Reviews!
And here are the books that I would have reviewed, if I hadn't been so busy bashing Batman.
Firstly, Jack of Fables #32, wherein we discover some VERY interesting things about Jack and his history. Very interesting INDEED! All of which is leading up to the Great Fables Crossover.
Did I say interesting?
Then there is Justice League of America #31. More on this in a minute.
Oracle: The Cure, #1 of Three. Well, there were some nice character moments, and the art is decent. The Calculator has become quite the character lately. I have to admit however, that as much as I liked the old Batgirl, I much prefer Barbara as Oracle, where she does a heck of a lot more good than simply leaping around rooftops as just another costumed superhero. I guess we shall have to wait and see.
But I STILL miss Birds of Prey.
Trinity #42 was good as always.
Wonder Woman #30 was FANTASTIC! Diana continues to search for Genocide, who is having an awfully good time torturing poor Etta. Steve Trevor is awesome. Diana is the MOST awesome. She makes pretty short work of tearing down Cheetahs' little conspiracy, and I have to admit that both Phobia and Dr.Faust made me laugh out loud. I continue to love T.O. Morrow. And Zeus is completely off of his rocker, which is pretty much par for the course. I am LOVING this book.
I also picked up the soft-cover of the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps which had a bunch of stories that I don't have, and is quite nice, including the whole bit with Krona and Nekkron, which I am fairly sure will come in handy shortly.
But the JLA was the one that most intrigued me this week. It has Hal in it,which is always nice, and Ollie shows up, and Dinah throws a temper tantrum.
Well...THAT seems a bit peremptory.
Oh...she did NOT just punch out her own husband in a snit? I know that Ollie can be a pain sometimes, but this seems a bit over the top.
You know something Canary? I'm not sure that I like your tone here. For one thing, Ollie isn't even IN the JLA, and Hal is only part-time. So I'm not sure that he NEEDS your permission to do anything. Secondly, surely you know by now, that "forbidding" Hal of all people to do anything is simply waving a red flag in front of a bull. And shoving Ollie around just because you're pissed seems to be an awfully juvenile way of handling your problems. How'd you like it if HE punched YOU out when he was in a bad mood? Hmmmmm?
Hal and Ollie then go on to point out that the current incarnation of the League just really hasn't accomplished all that much,and to Dinah's chagrin, they are absolutey right. So, she runs off to Oracle to cry about it. Then she's on the holodeck...oops, the KITCHEN with Roy, as he cries about being dumped by Kendra. Poor Roy, he has the WORST luck with women. He does manage to make a slightly hilarious sexual double entendre however. Then Wally turns her down too, I am assuming that he and Roy are going to be hanging out with the Titans or something.
Then Diana and Clark are sparring in the Fortress and crying about Bruce, when Canary shows up, and they tell her that they're both too busy to help out too. Man, Canary is dealing with a LOT of rejection here. She's down to the last few members, but she's doing her level best to set their backs up too. Good old John Stewart is being stalwart, when Vixen of all people starts being obnoxious. They even make a few snarky comments about the Detroit League, for Heaven's sake. Finally, Canary can't stand it for another second and announces...dramatically...that she's DISBANDING the JUSTICE LEAGUE!
You would think that I would be upset about this, but you would be wrong. For all of its problems, at least this issue was interesting for a change. The change in art may have something to do with that, I like Shane Davis a whole lot more than Benes.
I think that we should bring back the OLD Justice League. And by that, I mean the REAL Justice League! You know, the one with Guy and Booster and Fire and Ice, and Doctor Light if she wants to hang out, and John Stewart if HE wants to hang out,and get Beetle back from wherever he's lurking, or add Jaime maybe, or bring in Zinda and Huntress from Birds of Prey, or use ANY number of the wonderful wonderful second tier of characters that are out there. Just NOT the "trinity" because they have enough going on.
posted by SallyP @ 10:04 AM
14 Comments:
Magical space radiation, Black Lantern+redemption, mystical McGuffin, whatever it takes, there's only one real JLA leader and that's J'Onn.
And that's because he isn't mucking around in his own title. I don't know, I've never been sold on the big teams (JLA, Avengers, so on) being part time gigs and J'Onn lived in the Watchtower for years. Having Superman, or even Canary these days, running things is like giving a temp a department to run.
Vive la JLI!
Agreed on the Justice League. Bring in characters I actually CARE about. (Or at least write current characters not so horribly.)
Agreed about the Justice League.
I started reading JLA with issue 31 back in the day. It hurts me to see how low that wonderful group has fallen.
Yes, we need there to be a Birds of Prey again after the Oracle mini.
And Wonder Woman rocked. Best WW in ages, maybe ever.
Well, obviously Dinah isn't going to let another man run off with her husband...
I think the JLA is going through another cycle. The way I see it, the cycle goes:
1.) Big Guns (Satellite era)
2.) Crappy team (Detroit)
3.) Second-stringers + a few big guns = fun group (JLI)
4.) Then there will be a point when DC seems to be unsure of what it wants to do (post-Breakdowns team)
1.) Big Guns (Watchtower era)
2.) Crappy team (Meltzer)
I hope I'm right so the fun can begin again.
"All this has happened before. All this will happen again."
I would LOVE to have J'onn back running things, but he's a little sleepy right now. Maybe after the whole Blackest Night thingie is over.
The old JLI never got a lot of respect from the A-listers,but you have to give them some credit. Between the bickering and the hi-jinks, they actually fought some pretty high-powered villains! Superman, Hawkman and Hal and Ollie were just...jealous. Yes, that's it.
Canary can even be on the new team, but only if she starts learning to control her temper.
You know I've seen a lot of posts from unhappy JLA fans that want to see the return of the JLI line up or use it to compare how you can make something good without the big guns.
And hey they could do something like that. Have Fire, Ice, maybe Guy if they want two GLs (I'd be fine with John staying I don't think he's in another title.) But have Booster in it. They can make a reason for him to be on the team without messing with his TM job. Make him dress up as Supernova keeping everyone guessing except for his JLI pals who think he's familiar.
-Erin
I must admit, the JLA issue makes me even MORE interested to see the new Justice League title coming out this summer. 'Course, I'm also worried about it. The LAST time Hal led the Justice League (JLE), it was pretty much a disaster.
It seems like half the time the JLA is deciding who's going to be in the group and the other half is spent whining about who's in the group. It's worse than the X-Men.
We know the JLA is a comic book and who is in the JLA is whoever Dan Didio decides to be in it. I don't have a problem with the Fun JLA or the Big Guns JLA, but the Whiny JLA can say on the shelf of my comic store.
The whole JLA re-numbering has been a crapfest, nearly worse than the old volume was.
While I am intrigued by the thought of Hal's new group, I do have to admit that the thought of Hal running anything is something of a disaster waiting to happen. He really hasn't got the temperament to lead, nor the patience, nor the pragmatism.
Of course, neither does Black Canary, which is why I think this incarnation of the League seems to be fizzling.
I agree, Sally, that Hal is no leader. Dinah can be, but that would take a writer who can consistently tap into that part of her psyche. As seen in BoP, she's better suited to be someone's weapon, an operative. Diana's a leader. Kal can be a leader. Bruce could be, but he's too intimidating. One problem with the JLA now is that too few characters are around who do possess strong leadership skills.
And without Roy on the team, I really don't think I'll continue with it.
Maybe add Kate/Manhunter in there somewhere
But she kills! That makes her EVIL!
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