As a comic geek, I’m neither “in” nor “out.” I read Previews and digests in the break room, but I don’t court discussion with co-workers, mostly because I don’t care to hear their thoughts on the medium. I also love music, and often listen at lunch, but I don’t need insights like “I don’t get this Fox song” or how “Drake’s the kind of n-bomb that…”

I’ve had a complete set of The Atlantis Chronicles since the early ’90s, and only ever skimmed it. In the context of the various Byrne reboot Superman related mini-series and Hawkworld, it doesn’t seem quite so chancy. It’s nice that they’re still playing with PAD’s mythology, though. As I’ve stated repeatedly, Super-Hero trumps King of the Deep, so anything that deemphasizes the “royal lineage” suits me fine. All this underwater political crap is part of Aquaman comics though, so if Johns needed to get his take in, probably best it was while he was on his way out the door.

I don’t feel the presence of Diane Nelson at DC Entertainment. I only feel the absence of Paul Levitz. You may recall that the previous Aquaman volume came into being under Levitz only because a licensor got miffed that a super-hero they were creating an (infamously crappy) video game for had just been put on ice indefinitely. That sort of swift reversal was uncommon previously, but is all too common today. Aquaman is one of DC’s brands, which they have been building across media in live action and animated television with an eye toward a major motion picture. DC waited for Geoff Johns to relaunch Aquaman, and I’m sure he took on the project for both affection and the challenge it presented, but also because DC Entertainment has prioritized managing the brand. Aquaman worked because of Johns and the boys, but having worked, the Aquaman brand is now bigger than the talents themselves to DC. He will not die, and he will not stay dead, because a money cruncher wants Aquaman swim trunks on Target racks by spring 2015.

I’d love to get stuff from InStock Trades, but they don’t ship to Canada. Oh well.

Great Firestorm issue, love the iced city in Killer Frost’s eyes in that early close-up.

I’m like Rob as far as Aquaman goes, not interested in the current stories and can’t wait to jump on again for Jeff Parker. I think Brightest Day made a LOT of promises and New52 broke all of them, not just re: Aquaman, but all the other resurrected heroes too.

I “represent” at work, and in fact, serve as chief adviser to anyone who wants to get into comics, genre TV, etc. No shame in it, and a lot of pride.

Although the idea of you and Shawn on a show together sounds irresistably fun to me!

If it makes you guys feel any better, the same work schedule that contributed to my skipping the Martian Manhunter Who’s Who episode also saw me miss out on an invitation to be a guest on Shawn Engel’s Just One Of The Guys podcast until it was too late to do anything about it. Somehow, some way, I just know that renegade C.O.P. Luke Jaconetti is behind this!

Showcase Presents JLofA Vol. 4 also features the first appearance of Commander Blanx and the massively revised background of Martian Manhunter.

I think I’ve had FoFtNM #4 in a box for many years, and I’d have probably read it by now if it wasn’t the late Satellite Era team. Man, we should have had a Pat Broderick run on JLA, though. He had THE WORST luck with team assignments, his longest being a year and a half near the end of Alpha Flight’s first volume and the same following Michael Golden on Micronauts. Then there was Lords of the Ultra-Realm, COPS, that New Guardians arc, some Legion fill-ins… woof.

By the way, Rob, isn’t there a by-law that says the JLA member first on the scene has right-of-way? It’s the whole premise of numerous JLA adventures when one member in trouble actually sends an alert. And one last thing….when Killer Frost “kills” the bird, isn’t that the same as her freezing all of New York? Didn’t it get better as soon as it was thawed out?

And lastly, Shag, since Ronnie *is* Firestorm, what difference does it make that he came up with the idea to hide the machine in Red Tornado, and not “Firestorm”? I totally didn’t get why you thought that was a cool bit.

Looking forward to the rest of the FIRESTORM series, since I haven’t read most of them….!

The Secret Society of Super-Villains is a beautiful concept diluted by mediocre execution and the competition on the Legion of Doom. The series was neat, but unexceptional.

I briefly worked at an office where a guy had the scale Alex Ross Captain America bust on his desk. I envied him the opportunity, if not the tangible merchandise.

COPS was the last toy line I could support before I was too old to do so unashamedly. They are some of the finest figures in their scale ever created, marrying as they did sweet sculpting with impressive articulation. They were essentially enlarged, enhanced G.I. Joes. I still have Sgt. Mace, Louie the Plumber, Beserko (though I customized him into Bishop decades ago), and my favorite, Buttons McBoomBoom. The tie-in art by guys like Bart Sears and Pat Broderick hooked me, but their elevated price point kept me from getting more (see also: Thundercats.)

The DC vs. Marvel whale was a cop-out, since Peter David insisted Aquaman defeat Sub-Mariner in order for him to agree to co-write the project, but there was no logical way for that to happen short of telepathy. The whale is equivalent to the bar Lobo disappeared under.

Anyway, this was another fine episode! I enjoyed hearing from y’all and your other listeners about reading comics in public. For my own part, I often read them on my wife’s iPad, which, while not quite as obvious as a regular comic, is a lot more easily portable. When my students occasionally find me reading old issues of Aquaman, JLA, or the Brave and the Bold around campus, their reactions are always interesting. I like challenging their assumptions about the way the world works, both in class and out, so it is entertaining seeing them struggle with the fact that their (occasionally) articulate, well-read literature professor reads superhero comics. I like to think that my comfort inside my own skin helps them to realize that they can enjoy the things they truly enjoy without worrying about what people think.

Also, symbology may be a word, as Siskoid pointed out, but it is clearly not the word Shag was looking for. Nice try!

While it is clear that not every character can support a book, I miss the days when all of the major heroes of DC had their own titles. I’d love to be buying well-written Hawkman, Aquaman, and Atom books. I may as well wish for world peace and a winning lottery ticket, though.

Thanks for reading my comments once again, gents! I would certainly welcome back Sub Diego! That was one of the really innovative ideas of modern comics, and its sudden abandonment was a real tragedy in a run marked by missed opportunities and almost unprecedented amounts of potential. That Sub Diego run is still probably my second favorite Aquaman run, despite its flaws, and that is in large part thanks to the brilliant device of our favorite hero being thrust into such a unique situation, having to deal with a newly sunken neo-Atlantis. Second to the inexplicable cancellation of the SAG run, the pseudo-cancellation of that book and sudden squid-ification of its protagonist is one of the greatest calamities in Aquaman’s publication history.

Given DC’s modern penchant for truly awful set-piece disasters in their superhero world with terrible costs of life (like the Throne of Atlantis invasion), the sinking of San Diego would be a pretty fitting event. I can’t say I think that is a good thing, really.

Ohh yeah, the JLU version of Aquaman’s hook is fantastic, which just helps to illustrate how terribly weak and contrived the PAD version is. To be fair, it was a contrived device forced upon him, so his lack of enthusiasm for the concept may be somewhat to blame for the weakness of that iteration. Still, leave it to Bruce Timm and company to bring out the best in their subject matter. For all of the flaws of their portrayal of Aquaman (and it was clear they had read entirely too much PAD), they still managed to make him awesome when he was in action. What I wouldn’t have given to see the real Aquaman leaping into adventure alongside the rest of the League, though! My goodness, the squandered potential there is almost heart-breaking.