Green Lantern 48 and Blackest Night 5/8
GL was fairly routine, moving characters into place for Blackest Night. BN 5 was a bit of a shocker at the end. The whole nature of death in the DCU concept is being put to the test with Bruce's temporary animation and a setback for the heroes who've already cheated death at least once. With plenty more to come, the tension is definitely ratcheting up.
Flash Rebirth 5/6
Very nice, especially new costumes and Irey West's transformation after helping her brother, thanks to Liberty Belle. This series is really bringing home the whole Flash family feeling. Unlike the extended Bat family, these are characters who truly are a family, and many are related to each other. I can't wait for next issue. This started dully, but has become a most enjoyable read.
Supergirl 47
The character and plot complexities Gates has brought to this title have made me actually forget how awful this reboot of the Supergirl character and title was. Kara is firmly rooted in the Superman family, the insights into Kryptonian politics are well done, and Alura has become a fascinating character. The flashbacks to her courtship by Zor effectively show her personality and how she became the woman we see now. This has become one of the books I can't wait to read each month.
Streets of Gotham 6
A surprisingly sweet ending to the Man-Bat story, with a guest turn from Batman. I'm glad Kirk wasn't completely lost to Man-Bat. And finally, in the Manhunter story Kate and Dylan are reunited, sorta. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next in that story!
Wonder Woman 38
Things are not going well for Diana. I don't usually have a problem with stories that bring heroes to the very brink of destruction, taking away all they have, getting back to their essence and seeing them triumph, but this is going on a bit long, I think. I was glad to see Donna, but I'm really wondering if the Amazons will be around when this is all over. And we've got Wonder Woman Blacknest Night coming, too. Oy vey.
Detective 859
I've been loving the flashbacks to Kate's childhood and how she became Batwoman. I love her relationship with her father. In fact, he's fast becoming one of my favorite supporting characters. And Kate's first encounter with Batman was priceless. Nothing special in the Question story, just a solid installment in the current story.
Gotham City Sirens 6
I don't know why I like this as much as I do. It's silly, but Harley is so over the top loopy, I can't help it. And with Ivy and Selina to keep things grounded, well, what can I say? I'm enjoying the fluff.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Still Catching Up
And I have some more reviews.
Batman and Robin 6
This continues to entertain. I didn't like Jason Todd before the Joker killed him, and while he's been at least interesting since his return from the dead, I haven't much liked him, but he's so over the top here, that I must admit to having enjoyed the reading experience. Red Hood's ploy to unmask Dick and Damian on TV based on an audience vote was priceless, especially the woman who tells her husband, "Don't you get it? He's gonna be naked!" For that alone, the issue was worth reading, but the rest of the story was good, too. Dick and Damian make for a good team. I'm really enjoying the dynamic, even more than I did for Bruce and Dick.
Batman 692-693
Nice to see some of Gotham's supporting characters joining in the fun. Dick trying to enlist Selina's help made for fun reading, and it was good to see Helena and Babs. I'd like to see more of Babs and Dick in this. They really are a good couple, despite all the bumps (and there were some big ones) in their relationship. I'd love to see them get back together.
Gotham City Sirens 5
They don't come any loopier than Harley, and that gives this book its heart and soul. She's in control even if Selina is the bigger star of the book. And a Joker wannabe was a nice twist in the tale.
Blackest Night 4
Just stunning art by Reis and Albert and Prado inking. Mera never looked better. And I liked seeing her with so much panel time. Atom was handled well, as was Flash. Having Damage become a Black Lantern was a frightening turn of events, pushing the power levels to 100 per cent. Things have moved a bit slowly, but we're in the thick of it now.
Green Lantern 47
More battling, but the story doesn't move forward much here. The real action was apparently in Green Lantern Corps. I don't read that, so haven't picked up the Blackest Night issues, but I do know what happened there thanks to my fellow comic bloggers reviewing it and I hope those events will play out or affect the goings on in the Blackest Night books I am reading.
WildCats 15-16
Tao was always one scary villain and he's back! Even scarier and more diabolical than before. Nice byplay between Zealot and Majestros, giving Savant serious parent problems. I like the way this incarnation of the title is playing out.
Zorro 16
Good, as usual, but mostly setting up the next story arc. Yet, even what feels like filler is well done in this book.
Batman and Robin 6
This continues to entertain. I didn't like Jason Todd before the Joker killed him, and while he's been at least interesting since his return from the dead, I haven't much liked him, but he's so over the top here, that I must admit to having enjoyed the reading experience. Red Hood's ploy to unmask Dick and Damian on TV based on an audience vote was priceless, especially the woman who tells her husband, "Don't you get it? He's gonna be naked!" For that alone, the issue was worth reading, but the rest of the story was good, too. Dick and Damian make for a good team. I'm really enjoying the dynamic, even more than I did for Bruce and Dick.
Batman 692-693
Nice to see some of Gotham's supporting characters joining in the fun. Dick trying to enlist Selina's help made for fun reading, and it was good to see Helena and Babs. I'd like to see more of Babs and Dick in this. They really are a good couple, despite all the bumps (and there were some big ones) in their relationship. I'd love to see them get back together.
Gotham City Sirens 5
They don't come any loopier than Harley, and that gives this book its heart and soul. She's in control even if Selina is the bigger star of the book. And a Joker wannabe was a nice twist in the tale.
Blackest Night 4
Just stunning art by Reis and Albert and Prado inking. Mera never looked better. And I liked seeing her with so much panel time. Atom was handled well, as was Flash. Having Damage become a Black Lantern was a frightening turn of events, pushing the power levels to 100 per cent. Things have moved a bit slowly, but we're in the thick of it now.
Green Lantern 47
More battling, but the story doesn't move forward much here. The real action was apparently in Green Lantern Corps. I don't read that, so haven't picked up the Blackest Night issues, but I do know what happened there thanks to my fellow comic bloggers reviewing it and I hope those events will play out or affect the goings on in the Blackest Night books I am reading.
WildCats 15-16
Tao was always one scary villain and he's back! Even scarier and more diabolical than before. Nice byplay between Zealot and Majestros, giving Savant serious parent problems. I like the way this incarnation of the title is playing out.
Zorro 16
Good, as usual, but mostly setting up the next story arc. Yet, even what feels like filler is well done in this book.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I Might Never Catch Up
Back from vacation and trying to get through the stacks and stacks of comics. It's an uphill battle, for sure. Here's what I read so far.
JSA vs Kobra 6/6
The end, but not. I like the ambiguous ending. Kobra is still out there, still a serious threat, yet the immediate danger is past. Trautmann nailed the characters and made Jason Burr truly scary. And the art by Kramer and Babinski was topnotch throughout the 6 issues. I love the realism. I love how the women, especially Power Girl looked sexy, not sexualized. This is the JSA I love and I will miss it.
Detective 858
Intriguing look at Kate's past in the Batwoman story and a nice conclusion to Renee's Question story. The book continues to entertain.
Wonder Woman 37
I'm not sure where Gail Simone is headed with her version of WW, but I'm happy to be along for the ride. It was nice seeing Donna and Amazonian politics sure can get complicated. I missed having Lopresti's art inside. Bernard Chang is okay, but he doesn't fully capture the beauty and elegance of Diana.
Secret Six 15
It doesn't get much better than this book. Even a fill-in story is cause for celebration, especially when Ostrander gives us a look into Deadshot's past. Calafiore's art is quite nice and LuVisi's cover rocked. This is Floyd in all his un-glory.
Batgirl 4
This is shaping up to be a book about empowerment, for females and for the disabled. Stephanie is a fresh, fun Batgirl, having Babs as her mentor keeps things grounded, and the continued appearance of Wendy as she tries to deal with her disability with Babs trying to help are setting a nice tone for the book. Even most of the supporting cast -- Leslie, Steph's mom -- keep this a female-centric title. I've now officially added this to my Pull List.
Booster Gold 26
Jaime guest stars, as does an undead Ted Kord in a solid Blackest Night crossover. I'm a bit confused by the flashes to Ted's funeral, though. As I recall, Michael didn't go help Ted go after Max because he was in the hospital, so Michael blaming himself for not being there for Ted seemed a bit of an over reaction.
Titans 19
No longer on my Pull List, but it featured Roy, so I bought it. That none of the other Titans appeared was almost a plus, as they'd become rather peevish and annoying and the reason I dropped the book. Okay, so the poor writing was the real reason, but still... the poor writing made them all annoying. It was nice to see Lian and Mia, even if no real new territory was covered -- single father trying to raise his daughter without influence of her assassin mom. We've seen this before. Still, the story served as a way to perhaps gracefully remove Roy from the Titans, perhaps, and covered his move with Lian to Star City. This might be the last time I see Roy, for a while, so it was a decent last story, not the trauma or botched story I'd been fearing. I'm not sure how Roy could afford to buy a house, or even rent one, as he has no visible means of support. With a number of his Titan friends joining the JLA while he's out of the League, Roy has been marginalized -- again -- by DC. I hope he'll show up somewhere again, but with my luck, it'll just be in Green Arrow and Black Canary which I stopped reading.
Speaking of GA/BC, I glanced through the latest issue at the comics shop and saw something about Ollie not being Ollie. Seriously, people. It's one thing to do a story where someone kidnaps the hero and a double takes his place, but to repeat it later on shows a lack of imagination, IMO. Still, if it gets Ollie and Dinah back on track, that's good. And if Roy starts appearing regularly in the book, I might have to return it to my Pull List.
JSA vs Kobra 6/6
The end, but not. I like the ambiguous ending. Kobra is still out there, still a serious threat, yet the immediate danger is past. Trautmann nailed the characters and made Jason Burr truly scary. And the art by Kramer and Babinski was topnotch throughout the 6 issues. I love the realism. I love how the women, especially Power Girl looked sexy, not sexualized. This is the JSA I love and I will miss it.
Detective 858
Intriguing look at Kate's past in the Batwoman story and a nice conclusion to Renee's Question story. The book continues to entertain.
Wonder Woman 37
I'm not sure where Gail Simone is headed with her version of WW, but I'm happy to be along for the ride. It was nice seeing Donna and Amazonian politics sure can get complicated. I missed having Lopresti's art inside. Bernard Chang is okay, but he doesn't fully capture the beauty and elegance of Diana.
Secret Six 15
It doesn't get much better than this book. Even a fill-in story is cause for celebration, especially when Ostrander gives us a look into Deadshot's past. Calafiore's art is quite nice and LuVisi's cover rocked. This is Floyd in all his un-glory.
Batgirl 4
This is shaping up to be a book about empowerment, for females and for the disabled. Stephanie is a fresh, fun Batgirl, having Babs as her mentor keeps things grounded, and the continued appearance of Wendy as she tries to deal with her disability with Babs trying to help are setting a nice tone for the book. Even most of the supporting cast -- Leslie, Steph's mom -- keep this a female-centric title. I've now officially added this to my Pull List.
Booster Gold 26
Jaime guest stars, as does an undead Ted Kord in a solid Blackest Night crossover. I'm a bit confused by the flashes to Ted's funeral, though. As I recall, Michael didn't go help Ted go after Max because he was in the hospital, so Michael blaming himself for not being there for Ted seemed a bit of an over reaction.
Titans 19
No longer on my Pull List, but it featured Roy, so I bought it. That none of the other Titans appeared was almost a plus, as they'd become rather peevish and annoying and the reason I dropped the book. Okay, so the poor writing was the real reason, but still... the poor writing made them all annoying. It was nice to see Lian and Mia, even if no real new territory was covered -- single father trying to raise his daughter without influence of her assassin mom. We've seen this before. Still, the story served as a way to perhaps gracefully remove Roy from the Titans, perhaps, and covered his move with Lian to Star City. This might be the last time I see Roy, for a while, so it was a decent last story, not the trauma or botched story I'd been fearing. I'm not sure how Roy could afford to buy a house, or even rent one, as he has no visible means of support. With a number of his Titan friends joining the JLA while he's out of the League, Roy has been marginalized -- again -- by DC. I hope he'll show up somewhere again, but with my luck, it'll just be in Green Arrow and Black Canary which I stopped reading.
Speaking of GA/BC, I glanced through the latest issue at the comics shop and saw something about Ollie not being Ollie. Seriously, people. It's one thing to do a story where someone kidnaps the hero and a double takes his place, but to repeat it later on shows a lack of imagination, IMO. Still, if it gets Ollie and Dinah back on track, that's good. And if Roy starts appearing regularly in the book, I might have to return it to my Pull List.
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