Birds of Prey 6 ended the current story better than I was expecting, given Dinah's behavior last issue. I do trust Gail Simone, though, so I wasn't worried. The cover was nice, and Helena really owned the issue. For a character I didn't much like when she first showed up in the DCU -- I was too big a fan of the original Huntress, Helena Wayne, to warm up to Helena Bertinelli -- she has become a favorite, and that's not just Gail's doing. Helena has simply evolved over the years to the point that she's more sympathetic, is more considering of her actions while maintaining her hardass approach to crimefighting, and is a fully realized, 3-dimensional character. And it's also nice to see one young girl rescued, safe and sound, when Dinah finds Sin.
My only complaint with the issue is that the art wasn't as nice as the cover. I didn't like the long, almost gaunt faces and half the time when only headshots were visible, I couldn't tell Dinah and Zinda apart. This book deserves better art.
Batgirl 15 was total fun. The opening sequence of Steph's drawings summarizing the state of the Batverse over the years was priceless and Dustin Nguyen's pencils suit the book nicely. I loved the cover, too.
In other female superheroes of the DCU news, I officially dropped Power Girl. The fun is gone. I wanted to give Judd Winick a full shot on the book, reading through the end of the first full arc, but this is not the book I want to read. I loved how in her own book, PG was lighter than in her JSA adventures. We got to see her warm, fuzzy side, while she could be tough and badass whenever the situation called for it. But the main selling point was that the book was a joy to read, bot for the kickass, retro feel stories and the lovely art. Now, the art is nice, but the stories don't live up to the high bar the previous team set for the book. Sorry, Judd, but there are characters you should not be writing, and this is one of them. And I don't care if you were required to tie your stories into the Max Lord stuff I'm not reading elsewhere. PG's been inept and annoying lately, and that is your doing. meh
Considering my current hatred of Winick and all of his works, I am SO glad that I never got his Power Girl. I looked at it, but decided that I would just pretend it never happened, and that Gray and Palmiotti and Conner were still doing it...somewhere.
ReplyDeleteBirds of Prey was indeed nice. I was a little worried there for a bit, I'll tell you. But I agree with you about the art. It...wasn't very good. I'd LOVE to have Nicola Scott back.
So...now that JMS has dumped both Superman and Wonder Woman, who is going to take over? I would love to have Gail Simone back, but that would give her three books a month and that's probably a bit too much.
Dagnabit!
Yeah, Sally, I've already forgotten what Winick's done with PG.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've love Nicola Scott back on BoP. And even Benes would be better. I know you're not fond of his art, but at least he draws faces well.
I read that Phil Hester is taking over one of JMS's books, but I forgot which one. I'm not reading them, so I don't much care. Should WW be restored to the wonderfulness Gail left, I'll start reading it again.
Looks like Gail's got her mojo back re: Birds. Huntress' actions were classic Simone. Isn't Ardian Syaf (GL Corps) taking over the art? That should be good.
ReplyDeleteHester's taking over WW. Chris Roberson's taking over Supes. I've never read Hester's writing (enjoy his art), and I've never read any Roberson. These guys could be complete jewels for all I know, so I'm keeping my mind open.
I think I read something by Hester and it was decent, but he's taking over a storyline I don't like, and I don't want to jump in in the middle, so I'll just wait til WW is back to normal at this point, which I hope will actually happen.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Gail's doing a fine job, though aspects of the last story were not up to her high standard. But better than most writers, for sure.