. The CBEM stopped publication last July, and this column has been hosted in several places, such as Shotgun Reviews and Jazma Online, to finally come here, to a blog.

Yes, those who know me will say "But you swore you'd never have a blog!" Bite me, I won't use this to comment on my everyday life (although I might sneak a commente here or there), this is strictly about comics.

Usually, I'll focus on books just released, but now and then, I'll feature a back issue or two, mostly because I just read it late, or I decided to re-read something and only now spotted the mistake.

What follows is an example of the format I'll present the "nits" (as we'll call them) I've found:

TITLE: This would be the comic book title in question, such as "Action Comics" or "Uncanny X-Men".

ISSUE: Obviously, the issue number of the title in question.

CULPRIT: Whoever the main responsible for the mistake is, usually the writer, sometimes the artist, and, rarely, somebody else, like a letterer or colorist. Editors, of course, are ALWAYS to blame, so we won't waste our time mentioning them.

NIT-TO-PICK: The description of the nit I found.

NIT-O-METER: I just love rating stuff, so I'll give each nit a rating on a 10 points scale called The Bazzar Scale, in honor of a writer I completely loathe. I don't loathe him because of his nit-proneness, but because of his all-around shoddy writing. You figure out who he is, it's easy.

Well, I have tons of back-nits, since the column's schedule has been very irregular since the end of the CBEM, so what I'll do is start by, around friday, publishing the nits from the new releases I read that week; and once in a while, I'll post a few of the back stuff I have. If you like, please leave comments.