Speaking of Green Lantern: Untangling Hal from Parallax

Posted on January 20, 2005

At the comic store this week I actually flipped through the current issue of Green Lantern: Rebirth. And I was shocked to find that it made sense.

I’ve been avoiding the miniseries because, in general, I’m of the opinion that it’s better to move on than to go back. Yeah, it took me years to warm up to Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern, but I’m not of the opinion that Hal Jordan is the one, true GL. That said, what they (DC Editorial) did to Hal was basically insane and spitting on their own character.

A decade later, DC is “correcting the mistake.” And who does DC go to when they need to revamp or repair a hopelessly tangled character? Geoff Johns. He did it with the Flash’s Rogues. He did it with Hawkman. Heck, he even tried to bring back Hal as the Spectre. And now he’s straightening out the GL mess. Continue reading →

Lost, Green Lantern, and Will

Posted on January 20, 2005

Kelson

First of all, Lost has a really annoying tendency to place huge cliffhangers right before the series goes into reruns.

Okay, that out of the way, I have some interesting thoughts about Walt, and the possible significance of his comic book. Spoilers follow: Continue reading →

“Lost” linguistics

Posted on January 18, 2005

Katie

As a linguist, I’m highly disappointed in the castaways of “Lost.” In the time they’ve been on the island, not one of them has truly attempted to either 1) learn a few words of Korean or 2) see if Sun or Jin is open to being taught a few words of English. Instead, in painfully true-to-life (but rapidly aging) fashion, they’re relying on the highly effective (*snort*) method of talking really loudly and slowly. Mostly we see this with the English speakers, but last episode it was great to see Jin doing it right back in Korean.

What really disappointed me was that, from what I’ve seen, last week’s episode should have included less crosstalking comedy and more communication, simply due to Jin’s counterpart being Hurley. He’s not a linguist as far as we know, but he is the Guy Who Gets Things Done ™. He has a hefty dose of common sense and “aha” ability, and the wherewithal to act on what he perceives. If any of the major characters were to try to compile some sort of papyrus dictionary, it would be him. And considering that the need to communicate with the Koreans has actually been articulated, unlike the need to take a census or build a golf course, if this weren’t TV, by now he’d probably have either been doing it or found someone else to. Admittedly, though, if he had, we may not have gotten to see that, on the island, the Talk Really Loud method of intercultural communication is universal. Which is comforting, in an odd way: we may not understand each other, but there’s at least something in our communication mechanisms that’s the same.

The Lost Compass

Posted on January 16, 2005

Kelson

We re-watched Pirates of the Caribbean a few nights ago, and noticed that Jack Sparrow also has a compass that doesn’t point north, just like Locke on Lost.

Clearly, Locke’s compass points to the Isla de Muerta! It’s in the wrong ocean, but they were off-course…

CBLDF Eisner Tribute

Posted on January 12, 2005

Kelson

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has unveiled the artwork for its 2005 membership card, and it features Will Eisner’s classic character, the Spirit.

The timing is unfortunate, so soon after Eisner’s death, but it serves as a tribute to one of the most influential artists and storytellers in the history of comic books. (If you’ve ever heard of the Eisner awards—one of the most prestigious awards in comics—he’s the Eisner they’re named for, not the Disney guy.)

The CBLDF is dedicated to defending freedom of expression in comics. Artists get sued for parodies, retailers get arrested for for stocking R-rated titles (because everyone knows, comics are only for kids), customs agents confuse satire with piracy, and irate parents complain about Superman as “violent soft porn.” [archive.org] Really. It’s amazing what gets challenged, and the lengths to which some people will go to impose their own views of what’s acceptable on everyone else.