Wednesday Already?

And yet, the one comic I've been eager to read will be in later this week: Detective 873. Argh. Now that Dick Grayson is the Gotham City Batman, the Bat books (most of them) have become must-reads.

Ah well.

Otherwise, it was a slow week.

Aside from the nice cover on Green Arrow 8, nothing much happened. Oh sure, some friends of Ollie showed up: Mr. Terrific, Jason Blood and the now separate from him Etrigan, Doctor Mid-Nite... even Lois Lane appeared in the opening sequence. And at the end, Phantom Stranger appears. And yet, nothing happened, other than the usual misunderstandings, confusion over the forest that's growing(!), and we see a hint of some trauma behind Galahad's psychosis or whatever his problem. And while I accepted the mystical elements to the forest, I'm not happy with the book losing its realistic edge. Because Ollie has been, for a very long time, rooted in a non-mystical, non-magic realm. Magic might happen around him, or he might be involved in a mystical adventure, but for it to be the core of the book, as it seems to be now, is somewhat unsettling. Which leads me to wonder why he can't dig up Lian's body and bring her to the forest... oops, probably too late for her. What about a Lazerous Pit? Dick tried that with Bruce, but it wasn't Bruce's body, so of course it didn't work? But maybe Lian?

See, my mind is wandering. Not good if a book wants to hold my attention. Can we get back to the intrigue at Queen Industries, please?

I can get my mystical fix with Zatanna. Issue 9 was fun. Along with the next chapter with the evil puppet who isn't really evil, maybe, we got a backup flashback to Zee's teens when she got braces! Jamal Igle (inked by Robin Riggs) makes his Zatanna debut and the art is nice, though it was hard to tell at times if Zee was a teen or older in some panels. On the second page, for ex, when she's leaving the dentist's office, she looks rather old. I think coloring her hair blacker would've helped, because at times, it looks like older woman gray. On the main story, Cliff Chiang's art was appropriately creepy for the puppet. Nice cover, too.