It's snowing and raining and I didn't have work today, so new comics will have to wait for tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's what I read this past week.
First off, I hated the cover design for the Faces of Evil DC books. The name of the villain superimposed over gray on black book titles made it near impossible for me to see which books I was buying. Definitely not one of DC's better design moves.
Justice League of America 29
Serviceable throwback/flashback to an earlier time to set up Starbreaker for next issue, I guess, by Len Wein. It was okay.
Brave and Bold 21
Green Arrow tries to help out back on Earth, without success, while Hal and the Phantom Stranger continue their off-Earth adventure. The realistic art by Braithwaite and Reinhold add to the creepiness of this story. Enjoyable.
Green Lantern 37
A Faces of Evil and Rage of the Red Lanterns story! The Faces of Evil connection is weak as this storyline has been underway for a few issues now and is part of the setup to Blackest Night. But it moves at a brisk pace and Hal is definitely in for some nasty times.
Action 873
I don't normally read this, but it's part of the New Krypton storyline, so I picked it up. The Faces of Evil villain featured is Luther. A solid installment in the story that's connecting the Superman and Supergirl titles.
Supergirl 37
Featuring the mysterious Superwoman. We get a few small clues about her, but not enough for me to figure anything out. I'm not reading the Superman titles, so if she's connected to them in any way, I won't catch it. She seems a bit older than most super folks and I do love her costume. Better, however, is how relevant this comic has become.
Booster Gold 16
With Enemy Ace. In the past, Booster saves the life of a man who will have an impact on his life years later. This book continues to impress.
Nightwing 152
Dick vs the ever annoying Ra's Al Ghul. Boy, does Ra's have an overinflated ego or what? Dick more than holds his own.
Birds of Prey 126
Calculator makes a good case for him to be considered more than a 2-bit villain. He might be able to best the Birds, but I wouldn't bet on it. This book is going out on top of its game.
Green Arrow and Black Canary 16
A decent story, featuring Merlyn, but the intrigue is the wacky woman who is being set up as a stalker for Ollie. hmmmm.... That could be good, but why do I have my doubts?
Final Crisis 6
I'd had some of this spoiled, but I'd pretty much known that this is when Bats gets offed, but still, a very moving issue.
Angel 16
And now, back to where it began, which is where the TV series ended, but without negating all that happened in the previous 15 issues when Hell won. A lot about sacrifice. This series has turned out to be better than I'd thought from the first confusing issues.
Simon Dark 16
It looks like Simon has a brother. I'm not sure why I like this odd little comic, but I do.
Manhunter 38
The last issue. So, instead of finishing the story started a couple of issues ago, Andreyko jumped years ahead so he could show the direction the characters are headed. Ramsey grown up and a costumed crimefighter has appeal, but now I'm wondering if this is the actual timeline or if any of Kate's future appearances elsewhere will be prior to this last storyline. Ah well, it's been a helluva ride.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Lots of Comics
Picked up comics from last week and this week. Wow, I've got quite the stackk to read. And I still have some older ones to review, too.
Jack of Fables 29
The war between Revise and Bookburner heats up. ;) I love this comic.
Final Crisis Secret Files
Totally unnecessary but fascinating story of Libra. You don't need to read it to keep up with Final Crisis, but Len Wein wrote a nice story with a narrative style that felt so '70s, I felt transported back in time. Tony Shasteen's art is very nice, too.
Even more of a throwback is Batman 684 by Denny O'Neil, with art by Guillem March. I normally don't read Batman, but I wanted to see what Denny did came up with and it featured Nightwing, so was a natural. A nice, moody piece, but given Dick's recent encounter/entanglement with Two-Face, things felt off, out of continuity with the Nightwing book that's about to end. I had mixed feelings about this.
Superman 683
A chapter in New Krypton, which is the only reason I bought it. Kata's mother has clearly lost her mind, because even grief doesn't account for her cruelty toward her daughter and I can't believe Alura was always such a bitch.
Green Lantern 36
The Red Lanterns storyline moves forward and Sinestro is in the middle of a mess. The art by Reis and Albert is wonderful. This book continues to excel, one of the best reboots I've read.
Titans 9
*yawn* So, Jericho spends most of the issue inside Dick's head retelling his life story. Wow, what a great use of all those pages, not. This couldn't take up half the space and maybe some actual story happen? Oh, and Roy and Vic get zapped by Donna in an attempt to find who Jericho is hiding in, and then the JLA shows up. Considering Roy is in the JLA as well as the Titans, which side will he take if he wakes up in time?
Trinity 33-34
Moving along nicely. Memories of the lost Earth are coming back, Donna gets in touch with her inner Amazon, and the pace of this weekly remains on track. I'm enjoying the storytelling about the lost trinity of gods, but that font is not getting any easier to read.
Jack of Fables 29
The war between Revise and Bookburner heats up. ;) I love this comic.
Final Crisis Secret Files
Totally unnecessary but fascinating story of Libra. You don't need to read it to keep up with Final Crisis, but Len Wein wrote a nice story with a narrative style that felt so '70s, I felt transported back in time. Tony Shasteen's art is very nice, too.
Even more of a throwback is Batman 684 by Denny O'Neil, with art by Guillem March. I normally don't read Batman, but I wanted to see what Denny did came up with and it featured Nightwing, so was a natural. A nice, moody piece, but given Dick's recent encounter/entanglement with Two-Face, things felt off, out of continuity with the Nightwing book that's about to end. I had mixed feelings about this.
Superman 683
A chapter in New Krypton, which is the only reason I bought it. Kata's mother has clearly lost her mind, because even grief doesn't account for her cruelty toward her daughter and I can't believe Alura was always such a bitch.
Green Lantern 36
The Red Lanterns storyline moves forward and Sinestro is in the middle of a mess. The art by Reis and Albert is wonderful. This book continues to excel, one of the best reboots I've read.
Titans 9
*yawn* So, Jericho spends most of the issue inside Dick's head retelling his life story. Wow, what a great use of all those pages, not. This couldn't take up half the space and maybe some actual story happen? Oh, and Roy and Vic get zapped by Donna in an attempt to find who Jericho is hiding in, and then the JLA shows up. Considering Roy is in the JLA as well as the Titans, which side will he take if he wakes up in time?
Trinity 33-34
Moving along nicely. Memories of the lost Earth are coming back, Donna gets in touch with her inner Amazon, and the pace of this weekly remains on track. I'm enjoying the storytelling about the lost trinity of gods, but that font is not getting any easier to read.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Stack Maintenance
Still feel like utter crap. Having a colonoscopy on Monday, during which maybe the doc can figure out what the hell is wrong. The bacteria were killed by all the damn antibiotics I had, I've taken enough probiotics to populate a dozen or so colons, and I'm still unable to eat normally.
So, I've been catching up on my reading, including comics. Got through the WildCats reboot thus far. I like Neil Googe's art, but when I first saw it flipping through this book, I was wary. No one looked right. His art was wonderful on Welcome to Tranquility because those were new characters, but I want Hadrian and Cole and everyone else to look like themselves. Actually, the women look more accurate than the men, but after the third issue, I hardly noticed and was really into it. This is one grim, bleak, dark, depressing world after the world ended place. Definitely not for someone looking for happy endings, but the gang's all here, even if Jeremy looks skinnier than ever. I could probably snap his bones without effort.
I caught up with Madame Xanadu, too. I'm enjoying the hopping forward in time and through various locales in history, and the Phantom Stranger is always a welcome sight, yet his appearances don't diminish Madame X at all, but provides her with a counterpart, someone who offers both wise advice and provides a source of frustration for her. I just wish the book was on better paper.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is next. I don't know how I got so far behind on that, because I was reading it the week I got it, but I guess when it missed on its schedule a bit, I kinda forgot about it.
I also read the Superman/Batman book with the li'l JLA, but hadn't known it was a continued story and now need to find the next issue. Just figures.
So, I've been catching up on my reading, including comics. Got through the WildCats reboot thus far. I like Neil Googe's art, but when I first saw it flipping through this book, I was wary. No one looked right. His art was wonderful on Welcome to Tranquility because those were new characters, but I want Hadrian and Cole and everyone else to look like themselves. Actually, the women look more accurate than the men, but after the third issue, I hardly noticed and was really into it. This is one grim, bleak, dark, depressing world after the world ended place. Definitely not for someone looking for happy endings, but the gang's all here, even if Jeremy looks skinnier than ever. I could probably snap his bones without effort.
I caught up with Madame Xanadu, too. I'm enjoying the hopping forward in time and through various locales in history, and the Phantom Stranger is always a welcome sight, yet his appearances don't diminish Madame X at all, but provides her with a counterpart, someone who offers both wise advice and provides a source of frustration for her. I just wish the book was on better paper.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is next. I don't know how I got so far behind on that, because I was reading it the week I got it, but I guess when it missed on its schedule a bit, I kinda forgot about it.
I also read the Superman/Batman book with the li'l JLA, but hadn't known it was a continued story and now need to find the next issue. Just figures.
Feminism Again
Over at Pretty, Fizzy Paradise, Kalinara discusses a post and commentary over on Occasional Superheroine. There are Final Crisis 6 spoilers, just so you know.
Here's my comment on Kalinara's post (with spoiler, even though I haven't read the issue yet), revised a bit to fit here:
Wow. I went and read Val's post, plus all the comments to the one you linked to, then a bit beyond. I knew I had a good reason to stop reading Val's blog and this just reinforced that decision. Her analogy with the coffeeshop is a bit over the top.
I certainly don't think someone's enjoyment or lack of enjoyment of Final Crisis (which I'm enjoying but haven't gotten issue 6 yet, and I didn't mind having it spoiled -- although I hate spoilers -- because the thing with Bats was pretty much telegraphed) has anything to do with feminism or even DC Comics as a whole. (*See below for more about Batman.)
I consider myself a feminist and have since I was in college in the early-'70s, but part of that is the belief that women should have the right of choosing how to live their lives and not have that dictated to them by men. If they want to be stay-at-home wives, fine. If they want to be president, they should go for it. And if they want to read DC Comics, that's between them and their comics supplier.
* As to how I think the thing with Bats was telegraphed, the Batman RIP storyline in the Bat books pretty much dovetails it. Plus, word was out that someone major would die. Supes, we know, has some big, off-Earth adventures coming up and he already died in a major storyline, and Wonder Woman has a big storyline in the works that should run through the summer, last I read. But Batman is going to be missing from his books, for reasons not yet clear, while people compete for the cowl or some such, which means Bats/Bruce being dead or missing or simply nursing a galactic hangover somewhere is a logical candidate for the big death scene. He's one of the big 3, the DCU Trinity (and where that fits on the DCU timeline is beyond me), and he's available to be killed. Not that he won't be back someday.
Here's my comment on Kalinara's post (with spoiler, even though I haven't read the issue yet), revised a bit to fit here:
Wow. I went and read Val's post, plus all the comments to the one you linked to, then a bit beyond. I knew I had a good reason to stop reading Val's blog and this just reinforced that decision. Her analogy with the coffeeshop is a bit over the top.
I certainly don't think someone's enjoyment or lack of enjoyment of Final Crisis (which I'm enjoying but haven't gotten issue 6 yet, and I didn't mind having it spoiled -- although I hate spoilers -- because the thing with Bats was pretty much telegraphed) has anything to do with feminism or even DC Comics as a whole. (*See below for more about Batman.)
I consider myself a feminist and have since I was in college in the early-'70s, but part of that is the belief that women should have the right of choosing how to live their lives and not have that dictated to them by men. If they want to be stay-at-home wives, fine. If they want to be president, they should go for it. And if they want to read DC Comics, that's between them and their comics supplier.
* As to how I think the thing with Bats was telegraphed, the Batman RIP storyline in the Bat books pretty much dovetails it. Plus, word was out that someone major would die. Supes, we know, has some big, off-Earth adventures coming up and he already died in a major storyline, and Wonder Woman has a big storyline in the works that should run through the summer, last I read. But Batman is going to be missing from his books, for reasons not yet clear, while people compete for the cowl or some such, which means Bats/Bruce being dead or missing or simply nursing a galactic hangover somewhere is a logical candidate for the big death scene. He's one of the big 3, the DCU Trinity (and where that fits on the DCU timeline is beyond me), and he's available to be killed. Not that he won't be back someday.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Buncha Reviews
Vixen 4
The gorgeous art is still the standout part of the book, but the story is good, too, giving Mari a lot to do as she discovers the depth of her powers. And now she'll need to save some JLA members, too! Good stuff.
Trinity 31-32
Things seemed to be stalling last week, but picked up with Diana's (or rather, Dinanna) story. And "Richie" Grayson freaking out by realizations that his past isn't what he thought was fun. The backup story had some emotional punch, too. Past the midpoint, and this book is holding up fairly well, reading as an epic fantasy quest tale at times.
Superman Supergirl Maelstrom 5
A decent conclusion. The art by Noto remains my favorite part of the book, and clearly, the who Maelstrom/New Gods storyline was just an excuse to intro some good vs evil fighting into the book. It was the weakest aspect IMO, and the scenes dealing with that part exclusively were a waste for me. The Kal/Kara interactions made the mini series worth reading.
Blue Beetle 34
I love who Jaime and the armor form a real team. I'm gonna miss this book when it ends soon. Just saying.
Justice League of America 28
I'm relieved to know there really was a reason behind the stupid battling between the JLA and the other guys who are new to me. That adds a nice element of intrigue and I'm looking forward to seeing where things go.
Justice Society of America 22
A thrilling, satisfying end to the Kingdom Come/Gog storyline. I loved the mix of art styles to differentiate the different Earths. And if anyone didn't tear up at the end, I don't think I want to know you. Just saying.
Secret Six 5
Gail Simone might be settling in nicely (finally) over at Wonder Woman, but this is what she does best: quirky, crazy, outrageous. Deadshot's narration was loads of fun, and that reveal at the end came out of left field and left me with an image I'd rather not have. Next issue is gonna be fantastic, though. I just know it. And Ragdoll might win the award for best DC character family background. Truly, could anything be weirder?
The gorgeous art is still the standout part of the book, but the story is good, too, giving Mari a lot to do as she discovers the depth of her powers. And now she'll need to save some JLA members, too! Good stuff.
Trinity 31-32
Things seemed to be stalling last week, but picked up with Diana's (or rather, Dinanna) story. And "Richie" Grayson freaking out by realizations that his past isn't what he thought was fun. The backup story had some emotional punch, too. Past the midpoint, and this book is holding up fairly well, reading as an epic fantasy quest tale at times.
Superman Supergirl Maelstrom 5
A decent conclusion. The art by Noto remains my favorite part of the book, and clearly, the who Maelstrom/New Gods storyline was just an excuse to intro some good vs evil fighting into the book. It was the weakest aspect IMO, and the scenes dealing with that part exclusively were a waste for me. The Kal/Kara interactions made the mini series worth reading.
Blue Beetle 34
I love who Jaime and the armor form a real team. I'm gonna miss this book when it ends soon. Just saying.
Justice League of America 28
I'm relieved to know there really was a reason behind the stupid battling between the JLA and the other guys who are new to me. That adds a nice element of intrigue and I'm looking forward to seeing where things go.
Justice Society of America 22
A thrilling, satisfying end to the Kingdom Come/Gog storyline. I loved the mix of art styles to differentiate the different Earths. And if anyone didn't tear up at the end, I don't think I want to know you. Just saying.
Secret Six 5
Gail Simone might be settling in nicely (finally) over at Wonder Woman, but this is what she does best: quirky, crazy, outrageous. Deadshot's narration was loads of fun, and that reveal at the end came out of left field and left me with an image I'd rather not have. Next issue is gonna be fantastic, though. I just know it. And Ragdoll might win the award for best DC character family background. Truly, could anything be weirder?
Sunday, January 04, 2009
eBay Auction
I put my Lost Girls slipcovered books up for auction on eBay. In case anyone's interested.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
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