Reviews

Just that. Reviews.

COWL 11
The last issue of this surprising and different superhero comic. I'll miss it. Unionized heroes set in a real-world Chicago, with an attempt at union busting coupled with a strike and other machinations to win a better contract made the fantasy of superheroes more real, somehow.

Astro City 25
A sweet coming-of-age story in this done-in-one issue, as young Amanda, gaining bird-like powers, turns a curse into something wonderful.

Hawkeye 22
The triumphant, finally!, end to Matt Fraction's run is near perfect. The only thing that makes it less than perfect, aside from the interminable wait for it, is the slightly rushed feeling despite the extra pages. I probably just wanted more. But everything comes together wonderfully in what was one long story crafted by Fraction, Aja, and Hollingsworth, with Kate's return, the rousting of the baddies, and a plot twist involving Barney that really should be no surprise.

Hawkeye 1-4
Having finally gotten to finish Fraction's Hawkeye, I was free to start reading Jeff Lemire's run. And while not as intriguing, it has a lot going for it. Artist Ramon Perez continues the style David Aja set for Hawkeye in Fraction's run, adding in more fanciful renderings of flashbacks to when Clint and Barney were kids hiding out with a circus. The present-day story seems rather minor, with Clint and Kate trying to protect three young, superpowered children they were sent to neutralize, while the flashback sequence holds the attention with the boys learning how to survive as best they can. The parallels between the two time frames don't match up as well as they should, but the book is still worth reading.

Harley Quinn 18
Team Harley goes into action! And their mission is to stop Capt. Strong, a now powerful fisherman under the influence of some powerful and addicting kelp. The usual nonsensical fun.

Black Canary 2
I'm really enjoying this. Brenden Fletcher is revealing clues at a slow yet steady pace as to what's up with Dinah and her bandmates, while Annie Wu's art is a delight. I'm especially enjoying the publicity material for the band that's included at various points in the book.

Strange Fruit 1
One of the guys at Forbidden Planet NY told me about this, and when I saw the names JG Jones and Mark Waid, I had to give it a try. It's going to be a 4-issue story, and this first chapter, set in 1927 in Mississippi, is about a racial powderkeg about to go off. The art is also nothing short of stunning. I'm hooked.