Week in Review First Batch

The To Be Read stack just keeps getting taller and taller. Here's what I read yesterday.

Outsiders 45
I plan to drop this after I find out how Roy quit the group, so Judd must know this and is feeding that part of the story out slowly. And while I know having Jeff's daughter in the group makes this a good place to put the "Jeff in prison for killing someone" plotline, I would think Black Lightning deserves more attention, even having been in the original Outsiders. Wish there'd been more of Roy and Lian -- I liked the babysitter -- but the art? Sheesh. In the panel when Lian is peeking at Roy when she's supposed to be alseep, it looks like one of his arms has melted into the chair's armrest. And the size of his arms make him look like a hulking brute.

Supergirl 14
I really like the art on the cover. The new boy toy looks like he's a stalker. I like Boomer much more in this book than in The Outsiders. But the whole crystal shards exploding from Kara's body in a two-page spread yet is just so wrong. I've read in someone's review that they had problems with Kara saying "Thinking isn't really my strong suit" (sorry, I don't recall where I read that), but I'm choosing to think she's playing at the dumb blonde bit to get what she wants. Not a good image, but not one that's worse. Is it so wrong, though, to want Kara back? Updated, but still a strong, resourceful young woman with a solid moral compass? Is that so difficult to write?

All New Atom 8
This ended up being different than I expected, and much fun. Ryan's starting to get more comfortable in his role, doing what's right no matter the risk.

Nightwing 129
Nice scene with Dick and Bruce, all touchy feely without, y'know, much feely. But the art made Dick look like a grinning idiot who's maybe 16 years old. The gym will be a good place for him to work. Maybe he'll finally end up with a solid supporting cast. One can hope.

52 40
The winner of the week. We're in the home stretch and the issues are focusing mostly on one plotline. This one had Steel and Natasha team up to bring down Luther. And yes, it was a team effort. Nat's expertise with her uncle's hammer thing did the trick and turned the advantage back to John Henry. It was so nice seeing Luther done in by his own scheme.

Welcome to Tranquility 3
I love this comic. From the peeks at the early adventures of the aging, retired heroes to the current storyline, the writing hits all the right notes. As fun as the book is, it's got a realistic, hard edge to go with its cartoonish art. I've come to really care about these characters in just 3 issues. Poor Leona. Punk one minute, trying to not disappoint her grandfather the next. I can't wait for the next issue.

Lone Ranger 4
Finally. Silver gets his name. The plot to eliminate all the Texas Rangers and what they represent carries real menace. This is close to a perfect, gritty comic.