Friday, December 05, 2008

Review Grab Bag

One thing about feeling like crap: I'm reading comics. Here's the latest batch of reviews.

Rann-Thanagar Holy War 7
This odd title continues to entertain me, mostly because of the cast: Hawkman, Adam Strange, Starfire, Animal Man, Comet, and the Weird. I have to admit I really like the Weird. And what makes this title hold my interest more than previous Rann-Thanagar mini-series is that it isn't as limited. There are more characters, more evil entities, and more varied action.

Vixen 3
Lovely art enhances this extended story of Mari finding herself back in her homeland. And the appearance of the JLA trying to find her and running into trouble keeps the story bubbling on two fronts. I'm really enjoying this.

Terra 3
So, Terra (spoiler alert!) isn't from Earth's surface. Her origin is intriguing, but I'm not sure how her underground home and people will fit in with the rest of the DCU. I hope this is incorporated into the other books, so it's not just a one-shot deal. Amanda Conner's art is, as usual, wonderful.

Kingdom Come Special The Kingdom
Somehow, I missed picking this up last week. It's wonderful. The truth behind Gog becomes known, the various characters who have been "helped" by Gog find the thorn in the rose, and Grant's inner idiot makes itself known.

Justice Society of America 21
If the Kingdom Special warned about being careful what you wish for, this issue shows that what Gog bestowed can be taken away in an act of god-like petulance. If he's no longer sane, can Starman still complete his true mission? How does Grant deal with his face reverted to its former destruction? And what of the homeless Superman? This tale has been epic in scope and I can't wait for the conclusion.

Trinity 27
Still entertaining.

Superman Supergirl Maelstrom 3
Not good enough for me to rave about it, but not bad enough for me to drop. Superman's plan for Kara to learn to rely on her own abilities, not the super ones, has backfired. There's nothing really special here, and I really could do without Maelstrom, but the story seems to not suck the way I'd thought from the first issue, so I'm still reading. Noto's art is nice.

Final Crisis Resist
Snapper Carr and Cheetah, oh my. And Rucka is the only person who should be allowed to write Checkmate. Sasha's storyline is so sad. A solid peripheral title to the Final Crisis event.

Final Crisis Rage of the Red Lanterns
This perfectly sets up the storyline that will take over the Green Lantern books soon. Solid writing and art.

Final Crisis Submit
Featuring Black Lightning in a solid, powerful story that shows a pocket of survivors not affected by the anti-life equation but who do have trust issues. The horror of Darkseid's power made believable.

Wonder Woman 26
A solid issue, the best since Gail's first story arc. With the wonderful Lopresti back on art chores, the danger and intrigue is ratcheted up, with Tom is deep doo-doo with Steel seemingly not himself, and Diana meets her match.

Jack of Fables 28
The big war between Bookburner and Revise with the fables caught in the middle is about to begin, and Babe the Blue Ox has nothing. Solid entertainment, laughs and thrills. And laughs. Did I mention laughs?

Criminal 7
The last installment of "Bad Night." Now, I expect things to not end well in this book. It is noir, after all, but much as I suspected our protag was a bit off his rocker, I didn't really see the extent of it. Brubaker and Phillips create noir magic with this book and the wraparound cover by Phillips is lovely.

1 comment:

  1. If there is an upside to being sick, I suppose that being able to catch up on your comics is it.
    All good stuff of course, although I have to admi that I dropped the Rann/Thanagar mini a while back due to lack of interest. Vixen and Terra on the other hand, have been surprisingly good.

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