Comics of the Week (1/9/08)

Teen Titans Lost Annual #1 - this was a book that was worked on a couple years back. It was supposed to be an Elseworlds book (ie. a book that isn't in normal continuity). For some reason it never got published until now. It is written by the late Bob Haney, a writer who wrote the Teen Titans adventures during the 60's. The book sports a fine cover by Nick Cardy, an artist known for drawing the group in the 60's as well. So, that was a plus. The interior art though is by Jay Stephens and Mike Allred, and it is very much more cartoony (IMHO). As for the story - well - it's very off-beat (very very off-beat). It was okay but clearly out of continuity as it is very tied to the 1960's.

Countdown to Final Crisis #16 - the war between the Monitors and Monarch's forces takes center stage, leaving Earth-51 in its wake. A few of the other subplots begin to dove-tail together as well, setting the stages nicely for the final act of the year-long weekly mini-series.

Salvation Run #3 - we're only on the third issue of seven of this mini, and already the writer shifts. Where'd Wilmingham go? I'm hoping this Matthew Sturges (someone I've not heard of before) can pull the rest of the tale off. This was a good start. As the cover shows, it's now all about the Joker and Lex Luthor vying for power on the prison world. It'll be interesting to see it play out, and see who else survives. The last few pages have a shocking reveal as another unexpected player enters the mix.


Book of the week - JLA Classified #50. Roger Stern is writing this five-part arc, the final one for the title. John Byrne is in the artist's chair. The story really clicks on all the levels. I'm loving it already. These two creative powerhouses were enough to get me to add this to my pull-list for the next couple months. My only complaint: why isn't Byrne doing the cover chores as well. Joshua Middleton's work is nice enough, as shown to the side here, but I would think Byrne could have easily given us some wonderful masterpieces as well.