A book you plan on reading.
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking
720 pages! 16 pounds! It comes in its own carrying case! I got this Christmas 2010 and have only looked through it once. This year I will start to read it. 
Dream character team up.
Batgirls from Batgirl #24. This was part of a dream sequence (See? It fits on that level too!) for the final issue of the Bryan Q. Miller run, and it could have been a story he told if DC hadn’t relaunched and put Barbara Gordon back in the suit.
Or, Batgirls from All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13. I’m sort of not cheating by presenting two options, but it’s still a Batgirl team-up. Here, if the Robins throughout time had failed in their mission to save Batman, Madame Xanadu was poised to send in the Batgirls from across time to save the Bat’s butt. If I wasn’t such a Robin fan, I would have preferred this story.
Your favorite artist.
Ever since I saw Alex Ross’s work on Kingdom Come, I have been a huge fan of his work. I went back and bought the Marvels trade when I found out he did the art on that book, the oversized books that he did with Paul Dini, his Mythology book, and others. A Ross Justice League poster hangs in my office and I’ve had many different wallpapers of his work on my computer screen as well. I would love to have an original art piece, and am very jealous of you East coasters who got see the exhibit of his work at the Andy Warhol Museum. I just love the way he paints superheroes in a more realistic fashion, and his Kingdom Come Superman is my absolute favorite (I especially love the simplified S shield).
A comic book second volume which disappointed you.
Fallen Angel, though there have been many second volumes that have disappointed.
I missed out on the first volume as it was being published, but when I finally got around to reading the first trade, I liked it so much that I went out and bought all of the issues DC had printed. Then I heard that Peter David was taking his character elsewhere to be published (IDW), and I eagerly awaited the return of Lee and her home base of Bette Noir and its cast of characters. The series started out fine enough, but quickly devolved from there. The story became more about Lee’s son than her, and I just lost interest. The magic was gone.
Favorite writer.
I have a lot of favorite comic book writers since what’s important to me in any piece of fiction is character–art styles can change, but the core of the character should not (at least not without a good reason told in a compelling way). I have loved the work of Marv Wolfman, Neil Gaiman, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, Mike Carey, Paul Levitz, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and more recently Bryan Q. Miller, but for now, this day, I will go with Geoff Johns.
While I read his work first on JSA (1999), it wasn’t until 2003′s Teen Titans relaunch that I became aware of his work. In Johns, I found a worthy successor to Wolfman and Pérez regarding my beloved Titans. He just seemed to get it–the characters and their relationships and where they fit in to the DCU.
Then came the title that I think launched Johns’ career at DC: Green Lantern: Rebirth. Johns was able to explain and fix all of the problems that DC created in turning Hal Jordan into a crazed villain and, later, avenging spirit, all while laying the groundwork which would become one of DC’s best event stories four years later: Blackest Night. In between that, he would relaunch Green Lantern and try to build up Hal to be one of the Big 4. I don’t know how successful that was (although, a major motion picture was made featuring Hal, regardless of what you may think about the film), but I can certainly see the effort.
I should also mention Johns’ efforts in fixing Hawkman’s convoluted history and creating an interesting character in Carter Hall in the pages of JSA and later in Hawkman. It is this ability to rethink the past in new ways and tie all that history together that cemented to me John’s skills as a comic book writer. DC has recognized that talent as well, making him its Chief Creative Officer and most recently as the writer on its flagship book, Justice League (2011), which is currently my favorite book of the new 52.
On a personal note, I really appreciated Johns as a guy who respects and is just nice to his fans. During his visit to the 2010 Emerald City Comicon, he was signing some comics for me while my wife stood back taking pictures (she was chronicling some of my brief conversations with creators, often times unbeknownst to me), and when he noticed, Johns asked if I wanted a photo with him, despite the long line behind me. So, not only is he a very good writer, but he’s a nice guy to boot.
Favorite super power or skill.
There are other, probably more useful powers, but it has always been flight for me. Just to be able to go where I want, when I want and unfettered by gravity is possibly the most empowering aspect. Of course, I would need to get over my fear of falling first. 
The example pic below is from Astro City (1995) #1, “In Dreams”. I sincerely doubt I would fly naked (ok, maybe once).
Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
DC is the place I want to be!
Duh. I love DC and would love to live in that universe. I always find it funny that I started out on Marvel comics, but there was something about the DC heroes that resonated with me back in late 1978, early 1979, and I haven’t yet given up on my beloved fictional multiverse despite all the reimaginings, reboots, and relaunches. I can’t imagine my life without Superman, Batman, the Titans and Legion, and all the rest.
Favorite B-list character.
Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz)
This is one of the most absurd characters, yet I love this guy. So, he’s a Martian and green skinned (stereotypical, thus absurdity #1), who happens to have some powers like Superman’s because he’s a Martian ? (absurdity #2), his traditional vulnerability is to fire ?! (absurdity #3), and look at his costume (absurdity #4). So why do I like J’onn? Because of all that absurdity! He’s Superman plus he can turn invisible, and intangible, and shapeshift. Oh, and he’s telepathic! Who needs Superman? He’s also Batman in that he is an accomplished detective, though modern writers seem to forget that about him. He also holds a unique position in terms of his creation: he preceded Barry Allen Flash by a year, thus making him perhaps the first superhero of the Silver Age.
I was first exposed to him, as I recall, in DC Comics Presents #27. That story in DCCP really made me feel for the character, and he seemed much more the hero of the story than Superman. While I missed a lot of Justice League stories featuring J’onn during the late 70s and early 80s, I did like him enough to buy the 1988 mini-series that bears his name. I now wish I would have bought his ongoing that came ten years later (but that’s the fun of comics: finding old material to read as new). Finally, this is how much I like J’onn: his inclusion in Stormwatch (2011) is why I bought the title in the first place. I just wish Paul Cornell would spotlight him more.
The LBR podcast is back for the new year, but this episode we are taking a look at 2011 by discussing what we see are the Best of comics and related items in 11 categories. What did we choose, for example, for Best Artist, Cover, and Ongoing? Have a listen and discover for yourself!
If you’d like (and I’d love it if you did), let me know what you would have chosen for those categories and I’d be glad to read them on the “air”. Disagree with our picks? Let me know (I’ll read those, too)!
Please leave comments on the blog; you can also send email to longboxreview@gmail.com, or if you’re on Twitter, message @longboxreview. I would love to hear from you. Finally, please rate the podcast on iTunes.
Thanks for listening!
Direct Download (1:42:12)
Most useless villain.
Dr. Light. Not in terms of powers, mind you. But Arthur Light was just such a putz. He could manipulate light in various ways, which you would think could be very deadly in the wrong hands, but this guy somehow manages to screw that advantage up. He gets defeated by the Justice League, so he decides to go after easier prey in the Teen Titans and they defeat him (time and time again). So, powerful? Yes. But oh so powerless, and until Identity Crisis, a joke (ok, still somewhat of a joke).
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