Quick Hits: Happy! #4 (Image)

The fourth and finale issue of this ditty hits the resonating mark I'd hoped for from Grant Morrison.  If anything, it finds him, along with what he's been doing in Action Comics and Batman Incorporated in a pretty sentimental mood.  That's the ultimate takeaway from Happy!, which I've previously discussed in relation to other Morrison projects, but more than anything it's like his two recent superhero projects done in miniature, for anyone who doesn't want to bother with capes but would still like to enjoy the storytelling prowess of a master.  That's exactly what Seaguy did in two mini-series, and so it's nice to see that Morrison has continued that tradition.

Quick Hits: Green Lantern #17 (DC)

The other major news that's hit comics I love in recent weeks, besides the death of Damian in Batman Incorporated #8, was that Geoff Johns is concluding his epic run with Hal Jordan in Green Lantern #20.  You may recall that I recently speculated that Geoff could easily have continued for years to come with Simon Baz, who has only been around for about half a year, in much the same way Brian Michael Bendis reinvigorated and continued his even longer Ultimate Spider-man run with Miles Morales, so it was a shock to me that not only is Geoff walking away in the near future, but within the span of a few months.  That puts a huge emphasis on the "Wrath of the First Lantern" arc, which has become Geoff's finale after starting on the franchise in 2004 with Green Lantern: Rebirth.  The First Lantern basically becomes the summation of all his ideas, and reading it, especially this particular issue, it's not hard to see how Geoff could have come to this conclusion, whether it was what he was originally thinking when he planned it or if he recently made the decision based on his workload (which is always extensive) and increasing focus on the Justice League franchise (where Simon Baz continues in the pages of ...America).

Quick Hits: Django Unchained #2 (Vertigo)

I still haven't seen the movie, but it's now available on home video release, so maybe I'm that much closer (kind of bummed it didn't hit the local dollar theater, unless that still happens).  Very much enjoying reading the comic, though.  If Tarantino filmed scenes about the Sigfried story, that would be another reason to savor the film, because it would represent another filmmaking evolution for him, which the period nature of both Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds have already indicated.  When a director like Ridley Scott jumps all around time, it becomes expected.  You learn how their basic storytelling is translated and becomes more resonant, but it's not so surprising.  If and when Tarantino decides to set an entire movie in the distant past, that will be immediately notable.  So that's what I take away from this issue.

Quick Hits: Comedian #5 (DC)

I don't know why the publication of this particular Before Watchmen book has been drawn out for so long, but I've continued to enjoy it, and have even figured out why it's remained in Vietnam for several issues now, because Brian Azzarello figured out that it has more significance than what fans probably assumed just from the original Alan Moore story, along with everything else that's been done in Comedian.  I'm pretty convinced that I won't be the only one calling this one the most significant part of the whole project once it's all done and sitting on bookshelves, maybe as regularly as Watchmen itself.

Quick Hits: Batman Incorporated #7 (DC)

The issue before the one everyone knows about, where Damian a.k.a. until his death the current Robin uh dies, in which events that have been the culmination not just of this second Batman Incorporated series or even the first but rather the entire run start to really build momentum.  It's been strange, since at one point Grant Morrison was unquestionably the Batman writer, and his stories were events even when they didn't have titles or crossovers.  By the way, this concept is the reason there's a book called Batwing in the New 52.  With Scott Snyder's "Death of the Family" letting everyone down who expected a major development, we may know now why that was, and why he'll soon be launching "Zero Year," thereby allowing him to do exactly what he's always wanted to do without anyone confusing his intentions again, playing with the continuity, which in a lot of ways is what Morrison has been doing, except with all the elements no one else knew what to do with, like making Talia al Ghul Batman's ultimate villain even before The Dark Knight Rises.

Quick Hits: Action Comics #17 (DC)

This is the second-to-last issue of Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics, though it was originally scheduled to be the finale.  In a lot of ways this one will make the whole run easier to understand, resonating the villain who's been running around, Superman's experiences, and the human element that has been at the heart of the story since the start, when we first saw the new t-shirt costume.

Guest Post Over at Speed Force

The fine folks at Speed Force would have been my best friends fifteen years ago.  Now they're simply some of the nicest people I know.  I say this because they've allowed me to write about Max Mercury. Max Mercury is one of my favorite superheroes, and in this article you'll find out why.  For some reason I have never quite gotten around to writing a lot about my favorite comic book memories (if you visit the link about the timeline above, you may get an idea), but suffice to say Max plays a big role in some of them, even though he was a small part of Mark Waid's The Flash and a supporting one in Impulse.