Comic Books of the Week (5/11/11) part 2

Part two of this week's big haul - team titles:

Birds of Prey #12 - Gail Simone starts us off on a new two-parter with Huntress off trying to get a new recruit for the team and the rest of the gals (and Hawk) infilitrating a mysterious business. Things go from bad to worst when the true power behind it is revealed - an old favorite from over in Secret Six. Jesus Saiz is the new artist on the book. I like his work a lot. I think if colorist Nei Ruffino had kicked up the color palletes just a tad it would have looked even better. Overall, solid issue.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #28 - sadly, the final issue of this series. I really enjoyed what Tony Bedard was trying to do each month. The cast had a nice mix of characters not being utilized elsewhere plus some great new ones. The book's run was heavy on battling Starro but it was an epic tale with some great high points. This issue wraps things up nicely as eighteen pages will allow. I would have liked to see Lobo and Smite take down Starro. Ah well. I do believe these characters and team will surface again. It is just a matter of time.

Comic Books of the Week (4/13/11) part 2

Continuing this week's book review:

Batman: the Brave and the Bold #6 - the Caped Crusader teaches the Martian Manhunter a little bit about detective work. This was a simple but fun story by Sholly Fisch. The art by Rick Burchett and Dan Davis was clear and concise. I enjoyed the lesson it had for young readers: that it is good for friends to assist each other with things they wish to learn to do better. My only negative point - the cover spoils the big story reveal of the villain.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #27 - with cancellation on the horizon and coming fast, Tony Bedard had to really speed up this arc some. Thus, this issue is a lot of fighting between the heroes and Starro's forces. I enjoyed the exchanges between Lobo and Smite. The art by Claude St. Aubin and Scott Hanna was very tight. They packed a lot of panels into the pages, and did it well. I'm going to miss this title when it goes.

Comic Books of the Week (3/16/11)

Adventure Comics #524 - only the second issue of the Levitz/Jimenez feature on the Legion Academy and I am 1000% sold. This is an awesome companion to the main LSH title. I love the new characters and how their stumbling upon something really big going on. This reminds me of the Levitz run on the Baxter title of the Legion back in the 80's - great cast, many subplots, lots of action. And the artwork is sheer prefection - Phil was a perfect choice for this series as his style is perfect for the 31st Century team.

Brightest Day #22 (of 24) - Firestorm vs. the Anti-Monitor? Oh yeah! Nice issue. I would so buy a Firestorm monthly title with Johns and company behind it. Now that this issue finally gives the hero a new direction, I so want to see him in a title soon - either his own or in JLA or something. I've been a Firestorm fan since Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom created him back in the 70's, and it finally feels like this character is back to old form now. Well done issue.

DCU Legacies #10 (of 10) - this mini ends by covering events from Identity Crisis and the beginnings of Infinite Crisis. We also see what is going on with lead narrator Paul as his story comes to an end. I must say I've been underwhelmed as a whole on this mini. Sure, the art was awesome at times but the story was kind of clunky. And now we find out why some of the continuity "gaffs" in these issues were there - maybe Paul isn't quite remembering the old facts as well as he should? I'm really glad this one is over.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #26 - with only a few more issues left before cancellation, the story kicks into overdrive - and I loved it! Lobo was in fine form, the cracks are showing in Starro's forces, and Rann is in serious trouble! I am not sure how this will get wrapped up in two more issues, but I expect it to come at a fast and furious pace. I'm going to miss this book when it is off the schedule.

Comic Books of the Week (2/9/11) part 1

Batman: the Brave and the Bold #4 - every issue since the relauch with a new number 1 has had a big name guest-star. This time out - Wonder Woman. This issue was a lot of fun with plenty of guest-stars and guest-villains. Clearly the creative team had a ball putting this one together. It was like a love-letter to the classic Silver-Age for both Batman and Wonder Woman, featuring the famous (and less famous) rogues from both their titles. I had to go to my Wonder Woman Encyclopeida to look up some of these folks - they're that obscure. A great issue and fun for both kids and the kid-at-heart (like me). It would have made a solid episode for the cartoon (which I hope returns soon - the show was a lot of fun too).

DCU Legacies #9 (of 10) - while the art was solid, I felt writer Len Wein was really stretching a bit to make this one work. It covers parts of the Final Night and Judgment Day minis from the late 90's, giving each story a huge Reader's Digest treatment. It does neither story much justice. The stuff with the pedestrian narrator and his family and friends didn't add much more to it. The back-up on the Marvel Family origins with art by Bill Sienkiewicz didn't work for me either. I'm kind of glad this one is wrapping up next month. It is probably helpful for a newcomer to the DCU, but this fan of over thirty five years was a little bored.

Justice League: Generation Lost #19 (of 24) - a nice focus issue on the Blue Beetle (Jaime) as he tries to escape from Max Lord's clutches. I liked everything about this issue - the art, the pacing, and even the homage to Countdown to Infinite Crisis of sorts. Should that final page "shocker" worry me? No, not really. I think a certain character is too good to meet a final fate at this time. Looking for a solid finish to this mini over the next couple months. The creative team needs to kick in the high octane from here on out.

REBELS #25 - round two of the battle between the space-heroes and Starro's forces continues in this one. Most of the cast gets touched upon, which is hard to do with a book like this with many players. Lobo of course gets in some of the best stuff, including the issue ending fight between he and Storm Daughter. I hear this book's sales keep dropping, so I have to wonder how many more months we'll have before the plug gets pulled. Time will tell. Enjoy it while you can, readers.

Comics of the Week (1/12/11)

Batman: the Brave and the Bold #3 - this issue Batman teams up with the Flash (which one? - we never know if it is Barry or Wally) as they end up through the Looking Glass (thanks to the Mad Hatter and Mirror Master). A fun but predictable issue. The attention to detail on the classic Lewis Carroll characters was nice though.

Birds of Prey #8 - a nice cover starts this one off (great team shot). Inside, I was more fascinated by the Penguin/Hawk subplot that the fight between the Birds and the Calculator's gang. The rhythm of the issue seemed a bit off for me - not sure why. Gail Simone usually pens decent tails but something about this BOP run so far hasn't clicked 100% of the time for me.

Booster Gold #40 - a lot of this issue recapped Booster's background, making it a good jumping on point for new readers. Since I've been a fan since his debut in the 80's, I found it all a little bit boring. And I'm not getting Rip Hunter's motivation at the end of the issue - to make Booster stand trial for his past/future "crimes". Weird.

Justice League: Generation Lost #17 - Again, this book seems like it is stuck in a muddy rut, spinning its tires. I get that the pacing needs to be there to spread it out across 24 issues but we don't seem to be making a lot of progress each issue. And just what is Max Lord's true plan? It seems to change all the time. I hope Judd Winnick knows where he is taking this as it seems off-track to me.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #24 - has it been two years already? Hmmm. I appreciate how Tony Bedard is trying to make the most of the DCU cosmic side in this book. We get Vril Dox, Blackfire, Lobo, Captain Comet, Starfire, Adam Strange, some GLs, etc. that give the whole book an interesting mix. But, we seem to be heading back to the well for another battle with Starro (the humanoid one). Really? Ho hum. I would prefer to see a new threat, not a revisit of an old one that has barely been out of the book. I also hear rumor that the title continues to have low sales. I don't know how I'd feel if it got cancelled.

Action Comics #896 - this isn't a book I normally get, but it came out a few weeks ago and leads into this week's Secret Six so I picked it up. There has been some buzz about Paul Cornell's run on the book with Luthor in the starring role. I had high hopes. Boy, was I disappointed. The dialogue was pretty weak, the pacing dull, and the cliffhanger very contrived. The art by Pete Woods didn't do much for me either. This was like reading some amateur fanfiction - some poorer quality fanfiction (I've read some good stuff over the years - any of those writers could have done better). I also had heard good things about the Jimmy Olsen back-up feature but this part didn't thrill me at all. Jimmy looked and acted like an immature brat - not at all the competent best-friend of Superman I've been a fan of for years. I guess they had to "relaunch" him too at some point, but I'm not impressed. I'd rather read his 1970's exploits. That was a competent character.

Secret Six #29 - so, after a horrible part 1, could Gail Simone pull it out with part 2? Not really. It was okay but not as good as the usual exploits this team is known for. I guess there was too much to come back from and to make it believable and in the vein of the book usual tone. This issue was a disappointment as well. And next month there is a crossover with the Doom Patrol book? Oh joy. Wake me up when all this "fill-in" stuff is over with.

Comics of the Week (5/12/10)

Adventure Comics #11 (#514) - while this issue is still a part of the "Last Stand of New Krypton" arc, it also serves as a nice connection to the new LSH series beginning next week. Here we get the final mission of Mon-El, which really is sort of another reworking of the concepts from the old Valor series from the 90's. We also get some nice interplay between Brainiac 5 and his evil ancestor.

Birds of Prey #1 - Gail Simone and Ed Benes come home again, bring on a new era of the BOP team. All the favorites are still here: Oracle, Black Canary, Lady Blackhawk and Huntress, and being thrown into the mix are (the newly resurrected) Hawk and Dove (Dawn). With Hawk's involvement, it thus justifies the "Brightest Day" banner. The creative team packs a lot into this first issue, making it a good read.

Booster Gold #32 - with Dan Jurgens off the book to work on a new Time Masters mini, the creative reigns are given to Giffen & DeMatteis. This alone concerned me. Within the first page, the book's tone has changed dramatically from the issues that come before. Sure, Booster is still time jumping for Rip Hunter but the writers go whole-hog on the bwahahaha humor. It was a startling jolt, and I am not sure how much I am digging it. I'll give them a few issues before I decide about keeping it or dropping it.

The Flash #2 - continuing the momentum of the debut issue, Barry Allen has his hands full as he faces new enemies and a bizarre murder mystery. And tying into "Brightest Day", we've got more on the recently resurrected Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness).

Justice League: Generation Lost #1 - a new mini series by Giffen and Winick reunites the old JLI gang (Booster, Fire, Ice, Captain Atom) as they attempt to figure out what the newly resurrected Max Lord is up to. And believe me, it is something really really big. The humor isn't as heavy here which I attribute to Winick's influence. This book could actually be enjoyable. I am willing to give it a few issues to get into its flow.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #16 - last issue Starfire joined the cast. This issue, we meet two new GLs for the Vega System. The cast continues to grow on this book and I worry that it will mean we won't get as much depth and spotlight on individuals. This book is on my conditional list for the time being - with the possibilty of dropping fairly soon.

Comics of the Week (4/21/10)

Blackest Night: Director's Cut - this one-shot is a nice follow up to the mini series that just rocked the DCU. It features commentary by the book's creators, giving thoughts on key moments of the eight issues. Next up is a cover gallery of all the minis, including varient covers that probably never got seen in most comic shops (I wish some of the images were bigger though - still cool). Next, a neat feature - the actual script for issue 1. This really is insightful into the creative process between writer and artists on comics. A couple pages are then devoted to the figures based on the series. Last up, very cool character designs of the various Black Lanterns and such. All in all, a good special.

Brave and the Bold #33 - it is billed as a team-up of three heroines but it really is more about the women when not in costume. And though she gets third billing behind Wonder Woman and Zatnna, it is Batgirl's story mostly. Now, I didn't really like how J. Michael Straczynski basically shoe-horned this tale into continuity prior to the Killing Joke. I don't buy his premise that Zatanna knew something would happen and that she and Wonder Woman would let it. I get the emotion the writer was going for, but it just felt like it was a story trying to cash in. Not one of my favorites of his work on the book so far.

Green Lantern #53 - with Blackest Night done, it is on to Brightest Day. So, you know the GL books have to be a big part. This was a nice sequeway issue as we start "the New Guardians" story arc. It will be interesting to see how all the Corps follow-up after the last event. I am confident in Geoff Johns' writing ability to keep me entertained.

Justice League of America #44 - Robinson and Bagley deliver another solid issue. The tone of the book is definitely refreshing, and this issue sets up a JLA/JSA team-up in the grand tradition of the classic ones. And it ties into Brightest Day as one of the twelve reborn returns to Earth in a startling way. I like the use of other guest stars like the Demon and Faust as well.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #15 - she left the JLA book last month and we see where she ended up. Starfire heads back to the Vega System. This book has picked up a lot of familiar and favorite space heroes like Adam Strange and Captain Comet in recent months. My hope is that they along with Starfire are used to the best of their abilities. I do like the scenes with Despero and, as always, it is fun to figure out just what Vril Dox might do next.

catching up on Comic Books

Hey, blog-readers! It has been awhile. My apologies. I thought I'd take a few minutes and give some summaries of titles I've been getting these past few months.

Blackest Night - issue 8 just came out this week, concluding this epic event. And, believe me, this has ended up pretty well. I loved how this whole mini pitted friends against friends, living against the dead (and in some cases newly dead), and made some uneasy allies among the various Corps. This series has brought some characters (like Mera) back into the forefront of the DCU, and those that have been brought back to life in this final issue will set a nice foundation for the coming year as well as the Brightest Day bi-weekly mini starting later this month. As for the tie-in minis, those focusing on Superman, the Titans, the Flash and the JSA were my favorites. I could have skipped the Batman and Wonder Woman ones and most of the one-shots and been fine. Also, tie in with that the regular Green Lantern title which ran a nice parallel to the main mini series quite nicely.

Flash: Rebirth - this one finally ended, with a little delay due to production, but the end result was well worth it. Barry Allen is back where he belongs, full throttle. This sets up very nicely for the first issue of his new series coming also this month.

Justice League: Cry For Justice - this mini ended with two big changes to the archers of the DCU - Red Arrow and Green Arrow. This changes are the primary focus of the Rise And Fall arcs that are running across the main Justice League title, an Arsenal mini series (yup, Roy is changing back to his old name) and on the Green Arrow title. This is some heavy stuff but a very cool new direction to take the characters.

Over on Justice League of America, James Robinson and Mark Bagley are taking the roster into a new direction. In the first few issues it started out being a Titans graduation party but the roster is settling it out a little bit. All of this is following on well from the "Cry For Justice" mini too.

I have not been so thrilled though with the direction the Justice Society of America main title has gone along with it's spin off JSA All-Stars. The creative teams are taking things off in weird directions that just doesn't do it for me.

Similary too, Teen Titans has lost a lot of its focus since the creative team changed a few months ago. Over on REBELS, I think the Starro story line dragged out a bit too long. I am hoping these books can pull it back in or they're close to the chopping block for me.

Meanwhile, both Booster Gold and Secret Six continue to shine in their own ways. These creative teams are perfect and that should help keep the books entertaining month after month. Gail Simone is also going back to a relaunch of Birds of Prey in May, so that's another I'll be adding to my pull list.

I'll give Adventure Comics some slack for being up and down. Loved the focus on Superboy Prime during Blackest Night and the Legion back up. Not so thrilled with the issues tying in to the Superman books but oh well. On the plus side, the Legion is getting its own title again in a few months with Paul Levitz as the writer. Very psyched for this!

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.