Monday, August 18, 2008

The Dissector #85.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"But I can touch you... in a special way." Red Ghost simian against Wakandan troops.

Welcome to yet another installment of The Dissector; this time for the comics released on the week of 07/23. I have to start, sadly, with a bad news. Those who follow my column know that I'm very fond of, and have been inspired by cartoonist Jeremy Rizza's humor/comics/fashion blog Blockade Boy; which, unfortunately, he has decided to end. The link will stay on my blog's sidebar; and I encourage all of you to go and read back on his pasts, since it's very funny and also shows a great knowledge of comics. Since Blockade Boy is no more; I also recommend you check his upcoming webcomic Viking Zombie Boyfriend, which starts today.

That said, let's move on to the column itself; last column's DT! was spotted by both DrSilent (over at ICS.net) and Snarf5181 (at my blog); since ICS' comment feature doesn't have timestamps, I'll credit both. It was that Bart Allen's Kid Flash costume had a red hood, instead of a yellow one. Congratulations on your second badge, DrSilent, and Snarf5181, you just made Lieutenant in the HDSC! Now, make way for The Dissector's Picks Of The Week! Best Book Of The Week was Uncanny X-Men #500; it was just a geekgasm... while the Worst Book Of The Week was Number Of The Beast #8; thank God that snorefest is over. On to the dissections, please:
<-------------------------------->
"ESCRIMA FOR ME!"

TITLE: The Brave And The Bold V3 (DC).

ISSUE: 15.

CULPRIT: Mark Waid (writer).

DISSECTION: Hawkman calls Nightwing's escrima sticks (or bastones) "escrima"; which is the name of the martial art.

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars. Carter knows weapons.
<-------------------------------->
"MAGIC WANDS."

TITLE: The Dissector (Studio Robota).

ISSUE: 84.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

DISSECTION: Snakebyte noticed that I wrote "Wand's"; when I meant "Wands'". Good job Snake, one more badge, and you make Commander, first one in the HDSC.

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars. If only I had time to proofread...
<-------------------------------->
"HOT LIST LAST WEEK."

TITLE: Green Lantern Corps V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 26.

CULPRIT: Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza (editors).

DISSECTION: The "Hot List This Week" and the DC Nation column is the one from are from the week before.

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NEXT, IN A COMPLETELY UNRELATED COMIC!"

TITLE: Justice League Of America V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 23.

CULPRIT: Adam Schlagman (assistant editor) and Eddie Berganza (editor).

DISSECTION: Not a good week for Adam and Eddie when the last page of books is concerned. The legal indicia and "Next in..." at the end of the book are for Superman #678...

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S GETTING COLOSSAL!"

TITLE: The Legion of Super-Heroes V5 (DC).

ISSUE: 44.

CULPRIT: Jim Shooter (writer).

DISSECTION: Once again, Colossal Boy's powers are wrong.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars (I jacked it up one point). Also, his hair is colored incorrectly.
<-------------------------------->
"W.H.Y.?"

TITLE: Marvel Comics Presents V2 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 11.

CULPRIT: Rich Koslowski (writer).

DISSECTION: U.S.Agent... not USAgent... and not only in the story.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"YEAH, IT MAKES MORE SENSE THIS WAY, BUT..."

TITLE: New Warriors V4 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 14.

CULPRIT: Beth Sotelo (colorist).

DISSECTION: Jubilee's eyes are brown, when they should be blue.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"LIVING IN A DC NATION..."

TITLE: Robin V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 175.

CULPRIT: Jeanine Schaefer (associate editor) and/or Mike Marts (editor).

DISSECTION: Not Adam and Eddie, but again a wrong DC Nation and "Hot List...", this time from a month before or more.

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars. I wonder if these dissections should be credited to the editors, or to some sort of design/production team.
<-------------------------------->
"SECRET DISSECTION!"

TITLE: Skrulls! (Marvel).

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Ronal Byrd (writer), or any of the other various writers not credited individually for each profile.

DISSECTION: Spot me this one, among the shapeshifters:

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. I was even kind enough to crop the other profiles, so you could focus.
<-------------------------------->
Our average this week was 5.1 Bazzars in eleven dissections; pretty low, if I may say so. Speaking of dissections; as you might now, following the 2007 Autopsy Awards; I started keeping track of the dissections credited to each author; each book, and each company. I'll throw you an interesting tidbit, do you know who the writer with the most dissections so far for the next Autopsy Awards is? Well, it's not Chris Claremont, to my surprise. It used to be a tie between Geoff Johns and... me. But now, Geoff is one dissection ahead. Before we leave, Moments Of The Week! First up, the LSH gets a new member, M'rrisey:

Or as I like to call him; Lawyer Lad (because Legal Lad sounded... wrong). Next, in Super Friends, Gorilla Grodd turns all humans on Earth into monkeys and apes:

Some don't even notice the difference... Then, Mongul is shown the full force of the Green Lantern Corps!

"Aaarh!" indeed. And now, a moment I would never thought I'd see:

Jubilee (Wondra) kills! And I think I shrunk that pic too much... Finally, MTV's Cribs does DC:

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

THE DISSECTOR!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Dissector #84.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"Tch. We're gods, Hercules. Our ancestors mated with everything from animals to clouds to their own siblings." Snowbird, Incredible Hercules #119.

Well, still behind, but closer to catching up; here's the column for the week of 07/16. There was no need for me to resort to my vault, since one single issue had thirteen dissections. Nobody guessed the DT!, but then again, I'm posting a column a day almost, so I'm not giving enough time. Several readers said that Cap just took off his mask, or is about to put it on, and that the eyeholes are facing the wrong way. He was taking it off; but people turn hats or other items of clothing around in their hands after removing them...

Mato even theorized that the problem was that Cap's cowl should be part of the costume, and that was close enough... but no cigar. In the moment the scene is set (when Bucky discovers Steve Rogers is Captain America), the costume had a separate cowl... and his shield was the triangular one, not the round shield.

Dissector's Picks Of The Week! Best Book was War Is Hell: First Flight Phantom Eagle #5, a good conclusion to a fun miniseries; great job by Garth Ennis and Howard Chaykin. Worst Book Of The Week was Checkmate V2 #28, as boring and cliché as #27, and even less readable. Now, the dissections!
<-------------------------------->
"CIDADE MARAVILHOSA... NOT!""

TITLE: Casey Blue: Beyond Tomorrow (DC/Wildstorm).

ISSUE: 03 of 06.

CULPRIT: B. Clay Moore (writer) and/or Carlo Barbieri (penciller).

DISSECTION: Establishing shot of Sao Paulo... THE CRISTO REDENTOR STATUE WHICH IS ACTUALLY IN RIO DE JANEIRO!!!!!

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. There's also a wrong German language newspaper headline.
<-------------------------------->
"FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!"

TITLE: Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge (DC).

ISSUE: 01 of 03.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer).

DISSECTION: Bart Allen is referred to as "Kid Flash"; but he was Flash when killed.

DISSECT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars, it could be figurative. Also, Linda Park-West refers to Jay Garrick as "Mr. Garrick" when talking to her kids, when they refer to him as "Uncle Jay".
<-------------------------------->
"SPEEDING DISSECTION."

TITLE: Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge (DC).

ISSUE: 01 of 03.

CULPRIT: Dave McCaig (colorist) 7

DISSECTION: See what you can find here:

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"WHO'S THAT GIRL?"

TITLE: Tangent: Superman's Reign (DC).

ISSUE: 05 of 12.

CULPRIT: Steve Wands (letterer).

DISSECTION: A caption meaning to identify Earth Tangent's Manhunter is actually next to Powergirl.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Also, there's a speech balloon in the wrong place on another page, and the word "worrying" replaced with "working". Not Wand's finest piece of work.
<-------------------------------->
"TUT TUT. TUT TUT."

TITLE: Ultimate Fantastic Four (Marvel).

ISSUE: 56.

CULPRIT: Mike Carey (writer).

DISSECTION: Are we really supposed to believe that the Baxter Building, a top-notch government think tank has phones as the only means of communicating with the Triskelion, and they can't communicate because they get "a busy signal".

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"I'M SO POOR, I HAD TO SELL MY TILDE."

TITLE: X-Factor V4 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 33.

CULPRIT: Peter David (writer) and/or VC's Cory Petit (letterer).

DISSECTION: Darwin's father says his name is "Hector Munoz"... the last name should be Muñoz.

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars. Also, Madrox's power doesn't allow him to duplicate an object in his hand. If this has changed, they should refer to it.
<-------------------------------->
"LO ZORRO."

TITLE: Zorro (Dynamite).

ISSUE: 05.

CULPRIT: Matt Wagner (writer).

DISSECTION: Yes, it's that time of the month already. This issue has twelve Spanish language errors... and one English language mistake, to boot. The one I choose to portray here is the fact that Zorro's fellow members in "La Justicia", this secret society of vigilantes have codenames such as his, and all in Spanish (at least in the Barcelona chapter). However, Wagner gets the Spanish grammar incorrect (using the wrong pronouns, I believe), calling a couple "La Águila" and "La Fantasma", when it should be "El" (male), not "La" (female); "águila" ("eagle") is always "El" (regardless of the animal's gender), and "La Fantasma" would be a female ghost; when all members of "La Justicia" present are implicitly male.

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars for that one. Various ratings for the rest.
<-------------------------------->
This time the average went a little bit up, at 5.9 Bazzars in twenty four dissections (more than half in Zorro...). Moments Of The Week, just two, the first one from Hellblazer, Constantine has a sharp eye:

Not exactly what I'd be looking at if I ran into a demon dog/werewolf thing... Next, and last, Trigon's plans laid bare!

Uuh... not yet! Priceless! That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more dissections, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE DISSECTOR!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Dissector #83.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"Why couldn't that isotope have made me deaf instead of blind." Daredevil, putting up with Spider-Man's banter, Amazing Spider-Man V1 #565.

Dang, it's almost Wednesday, which means that I publish a column, and a new comic batch comes out! Anyway, this column is for the week of 07/09; although I had to take some of the dissections from my vault; for one, my dissections from 2004 are over. Dissector's Picks Of The Week! Best Book Of The Week is Booster Gold V2 #1.000.000; Pure Platinum!!! It was just a good conclusion to a first arc for this great book, with even a happy ending (for now)... just watch the Moments Of The Week and see if I liked this book or what? Worst Book Of The Week? New Exiles #8... boring.

Oh, before I forget, Mato picked up the DT! from last column, it's indeed Animal Man's boots not being colored or drawn. Now, the dissections!
<-------------------------------->
"KRYPTON IS A MYTH."

TITLE: Action Comics (DC).

ISSUE: 867.

CULPRIT: Geoff Johns (writer).

DISSECTION: A holorecording of Non has him complaining of an "extraterrestrial" threat; when it should be extrakryptonian, or at least, extraplanetary.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"CAPTAIN AMERICA DISSECTION, ONCE MORE."

TITLE: Captain America: White (Marvel).

ISSUE: 00 of 06.

CULPRIT: Tim Sale (artist).

DISSECTION: This one's pretty easy:

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MORPHIE HOWSER, MD."

TITLE: Exiles (Marvel).

ISSUE: 80.

CULPRIT: Tony Bedard (writer).

DISSECTION: Remember when Exiles was good? Well, this period wasn't as good as the original Winick run, but still. In this case, Morph (yes, the real one) goes to help Spider-Man 2099, who's been injured, and says that he has internal injuries... how can morph tell?!?!

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"DYE THAT HILL!"

TITLE: Invincible Iron Man V2 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Frank D'Armata (colorist).

DISSECTION: Maria Hill's hair is colored incorrectly.

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"LIKE LIGHTNING..."

TITLE: Justice Society Of America V3 (DC).

ISSUE: 17.

CULPRIT: Fernando Pasarin (penciller).

DISSECTION: Jay's costume, as usual.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"MORPH... BUT NOT A HAPPY ONE."

TITLE: New Exiles (Marvel).

ISSUE: 08.

CULPRIT: Jordan D. White (assistant editor) & Mark Paniccia (editor).

DISSECTION: Morph. Is it not important to mention in the cast of characters that he's not really Morph, but a brainwashed Proteus?!!?!

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SEKRIT FILES ARE CORRIKT."

TITLE: Secret War (Marvel).

ISSUE: 01 of 05.

CULPRIT: Brian Michael Bendis (writer).

DISSECTION: The names of Mr. Sinister and Magneto (assumed name, actually) appear in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database; but the former is spelled "Nathanial" and the latter "Eric"; instead of "Nathaniel" and "Erik".

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars. each.
<-------------------------------->
"NO IDEA WHAT TO SAY HERE."

TITLE: Trinity (DC).

ISSUE: 06.

CULPRIT: Fabian Nicieza (scripter) and/or Ken Lopez (letterer).

DISSECTION: Nocturna is referred to as "Noctuna" once.

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
<-------------------------------->
"ON THE TRAIL TO CATCH HIM FOR HIS TRIAL?"

TITLE: The Ultimates 2 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 03 of 13.

CULPRIT: Mark Millar (writer) and/or Chris Eliopoulos (letterer).

DISSECTION: Last dissection, last one from the older ones I had to go with for this column. Instead of the "trial" of the Hulk, a caption reads "trail".

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
An average of 5.3 Bazzars on ten dissections? Am I going soft again?!!?!?!? Never mind that for now; let's go with the Moments Of The Week; where the first four are from Booster Gold. First up., Batman shows how he's appreciated Booster's value from the very start... but kept it to himself:

Good one, Bruce! Next, Rip Hunter gives Booster his sister back:

She looks nice in that costume... Next, we find out why Rip is so interested in Booster:

I did not see that coming... And finally, a nice sum up of why Booster is such a great hero in the caption for this page:

Just to show you that in the past years, he's accepted that being a hero is not about the accolades, but about doing the right thing. And an awesome image of Skeets wearing a beret!!! Last, and not from Booster Gold, another "Batman: closet nice guy" moment:

ZOMG! He has feelings!!! That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more dissections, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE DISSECTOR!

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Dissector #82.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"Hurry the fuck up down there! Do I need to remind yeh this's an invasion? Like with pointy swords and people dying and shit?" Unnamed Saxxon commander in the 1100s, Northlanders #7.

Well, that quote up there really broke the suspension of disbelief for me with this book. I don't expect characters in a comic to speak old Norse or whatnot, but there are some things that just don't do it... I almost considered this, and another use of the word "fuck" as dissections; but I realized they were just tools the writer uses to carry across emotional points. Last column's DT! was guessed by Sully; it was that Spider-Woman's eyes should be green and not blue. Also, the anonymous poster that spotted my "Beast Boy/Cyborg" error from column #80 calls himself DrSilent.

Now, we've had some creator sightings for the last two columns: within one day, I get two creators to rebuke dissections, good! First, the lovely and talented Christina Strain, colorist for Runaways among other things, drops by the comments for column #81 and says: "Victor's eyes have always been green. People just seem to assume they're brown. And I'm positive about this because I picked the original color for them back when he was introduced into the series."

CeeCee (can I call you that?), thanks for stopping by; I'll bow to you on this (hell, you're such a good colorist, and such a beautiful woman, that I'd bow to you anyway!). I should have checked a comic book first; but the only sources I had on hand were wikis, both Marvel Universe and Marvel Database, and they both had him with brown eyes... also, Jo Chen colors Victor's eyes brown on covers. My bad, I've edited those wiki pages following your authoritative information. Digging up my Marvel Handbook to see what it says there... yup, "hazel", but I'm still retracting on it.

Once more, thanks for stopping by, and keep up the good work, I'm a fan of your stuff, you bring life to these characters with your colorings, and Runaways is one of my favorite comics of the last few years. Afterwards, CeeCee stopped by again and said: "Thanks! *thumbs up* Sorry for sounding so short btw. I think that's why I'm so touchy about it, you're not the only person to mention the green eyes. Even an editor or two's asked me, "aren't they brown???"" Thank you CeeCee; you need to let Marvel know they've got his eyes wrong, they even have it wrong in their own references.

Then, the comments section for column #81 is graced by Dwayne McDuffie, writer of the current Justice League of America and classics like Damage Control, saying: "Iron Man sported repellor rays first (check your Marvel Essentials), introducing repulsors shortly after unveiling his red and gold armor. Originally, the terms were used interchangeably. Eventually, repulsors referred to his primary offensive weapon, while the increasingly-rarely used repellors became just that, magnetic, metal repelling rays, reverse tractor beams, if you will. I don't remember the story, but I'm guessing Iron Man used the repellors to push some metal away, right?"

He signs "The Culprit", so I'm guessing he took it in good humor (same as CeeCee, and I can't stress enough how much respect I have for comic book creators). Thanks for leaving that comment Dwayne; I've never seen that referenced anywhere, but I'll take your word for it. I've been reading Avengers Classics (plus old Marvel comics for the past 20+ years), but I don't remember "repellors", nor can I find a reference anywhere in the intarwebz.

Again, I'll take your word for it, and retract. Hey, did you know you'd won (all in good humor, of course) one of the Autopsy Awards for last year? And that you accepted it wearing a Green Lantern costume? Thanks for stopping by, and let me say that I've loved your Damage Control books, and I'm having fun reading your JLA run.

So, those two retractions bump the average for column 80 to 5.0 and 5.7 for column 81. And now, the Dissector's Pick Of The Week!!!! This is the first week of July, 07/02, Best Book Of The Week is Hellblazer Special: Chas #1; a good start for a mini with Constantine's favorite cabbie, good art, and a good concept about the original cab drivers of London binding a demon with their routes. Worst Book Of The Week, on the other hand, goes to Supergirl #31; not a bad comic per se, but too little is told in this issue, it's a waste. Now, the dissections:
<-------------------------------->
"ATOMIC EYES."

TITLE: All-New Atom (DC).

ISSUE: 25.

CULPRIT: Alex Bleyaert (colorist).

DISSECTION: I'm sorry to see this book end; although it was much more fun when Gail wrote it. In this case, Ray Palmer's eyes are colored incorrectly.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THE BEAST REARS ITS FEET AGAIN!"

TITLE: Astonishing X-Men V3 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 25.

CULPRIT: Simone Bianchi (artist).

DISSECTION: Beast.

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Also, when they talk about the alien starship graveyard, there seems to be a page missing.
<-------------------------------->
"MOST THE DISSECTIONS..."

TITLE: The Dissector (Studio Robota).

ISSUE: 81.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

DISSECTION: Yes Snakebyte, I made a booboo and wrote "most the Italian language" instead of "most of the..."

DISSECT-O-METER: 4 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"OH, GROW UP... OR SHRINK..."

TITLE: The Legion of Super-Heroes V5 (DC).

ISSUE: 43.

CULPRIT: Jim Shooter (writer).

DISSECTION: Colossal Boy's powers, as usual.

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THIS IS MAKING ME HORNEE."

TITLE: Linger (Virgin Comics).

ISSUE: One-shot.

CULPRIT: Shamik Dasgupta (writer) and/or Nilesh P. Kudale (letterer).

DISSECTION: Food can be an "aphrodisiac", not "aphrodesiac".

DISSECT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"TXTING NORSEMEN."

TITLE: Northlanders (DC/Vertigo).

ISSUE: 07.

CULPRIT: Brian Wood (writer) and/or Travis Lanham (letterer).

DISSECTION: So, in the 1100s you "plnt" your feet to defend your "communinty"?

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars each.
<-------------------------------->
"HOLY DISSECTION."

TITLE: Rann/Thanagar Holy War (DC).

ISSUE: 03 of 04.

CULPRIT: Ron Lim (penciller) and/or John Kalisz (colorist).

DISSECTION: Besides the horrible art, see if you spot the dissection here:

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!!"

TITLE: Secret Invasion: Front Line (Marvel).

ISSUE: 01 of 05.

CULPRIT: Brian Reed (writer).

DISSECTION: It is said in narration boxes that "(...) the average New Yorker still might only see Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four once, maybe twice, in a lifetime.", but that's not believable, not with the amount of exposition you see in the comics. It's like living in Hollywood, and frequenting the posh areas where celebrities go and never seeing one.

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"YER WRONG!"

TITLE: Star Trek: Assignment: Earth (IDW).

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: John Byrne (writer) and/or Robbie Robins (letterer).

DISSECTION: "You're" is used instead of "your".

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"PINK SKINS, LIKE THE ANDORIAN CALL HUMANS..."

TITLE: Star Trek: New Frontier (IDW).

ISSUE: 04 of 05.

CULPRIT: Leonard O'Grady (colorist).

DISSECTION: Yet again, Kallinda Cwan's skin is pink, instead of red, as Thallonian skin is.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
And a new column comes close to an end; with an average of 5.5 Bazzars in thirteen dissections, a predictably low average. Moments Of The Week! First up, someone finally remembers how to spell his codename:

Thanks to artist Marco Checchetto; he needs to let writer Koslowski know. Second and last MOT, a Vulcan (or half-Vulcan) admits what we all knew:

Meh, she's probably just being sarcastic; she is half-Romulan, after all. That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more dissections, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE DISSECTOR!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Creator sighting! Double Creator Sighting!!!


So, within one day, I get two creators to rebuke dissections, good! First, the lovely and talented Christina Strain, colorist for Runaways among other things, drops by the comments for column #81 and says: "Victor's eyes have always been green. People just seem to assume they're brown. And I'm positive about this because I picked the original color for them back when he was introduced into the series."

CeeCee (can I call you that?), thanks for stopping by; I'll bow to you on this (hell, you're such a good colorist, and such a beautiful woman, that I'd bow to you anyway!). I should have checked a comic boo
Publish Post
k first; but the only sources I had on hand were wikis, both Marvel Universe and Marvel Database, and they both had him with brown eyes... also, Jo Chen colors Victor's eyes brown on covers. My bad, I've edited those wiki pages following your authoritative information. Digging up my Marvel Handbook to see what it says there... yup, "hazel", but I'll still be retracting in my next column.

Once more, thanks for stopping by, and keep up the good work, I'm a fan of your stuff, you bring life to these characters with your colorings, and Runaways is one of my favorite comics of the last few years.

Then, the comments section for column #81 is graced by Dwayne McDuffie, writer of the current Justice League of America and classics like Damage Control, saying: "Iron Man sported repellor rays first (check your Marvel Essentials), introducing repulsors shortly after unveiling his red and gold armor. Originally, the terms were used interchangeably. Eventually, repulsors referred to his primary offensive weapon, while the increasingly-rarely used repellors became just that, magnetic, metal repelling rays, reverse tractor beams, if you will. I don't remember the story, but I'm guessing Iron Man used the repellors to push some metal away, right?"

He signs "The Culprit", so I'm guessing he took it in good humor (same as CeeCee, I think, I can't stress enough how much respect I have for comic book creators). Thanks for leaving that comment Dwayne; I've never seen that referenced anywhere, but I'll take your word for it. I've been reading Avengers Classics (plus old Marvel comics for the past 20+ years), but I don't remember "repellors", nor can I find a reference anywhere in the intarwebz.

Again, I'll take your word for it, and retract. Hey, did you know you'd won (all in good humor, of course) one of the Autopsy Awards for last year? And that you accepted it wearing a Green Lantern costume?

Thanks for stopping by, and let me say that I've loved your Damage Control books, and I'm having fun reading your JLA run.
The Dissector #81.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"J'onn J'onzz was my friend. (...) We'll all miss him. And pray for a resurrection." Superman, someone finally acknowledges that superheroes never truly die, Final Crisis #2.

Here we go again! Last column's DT! was guessed by Snakebyte, and he correctly said that Black Canary shouldn't be talking while using her canary cry. By the way, this column is for books released on 06/25, no older book this time. The Dissector's Picks Of The Week are as follow: Best Book Of The Week goes to Avengers: The Initiative #14, with a good Secret Invasion tie-in; while the Worst Book Of The Week was Number Of The Beast #6; a potentially good story that has just been drawn out for too long. Three or four issues would have been enough for this...
<-------------------------------->
"I'M A DISSECTION."

TITLE: The Dissector (Studio Robota).

ISSUE: 79.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

DISSECTION: Right after posting column #80, I that in #79 realized I labeled Tom Orzechowski a "letter", not a "letterer".

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
<-------------------------------->
"THEY'RE SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER..."

TITLE: The Dissector (Studio Robota).

ISSUE: 80.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

DISSECTION: An anonymous poster over at ICS.net noticed I called Beast Boy "Cyborg".

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"YOU DARE COLOR DOOM INCORRECTLY!"

TITLE: Fantastic Four (Marvel).

ISSUE: 558.

CULPRIT: Paul Mounts (colorist).

DISSECTION: Doctor Doom's eyes are colored green on the cover, when they should be brown.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IO NO PARLO ITALIANO."

TITLE: Huntress: Year One (DC).

ISSUE: 04 of 06.

CULPRIT: Ivory Madison (writer).

DISSECTION: Most the Italian language in the book is incorrect; at least three counts. The worst one is a sign in a Venetian church, with a poorly constructed sentence.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"AVENGE THIS DISSECTION!"

TITLE: New Avengers (Marvel).

ISSUE: 42.

CULPRIT: Justin Ponsor (colorist).

DISSECTION: What can you tell me about this one?


DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Should be easy.
<-------------------------------->
"REMEMBER WHEN WE THOUGHT VICTOR VON DOOM COULD BE HIS DAD?"

TITLE: Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers (Marvel).

ISSUE: 01 of 03.

CULPRIT: Christina Strain (colorist).

DISSECTION: Victor Mancha's eyes are colored green, when they should be brown.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Also, he says "vamanos"; the Spanish word for "let's go" is "vamonos".
<-------------------------------->
"WHAT KID?"

TITLE: Superman V1 (DC).

ISSUE: 677.

CULPRIT: James Robinson (writer).

DISSECTION: Superman says that he has "Lois (...) and a dog" and that "gives him a complete life"... yeah, what about his disappeared foster son, or even his parents?

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"NO, I THINK IT'S THE ZIGGURAT OF UR."

TITLE: Teen Titans V3 (DC).

ISSUE: 60.

CULPRIT: Eddy Barrows (penciller).

DISSECTION: The Titans are transported by the Clock King to a place that seems Greco-Roman, and Robin claims it's the Parthenon. Problem is, it looks nothing like the Parthenon or any of the buildings in the Acropolis; a cylindrical, roofless structure that looks more like the Coliseum. Blue Beetle asks if they're in Rome; but well, that could be a mistake by Jaime... Robin wouldn't make that kind of mistake.

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
So, we get an average of 6.3 Bazzars in a total of eleven dissections... not bad, not bad. Moments Of The Week! First up, you won't like Banner when he is... hungry?


Sometimes a dog's bite is worse than his bark. Then, Hercules gets used and discarded:


"Zounds"?!??! Well, that's one month completed... That's it for now, until next week, I'll be on the outlook for more dissections, because (almost) nothing escapes...

THE DISSECTOR!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

The Dissector #80.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"If there's one place I didn't feel like going tonight, it's Jersey. I might have to stop and get a map... and a mullet." Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man #563.

Once more, here we are, trying to catch up. This column contains dissections for the week of 06/18, plus one from the vault, to complete the minimum ten dissections per column. The Dissector's Picks Of The Week are the following: Best Book Of The Week was Incredible Hercules #117, you know why, hehehe; and the Worst Book was Kill All Parents #1 (one-shot, really)... just plain awful. Nobody picked up the DT! from last column; so I might as well spill it: Guy Gardner's boots were colored white, instead of green.

Before we go on to the dissections, one more thing. Last column I considered it a mistake when in Star Wars: Rebellion #15 Able called Luke a General. And it was. But I was wrong; because it was Able's mistake, not Jeremy Barlow's (the writer) mistake. Able is a clone trooper, who, in #16 calls Luke a General again, and when Skywalker asks if they gave up instant promotions during The Clone Wars, Able answers that to him "all Jedi were generals". To be fair, this explanation was suggested to me by my friend Chuck, and I just laughed. So, here's my retraction; although the average for last week doesn't change, the math adds up to the same.
<-------------------------------->
"IT'S IN HER EYES, THAT'S WHERE IT IS!"

TITLE: Batman And The Outsiders V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 08.

CULPRIT: Marta Martinez (colorist).

DISSECTION: Grace has red eyes here; while she could be wearing different contacts, I'm guessing it's a mistake.

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
<-------------------------------->
"EVERYBODY'S DED."

TITLE: Everybody's Dead (IDW).

ISSUE: 04.

CULPRIT: Brian Lynch (writer) and/or Amauri Osorio (letterer).

DISSECTION: The word "embarrassing" is spelled "embarressing".

DISSECT-O-METER: 1 Bazzar.
<-------------------------------->
"WRONG TAXICAB."

TITLE: Hellblazer (DC/Vertigo).

ISSUE: 245.

CULPRIT: Sean Murphy (artist).

DISSECTION: Chas Chandler is shown, and apparently, Sean Murphy has never seen the character, because he looks nothing like he should.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"IRON PERSON."

TITLE: Iron Man V1 (Marvel).

ISSUE: 251.

CULPRIT: Dwayne McDuffie (writer).

DISSECTION: Iron Man's repulsor rays are called "repellor rays".

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars. This dissection is from 1989, blast from the past!
<-------------------------------->
"OH, YEAH, I'VE BEEN WORKING OUT."

TITLE: Justice League Of America V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 22.

CULPRIT: Ed Benes (artist).

DISSECTION: The Doom Patrol's Niles Caulder, aka The Chief is an old man with no physical super powers, but he's drawn here wider and more muscular than Batman himself.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"GREEN LANTERN, NOT GREEN HEADLIGHTS."

TITLE: Tangent: Superman's Reign (DC).

ISSUE: 04 of 12.

CULPRIT: Dom Regan (colorist).

DISSECTION: No Dom, Jon Stewart's eyes are not green, that's in the cartoon.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"HE KICKS SO FAST HIS BOOT CHANGES COLOR!"

TITLE: Teen Titans: Year One (DC).

ISSUE: 05 of 06.

CULPRIT: John Rauch (colorist).

DISSECTION: Batman sneaks up on Aqualad and Kid Flash, and the latter is kicked either by Batman or Robin, but with a yellow boot.

DISSECT-O-METER: 5 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"THE LAUGHING MUSK."

TITLE: The Twelve (Marvel).

ISSUE: 06 of 12.

CULPRIT: J. Michael Straczynski (writer) and/or Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt (letterer).

DISSECTION: Laughing Mask is called first Dennis Burton (correct name), and one panel later, "Barton".

DISSECT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"DISSECTION TRINITY."

TITLE: Trinity (DC).

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Kurt Busiek (writer).

DISSECTION: Guess this one!

DISSECT-O-METER: 9 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"LOOKING IN BIG GREEN EYES..."

TITLE: Trinity (DC).

ISSUE: 03.

CULPRIT: Pete Pantazis (colorist).

DISSECTION: Pete, Pete, Pete. I've told you in the past, Jon Stewart's eyes are NOT green, that's in the JLU toon!

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars. He's been warned already.
<-------------------------------->
Low average week, at 5.2 Bazzars in 10 dissections... uneventful column, really, but there's bound to be one of those every now and then. Two Moments Of The Week to end this column, first up, not the only reason why Incredible Hercules was my favorite book of the week, but still:

Yeah! I rule!!!!! Last but not least, Cyborg flies into an enemy's cybernetic body transformed into a small insect, only to emerge seconds later.... SHIFTING TO A BUFFALO!!!

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

THE DISSECTOR!

Friday, August 01, 2008

The Dissector #79.

DISCLAIMER (angry creators, please read)

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

"Pills for breakfast. I am so science fictional." Doktor Sleepless, Doktor Sleepless #07.

Okay, so I lost the roll I was on; but I'm still trying to catch up, with this issue being about books released on the week of 06/11, except for a straggler. Last column's DT! was solved by the Guvnor Paul C, welcome back to active duty! It was indeed the fact that Cannonball calls Lucas Bishop "Nathan", which is Cable's name.

The Dissector's Picks Of The Week are the following: Best Book Of The Week went to Titans V2; I like Judd Winick's writing, and even though Joe Benitez' art is weird sometimes, it's not bad; all in all, this is a fun read. On the other hand, GeNext #1 was horrible, with a horrible plot and script by Chris Claremont (with glaring dissections) and bland, unappealingly cartoon-like art by Patrick Scherberger. Off with you to the dissections, now!
<-------------------------------->
"COVER GIRL."

TITLE: Birds Of Prey V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 116.

CULPRIT: Mike Carlin (editor) and Elisabeth V. Gehrlein (assistant editor).

DISSECTION: Here's the straggler. I never noticed this until I checked Dominik B.'s review of the issue... the issue book is written by Sean McKeever, but the cover reads Gail Simone... who left the book some time again. Badge for you, Dom, one more and you make Lt. Commander!

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. The freaking cover!
<-------------------------------->
"GOLD DISSECTION."

TITLE: Booster Gold V2 (DC).

ISSUE: 10.

CULPRIT: Hi-Fi (colorist).

DISSECTION: Come on, this one's easy:



DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SORRY, DALE."

TITLE: The Dissector (Studio Robota).

ISSUE: 78.

CULPRIT: MaGnUs (writer).

DISSECTION: Wolfie correctly spotted that I had credited Dale Eaglesham as the penciller for Justice Society Of America V3 #16, when it was Fernando Pasarin. Welcome to the HDSC, Wolfie!

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"DOKTOH SLEEPLESS."

TITLE: Doktor Sleepless (Avatar).

ISSUE: 07.

CULPRIT: Warren Ellis (writer) and/or unknown (not credited) letterer.

DISSECTION: Doktor Sleepless' alter ego's name is spelled as Johh, instead of John.

DISSECT-O-METER: 2 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"GOOD GOING CHRIS, YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR MARVEL CHARACTERS!"

TITLE: GeNext (Marvel).

ISSUE: 02 of 05.

CULPRIT: Chris Claremont (writer); and possibly Ed Dukeshire (letterer), but I doubt it.

DISSECTION: Sigh, where to start? Oh, I know... CLAREMONT!!!!!! BEAST IS HENRY MCCOY, NOT PYM!!!!!!

DISSECT-O-METER: 10 Bazzars. Also, Nocturne is called "Josephene" instead of "Josephine", and the Colossus in this book is supposed to be the original Colossus' grandson; but since the school has only been open for 30 years, the timeline is a bit flaky (though I'm not counting this one as a nit).
<-------------------------------->
"LITTLE WING."

TITLE: GeNext (Marvel).

ISSUE: 02 of 05.

CULPRIT: Takeshi Miyazawa (artist, back up story).

DISSECTION: In the back up story with the original X-Men (a reprint from an X-Men Unlimited issue from some time ago), Angel's wings are drawn impossibly small.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"EL HASASINO!"

TITLE: Green Arrow/Black Canary (DC).

ISSUE: 09.

CULPRIT: Judd Winick (writer).

DISSECTION: One of the League Of Assassins dudes; I don't care what his name is, pretends to speak Italian or Spanish and says "Mio amigo", which is not right for either language.

DISSECT-O-METER: 7 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"SEÑOR ROBOT!"

TITLE: The Last Defenders (Marvel).

ISSUE: 04 of 06.

CULPRIT: Joe Casey (writer).

DISSECTION: The assassination performed on the Spanish language by Junta's robot continues.

DISSECT-O-METER: 3 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
"BLURRED INK."

TITLE: New Exiles (Marvel).

ISSUE: 07.

CULPRIT: Tom Orzechowski (letter) and/or Jordan D. White (assistant editor) & Mark Paniccia (editor).

DISSECTION: Inker Scott Hanna is not credited for his work.

DISSECT-O-METER: 8 Bazzars. Also... MORPH!!!
<-------------------------------->
"RUN, MAMMOTH, RUN!"

TITLE: Salvation Run (DC).

ISSUE: 07 of 07

CULPRIT: John Kalisz & Tom Chu (colorists).

DISSECTION: God, what a lousy ending, for a lousy story. Again, Mammoth's hair is incorrectly colored.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars. Also, Cheetah's missing her spots.
<-------------------------------->
"LUKE GETS PROMOTED, AND CHEWIE NEVER EVEN GOT A MEDAL!"

TITLE: Star Wars: Rebellion (Dark Horse).

ISSUE: 14.

CULPRIT: Jeremy Barlow (writer).

DISSECTION: Able calls Luke Skywalker "General", which he doesn't get to be until years later.

DISSECT-O-METER: 6 Bazzars.
<-------------------------------->
Well, this week's average Bazzars is 6.6, in fourteen dissections. Moments Of The Week? No, Moment. Dick Grayson shows his naughty side, after Starfire tells him she thinks of him when she's alone:

Smooth playa!

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

THE DISSECTOR!