Some pretty darned good books this week

I'm not filled with ecstasy, nor mired in the pits of despair at my books this week, just pleased and generally happy. It has finally occured to me, that I don't HAVE to get the books that annoy and distress or otherwise displease me, just because I used to like them. It's hard to break that cycle sometimes, but once you DO, it can be just so...freeing. And less expensive.

I must say that I completely enjoyed the Brave & the Bold #13. Who would ever have thought of pairing up Jay Garrick with Bruce Wayne? Mark Waid did, that's who! And it WORKS! It works beautifully. It's just so odd to see Batman being respectful and even a bit in awe of another superhero, but if anybody deserves it (other than Alan Scott) it would have to be Jay...who also happens to be my very favorite Flash.

Plus it has T.O. Morrow in it, the Penguin, and Samuroids. And Chemistry! While Bats has his moments, it is essentially Jay who saves the day, and gosh darn it, this was just fun.

Justice Society #15 basically continues the big fight, but it is a beautifully drawn big fight and it has lots and lots of wonderful small moments in between the punches. Obsidian is both creepy AND effective. Lightning has the best battle cry ever..." I Want to Drive a Car!" Starman saves a poodle! Sandy shows up and does...stuff!

Justice League of America #21 is another good issue. This book falls into the category of "I love this and I wish it could be good, when will it be good?" Well, it was good again this month. Art by Carlos Pacheco certainly helped, and McDuffie was able to DO his writing thing without being hamstrung by old plotlines or editorial fiat. The Big Three got to hang out and do their thing, Hawkgirl and Roy did their thing and got spanked by no less than the Human Flame and Libra. All of this is leading into Final Crises I believe, but it was still fun. The Human Flame is a schlub, but he's a realistic schlub, and he not only sassed Lex Luthor, but he lived to tell the tale.

Birds of Prey #118 was nice. It had Nicola Scott for the art, and that automatically raises it up in my view. Tony Bedard was the writer, and he did some nice things with Misfit and Black Alice. Apparently this new bunch of thugs has moved into Roulette's territory, by staging superhero gladiator fights for the pleasure of the bored and idle rich, and call themselves Dark Side and Granny and so on. I'm not quite sure that I buy all of this, but it made for a fun issue. And now we know what happens when Misfit teleports carrying somebody...and it ain't pretty.

The plot continues to thicken in Flash, Checkmate was good, and I liked Countdown to Mystery, with Dr. Fate, although I wasn't quite sure that I was reading it in the right order, or if there really were a couple of different viewpoints jammed together. Whatever.

I broke down and got Tangent: Superman's Reign mainly because it has John Stewart in it. A little weird, but I'll stick with it for now. It also has a geeky Guy Gardner, computer wizard in it, so I HAVE to see how this all turns out.

As for Marvel, the Incredible Hercules has been a hoot from the beginning. I even got Wolverine:Origins, which wasn't too bad either.

I also finally managed to pick up Batman Confidential which I should have gotten last week, but didn't, for the magnificent Kevin Maguire art, and a fun story from Fabian Nicieza. I am DYING to see how this one all turns out.