Batman or Shakespeare?

Quick, who said the following:

Smoldering, I burn you—burning you, I flare, hot and bright and fierce and beautiful.

Or this?

Welcome destruction, blood, and massacre. I see, as in a map, the end of all.

Were those two lines from a Shakespeare play, or from a Batman comic?

You can put yourself to the test at Sporcle's "Shakespeare or Batman" quiz.  You might be surprised at the answers.  (I scored a measly 67%.)

After that, you can go on to quiz yourself in how many U.S. Presidents you can name in ten minutes.  I somewhat redeemed my self-esteem for the paltry showing in the Shakespeare/Batman quiz by naming 36 out of 44 presidents.  I'm not sure if knowing who James K. Polk is is a better thing than being able to name a Batman quote, but I take my comics quizzes seriously.

There are quite a few other comics-related quizzes at Sporcle, even quizzes relating only to DC Comics, if you want to take a look.

(Also sad: I didn't know what Captain America's real name was.  Have I mentioned I want to go in to every Marvel movie completely fresh?  Doesn't get fresher than that.)

Have fun!

Oh, and Frank, this one's for you:

Color me surprised!

Fisher-Price Oa Playset

And how adorable is this, folks?

A Fisher-Price Oa playset, complete with Hal Jordan, Kilowog, and, nope it's not Ch'p, it's B'dg.  (But I can pretend it's Ch'p all I want.)  I love how GL characters (Hal Jordan included) translate so well into cartoony-ness.  It's too bad they're going all sturm und drang for the movie.  And guess what?  The little lantern lights up, and the gun shoots stuff (yay violence!) and the tether thingy that Kilowog is on spins around and stuff.

This is why I'm not allowed in Target, becuase I would buy this for myself.

And then actually play with it.  By myself.

The comics doldrums

I've been neglecting my poor blog lately.  I didn't get any comics last week, and only two this week, including the last issue of R.E.B.E.L.S.  My pull list has really dwindled and there seems less and less to be excited about in the comics world.  I wasn't that thrilled with how Brightest Day panned out, so color me less than excited for Flashpoint.  (Even though the promise of seeing DC's superheroes through time and especially, the past is somewhat tempting.)  But the idea of trying to get a handle on a massive storyline spanning dozens (?) of books seems daunting and stressful, not fun, to me.

Even more fitting is that Smallville wrapped up with a rather lukewarm finale.  I tried really hard to like that show, and there were a handful of episodes that did truly send me into a comic-induced giddy-fest, but the finale (and its preceding two episodes) just didn't do it for me.  It was written more as a love letter to long-time fans, so most of the sentiment sailed farther over my head than Clark Kent finally figuring out how to fly higher than a 747.  Lame simile, I know.

Also, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which was I show I initially disliked but now have come around to, has been cancelled.  I do not know the fate of Young Justice (is it coming back for a second season?) and the Wonder Woman pilot has been passed over.

So it seems as though I am about to embark on a journal into a comics desert for the foreseeable future.

Does anyone have any giddy-fyingly good comics prospects that you're excited to hear about?

Happy Belated Mother's Day?

Totally stealing this from mathematicsore ("m.c.") who posted this in a comment on The Idol-Head of Diabolu: (sorry!)

Oh, the good folks at Let's Be Friends Again.  You make my day.  Because J'onn has a juice box.

At first I thought it was Barry and I was like, "Did they just kill off his mother?" and then I realized it was Wally.

Adam and Alanna Strange by Chirs Samnee

Why isn't Chris Samnee doing work for DC?

Becuase he draws a lot of great DC characters.

Adam Strange and Alanna by ~ChrisSamnee on deviantART

Says the artist:

I took suggestions on Twitter today, and although the suggestion was just for Adam Strange, I couldn't help but include Alanna. I have a soft spot for married characters. 

I miss the old Adam Strange.  And Alanna.  *sigh*