Countdown to Self-Parody

It took me a little while to figure out why this sequence from the Grace/Diana issue of Five of a Kind struck me as odd. They are in Cleveland trying to safe the city from a Bana bomb when suddenly . . .




It's the middle panel.

It's a Countdown to . . . Countdown?

Checkmate/Outsiders -- My favorite crossover

Yes, JLA/JSA is good, too, and not just because of Kara and Carter. But, for my money, the team-up of the month is clearly Checkmate/Outsiders. I mean, what fun is a team-up unless the teams really hate each other. I'm completely loving this one.

Nightwing: "I am so brilliant that I can identify Sasha Bordeaux simply by her fighting style. This is because I'm such a moron that I cannot identify her by the fact that she is not wearing a costume or attempting to obscure her identity in any way."

Mlle Marie: "That Boomer is cute, but is probably very bad in bed."

Amanda Waller: "I like Count Vertigo because he can make Boomer vomit at a moment's notice."

Jagger, Thunder, and Grace: "We hate Fire, but because she's an ass -- not because she's the only Breeder on our team."

Count Vertigo: "Amanda Waller only likes me because I can make Boomer vomit."

Metamorpho: "You know, sometimes it's more fun sitting at the kids' table than having to make serious conversation with grown-ups."

Mr. Terrific: "Who says I can't be in every comic book this month? I'm Mr. Terrific, the third smartest man in the world! It can be in Checkmate, JSA, Ousiders, JLA, heck, I can keep dozens of unrelated plot lines straight in my head at the same time. Next month I'm gonna take down Jonah Hex!"

Fire: "Amanda Waller does not need Count Vertigo to make me vomit."

Katana: "I freakin' HATE the kids' table. Black Lightning is in the JLA and I'm on a team with freakin' Captain Boomerang, Jr. I could SOOO take Black Lightning in a fair fight."

Sasha Bourdeaux: "Nightwing keeps doing that 'Let's have a fight and then maybe we'll find ourselves in a compromising position and then we'll kiss' thing. How do I tell him that I find him unattractive on both a physical AND intellectual level."

Boomer: "I am very cute, but probably very bad in bed."

Outsiders #41 (Dec. '06 Cover Date)

Cast of Characters

Main Heroes: Nightwing, Grace Choi, Thunder
Minor Heroes: Katanna, Metamorpho, Captain Boomerang Jr., Lois Lane

Main Villains: Mallah, Brain, Dr. Sivana
Minor Villians: Saber

P'Shat

Dr. Sivana blows up the Russian nuclear facility where Mallah and the Brain had captured the Outsiders. The Outsiders barely make it out with their lives -- we are less sure about Monkey & Medulla. Once again, the Outsiders get "blamed" for what the bad guys did (through Dr. Sivana's "leak" to Lois Lane), and their pictures are posted all over the news, thus totally blowing their "We're all Dead" cover.

On the plane, the gang alludes to the reason they went into hiding. The key term is "felony murder", a legal doctrine wherein anyone who dies (even accidentally) during the commission of a felony, is a murder victim. The implication is that people died (accidentally) while Shift was committed a felony, and that is why Shift re-absorbed himself into Rex and the Outsiders went into hiding.

While we were all waiting for the revelation of what Grace "was" that prevented M&B from cloning her DNA, we instead find out that she and Thunder are having sex with each other. Apparently this is the "State of Grace" written on the cover (the Issue is actually titled "Mad Scientists, Part 2: Raising the Dead"). There is no indication if this is a "change" for either of them orientation-wise, or exactly what it portends.

In the end, we learn that Dr. Sivana is planning to take over the world tomorrow.


Drash

I enjoyed the use of repitition in the issue -- specifically the repeated exchange/ running gag.

"This is bad."
"Could be worse."
"How."
"It could be tomorrow when the shit really hits the fan."

I am anticipatorily concerned for Thunder, who I assume will be killed/ incapacitated in the next several issues (See, e.g., Secret Six), under the double whammy of (A) She's in a lesbian relationship now, which means it must end tragically; and (B) She's the black one, which means it'll be her and not Grace.

The official explanation, of course, will be that it allows for more interesting ramification, especially with her father Black Lightning being in the Justice League now. But, then, there's always a "good reason."