Friday, October 9, 2009

Comics of the Week (10/7/09)

Batman: the Brave and the Bold #9 - it's a team-up between the bat and the cat, men that is. It was a fun story and a chance to see other Gotham villains in this new animated style. The story certainly has to take place prior to the Catman appearance in the cartoon (when Batman and Bathound took out Catman and his jungle cat). Still, a good introduction to the character for kids.

Justice League: Cry For Justice #4 (of 7) - another solid issue from the creative team. Again, I am loving Robinson's text pieces that focus on certain characters and what they mean to him, why he uses them, etc. I like that look into the creative process a lot and it helps me better look at my own writing too. I look forward to Robinson taking over writing on the main JLA book next month.

R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual #1 - multiple creators take this issue to give us a look into the origins and minions of Starro the Conqueror. This series is showing us that everything we knew about Starro before 2009 was just the surface. I was a bit disappointed to see what happened when STC meet Despero - but this series seems to be doing quite a bit of wholesale slaughter in the DC cosmos.

Strange Adventures #8 (of 8) - hmmm, this one hit the end way too abruptly and there seems like a lot more story left to go. Of course Starlin left it with some unresolved plot threads - all the better to get another mini out of the deal. We'll see what happens on that front. In hindsight, I probably could have skipped this one and not have felt like I missed much. Ah well - you buys your ticket and takes your chances.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Comics of the Week (9/30/09)

Blackest Night: Titans #2 (of 3) - once again, another solid entension to the big blockbuster event in the DCU. The creative team of Krul, Benes and Williams should be doing a regular Titans book - they're that good and really get the characters. I think one of the smartest thing DC could do was have these focusing minis for different franchises (Batman, Superman and Titans now - Flash, Wonder Woman and JSA coming in December) while allowing the main mini to tell the core story. Each can be enjoyed on their own but together they make a greater epic piece of fiction.

Green Lantern #46 - as the cover proclaims, the uneasy alliance is formed with Hal, Sinestro and Star Sapphire. They start to learn that the Black Lantern threat really means they'll have to put aside their differences if they hope to survive.

Justice League of America 80-Page Giant #1 - DC returns a classic concept of sorts (okay, it was 70 pages of actual story - 71 with the cover) but still. For $5.99 we got a multipart tale of the JLA thrown back into time in pairs (ala Gardner Fox days) with each sub-chapter written and drawn by different teams. For the most part, the story was pretty standard with some high points and the art was certainly acceptable. With things like this, you sometimes can get some sub-par pieces. All in all, it was enjoyable for a one-shot.

Justice Society of America #31 - again, this creative team is picking up and starting to grow on me. There is a clash between approaches which I think will lead this team into splintering into two factions again. The characters seem a bit more in character now, unlike Willmingham's first issue of this arc. It has earned a temporary stay from the dropping-axe.

Teen Titans #75 - a new creative team has come on and I wasn't impressed. Beast Boy shows up and takes charge - which seemed totally out of left field. And some of his reactions seemed off - he was totally all over the place in his personality. I wasn't impressed. The Ravager back-up also seems to be stuck in the mire - I found myself getting both bored and lost. Maybe this title will be getting the axe soon from my pull-list. There are some Blackest Night crossovers coming so I'll hold off on dropping it through that - just to see if the new creative team can step up their game.