Sunday, June 15, 2008

More Quickies

It's tough. I can either write long reviews and not read as many comics. Or write short reviews and have time to read more. I chose reading. Here's what I read last night, after the baseball game hubby and I were supposed to go to was rained out.

Green Lantern 31
I'm really enjoying the Secret Origin storyline. Johns is filling in Hal's origin with lots of neat bits, including his training at Oa, and the art by Reis and Albert is lovely.

Huntress 3-4
The theme of Madison, Richards, and Thibert is filling in Huntress' origin via this 6-part series, and it's been wonderful. I've never been a fan of mobsters and mob-related stories (never watched The Sopranos), but this has been great, really showing Helena's frustrations and anger and how she found empowerment. Her first attempt at a costume brought to mind Catwoman's current suit. When this is done, Ivory Madison needs more writing assignments at DC.

Rann-Thanagar Holy War 2
This is far more entertaining than the last Rann-Thanagar War which went on far too long. We've got Comet and the Weird, along with Kory and Buddy, as well as Adam Strange and Hawkman, making for an interesting cast. Kory, Buddy, and Adam continue to be an entertaining trio. And the art by Lim and Hunter is stunningly detailed.

Booster Gold 10
Aw, it had to be. I knew it, but yet, I'd dared hope.... but Michael really needs to face reality. I can't remember when any comic has used time paradoxes as well as this book.

Wonder Woman 21
I guess it's probably just me, but I've been somewhat disappointed by Gail's run so far. It's better than what came before, especially Jodi Picoult's brief run, but after a boffo opening arc, the current story is falling oddly flat for me. Diana is off in another realm or some such, there's some intrigue back at the Dept. of Metahuman Affairs, and I don't really care. And I should. Much as I love Gail's writing, I'm starting to think she does better with quirky characters. Welcome to Tranquility was populated by quirky folks. Birds of Prey had plenty of characters who while not completely odd, had enough quirks to make for nice banter and interesting plot side threads. And of course, there was the supremely quirky band of criminals in The Secret Six. She even gave the new Atom a sufficiently quirky supporting cast that let her showcase her strengths. But Wonder Woman is reading like just another comic, something I never thought I'd say a year ago when I was anticipating Gail bringing Diana back to greatness.

Titans 3
Yet another Titans not acting like themselves storyline, but it was quickly noted, not dragged out for a couple of issues, so that was good. I'm thinking Donna's revised costume, with the red stars, was done to make things easier on the artist, but I miss the starfield. The art is mostly nice, but everyone looks too tall and lanky. And what's with Gar's pointy ears? He channeling Mr. Spock now? A decent read, and it helps me get in my Roy fix.

Simon Dark 9
I'm loving this book. Simon is a wonderful character and we see that the dark side of Gotham is very dark, indeed. Some grim scenes in this book, but the art by Hampton keeps it horrific without being gory.

Green Arrow and Black Canary 9
Probably the book Winick was meant to write. Aside from his love of twist issue endings, and this one was less out of the blue than usual, he's got the story moving along at a brisk pace and the banter comes nearly non-stop. There's good character interaction and despite the banter, the seriousness of the situation is never forgotten. Norton and Faucher did a nice job on the art, but I want Chiang back on interiors. His cover rocked.

Final Crisis 1 of 7
Awesome cover by Jones. That's got some serious GL mojo going for it. And it's nice to see what he can do with interior art. There's a lot of bits and characters thrown into this first chapter and it all hasn't quite gelled yet, but I'm willing to give this its full 7 issues, because the bits were entertaining on their own.

10 comments:

  1. You would think that we've all seen enough of Hal's origin by now, but Ivan Reis and Geoff Johns just keep bringing more and more goodies to the plate. And, incidentally, filling us in on some of those little details left over from the Sinestro Corps War, as well as some subtle foreshadowing for Blackets Night.

    I've been enjoying Huntress, it is a little different from the usual super fare, but nicely done.

    They brought back the Weird in Rann/Thanagar War! I have that mini-series, and it was...ummm...weird.

    Booster Gold has been nothing but spectacular. It also made me tear up something awful.

    I can't quite figure out if Judd Winick wants to have a lighthearted romp in Green Arrow/Black Canary, or a grim and gritty murder mystery. There are some rather nice moments of levity, which usually, I'd be all for, but then we are reminded that Connor is in a COMA for heaven's sake,and perhaps they should stop all the guffawing, and get on with it! The perpetual back and forth, is starting to annoy me.

    I liked Final Crises. It had Green Lanterns in it.

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  2. You're right, Sally. The GL Origin storyline is tying in bits from Sinestro Corps War and what's upcoming. It's a nifty bit of plotting/writing.

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  3. You have put into words my feelings regarding WW and the series-- maybe because I'm not a giant size WW fan--I guess it hasn't capsulated Gail's humor due to the nature of WW---

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  4. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's been disappointed with Gail's WW. I'm a fan of both WW and Gail, but WW isn't one of my big faves. For female characters, I prefer the original Supergirl, Black Canary, Manhunter, well, heck, anyone in BoP pretty much. And Gail's one of the best comics writers out there. But WW is not her best work.

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  5. Hey Shelly and crew. I am new to your blog but found it very interesting and enjoyed reading your quick reviews and your insight.

    And, since I am a newb...I think I will respond to your first paragraph by voting for more short reviews...you say a lot in each short review. Don't they say Brevity is the soul of wit?

    Anyway, I am now going to have to go check out the Green Lantern that I have been missing. I dropped it at about 15 and it sounds like I am missing a bunch of new and interesting material.

    However, I disagree with your take on Final (but probably not final) Crisis. Great cover art, but it felt messy again. But I am a Marvel boy by history so I might have been missing some of the tones in the first issue. But I have to say I have been burned by one too many mini/maxi series from DC lately.

    Those are my thoughts...thanks for your writing, I added your blog in my rss feeds and can't wait to read more.

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  6. Hi, Jon, Thanks for your comments. I think I'll be doing mostly brief reviews from now on and do something a bit longer as they come to me. The Wonder Woman one went on a bit longer than I'd intended, for ex, because I had a lot to say. :)

    As for Final Crisis, it wasn't the boffo start 52 had, but I'm a easy to entertain reader and it takes a lot to annoy me. So, we'll see. ;)

    Thanks for adding me to your blog reading. Comment again. Comment often! :)

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  7. Hey again Shelly. I'm glad to hear that you are difficult to annoy. That means I will be able to stick around without being an irritant! lol

    Since I grew up on Marvel I think the DC uni. is much more difficult for me to accept since the history isn't there for me.

    Do you ever read Marvel?

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  8. Hi, Jon, I grew up on DC so it's easy for me. :)

    I'm not reading any Marvel universe titles now, but I was a big fan of Howard the Duck. I also read Killraven and Man-Thing way back when, and Wolverine when he was out of costume. I really loved the book then, but after he went back in costume, the book started to annoy me and I dropped it. Every so often, something like the White Tiger mini grabs me and I'll read it, but nothing right now.

    And yes, I'm difficult to annoy. ;)

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  9. Anonymous3:03 AM EDT

    I'm bummed that Winick is being taken off GA/BC. I love the humor in that book. I hope it doesn't turn into angsty Grell-era type stuff with the new creative team.

    I am dissapointed Roy hasn't been in the book lately though. He sould be there helping track Connor down.

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  10. I hadn't heard about Winick leaving GA/BC. Damn. As for Roy, I'm just assuming he's been busy with the JLA and leave it at that.

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