Friday, January 2, 2009

Comics of the Week (1/2/09) part 1

The first comic reviews for 2009, and so far I have to say it is starting off as a good year. Here's the first batch for the week:

Final Crisis: Secret Files - wow, an issue related to this mini series directly that actually makes sense! Of course, it should since it was written by Len Wein. This special tells the origin/story of Libra, the classic JLA villain whose original debut was written by Wein himself back in the 70's. The rest of the issue is filled out with two text pieces and then some more sketchbook pages - the later really doesn't offer a lot. Still, a good issue.

Trinity #31 - things are picking up again in this weekly, which is nice. Lots of action, lots of characters, lots of fun. I'm hoping this is a good sign of things to come as we get into the back stretch of this series.


Teen Titans #66 - it is time to get some new members, always a fun issue theme. McKeever and Barrows again do a bang up job. They've really turned this title around nicely. I like how the book is going into a new era with a changing of leadership. Also, the revelation of Wendy and Marvin's father is a nice surprise as well (and it makes sense in a lot of ways).

2 comments:

KC Ryan said...

You know, I just read a review of that Libra issue; he liked it, as did you.
I gotta say -
What the hell?
As in, What the hell was Wonder Woman doing on the cover of this book?
What the hell are we doing, being subjected to your typical villain origin story? I mean, yeah, so your Dad's a little unbalanced, so?
WTH did I spend some money on this book? I mean, did I really need to know Libra's frickin' origin this late in the game? Does Libra actually do anything in the main series? Besides pose significantly?
Maybe I'm missing something, but this did not seem to be a comic book we needed to see...

Martin Maenza said...

KC, first - the issue I got had Libra on the cover. Your shop must have given you the alternate cover with Wonder Woman. Final Crisis stuff always comes with two covers - I tend to pick the one I like best, not the one my shop decided to pull for me.

Second, the reason for Libra's origin was due in part to tons of speculation on the message boards for months on who he was under the mask. Some said Barry Allen, some said the original Reverse Flash (opposite of Barry - balance?), etc. I think it was good to establish that this villain is who this villain is - the one and original Libra. Plus, Len told the story way better than Grant ever could. For that alone, I enjoyed the book more than any Final Crisis main mini issue to date.

Finally, what has he done? He's spearheaded all of Darkseid's actions on Earth. He got the villains to unite. He delivered the death blow to the Martian Manhunter. And, I think, he might be just key to the ending. Call it a hunch, but if it is all about balance I do not see him being able to let evil win permanently. It can't. Not for Libra. It is about balance. (I could be totally wrong here - but that just came to me after reading this issue.)