Its been quite a busy week in the world of Minimates. The DC Minimates will have another wave coming. This one will hit around September of 2007. Wave 5 will consist of the following pairings:

Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel	Guy Gardener and Kilowog
Hawkman and Hawkgirl	Red Tornado and Ma Hunkel

Don’t forget to check after the jump for more information on minimates and lots of additional pictures of other properties with the minimate license!
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Manhunter #27
written by Marc Andreyko, art by Javier Pina and Robin Riggs

Manhunter launched in the aftermath of Identity Crisis (was it really two years ago???), and I ignored it, because books that launch from events have a bad habit of being rushed to market, capitalizing on the event’s success instead of being carefully crafted. As a result, I missed out on what has turned out to be a surprisingly excellent book. And, it turns out, so did most people, as the book was slated to be canceled at issue #25. Fortunately, the powers that be at DC have given it a 5 issue stay of execution, starting with #26!

To be honest, I only started picking it up at the previous arc, which ended with Kate Spencer (Manhunter) driving an electric blade into Dr. Psycho‘s forehead and snapping the blade off, for the sole purpose of (effectively) shutting down his mind-control powers. This actually took place in the middle of a courtroom too, as she happened to be the lawyer DEFENDING HIM. Interestingly, the verdict had just come in, but hadn’t been read before he went bananas – she managed to get Psycho a “not guilty” verdict!

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So 2006 has come and passed, and that means it’s time for retrospectives. In the world of comics, it’s been a busy year, and while everyone’s going to tell you what was the best and what was the worst, what I want to look at is what books surpassed their hype, and what books made you regret (or at least SHOULD make you regret) forking over your hard-earned cash. So here they are: Five books that made me look forward to the next issue and everything that the creative team will ever produce in the future … and five books that might make me wish I’d just set my money on fire instead, because at least my brain wouldn’t have those abominations permanently etched into its squiggly wrinkles.

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You might have missed it, but last week Saturday, Martin Nodell – creator of DC’s original, Golden Age Green Lantern – passed away of natural causes at age 91. While he primarily did art chores, he’s the one who invented the character; and starting in 1940, he drew the character for the next 7 years, with Bill Finger handling the writing. He followed this up with a period at Timely Comics – which you might know better as Marvel Comics – where he drew Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner, amongst others. After spending the next couple decades in advertising, he returned to DC in the 1980’s and worked there until 1991. The final issue he worked on, appropriately enough, was issue #19 of Green Lantern, featuring Alan Scott, Golden Age Green Lantern.

While Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps may typically be the more widely known Green Lanterns today, the roots of that concept lie firmly in the Golden Age heritage created by Nodell. What’s more, his creation – Alan Scott – continues to flourish in the DC universe today, holding down monthly appearances as one of the “Big Three” of the JSA. Seeing as how Martin Nodell worked at the drawing table well into his 80’s, the longevity of his creation is all too appropriate.

Thanks to forum member raistlin for the tip.

Sources: CNN.com, Martin Nodell (Wikipedia), Alan Scott – Green Lantern (Wikipedia)

DC comics have traditionally done well when animated for the small screen. The universe established with Batman the Animated series which concluded in Justice League Unlimted this year is probably only surpassed by Star Trek for its amazing ability to take multiple series and tie them all together.

Live action has fared less well. George Reeves had a good run as Superman, and Adam West and Burt Ward certainly made TV history as Batman & Robin (even if the show was more parody than adaptation). But The Flash got one season out of CBS, Birds Of Prey was panned and canned, and Smallville seems to be losing steam in its 6th year.

Apparently someone more than a few years ago thought the Justice League would make a good show. The Movie Blog is hosting the pilot for this show, which you can download right now. You could download it, but I’d advise you not to. Its so bad. Guy Gardner and Barry Allen are roommates. Atom’s costume makes me laugh just looking at it. Martian Manhunter is the only one who doesn’t come off as completely terrible. The “big 3” are nowhere to be found. These are all things that were possible to fix with casting, writing or simple asthetic choices.

The thing they couldn’t fix is the visual effects, which are pretty good for 80s TV, but do a disservice to the characters because they’re so distractingly fake. Green Lantern’s ring powers form goofy umbrellas or helicopter blades. Atom fights a kitten in local news weather quality green-screen.

Anyway, yeah its bad. Horrible actually. I think I’m having an allergic reaction thinking about it.

Since fans have given up on Mattel bring a Marvel Legend’s style line to mass market based on DC heroes, at least DC Direct is trying.

TNI has a picture of a set of prototypes celebrating the newest incarnation of the Justice League of America, as they appear in the monthly from writer Brad Meltzer and artist Ed Benes.

This first series has Black Lightning, Vixen, Red Arrow (Arsenal), Black Canary, and another damned Superman figure. At least 3 of the 5 are characters who probably wouldn’t have warranted a toy a year ago, so I guess I can’t complain too much. The rest of the lineup with Red Tornado, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, and Batman will probably be coming soon.

Hopefully really soon, because a revamped JSA just hit stands, and I’d love to have a shelf with both teams.

Dave Cockrum, probably best known for his stint on Uncanny X-Men, passed away last week.

While he has not worked on comics in recent years, his work is well known throughout the industry.

I first saw the news posted here. For more information go to that link.