Countdown to Reviews

Okay, that's my lame attempt at a snappy subject line. On to the reviews.

Countdown to Final Crisis 17
Things are really heating up now. Mary Marvel showed her true self, meaning she came to her senses. Her battle with Eclipso was nicely done. If it's possible to feel proud of a comic book character, I feel proud of her. This is what I'd hoped was the intent of giving her Black Adam's dark power. With her admitting that she just "wanted to ride the lightning one more time," she showed real growth and understanding of self. I'd say her journey is about over, but she's now got Amazons to contend with, and probably Granny Goodness and the New Gods storyline. Meanwhile, Ray Palmer has become the most selfish hero of the DCU. The former heroes of Earth 51 are being destroyed and all he can think about is saving himself and Jean. Way to go, hero. Feeling guilty after isn't enough. Jason was pretty good in the pinch and the whole Monitors thing has gotten intriguing. And a big war is about to start. Cool.

Countdown to Mystery 4
This ties in directly with Countdown's issue 17, by showing what happens to Eclipso after the battle with Mary Marvel. As much as I enjoyed this, the Dr. Fate story continues to be my favorite of the two. This Kent Nelson is one seriously fucked up character and I love the current version of Inza. I hope she isn't really uh, whatever it is that happened to her, I hope that isn't permanent.

Supergirl 25
Probably the fastest I've read a comic, and certainly the fastest of the week. Did anything of note happen? The art was decent, but the story had about as much sticking power as air.

Teen Titans Year One 1
I didn't think I'd enjoy this as much as I did. The art is cute, if not what I typically enjoy and it was jarring to see Robin and Kid Flash IMing since I first read TT stories well before the personal computer age. But the cartoonish art is very expressive if exaggerated and the book is very kid-friendly. This was fun, with a bit of mystery re: the odd behavior of the adult heroes.

Crossing Midnight 14
This mystical book continues to impress. Brother and sister spend most of the book hunting each other, with the last panel showing them face to face, Toshi about to kill Kai, the brother she can't recognize. I love Stone-Fist. She's a mean, tough character who develops a soft-spot for Kai, and isn't like anyone else I've encountered in comics. I'm really looking forward to next issue.

Jack of Fables 18
Another book that's a joy to read. A town of zombies raises this issue up a notch as Jack and his motley crew go after treasure and run into some obstacles. Jack is such a likable cad, and each of the other characters is loopier than the next one. An odd, fun book.

Brave and Bold 9
Packed with characters, from Blackhawk to Metal Men, from Hawkman to Atom, from Challengers of the Unknown to the Boy Commandos. The Blackhawk/Boy Commandos section was the least interesting to me, but Hawkman and the new Atom were fun together and the Metal Men are always entertaining. The book of destiny remains the recurring thread holding this title together. This is a decent revival of an old title I loved way back when and I like the spin on it with the underlying plot that's driving the individual stories.