Well, red is a Christmas color…

“Have a merry Christmas, or face my rage!”

Review delay for Green Lantern: The Animated Series

As you likely know, Cartoon Network is airing the hour-long premiere episode of Green Lantern: The Animated Series this coming Friday, November 11. Yes, I’ll be reviewing it…but my review likely will not appear until next Tuesday or Wednesday (November 15 or 16).

Why so late? The main reason is that I do not have cable; our local providers charge far too much for service, and I don’t watch enough shows to make it even partially worth it. So naturally, I will not be viewing the episode as it airs. I’ll be dependent on friends recording the show, so I wouldn’t be able to see it until Saturday at the earliest.

However, weekends are when I’m out and about, so I’m rarely plopped down in front of the couch. It’s likely that I won’t see the GLTAS premiere until Sunday or even Monday night!

Last, reviewing a television episode is quite different than a comic book, so it will likely take me longer to write about it. In particular, this episode will definitely take a while to review, since it’s the series premiere. I’ll have a lot to say about the show’s art design, animation, voice acting, and so forth. We’ll just have to see how things go.

This delay will likely affect episode reviews when the full GLTAS season starts in the spring. Hopefully it won’t bother you folks too much; better late than never, right? I’ll do my best to get the reviews posted quickly, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up.

War out of order

You may have noticed that Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11 comes out today, but Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #67 does not. This is a big problem, as the latter issue is the end of the “War of the Green Lanterns” story. Emerald Warriors #11 deals with the aftermath…but we don’t know what happened yet!

As such, I will not be reviewing (or even reading) Emerald Warriors #11 until after Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #67′s release, scheduled for July 13.

DC Comics really dropped the ball on this one. I know creative teams have been working overtime for the onslaught of new titles, but at the very least, Emerald Warriors #11 should’ve been held back even though it was complete.

Green Lantern movie month

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the Green Lantern film comes out this month; June 17th is the wide release date. As such, I’ll have plenty of movie-themed crap to post in the coming weeks.

Here’s a rundown of what I hope to accomplish, in no particular order:

• Reviewing Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. It’s not the movie, but it’s still a movie, so it’s close enough. This direct-to-video animated film uses the same art style as Green Lantern: First Flight, but may or may not take place in the same universe. Yeah, it’s pretty confusing, but hopefully the anthology-style film will be entertaining. Emerald Knights has a strong writing team and voice cast, so we should be in for a treat.
• Power ring collecting, part 4. I mentioned that I wanted to review a bunch of movie-style rings in my last installment, and things are looking good so far. I’ve already got a handful, and I’m waiting on one or two more. Want to know which ones will make the cut? You’ll just have to wait. (In the meantime, you could always check out Batjeepster’s ring again.)
• Reviewing Green Lantern Battle Cards. Kids WB has posted a new Green Lantern movie-themed game to replace Green Lantern: Emerald Adventures, and I’ve been playing it for a bit. Trading card games can be hit or miss, so we’ll see how this free one stacks up.
• Reviewing Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters…not so much. I’m sorry, I’m still not sold on the video game. Movie games almost universally suck ass, and even though there’s been some positive buzz building up for Rise of the Manhunters, it’s still based only on a demo. It’s simply not worth $60 to roll the dice on this one. There’s nowhere for me to rent games nearby, and I’m not going to sign up for GameFly or the like just to rent a single title. Also, I’m unlikely to even have the $60 necessary to nab it, even if I wanted to. As you may have noticed, there’s a ton of other Green Lantern-related crap coming out this month that takes precedence. (Not to mention more important things like real life.) The game will almost certainly drop to under $20 by the end of the year, anyway. Maybe I’ll just do a belated review then? Unless some kind soul wants to lend it to me in the meantime…
• Reviewing the Green Lantern comic book tie-ins. I’m talking about the five one-shots that tie into the film. I’m normally not a big fan of these, but some of the creators DC Comics has lined up are pretty impressive. (Jerry Ordway. ‘Nuff said!)
• Action figure and toy commentary. The Green Lantern movie toyline has been out for about a month now, so I oughta weigh in on it. I’ll probably just wax poetic about a few of my favorites from the line, including one piece that is both ridiculous and awesome.
• And, of course… reviewing the Green Lantern film. Unlike most fans, I will not be going to see the flick opening night. I hate crowds, and I hate crowds of fanboys even more. However, I do plan to watch it on Saturday the 18th, and hopefully once more the following afternoon. The first time I see it will be to (hopefully) enjoy it; the second time, I’ll view it with a more critical eye. That way, I’ll have enough experience to write a halfway decent review, which I hope to post the morning of the 20th.

My usual comic book reviews and occasional commentary will also show up, of course. If there’s something I’ve missed that you’d like me to talk about, feel free to let me know, and I’ll see what I can do! There’s a lot to be excited about this month as a Green Lantern fan, so let’s hope everything lives up to the hype.

Back to normal

Sorry about the last few days. Some jackass had taken over my site and locked me out, but it’s all better now.