Panel Discussion: Scans From Blue Beetle, Runaways, Superman/Batman and More

Every Monday, we at Geekanerd rip panels from last Wednesday's comics and post the best, the worst, and the weirdest. Those who didn't read books last week, beware of minor spoilers.

Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity - Superman/Batman #52
In case you need context, Lil' DC heroes and villians have invaded, and the JLA needs to sort it all out. But what you need to know is none of the big heroes ever really lay a hand on the Lil Legion of Doom, I mean they're just so cute, and they're kids, after all, you can't exactly beat up a kid...unless you're a crazy Bat Man, of course. And look at that white-rage expression in his eyes; Batman just sees some Joker-based entity and he goes all "Kill Bill".

On an unrelated note, Catwoman's mid-kiss expression is priceless. This book is amazing.

Awards for Best Actor, Best Coloring, and Most Misleading Cover, after the jump...


Best Actor - Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle #31

Andrew Coelho is a Blue Beetle artist from around the time the series started, and he's fantastic at wringing sharp, teenager-appropriate expressions from Jamie's armor-abstracted face. Let's examine...

Here we have embarrassed teenager eye-roll. You can really hear the "MooOMM!" intonation of his line.
With just a little lower-lid action, here's the perfect picture of an awkward superhero photo op.

One might call this expression "whedonesque"...

This moment works on the strength of the script alone; this thug just punched Jaime's mom at the hospital she works at, just as Jamie busts in. His expression in the lower panel is a really funny yet touching expression of a young kid who's so angry, he just swings out and doesn't care about having a cool, scrunched up hero face. It's like if " >: O" were a real facial expression.

Best Use of Color - Runaways #2
Last month my only gripe with the new Runaways creative team was that Christina Strain's colors were too "day-glo". But this week I had to eat my words, cause her it's her bright and neon pallete that makes this scene especially remarkable. I can't remember seeing water colored like that before in a comic, but it's instantly evokative of the way the ocean actually looks during a sunset. Great stuff.

Movie Moment - Superman/Batman #52Any fans of The Hudson Hawk out there? In that movie, there are two henchmen named Igg and Ook. And when they are eventually killed with bullets to the head, they grunt out "Igg!' and "Ook!". I rest my case.

Most Misleading Cover - Back to Brooklyn #1 (Variant Cover)How could I not get this comic? That's my subway train stop, and that girl is smokin' hot and looks like she could be a real badass hero/antihero. But you know what? She's in the comic for like two pages, and she's not attractive, tough, or heroic. She's not anything. She's like gray wallpaper, which is pretty much the color pallete of the actual book.

Now That's Comedy - Runaways #2I feel like this is really funny even out of context. Though I've been wrong before.