DC Comics finally explains why there are so many Green Lanterns on Earth in the latest issue of the title. An Apocalypse miniseries will bridge the X-Men eras for Marvel. IDW’s TMNT: The Last Ronin II sells over 140,000 copies. All on Comic Book Club News for March 12, 2024.
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Episode Transcript:
DC changes Green Lantern mythology.
Apocalypse miniseries to bridge X-Men eras.
The Last Ronin sells big for IDW.
This is Comic Book Club News for March 12, 2024.
DC Finally Explains Why There Are So Many Green Lanterns On Earth:
For decades, DC Comics has played with the idea that there are more Green Lanterns that come from Earth, than the rest of the DC Universe. And now we know why, thanks to the latest issue of the series, Green Lantern #9.
Spoilers past this point. In the issue, written by Jeremy Adams with art by Xermánico, Hal Jordan is trying to figure out why he has a strange new Green Lantern ring, and can’t leave the planet. Though there are more mysteries to come, he solves this big one by traveling deep into a cave and discovering a surprising secret… There’s a back-up Green Lantern power battery that’s been hidden on Earth, in case the one on Oa was ever destroyed.
In fact, that Oan power battery was destroyed — and not only that, Jordan realizes the reason there are so many Lanterns on the planet is because they were drawn to the latent energy of this back-up battery.
Now, there is a fair amount of dream logic going on in the issue, so it’s possible there may be more twists and turns to come. But this effectively retcons decades of coincidental storytelling.
That said, there’s another reason there are so many Green Lanterns based on Earth. I’m cribbing a quote from Steven Moffat here, the former showrunner of Doctor Who, who was once asked a similar question: why are so many episodes of the series set on Earth, when the Doctor can travel all of time and space? Moffat’s answer? The show is filmed on Earth.
The same can definitely be applied to Green Lantern comics. But at least in the books themselves, we now have a slightly more fun explanation.
An Apocalypse Miniseries Will Bridge Two X-Men Eras:
We’ve spent a lot of time on this podcast talking about the end of the current Krakoa era of X-Men, and what’s coming next in the From the Ashes era that will kick off in July. And now comes news of a miniseries that will bridge both eras, because comics publishing schedules are weird.
The mini, titled X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse, will be written by Steve Foxe with art by Netho Diaz, and over the course of four issues tell the story of what happens when Apocalypse leaves Earth to go rule Arrako, and aims to choose a successor, Hunger Games-style, for Earth. The 12 mutants involved include: Armageddon Girl, Cable, Cypher, Emma Frost, Exodus, Forge, Gorgon, Mirage, Mr. Sinister, Penance, Rictor, and Laura Kinney, aka Wolverine.
What makes this weird is that rather than having a big ending in June with X-Men #35, and then pausing to relaunch in July with TBA titles, instead this title will run two issues in June, and two in July. Not really a clean break, Marvel!
Said Foxe on the bridge title, via a press release provided to Comic Book Club: “These past few years have shown so many new facets of En Sabah Nur, and my Krakoan peers aren’t done with him quite yet. So it’s both an immense honor and a ton of pressure to step up to the slab for Heir of Apocalypse, which charts a new path for his legacy in the years to come. I’ve been lucky to bend the ear of past and future stewards of these characters to make sure these four issues are a meaningful entry in the Apocalypse canon–and I had every X-fan’s DREAM task of selecting twelve mutants from across the history of the franchise who might just be up for the titular role. Some are characters I’ve already had the privilege to write, some are characters I’ve eyed enviously, and some won’t survive the series…but only one will become the Heir of Apocalypse.”
So there you go. Not quite the end, not quite the beginning. Sounds pretty much like the X-Men to me.
TMNT: The Last Ronin II Sells 140,000 Copies, Heads Back For Second Printing:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is one of the bigger hits of the modern comics era. A new perennial bestseller in graphic novel format, with spinoffs, toys, and more. So it was inevitable that the sequel would hit a high number of orders at comic shops. And now we know exactly how many: 140,000 copies, according to IDW.
To put this in perspective, the first issue of Dynamite’s ThunderCats #1 had 170,000 copies ordered by comic book stores — and it ended up at number two on last month’s best-sellers list, behind Ultimate Spider-Man #2. So while 140,000 copies is enormous by modern chart standards, it will be interesting to see where The Last Ronin II #1 sits once the dust settles.
Said Kevin Eastman, the co-writer of the new series: “The reaction to, and continued success of THE LAST RONIN series goes so far beyond anything we imagined at any time during the creation process… humbling is the best way to sum it up for me. The whole team just wanted to tell the best story we could. The fact we get to continue to tell more stories set in the TMNT Last Ronin Universe is another gift from the most incredible fans on the planet.”
A second printing of the issue is now available for pre-order and will hit comic book stores on May 25.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And most of these podcasts take place on Earth, too. Fun fact!
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