Reading down the list of issues that DC and ComiXology are selling for 99 cents as part of this weekend’s two-day Green Lantern 101 sale, something struck me: None of Gerard Jones’ 1990s GL run is available these days, is it?

For those who weren’t around at the time, Jones’ revival of the Green Lantern franchise in the early ’90s made him, in a weird way, the Geoff Johns of his day. At one point, such was his success that he was writing not only Green Lantern, but also Green Lantern: Mosaic (starring John Stewart, and still my favorite GL title), Guy Gardner and Justice League Europe/International – Like Johns’ earlier GL stories, Jones’ run dealt with the reconstruction of the Green Lantern Corps, the inscrutiability of the Guardians and what to do with multiple Green Lanterns from Earth. With the movie coming out in a few weeks and all manner of Lantern-esque promotions and reprints happening, it’s odd to see a complete lack of what had been a particularly bright point in the franchise’s history. Maybe they’re saving it up for Green Lantern 2.

So, it sounds as if Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn has gone a little cold on the idea of adapting the comic book sequel to Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s violent “real life” superhero book:

Everyone says we’re doing Kick-Ass 2 but… the weird thing about Kick-Ass 2 is I’d love to do it, because I enjoyed it so much, but I’m a big believer that if you’re going to do a sequel it’s got to be as good as the first one if not better. I just don’t know how I could…

My business brain just says do Kick-Ass 2, shoot it and get it out there and it would make a lot of money but I really do love that movie. It was a special moment to me making that film and I don’t want to spoil it. I’m not saying it’s as good as Pulp Fiction but I think it would be weird if Tarantino did Pulp Fiction 2. Everything that made Kick-Ass original and fun, if you do it again, it would be crass…

Firstly: Wait, Kick-Ass wasn’t supposed to be crass?

Secondly: This can’t come as a massive surprise to anyone other than, perhaps, Mark Millar. The original movie wasn’t enough of a success to ensure a sequel, and Vaughn has been offering variations on the theme of “Superhero movies are almost dead” in interviews since before he even started X-Men; First Class; the idea that he’d make three superhero movies in a row seemed incredibly unlikely, if not outright impossible. What I’m curious about now is Millar’s response – He may have promised that this movie would happen in the past, but considering that Nemesis and Supercrooks seem to be more likely to happen as movies at this point, he may just wholeheartedly move both his attention and internal hype machine in their direction, and ignore even the idea of a second Kick-Ass movie from now on…

Hey, Rama readers! Want to be a hero for some kids in need? Then listen up!

For those who haven’t been following the destruction in Joplin, it’s been horrific. Buildings have been flattened, and the current number of fatalities has hit 125. Jeremy Haun, a Joplin resident and a Top Cow exclusive artist, has been tweeting images from the scene if you want to learn more.

But one local shop — Hurley’s Heroes — has been standing up for the people who need it. They’re looking for all-ages comics to give to children whose lives have been upended by the tornado, and they need your help to do it. Here’s their address:

Hurley’s Heroes
1515 W. 10th
Ste. C
Joplin, MO 64801

Two other comics creators are also helping out — Trickster masterminds Skottie Young and Scott Morse, who have announced via Twitter that all proceeds from their art this week will go to Joplin. So what are you waiting for, Rama readers? Take these fine gents’ example and be a hero for the people of Joplin, get the word out, and let’s get those books!

[Hat-tip to Archaia for the heads-up]

Something stood out to me from the preview of this week’s Green Arrow #12 (Potentially the last of the Brightest Day tie-ins, ignoring the Aftermath series? Have I missed anything?):

Jason Blood has to “reclaim” the Demon, just like the Swamp Thing had to be “reclaimed” by Alec Holland at the end of Brightest Day (the series). Scenes like this are really the best argument against rumors that DC is planning to reboot the entire DCU following Flashpoint, because… Well, if you were going to reboot the entire DCU, why spend so long telling stories that restore old status quos beforehand?

Think about it: Blackest Night and Brightest Day combined restored Aquaman, Hawkman (and, for a short while, Hawkwoman), Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Reverse Flash, Captain Boomerang, Max Lord, the 1980s version of Hawk and Dove, Swamp Thing, a DCU John Constantine and now the Demon, all to something closely resembling their “classic” status quos, while also relaunching Green Arrow and Birds of Prey books to something resembling prominence. If DC really planned on rebooting its universe, wouldn’t that all seem like a waste of effort…?

It depends, I guess, on whether the restorations of titles and characters really “took” with readers. If they didn’t, then the gamble of starting all over may seem worth it, despite the fact that that’s pretty much just happened – although, given reactions to the second relaunch of Marvel’s Ultimate line in three years, you have to wonder at what point reboot lethargy starts to kick in, and everyone stops caring altogether.

Keep watching.

Ever since I read Tim Callahan’s chat with Joe Casey – ostensibly about Casey’s new Marvel series, Vengeance, although as with all Casey interviews, it goes way beyond that – earlier this week, one line in particular has stuck in my brain:

What [Vengeance artist Nick] Dragotta and I are striving for is a story and a series that has the feel and the scope of an “event” book without the Marketing and Publishing Ass-Rape that tends to occur — beyond anyone’s control, I should add — when these things happen, with all the obvious hype and the endless spinoff series and the checklists and all that goofy shit. Besides, these event books don’t really have a “concept,” do they? I mean, aside from ripping off other event books.

When I first read that, I thought YEAH and didn’t think too much about it beyond “Way to go, Joe!” but… He’s wrong, isn’t he? (more…)

The Amazon Princess may not be splashing back into live-action anytime soon but Wonder Woman is back on television once more thanks to the animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

TV Guide has acquired the clip of Diana making her entrance into the series by rescuing Batman, her significant other, Steve Trevor and deflecting a whole lotta bullets. In the episode, airing this Friday on the Cartoon Network, Wonder Woman is voiced by Vicki Lewis of NewsRadio fame. The actress previously voiced Persephone in the Wonder Woman animated film from Warner Bros. starring Kerri Russell.

In the episode, titled “Scorn of the Star Sapphire,” Batman teams up with Green Lantern for the main storyline in which they fight against Carol Ferris and the Zamarons (watch a clip of the fight on IMDB) so it’s not clear how much screen-time Wonder Woman will actually have. Either way, using the Invisible Jet and Lynda Carter’s 1970s Wonder Woman theme song sounds like Warner Bros. saying, “Sorry about that other thing…”

Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. And this time I’m going literal. Last week I put your brains to work with science! This week it’s all about letting your geek flag fly. Why? Because someone on Facebook told me tomorrow is Geek Pride Day.

Made up holiday? Absolutely! And also, according to Wikipedia, *ahem* “It shares the same day as three other science-fiction fan ‘holidays’ – Towel Day, for fans of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy by Douglas Adams, Star Wars Day, and the Glorious 25 May, for fans of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.” And yes, I know May 4 is considered Star Wars Day too, May 25 is the day the original film hit theaters. Regardless, wanna let the world know what’s what? Try some of these on for size.

Geek Bookends for any type of literature you enjoy. Especially if it’s comic books. This set from user KnobCreekMetalArts run for $19.99 and are made from solid steel.

Geek isn’t the only label to wear proudly, nerd and dork are also terms to be employed. I should know, I go by The Nerdy Bird. Anyway, this Nerd/Dork cup and saucer set are reworked English Meaken coffee cups. From user trixiedelicious for $40.

If you prefer to let people know who you are all through the day, why not try this Laser Cut Geek Necklace from user Morphologica. Also check out the Dork variation as well. Both are $29.50 and are available in several colors.

I thought this Nerd Necklace was cute and simple. Made from sterling silver, user Underoakstudios says it’s, “Better than a pocket protector and knowing knowing Data’s “Ode to Spot” by heart for establishing nerd street cred.” $40

And last but not least, for a little Geek Contemplation comes this work of wooden art. User banished made this from 3/4″ solid maple and it measures 1 5/8″ x 4 3/16″. Yours for $12, or, if you prefer, the larger Nerd sign by WilliamDohman for $42 made from recycled plywood.

As always, bear in mind, since Etsy is a craft website and not a commercial, mass-market dealer, items are almost always one-of-a-kind or in very limited availability. When you see something you like, buy it. It may not be there the next time you surf round. (Yes, it’s a very dangerous site for your wallet.) Also, since most items are created individually, many sellers are willing to customize something specifically to suit your needs. Just ask!

Has Hawkman supplanted Aquaman as the go-to superhero when in need of an easy target? In the new skit “A Toast To Green Lantern” from Frog Island Films, the Thanagarian laments his lack of movie offers in front of his more successful and mostly unsympathetic superhero contemporaries. The video, featuring comic TJ Miller as Green Lantern and Treme’s Walter Harris among others, is here (be warned — copious amounts of NSFW language).

Action Comics #901: Artist Kenneth Rocafort joins writer Paul Cornell on Action Comics, which has returned its focus to Superman after Cornell’s Luthor-starring arc. Rocafort and Cornell will be continuing that weird “Reign of Doomsday” storyline that’s been running through various DC Comics for months now. The main page has a preview here. Meanwhile, if you missed it, DC also has a reprint of the over-sized, $6 Action Comics #900 coming out this week.

DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern: Willworld: This 2001 origial graphic novel was most notable for its amazing artwork, courtesy of the young and up-and-coming artist Seth Fisher, who unfortunately passed away in 2006. This is a hell of a showcase for his skills, as the story features a young Hal Jordan waking up on a strange world full of bizarre imagery. J.M. DeMatteis scripted. Like all of the DCCP reprints, its $8 for somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-pages.

Deep Sleeper: IDW is reprinting this follow-up graphic novel to The Coffin, by the creative team of Phil Hester and Mike Huddleston. It’s a 145-page, $22 hardcover.

Emma Frost Ultimate Collection, Mystique By Brian K. Vaughan Ultimate Collection: Two big books featuring characters featured in this summers X-Men: First Class film. The former is a 430-page, $35 trade featuring all 18 issues of the 2003-launched Emma Frost ongoing from writer Karl Bollers and a variety of artists. The latter is a 310-page, $25 trade collecting the first 13 issues of the Vaughan-written 2003 Mystique monthly.

Green Lantern #66, Green Lantern Corps #60 and Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #10: You know how DC plans to publish only one single comic book the week of August 31, Flashpoint #5? Can they really pull that off? Because that would demonstrate an extraordinary amount of control of what they publish and when, and if they can do that, why on Earth would they publish issues of all three titles participating in the “War of the Green Lanterns” crossover story on the exact same day? That seems kind of insane, doesn’t it? There’s a whole lot of Green Lantern material out this week besides those three issues, too. There’s the aforementioned DCCP reprint of Green Lantern: Willworld, the 180-page, $23 trade collection Green Lantern Corps: Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns and the 130-page, $13 trade collection Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Emerald Knight has six stories in it, two of which feature Hal Jordan and the GLC.

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…and for a second, all was right with the world:

(Inspired by last week’s episode “The Bubble,” and first posted at Phil Noto’s Tumblr Your Nice New Outfit.)

More tomorrow?

Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston is suggesting that one of DC’s post-Flashpoint series will be titled Justice League Dark – and that it’ll just be one of multiple titles to be retitled with Dark somewhere in the new name. Ignoring, for a second, the “Wait, didn’t Marvel do that back in 2009?” thing (Because the answer is “Yes”), this rumor made me wonder something that sounds ridiculous, but not exactly impossible, for DC’s much-anticipated September relaunch for the DCU line.

What if the DC Universe doesn’t get re-established at the end of Flashpoint?

We’ve all assumed that it would, and have all been thinking that everything we’ve seen in Flashpoint is an alternate timeline story that will have some kind of effect on the regular DCU afterwards. But what if that effect is that the DCU can’t be restored, as such, and that we’re stuck in the Flashpoint world, or some other, midway point between the regular DCU and Flashpoint DCU, for good – or, at least, for longer than expected?

There are many, many reasons why this wouldn’t make sense (It completely ruins Grant Morrison’s larger Batman plans, it makes the groundwork for Aquaman, Firestorm, Hawkman and Swamp Thing from Brightest Day, and the JLI from Generation Lost, entirely worthless), but it would be the kind of resolution that would genuinely surprise – and anger – fans, and potentially give Flashpoint the “Today, Everything Changes” gravity that the series has been promising since the hype really started up.

Plus, we know that DC loves to follow up event crossovers with long-running “aftermath” books: Infinite Crisis begat 52, and Blackest Night begat Brightest Day. What better long-term story hook is there than having your characters know that their reality is wrong, and have to work to restore everything to the way it’s supposed to be? Admittedly, that’s what we all think Flashpoint is going to be about, one issue in, but we could be wrong about that (What if Flashpoint is actually all about getting an alternate Justice League – a Justice League Dark, if you will – together? We know that Project: Superman will introduce Kal-El, after all – What if he’s the key to bringing the team together, a la The Nail?).

I’m not convinced this is anything that DC would seriously consider, if only because it feels like it kills the licensing/merchandising of popular versions of characters for as long as the story runs. But it does make me wonder whether Flashpoint‘s speed – five issues in four months – is less of a quick self-contained event, and more just the launching point of something much, much more long-term.

Hmm. Now this is interesting timing. Just a little over a week after news breaks that Ron Perazza has decided not to move to LA to head up DC Comics’ digital division, we find out that Marvel Comics is losing its Executive Vice President of Global Digital, Ira Rubenstein. Rubenstein, the man behind Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited and partnerships with Starbucks, Netflix, iTunes and other big name companies, is leaving the House of Ideas to return to 20th Century Fox as its EVP of Digital Marketing, leaving Marvel looking for someone new to head up their digital division at the same time as Perazza finds himself looking for a new gig in New York. It’s either a “curious coincidence” as ICv2 puts it, or a sign that the fates really, really want Marvel to pick up the phone and call Perazza – if, of course, they haven’t already.

LA-based publisher Archaia has made their name with high quality hardcover graphic novels like the multiple-Eisner-nominee Return of the Dapper Men, so getting into actual book books seems like a pretty natural move. And that’s exactly what they’re doing with Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes, the publisher’s first “illustrated prose novel.” It’s scheduled for release on July 25, less than two weeks before the similarly preposition-heavy Rise of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters. Andrew E.C. Gaska is writing the book — which takes place “between the scenes” of the 1968 original — and is joined by illustrators including Joe Jusko and Mark Texeira. The (awesome) cover is by certified legend Jim Steranko.

Following this news, Archaia announced that they’re partnering with Publishers Group West, a distribution company that already counts Jeff Smith’s Cartoon Books (and dozens of others) among their clients. BOOM! Studios launched an ongoing Planet of the Apes comic book series last month, serving as a prequel to the original film.

Full cover and accompanying Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes press release after the jump.

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Yep, this is totally a trailer for a romantic comedy called Green With Envy starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams, and certainly not some other thing that is actually really awesome.

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I’m becoming slowly convinced that Tom Brevoort tries to put at least one WTF moment into every “Talk To The Hat” column he does over at CBR. This week, it’s this:

[M]ake no mistake, one of the fundamental appeals of comics, and Marvel comics in particular, is the fact that they’re dangerous. They’re edgy. There’s an aura of the illicit to what we do that’s extremely attractive to our audience, and a necessary part of our appeal. Marvel Comics have always been dangerous and on the far edge of popular culture — those Frank Miller “Daredevil” and “Wolverine” comics, for example, while they might seem a bit quaint by today’s standards, pushed the envelope when they first came out. We try not to do violence simply for the sake of violence and sexual material simply for the sake of sexual material, but in that same spirit, we’re likely going to be more permissive than some.

I can buy that Marvel Comics – and comics in general – have always been on the far edge of popular culture, but “Marvel Comics have always been dangerous”? Has Marvel actually been dangerous to anyone since, like, the drug issues of Amazing Spider-Man all the way back? These days, we’re more likely to get the publisher trying not to offend the British Royal Family or editing Captain America reprints so as to not upset Tea Partiers, neither of which suggest any kind of danger whatsoever. Putting comically large “Parental Advisory” labels on books or replacing a superhero aren’t dangerous at all – controversial, potentially, if Marvel are lucky – but I wonder if Brevoort is being entirely genuine with his idea that Marvel is actually doing anything “illicit” in its books these days… and, if he does, whether that means he’s fallen for all the hype himself.

Because, let’s face it, “United No More” isn’t that catchy.

What’s this? And why here? Keep watching Blog@ this week . . .

Anyone with high hopes that another network would swoop in and save the new Wonder Woman television show might be sorely disappointed after hearing what Warner Bros. TV CEO Peter Roth has to say.

The announcement was made two week ago that NBC’s Wonder Woman pilot was not getting picked up. After the fact, Roth spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, not just about that particular pilot, but about their entire slate of television this year. The company has twelve new shows being produced for the new season.

When it came to the most talked about pilot they were shopping around, Roth said he thought Wonder Woman was a very “well crafted” pilot. “But after seeing the announcement of the NBC schedule, I now understand and agree with [NBC Entertainment Chairman] Bob [Greenblatt] that it doesn’t necessarily fit particularly well with their schedule,” said Roth, “As well crafted and contemporized as it was, it was a big and radical shift for viewers to embrace this new idea — and that may, to some degree, have had to do with why it didn’t make it.”

When asked if Wonder Woman would be seen in another form, on another network besides NBC, Roth answered, “To be determined. I’m just not sure yet; we haven’t given it a lot of thought.”

Haven’t given a lot of thought to one of the most talked about new shows you were developing? We did just get a picture of Wonder Woman star Adrianne Palicki in a more “classic” version of the costume which means it was actually incorportated into the show or they had tried several options before going with the pants version. Though with twelve shows actually being placed on networks this year, they could just be too busy right now to look at something that didn’t make the cut.

While talking about some of Warner Bros. comedic fare, Roth said, “As somebody who has been around as long as I have, I’ve seen so many patterns, cycles and everyone thinking that they have the next great solution. I have a very simple philosophy: put on great, compelling, worthwhile television, no matter what the genre.”