The good "old" days.

You know, I've realized that the more I get into comics themselves, the less I'm into the movie adaptations of comics.

That's not what I was trying to say. I've been away from home for four days, about to be five (am missing Wednesday at the comic store to go pick up my newly-adopted-dog-named-Ollie, and was hoping because of Veterans day I wouldn't be missing much) so I've been reading through some trades of stories that I'd like to know more about but never read.

Like that Black Glove Batman story, which is apparently a prelude to Batman R.I.P. Okay. I bought it for JH3, let's all be honest. The first half was fantastic. I love the international, Batman-inspired heroes. And I loved the mystery (though I feel like things were missing, since it ended so quickly). The second half was decidedly less interesting, mainly because I don't care much about Bruce Wayne (which is why I'm a fan of the Batman titles now). Christian Bale sort of ruined me on him (sort of like he ruined John Connor for me, and sort of like Ryan Reynolds is about to ruin Green Lantern for me). Anyway, like I said: I loved the first half. Brilliant stuff. Who came up with that international team of Batmen? It reminded me of Watchmen, and Captain Metropolis trying to get everyone together in the 70s, before the Keene Act, and how it all fell apart. They didn't really have a uniting member like Batman, but I got the same sort of sad-hero feel from it. I like sad hero stories.

I also started (but didn't finish) reading Green Arrow: Moving Targets. I'm going to ask again: why does everyone hate Judd Winick? Legit question. I enjoy his Green Arrow stuff. A lot more than I enjoy some characterizations of characters written by other, more popular (or at least less polarizing) authors. I love seeing Ollie with his now-large family. I enjoy the single-guys-traveling-the-world thing he had going with Hal for awhile, but seeing Ollie as the patriarch of this messed up but heroic family of archers is pretty damn awesome, from a character development standpoint. The way he reacts after Mia kills That Guy is a really brilliant insight into the kind of guy Ollie has become.

Once I finish that, it's on to Trials of Shazam, because I loved the Marvel family as a kid, and then Green Lantern: Rebirth (no, I haven't read it).