Stuff I Bought
Another Wednesday, come and gone, and more new books to con and pore over. Or is that pour? I need an editor! I think it's pore.
Anyhoo.
This was the last issue of Birds of Prey, and in my humble opinion, it went out with an audible thud. The Calculator has managed to gain Kilg%re-like powers, and is busy trashing their hideout in Platinum Flats. They manage to escape, with Zinda in the plane and the rest of them in a...car? A CAR? Then they blow up their nice new headquarters, and the various Birds all fight, while Barbara sits in the car and mopes. Then she writes them a note, which she leaves with Infinity, and somehow manages to wheel herself away, before they all come stumbling back, more or less victorious.
And that's that. Who is going to pay for Zinda's bar bill NOW? Don't they at least get severance pay or something? They've just lost their home, their possesions and their paycheck, not to mention all those wonderful toys,while Oracle goes off to indulge in a little self-loathing and pity.
Blah.
Black Lightning continues to be interesting, although I could have done without Talia. We get more information about the Hundred, and Jefferson's family decides that it has had enough.
The storyline in the Brave & the Bold concludes with something of a bang. Ollie manages to redeem himself from his klutzishness, and a possessed Hal and the Phantom Stranger beat feet back to earth. Toba Khedoori, the main bad guy has been going around looking for those without sin, and not finding anyone, so he destroys their worlds. Cora, the little girl is the first one that he's found to be innocent, which drives him nuts. There's a lot of metaphysical stuff going on, and the Phantom Stranger gets to pontificate, but the art is pretty, and the bad guys get their comeuppance, and so I liked it. It could have used more butt shots of Hal, though.
The Justice League of America had the League vs the Shadow Thief, and those people from Milestone, and ended up with all of them fighting their own shadows. They manage to do pretty well, although Roy and Kendra are busy sniping at each other the whole time. Then somehow the shadow of the moon is going to collide with the Earth or something, and Superman manages to fix it, more or less by himself. It was...ok.
I broke down and bought Outsiders #15, mainly because I've been enjoying Peter Tomasi's work on other titles,and it was...GOOD! I was quite surprised. I still think that Geo-Force is dull, but I like Metamorpho, and the new character Owl Man is a hoot! So, I think I'll give this a chance.
Last issue of Tangent: Superman's Reign ends of course, with the big battle, and lots and lots of fighting, and stuff. Even the normal bad guys help out. Evil Superman gets his, and they all manage to get back to their respective dimensions, and a good time is had by all. Nothing mind-blowing, just good old-fashioned comic book stuff, and I enjoyed it. Besides, it had pretty Green Lanterns in it.
Trinity is starting to pick up, and the three "gods" are finally getting it through their thick skulls exactly who they are, and what needs to be done. And just in time, because in the backup story, the various denizens of Earth are getting their asses handed to them. And who should show up? Martian Manhunter! Woohoo!
They were out of the Neil Gaiman Batman book at my store last week, so I managed to get a hold of it THIS week, and goshdarn it, it was awfully good. I can hardly wait to see the conclusion.
8 Comments:
Owl man is a hoot? How did you manage to get away with that one?
You did that on purpose -- DIDN'T you, Sally? ;-)
Oh, you're right -- it's PORE.
That's a shame about Birds of Prey. It deserved better. :-( I still say Zinda and Hal need to get together -- especially since it's due primarily to Parallax and Zero Hour that Zinda is trapped in Hal's time in the first place. But, geez, that also seems like a very DANGEROUS pairing!
I can't believe I actually enjoyed The Outsiders - I've pretty much hated it from the beginning thanks to Judd Winick and Frank Wossname's poor writing skills and Chuck Dixon's lack of enthusiasm for what he was doing. I honestly only picked it up because it had Tomasi's name on it, and now I think I'm actually going to be following it regularly.
Birds of Prey was just a mess. I only got it 'cause I'm interested in this whole "Battle for the Cowl" thing that's coming up and wanted to know where Oracle was starting out from. Frankly, it felt like a fill-in issue, not a final issue, and even a non-fan like me could tell that Babs bugging out on Misfit like that and then whining about her situation was out of character. What a shame.
He IS a hoot. A hoot and a HALF!
Heh
I thought it was pore. I'm just a bit gunshy about spelling and punctuation and APOSTROPHES lately.
It's true, that Zinda and Hal would be an interesting pairing. You do realize however, that she could probably drink him under the table, throw him over her shoulder and have her way with him. While I think that Guy would LOVE that, I'm not sure if Hal's tender little ego could stand up to that sort of treatment. But wouldn't it be fun to find out!
Will, I was quite startled to actually like the Outsiders. Having Alfred around didn't hurt, because he's my favorite Bat character, but I am beginning to realize that Mr. Tomasi is one heck of a writer.
And yeah, Birds of Prey really just fizzled.
I'm so disappointed in Birds of Prey. And in Oracle! She's questioning herself over things as recent as her run-in with the Joker and with Calculator, of all people? Didn't she just recently (right after Dead of Winter?) make a host of promises to the team about being more open with them and treating them better, blah blah?
That was terrible, Babs. And leaving Charlie with Helena (without even consulting with Helena properly first, it seems) is just terrible.
I've been completely indifferent about Batman R.I.P and this building Battle for the Cowl stuff, but it annoys me a little that some perfectly good titles have to be completely destroyed because of their connection to Batman (aka the Center of the Universe). It's natural for anyone connected to him to feel the ripples, of course, but does everything have to come crashing down completely?
Barbara just hasn't been herself lately. Gail Simone did such a lovely job, and her last issue, really could have been the best ending. I'm glad that we had the Birds for a few more issues, but it just hasn't been the same. Of course I suppose I could say that about EVERY book that Gail used to write.
Granted, the BoP ending was weak--but it was still better than the Nightwing series ending. (Yeah, that's some faint praise.)
What...exactly are you trying to say here?
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